Chapter 700: Steel-Slash Giant Falcon |
The official website of Yulianton University had a dedicated page for the Top 100 Ranking. Clicking in, one could see the major and name of the ranked students, as well as their specific achievements.
New students might not be too familiar with it yet, but older students already knew on the day the rankings were updated that a freshman named Qiao Sang had replaced El Arnano, who was ranked 100th.
So, the moment her name was mentioned, everyone turned to look.
Seeing the young black-haired girl in the distance, still holding a red pet beast in her arms, everyone’s gaze was filled with curiosity, scrutiny, and even disbelief.
Historically, the Top 100 list in the Beast Taming Department was almost entirely composed of seniors in their fourth or fifth years, all with undeniable strength. There had never been a case where someone made the list without a single challenge match.
But now, it had happened, with a freshman, no less.
The student, El Arnano, rushed over immediately, examined the girl in front of him, and lifted his chin:
"So, you're the freshman who took my place on the Top 100?"
Hey, weren’t you going to challenge the guy ranked 99 first…? Qiao Sang grumbled inwardly, but her face remained calm.
El got straight to the point: "I want to challenge you."
Qiao Sang asked, "Did you apply yet?"
El paused, then explained, "I did, but the teacher in charge said you haven’t officially moved in yet, so it wasn’t approved."
"Then wait until your application goes through." Qiao Sang said, and walked away with Yabao without looking back.
Her pace quickened, any slower and she'd be swarmed by seniors looking to challenge her.
Although she’d mentally accepted this situation and understood that battles could earn her points, now was not the time, her pets had used up a lot of energy in the morning group battle.
She was used to fighting battles she had confidence in, even against seniors. She didn’t want to risk a loss due to her pets being in poor condition.
El watched her leave without chasing her.
She was right. A challenge only became official after the application was approved. Otherwise, it would just count as a sparring match, a waste of time.
She looks even younger than a typical freshman… could she have skipped grades? El thought with a complicated expression.
A blonde senior nearby waved her hand: "Finally helped you catch her, and you didn’t even have your application approved?"
Her tone was familiar, clearly indicating they knew each other.
El glanced at her: "Thanks this time."
"Why thank me?" She smiled.
"I’m also curious to see what kind of strength a freshman has to make it into the Top 100 right at the start of the school year."
Just then, Sun Qiyan called from behind: "What? Weren’t you just dying to battle me?"
El turned his head and sneered, "I'll come back for you once I reclaim my dorm."
Sun Qiyan snorted and turned to head back to his dorm.
Seeing that the drama was over, the crowd dispersed.
A minute later, a new forum post appeared on Yulianton University’s website:
#Preliminary Clash Between New and Old Top 100 in the Beast Taming Department#
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Qiao Sang left the dorm area and, seeing no one following, spoke to the air beside her:
"Little Treasure, let’s go home."
"Xun xun~"
Little Treasure appeared, called out, and his eyes glowed blue.
In the next second, Qiao Sang and Yabao vanished from the spot.
When her vision cleared, Qiao Sang found herself back in the rented villa.
She quickly formed hand seals and summoned Lubao and Gangbao.
"How was school?" Liu Yao, busy in the kitchen, glanced at the girl who had suddenly appeared and asked with a smile, without stopping his cooking.
Qiao Sang replied while making hand seals, "Pretty good."
Gangbao's next evolution stage had been confirmed, Lubao had gained a lot of points, and she had even ranked first in total points.
"Yap!" Yabao remembered how his Meteor Rain attack had been countered that morning and rushed toward the outdoor training field.
"Xun xun!"
Little Treasure, spotting the two computers on the coffee table, gleamed with excitement and quickly floated over, creating a clone.
When Qiao Sang turned around, she saw two identical Ghost Ring Kings typing rapidly on keyboards.
Now that she was attending school, she didn’t have as much time to train substitute daily, but by the current progress, in three more days, Little Treasure's substitute technique would reach peak mastery… Qiao Sang withdrew her gaze and returned to her room.
Lubao and Gangbao quietly followed.
Qiao Sang half-lay on the bed and entered the Beast Codex with her consciousness.
