Eagle Strikes the Sky

"I never expected this."

"You're telling me that's a Big Hen? Bro, am I seeing things? It can actually spit fireballs, and they're that powerful? Nobody stop me. I'm getting a Big Hen as my beast pet too."

"Bro, don't do anything rash."

For a moment, chaos erupted below the Competition Platform.

When he heard that he had won a flawless victory, Jiang Hao showed neither joy nor sorrow. He had anticipated this outcome long ago.

Under everyone's gaze, Jiang Hao calmly left the arena.

Tomorrow, please don't let heaven favor me again.

The infirmary.

After receiving treatment, Yang Di emerged from his daze.

When he saw Song Jie beside him, he asked blankly, "Jie, where am I? Wasn't I competing?"

Song Jie's face darkened. Clenching his fists, he snapped in exasperation, "Competing, my ass. You got one-shot."

Yang Di: ???

Song Jie cursed through gritted teeth. "That bastard Jiang Hao really hid his strength deep. We humiliated him so much before, and he barely reacted. Turns out he was saving up his strength to make us pay."

Yang Di said, "Then what do we do now? Will he make me streak in public?"

"What else can we do? You're already out. Now it's just me and Chen Xiaolin. Hopefully Chen Xiaolin can qualify in the support division. As for streaking, if you dare do it, don't blame me for no longer treating you as a brother. Hmph."

Yang Di: ...

It looked like he would have to avoid Jiang Hao from now on.

Meanwhile, Jiang Hao's opponent this time was also a Golden Body Realm fusion-type competitor, so he could not finish the match within a minute as he had the previous two times. They fought for over four minutes before Chubby finally used his size advantage to push his opponent out of the designated area just before time ran out, scraping out a hard-earned victory.

Song Jie currently topped the rankings with 15 points, having won all three matches, each in under a minute.

Song Jie (Wen Ruxue's lapdog)

Beast pet: Iron-Armed Mantis (high-grade)

Type: Fusion melee

Strength: Golden Body Realm

Skills: Reaper's Scythe, Mantis Arm, Mantis Stalks the Cicada

Wen Ruxue ranked second.

Wen Ruxue (class monitor, Classmate Wen)

Beast pet: Seven-Colored Spirit Butterfly (rare)

Type: Support

Strength: Golden Body Realm

Skills: Weakness (passive), Healing Art, Blood Sacrifice Spell, Magnetic Field Rally

Classmate Wen had earned the title of best support beast pet thanks to her tremendous healing output.

Support-type matches focused on the practical usefulness of support beast pets, such as healing, buffs, restraints, dispelling, and so on.

Although everyone in the top two hundred had 15 points, there were still distinctions between them. The less time they took to finish their matches, the higher they ranked. On a battlefield, time was life.

In third place was someone named Gongsun Qianxun.

Gongsun Qianxun

Beast pet: Ghost Cat (rare)

Type: Fusion melee

Strength: Golden Body Realm

Skills: Ghostly Stride, Stealth, Lethal Hunt

One glance told him she was the kind of hunter who excelled at assassination.

He would have to be careful if he encountered her. His Big Hen was genuinely fragile.

Then he checked his own ranking. Good grief, there he was among the bottom hundred, just as painful to look at as his academic results.

Still, once this round ended, he would make it into the top five hundred. Good grief, his academic ranking had always been outside the top five hundred in his year!

Jiang Hao

Beast pet: Ice Crystal Phoenix (ordinary?)

Type: Ranged attack

Strength: Fusion Realm

Skills: Fireball, Lure, Wind Orb

That was right. Jiang Hao had voluntarily provided this information to the Referee Panel, naturally keeping the important details hidden.

Huh?

Why did they put "ordinary" after my beast pet's name, complete with a question mark? Were they questioning whether its species quality matched its name or something?

Not happy.

The information in the Survival Simulator was more accurate.

As soon as he opened the Survival Simulator, several notifications sounded. Jiang Hao decided to read the messages before checking his beast pet's information panel. This had already become instinctive for him, since the Survival Simulator's notification sounds almost always signaled something important.

"Ding! Your beast pet defeated a Peregrine Falcon of a higher level, earning 2 attribute points and 2 skill points."

"Ding! Your beast pet defeated a Peregrine Falcon and may obtain any one of its skills."

Eagle Strikes the Sky: Soar through the skies. Active skill.

Eagle-Eyed Vision: Clearly see anything within a thousand meters. Excellent night vision. Active skill.

Lightning Spell: Release a powerful bolt of lightning with substantial destructive power and a stunning effect. Active skill.

The three skills had Jiang Hao practically drooling. Unfortunately, he could only choose one.

After much hesitation, he finally chose Eagle Strikes the Sky.

There was no other reason. A chicken that could fly better suited its name.

Beast pet owner: Jiang Hao

Beast pet: Ice Crystal Phoenix (hen)

Realm: Fusion (level 39)

Rapport: 90

Combat power: 391

Attribute points: 2

Skill points: 2

Strength: 237

Endurance: 13

Defense: 13

Agility: 30

Critical hit rate: 0

Critical strike: 0

Skills: Hen and Eggs in Ruin (passive), Shadowless Clone (passive), Fireball (level 2.52), Lure (level 1), Wind Orb (level 1.65), Eagle Strikes the Sky (level 1)

Eagle Strikes the Sky: Active skill. Soar through the skies like an eagle. Current level: 1. Maximum level: 3. Allows 10 minutes of flight, with the duration doubling with each level gained. Cooldown: 1 hour.

