Baizhi Mountain Range.
It took over four hours for Charles and his team to finally arrive here.
At the entrance, the three of them advanced slowly, stepping on the soft, decaying leaves, making only faint rustling sounds.
At the front of the group was a chanical dog-like pet beast leading the way.
Charles followed behind, holding a monitor, occasionally checking the information displayed on it.
Just then, the surrounding trees seed to co alive, shifting to block the path ahead.
The chanical dog-like pet beast ca to a halt.
Unfazed, Charles said, "These are Woodroot Beasts. They generally don't attack humans. They just pretend to be trees to block the way, indicating this path is off-limits. We’ll just take a different one."
Qiao Sang, curious, asked, "Why is this path off-limits?"
"Xun xun?"
Little Treasure appeared, mirroring his Beast master’s curious expression.
The ghost-type pet's sudden appearance didn’t elicit any reaction from Charles or Caro.
Caro looked at Little Treasure and observed him for a while.
Charles patiently explained, "Woodroot Beasts are social creatures and usually gather in large groups. If they're blocking the path, it ans there are either young Woodroot Beasts or Woodroot Beast eggs nearby."
So that's it… Qiao Sang and Little Treasure both showed looks of realization.
Charles stared at the monitor for a while, then pointed toward a side path on the left, "Let’s go this way."
As soon as he said it, the chanical dog-like beast swiftly changed routes, moving to the front again.
Along the way, Qiao Sang saw many wild pet beasts she hadn't encountered in textbooks.
However, none of them seed wary. They neither attacked nor fled but simply continued doing their own thing.
Qiao Sang asked again, "Is it because people often co here to explore that the wild pets don’t react to us?"
"Of course they react." Caro said, lifting her chin and motioning toward a tree where a sloth-like pet beast with brown fur was lying, "That’s a Hexloth. It may look like it’s sleeping, but it glances at us every three seconds."
"And that Hot Ant over there."
She said, pointing to an ant-like pet eating red fruit near a tree, "It’s deep red right now, aning it's in a state of alert."
She laughed, "Believe , if we get within five ters, it’ll run away imdiately."
Qiao Sang, intrigued, asked, "Why run and not attack?"
Charles, up ahead, answered, "Hot Ants are good at reading the situation. They rarely go after opponents stronger than themselves. Every pet we have here is stronger, it can sense that."
"And…"
Charles added with a smile, "We’re only in the outermost layer of Baizhi Mountain. The pets here generally don’t attack humans unprovoked."
"Why is that?" Qiao Sang didn’t see the connection.
She knew that wild pets in 1st District were ta and only allowed to stay if they posed no threat.
But this mountain range clearly hadn’t been developed, so she assud the beasts here weren’t managed.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be considered a wilderness expedition.
At her words, Charles and Caro exchanged a glance, suddenly reminded that Qiao Sang was a freshman, and from another planet.
Only soone unfamiliar with Baizhi Mountain would ask such a basic question.
So the reason Qiao Sang was calm upon hearing about Baizhi Mountain… was because she didn’t know it was the territory of the emperor-ranked Twin-Land dragon?
Charles fell silent.
Caro began explaining in detail: "In the top ten districts, wild pet beasts are mostly tightly controlled, especially in 1st District. But there are exceptions, like Baizhi Mountain. There are no buildings nearby and no human inhabitants, so many wild pets choose to live here."
"Baizhi Mountain actually has an owner. Pets that move in without permission usually stay on the outer edge."
"These pets aren’t protected, and they’re not strong enough to go deeper in. Plus, they’re still affected by past managent, so they generally won’t attack humans."
She paused, then added, "But after living here for a while, even the outer-layer pets beco less ta. If they detect that a human is weak, they will initiate attacks."
"Of course, that’s rare, since weak Beast masters don’t usually co here."
Qiao Sang thought for a mont and asked, "Owner?"
"Check it out."
Before Caro could answer, the chanical dog-like pet stopped and barked.
Charles stopped too and raised his hand, signaling the team to halt.
Qiao Sang imdiately froze in place, forgetting her question.
The atmosphere shifted slightly.
"Within 300 ters, there's a general-level pet beast."
Charles said after looking at the monitor. Then he instinctively turned to Qiao Sang, the strongest in the team: "We can’t avoid it. We’ll need to deal with it."
Qiao Sang blinked, "Didn’t you say outer-layer pets don’t usually attack humans? Can’t we just walk past?"
Charles explained, "A general-level pet appearing ans we’re no longer in the outermost layer. Mid-layer pets are more likely to attack. We need to strike first."
