The first real-world test of Furious Sand Blade 2.0 was a huge success!

"Don’t get cocky, Yu Bao. She’s definitely going easy on us."

Su Zhi reminded him patiently, "The Vacuum Multi-Layer Ice Wall is a powerful Defense Skill. It shouldn’t be that easy to break."

Yu Bao nodded in sudden understanding. He looked at Xue Ao, his expression immediately turning serious.

’Thank you for your tolerance, senior.’

’Even though we’re just playing around, if I don’t take this seriously, I’d be letting down her deliberate effort to go easy on me.’

’I have to up the intensity a bit, to improve her game experience!’

The next moment, a sky-blotting barrage of Furious Sand Blades harassed Xue Ao relentlessly.

Thick Earth Blessing was Yu Bao’s Core Skill, and activating it consumed more Energy than his other Skills.

However, Yu Bao only imbued a tiny part of the Furious Sand Blades’ tips with Thick Earth Blessing, so the actual consumption wasn’t high. Maintaining this level of firepower wouldn’t be a problem!

’Senior! Please accept my sincerity!’

"WAAAH!!!"

’Don’t come over here!!!’

Xue Ao scurried about, miserably dodging the Furious Sand Blade assault. The Vacuum Multi-Layer Ice Walls he summoned were riddled with holes and in a wretched state.

Selena gave a somewhat helpless smile.

’That’s what you get for underestimating him. Now you’re getting wrecked.’

But as Selena’s gaze fell upon the whistling Furious Sand Blades, she noticed a faint Golden Light on their surfaces.

’Is that Thick Earth Blessing?’

’He repurposed Thick Earth Blessing, which is meant to strengthen one’s own body, onto the Furious Sand Blades? And it actually worked?’

Selena looked at Su Zhi, her eyes full of intrigue.

’An interesting little kid.’

"Hwah?!"

Xue Ao had just dodged a Furious Sand Blade and looked ahead again, only to find that Yu Bao was gone.

Only then did Xue Ao notice that the Furious Sand Blade that had just grazed past him was trailing a stream of sand and dust.

’It’s Desert Concealment!’

But it was too late. Yu Bao had already appeared, and before Xue Ao could defend itself, he kicked out with his hind legs—

This move was called: Flying Dog Skillfully Steals the Treasure Box!

"CRACK!"

Under the heavy blow of Yu Bao’s Skybound Strike, Xue Ao cracked and shattered into a pile of ice cubes, dying on the spot.

"Woof?!" Yu Bao jumped in fright.

But when he looked around, he found three more identical Xue Aos watching him from a short distance away.

Although a Cold Realm Ice Spine doesn’t have hands or a face, being just a pile of floating ice chunks, Xue Ao somehow gave off the impression that it was crossing its arms with a smug look on its face.

"Hwaaah~"

The three Xue Aos simultaneously let out a sound that screamed ’I have the advantage,’ as if it wasn’t the one who had just been fleeing in panic.

Selena: "..."

Even though Xue Ao was her Pet Beast, she had to admit, sometimes she really wanted to beat it up, too.

Yu Bao ignored the provocation, his mind already racing as he observed the three Xue Aos before him.

’Is it some kind of Clone Skill? Like 004’s Telekinesis Stand-In or my own Sand Shadow Guards?’

’Generally speaking, there’s a fundamental difference between the stand-ins created by these skills and the original body. For example, they can’t attack, or they have no physical form, or their physical form is very fragile...’

’In that case, I’ll try attacking this one first!’

Yu Bao locked onto the most smug-looking of the three Xue Aos and shot a Furious Sand Blade toward it with a SWOOSH.

However, to Yu Bao’s surprise, the Xue Ao that was hit shattered on impact, and the feedback he received felt just like when he shattered the first stand-in.

The other two Xue Aos shrugged in unison.

Then, ice converged and formed a new Xue Ao right in front of Yu Bao.

’Not that one? Then it must be one of the other two!’

Yu Bao directed his Furious Sand Blades to attack the other two one by one. But to his astonishment, the feedback was exactly the same as before.

"All three Xue Aos are the real body!"

Su Zhi’s eyes lit up as he quickly spoke to Yu Bao through their Beast Taming Space.

"This is the Core Skill of a Cold Realm Ice Spine, Ice Blade Legion. Its principle isn’t to create stand-ins, but to split its real body apart."

"Woof!"

Yu Bao had another moment of realization. ’There’s a skill this incredible?’

"HWALALALALALA!"

The three Xue Aos circled Yu Bao at high speed, continuously firing ice spines at him, chattering nonstop.

Cold Realm Ice Spine Racial Skill, Multi-Spine Thrust!

This move was used in conjunction with its Core Skill. After splitting into three bodies, the Cold Realm Ice Spine’s firepower density was tripled!

Yu Bao summoned Yellow Earth Wall 2.0 to block the attack. The Yellow Earth Walls rose from all four sides, forming a small fortress to shield him from the ice spine assault.

