Chapter 297: Counterfeit? (Wishing everyone a Happy Lantern Festival!)

Training Field No. 1.

In the center of the field, Little Xunbao and Piaopiao Ling were freely sparring.

By Gao San, everyone had already been a Beast Tamer for over two years. Their pets had all grown noticeably, their reaction speeds countless times faster than when they were first contracted.

At this stage, it was impossible to direct every single move like they did when they had just become Beast Tamers.

Otherwise, in a battle, the opponent would fire a Flamethrower halfway through, and your own pet would instinctively prepare to counter with a skill.

That in itself wouldn't be a problem — the issue was that you only realized it and started calling out commands at that very moment.

And there you had it — the problem.

Whether telling the pet to dodge or to use a skill, as long as the commanded skill differed from the one the pet had in mind, there would be a brief hesitation, leading to a mistake.

And that mistake could very well decide the outcome of the battle.

So reducing the number of commands was a必经 process for every new Beast Tamer on the road to becoming a professional.

With fewer commands from the Beast Tamer, the pet's own reactions and judgment became especially important.

The Gao San school team was now training precisely on the pets' own combat judgment.

Put plainly — letting them fight on their own.

While Little Xunbao trained, Qiao Sang stood at the edge of the field, mentally tallying her assets.

She realized the money came in fast, but went out just as fast.

Don't be fooled by the seven-figure sum still sitting in her bank card — that all-important leading digit had changed more than once.

Apart from Energy Balls being the biggest expense, Like Ya Bao had recently been practicing Mars Rain with her clones, and the Energy Recovery Liquid she needed was guzzled like water — a couple of sips and it was gone.

She had bought batch after batch of Energy Recovery Liquid.

Learning a skill costs money, and once learned, raising its proficiency quickly costs money too!

Sigh, money flowing out like water, life is so hard… After that inner lament, Qiao Sang's gaze drifted to the gleaming golden gloves on Little Xunbao's claws in the center of the field.

It was about time to sell those real pure-gold gloves Liu Qijia's dad had given her…

"Senior…"

"What is it?"

Xu Yixuan, who had been squatting nearby massaging her own pet, looked up in a daze.

She had some self-awareness — she knew the classmates around her found her too chatty, and normally they avoided responding to her whenever they could. Her teammates on the school team were the same.

Someone like Qiao Sang actively striking up a conversation — she really hadn't run into that in a long time.

"The National Campus Beast Tamer League is about to start. Have you all looked into the intel on the competing members from other schools? If so, where did you find it?"

Xu Yixuan hadn't expected that to be the question.

She had assumed someone as freakishly talented as Qiao Sang wouldn't take opponents seriously, let alone bother to look into them before a match.

"Most of the competitors are old rivals from before," Xu Yixuan said. "Whoever you want to know about, I have the files on them. Want me to just send you the profiles of all the competing members from every school in Zhejiang Province?"

Is that what I wanted to ask?! No! Qiao Sang coughed and said:

"It's been almost a year since the last National Campus Beast Tamer League. Everyone's strength must have changed during that time — where would you look for intel like that?"

Xu Yixuan was stunned.

She hadn't expected Qiao Sang to possess such monstrous strength and still be this cautious!

Most people learning about their opponents only bothered to find out what pets they had and their fighting style. Someone this cautious was genuinely rare.

If not her, then who could win!

In that instant, Xu Yixuan's admiration for Qiao Sang climbed to a whole new level.

Xu Yixuan answered seriously: "If you know people, you can just ask students from other schools directly. If not, post on the Zhejiang Province high school general forum, or put up a task at the Beast Tamer Center."

Qiao Sang understood.

That very evening, a new post appeared on the Zhejiang Province high school general forum.

#Holy Water Middle School Gao San Team Replaces Member Right Before the Tournament! Unveiling the True Face of the Newcomer! #

Click in.

The opening line was just one sentence:

【First-hand intel, DM me, name your price, no cheating, feel free to verify】

The moment the post went up, it exploded.

Holy Water Middle School — that was Hanggang City's number one and Zhejiang Province's number two Beast Taming high school!

A school like that swapping out a member right before the National Campus Beast Tamer League?

And a Gao San one at that?

Wasn't that utterly absurd?!

Whether or not they were Gao Zhongsheng about to compete, everyone was intensely curious and clicked in — the post's popularity shot up and up.

Inside a room.

The forum backend on the computer and the phone on the desk kept pinging with new message notifications.

Meanwhile, the owner of both computer and phone, Qiao Sang, was in the living room explaining the potion's effects to Lubao.

The vice principal truly lived up to being an A-rank Breeder — in less than an hour, he had refined the Blue Dew Crystal into a potion.

"This stuff lets your eyes spot eye boogers on people over a kilometer away," Qiao Sang said.

"Lu."

Lubao looked intrigued, took the potion with her claw, and was about to drink it.

Qiao Sang got a fright and hurriedly stopped her: "Wait!"

"Lu?"

Lubao paused, wearing a "what's wrong?" expression.

"This is for dripping into the eyes, not for drinking," Qiao Sang explained.

"Lu."

Lu Bao nodded without the slightest hint of embarrassment, then raised the paw holding the Blue Dew Crystal and dripped it into her eye.

At times like this, Qiao Sang couldn't help but admire Lu Bao's mental fortitude.

That really is the height of cool detachment…

After Lu Bao finished dripping the potion into both eyes, Qiao Sang asked, "How do your eyes feel now?"

"Lu…"

Lu Bao blinked a few times, looked around, then shook her head, indicating she felt nothing at all.

"That shouldn't be…" Qiao Sang picked up the bottle that still had potion left and examined it carefully, muttering, "If this were fake, the Vice Principal should have recognized it when he made the potion…"

"Lu."

Lu Bao flicked her tail and headed toward the courtyard.

What a waste of its training time—Ya Bao had already been training for half a day.

Qiao Sang: "…"

Looks like from now on, before making any trades, she'll have to get the materials appraised first… Qiao Sang sighed, set the remaining potion on the coffee table, and went back to her room.

"Xunxun~"

After Qiao Sang closed the door to her room, Little Xun Bao appeared, picked up the bottle on the coffee table and looked at it curiously, then sniffed it with her nose, and mimicking Lu Bao, dripped two drops into her own eyes.

"Xun…"

Little Xun Bao blinked, feeling no change at all.

"Xun."

She blinked again—still nothing.

"Xun!"

After one more blink, Little Xun Bao put the potion back on the coffee table with a look of utter disdain.

Fake goods!

……

Qiao Sang sat down at the computer and was surprised to find that the private messages in her forum backend had already reached 99+.

The first thought that popped into her head was: Good lord, so many people are playing on their phones and computers instead of doing homework!