Chapter 62: Why Aren't You Speaking?

July 5th.

Qiao Sang sat in the same spot she had two days ago at the pet beast arena, and it was no surprise that Bai Yunmiao was also there.

Since Bai Yunmiao came for Sha Duo, even if her parents weren't arguing, she would find another reason to be here.

"Did you bring the mirror?" Qiao Sang asked as she sat down.

"I did." Bai Yunmiao took out the mirror from her bag and handed it over. She watched as Qiao Sang carefully examined herself in the mirror and unexpectedly said, "Qiao Genius, why are you suddenly so concerned about your appearance?"

It's not that Qiao Sang didn't care about her appearance before.

She usually just tied her hair in a ponytail, and on the way to Shouke Park, she always took the bus and liked to sit by the window, enjoying the wind.

As a result, even with her hair tied back, it was often a bit messy by the time she arrived at the pet beast arena.

This contrasted with the other people who were meticulously dressed, giving others the impression that she didn't care much about her appearance.

After confirming that her reflection in the mirror was no different from usual, Qiao Sang hesitated and said, "I don't know if it's just my vanity, but I feel like a lot of people are staring at me today."

The Fire Fang beside her, seeing that Qiao Sang had put down the mirror, picked it up with its paw and started to look at itself.

"Ya ya."

The Fire Fang nodded in agreement while looking at itself.

A lot of people were also staring at it.

Bai Yunmiao understood and laughed, "After all the praise Sha Duo gave you yesterday, it's normal for others to pay attention to you. There were several news reports about you today."

"Is the celebrity effect that severe?" Qiao Sang asked.

"You're lucky. Others might just look at you for a few seconds. Last time, a new pet beast trainer who was praised by Wang Dian'ao in public had his address found and was surrounded at his doorstep, with people demanding a one-on-one match." Bai Yunmiao sighed, "That wasn't a one-on-one match; it was a group attack, a relay battle. They surrounded him for a whole week."

Qiao Sang was taken aback and said seriously, "Thank goodness Sha Duo isn't as famous as Wang Dian'ao."

Bai Yunmiao: "..."

...

There were only eight remaining contestants in the New Talent Competition.

The F-class pet beast trainers had short match times, and even with the addition of pet beast performers to extend the duration, it was impossible to have only four matches per day to determine the semi-finalists.

The organizers had already announced the schedule in advance.

On the morning of July 5th, the semi-finalists would be determined, and in the afternoon, the top three would be decided.

Today was the final day of the New Talent Competition.

As time passed, more and more people entered the arena.

Qiao Sang looked at the packed audience stands surrounding the pet beast arena and sighed, "I wonder where the organizers found so many people to watch."

Yesterday, not even a quarter of the seats were filled.

Bai Yunmiao turned her gaze and asked, "Do you never pay attention to external information?"

She still remembered when she first added Qiao Genius, and the messages she sent were never replied to.

Later, when they met again, she realized that there were still people in the world who could resist checking their phones.

"I do, but I didn't yesterday," Qiao Sang replied.

She spent her time training with Fire Fang and studying her opponents.

"Yesterday, the platform announced that they had invited Gao Xulu and Sha Duo to perform a match today. After the match, they would draw five lucky audience members to take photos and get autographs with them," Bai Yunmiao explained.

Qiao Sang instantly understood why so many people had come.

Gao Xulu was also a contestant in this year's Yu Hua Regional Competition.

Although he didn't make it to the top ten, his ranking was still quite good.

Most importantly, Sha Duo had been defeated by Gao Xulu.

The organizers' marketing strategy was truly brilliant.

Qiao Sang looked at the commentary stand.

She saw that the stand, which originally had two people, now had three.

A woman with short chestnut hair sat to the left of the middle-aged commentator.

It was Gao Xulu.

...

As the opening ceremony ended, the photos on the large screen above the arena began to shuffle.

Soon, the first match-up appeared on the screen.

Hou Xiangyu vs. Yang Qi.

Both were pet beast trainers with two intermediate-level pet beasts and were strong contenders for the championship.

Qiao Sang paid close attention to the match.

With these two facing off, they would definitely use more varied tactics.

In the previous matches, due to the significant difference in strength, their matches were mostly one-sided victories.

The pet beasts didn't show much of their true strength, making it impossible to use them as effective data for analysis.

This was one of the reasons Qiao Sang wasn't confident in facing them.

However, Qiao Sang didn't focus for long.

Because one minute later, the referee announced the result.

Yang Qi, who had previously dominated others, was dominated by Hou Xiangyu...

Hou Xiangyu's Controlling Absorber used a single move, Illusion Light, to put Yang Qi's Faithful One into a confused state.

Then, while Faithful One was confused, the Controlling Absorber used Psychic to throw it to the ground, ending the match.

Qiao Sang fell into deep thought.

Illusion Light was a skill unique to psychic-type pet beasts.

It could cause damage and had a certain probability of putting the opponent into a confused state, but the probability wasn't very high.

For a pet beast of the same level to fall so quickly, it was either bad luck or the Illusion Light had reached at least a minor level of mastery.

Whether the skill would work largely depended on luck.

After all, Illusion Light wasn't a skill that could guarantee a confused state.

However...

Fire Fang's luck...

Qiao Sang couldn't help but sigh, remembering how Fire Fang always pointed at the losing side.

A one-minute match, a half-hour performance—this was the current situation.

Since the first match ended so quickly, the organizers had to ask the pet beast performers to extend their performance to keep the audience engaged.

Fortunately, the pet beast performers were professionals and didn't let the atmosphere cool down.

The second match was between Wei Wenyi and Luo Xinlin.

Wei Wenyi was the last of the three pet beast trainers with two intermediate-level pet beasts.

To counter Luo Xinlin's Pidgey, Wei Wenyi sent out an electric-type pet beast, Electric Cat, which was effective against flying-type pet beasts.

The advantage of having two intermediate-level pet beasts was evident.

A pet beast trainer with only one pet beast had no choice, while a trainer with two could choose the pet beast that had an advantage over the opponent.

The result was no surprise.

Wei Wenyi won the match.

After the pet beast performers livened up the atmosphere, the third match-up appeared on the screen.

Chen Qian vs. Qiao Sang.

In the VIP seats.

"Song Yuan, you have good taste. This Fire Fang with the sunglasses looks pretty cool. With so many media present today, if Fire Fang performs well, it can indeed bring a lot of traffic to your new online store."

"This Chen Qian's pet beast is a Two-Tailed Land Turtle, which is a level lower. It's going to be tough."

"Qiao Sang has a history of defeating intermediate-level pet beasts. Chen Qian's Two-Tailed Land Turtle only recently evolved, so there's a chance," a guest who had been watching the competition from the beginning said.

"By the way, Song Yuan, how did you contact Qiao Sang yesterday? Is the live streaming fee charged per session or based on sales?"

"Song Yuan?"

"Song Yuan, why aren't you speaking?"

Song Yuan: "..."

She didn't want to speak...

Was she supposed to tell them that she was hung up on several times and then blocked?

She would definitely be mercilessly mocked...

On the field.

Both sides had taken their positions.

Following the referee's command, a Two-Tailed Land Turtle, about two meters tall, with a brown shell and two tails, appeared in front of Qiao Sang.