Chapter 948: Wood-whiskered Flower Monster

Read at: https://blogspot-translatedstories.blogspot.com/?m=1 

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A man in a formal suit and a Base-Divider Unit stood up and waved toward the audience. They were different from the referees used last time.

The Base-Divider Unit was not the same one either. To become a referee for the Notary Office, in addition to passing the corresponding interview and assessment, the contracted pet must be one needed by the Notary Office. 

Therefore, in the Central Hollow Region's Notary Office, most staff members have a Base-Divider Unit as one of their pets.

"Fen fen."

The Base-Divider Unit split into two. Its heads floated toward the giant virtual screen in the center of the field and entered it. All the photos began to scramble rapidly. After ten seconds, the photos settled into pairs, frozen on the screen.

After a moment, the Base-Divider Unit's spherical heads floated back out of the screen, their color unchanged. Only then did the host loudly announce: "The list is effective! The matching for the Top 216 into the Top 108 is complete!"

Everyone's eyes simultaneously fixed on the giant virtual screen. Qiao Sang scanned the list and quickly found her photo. She glanced at the name below the adjacent photo: Xiang Wenyi.

Xiang Wenyi, 36 years old, C-rank Beast Master, participated in the Regional Championships once five years ago and reached the Top 100... The information on this person appeared in Qiao Sang's mind.

She hadn't specifically looked for it; the commentator had introduced her during the preliminaries. With her current memory, she didn't need to try to memorize things, if she had seen or heard it once, she could basically remember it.

Qiao Sang had watched the livestream during the seven days of preliminaries and remembered that this person’s star array was orange-yellow, she was still a C-rank Beast Master. 

However, her strength far exceeded her opponents at the time. She first used one General-level pet to sweep two of the opponent's pets, then recalled her pet and sent out a second one to successfully take the third round. It was essentially a clean sweep with no losses.

Meanwhile, in the family area.

Seeing the opponent her daughter was facing, Ye Xiangting began searching on her phone. When she saw the data showing a C-rank Beast Master, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Looking at the ranking on the list, it should be Qiao Sang's turn tonight." Liu Yao said, looking at the giant virtual screen.

Ye Xiangting frowned slightly. "Does that mean we have to sit here until evening?"

"If you're tired, you can go out and rest. I'll call you when it's Qiao Sang's turn." Liu Yao suggested.

"I finally have the chance to see the Regional Championships live, and in such good seats, how could I be tired?" Ye Xiangting said worriedly. 

"I'm worried about Qiao Sang. She has to compete, she won't just sit here directly until evening, will she? I wonder if there's a place to rest in the backstage."

She had been to her daughter's room over the past few days and knew she had been watching the livestream religiously, not missing a single match. Now that she was here in person, she likely wouldn't leave midway either.

Liu Yao said calmly: "You don't need to worry about that. She has Lubao."

"...I feel better now." Ye Xiangting said.

---

Contestant Area.

It looks like it'll be my turn in the evening... Qiao Sang estimated the time while looking at the rankings.

Except for the preliminaries on the opening day, most contestants preferred not to be scheduled for the same day the list came out, as it left little time for preparation. Qiao Sang didn't mind; it was still the early stages of the competition. 

As long as she didn't encounter a B-rank Beast Master, everything was fine. This was the confidence brought by her strength.

"Xun xun?"

Although Little Treasure occasionally watched the livestream, he couldn't remember every single contestant. When he saw the list finalized, he turned with a look of inquiry and let out a cry.

Is the opponent strong?

Qiao Sang glanced at him. "Quite strong."

"Xun xun..."

Little Treasure put down the energy recovery fluid in his paws, a dejected expression on his face. If the opponent is strong, it looks like I won't be going out today...

"Why did you stop drinking?" Qiao Sang asked.

"Xun xun..."

Little Treasure cried out listlessly, indicating he was full.

Qiao Sang: ...

Elsewhere.

Contestants looked at their opponents, some calm, some excited, and some looking grim. Xiang Wenyi was one of the grim ones. She didn't have the habit of researching every contestant thoroughly, but she knew Qiao Sang was the youngest B-rank Beast Master in history. 

Meeting a B-rank Beast Master in the Regional Championships basically meant saying goodbye to the tournament.

A woman sitting next to her with black hair, brown eyes, and soft features spoke up: "Speaking of which, I actually know Qiao Sang. Do you want me to talk to her and ask her to go easy on you, so you don't lose too embarrassingly?"

Xiang Wenyi looked at her in surprise. "You know Qiao Sang?"

Fang Lan hummed. "I did an assessment task with her. We maintained order at the Flying Tournament for three days."

