Beast Taming: Starting From Zero - Chapter 1388

Chapter 1388. Chapter 1383 You’re Being Watched (Part 2)

“A psychologist?” Michaela was taken aback at first, then smiled. “Perhaps the problem lies with her.”

Her smile held no sarcasm.

Josang looked puzzled. “The problem lies with her?”

Michaela calmly replied, “The more talented a Beastmaster is, the smoother their path tends to be when resources are plentiful. So when they experience a major setback, they are very likely to become despondent and develop self-doubt.”

Penjame, who had been keeping her eyes closed, opened them and silently glanced at her Beastmaster.

“MoMo,” the Dragon King nodded in agreement.

Qiao Sang was taken aback: “Just losing one match, and it’s already this bad?”

Michaela chuckled: “This isn’t an ordinary match. The Master Challenge is an interstellar competition, and you’re a student at the Imperial Beast Taming Academy, plus you’re only 18 years old and only have four Royal-level pets. All these factors combined mean that even winning against her would be enough to make her uncomfortable, let alone a shutout.”

Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong with my conditions… Qiao Sang thought to herself, but then she thought, if she encountered a ten-year-old A-level professional beast tamer in the Master Challenge, and that person had three Royal-level pets and shut out her, she and Ya Bao would probably have to doubt themselves for a while.

Thinking about it this way, Qiao Sang instantly understood Xia Huo and couldn’t help but sigh, “I hope she can adjust soon.”

Michaela smiled and said, “Actually, encountering a match like this before the Interstellar Cup is actually a good thing for her.”

As she spoke, she thought of something and sighed with both regret and pride, “I originally hoped that you could lose a few matches to learn from your experience, but I didn’t expect that you not only didn’t lose, but also won so beautifully.”

“It’s mainly because Little Treasure and the others were so capable,” Qiao Sang said modestly.

To be honest, it wasn’t entirely modesty.

Little Treasure’s tongue licking move against Shui Xixing was truly a stroke of genius; this move was completely outside of her expectations.

Now that she thought about it, if it weren’t for Little Treasure’s tongue licking move, Shui Xixing would most likely have caused the water barrier to explode first.

“Ya Ya…”

Ya Bao showed a resentful expression and called out, indicating that it could also be capable, but it wasn’t allowed to participate.

Qiao Sang coughed and continued explaining, “Little Treasure needs to absorb white energy to evolve. Even if it can absorb white energy normally, it can’t absorb as much as it would at the Master Challenge. I need to let it appear more often at the Master Challenge. Later, I’ll let Steel Treasure appear…”

“Steel Power.”

Before he finished speaking, Steel Treasure called out from the side, indicating that it had always wanted to promote its species, and its Beastmaster knew about this idea, which was why it was being allowed to appear.

“That’s right.” Qiao Sang nodded.

“Ya Ya…”

Ya Bao sighed.

Compared to the reasons why Little Treasure and the others appeared, its reason for wanting to appear was indeed nothing. It just wanted to fight, so why was it so difficult…

Qiao Sang patted Ya Bao’s head and comforted it,

“It’s only the top 20 now. There are still several matches to go, and you’ll have many more opportunities to appear.”

“Ya Ya?” Ya Bao called out.

Several matches were several matches.

“At least three more matches.” Qiao Sang said.

If it wanted to get into the top three, it had to win three more matches.

“Ya Ya!”

Upon hearing this, Ya Bao cried out in despair.

“Only three matches left!”

At this moment, Michaela asked, “Is Toothpick sad that it didn’t get to fight?”

“Yes,” Josang replied with a hint of helplessness.

To be honest, she had originally planned for Toothpick to fight today, but Little Treasure’s performance far exceeded her expectations, directly defeating the opponent’s four royal-level pets.

Michaela said, “If it wants to fight, you can have Dragon King accompany it.”

Although Dragon King wasn’t very obedient to her these days, based on her understanding of Dragon King, she believed it would be very willing to help with sparring.

Toothpick’s ears immediately perked up, and it turned to look at Dragon King.

“MoMo.”

Dragon King was taken aback at first, then called out with great pride, indicating that if you want to fight, I’m always ready to accompany you.

“Toothpick?”

Upon hearing this, Toothpick’s eyes lit up, its tail wagged, and it called out, indicating that it really meant it.

“MoMo.”

Dragon King’s lips curled into a smile, its paws crossed in front of it, and it called out, indicating that it was indeed true.

Previously, it had no desire to fight these juniors, but after watching Ya Bao’s performance in the Master Challenge, it had to admit that it was thrilled and its long-dormant desire to fight was rekindled.

