Beast Taming: Starting From Zero - Chapter 1364

Chapter 1364. Chapter 1359 Xia Huo VS Jules (Two-in-One)

“The player receiving a bye in this match is Josang!” Nephthys announced loudly.

The entire arena erupted in commotion.

Josang stared blankly at the enlarged photo on the giant virtual screen.

Wasn’t it said that the most likely champion might receive a bye?

Even if someone couldn’t receive two byes in a row, besides Lefebvre, weren’t there Serana and Xia Huo, who could always have five pets?

Even without them, she remembered several other highly favored contestants. How could it be her turn?   After the initial shock and bewilderment, Josang couldn’t help but feel disappointed, a deep sense of regret flashing across her face… This was a competition spanning the entire galaxy, with over 100,000 spectators. Who knew

when she’d be able to   participate in a competition of this scale again? She had originally wanted Little Xunbao to take this opportunity to absorb more white energy, but now that there was no competition, the loss was enormous…   ”Xunxun…”   Little Xunbao fell to the ground, its paws touching the ground, its head drooping, looking utterly devastated.   Its Beast Tamer was out of the running, the competition was over, so what about all that brutal training it had undergone with Brother Ya Bao all this time…   “Ya Ya!”   Ya Bao roared to the sky, unwilling to accept reality.   No!   Qiao Sang heard the cry, gathered its thoughts, and whispered a reminder: “The live stream is still going on.”   “Xun Xun~”   Little Xun Bao instantly floated up, managed its expression, and grinned at the camera.   “Ya Ya…”   Ya Bao was filled with grief and indignation, its expression control was a bit off, and it could only force itself not to cry out again.   Michaela stared at the enlarged photo on the field, her expression hardening before she exclaimed, “I can’t believe it really is you.”   She then chuckled, “A bye in a match might seem like luck, but it actually reflects the professionalism and fairness of the entire tournament structure. There’s a strict competition logic behind it. The fact that you got a bye from Lichmons means you’re a high-ranking player in their comprehensive evaluation.”   She paused, then became serious again, “But don’t be too happy about the bye. Those who get byes will be under more scrutiny, and the pressure will increase. If you lose later, there will be more criticism, which isn’t good for a newcomer like you who’s just starting out.” *Do   I look happy?* Josang thought to himself, then stopped ignoring the surrounding noise and sighed,   ”There’s already a lot of that now.”   The surrounding noise was deafening.   Voices from the audience filled the air:   ”How could it be Josang?”   ”Ah! I knew Josang had the makings of a champion!”   ”My god, she’s a contestant I never expected.”   ”Is this some kind of rigged competition? Are they afraid the youngest A-rank Beastmaster in history will be eliminated too quickly?”   ”Use your brain! This is a Master Challenge, how could they pull such dirty tricks? Besides, Josang’s strength in the first two rounds was undeniable. I think she has a chance to win.”   ”Ahhh! I finally managed to snag a ticket to see Josang compete, and she got a bye!”   ”I’m not having it! If anyone should get a bye, it should be Sera.”   ”While I admit Josang is strong, it shouldn’t warrant a bye.” ”   Her overall score is probably high, and luck played a part too. Even those who were proven by Lichmons to get byes in the past aren’t guaranteed to win.” ”   With that kind of luck, she just coasted into the fourth round.”   ”Stop being so sour. Even if Josang hadn’t gotten a bye this time, she would still have made it to the next round.”   ”Who knows? What if we run into Lefebvre?”   The entire arena was buzzing with discussion about the bye, a topic far more controversial than Lefebvre’s bye in the previous round. However, many voices expressed surprise and optimism for Josang, something unprecedented for a player participating in a StarCraft competition for the first time.   Normally, a bye for a newcomer with no prior experience would be met with ridicule and even online harassment.   Losing the match after a bye was even worse; many players might be completely demoralized by the outside noise.   Michaela listened to the audience’s comments for a while, raised an eyebrow, then ignored them, smiling,   ”There are still many people who believe in you.”   She paused, then stood up, saying, “Since there’s no match today, let’s go back to training.”   ”Okay,” Josang nodded.   She then looked at Little Treasure Hunter.   ”Treasure Hunter~”   Little Treasure Hunter, still grinning, its eyes glowing blue, disappeared with its group.   …   Villa, living room.   A group of figures appeared out of thin air.   Qiao Sang immediately formed hand seals and summoned Gangbao and the others.   Penjami found a comfortable spot to lie down and sleep.   Michaela and Dragon King sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV.   ”Xunxun…”   Little Xunbao lay on the floor, utterly dejected.   No more matches, no more matches…   ”Qingqing…”   Qingbao appeared, also looking somewhat listless.   ”Ya Ya…”   Yabao sighed and called out, expressing its bad luck.   ”Gangquan.”   Gangbao didn’t waste any time and called out, indicating that since there were no matches, it would go train first.   After saying that, it walked outside.   ”Bingsheng.”   Lubao called out and followed Gangbao out.   Tingbao didn’t care about the matches and found a place to lie down.   Qiao Sang coughed and said,   ”Although we got a bye this time, we still have to compete next time, so we can’t fall behind in training.”   ”Tingting!”   Tingbao understood, meaning it was time to train. It cried out, twisted its body, and flew outside.   ”Qingqing…”

Qingbao let out a listless cry and vanished in the wind.

“Ya Ya…”

Ya Bao channeled its energy.

Hundreds of identical-looking Burning Emperors appeared simultaneously and ran outside.

Qiao Sang looked at Xiao Xunbao.

“Xun Xun…”

Xiao Xunbao noticed its Beastmaster’s gaze and reluctantly channeled its energy.

A Netherworld Ring Monarch that looked exactly like it appeared immediately afterward.

Qiao Sang instantly understood what Xiao Xunbao was going to do, her lips twitching, and said, “You go too.”

“Xunxun!”

Little Xunbao floated up and pointed at Ya Bao, indicating that Ya Bao always sent his clones!

Ya Bao has so many clones, but you only have one stand; how can the training results be the same…? Qiao Sang thought to herself.

But before she could say anything, Ya Bao looked at Little Xunbao and called out, “Ya Ya.”

Then let’s go together.

Then it opened its mouth, picked it up, and walked outside.

Little Xunbao: “…”

The stand hesitated for a moment, then floated over.

Ya Bao is still the most reliable… Qiao Sang thought to herself, and sat down next to Teacher Michaela.

The TV was broadcasting the Master Challenge.

The third round of matches had just been grouped.

Qiao Sang quickly scanned the screen and soon saw a familiar set of names:

[Xia Huo VS Jules]

The match was today.

Qiao Sang’s first thought upon seeing this was: I didn’t expect them to be grouped together.

Then came the second thought: Yantian University and the Imperial Beast Taming Academy are indeed arch-rivals! There are still so many contestants left, yet students from these two schools have become opponents…

Michaela also saw the match list. She first frowned subconsciously, then her expression relaxed, and she said with a hint of schadenfreude, “I didn’t expect Jules’ opponent to be Xia Huo from Yantian Class in this match.”

After saying that, she thought of something and looked at Qiao Sang, asking,

“Do you want to go to the VIP room to watch the match?”

Qiao Sang thought to herself that the reason Teacher Michaela wanted to go to the VIP room was definitely because Teacher Margot was there…

Sure enough, before she could ask, Michaela said, “Margot has opened the VIP room for the whole event; we can go find her.”

Qiao Sang thought for a moment and said,

“I won’t go. Ya Bao and the others are still training; I’ll go later.”

“Dawdling.”

Dragon King picked his nose and barked, indicating that there was no point in going; watching the match here was just as good.

Michaela glanced at it and said,

“Jules, Margot’s student, is going to battle Xia Huo from the Flame Class.”

“Momo!”

Upon hearing this, Dragon King immediately perked up and barked, indicating that it wanted to go to the VIP room to watch the match!

It didn’t like any of its fellow Beastmasters; it still remembered their mocking faces when it was eliminated in the first round. Now that it had a chance to mock them, it certainly couldn’t miss it.

“Then you train well, I’ll take Dragon King and the others over.” After Michaela finished speaking, it called out, “Meimei.”

“Penpen.”

Penjiamei opened its eyes, sighed inwardly, sat up, its eyes glowing blue, and disappeared with its Beastmaster and Dragon King.

The entire living room fell silent.

Qiao Sang watched TV.

“Xiaxia.”