Many ordinary people had gathered in Primordial City's largest screening hall to watch the Beast Pet Tournament. For a small fee, anyone could enter and watch the live broadcast.

Yes, you heard that right. Those working pets, the Projection Bees, relayed the footage to the Bee Queen in real time, and the Bee Queen projected it. Five small Competition Platforms, five live feeds, all in uncensored high definition, with absolutely top-notch 3D effects.

As an aside, the currencies of the Beast-Taming World were silver and Beast Crystals. A hundred taels of silver could be exchanged for one Common Beast Crystal, but a hundred Common Beast Crystals might not buy even one low-grade Beast Crystal. The higher the quality, the harder they were to find, regardless of price.

As usual, Yang Pucai had stationed himself in the screening hall that day to watch his son Yang Di's match live. He loved hearing others praise his son and liked boasting about him to everyone he met. It made him feel immensely proud.

Especially after his son had defeated his opponents cleanly over the previous two days, he had enjoyed a glorious moment in front of his relatives, friends, and neighbors. Yang Pucai had always regretted failing to become a Beast Tamer himself. Now, after spending his lifetime's savings, he had finally let his son fulfill that dream for him, which made him even happier than becoming a Beast Tamer himself would have. For an ordinary family, raising a Beast Tamer meant their ancestors had accumulated great virtue.

"Old Yang, your son's impressive! He's already in the top two hundred. I'd say he's guaranteed a place in the national top hundred in this Beast Pet Tournament. Congratulations!"

"Congratulations!"

People who knew him greeted him with envy in their eyes.

Yang Pucai felt as though his soul were floating up to paradise. He really was blessed to have a fine son who brought him glory.

All that talk about raising daughters in wealth and sons in poverty was bullshit. Raising a genius son brought honor to the ancestors just the same.

"It's starting! It's starting!"

"Huh? Who's this kid? How come I haven't seen him before?"

"You don't even know him? They call him Chicken Bro. He drew byes in the first two rounds. This kid's luck is just awful. Two byes were unlucky enough, and now he's up against Old Yang's son. Looks like his tournament trip will be over in a day."

Hearing the conversation around him, Yang Pucai's smile widened considerably. He thought that spending several taels of silver every day to come watch the matches had been well worth it. Otherwise, he would never have known his son was so popular.

"Whoa! One-shot! He got one-shot!"

Wasn't that only to be expected? Why make such a fuss? What a bunch of country bumpkins who'd never seen the world.

Yang Pucai was still immersed in his fantasies when cries of astonishment reached his ears.

"Old Yang, your son got one-shot!"

"To be expected-what?"

Suddenly, Yang Pucai wondered whether he had misheard. His words caught halfway out.

He stared wide-eyed at the live feed. Sure enough, a charred figure lay motionless in the arena, smoke rising from his whole body. Unable to believe it, he wondered whether his eyes were playing tricks on him and rubbed them hard. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the figure still standing in the arena. It was not his son, but the person he had just looked down on, the so-called Chicken Bro.

Chicken Bro!

Chicken Bro, I curse your whole family!

% @ $ .

Looking at his son's miserable state, Yang Pucai felt the gazes of everyone around him stabbing into him like needles. He could not stay any longer.

He feared the curses in his heart would come spilling out of his mouth.

Let it all be destroyed. I'm exhausted. May there never be another Chicken Bro in this world!

He had only just reached his front door, his wounded heart not yet soothed, when a neighbor approached and asked, just as in the previous two days, "Brother Yang, why are you back so early today? Did your Yang Di win again? Congratulations! When your son wins the tournament, don't forget us neighbors. Remember to treat us to a celebratory feast!"

Yang Pucai felt as though ten thousand grass-mud horses had thundered through his heart. Neither "beyond words" nor "seas churned upside down" could describe his urge to curse at that moment.

Without a word, he pushed open the front door and slammed it with a bang. At last, there was silence.

The neighbor: ???

What's wrong with him? Why's he so angry? Does having a successful son make him so great? He hasn't even won yet, and he's already looking down on people. Sigh, I hope Yang Di loses!

That evening, Yang Di returned home full of apprehension. The moment he saw his father's expression, an inexplicable bitterness welled up in his heart.

"I'm sorry, Father. I've let you down."

Yang Pucai stared at him coldly. Helpless frustration surged through his heart like a spring, and he had to let it out.

"So you still remember the hopes I placed in you. Do you know that I spent my entire lifetime's savings on that Peregrine Falcon? I sold every possession I could, and how long did I beg outside the Gongsun Family's gates before I finally secured it for you? I hoped you would soar into the heavens and make something of yourself. And what happened? This is how you repay me? You crumbled in a single blow from some worthless, weak little chicken. Ha! Tell me, what hopes can I possibly have left for you?"

Yang Di had nothing to say...