“Ya Ya!”

Ya Bao immediately showed an excited expression and called out, indicating that they should go fight now!

“Mo Mo!”

Dragon King called out.

Let’s go now!

After saying that, Ya Bao and Dragon King prepared to go out together.

“Wait.” Qiao Sang called out to them and smiled, “Let’s go back together.”

…

Backstage, in the dressing room.

The female doctor with her hair up pushed up her glasses and asked,

“What are you thinking about right now?”

“I’m not thinking about anything right now,” Xia Huo said.

“What impressed you most in that match just now?”

“The Netherworld Ring Monarch…”

“Imagine the Netherworld Ring Monarch in your mind now, what does it look like?”

“It’s smiling at me in the dark, showing its sinister teeth, it’s mocking me…”

“Why is it mocking you?”

“It’s laughing at my stupidity.”

The female doctor quickly scribbled on the paper: [Diagnosis: Specific Phobia – Netherworld Ring Monarch]

…

Villa, open space.

High in the sky, a red line and a white line collided, then quickly separated, moving aimlessly, then colliding again.

Fireworks exploded continuously, shockwaves coming one after another.

“Xunxun~” Under the tree, Little Xunbao happily looked at the comments on the trending topics.

Qingbao leaned closer, occasionally asking questions.

“Xunxun~” Little Treasure helped with the translation.

“The Nether Ring Monarch has really made a splash this time,” Michaela said. “Although it evolved using white energy, I suggest you don’t let it appear directly in the next match.”

“Why?” Josang asked.

“Which of your pets do you think the other contestants are most afraid of right now?” Michaela asked instead of answering.

“Little Treasure,” Josang replied without hesitation.

After today’s match, she checked the trending topics and news on her phone. Almost all the reports were about Little Treasure, with headlines like “Nightmare of Pets of the Same Rank,” “How to Defeat the Nether Ring Monarch,” and “Josang’s Ace—The Nether Ring Monarch.” There were so many similar headlines.

“That’s right,” Michaela said. “Every contestant you encounter from now on will definitely target the Nether Ring Monarch. If you let the Nether Ring Monarch appear in the first match every time, they will do everything they can to defeat it. The public’s expectations for the Nether Ring Monarch are too high right now. If it makes even one mistake, most people will be disappointed, and the white energy generated will decrease accordingly.”

“It’s true that there’s a lot of white energy generated during the Master Challenge, but not enough for Little Treasure to evolve directly. To ensure the white energy continues to increase and can be absorbed even after the competition ends, the best approach is to have Little Treasure effectively participate in battles.”

Qiao Sang understood and said seriously, “I understand.”

“By the way,” Michaela smiled, “The Dean contacted me today.”

The topic changed so quickly that Qiao Sang didn’t react immediately. She paused for a moment and asked, “Did the Dean say anything?”

Michaela looked at her, his smile spreading, and said,

“The Dean is very satisfied with your shutout performance against Xia Huo today. He promised to reward you with 100,000 points even if you don’t make it into the top three in the Master Challenge.”

Qiao Sang’s first reaction was surprise and delight, but she quickly calmed down, controlling her upturned lips, and said,

“Then I still hope to get 200,000 points.”

To be honest, if she had heard this news before today’s competition, she would have been even happier and would have praised the Dean’s generosity. However, after today’s competition, she felt that as long as her luck wasn’t too bad, her chances of making it into the top three were still very high.

“Good, ambitious!” Michaela was very satisfied and said, “I will relay your words to the Dean and tell her about your idea.”

Josang was taken aback and quickly said, “There’s no need to tell the Dean.”

Michaela smiled and said, “You don’t know, the Dean values your idea very much now.”

Then she couldn’t tell her even more. What if the Dean misunderstood and said, “Then let’s just forget about the 100,000 points”? She felt that the probability of becoming one of the top three was high, but not 100%… Josang said seriously, “I think it’s better not to bother the Dean with such a small matter.”

“That’s true.” Michaela was quickly persuaded.

Although she wanted to keep in touch with the Dean, since Josang had said so, she naturally wouldn’t force the connection.

Suddenly, with a “bang,” a violent explosion occurred high in the sky.

A flame fell straight down from the shockwave, heading directly towards Josang and Michaela’s location.

However, just a few meters away from them, the cold air suddenly dropped.

The flame instantly froze into ice and disappeared.

Josang sensed something and turned to look at Lu Bao, who had stopped training not far away at some point.

“Ice Saint.” Lu Bao also looked over and calmly called out, indicating to be careful.