"Why haven't I heard you mention this?" Xiang Wenyi asked.

"Don't get me started." Fang Lan sighed. 

"I knew she was entering the Regionals, but I always thought her actual age was much older than she looked. And at the time, she told me she had only finished four tasks. Back then, it was almost seven months since registration started. I thought she was just a passerby. Who would have thought she could finish the remaining tasks in such a short time?"

Xiang Wenyi was silent for a moment. "Does she still remember you?"

Fang Lan’s eyes widened. "You don't actually want me to ask for you, do you? I was just joking."

Xiang Wenyi rolled her eyes. "I've worked hard to get this far. Do you think I'm here to let people go easy on me?"

Fang Lan gave an awkward smile. "I knew you wouldn't do that."

"You did a task with her, do you know what pets she has?" Xiang Wenyi asked.

Fang Lan thought for a bit and said, "There's one with flaming wings that looks like a Fire-type, but it can move in the air without flapping its wings, so it probably has psychic powers. And there's a Ghost-type pet that can use Teleportation."

As she spoke, she gestured with her eyes toward Little Treasure's position to the left. "That's the one."

Xiang Wenyi looked over. "That one is called Ghost Ring King. I know, it's a pet from the Yuhua Region. It's already gone viral online. I've seen it."

"Doesn't the internet also say Qiao Sang participated in the National Campus Beast Tamer League a year ago?" Fang Lan said. 

"I heard from a younger relative that the top few in those competitions get selected to be interstellar exchange students on other planets. Go check, maybe you can find battle data of her on other planets."

"A year ago, she was only a D-rank Beast Master. Even if I watch match videos from then, it won't be very useful."

"You're right." After saying that, Xiang Wenyi stood up abruptly and left the contestant area. Many contestants were leaving like her, mostly those whose matches weren't coming up immediately and who wanted to go out and research their upcoming opponents.

---

The competition proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Time flew by. During the breaks at noon and in the afternoon, Qiao Sang went out to let Yabao and the others have a full meal before returning to the contestant area to watch the matches.

It wasn't until the sky grew dark and the moon rose that a staff member walked over and whispered something. Qiao Sang stood up and followed her. At the same time, several other contestants headed out as well.

"Xun xun?"

Little Treasure followed beside his Beast Master, drinking milk and letting out a cry, asking if Big Boss Yabao or Lubao would be competing.

Qiao Sang glanced at him. "You get ready."

"Xun xun!"

Little Treasure froze, then broke into a look of pure joy. But immediately after, he became worried.

"Xun xun..."

Didn't you say the opponent was strong...

Qiao Sang looked at him again. "You aren't weak either."

"Xun xun~"

Little Treasure floated in a happy circle.

Half an hour later, on the commentary stand, Tian Yiwan spoke: "The next pair of contestants will be the much-anticipated Qiao Sang and Xiang Wenyi."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire stadium erupted in cheers. The roar of the crowd was louder than when some matches reached their conclusion: "Qiao Sang! Qiao Sang!"

"Ah! Breezewing Nini! I want to see Breezewing Nini compete!"

"Calm down! Breezewing Nini is only a Intermediate-level pet!"

"I don't care! I don't care! I just want to see her!"

"Steel Sword Falcon! Steel Sword Falcon!"

The individual shouts for Xiang Wenyi were completely drowned out.

Finally, it's Qiao Sang's turn... Ye Xiangting’s spirits rose, and she pulled out her phone, ready to record the exciting moments at any time.

Tian Yiwan continued: "Contestant Qiao Sang completed a clean sweep with a brilliant performance during the preliminaries. As the youngest B-rank Beast Master in history and the biggest dark horse of this year's Regional Championships, I wonder what pet she will send out today."

Tang Xueran said: "Contestant Xiang Wenyi also had a very exciting performance in the preliminaries. This is her second time participating in the Regional Championships, and we look forward to her showing her full strength today."

As the commentators finished speaking, two blue bird-like pets rose directly from the ground and stabilized their positions in mid-air. The camera zoomed in, giving close-ups to Qiao Sang and Xiang Wenyi.

The stadium erupted in noise again, cheering for their entrance. Although no one thought Xiang Wenyi could win, her performance in the preliminaries had earned her a wave of fans.

On the field.

Stay calm. The opponent should know I'm a C-rank Beast Master and won't send out a King-level pet immediately. As long as it's not a King-level pet, I have a chance. Winning even one round is still a win... Xiang Wenyi gazed at her distant opponent. Her internal tension soared, but she maintained a calm exterior.

