Chapter 352: A Draw?

"Awesome, freaking awesome!"

"Just that one move, and I feel like I'm watching a hot-blooded anime!"

"Same here, bro!"

"It's clearly an endangered pet beast, but it's still fighting so hard—I'm so moved!"

"Ice Luqia! You have to win!"

On the field.

Lubao surfaced from the water with a huge bump on her head and hopped onto a floating rock.

Qiao Sang gazed at Lubao's cool, aloof back and let out a soft breath. She had to admit, having an unexpected turn of events in battle was still pretty thrilling…

"Healing—" Qiao Sang didn't finish saying "Light" before she saw the broken ice surface refreeze, the ice rapidly gathering toward where Lubao was.

The audience saw this scene too.

"Victory to Qiao Sang of Sacred Water Middle School!" Lubao struggled to get up, but after a moment collapsed again.

Snow Guardian Bear fell and didn't get up.

"Ah, your Ice Luqia! Why is the whistle still blowing? Hurry up and let your Ice Luqia go rest!"

"Lu…"

"Can it still use Healing Light?"

"Freezing Fang!" Liu Zeru made his decision very slowly.

That move again… First it uses ice to lock down the position. At that point, either jump back out of the water, or dive down to dodge. Diving down would definitely be low enough that the freezing wind's chill would likely affect Lubao. The moment her speed is limited, plus the landing, the Snow Guardian Bear that hasn't finished charging Freezing Fang would probably shatter the ice and pounce right over. Retreating out of the water, it's probably waiting there too… As Qiao Sang's mind raced, she responded slowly:

Since it's a matter of stalling, there's nothing for it but to go all out!

Below the stands, the crowd buzzed with discussion.

"Snow Guardian!

!"

Twisting left and right, Lubao, wrapped in water currents, weaved continuously through the rising and falling ice pillars.

Lubao followed right behind, leaping out of the ice along with it.

"Lu!"

"A-Hu!" Xiao Junxiao called out softly.

"Melt Water!"

In an instant, ice gathered beneath the Snow Guardian Bear's fangs.

"Snow Guardian!

"

A massive surge of energy exploded, sending both pet beasts flying backward.

The Snow Guardian Bear bit empty air, a confused look on its face.

Xiao Junxiao clenched both hands tight.

"Snow Guardian!" The Snow Guardian Bear raised its head and called out.

"Icicle Drop!" Liu Zeru waved his hand and said in a low voice.

"You don't understand." The boy said coolly: "Sometimes a match isn't about winning, but about proving that all your effort really existed.

"Honestly, I don't think it's necessary." The person beside him offered his view: "This is only the group stage. With Liu Zeru's strength, he can definitely advance. Why not save his strength and go all out in the elimination round?"

"Speaking of which, I watched Liu Zeru's matches in the last National Campus League too. Feels like his battling style this year is way more aggressive."

The audience seats fell quiet for a moment.

"Qu!"

"Ice Luqia taking on seven in a row is already amazing!"

It opened its eyes, saw nothing but water, and no trace of any opponent.

At the same time, a powerful current wrapped around Lubao's whole body, and then, without the slightest hesitation, she charged toward the area full of ice pillars!

Youth really is something… The person beside him raised an eyebrow, said nothing more, and watched patiently.

On the field, Liu Zeru's expression was intensely focused. Just as the ice was about to freeze over Ice Luqia, he shouted rapidly: "Freezing Fang!"

Splash splash splash… Lubao would suddenly appear and then suddenly vanish. Every time she appeared, it was a fierce barrage of attacks. Water Tail lashed the Snow Guardian Bear into constant wailing, utterly unable to fight back.

"Bang!

!"

"He has no choice but to go all out. This is his last National Campus Beast-Taming League." The boy speaking was another school team member from Xiong Dinggao High who had come to compete.

The Snow Guardian Bear had just shown a bewildered expression when Lubao suddenly appeared beside it and landed another Water Tail.

"A water-type pet beast with the Melt Water trait should be invincible in water, right?"

Hearing her beast tamer's words, Lubao dove into the water without hesitation.

"Splash!"

At the same time, a blob of water behind its head twisted and transformed into Lubao's shape.

Even if I lose, I have to beat Ice Luqia first before I lose!

"Snow Guardian?"

Water surged. Lubao's tail rapidly gathered energy. In an environment full of water, a Water Tail twice its usual size mercilessly whipped toward the Snow Guardian Bear's head.

Liu Zeru clenched both hands tight. There was no time. The Snow Guardian Bear was in poor shape now, and more than half its energy was spent. If this dragged on any longer, facing an Ice Luqia with the Melt Water trait on a water field, there was simply no way to gain the upper hand.

Lubao, executing Water Jet, charged straight in. Just as the collision happened, the Snow Guardian Bear summoned all its strength and bit down with everything it had.

At the same moment, Qiao Sang shouted: "Water Jet!"

She couldn't see the exact scene in the water, but the screams from the virtual screen and the audience's reactions made it easy to guess the current state of the battle.

In almost the blink of an eye, it charged to the Snow Bear's front.

Lubao didn't have the strength to answer. She struggled to open her eyes and used her actions to tell her beast master directly.

The instant Ice Luqiya leapt back out of the water, Snow Bear, whose lower teeth had long since transformed into sharp ice fangs lying in wait, pounced over and bit down hard.

When the blue light faded, Lubao was seen standing beneath the floating stone, head slightly raised, completely unharmed, expression calm and composed.

Frozen Fang, an intermediate Ice-type skill. If bitten by Frozen Fang, it deals damage while having a certain chance of inflicting the target with Frozen and Flinch status.

"A-actually, don't you think a draw is pretty good too? Snow Bear really did give it everything."

A surge of strength from who-knows-where welled up in its heart. Snow Bear let out a small cry and burst out of the ice from the bottom of the water.

"Honestly, it's still a problem of the level being too high. If Snow Bear had degraded one or two more times and frozen all the water outside, it would have been over."

A draw?

"So pets without the Melt Water ability were actually that awesome?"

Even though I could have advanced even if I'd lost that match, my opponent was only 15, and beat me while remaining undefeated. How could I possibly accept that?

"Snow Bear!

】"

Snow Bear wailed and collapsed toward the bottom of the water.

To be honest, I wasn't willing to accept it either.

Below the arena.

"Ah, I really hope Ice Luqiya's opponent is you…"

Dozens of incomparably solid ice pillars rapidly condensed in the air and smashed downward.

"You saw the posts these past few days, right? Someone came up with a plan targeting Ice Luqiya's Melt Water ability. They said just send a Poison-type pet to drop some poison in the water and it's done — it can force it out mid-battle too."

"Snow Bear…"

The blue light was like a switch that controlled the sound; the moment it lit up, it made the entire audience shut their mouths.

"Yeah, it was attacked in the water for so long just now, yet at the very end it still managed to keep going."

"This Snow Bear's recovery is that strong? It took such a huge head-on hit and was still able to recover so quickly and keep attacking…"

The audience turned to look at the virtual screen in unison.

Just then, a wave of cold air swept in, and the spot where Lubao had originally been standing instantly froze solid.

The sound traveled down into the water, and Snow Bear, battered all over, suddenly opened its eyes.

Willing to accept it?

Qiao Sang looked at Lubao's figure — covered in wounds, unable to get up — and thought of how she had been training desperately these past few days for the match. She was silent for a moment, then said: