Beast taming, starting from zero point

Chapter 55: Chapter 51: Won?

F-rank Beast Tamers who met the eligibility requirements to compete were numerous, and after an efficient day of battles, the preliminary rounds had not yet ended yesterday.

However, there were only slightly more than 60 contestants left, so it was expected that the preliminaries could be finished in no more than an hour’s time.

Qiao Sang arrived at row 9 in zone C.

Bai Yunmiao had also signed up for this Bai Xinsai and successfully passed the preliminary round.

The two met up like this, having both passed the preliminaries.

“Qiao genius, I’ve inquired about it. The people who pass the preliminaries will be randomly shuffled on the big screen, and the ones paired together will be a group,” Bai Yunmiao said, pointing to the screen above the center of the arena.

Since learning Qiao Sang’s name, Bai Yunmiao had been calling her Qiao genius online.

Qiao Sang nodded; this kind of random pairings by system was common in various competitions.

“Why are you dressed up so… nice today?” Qiao Sang asked.

To be precise, it should be described as formal.

Bai Yunmiao was sitting at her seat in an extremely ladylike manner, with her makeup and hair done perfectly, wearing a little black dress paired with a pair of bright-colored high heels, a true banquet attire.

“Isn’t it to look good on camera? I watched yesterday’s replay online. It was like a death shot, presenting me so ugly. It didn’t even capture one-third of my beauty,” Bai Yunmiao complained.

Indeed, sometimes the live streams without any filters were like mirrors reflecting monsters.

Bai Yunmiao continued, “And since half the contestants have been eliminated today, I think there’s a high chance I will be interviewed.”

Interviews…

Qiao Sang recalled what had just happened and felt a tightness in her chest, no longer wanting to talk…

…

Inside the arena, Qiao Sang unexpectedly saw someone she recognized among the group nine preliminary contestants—Dai Shushu.

Had she not seen her here, Qiao Sang would have almost forgotten about her…

The Pet Beast of Dai Shushu wasn’t one of the five choices for newbie Beast Tamers, but a Water Shrimp.

Not all Water-type Pet Beasts were amphibious Extraordinary Creatures, and even if some could move freely on land, they generally couldn’t exhibit their full strength.

Due to the limitations of the terrain, few Beast Tamers were willing to assign their first contract slot to a Water-type Pet Beast.

Qiao Sang started observing seriously.

She couldn’t deny that in her heart, she still regarded Dai Shushu as a competitor.

56 seconds later.

“Contestant Chen Cheng wins.”

Qiao Sang was stunned for a moment.

This was completely different from what she had expected!

She hadn’t even begun analyzing Dai Shushu and the Water Shrimp’s combat level, and the match was over just like that!

Her opponent’s Pet Beast, a plump pigeon, hit the Water Shrimp twice with aerial strikes, rendering it unable to continue fighting—it was a completely ordinary preliminary battle!

Was Dai Shushu really that weak?!

Qiao Sang felt a bit dazed.

Why had she initially regarded Dai Shushu as a strong rival…

Qiao Sang tried to recall hard.

Back then, they were all self-awakened; the difference was…

Cultural scores…

That’s it, cultural scores…

Dai Shushu was indeed a rival to be reckoned with…

Similar to yesterday’s efficiency, the names of all the contestants who advanced in the preliminary rounds were soon fully logged into the system in less than an hour.

The photos of the contestants inside the large screen in the center of the arena were wildly scrambling.

6 seconds later.

The photos came to a standstill.

All the team pairings had been sorted out, and Qiao Sang saw her opponent among them.

The person in the photo had eyes as big as mung beans and a hairline that was slightly receding, showing a face that seemed older than his actual age.

Xie Jianyin.

Qiao Sang recognized him immediately; he was one of the twenty-one Beast Tamers she had recorded in her memo.

This stroke of luck wasn’t bad, not wasting her hard work researching…

The battle to advance to the top 64 soon kicked off.

Those who passed the preliminaries were slightly better than those who were eliminated, so the duration of the matches also increased, going from one minute per game originally to two to three minutes now to determine a winner.