Seeing that there were no other people or pets around, Xiala took off the resistance flower from its head, revealing its original appearance after a long time, and sat down on the sofa.

Qiao Sang subconsciously pulled Xialala into his arms.

A person and a beast sat on the sofa, quietly watching TV together.

…

7:10 PM.

Dining table.

Michaela ate her meal in silence.

After about five minutes, she said in a deep voice,

“Xia Huo’s Nunu Stone Warrior has evolved into a Nunu Stone Master.”

Qiao Sang, gnawing on a chicken leg, said,

“I know, I watched her match with Jules this morning.”

She wasn’t particularly surprised that Xia Huo’s Nunu Stone Warrior had evolved into a Royal-level pet. After all, after receiving news that the opponent’s Nunu Stone Warrior could evolve at any time, she had already prepared herself for the possibility that it would evolve into a Royal-level pet.

Today’s match was the most popular, with Xia Huo and Jules being the most talked-about. One was a student from Yantian University, and the other was a student from the Imperial Beast Taming Academy.

Furthermore, the match brought surprises and unexpected results. Xia Huo’s Nunu Stone Warrior evolved into a Royal-level pet, making her the third contestant in this Master Challenge to have five Royal-level pets, while Jules’ King-level pet also evolved into a Royal-level pet, making her a contestant with four Royal-level pets.

The competition was incredibly fierce; it started around 10 AM and was still trending on social media that evening.

Xia Huo won, of course.

Michaela said in a low voice, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You faced her; it wasn’t like you had no chance of winning.”

To be honest, she had originally planned to mock Margot that morning, but seeing Xia Huo send out Nushizhe, and Jules giving it his all but still losing, left her with mixed feelings.

Jules was, after all, a student of the Imperial Class, and now that he had lost, all the pressure was on Josang.

The Dean had high hopes for Josang, and if he lost to Xia Huo, she wondered if the Dean would be disappointed… Would it affect Josang’s search for endangered pets with a maximum potential of Venerable-level…?

“I know,” Josang joked, “I’m more deserving of the championship than Xia Huo, after all, I had a bye today, didn’t I?”

Michaela laughed upon hearing this, “That’s true.”

After dinner, Josang went to the open space with Ya Bao and the others to train.

After briefly arranging the training content, she sat cross-legged in a secluded spot, took out her phone, and logged onto the Imperial Beast Taming Academy’s official website to search for resources suitable for Ya Bao and the others.

With the third round of competition over, only 39 contestants remained.

According to the rules, a revival round would be held after the third round, reviving one contestant, for a total of 40 contestants advancing to the fourth round.

These contestants were all incredibly strong; after her bye, they would definitely pay more attention to and study her, especially with Xia Huo adding another Royal-level pet. She had to take advantage of this time to strengthen herself.

Ideally, she could exchange for resources that would quickly increase the energy of her early-stage Royal-level pet to mid-stage Royal-level.

After all, even among Royal-level, the difference in energy and combat power between the early and mid-stages was immense.

Qiao Sang checked the newly appeared items in the points exchange section.

Soon, her target locked onto one item:

【Name: Eternal Ice Reagent】

【Type: Potion】

【Function: Contains a vast amount of energy. After being consumed, it will immediately convert into pure ice energy, thereby greatly increasing the energy of ice-type pets.】

【Note 1: Recommended for pure ice-type royal-level pets. Lower-level pets or those not pure ice-type may not be able to withstand it.】

【Note 2: Absorption time varies from 10 to 15 days. Do not approach within a 100-meter radius during absorption, otherwise there is a risk of being frozen.】

【Points: 60,000 points】

60,000 points… An item usable by royal-level pets, and the points have skyrocketed so much… Qiao Sang looked at the Eternal Ice Potion, hesitating for a moment.

It’s expensive, but if it can directly upgrade Lu Bao’s energy from the early stage to the mid-stage, it’s worth it. After all, a significant increase in strength increases the chances of getting into the top three, which will bring a reward of 200,000 points.

The problem is that the absorption time is a bit too long. If it’s really taken, Lu Bao may not have finished absorbing it by the time the next round of the competition starts.

Besides, Lu Bao isn’t a pure ice-type pet…

Qiao Sang pondered for two seconds and dialed Teacher Michaela’s number.

When in doubt, ask your teacher first. (End of Chapter)