Qiao Sang was deeply moved and gave a heavy “Mmm.”

Lu Bao really was becoming less and less of a worry; it could train on its own, rarely lost its temper, and occasionally even cared about people…

Just as she was thinking this, Michaela followed her gaze, pondered for a moment, and said, “Lu Bao has appeared the fewest times among all your royal-level pets. If it can make its debut in the next match, it should catch the opponent off guard.”

A few meters away from them, under a large tree, Xiao Xunbao and Qingbao were chatting enthusiastically on their phones.

At this moment, on the tree, a leaf trembled without wind, a green leaf suddenly broke off and fell, then turned yellow and withered, before turning into powder and scattering in the wind.

The succulent-looking Sharala was watering itself with a watering can when it suddenly sensed something in the direction of the large tree. Without even putting down the watering can, it flew towards Qiao Sang, pointed at the tree with a serious expression, and called out,

“Xia Xia.”

Qiao Sang paused, then confirmed, “You mean the tree where Xiao Xunbao and Qingbao are is strange?”

“Xunxun?”

“Qingqing?”

Hearing their Beastmaster’s voice, Xiao Xunbao and Qingbao, though confused, immediately got up, left the tree, and rushed to their Beastmaster, looking puzzled and calling out,

“Xia Xia.”

Sharala nodded.

Qiao Sang glanced at the tree and then said to Teacher Michaela,

“Shalarala said that tree is strange.”

She had no doubt about Sharala’s senses; as a grass-type mythical beast, it was extremely sensitive to plants.

Michaela also had no doubts; she looked at Penjami.

Penjami had closed its eyes again and fallen asleep.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Violent explosions echoed from high above.

Even so, they didn’t disturb Penjami’s sleep in the slightest.

“Mimi,” Michaela called.

Penjami slowly opened her eyes.

“Is the Mirror Realm still there?” Michaela asked.

“Penjami,” Penjami sensed it and nodded.

“What happened to that tree a minute ago? Take a look,” Michaela said.

“Penjami,” Penjami teleported to the tree, extended her paw to touch it, and her eyes glowed blue.

The next second, Little Treasure and Qingbao appeared under the tree, their heads close together, looking at their phones.

“Qingqing?” Qingbao looked shocked and called out.

“Xunxun~” Little Treasure called out, indicating that there was no need to be alarmed; it was just a skill called Touch Power, which even Big Brother Yabao knew.

“When Touch Power reaches its ultimate level, and the pet’s own energy is strong enough, it can rewind time by touching an object, transforming it into an image so everyone can see what it experienced during that time,” Qiao Sang explained.

Now, Ya Bao’s tactile perception has also reached this level.

“Qing Qing…” Qing Bao first glanced at Xiao Xun Bao with displeasure, then looked at her own Beastmaster and exclaimed with admiration, indicating that it was truly an amazing skill.

Xiao Xun Bao: “…”

Don’t think I didn’t see you just giving me that look…

Qiao Sang looked at the big tree and saw a green leaf suddenly fall, turning yellow and then withering at a speed visible to the n*ked eye. Before it even hit the ground, it turned into powder and disappeared.

Under the tree, the figures of Xiao Xun Bao and Qing Bao disappeared one after another.

Penjia Mei teleported back.

“What’s going on?” Qiao Sang couldn’t help but ask.

Michaela said in a deep voice: “A pet beast has been here. To be precise, a pet beast should have come here through some skill.”

Qiao Sang’s eyelids twitched: “What kind of pet beast can come and go freely in the Mirror Realm cast by Penjia Mei?”

Michaela’s tone was solemn: “It should also be an Emperor-level pet beast.”

As she spoke, she looked at Qiao Sang.

Josang had a bad feeling: “Why are you looking at me?”

“You’re being watched,” Michaela said.

…

Tanka.

In the best room of a riverside hotel.

A pet beast, about 60 centimeters tall, wearing a miniature shrinking bracelet, with a round yellow body, dark green markings, and two green leaves on its head, lay on the sofa. Suddenly, it opened its eyes, sat up, and barked twice:

“Cun Cun.”

“Cun Cun.”

“Qiao Sang’s first opponent in the next match should be Ice Saint Asia,” said an elderly man with half-gray hair on the sofa.

“I know how to arrange it,” a woman with shoulder-length short hair beside him said respectfully.

“The Dean has high hopes for you now. I will tell you any information about Qiao Sang as soon as possible,” the elderly man with half-gray hair said calmly. “Don’t let him down.” (End of this chapter)