The pages flipped until she landed on the one about Gangbao.
It looked different from last night.
Now, after Gangbao's species name Steel Guardian Falcon, there was an extra phrase: Steel-Slash Giant Falcon.
So that’s Gangbao's next evolution stage… Qiao Sang shifted her focus downward and checked the proficiency of the Iron Defense skill before returning to reality.
As she opened her eyes, she saw Gangbao training Iron Defense and Lubao staring intently at her.
"What’s wrong?" She asked Lubao.
"Lu?"
Luba called out, asking when they were going to play Sky Battle Over Water.
Qiao Sang thought for a moment and said, "8 PM."
She had to eat after coming back from school and had also scheduled the Body Forge Bug to visit. She’d only be free by then.
"Lu."
Lubao nodded and jumped into the water tank.
Why does Lubao seem to be in that anxious state again… Qiao Sang watched the figure in the tank and thought for a moment, then suddenly considered a possibility:
Could it be that Gangbao's temporary evolution today triggered her?
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Back when Gangbao was first contracted, she was just a low-level pet, while Lubao was already high-level. Now, Gangbao had reached an advanced form, and Lubao was still stuck at high level.
With Lubao’s prideful nature, that must have been hard to take…
Qiao Sang sighed inwardly.
There was nothing she could do now, only help Lubao get stronger, faster.
After that thought, she instinctively looked at Gangbao.
But she saw Gangbao calmly practicing Iron Defense, as if completely unaffected by her sudden evolution earlier.
Such stable emotions… Qiao Sang thought, impressed, and picked up her phone to buy amusement park tickets for that night.
Just then, her screen lit up and the phone buzzed repeatedly.
Messages flooded in from the university’s official system.
Qiao Sang instinctively tapped open the notifications:
[Beast Taming Department, Year 5, Class 3 – Hadro Turing has challenged you…]
[Beast Taming Department, Year 4, Class 1 – Margaret Creek has challenged you…]
[Beast Taming Department, Year 5, Class 3 – El Arnano has challenged you…]
[…]
Looking at the wave of challenge requests, Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched slightly, but she accepted them all one by one.
---
1:30 PM.
Little Treasure used spatial shift to send Qiao Sang directly to Yulianton University.
On the way to her classroom, Qiao Sang noticed many people staring at her.
But she was used to such gazes and didn’t pay them much mind.
She carried Yabao into the lecture hall.
After what happened in the morning, she figured she wasn’t very popular, so she deliberately picked a seat with few nearby students.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she sat down, a red-haired girl quickly left her own seat and came over, sitting next to her and gossiping:
"You ran into the guy who was previously ranked 100, didn’t you?"
News travels fast… Qiao Sang gave her a glance.
The red-haired girl, sensing Qiao Sang’s gaze, suddenly felt a boss-like aura and hurriedly said: "I didn’t attack you during the exam! My pet was frozen immediately by your Ice Xilu’s Ice Flower seal!"
I didn’t say anything… Qiao Sang paused, then answered her question: "Yeah, ran into him on the way back to the dorm."
The red-haired girl’s eyes lit up.
"Why didn’t you two fight?"
Qiao Sang hesitated: "His challenge hadn’t been approved yet."
Then she asked, "How do you know all this already?"
The red-haired girl placed her phone on the table screen-up and pushed it toward Qiao Sang:
"It’s all over the forums."
Qiao Sang’s sharp eyes quickly caught several thread titles:
#Preliminary Clash Between New and Old Top 100 in the Beast Taming Department#
#New Beast Taming Freshman Stuns With One-Versus-Many Victory, Ranked First in Points#
#Dean Gilbert Shows His Hand#
#Ace Pet of the Coordination Department’s Top Freshman is Actually an Insect Type#
#This Afternoon: Dr. Dosharila Lectures on Pet Emotion Energy#
Qiao Sang’s gaze stopped on the last post.
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T/n: Yayyyy, Chapter 700!!! We reached another milestone! (I'm asking for leave guys, sorry, I did say that I'm going to update daily 2 chapters after chap 700, but a sudden outing happened. Don't worry guys, I re-appear in Sunday!) Thank y'all for accompanying me this far. :)