Lubao leapt down from the ze Gori and, ignoring everyone’s stares, walked over to Qiao Sang with a cool and aloof demeanor.


    Qiao Sang suddenly remembered how, during the Bai Xin Competition, Yabao had tried to maintain a stoic expression.


    She couldn’t help but think: <i>There''s definitely a difference between stoic and genuinely cool…</i>


    Lubao approached, looking like she wanted to jump into her beast tamer''s arms. She made a little preparatory jump, ready to leap.


    Seeing this, Qiao Sang quickly called out to her:


    “Wait, don’t jump! You still have another match to go!”


    Lubao’s limbs had already left the ground, but upon hearing this, she abruptly twisted mid-air and changed direction as shended.


    Even in such an awkward moment, she still managed to keep her cool.


    “Lu.”<i>This water-type pet with the Melting Water trait wasn’t even from the Yhua region. The pets this girl contracts are all so impressive… </i>Sun Boyi took a deep breath to steady himself and continued the match proceedings:


    “Will both sides now send out their next contestant pets?”


    For high-levelpetitions like the National Campus Beast Mastering League, to ensure fairness, the referee team upgrades as thepetition advances, from regional to sectional matches, and finally, the national finals.


    Referees progress from Level 2 to Level 1 and finally to national-level referees.


    Additionally, they bring in a specialized mechanical pet for data analysis as a secondary referee.


    The main tasks include overseeing match proceedings, recording match time and results, and checking the positioning of participants and their pets before each battle.


    Without a secondary referee today, Sun Boyi had to take on dual roles and do the work of both.


    At the edge of the field.


    Seeing the result of the first match, the senior team members began to chatter enthusiastically.


    “He Daotao lost so badly…” Chen Jia remarked.


    “It’s just as well. I always felt attacking an endangered pet wasn’t right.” Xu Yixuan said.


    Chen Jia: …


    Just then, a boy in a white jacket asked, “What was that skill Ice Qiya used to disappear when it jumped to the ground?”


    A boy with a gloomy expression who hadn’t spoken before replied, “That wasn’t a skill; it was the Melting Water trait.”


    The boy in the white jacket was startled, “Melting Water trait?”


    “It’s a trait allowing it to merge into water. It''s pretty rare among water-type pets.”


    The gloomy boy exined earnestly, “Ice Qiya''s goal from the beginning wasn’t to attack with the Water Gun but to create a water surface on the ground.”


    “If it hadn’t concealed itself, casting mist in front of ze Gori risked interruption. Plus, the mist wouldn’t fully obscure the view right away, so He Daotao could still react.”


    “From the start, Qiao Sang was controlling the entire pace of the battle.”


    He paused, summing up, “This junior… has a touch of craftiness.”


    The others nodded in agreement, feeling the same.


    When they first joined the school team as freshmen, they were all rookies. <i>They never thought of using such sly tactics!</i>


    “He Daotao was really outmatched.” Chen Jia concluded.


    “If we were in his ce, we’d be outmatched too.” Xu Yixuan said.


    “You’ve seen this junior’s track record from the freshman exhibition round.”


    “Not only has her Treasure-Seeking Ghost evolved into a Treasure-Seeking Demon within a month, but she’s also contracted an endangered Ice Qiya. Let’s not even talk about the attribute advantage.”


    “Then there are the high-level skills like Meteor Rain and Shadow Control. Not only our school, but the whole Zhejiang province doesn’t have anyone on a school team whose pet has learned skills at that level.”


    Chen Jia nodded, “True.”


    “Are we really going to be backups?” A tall boy, over 180 cm thanks to his hairstyle, asked dejectedly.


    “No.” Xu Yixuan shook her head.


    The boy perked up, turning to her with a hopeful look.


    Xu Yixuan continued, “Zhang Dezhou, have some confidence. Take out the word ‘we’. Only one of us will go as a backup. And obviously, it’s going to be whoever is the weakest among us. Do you really think that’s me?”


    Zhang Dezhou staggered back, looking like he’d taken a hundred arrows to the heart. <i>Oh, it hurts! Mom, it hurts so much!</i>


    He Daotao was feeling the same pain.


    <i>His ze Gori hadn’t even had a chance to show its bravery! How could it have lost so quickly?! </i>Painful as it was, the match had to go on.


    He Daotao took a deep breath and summoned his second pet, the Wind Eagle.


    ording to the rules, after the first match ends, the winning side can choose to switch pets or keep its pet withdrawn until the referee starts the second match.


    But Qiao Sang didn’t do that.


    Of course, in a 2v2 match, this was allowed.


    <i>A Wind Eagle, huh… </i>Qiao Sang looked at the pet in front of her, her mind racing as she devised a counter-strategy.


    She was quite familiar with this pet, especially its speed.


    Back in the marathon, Ye Ranran’s Wind Eagle had overtaken dozens of runners, finishing its ry leg in sixth ce overall.


    Though Lubao’s speed had improved considerably through training, she was clearly no match for the Wind Eagle, which was famous for its agility.


    <i>The only way to keep up with Wind Eagle is by using Mist along with the Rain Sense trait to boost Lubao’s speed. Sigh, if only the arena were a water-based field. I wonder what kind of field they’ll use in the national campus beast mastering league…</i>


    While these thoughts shed through her mind, Sun Boyi announced the start of the second match.


    “Use Air sh repeatedly!” He Daotao called out, waving his pudgy hand quickly.


    The Wind Eagle’s advantagey in its speed, so he had to capitalize on it!


    <i>Whoosh!</i>


    With a p of its wings, the Wind Eagle soared swiftly into the air above the training field.


    Its speed was like watching a TV show at 5x speed.


    Then, it beat its wings, sending dozens of air-formed des toward Lubao at a rapid pace.


    At the edge of the field.


    Xu Yixuan found herself reluctant to watch.


    Everyone with a bit of sense could see who held the upper hand between a water-type pet restricted by ground speed and a Wind Eagle known for its speed.


    <i>This was an endangered pet. If it got injured, what if He Daotao got taken to the police station…? </i>They’d trained together for over two years, so Xu Yixuan couldn’t help but worry a little about He Daotao.


    But then she remembered Qiao Sang was Lubao’s tamer, and she doubted Lubao would suffer too much.


    So, she covered her eyes with her hand but left a small gap between her fingers to watch.


    “Lu.”


    “Lu…”


    “Lu!”


    At first, Lubao dodged with ease, but as the speed of the air des increased, her expression turned serious.


    Although the attack density wasn’t as high as during Stone Barrage Training, the power and speed were on a whole other level.


    <b>Bang! Bang! Bang!</b>


    The air des struck the ground, leaving cracks in their wake.


    Just then, Qiao Sang shouted, “Run and use Gentle Snow on the ground!”


    Gentle Snow?


    He Daotao was briefly stunned. <i>Isn’t that an ice-type skill?</i>