Chapter 279: Guessed Wrong

The moment the words fell, the five heads seated in front all turned around in unison.

Their gazes carried curiosity mixed with a hint of hostility.

After all, everyone present knew of Qiao Sang's existence, and knew she was coming in from outside to participate in the Gao San division of the National Campus Beast-Taming League.

The number of participants from each school's grade division was fixed and uniform; if someone was added in, naturally someone had to be dropped out.

Three of these five were in the team battle group, so Qiao Sang's arrival had no impact on them.

However, everyone was in the Gao San division, and they occasionally trained together with the team battle members, so their relationships were naturally not ordinary — there was a strong sense of shared enmity.

Take Xu Yixuan — she was confident she wouldn't be the one kicked out, so her mindset was rock steady, which was also why Sun Boyi had her go pick up Qiao Sang.

"Hello, Teacher Sun." Qiao Sang greeted him.

It wasn't that she knew Sun Boyi; it was just that the vice principal had mentioned the head coach of the Gao San school team was a teacher who had previously handled special recruitment, and the face matched.

Sun Boyi strode over with his long legs and said, "The vice principal should have told you about the situation with our Gao San school team."

Qiao Sang nodded and gave an "Mm."

"At your age, having three pet beasts, two of which have already reached Intermediate, does put you among the very top tier of new beast tamers globally." Sun Boyi shifted his tone: "However, what I value here is fairness and justice — everything still comes down to strength."

"For your seniors, this edition of the National Campus Beast-Taming League is already their third. In terms of battle experience and knowledge of opponents, they definitely have the advantage over you."

"In a moment, you'll take turns battling them, following the rules of the National Campus Beast-Taming League."

"If you can beat any one of them, I'll naturally welcome you with open arms to participate in the Gao San division. But if you lose, even if it's the vice principal's request, I can't agree to let you represent the Gao San division in the competition."

"Of course, if you just want to train with the Gao San school team and not compete, I naturally won't say a word."

Qiao Sang was a monster, that was true, but competition was all about winning.

Not to mention the whole country — just within Hanggang City, students participating in the Gao San division competitions all had at least two Intermediate pet beasts, and had been training and磨合 together for quite a long time.

Sun Boyi could be considered the more rational faction.

When the vice principal proposed that Qiao Sang participate in the Gao San division competition, his first reaction at the time was to refuse.

This student might achieve quite good results in the Gao Yi or even Gao Er division competitions, but in the Gao San division, it was very uncertain.

After all, the Gao San division mainly looked at actual combat experience.

And that experience had to be accumulated over a long period — it wasn't the case that just because your pet beasts' levels and numbers met the participating members' requirements, you could go compete.

Furthermore, basically all the Gao San division participants from every school in Hanggang City had been promoted up from the Gao Yi division, so they were old opponents who all had a certain understanding of each other's pet beasts — this wouldn't work for Qiao Sang.

But this was ultimately a request from the vice principal, so he couldn't refuse directly.

But if Qiao Sang lost, he'd then have a legitimate reason to refuse.

Sun Boyi didn't think the other party would refuse — any genius would basically be confident, even arrogant, about their own strength, let alone a monster like Qiao Sang.

Qiao Sang indeed didn't refuse. She just paused for a moment, then corrected him: "All three of my pet beasts have reached Intermediate."

The moment these words came out, the Gao San members who had been paying attention to this side all wore blank expressions collectively.

Sun Boyi asked in a daze, "All three of your pet beasts have evolved to Intermediate?"

"Mm." Qiao Sang replied.

Sun Boyi fell silent for over ten seconds to digest this news, then raised his voice and asked again:

"Are you really saying all three of your pet beasts have evolved to Intermediate?"

"Yes." Qiao Sang nodded.

Sun Boyi fell silent once more.

After a long while, he said seriously, "There's only about a month left until the National Campus Beast-Taming League. Let's make the most of the time to train."

Qiao Sang's eyebrows lifted slightly, and she asked, "Didn't you say we'd take turns battling first to see if I qualify to participate?"

