Doubles Awareness

The lightning vanished, the dark clouds dispersed, and the sky brightened once more.

Qiao Sang: "!!!"

Little Treasure: "!!!"

"Qingbao!"

Qiao Sang quickly ran to Qingbao's side, set down her phone, and picked it up.

"Xun Xun!"

Little Treasure floated over, wore an expression of How did this happen?, and cried out, asking how Number Five had been struck by lightning.

Qiao Sang: "..."

And you have the nerve to ask me... Qiao Sang looked at it and asked, "Wasn't it you who transferred the lightning above Qingbao?"

When she had turned to look, the lightning had already disappeared, though the Black Hole overhead had yet to vanish.

"Xun Xun..."

Little Treasure froze for a moment, then thought back on what had happened. Its body abruptly stiffened.

It really did seem to have been its doing...

"Xun Xun!"

Little Treasure hurriedly defended itself.

Its attention had been entirely on transferring the lightning. It had not noticed that it had transferred it directly over Number Five!

"I believe you. Your attention was obviously focused on the lightning just now, or you couldn't have succeeded in transferring it on your first try." Qiao Sang sighed. "But I don't know whether Qingbao believes you."

"Xun Xun..."

Little Treasure looked touched upon hearing the first half, but when it heard the second half and recalled Qingbao's temper, its body stiffened again.

As they spoke, Luobao walked over. The gem on its forehead glowed blue, shining down on the unconscious Qingbao.

"Qing Qing..."

Once the blue light faded, the white clouds around Qingbao had returned to their usual pristine whiteness, and it slowly woke up.

For some reason, Little Treasure felt a little guilty. It silently turned invisible.

"Qing Qing!"

Qingbao seemed to remember something. Veins bulged on its forehead as it wore an angry expression and looked around for Little Treasure.

At the same time, fierce gales rose all around them.

Luobao turned and left amid the gales, withdrawing after completing its task.

The invisible Little Treasure cast its Beast Tamer a look that said, Save me, save me.

...Qiao Sang withdrew her gaze and asked worriedly, "Qingbao, are you all right?"

With Luobao's Healing Light, she naturally knew Qingbao was fine. Still, knowing was one thing; she had to ask anyway.

"Qing Qing..."

Only then did Qingbao realize that its Beast Tamer was beside it. It cried out with a wronged expression.

At the same time, the gales around it disappeared.

"Xun Xun..."

Feeling the gales vanish, Little Treasure let out a huge sigh of relief.

But just then, Qingbao heard the sound of "Xun Xun." Its wronged expression vanished, and it sharply turned its gaze toward the source of the sound.

Qiao Sang stepped forward and positioned herself in front of Qingbao, changing the subject. "That training went very smoothly. We succeeded on the first try, so let's keep practicing."

"Qing Qing..."

Qingbao looked at its Beast Tamer, once again wearing a wronged expression as it cried out that Little Treasure had attacked it.

"Doubles battles are sometimes like this." Qiao Sang soothed it. "When two pet beasts work together for the first time, they may accidentally hurt their own teammate during training or a doubles battle. You need practice to build rapport and develop the basic awareness needed for doubles coordination before you can avoid that."

She was telling the truth. This was indeed something pet beasts had to go through in doubles battles. Little Treasure possessed the Super Perception trait, allowing it to read its teammate's movements and dodge them to avoid being hurt.

However, its Super Perception was only C-rank. If its teammate's attacks were too fast or covered too wide an area, it could not avoid them completely either.

Qingbao did not possess the Super Perception trait, so it was even more likely to be accidentally injured.

"During training later, you need to keep an eye on Little Treasure's movements too. Don't stay in the same place for too long. If you and Little Treasure really end up taking a doubles assessment together in the future, then aside from watching your opponents, you'll also need to pay attention to Little Treasure's actions," Qiao Sang instructed seriously.

Seeing how serious its Beast Tamer was, Qingbao unconsciously grew serious as well.

It suddenly realized that Little Treasure might really have hurt it by accident.

"Qing Qing."

After listening intently, Qingbao nodded.

"Xun Xun~"

Seeing this, Little Treasure finally appeared. It scratched its head and cried out, saying that it truly had not expected to attack it just now.

Qingbao snorted at it.

"Xun Xun~"

Little Treasure floated over to Qingbao, twisted its rear, and lightly bumped Qingbao as it called out ingratiatingly, telling it not to be angry anymore.

"Qing Qing."

Qingbao snorted again, but no violent wind rose around them.

"All right, let's continue training." Qiao Sang smiled.

"Qing Qing."

"Xun Xun~"

Qingbao and Little Treasure both grew serious at the same time and nodded.

Just as Qingbao was about to use Wind Transformation, Little Treasure seemed to remember something and called out.

"Xun Xun~"

Would they still be live-streaming during training?

Only then did Qiao Sang remember that they had been live-streaming. She bent down to pick up the phone she had set on the ground and said, "Of—"

She had barely uttered a single word when a violent gale suddenly swept through the area.

The gale covered the entire area. Every plant around the training grounds, aside from the tree where Rain Prayer Phoenix was perched, bent to one side at the same time.

The tree trunks bent into semicircles, looking as though they might snap at any moment.

Jisidan, which had just crawled out of the backpack, was blown straight into the air with a scream.

A flash of fire streaked past, and Ya Bao caught it steadily.

Qiao Sang's ponytail whipped about in the gale. Feeling the winds around her, she froze for a moment and looked up at Qingbao.

Qingbao's face was dark. Sand and dust swept up by the gale spiraled endlessly around it, making it look as though it had gone dark.

"Xun Xun..."

Little Treasure seemed to realize something and silently floated behind its Beast Tamer.

What was going on? Qiao Sang was a little bewildered.

Before she could ask, Qingbao looked at Little Treasure and cried out through gritted teeth.

"Qing Qing?"

Had the scene of it getting struck by lightning and falling down just now been live-streamed?

Qiao Sang fell silent.

In that second of silence from its Beast Tamer, Qingbao instantly understood. Veins bulged on its forehead as it shouted.

"Qing Qing!"

Then it transformed into a Storm and blew toward Little Treasure.

"Xun Xun!"

Little Treasure screamed and used Teleport, vanishing to a spot a hundred meters away.

The gale relentlessly pursued it from behind.

Thank goodness Qingbao didn't blow at me... Remembering that she was the one who had started the live stream, Qiao Sang felt relieved while silently mourning Little Treasure for a second.

They should wait until Qingbao was tired from blowing before continuing training. In this state, she was even worried that Qingbao would deliberately control the Storm within Thunder Storm to attack Little Treasure during training...

As she was thinking this, she suddenly sensed something. Her eyes lit up, and she formed a Hand Seal with both hands.

A dazzling, mysterious purple star array lit up on the ground.

Before long, Gang Bao appeared within the star array, flapping its wings.

"You're awake," Qiao Sang said.

"Steel Authority." Gang Bao yawned and nodded.