Trending at Number One?

Qiao Sang was immediately intrigued.

“Let me check.” She said, putting the call on speaker before opening her social media app.

The trending topic topping the list read: #TheStrongestHighSchoolerEver!#

The strongest? That’s a bit much… Qiao Sang thought, feeling a bit shy. Clicking into the trend, she saw a video captioned:

“Live from the National Campus Beast Mastering League, I declare this the strongest high schooler in history!”

The clip featured her snapping her fingers while Yabao flawlessly executed Meteor Rain.

Qiao Sang replayed the video several times.

To be honest, it was filmed quite well. The uploader had even added an epic soundtrack, making the entire sequence from a third-person perspective look incredibly cool.

The comments section had already exploded, with over a thousand entries:

“Where is this beast from? It looks so majestic!”

“Love you, Queen!”

“OMG, this is incredible!”

“A high schooler? Yeah right! That Meteor Rain is mastery-level! You’re telling me this is just a kid?”

“Can’t believe it’s high school! This is from the National Campus Beast Mastering League!”

“This isn’t the strongest! Do you guys not understand elemental counters? Check out Song Xinyue from Lianbo, whose beast is a natural counter to fire-types.”

“I did some digging. Her name is Qiao Sang, 15 years old, a first-year at Shengshui High in Yuhua, Zhejiang Province. She has one advanced and two intermediate beasts. Locals might recognize her as the tamer of that Flame Hound that recently went viral. The beast in the video is its evolved form.”

“Whoa, that’s impressive!”

“Legendary! This is straight out of a novel!”

“15 years old?! Back when I was 15, I was just trying to get my Jia Dog to train…”

Amidst her amusement, Qiao Sang’s phone speaker interrupted her thoughts:

“How does it feel to be trending at number one?” Asked Xu Yixuan.

Qiao Sang smiled.

“Not bad.”

“If you told me yesterday this would happen today, I’d laugh in disbelief. You actually wiped the floor with Ding Yanjing!” Xu Yixuan laughed loudly.

“You should’ve seen his face-”

“I did.” Qiao Sang interrupted calmly.

Xu Yixuan fell silent.

After chatting for a bit, they hung up.

Not long after, another call came in, this time from Fang Sisi.

“Qiao Sang! You’re trending at number one! That finger snap was so cool! By the way, when did your Flame Hound evolve? And what’s its evolved form called?”

After a brief pause, Qiao Sang answered, “It evolved two weeks ago. Its name is Blazing Star Canine.”

“Blazing Star Canine? Awesome name!” Fang Sisi exclaimed.

“Oh, by the way! My Cotton Bug is evolving into a Snow Butterfly. I know it can’t match your Blazing Star Canine, but if you’re ever looking for a partner beast for yours, remember our years of being deskmates, okay?”

“…Fine.” Qiao Sang replied faintly.

The flood of calls didn’t stop. By the time Qiao Sang was about to shut off her phone, yet another one came in. Seeing the caller ID, she hesitated briefly before picking up.

“Hello, Sister Song.”

“I saw the trending topic.” Song Yuan’s voice trembled slightly.

“Your Flame Hound evolved?”

Qiao Sang hummed in confirmation.

“It happened recently, but I’ve been busy preparing for the tournament, so I didn’t mention it.”

“Understandable! Leagues are important.” Song Yuan replied quickly.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and added, “When the tournament is over, let’s have a meal together. I have something to discuss with you.”

At just 15 years old, Qiao Sang’s talent as a beast tamer had already made waves. While people might eventually forget about the trending topic, Song Yuan knew Qiao Sang’s potential far exceeded Zhejiang Province.

Song Yuan resolved to secure her connection with this rising star before it was too late.

Rulai Hotel, Fifth Floor

On the training grounds, Spiked Dragon and Scaled Control Puppet were sparring freely.

In the nearby lounge area, Li Zonglin sipped his drink and tried to console Ding Yanjing.

“Don’t feel too bad, man. After analyzing it, that Qiao Sang is just a freak of nature. That Meteor Rain? Nobody could’ve stopped it.”

Ding Yanjing stared silently out the window.

“But seriously, is she really a first-year? No family backing, no inherited beasts, yet she’s reached this level. It’s insane.” Li Zonglin muttered.

Wang Rui nudged him toward Ding Yanjing’s direction.

“Enough already.”

Li Zonglin got the hint and changed the topic.

“So, Ding, are you watching Xu Xiaodan’s match tomorrow?”

“No.” Ding Yanjing said flatly.

“Giving up on love, too, huh?” Li Zonglin teased.

“I’m planning to apply to Sennuo Beast University. Long-distance relationships are doomed anyway.” Ding Yangjin replied.

Wang Rui was stunned.

“You’re serious?”

Ding Yanjing glanced at him.

“What do you think?”

The group fell into an awkward silence. Suddenly, a crisp voice broke through:

“No need to go that far. I work part-time at Hongying Beast-Taming Club as a sparring partner. If you want a rematch, just mention my name, and I’ll even give you a 10% discount.”

