Hanggang City.

At one of the indoor training arenas at the Dongpan Pet Beast Training Base:

"Principal, are we really going to keep Guwei Sunflower's evolution a secret from the others?" Asked a slightly chubby man dressed in a black polo shirt, looking perplexed.

"Are we really going to have Ding Yanjing keep using his Flash-Leaving Crow for battles?"

Huang Renbiao, watching Ding Yanjing and his Flash-Leaving Crow train in the center of the arena, didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked slowly:

"Do you know Qiao Sang from Shengshui High School?"

"Of course." The man nodded.

"An Flame Hound, a Treasure-Seeking Demon, and an Ice Qiya, which is a near-extinct pet beast. Right now, she’s the most talked-about student in our province."

Huang Renbiao added, "And she’s only 15 years old."

The man fell silent for two seconds.

All those qualities concentrated in one person, no matter how many times he heard it, it was still shocking.

"But what does that have to do with hiding Guwei Blossom’s evolution?" The man asked.

Huang Renbiao replied solemnly, "After the provincial competitions in the National Campus Beast Mastering League, rewards are always distributed. Someone told me that this time, one of the prizes for the Most Promising Award among the top three will be an A-grade Potential Enhancer."

"I want Ding Yanjing to win that award and use it to further boost his strength before the regional competition."

An A-grade Potential Enhancer? The man was taken aback.

This wasn’t something that increased a beast’s level or advanced its life stage. Instead, it improved the beast’s physique, allowing it to break through its natural limits and expand its energy threshold, thereby enhancing its potential.

Items that boosted a beast’s potential were always exorbitantly priced, let alone an A-grade one.

The man hesitated before reluctantly saying, "With Qiao Sang from Shengshui High School around, I’m afraid Ding Yanjing might not win that award."

While Ding Yanjing’s potential was undeniable, anyone with eyes could tell who had more potential between Qiao Sang and him.

Even as a teacher at Litan Beast-Taming High School, he couldn’t bring himself to claim the award belonged to Ding Yanjing without feeling guilty.

"I know." Huang Renbiao said.

"That’s why I’m asking you to keep it under wraps. If no one knows about this beforehand, then when Ding Yanjing summons Guwei Sunflower for the first time, it will have a more powerful impact."

"If his first battle with Qiao Sang includes summoning Guwei Sunflower and he beats her, the visual impact and the direct comparison of strength will likely sway the judges in his favor."

Of course, this alone wouldn’t be enough. The key factor was having the right connections at higher levels.

The debut of an advanced pet beast during this year’s Zhejiang Province segment of the National Campus Beast-Mastering League would give them the leverage they needed.

With Ding Yanjing’s strength, representing Zhejiang Province at the regional competition was a given. Naturally, the provincial authorities wanted his strength to be at its peak at this critical juncture.

Of course, Huang Renbiao wouldn’t openly admit that.

Why go through all this trouble? Isn’t the award limited to the top three in the province? Instead of pulling strings, why not just ensure Qiao Sang doesn’t make it into the top three? The man considered voicing his thoughts but stopped himself.

Considering Qiao Sang’s strength, it didn’t seem plausible for her to fail to make it into the top three…

Qiao Sang, of course, had no idea that Litan Beast-Taming High School was keeping Guwei Sunflower’s evolution a secret because of her.

At this moment, she was in a great mood, humming a tune while scrolling through her phone for skills suitable for Lubao to learn.

As she browsed, she came across posts about her school principal on the school forum and gave them all a thumbs-up.

Thinking about the principal’s words, “You don’t need to worry about money; the school will cover it,” made her see his image as practically radiant.

Advanced pet beast energy pills, custom-made on a rush order at that, she had been worried that she wouldn’t be able to afford Yabao’s cultivation costs after his evolution. But now, it turned out she didn’t need to spend a penny!

She wondered if the principal would also cover the costs if Little Treasure and Lubao evolved. The thought made her grin foolishly.

Ever since arriving in Hongrao Town, she felt her luck had been extraordinary.

Though she had been caught up in a storm of events, at least she had witnessed the legendary phantom beast Luckbringer and the appearance of a secret realm rift. Plus, Little Treasuere had inexplicably learned spatial shift, and Yabao had evolved.

Now, even Yabao’s post-evolution energy pills weren’t her problem anymore.

If Lubao could also make a breakthrough here, it would be perfect…

As Qiao Sang thought this, she had no idea that the air around her had subtly trembled.

The group matches lasted a week.

Before she knew it, Qiao Sang had already been in Hongrao Town for five days.

Hongrao Beast-Taming Center.

Room 1203.

"Qiao Sang, one of tomorrow’s opponents is Liu Zeru from Xiongding High School. Are you still going to use Ice Qiya?" Xu Yixuan asked while lying on the bed, tilting her head.

Qiao Sang thought for a moment.

"We’ll see."

Over the past few matches, she had been sending out Lubao to quickly improve her combat ability.

But that was only when she was confident of winning.

Liu Zeru from Xiongding High School had two bear-type pet beasts, both known for high offense and defense. Given Lubao’s current strength, there was no 100% guarantee of victory.

Xu Yixuan smiled and suggested, "Why don’t you use the Blazing Star Canine? That would be a guaranteed win!"

"Lu."

At the desk by the window, where Lubao was practicing energy condensation, her eyes turned icy cold.

Feeling the chill radiating from Ice Qiya, Xu Yixuan quickly changed the subject.

"Wasn’t the lottery draw at 9:30? Let me see if I won!"

She picked up her uniform, pulled a lottery ticket from the pocket, and lay back on the bed, opening her phone to check the lottery website.

"You bought a lottery ticket?" Qiao Sang asked, surprised.

"Yeah, last night after training, I went with He Daitao." Xu Yixuan replied, comparing her ticket to the numbers on the website.

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to join, but the principal and Teacher Sun were with you, so I didn’t dare."

Honestly, even if you had asked, I wouldn’t have gone. Ever since the principal covered Yaobao’s energy pill costs, Qiao Sang felt her desire for money had significantly decreased.

Lottery tickets? Nothing more than a tax on fools.

"Did you win?" Qiao Sang asked.

Xu Yixuan checked the numbers, pouted, and tossed the ticket onto the bedside table.

"Nope."

No surprise there, thought Qiao Sang.

"Hey, remember I told you someone in Hongrao Town won an unlimited spending card for a year? Do you still remember that?" Xu Yixuan suddenly asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Qiao Sang asked.

Xu Yixuan sighed heavily.

"I saw on the news today that no one has claimed the prize yet. Wouldn’t it be great if the winner didn’t want it and gave it to me instead?"

"As if that’s going to happen. They probably just forgot." Qiao Sang retorted.

"It’s more realistic to imagine finding something valuable on the ground."

Xu Yixuan thought about it and agreed. She put on her uniform and shoes, smiling sheepishly.

"I’m going to grab something to eat and see if I can find anything on the way."

With that, she opened the door and left.

Qiao Sang:...

Just then, a gust of wind blew in through the open door, sending the lottery ticket on the bedside table flying straight onto Little Treasure’s face as he trained with a group of ants.

"Xun?"

Little Treasure removed the ticket from his face and examined it, his expression puzzled.

"Xun?"

Hmm, why does this thing look so familiar?