Qiao Sang looked at her opponent, wondering if she had found match data from Chaosu Star... When the list came out, they were in the contestant area together, so she had naturally overheard the conversation. There was no helping it, when someone is discussing you from such a close distance, you subconsciously lock onto it.

In a flash of thought, the light and shadow of 10 appeared in the center of the field. A mechanical voice rang out simultaneously: "9, 8, 7... 3, 2, 1."

Both of them formed hand seals. An orange-yellow star array and a crimson star array lit up almost simultaneously on the field. Soon, two figures of vastly different sizes appeared on the star arrays.

Seeing the figure on the field that looked almost the size of a low-level pet, the crowd began to discuss: "That must be the Ghost-type pet that can use Teleportation that they mentioned online. It feels even smaller than it looked in the videos."

"It's called Ghost Ring King. I looked it up, apparently, Qiao Sang's is a mutated color variant."

"My heart is honestly unmoved. She's already contracted a Breezewing Nini, cotracting a mutated color variant doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore."

"Sigh, why didn't Qiao Sang enter Secret Realm 16 a year earlier and contract Breezewing Nini then? With her skills, I’d definitely be seeing a legendary pet competing in this year's Regionals."

"Xun xun!"

Little Treasure felt the gaze of over a hundred thousand people and felt exceptionally excited. He struggled to suppress the urge to do a 360-degree wave to every human in every direction.

Can't move, can't move. This is a match, I have to keep my eyes on the opponent from the start... Remembering his Beast Master's instructions, Little Treasure immediately concealed his figure.

At the same time, on the other side, the massive green figure gave a full-body shake, and countless green powder particles scattered across the sky, filling the air.

The next second, Little Treasure appeared, covering his nose and mouth, less than a meter away from the front of the massive figure.

"Bind!" Xiang Wenyi said quickly.

"Mu xu!" The massive pet let out a cry.

Instantly, dozens of glowing green vines burst from the ground, frantically lashing toward Little Treasure to bind him. Just before contact, Little Treasure vanished and reappeared in the sky outside the range of the green powder.

Except for the audience members who already knew Little Treasure's background from the internet, the rest of the spectators gasped in shock, stunned that a pet that was clearly Ghost-type had used a skill like Teleportation.

"Ghost Ring King, a General-level Ghost-type pet from the Yuhua Region." Tang Xueran’s voice rang out. 

"Qiao Sang’s Ghost Ring King has a slightly different color from ordinary ones and a smaller size. It appears to be a mutated color variant, and the mutation has added the Psychic-type attribute."

"A dual-attribute Ghost and Psychic-type pet, in all my years of commentating the Regional Championships, this is the first time I've seen one." Tian Yiwan said with feigned surprise. 

He had seen the data on Qiao Sang's Ghost Ring King online before the match, but that didn't stop him from adopting the audience's perspective to share their excitement and ignite their enthusiasm.

Wood-whiskered Flower Monster, a General-level Grass-type pet. It has a gentle personality, dislikes fighting, and scatters powder that destabilizes a pet's internal energy. Once the powder is inhaled, nine out of ten skills might fail. Simultaneously, Ghost-type pets within the powder's range will be forced to reveal their forms... 

I remember she used this pet in the preliminaries to complete a sweep at the start... Looking at the pet in the distance, about six meters tall, with light green fur covering most of its body, dark brown legs, and flower whiskers growing at its neck like decorative wraps, information about it surfaced in Qiao Sang's mind.

She definitely saw the video of Little Treasure's battles, otherwise, how could she have scattered such a large range of powder right from the start...

Good thing I talked to Little Treasure about the Wood-whiskered Flower Monster's situation before the match, hold your breath when getting close, and if that doesn't work, retreat...

"Shadow of Darkness." Qiao Sang focused and issued the command.

Little Treasure clapped his paws together. Immediately, a massive, super-sized version of a Ghost Ring King, thirty meters tall, appeared on the field.

So... so big... Xiang Wenyi’s eyes widened in shock.

"Mu xu..."

The Wood-whiskered Flower Monster looked up at the titan before it, its mouth slowly hanging open.

Shadow of Darkness can create a phantom ten times its own size. In the later stages, the phantom can even be a hundred times larger. Little Treasure's Shadow of Darkness has already reached the later stages, thirty meters is nothing, fully expanded, it can reach a height of over sixty meters... 

The Wood-whiskered Flower Monster's powder can indeed destabilize energy, but as long as Little Treasure uses his skills outside the powder's range and lets the Shadow of Darkness attack, he won't be affected at all... Qiao Sang looked at the situation on the field, her expression calm.

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