The footsteps of the girl and her cat gradually faded away.

Su Zhi didn’t look back, and neither did Yu Bao.

The Envoy’s Pets looked at each other, and without another word, walked together onto the stage bathed in spotlights.

"Welcome, everyone, to Live Stream Room 100. I’m your commentator, Lu Dongjie. This is the Huai City League high school division finals!"

Lu Dongjie, ready in the second-floor viewing room of the venue, opened the live broadcast. Bullet comments scrolled across the screen—

[Frost Shadow Qtm: Thanks for being with us!]

[Annihilation: The finals are here in the blink of an eye. Kinda emotional.]

[Golden Rare: Betting it all on God Su today. For no other reason than faith.]

[Viewer 38128: All in on God Su!]

[Su Zhi’s Doggy: I’m in! All in!]

[Jade Balance 001: Then I’ll bet too! Even though I don’t think God Su can actually win...]

HUFF.

Having bet everything on Su Zhi in the betting app, Lu Dongjie took a deep breath.

’Honestly, after seeing the harsh review from the special Alliance Member today, I also think Su Zhi probably can’t win. But...’

He still had to bet it all on Su Zhi!

There was no reason. If you had to ask, it was a gambler’s faith!!!

"The finals are about to begin, and we can see both sides have met in front of the head referee!"

On the stage, the two pairs of combatants stood on either side of the center line. A pot-bellied head referee stood in the very middle, a white-headed eagle with a piercingly intense gaze perched on his shoulder.

—A Bright-eyed Eagle, a Wind Element Middle Elite Race. The Pet Beast with the single best dynamic vision, bar none, completely blowing any high-speed camera out of the water.

This was the standard referee Pet Beast for international competitions, and its appearance fee was exorbitant.

For Huai City, they could only afford to hire one for the finals.

"On my left is the independent contestant, Su Zhi. His Pet Beast is Yu Bao, a Yu Dian Dog, with a Real-time Energy Value of 1134."

"On my right is the tournament’s number one seed, the contestant from Second High, Fang Yuan. His Pet Beast is 004, a White Flame Battle Spirit, with a Real-time Energy Value of 1302."

"There is one minute until the official start of the match. The two contestants may communicate, or they can proceed directly to their command positions to wait..."

After reciting the routine procedures, the referee walked to his post.

Separated by the center line, the two opponents, brought to the stage by destiny, looked at each other.

"Honestly, you’ve far exceeded my expectations. During the exchange match, we weren’t even in the same league. And now, you’re standing with me on the stage of the city’s most prestigious tournament finals."

Fang Yuan spoke more at once than he ever had before.

"But your training methods deviate from the correct path of Beast Taming. You’re destined to fail. After this match, I suggest you..."

"I won’t let you win."

Su Zhi’s response, however, was terrifyingly brief. With that, he walked straight to his command position.

Yu Bao retreated to the center of its half of the field and entered a state of combat readiness.

Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly regained his composure and walked to his own command position.

retreated to the center of its half of the field and entered a state of combat readiness.

The competition light turned from red to blue, and the finals entered the final countdown.

Words were powerless to prove who was right.

Only winning and losing mattered!

DING—

The competition light turned from blue to green.

Lu Dongjie began his commentary: "We can hear the Race Bell has sounded, and the finals have officially begun!

"Neither Yu Bao nor 004 has rushed into a Strong Attack. Instead, they’re constantly probing their opponent. At this level, making the first move rashly can actually put you at a disadvantage...

"Perhaps the clash has already begun, and we as the audience just can’t see it! Honestly, I’m even more nervous now than I am watching a fast-paced match!"

On the stage, both Pet Beasts stood cautiously, staring intently at each other like two samurai searching for an opening.

Compared to the previous roaring crowds, the audience for the finals had become surprisingly quiet after the match began.

Everyone held their breath, staring intently, afraid of missing a single detail.

Motes of dust floated in the air, rendered with incredible clarity, grain by grain, under the intense spotlights...

Suddenly, a faint yellow Energy Light Array appeared on the stage. Immediately after, countless Yellow Earth Walls erupted from the Light Array, shooting up from the ground.

Just as everyone was wondering about Yu Bao’s motive, the Yellow Earth Walls, having risen to a certain height, suddenly exploded, enveloped and consumed by white flames!

Dust filled the air, and white flames danced.

Amidst this concerto of sand and fire, a sharp Furious Sand Blade tore through the curtain of sand, striking straight for 004!

