The two of them were silent for quite a while.
Qiao Sang stood silently to the side.
Hedgehog Head winked at Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu asked curiously, "What's wrong with your eyes?"
Hedgehog Head: "..."
Too stupid.
Hedgehog Head resisted the urge to facepalm and squeezed out one word: "Money."
Only then did Jiang Liu realize. He hurriedly pulled 50 Alliance Coins from his pocket and handed them over.
Hedgehog Head: "..."
No wonder you're single! Couldn't you add her contact first and transfer the money later?!
"Thanks, I'll be going now." Qiao Sang took the money with a smile.
There was only so much time during the after-school rush, and she needed to use it to find more people to challenge.
"Wait, fight me too." Hedgehog Head stopped Qiao Sang. "I don't want money either. Just tell me the secret to raising a Fire Fang Dog."
Qiao Sang shook her head. "I don't have any secret."
"Impossible. If you don't, why is your Fire Fang Dog so obedient?" Hedgehog Head clearly didn't believe her.
Methods for raising pet beasts weren't some secret. Universities even had majors dedicated to pet beast cultivation.
People who graduated from such programs were called cultivators by the Alliance. Like Beast Tamers, they also had to take rank assessments, starting from F-rank and going all the way up to SSS-rank.
Some people would specifically seek out cultivators after contracting pet beasts, asking them to create a series of cultivation plans.
But some people had their own unique Beast Taming methods and were unwilling to share them with others.
Take the Wei Family of Jiang City, for example. With food that Fairy-type Extraordinary Creatures loved, they had somehow managed to make elusive Fairy-type Extraordinary Creatures appear before them and willingly become their pet beasts.
Naturally, that kind of food made others envious. If they revealed the recipe and applied for a patent or sold it, they could make a fortune.
Yet the Wei Family only used it themselves.
Later, nearly every member of the Wei Family was able to own a Fairy-type Pet Beast. After more than three hundred years of development, they came to be known as the Fairy Family.
Hedgehog Head believed that Qiao Sang simply didn't want to tell him.
He still remembered one of the only two second-year students in the school who had contracted a Fire-type Pet Beast. That senior had brought out his Fire Armor Rat and wanted it to let a junior sister pet it, only for the Fire Armor Rat to spray him with flames the moment it came out.
The person had been fine, but his hair had been singed. He had shaved his head bald and still wore a hat every day.
Unlike this Fire Fang Dog, which could obediently stand still even in that situation.
Qiao Sang asked in confusion, "I'm its Beast Tamer. Isn't it normal for it to listen to me?"
"Fang."
The Fire Fang Dog nodded, as if agreeing with its Beast Tamer.
Seeing the Fire Fang Dog like this, Hedgehog Head wasn't so sure anymore. Could it be that this Fire Fang Dog was simply naturally well-behaved?
"Can I pet it?" Hedgehog Head asked.
"Chen Tongtong, don't be rash," Jiang Liu cautioned.
Everyone in the school knew why that senior had become bald. He was afraid Chen Tongtong would become the school's second bald head.
"It's fine. Go ahead and pet it." Qiao Sang looked unconcerned.
Back at the Pet Beast Base, even before they had contracted, the Fire Fang Dog had been willing to let her pet it.
Chen Tongtong was tempted. He crouched down in front of the Fire Fang Dog and had just reached out his hand.
"Fang."
The Fire Fang Dog amiably displayed its sharp teeth to him.
Chen Tongtong immediately pulled back his hand, afraid that the Fire Fang Dog would bite him the next second.
"You'd better fight me instead. I don't want any secrets anymore. Just tell me how you normally raise your Fire Fang Dog," Chen Tongtong said as he stood up.
"Sure," Qiao Sang agreed.
Although the Fire Fang Dog had only been with her for three or four days at most, she had still gained a little experience raising it.
Seeing that the two had made their decision, Jiang Liu stepped forward and said, "I'll be the referee this time."
