Chapter 35: Remember to be gentle

“Woof.”

The Fire Fang Dog whimpered, leaned back into its seat, and took a big gulp of milk to calm the trauma in its heart.

When it finished drinking, Qiao Sang, with great foresight, handed it another bottle, comforting it, “It’s okay, we’ll be able to face the Long-eared Cat soon. You can get revenge for Little Chubby Dove then.”

Although the Long-eared Cat’s cuteness almost swayed her, Qiao Sang didn’t soften her heart.

After all, the thought of 50 points made her heart as hard as steel.

“Woof!”

Hearing this, the Fire Fang Dog sat up straight again and nodded vigorously.

It would!

The third match was very clean and decisive, but the result was a bit unexpected for Qiao Sang.

As a Pet with both Poison-type and Flying-type attributes, the Track Bee’s mouth stinger and tail stinger both carried venom.

The difference was that the Track Bee’s mouth stinger needed close contact with an object to stab, while its tail stinger could be released from a distance.

Logically, the Track Bee was also fast. It only needed to pull the Short-tailed Snake from a distance with its tail stinger, and it would eventually hit the Short-tailed Snake’s body.

However, the Track Bee chose to stab with its mouth stinger.

The venom in the Short-tailed Snake’s body was more potent than the venom produced by the Track Bee’s mouth stinger. With that one stab, the Short-tailed Snake was fine, but the Track Bee itself fainted first.

To say the Track Bee was too stupid, it was also following its Yu Beast Master’s command.

The words “Poison Sting” were the command issued by the Track Bee’s Yu Beast Master.

Qiao Sang was speechless.

The mouth stinger was also a poison sting, and the tail stinger was also a poison sting. The command wasn’t clear. As expected, it was a Beginner Yu Beast Master.

After the six-to-three battles ended, the losers of the three-person elimination round competed to enter the top two.

Perhaps because he lost too quickly in the previous round, Qiao Sang felt that Lu Liangye was commanding with personal emotions.

When the opponent was exhausted, he could have used a powerful skill like Water Gun to end the match directly, but he first used a Water Bubble to obstruct the view, and then had the Water Ring Ctenopharyngodon idella Ram into them.

Qiao Sang didn’t understand. The opponent was already on the ground, so what was there to obstruct? Moreover, the Water Ring Ctenopharyngodon idella had no legs, only a tail. Where would it get the explosive power on land? That final blow could at most be called a ‘hit’ and not a ‘Ram’…

Besides Lu Liangye, another boy named Hu Cheng entered the top five.

The final first place would be chosen from the winners of the six-to-three matches.

…

“Qiao Sang, Zheng Yining, Li Yang, the three of you will take turns battling. The first person to win two matches will be the first place in this special recruitment,” Sun Boyi said.

Qin Wen took out the familiar wooden box again. “There are only two slips of paper with numbers inside. The candidate who draws a blank slip will get a bye in this round.”

Qiao Sang was lucky not to get a bye. She flipped open the slip of paper, and it was still the number 1.

Drawing three 1s in a row was simply a heavenly hint that she was meant to be first place!

Qiao Sang was full of fighting spirit, while Zheng Yining, who drew the other 1, had a more relaxed attitude.

Her scores were usually around 560 points. If there wasn’t a special recruitment, she certainly wouldn’t be able to get into Saint Water Middle School based solely on cultural scores. Now that she had a special recruitment spot, she didn’t need to get first place; her high school entrance exam was already secure.

“Qiao Dalao, remember to be gentle later,” Zheng Yining said with a smile.

Since she couldn’t win anyway, she might as well show weakness before the match to lose with more grace.

Qiao Sang glanced at the Fire Fang Dog, which was warming up by moving its limbs, and replied, “…I’ll try my best.”

Lu Liangye, who heard the conversation, was displeased. He walked up to Qiao Sang, his face contorted as if constipated. “I… I believe you can win, but don’t be careless. You must go all out from the start to avoid any accidents.”