Lu Dongjie’s voice was excited: "The Yellow Earth Wall has exploded in flames! It must have neutralized some kind of invisible attack from 004! Yu Bao countered speed with deliberation, and its Furious Sand Blade has hit 004!"

In the league’s news studio, Selena, who had witnessed everything, raised her eyebrows in slight surprise.

"We can see that the pace of the match started out very slow, and then suddenly became very intense."

The female host looked at her, her eyes full of curiosity. "Captain Selena, how would you interpret that last scene?"

"...It truly exceeded my expectations."

Selena recovered from her shock and quickly resumed her frosty demeanor.

"Actually, the pace of this match was never slow. It’s been extremely intense from the very beginning, but for most of the audience, that intensity is invisible."

"004 was using a White Flame Battle Spirit Racial Skill, a Low Level Elite Skill of the Fire and Telekinesis Element, Dark Flame Strangulation. This is also the Racial Skill of its base form, the Nether Flame Spirit."

"You can think of it as 004 secretly unleashing an invisible flame at Yu Bao. If Yu Bao had been touched, it would have been instantly incinerated."

"To even avoid being detected by the Earth Force Field, 004 specifically made the Dark Flame travel along the very edge of the stage, minimizing the chance of discovery."

"This is basically a pro-level tactic. The ability requirements for the Pet Beast are also very high."

The female host covered her mouth in surprise. "But Yu Bao expanded the detection range of its Earth Force Field and discovered the Dark Flame in the end?"

"Correct. 004 has superior abilities, but Yu Bao used a higher-dimensional awareness to close the gap."

On the stage, dust flew.

held its claws in front of itself, struggling to block the onslaught of the Furious Sand Blade.

The disadvantage of a Telekinesis Pet Beast was revealed in this moment: suspended in the air without any leverage, it was being pushed back by the Furious Sand Blade, about to be knocked out of the ring.

Fang Yuan’s mouth was slightly agape. Clearly, this opening was not what he had expected.

VWOOM—

The Rune Chain lit up with a pink glow.

A shockwave of telekinetic energy suddenly erupted in front of 004, finally dissipating the Furious Sand Blade just before it was knocked out of the ring.

At this moment, its gaze toward Yu Bao held a trace of lingering fear.

Even though it knew in advance that its opponent had this skill, the sheer brute force of it, when faced directly, was still slightly beyond its expectations.

This move was very similar to its White Flame·Blade Form, but compared to fire, the sand had a much more powerful and heavy impact!

Yu Bao gave 004 no opportunity to recover. The moment the Furious Sand Blade was unleashed, a Sandstorm followed right on its heels.

"Steady. The opponent doesn’t dare attack rashly. It’s still just trying to establish a rhythm."

Fang Yuan quickly regained his composure.

"Counter and interrupt it."

didn’t respond, but it swiftly carried out Fang Yuan’s command.

Streaks of blade-shaped white flame gathered around it, flying against the howling sand and striking at Yu Bao with precision and lethality.

Yu Bao was already prepared, having formed a Quicksand Shield in advance to defend and counter.

White Flame·Blade Form excelled at surprise, but it didn’t possess immense power or energy. In the face of the impenetrable Quicksand Shield, all the flames were completely blocked.

Immediately after, 004 dodged to the side, avoiding the flying Quicksand Shield.

But at that exact moment, the dust behind the shield suddenly converged, forming into a Yu Bao.

This was Yu Bao’s usual trick: using a Stand-In to confuse the enemy, while its real body activated Desert Concealment, using the cover of other Skills to close in on its opponent!

WHOOSH!

Yu Bao adjusted its posture mid-air, aimed its hind legs at 004, and launched a Skybound Strike.

This move was called Crow Takes Flight!

SWISH.

Under Yu Bao’s kick, 004 dissolved into a blurry phantom and vanished.

At the same time, the surrounding space suddenly distorted—004, which had used Burning Ash Divine Concealment to lie in ambush, raised its right claw, now a sharp blade, and slashed at Yu Bao!

SWISH!

And with that, Yu Bao also crumbled into a pile of sand!

froze for a second, then whipped its head around to look at the opposite side of the stage—

Yu Bao was still sitting there perfectly fine, even panting happily with its tongue out.

It turned out the real one had never moved at all. The one that came over with the Quicksand Shield was just a Stand-In from its Sand Shadow Guard...

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