"Two Intermediate pet beasts need to be tested, but three Intermediate pet beasts make testing unnecessary." Sun Boyi said solemnly.

For the Gao San division competition, if Qiao Sang's third pet beast was Beginner, it would basically be the same as not having one — completely useless.

But if the third pet beast was also Intermediate, the nature was completely different!

One had to know that across the whole country, students in the Gao San division who possessed three Intermediate pet beasts could be counted on one hand.

With three Intermediate pet beasts, even if opponents studied you day and night, they might not necessarily be able to come up with a corresponding counter-strategy.

Xu Yixuan listened from the side with a completely bewildered face. Just when she thought the matter of Qiao Sang participating in the Gao San division competition was officially settled, a voice rang out from the side.

"I think for the sake of fairness, we must battle." Qiao Sang declared with an air of righteousness.

What a joke — those were all points! How could she not battle!

Besides, ordinary combat training versus losing and becoming a substitute — a person's fighting spirit just wouldn't be the same.

Like Ya Bao hadn't had a satisfying fight in a long time.

She couldn't have every battle be like fighting small monsters for experience in a game — it was completely pointless.

Sun Boyi stared at Qiao Sang for a moment, then laughed: "Fine, battle!"

After saying that, he turned his head to the few people who were still wearing blank expressions and asked, "Who's going first?"

The two members of the Gao San battle team came to their senses and exchanged a glance. One of them — a boy with thick eyebrows and slit-like eyes, fat as a ball — raised his hand and volunteered: "I'll go!"

He Datao shuffled his bulky frame to the center of the training ground.

Although he had been a bit stunned hearing that all three of Qiao Sang's pet beasts were Intermediate, the rules of the Gao San division National Campus Beast-Taming League were 2v2.

Qiao Sang was a prominent figure in the school; apart from her third pet beast, the information on her other two pet beasts was known to virtually the entire school.

And Qiao Sang definitely didn't know his pet beasts' information yet.

This — that was the advantage.

After Qiao Sang took her position on the other side of the training ground, Sun Boyi began:

"According to the competition rules of the National Campus Beast-Taming League, the pet beasts used must be already registered. If a pet beast is knocked out of the designated field or voluntarily crosses the designated field, it is considered to have lost the qualification to continue the competition."

"Before one side's pet beast loses consciousness, they cannot voluntarily switch pet beasts."

"Pet beasts must be summoned simultaneously — there must be no time gap. During the pet beast battle, no auxiliary items related to pet beasts may be used."

"The number of pets used in the Gao San segment is two. During battle…"

The members of the Gao San school team basically had the competition rules memorized backwards. Sun Boyi had clearly been talking to Qiao Sang all this time.

"What pets do you think He Datao and Qiao Sang will send out?" Xu Yixuan came over to the other four and asked.

Those four knew exactly what kind of person Xu Yixuan was, so none of them spoke.

Sure enough, they heard Xu Yixuan continue:

"You don't need to answer. Let me guess."

"I think Qiao Sang will send out her Yanling Hound — it's a safe bet." Xu Yixuan analyzed:

"The first contracted pet is basically always the strongest. You all remember during the new student showcase, her Yanling Hound dominated — it not only had the Blazing Fire trait but also knew Meteor Rain. If she sends it out, the win rate is very high."

"He Datao must be thinking the same way, so I think he'll send out his Molten Burst Ape. His Molten Burst Ape has the Fire-Drawing trait, which perfectly counters the Yanling Hound."

The four listening on the side didn't speak, but inwardly they agreed.

Xu Yixuan might be a bit long-winded, but it had to be said — sometimes what she said actually made sense.

"Please have both sides summon your pets at the same time." Sun Boyi followed the standard procedure of the National Campus Beast-Taming League.

A green star array and a gray star array lit up simultaneously.

A red pet and a pale blue pet appeared in everyone's view.

"Boom-boom!"

"Lu."

Xu Yixuan was stunned for a moment, then said somewhat awkwardly: "Guessed wrong…"