On the way home, Qiao Sang hummed a cheerful tune, feeling exceptionally pleased.

The relief of not having to worry about money was simply intoxicating.

After a quick call to her mother to announce that the house purchase was finalized, Qiao Sang turned to Little Treasure with great expectations.

"You need to practice your spatial shift diligently."

She was thoroughly satisfied with the house’s size, privacy, and accompanying amenities.

However, as her mother had pointed out, it was quite far from school.

Fortunately, with Little Treasure's spatial shift ability, once mastered, distance would no longer be a concern. Qiao Sang’s mind brimmed with visions of a more convenient future.

"Xun!"

Hearing his trainer's words, Little Treasure floated to the side, letting out a soft chirp to signal a pause.

"What’s wrong?" Qiao Sang stopped and asked.

"Xun~"

Little Treasure giggled mischievously before removing a ring from his small frame. Reaching into the ring, he pulled out an ant.

Both Qiao Sang and Yabao stared at the ant in confusion.

The tiny ant lay motionless on Little Treasure’s paw, as if resigned to its fate.

"Xun!"

Little Treasure flashed a confident look that seemed to say, Watch this! Then, he extended a tiny claw, tapping the ant lightly. In an instant, the ant vanished.

"Yap!" Yabao’s eyes widened in astonishment.

Qiao Sang froze for a moment before understanding what had happened. She quickly opened the Beast Trainer Codex, her gaze locking onto a specific line:

[Spatial Shift (Mastery: 288/500)]

288... Her heart skipped a beat.

Since Little Treasure and Lubao usually trained at night, she had developed a habit of checking the Codex only before bed and again in the morning.

She distinctly remembered that the Spatial Shift data was at 287 earlier that day.

So, the ant… Did Little Treasure just perform spatial shift on it?

Realization dawned on Qiao Sang. Spatial Shift didn’t necessarily have to transport the pet performing it, it could be used to move other creatures or objects independently.

If this were true, then training efficiency could be exponentially increased!

"Brilliant!" Qiao Sang exclaimed, looking at Little Treasure with genuine admiration.

"Xun~"

Little Treasure puffed up his chest, his expression saying, Piece of cake!

"How did you come up with this?" She asked.

"Xun~ Xun!"

He chirped, explaining that he had discovered this trick while playing with ants out of boredom one night.

"Yap!"

Before Qiao Sang could respond, Yabao jumped up excitedly, expressing his eagerness to try.

"Xun~"

Little Treasure nodded and floated over, preparing to place his claw on Yabao.

You’re not playing, you’re about to be played! Qiao Sang quickly pulled Yabao back, halting the attempt.

“No way. Little Treasure’s spatial shift isn’t precise enough yet. What if you get teleported to some random corner and can’t return?”

"Yap..."

Yabao froze, then frantically shook his head.

Getting stuck? Absolutely not!

"Xun..."

Little Treasure hesitated for a moment, then patted his chest as if to promise he would master the skill soon and properly include Yabao in the fun.

"Yap." Yabao thought for a moment before reluctantly agreeing.

Long An Road, Tianjing Garden, Unit 1705

Little Treasure immediately started training in spatial shift upon returning to the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Yabao and Lubao continued their usual competitive training.

Sitting on the living room sofa, Qiao Sang watched the three diligently training pets with a sense of pride.

After a while, she picked up her phone, which displayed over 99+ unread messages.

Opening the messages, she found most of them filled with congratulatory notes, which she patiently replied to one by one.

Among the notifications, the topmost message was from the senior-year school team group chat.

As a member of the senior-year team, Qiao Sang clicked in immediately.

Xu Yixuan: This is so unlucky! Our Yuhua region got grouped with three other regions in the district competition!

He Dadao: I didn’t make it to the district competition, so I fear nothing.

Zhang Dezhou: It’s just a multi-region match. Why panic? I thought you kept bragging about making nationals.

Xu Yixuan: You said it yourself, it was bragging.

Zhang Dezhou: …

He Dadao: You guys are competing in Guwu District, right? I’ve always wanted to go there.

Xu Yixuan: Originally, Guwu District wasn’t included, but their residents strongly petitioned for it. Over a million signatures later, they joined the grouping.

He Dadao: Let me guess: It’s because of Great Qiao and her Ice Qiya?

Xu Yixuan: Bingo! I checked the news. Their petition explicitly mentioned wanting to witness Ice Qiya in action.

Zhang Dezhou: It’s just Ice Qiya. No need for the fuss.

He Dadao: Imagine Ice Qiya as our endangered beast, Galeem.

Zhang Dezhou: Ah, now I get it…

So, the Guwu District grouping wasn’t a coincidence… Qiao Sang felt an immense pressure mounting.

Scrolling up to review earlier messages, she quickly typed:

Qiao Sang: Are we competing with four regions? Besides Guwu, what are the other two?

He Dadao: Great Qiao speaks!

Zhang Dezhou: Qiao the Beast, oh wait, I mean Qiao the Great!

Xu Yixuan: The other two are Linke and Xilu regions. We’ll get more details from Teacher Sun tomorrow.

He Dadao: Xu Yixuan’s family is half government officials, so her intel is reliable.

Xu Yixuan is a second-gen government kid? Who knew… Qiao Sang pondered this while searching for information about the Linke and Xilu regions’ beasts.

Soon, it was time to return to school.

Seven days remained until the district competition, but since the competition was in Guwu District, most contestants from other regions planned to arrive early to acclimate.

Though she technically didn’t need to attend school today, Qiao Sang considered her less-than-stellar academic scores and decided to go.

To her surprise, no one swarmed her like before. In fact, people kept their distance, stealing glances but refraining from approaching her.

Grade 1, Class 1.

When Qiao Sang stepped into the classroom, the entire room fell silent, her presence commanding more attention than even the homeroom teacher.