A reason she couldn't lose

It was funny, really. Ever since Su Xiaoxiao had gone to the boarding shop to ask about grooming and been turned down by Xu Ran again, her Blazing Fox had suddenly started working hard.

The Blazing Fox, who had been reluctant to cooperate with training and preferred lying on the sofa watching TV and eating snacks, had actually asked Su Xiaoxiao to train harder.

Su Xiaoxiao was delighted and spent both days of the weekend training hard with her Blazing Fox.

At first, she genuinely thought her Blazing Fox had decided to buckle down.

Only when her Blazing Fox asked after training whether it had gotten dirty did Su Xiaoxiao suddenly realize its true goal.

The little rascal was actually training hard to get dirty faster so it could go for grooming sooner!

That sort of behavior was simply...

Worth encouraging!

Su Xiaoxiao, who had always struggled to get her Contract Beast to train, felt that her whole career as a Beast Tamer had suddenly brightened.

She had found the key to getting her Contract Beast to listen!

Before Practical Training Class, Su Xiaoxiao promised her Blazing Fox that she would take it for grooming afterward, and that Xu Ran definitely wouldn't refuse this time. Her Blazing Fox readily agreed to do its best in class.

A scolding from the Demon King? There was absolutely no chance of that this time!

On the other side of the formation, Duan Anxun and Du Ting, who stood beside her, were also chatting quietly.

"Anxun, how did your Rainbow Cloud Parrot change so much all of a sudden?" Du Ting couldn't help exclaiming as she looked at the Rainbow Cloud Parrot enviously.

"I went to a new shop for grooming. Their results were better." Duan Anxun smiled. "I'll tell you where it is later, though it might be a little expensive."

"Yes, please!" Du Ting nodded eagerly, then couldn't help sighing. "What a shame. If you'd found that shop before the appearance assessment, Su Xiaoxiao wouldn't have taken first place!"

Duan Anxun's smile faded, and her expression turned a little awkward. "Let's not talk about that."

"Right, no more unpleasant topics!" Du Ting nodded and changed the subject. "We've got Practical Training Class after morning exercises. You always come first in that class, Anxun. We'll get to watch Su Xiaoxiao being scolded by the Demon King again!"

"Not necessarily." Duan Anxun shook her head, suddenly recalling the perfect coordination between Su Xiaoxiao and her Blazing Fox during the appearance assessment. "Maybe she won't get scolded this time."

"She still won't be a match for you!" Du Ting said confidently.

"That's right." A little more confidence appeared in Duan Anxun's eyes.

Practical Training Class was the most important subject in the Beast Taming High School's advancement assessment, an indisputably core subject.

She had firmly held first place in her class in this subject throughout her first year, and this time would be no exception!

A quarter of an hour later, morning exercises ended.

Each class left in an orderly fashion. After being dismissed, the students of Class 1 headed for the specialized classroom used for Practical Training Class in groups of three or five.

They had been laughing and chatting a moment earlier, but all fell silent as they entered the classroom.

A middle-aged man stood inside, his arms folded across his chest and his expression stern and cold.

Their Practical Training Class teacher, Tan Qingsheng.

"You all seem to be having a good laugh," Tan Qingsheng said in a low voice. "I hope you'll still be laughing like that after the seven practical training tests."

Ignoring the students' apprehensive expressions, Tan Qingsheng took out a roster. "Come up for testing when I call your name."

All sorts of testing equipment had been set up in the classroom, filling nearly every bit of space apart from where the students stood.

"Su Xiaoxiao, come up!"

As Tan Qingsheng called her name, he glanced at Su Xiaoxiao in the crowd.

He had chosen her deliberately.

Su Xiaoxiao had always performed poorly in Practical Training Class, yet she had excellent grades in all her other subjects.

That was why Su Xiaoxiao had always been on his list of students to watch closely.

He had heard from the other subject teachers that Su Xiaoxiao had been performing differently over the past few days, so he wanted to see whether her practical training performance had changed as well.

"Here!" Su Xiaoxiao answered, stepping out of the crowd with her Blazing Fox in her arms and walking over to the first testing device.

Although she had been brimming with confidence earlier, she couldn't help feeling a little nervous now.

"Little Flame, do your best!"

She spoke softly, then placed her Blazing Fox on the testing platform and put on a fully enclosed helmet.

The helmet would simulate various combat scenarios for the Beast Tamer, none of which their Contract Beast could see.

The Beast Tamer would issue various combat commands based on those scenarios, and their Contract Beast had to perform the appropriate movements and attacks promptly without an opponent present.

This test, called command ability, assessed how accurately a Contract Beast carried out its Beast Tamer's commands.

"Jump one meter to the left!"

"Flame Dance, three meters ahead!"

"..."

Su Xiaoxiao called out one command after another. Her Blazing Fox, receiving them through telepathy even faster than through her voice, moved swiftly.

The seamless coordination they maintained brought looks of surprise to many classmates who had been waiting to watch her make a fool of herself. Even Tan Qingsheng looked taken aback.

Compared with her performance a week ago, the difference was like night and day.

Three minutes later, Su Xiaoxiao removed her helmet. The device displayed their final score-98.3 points.

"Next test!" Tan Qingsheng said at once.

Having earned such a high score for the first time, Su Xiaoxiao smiled with relief and jogged over to another device to begin the next test.

"That score..." Watching from the sidelines, Du Ting looked incredulous. She couldn't help turning to Duan Anxun.

As the top student in their Practical Training Class, Duan Anxun's highest command ability score was 97.6 points.

Holding her Rainbow Cloud Parrot, Duan Anxun silently watched Su Xiaoxiao continue to perform exceptionally well in the second test.

"Su Xiaoxiao, your total for the seven tests is 663.8 points."

Once all seven tests were over, Tan Qingsheng announced Su Xiaoxiao's final result.

Watching Su Xiaoxiao return to the group, Tan Qingsheng showed the faintest smile for practically the first time ever. "Keep it up."

Standing beside Su Xiaoxiao, Lin Yue sucked in a breath and exclaimed under her breath, "The Demon King actually smiled! Oh my god..."

"Lin Yue! Chatting in class, are you? You must be feeling very confident. Come up!"

Tan Qingsheng's sharp reprimand made Lin Yue shudder, her face crumpling.

She walked up nervously and began her tests.

Fortunately, the improvement in her Azure Wind Eagle's mental state from its grooming still had some effect. Though Lin Yue's final score wasn't as astonishing as Su Xiaoxiao's, it was a considerable improvement over her previous results, sparing her a scolding from the Demon King.

After that, the students were called up one by one to take their tests.

Students whose scores improved received a "Keep it up," while those whose scores stayed the same or dropped received a thorough scolding from Tan Qingsheng.

"Duan Anxun, come up for testing!"

Soon, it was Duan Anxun's turn.

"You can do it, Anxun!" Du Ting waved vigorously behind her, cheering her on.

"Mm." Duan Anxun nodded and stepped forward with her Rainbow Cloud Parrot in her arms.

She recalled going out to dinner with her mother two nights earlier, and the smile on her mother's face when she mentioned over the meal that her daughter had always ranked first in her high school's Practical Training Class.

She had a reason she couldn't lose.