"Got it." Qiao Sang nodded.
She looked at Little Treasure: "Go quietly, hypnotize it. Don’t make a scene."
"Xun xun~"
Little Treasure chirped, assuring her the task would be done.
His eyes glowed blue, and he vanished.
He moved so fast that Charles couldn’t stop it in ti.
He opened his mouth, then hesitated before finally asking: "A general-level pet… won’t it be hard to hypnotize?"
Qiao Sang replied calmly, "As long as it doesn’t detect Little Treasure beforehand, it won’t be a problem."
At his current mastery, Little Treasure's hypnosis was at the peak of his skill. He could even potentially hypnotize king-level pets, let alone generals.
---
While they spoke, Little Treasure was already over 200 ters away.
"Xun xun…"
He stared at the enormous, gray-scaled snake-like pet with an iron-spiked tail, which was asleep, and hesitated.
It seed like hypnosis wasn’t even needed…
But his Beast master said to do it, so…
After thinking for 0.01 seconds, Little Treasure raised his stubby toes.
Two 3D shadow illusions surged toward the sleeping snake, forcefully prying open its eyelids.
"Tie tie…"
The snake frowned in its sleep, annoyed, opened its eyes, and saw two glowing blue lights.
"Tie tie…"
The snake fell asleep again.
This ti, even more deeply.
"Xun xun…"
Little Treasure observed for a bit, then smacked the snake's face twice with his shadows.
"Tie tie…"
The snake drooled in its dream, completely unresponsive.
"Xun xun~"
Satisfied, Little Treasure returned.
---
"Xun xun~"
He appeared beside Qiao Sang, puffed out his chest, and chirped proudly: Mission accomplished.
"Well done."
Qiao Sang praised, then said, "Let’s go."
That’s it? Caro and Charles froze.
It hadn’t even been a full minute since it left.
And it was done?
Both were torn. They knew Qiao Sang was strong and capable of handling a general-level beast…
But this fast?
Should they believe it…?
Charles hesitated for two seconds, then made the call: "Move out!"
Even if the beast wasn’t fully dealt with, their team could handle it.
He’d only alerted Qiao Sang earlier so she could prepare…
But when he saw the Iron-jawed Python fast asleep, his eyes widened and one thought rang in his mind: It really got hypnotized?!
At the general level, pet beasts had enhanced ntal strength. Even if caught off guard, they had ways to wake themselves.
This was beyond expectations.
Charles and Caro’s gazes toward Qiao Sang changed.
Rumors were one thing, but witnessing it was sothing else entirely.
"Tie tie…"
The Iron-jawed Python drooled in its sleep.
"Wait a sec." Caro said, and after confirming it was sound asleep, she pulled out two empty test tubes from her backpack, uncorked one, and collected so drool.
Charles was unsurprised.
Qiao Sang, however, asked, "What’s its drool for?"
While sealing the tube, Caro explained, "Iron-jawed Python saliva, when mixed with Finspike Powder, boosts the defense of ground or steel-type pet beasts."
Then she looked at Qiao Sang, "I rember you have a Steel Guardian Falcon. This would work for it. Want to make so for you?"
You even know about my Steel Guardian Falcon… How much of my info got leaked on the forums…? Qiao Sang reined in her thoughts and asked: "Do I need to pay points?"
She’s already asking about point traps this early in the sester… Charles sighed internally.
Caro's expression froze for a second, but then she glanced at Qiao Sang’s half-open, motionless backpack and smiled: "Of course not."
Qiao Sang blurted out: "Then I want a set!"
"Sure." Caro kept smiling.
---
The three of them moved cautiously through the forest, more alert than before.
Just as Charles had said earlier, now that they had reached the middle zone, the wild pet beasts were significantly stronger and would even initiate attacks on their own, greatly increasing the danger.
After Yabao had taken down a general-level pet beast with one Fire Whirl, Qiao Sang suddenly rembered a question she hadn’t had a chance to ask earlier.
She couldn’t help but ask again, "Who’s the master of the Baizhi Mountain Range?"
Caro squatted down beside the unconscious general-level beast, plucking two of its hairs as she said, "It’s a emperor-level pet beast, the Twin Land Dragon. This mountain range is its territory, and the governnt more or less acknowledges that."
Emperor-level pet beast… Qiao Sang was briefly stunned and asked, “Is it currently in this mountain range?”
“Yeah.”
This ti it was Charles who answered, “The Twin Land Dragon resides in the core of the Baizhi Mountain Range. Any pet beast that wants to live deep in this range has to get its approval.”