Selena raised her eyebrows again.

Under the assault of the ice spines, cracks appeared on the surfaces of the Yellow Earth Walls, but they didn’t fall apart.

Yellow Earth Wall had the "distinction" of being the worst Defense Skill, bar none. Besides its extremely low Energy consumption, it had no other merits.

Even if Yu Bao’s Yellow Earth Wall had reached Tier Two, its Defense Power wouldn’t be very high. Forget about a Cold Realm Ice Spine’s spine thrust; it would probably struggle to even block a Water Bomb.

’Could he have also adapted Thick Earth Blessing for his Yellow Earth Wall?’

The smile in Selena’s eyes deepened.

"Yu Bao, how are you holding up?" Su Zhi asked through the Beast Taming Space.

Yu Bao: "Woof."

’I’m thinking about something. Go play by yourself for a bit.’

Su Zhi: "..."

As the great Yu Bao Wozji famously said: Do not be overwhelmed by the difficulties you face, but rather, consider what those difficulties have brought you.

At this moment, facing Xue Ao’s offensive, the Wise One, Yu-crates, was lost in thought.

’The blue-haired big sister must have watched his match yesterday. She knows exactly what he and Su Zhi are capable of.’

’So for her to come spar today, it definitely wasn’t just for fun.’

’She must have wanted to give some pointers to him and Su Zhi, her juniors.’

’Yu Bao had heard Su Mao mention this before. This was what you call a serendipitous opportunity!’

’For example, right now, Xue Ao is using its Core Skill against him. It’s definitely not because it can’t beat him.’

’Could this be some kind of hint from a senior to a junior?’

Yu Bao gazed at the sky, deep in thought.

Then, his eyes lit up.

’Wasn’t I just struggling with how to apply Thick Earth Blessing to my Sand Shadow Guards?’

’Senior Xue Ao is using this skill that isn’t a clone but is better than a clone. It must be a hint pointing me down the right path!’

’Wait, not a clone, but better than a clone...’

Yu Bao slapped his left hoof with his right, a wave of realization washing over him as if a small lightbulb had just appeared above his head.

’Senior Xue Ao is an Elemental Life form, different from me, so I definitely can’t just copy the Ice Blade Legion skill directly.’

’But my Sand Shadow Guards are made of the Earth Element, and I can definitely sense and control them. They’re my stand-ins, after all!’

’Before, when I imbued the Furious Sand Blades and Yellow Earth Wall with Thick Earth Blessing, I applied it externally. But when I tried to do the same with my Sand Shadow Guards, it failed.’

’So, what if I change my approach? What if I imagine the Sand Shadow Guards as a part of my own body and activate Thick Earth Blessing from within them!’

In an instant, Yu Bao achieved a breakthrough in his understanding.

A flash of Golden Light erupted—and then, three Yu Baos leaped out from the Yellow Earth Wall fortress together, charging toward the three circling Xue Aos.

"Hwah?"

Xue Ao knew these were Sand Shadow Guards and decisively redirected its ice spine attack toward them.

’It’s just a cloning trick where they collapse on contact. It’s nothing compared to my Ice Blade Legion!’

Then, all three Yu Baos simultaneously emitted a Golden Light and took the ice spines head-on with their bodies.

Xue Ao was dumbfounded.

’Wait, aren’t they supposed to be clones??’

"SHAAA—"

Immediately after, the three Yu Baos activated Desert Concealment together, transforming into three sandstorms that lunged at Xue Ao!

"Woof!" "Woof!" "Woof!"

The three Yu Baos let out a synchronized bark and captured all three Xue Aos on the spot.

"Hwah! Hwah!" "Hwah!"

Xue Ao rolled on the ground, struggling with all its might. Yu Bao pinned it down with his hooves, a cultured and graceful smile on his face: ⌓‿⌓

’Thank you for your patient guidance, senior!’

Yu Bao was quite moved.

’Senior’s acting is really good, trying so hard to look like it can’t beat me or run away... it’s almost like it’s real!’

The spar ended there. Naturally, Yu Bao was the winner.

A purple Beast Taming Light Array flickered, and Xue Ao disappeared. The two Beast Tamers walked toward each other.

[Assignable Attribute Points... 0.14]

"Thank you for your guidance, senior!" Su Zhi said sincerely.

Just a moment ago, Su Zhi had learned of the "senior’s" intentions from Yu Bao.

’She might seem a bit cold, but she’s actually a really warm-hearted person!’

’What did I guide you on...?’ Selena coughed twice, pretending not to be completely shocked, and nodded. "No need to call me senior. Just call me Captain Sai."

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Day eleven of updating 10,000 characters a day! The clues about Yu Bao’s evolution path that everyone’s been curious about will be appearing soon, so please look forward to it~

PS: None of you guessed correctly, lol.