He had lost so miserably when battling Qiao Sang, not even lasting two rounds. If Qiao Sang and this Zheng Yining girl fought, and Qiao Sang went easy for several rounds, where would his dignity be?!

Qiao Sang looked at his awkward yet somewhat tsundere face and smiled, “Thanks for the reminder, I understand.”

Zheng Yining: “…?”

The two stood at their designated positions.

The Long-eared Cat elegantly licked its paw.

The Fire Fang Dog, however, stared intently at the Long-eared Cat, its hind legs constantly plowing the ground, as if it was about to pounce on the Long-eared Cat the next second.

This posture felt somewhat familiar…

Qiao Sang remembered.

Wasn’t this the same movement as the Thunder Horn Rhinoceros that the Fire Fang Dog saw on TV for the first time, which scared it into learning Spark?

Before she could think deeper, Sun Boyi issued the command to start the battle.

Qiao Sang quickly adjusted her state and commanded, “Ram.”

The Fire Fang Dog’s posture showed it was ready to charge at any moment, and Qiao Sang chose to follow the Fire Fang Dog’s intention.

It seemed that trying to get close and showing weakness before the match was useful after all.

Zheng Yining was very satisfied with Qiao Dalao’s command. A Ram at the beginning usually wouldn’t succeed. Qiao Dalao was clearly going easy on her. If Qiao Dalao attacked without warning, like in her battle against Lu Liangye, how would she react?

“Dodge,” Zheng Yining commanded.

Dodge was a miraculous skill. No matter what skill the opponent used, as long as it wasn’t a lock-on skill or a large-area attack skill, saying ‘dodge’ was always right. This was something Zheng Yining learned from TV dramas.

The Long-eared Cat elegantly ran two steps to the side, then was miserably knocked flying and landed.

It couldn’t dodge…

“This Fire Fang Dog’s speed seems much faster than before?” Zheng Guoping said in surprise.

“Perhaps she wasn’t using her full strength in the previous two rounds,” Qin Wen replied.

Liu Yao was silently observing the battle from the side.

“Long-ears!” Zheng Yining exclaimed her Long-eared Cat’s name.

The Long-eared Cat was a Normal-type Pet, standing out among Beginner Pets for its appearance and agility.

The area was open, and the Long-eared Cat wasn’t even injured, yet it was hit by a simple Ram just like that?!

The Long-eared Cat was a bit disheveled but still elegantly got up. The next second…

“Bang!”

Before it could stand firm, it was sent flying back down again.

“Long-ears!”

Qiao Sang looked at the scene before her with some reluctance.

She saw the Fire Fang Dog charging over as soon as the Long-eared Cat got up, and then ramming into it again as soon as it got up again, repeating this four or five times, like a bullfight in a previous life, with the Long-eared Cat being the red cloth…

“I surrender!” Zheng Yining shouted, raising her hand after the Long-eared Cat fell for the fifth time.

“I declare the winner — Qiao Sang,” Sun Boyi announced.

Little Chubby Dove and its Yu Beast Master hadn’t left yet. After hearing the result, the Fire Fang Dog happily ran to Little Chubby Dove, wanting to celebrate with it. However, Little Chubby Dove was startled and flapped its wings, flying onto its Yu Beast Master’s shoulder.

That guy was so scary just now!

The Fire Fang Dog was sad. The friendship that hadn’t even fully developed was shattered just like that.

It went to Qiao Sang.

“Woof~”

Qiao Sang squatted down and hugged it.

The Fire Fang Dog buried its head and nudged against Qiao Sang.

Its own Yu Beast Master was the best.

“This Fire Fang Dog has great potential. When you go back, give it three Vitality Grasses, two catties of Soothing Heat Powder, seven liang of Calcination Saltpeter, and six liang of Red Honey for a bath every day. If you keep it up for half a month, you might get good results.” A deep voice sounded from the side.

Qiao Sang turned her head to look. It was one of the four teachers.

“This is our Saint Water Middle School’s Vice Principal. He is an A-level Breeder. You can’t go wrong listening to him,” Zheng Guoping introduced.