"Right, Big Thigh..." Fang Sisi still wanted to say something.
"Could you not call me Big Thigh?" Qiao Sang cut her off directly.
"Then, should I call you Beautiful Leg?" Fang Sisi asked.
Qiao Sang: "..."
Under Qiao Sang's deadly stare, Fang Sisi finally corrected herself, "Qiao Sang, have you already made a contract with a Pet Beast?"
Any Beast Tamer who had just awakened couldn't resist the temptation to contract a Pet Beast at the first opportunity.
Qiao Sang nodded without denying it.
"Then you..."
Just as Fang Sisi wanted to continue asking, the voices in the classroom suddenly muted as if someone had pressed the mute button.
Looking up, it turned out that the class teacher had arrived...
The next second, Fang Sisi's face turned pale.
Oh no, oh no, she hadn't finished copying her homework yet!
"We'll gather in the playground in five minutes," the class teacher said, glancing in Qiao Sang's direction.
More than 4,000 students and over 300 faculty members from Shengshui Middle School all gathered on the playground, a massive crowd.
"Why is the whole school here?" Standing behind, Fang Sisi poked Qiao Sang with her finger.
"I don't know," Qiao Sang said.
Ninth graders in their sprint phase usually didn't join in morning assemblies with the seventh and eighth graders, and even if the school called for it, there were always one or two classes exempted.
Qiao Sang looked up at the stage and saw that all the school's senior staff, including the principal, vice-principals, and deans, had arrived—such a grand assembly was rarely seen during regular morning meetings.
Principal Chen Yongfeng was speaking the same old platitudes on stage; every time he spoke at an assembly, it was the same few sentences, nothing new.
Qiao Sang was bored; nothing said on the stage was sinking in.
After about ten minutes, thunderous applause broke out, and Qiao Sang clapped along reflexively.
A petite figure walked from the ninth-grade section up to the stage.
"Respected teachers, dear classmates, hello, I am Dai Shushu from class nine of ninth grade, and I am honored..."
What was thought to be a regular morning assembly turned out to be a personal commendation ceremony for Dai Shushu.
Qiao Sang had never dealt with Dai Shushu, but there had been enough gossip from those around to be somewhat aware of her.
Her family was not well-off, the only one receiving financial aid from the school, ranking first in her grade for all three years of middle school, and then being directly recruited into Beast Taming High School after awakening on her own, a classic inspirational role model.
"What does it matter if she's been recommended if her family couldn't afford a Pet Beast?" the boy on her right side said sarcastically.
"Neither of her parents are Beast Tamers, it's strange how they produced a child who spontaneously awakened as a Beast Tamer," someone remarked.
Qiao Sang was somewhat surprised; as Beast Taming society had developed, humanity had realized that children born to Beast Tamers were more likely to be Beast Tamers themselves.
The higher the rank of the Beast Tamer parents, the more likely it was to produce a child with high natural abilities.
Conversely, if both parents were ordinary humans, the chance their child would become a Beast Tamer was only 2%.
To say that a child of ordinary humans becoming a Beast Tamer was already a slim chance; for one to spontaneously awaken was nearly negligible.
Interested, Qiao Sang began to listen attentively to the speech.
"This time, being directly recruited to Shengshui Middle School was not only due to my own efforts but also the support of the teachers..."
Qiao Sang's eyelashes fluttered.
They were both self-awakened, and now, there was the mention of Shengshui Middle School; it was hard for Qiao Sang not to compare herself to Dai Shushu.
This comparison was disheartening, and listening to the speech became less inviting.
Back in the classroom, Qiao Sang focused solely on her textbooks.
As a middle school student nearing the middle school entrance exams, the courses that needed to be studied were already completed, and the main task was revising and doing practice papers.
[Over 3000 years ago, catastrophe struck from the heavens: earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and other super disasters plunged the whole world into an apocalyptic atmosphere. Which Beast Tamer stopped this calamity?]
[A Chen Jiading]
[B Sen Xiaoman]
[C Wang Wenyu]
[D Wang Yao]
Qiao Sang had seen many historical questions like these in the past few days. The catastrophe that occurred over 3000 years ago was not a natural disaster but a man-made one.
It was Wang Yao who used his Pet Beast to create the disaster, possessing as an S-rank Beastmaster the power to alter nature itself.
With each awakening of the Beast Taming Codex, Beast Tamers reaching D-rank would receive a certain symbiotic feedback from their Pet Beasts that affected their lifespan and physique.
As the level increased, the feedback became stronger.
Unless directly attacked, it was difficult to be injured by the aftermath.
Wang Yao, leveraging his S-rank Beastmaster physique, managed to break through the Alliance's siege and counter-killed 223 Beast Tamers, including 11 S-rank Beastmasters.
An S-rank Beastmaster took at least a century of effort to cultivate, so the Alliance suffered heavy losses.
It was only later when S-rank Beastmaster Wang Wenyu returned from the Flame Heaven Star that he was able to subdue Wang Yao, but in that battle, five of the Pet Beasts that had always accompanied him perished.
Wang Wenyu thereafter withdrew from the world.
This question could easily lead to the wrong choice, D, if not read carefully.
During the last mock exam, Qiao Sang chose D not because she hadn't read the question carefully, but rather due to a hasty decision.
Looking at the question, she corrected her previous answer.
"Qiao Sang, someone is looking for you," called out the female classmate sitting at the door.
Qiao Sang looked up and saw a girl in a faded school uniform smiling at her from the door.
"It's Dai Shushu, hey, when did you get to know her?" Fang Sisi asked in surprise.
Dai Shushu was a well-known figure in the school, naturally drawing the attention of class members, as each turned their heads to look.
"I don't know her," Qiao Sang was also confused.
She walked outside.
"Is there something you need?" Qiao Sang asked with a puzzled face.
She was sure her predecessor had no interaction with Dai Shushu either; one was a top student and the other a poor student, and they weren't in the same class. With graduation approaching, she couldn't think of any reason the girl would seek her out.
"I'm here to apologize on behalf of my mother for what happened last time," said Dai Shushu.
She had the look of a frail, little white flower, seemingly delicate and weak due to malnutrition as if she would be blown away by the slightest breeze.
"What happened?" Qiao Sang raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't your aunt tell you? Last Friday, my mom said some unpleasant things to your aunt in front of the teachers. I couldn't get a word in, and I was worried about whether your aunt was okay after she left," explained Dai Shushu in a gentle and soft-spoken manner.
Qiao Sang remained silent for a moment before asking, "What did your mom say?"
Dai Shushu showed a remorseful expression, "Just some harsh words, my mom didn't mean it, and your aunt said some things too." She paused, "It's just that the teachers had your aunt leave because they were about to start fighting, and I felt somewhat responsible."
Qiao Sang said expressionlessly, "The teachers had my mom leave. What's that got to do with you?"
Dai Shushu tucked her hair back, "The teachers wouldn't have asked your aunt to leave if it wasn't for me."
"I see," said Qiao Sang before asking again, "What exactly did your mother say at the time?"
Dai Shushu looked down, she was already half a head shorter than Qiao Sang, and with her head bowed, her expression was hidden.
"My mom said that your poor grades were due to the lack of fatherly discipline, that you had the dumb luck to awaken independently, and also that it was no wonder your aunt was fierce and ended up divorced."
She looked up again, innocently, "So, did you really awaken on your own?"