Neither of them spoke for a long while.
Qiao Sang stood silently to the side.
The hedgehog-haired kid winked at Jiang Liu.
Curious, Jiang Liu said, "What's wrong with your eyes?"
The hedgehog-haired kid: "..."
So foolish.
Suppressing the urge to facepalm, the hedgehog-haired kid barely managed to utter a word: "Money."
It was then that Jiang Liu realized, hurriedly dug out 50 Alliance Currency from his pocket, and handed it over.
The hedgehog-haired kid: "..."
You really deserve to be single! Can't you just add contact information and transfer the money!
"Thanks, I'll be going now," Qiao Sang said with a smile, taking the money.
There wasn't much time during the post-school rush, and she needed to take this opportunity to scout for more people.
"Wait up, have a match with me too," the hedgehog-haired kid stopped Qiao Sang, "I don't want money, just tell me the secrets to cultivating the Fire-Toothed Dog."
Qiao Sang shook her head: "I don't have any secrets."
"Impossible, if there's no secret, then why is the Fire-Toothed Dog so obedient?" the hedgehog-haired kid said with a skeptical face.
The methods of cultivating Pet Beasts are no secret; there are even university majors related to the cultivation of Pet Beasts.
Those who graduate from this major are referred to by the Alliance as Breeders, who, like Beast Tamers, need to pass exams, starting from F-rank and moving all the way up to SSS-rank.
Some people who contract Pet Beasts will specifically seek out Breeders to devise a complete series of cultivation plans.
But there are also others who have their unique ways of Beast Taming that they are unwilling to share with others.
Take the Wei Family from Jiang City, for instance. They make Food that the Fairy Series Extraordinary Creatures adore, which somehow compels these otherwise elusive Fairy Series Extraordinary Creatures to appear voluntarily before them to become their Pet Beasts.
Naturally, such Food has made others green with envy; if the recipe were made public, earning a fortune through a patent or sales would be a cinch.
But the Wei Family stubbornly reserves it for their own use.
Eventually, almost every member of the Wei Family managed to obtain a Fairy Series Pet Beast, and after over 300 years of growth, they earned the title of the Fairy Family.
The hedgehog-haired kid believed Qiao Sang was unwilling to tell him.
He still remembered that incident in school, where one of the only two senior guys with a Fire Attribute Beast tried to let a junior girl pet his Fire Armored Rat, only for it to spew out a flame the moment it came out.
The person was fine, just singed hair, resulting in a shaved head, and has been wearing a hat every day ever since.
How different compared to this Fire-Toothed Dog, which remained obediently still even in such a situation.
Perplexed, Qiao Sang said, "I'm its Beast Tamer, isn't it normal for it to listen to me?"
"Tooth."
The Fire-Toothed Dog nodded its head as if to agree with its Beast Tamer.
Seeing the Fire-Toothed Dog behave like this, the hedgehog-haired kid was uncertain—could it be that its nature was just to be docile and well-behaved?
"Can I pet it?" the hedgehog-haired kid asked.
"Chen Tongtong, don't be rash," Jiang Liu advised.
The reason the senior got a shaved head was now common knowledge throughout the school, and he didn't want Chen Tongtong to become the second baldie.
"It's fine, go ahead and pet," Qiao Sang said indifferently.
Even before the contract was made at the Pet Beast Base, the Fire-Toothed Dog was willing to let her pet it.
Chen Tongtong, tempted, crouched down and looked at the Fire-Toothed Dog, just as he stretched out his hand.
"Tooth."
The Fire-Toothed Dog showed its friendly intent by displaying its sharp teeth to him.
Chen Tongtong immediately withdrew his hand, fearing that the Fire-Toothed Dog would bite him in the next second.
"Just have a match with me then; forget the secrets, just tell me how you usually cultivate the Fire-Toothed Dog," Chen Tongtong said as he stood up.
"Sure," Qiao Sang agreed.
Although the Fire-Toothed Dog had only been with her for 3 or 4 days, she felt she had some insights into its cultivation.