“Who do you think has a better chance of winning, contestant Qiao Sang or contestant Xie Jianyin?” the middle-aged commentator with a slicked-back hairdo asked Sha Duo.

On the field, Qiao Sang and Xie Jianyin had already taken their places.

As a member of the third group, Qiao Sang had arrived backstage as soon as the first group’s match began.

As expected, it was her turn immediately…

“Contestant Xie Jianyin has been an F-rank Beast Tamer for three years, and he has a better chance of winning than contestant Qiao Sang, in terms of both experience and strength,” Sha Duo stated his view.

“It’s a pity, among so many contestants, to run into someone with a mid-grade Pet Beast as an opponent.”

“I recall Xie Jianyin’s Pet Beast is a Longtail Serpent.”

“It pains my heart to think that such a pretty young girl would lose to such an ugly man.”

“He’s only 18 years old, a boy.”

The spectators on site started discussing, with most voices rooting for Qiao Sang.

Even though strength is paramount nowadays, with both contestants being F-rank Beast Tamers, people still tended to support the contestant with higher visual appeal.

Moreover, Qiao Sang’s contracted Fire-Toothed Dog was still fresh in everyone’s memory because it was the only Fire-element Pet Beast to appear among the Beast Tamers participating in the Bai Xinsai.

…

As the referee issued the command to send out the Pet Beasts, a gray Star Array lit up in front of Xie Jianyin.

The Fire-Toothed Dog’s energy began to gather inside its body, immediately getting ready for action.

Last night, it and its Beast Tamer had spent half the night discussing strategy, outlining what to do against any opponent they might encounter.

Next was just to wait for that unimpressive-looking guy to appear…

From the gray Star Array, a beast with an all-red body, an oval-shaped head, and a black stripe running from its head to the tail emerged.

Huh?

Why wasn’t it that unimpressive-looking guy?

The Fire-Toothed Dog didn’t understand.

Why was this different from what its Beast Tamer had explained?

Qiao Sang was speechless looking at the opponent’s Pet Beast.

Fire Chain Snake, a Fire-element beginner Pet Beast.

Had she not seriously studied the mid-grade Longtail Serpent for half of yesterday, only for him to bring a beginner Fire-element Pet Beast to the match?

And to send out a Pet Beast with the same attributes as the Fire-Toothed Dog, knowing she only had one.

Apparently, he hadn’t taken the Fire-Toothed Dog seriously…

Xie Jianyin indeed hadn’t taken the Fire-Toothed Dog seriously, to be precise, he hadn’t taken Qiao Sang seriously.

He had contracted with his second Pet Beast, the Fire Chain Snake, for two months already.

As a Beast Tamer with two Pet Beasts, of course, he intended for both to take turns in the matches!

For a student fresh out of junior high with newly contracted Pet Beasts, whichever one he summoned would easily be enough to deal with her.

The referee had just announced the start of the match, and Qiao Sang immediately issued the command to act according to the original plan.

At the same time, Xie Jianyin also gave the command for a flame spray.

The energy inside the Fire-Toothed Dog was already brewing.

Thus, it released its skill faster than the Fire Chain Snake.

Outside the arena.

“This is the Spark of a Minor Accomplishment realm!” exclaimed the commentator.

The Fire Chain Snake’s flame spray had just condensed in its mouth and hadn’t even traveled 10 centimeters when the Fire-Toothed Dog’s Spark struck it head-on.

The two forces collided, creating a loud explosion.

At the center of the explosion, the Fire Chain Snake suffered a heavy blow.

“Chain!!!”

The Fire-Toothed Dog didn’t care that the Fire Chain Snake had already been sent flying back to the ground; it immediately created four Shadow Clones and got ready to surround the opponent.

Following the tactics it and its Beast Tamer had devised the night before, it would first use two Shadow Clones to confuse the opponent, as the real body and another clone…

“Victory goes to contestant Qiao Sang!” the referee announced at that moment.

“Tooth?”

The Shadow Clones of the Fire-Toothed Dog, who hadn’t yet formed an encirclement, all abruptly stopped. @@novelbin@@

They won?