Qiao Sang nodded.
Chen Tongtong summoned his pet beast.
Qiao Sang fell silent as she looked at the Extraordinary Creature before her.
A brown Bug-type Pet Beast about ten centimeters long, resembling a foxtail grass stalk, wriggled across the ground.
It was actually a Cotton Segment Worm...
Cotton Segment Worms were usually green, while brown ones were rare. Most Beast Tamers with any ambitions were unwilling to contract such cheap and common pet beasts.
However, it had many evolutionary forms. Five evolution forms of different attributes had been discovered so far, and one of them, the Ba Xue Butterfly, was a rare Ice-type Pet Beast, increasing the Cotton Segment Worm's value dozens of times over.
But all that value depended on its evolution forms.
Qiao Sang had read in a book that Cotton Segment Worms couldn't learn any skills besides Silk Spit and Tackle.
Wasn't this just handing her money?
"You go first this time," Qiao Sang said.
She was afraid the Fire Fang Dog would end the battle with a single Spark...
Naturally, Chen Tongtong knew what Qiao Sang was thinking. Every time he brought out the Cotton Segment Worm, his opponents always let him attack first.
That contempt, that feeling of not being taken seriously, always benefited him in battle.
An ordinary Cotton Segment Worm could evolve in three to five months, but his had been held back for nearly a year. It was all to build a solid foundation so it could evolve perfectly.
With such a sturdy foundation, his Cotton Segment Worm was no longer comparable to ordinary Cotton Segment Worms!
Relying on Silk Spit far tougher than that of a normal Cotton Segment Worm, he had even achieved the excellent result of thirty-ninth place in this year's first-year Beast Taming Battle Tournament!
"Cotton Segment Worm! Show her your strength!" Chen Tongtong flung one hand upward and roared.
"Segment!"
The Cotton Segment Worm opened its mouth and cried out, sending a brilliant snow-white thread shooting toward the Fire Fang Dog at high speed.
It was so fast that the Fire Fang Dog was bound by the thread before it could even move its legs.
The Fire Fang Dog struggled, but couldn't break free.
Qiao Sang frowned. It looked like the Fire Fang Dog's speed training needed to be moved up the schedule.
"Give it the finishing blow!" Chen Tongtong continued to roar.
A faint White Light glowed around the Cotton Segment Worm's body. Rather than wriggling, its roughly ten-centimeter body charged through the air!
It was much faster than the Fire Fang Dog's previous Tackle.
Qiao Sang judged the distance and gave her command three seconds later. "Fire Fang."
Brilliant flames instantly destroyed the snow-white thread before accurately biting down on the charging Cotton Segment Worm.
"Segment!!!" The Cotton Segment Worm cried out miserably.
Two seconds later, its eyes rolled white and it fainted.
"Qiao Sang wins," Jiang Liu announced.
"Cotton Segment Worm!" Chen Tongtong rushed over and scooped up the fallen Cotton Segment Worm.
After confirming that it had merely fainted, he recalled it into the Pet Beast Codex.
"Why?" Chen Tongtong looked up at Qiao Sang with reddened eyes.
"What?" Qiao Sang asked back.
She didn't understand. Wasn't it perfectly normal for a Fire Fang Dog to defeat a Cotton Segment Worm? Why was he reacting so strongly?
"Why did you break through the Cotton Segment Worm's Silk Spit so easily?" Chen Tongtong stared fixedly at Qiao Sang and asked unwillingly.
His Cotton Segment Worm's threads were incredibly tough. Once they bound an opponent, they were basically impossible to break free from. Even those with great strength needed to struggle for quite a while.
How could it be like this, as though it were all a joke?
"Uh..." Qiao Sang thought for a moment. "Don't you know that Fire-types counter Bug-types?"
Chen Tongtong: "..."
"Maybe you've never fought a Fire-type Pet Beast before?" Qiao Sang felt she had uncovered the truth.
Chen Tongtong: "...!!"
Before you continue