Seeing the two had come to a decision, Jiang Liu stepped up and said, "I'll be the referee this time."
Qiao Sang nodded.
Chen Tongtong summoned his own pet beast.
Qiao Sang looked at the extraordinary creature before her and fell silent.
A 10-centimeter brown bug-type pet, resembling a dog's tail grass, was wriggling on the ground.
It was actually a Cotton Caterpillar…
Most Cotton Caterpillars are green, and brown ones are rare. This cheap and common pet beast is usually shunned by Beast Tamers with any ambition.
However, its evolutionary forms are varied, with five different elemental evolutionary shapes already researched. Among them, its evolved form, the Bashu Butterfly, is a rare ice attribute beast, instantly multiplying the worth of the Cotton Caterpillar by many times.
But all this value hinges on its evolved forms.
Qiao Sang had read in a book that, besides spitting silk and ramming, the Cotton Caterpillar couldn't learn any other skills.
Wasn't this like giving her money?
"You go first this time," Qiao Sang suggested.
She was afraid that one spark from the Fire-Toothed Dog would end the fight...
Chen Tongtong naturally knew what Qiao Sang was thinking. Every time he brought out his Cotton Caterpillar, the opponent always let him attack first.
This kind of contempt, this feeling of being overlooked, often benefited him in battles.
A normal Cotton Caterpillar could evolve between three and five months, but his had been forcefully delayed for nearly a year, all so he could lay a perfect foundation for its evolution.
On this solid foundation, his Cotton Caterpillar could no longer be compared with an ordinary one!
Moreover, relying on the toughness of his Cotton Caterpillar's silk, which far exceeded that of ordinary ones, he had achieved an impressive 39th place in this year's high school Beast Taming competition!
"Cotton Caterpillar! Show her your strength!" With a single-handed flourish, Chen Tongtong yelled firmly.
"Jie!"
With a shout, the Cotton Caterpillar spat out a snow-white and beautiful silk thread that shot towards the Fire-Toothed Dog at high speed.
So quick was the silk that the Fire-Toothed Dog hadn't even moved when it was already bound by the thread.
The Fire-Toothed Dog struggled but couldn't break free.
Qiao Sang frowned. It seemed that she needed to prioritize the Fire-Toothed Dog's speed training.
"Give it the final blow!" Chen Tongtong continued to shout.
The Cotton Caterpillar's body emitted a faint white glow; its 10-centimeter body not just wriggling but dashing through the air!
Its speed was much quicker than the Fire-Toothed Dog's earlier ramming.
Qiao Sang judged the distance and after three seconds, she gave the command, "Flame Tooth."
Dazzling flames instantly destroyed the snow-white silk, biting accurately into the charging Cotton Caterpillar.
"Jie!!!" The Cotton Caterpillar let out a piercing scream.
Two seconds later, its eyes rolled back, and it fainted.
"Qiao Sang is the winner," Jiang Liu announced.
"Cotton Caterpillar!" Chen Tongtong rushed over to embrace the fallen Cotton Caterpillar.
After confirming the Cotton Caterpillar was only knocked out, he recalled it back into the Beast Taming Codex.
"Why?" Chen Tongtong looked up at Qiao Sang with reddened eyes and asked.
"What?" Qiao Sang responded.
Didn't she understand that the Fire-Toothed Dog defeating the Cotton Caterpillar was quite normal? Why did he react so strongly?
"Why did you break the Cotton Caterpillar's silk so easily?" Chen Tongtong stared at Qiao Sang, asking resentfully.
His Cotton Caterpillar's silk was incredibly tough, normally once it bound the opponent they couldn't break free, even the strong ones needed quite some time.
It was not supposed to be like now, as if it was just a joke.
"Uh." Qiao Sang thought for a moment, "Don't you know fire element beats bug-type?
Chen Tongtong: "..."
"Perhaps you've never fought against a fire attribute beast?" Qiao Sang felt like she stated the obvious.
Chen Tongtong: "...!!"