The trio turned their heads stiffly, only to see none other than Qiao Sang herself standing nearby.

“!!!”

"She's here?! Why?!" Li Zonglin stared at Qiao Sang in shock as she walked to a nearby area and began forming hand seals.

"How would I know?" Wang Rui frowned.

"I thought Shengshui High was staying at Shengcheng Hotel this time."

"Are you two stupid?" Ding Yanjing, who had regained his usual demeanor after confirming that he could indeed pay for matches with Qiao Sang, scoffed.

"Look at her three contracted beasts, obviously, her family isn't short on money. For such an important competition, she'd naturally prioritize comfort."

Not that her family had always been well-off... Qiao Sang tuned out the background chatter, scanned the fifth-floor training area, and said to Yabao, "This place isn't suitable for Hellfire. Instead, practice your meditation here."

"Yap!"

Yabao nodded, closed his eyes, and immediately emitted a faint blue glow.

Qiao Sang surveyed the training ground again. The space was large, equipped with plenty of devices, and floored with specialized materials resistant to damage. Still, it wasn't appropriate for training high-destruction skills like Hellfire.

She made a mental note to look for a house with an outdoor training ground when house-hunting, somewhere durable enough for intense skill practice.

"Little Treasure, practice spatial shift." She instructed, pulling out an eye mask she had purchased yesterday and placing him on Little Treasure.

After being accidentally teleported to a busy street the day before, Qiao Sang had decided that Little Treasure needed to train independently until his precision improved. The eye mask was part of her solution, blocking his vision would heighten his other senses and improve his spatial awareness.

"Xun~"

Curious, Little Treasure touched the eye mask with his short claws.

"Focus on sensing with your mental power." Qiao Sang guided.

"Xun~"

Little Treasure stopped fiddling with the mask and began channeling his mental energy. Within seconds, a 3D map of his surroundings materialized in his mind.

Qiao Sang's voice rang out: "Lock onto a position carefully and then teleport."

"Xun…"

Cautious, Little Treasure zeroed in on a nearby location. A second later, he vanished.

"Xun~"

The little creature removed his mask, eager to see where he had landed. To his surprise, Qiao Sang's face was right in front of him.

"Xun?!"

He looked utterly shocked.

"You didn’t fail." Qiao Sang said, her lips twitching.

"You teleported… about ten centimeters to the left."

"Xun…"

Relieved, Little Treasure patted his chest. For a moment, he thought the move hadn't worked at all.

Seeing how cautious Little Treasure had become, Qiao Sang chuckled inwardly and gently encouraged, "Keep practicing like this."

"Xun~"

Obediently, Little Treasure put the mask back on.

After settling Xunbao, Qiao Sang turned to Lubao, who was quietly watching her.

Remembering her evolution conditions, she hesitated before asking, "Would you like to watch a comedy?"

Lubao: ???

Over the next few days, the competition proceeded smoothly, with everyone silently praying not to face Qiao Sang.

After witnessing the might of Blazing Star Canine, her evolved beast, everyone understood, being paired against Qiao Sang was tantamount to packing up and heading home.

On the sixth day of the knockout rounds, only nine contestants remained. Since the odd number required one to sit out this round, organizers deliberated on factors like past performance, beast attributes, and overall skill to select the lucky contestant.

After much discussion, they unanimously decided on Qiao Sang.

No one objected.

Kaainan Beast Battle Arena, Contestant Area

The once-crowded zone now housed only nine people.

Qiao Sang sat in the front row, with Yabao beside her, watching the match intently.

"Who do you think will win?" Xu Yixuan leaned closer and asked.

Instead of answering directly, Qiao Sang turned to Yabao.

"What do you think?"

"Yap…"

Yabao stared at the two battling beasts, his expression serious, before confidently pointing at the Toxic-Tail Moth hovering mid-air.

Qiao Sang turned to Xu Yixuan.

"This round? Wang Rui's Scaled Control Puppet will win."

Yabao: ???

Xu Yixuan: ???

Wait, why even ask Yabao if you were going to say something different?! Xu Yixuan stared, dumbfounded, as the battle unfolded.

Moments later, Wang Rui's Scaled Control Puppet, despite being poisoned, defeated the Toxic-Tail Moth with an Illusionary Beam.

"Chirp!"

The referee's whistle blew.

"Victory goes to Wang Rui from Litan Beast High!"

Yabao: !!!

Xu Yixuan: !!!

Qiao Sang sighed inwardly. Yabao's reverse predictions strike again.

The matches progressed quickly, with all eight contestants finishing by noon. Although the qualifiers were clear, protocol demanded an official announcement.

A man with a Feather Glider Mouse perched on his shoulder walked into the arena, holding a paper with the names of the advancing contestants.

He announced loudly: "The contestants moving to the next round are: Wang Rui of Litan Beast High, Li Zonglin of Litan Beast High, Xu Yixuan of Shengshui High, Huang Kaijun of Lianyu Beast Academy, and Qiao Sang of Shengshui High."

"Congratulations to you all."