“But don’t worry. We only need to operate within the middle zone, not any deeper. We won’t run into the Twin Land Dragon.”
As he said this, he suddenly rembered sothing and showed Qiao Sang the monitor he’d been holding, adding, “Even if we do run into it, it’s fine. I have a Pet Beast Tracking Detector. It can detect the Twin Land Dragon’s presence in advance, so we’ll have ti to escape.”
Qiao Sang: ……
Qiao Sang actually knew a bit about this Pet Beast Tracking Detector. Different level pet beasts emitted different magnetic fields and energies. Supposedly, the detector used this to detect the number and level of beasts within a certain distance.
“Xun xun~”
At that mont, Little Treasure called out proudly, indicating that escaping was his specialty.
“What did Ghost Ring King say?” Caro packed away the hairs and asked.
Qiao Sang hesitated, then rephrased, “He said if we run into danger, he can lead us to safety.”
A few days ago, the battle from the Top 100 Beast masters match had been uploaded to the forums, including the reveal that the genius freshman Qiao Sang’s Ghost Ring King was a rare-colored mutant with dual Psychic attributes.
Not the entire school knew yet, but Caro and Charles, who were about to go on a field adventure with Qiao Sang, had looked it up and were certainly aware.
“Xun xun~”
Little Treasure nodded in confirmation.
Charles smiled and looked at him: “Then we’ll count on you if danger strikes.”
Though Charles was a native of the Chaosu Star, his university, Yulianton, had students from other planets. His attitude toward other people's pet beasts naturally mirrored how their owners treated them.
After all, respecting another planet’s social culture was a matter of courtesy.
“Xun xun~”
Little Treasure patted his chest, signaling confidence.
---
Night fell, the sky turning deep and dark.
With the sun down, the already pleasant weather turned cooler still.
All three of them had been empowered by their pet beasts, so they didn’t feel cold at all.
Caro pitched the tent and climbed in. Then she poked her head out and said, “I’m going to rest first. Wake in three hours. We’ll rotate shifts then.”
Charles gave her a thumbs-up.
Seeing this, Caro pulled the tent shut with peace of mind.
“You should rest too.” Charles said to Qiao Sang, who was ditating cross-legged
Qiao Sang sat on a now-enlarged Yabao, eyes closed, calmly replying, “ditation is a form of rest for .”
Charles was quietly impressed. So even monsters needed to work hard to achieve what they had…
An hour later, Qiao Sang lay asleep on Yabao
Charles: ...
Once everyone else was asleep, only his own pet beast trainer remained. Sensing this, Feeling Ghost floated away from the backpack containing Lubao and drifted over to Charles.
“Sense Sense.”
Feeling Ghost offered to stand guard.
Charles whispered, “Then let’s do it together.”
“Sense Sense.”
Feeling Ghost nodded.
“Lu.”
At that mont, Lubao leapt from the backpack, ignored Charles, and called out to Feeling Ghost, suggesting they go search for a target in despair.
“Sense…”
Feeling Ghost instinctively looked at its trainer.
Charles glanced at the sleeping Qiao Sang, montarily unsure.
He had interacted with people from Blue Star before and knew their pet beasts were often very independent.
Doing their own thing while the trainer slept was quite common.
But this was the middle zone of the Baizhi Range, too dangerous for two high-level beasts to wander aimlessly.
“Do you want to wake your trainer and ask her?” Charles asked Lubao.
Lubao stared at the human, then at Feeling Ghost who hadn’t moved. Without a word, she turned and leapt back into the backpack.
Is it angry? Blue Star pet beasts sure are moody… Charles frowned slightly.
Unseen by him, a single droplet of water trickled from the backpack and slowly flowed back the way they had co.
“Xun xun…”
Seeing the droplet about to disappear into the distance, Little Treasure revealed himself and floated to his trainer’s side, licking her cheek hard.
Sleeping Qiao Sang shivered with a chill and woke up with a start.
“What is it?” She opened her eyes to see Little Treasure. Rembering the cold lick, she knew he was the culprit and asked helplessly.
“Xun xun!”
Little Treasure pointed in the direction the droplet had gone, his expression anxious, he was saying the third child had left!
The third child? Lubao? Qiao Sang blinked, then her groggy mind snapped awake. She looked at her backpack, Lubao was gone.
Qiao Sang: !!!
“Why are you awake?” Charles turned and asked upon hearing the commotion.
“My Lubao is missing!” Qiao Sang raised her hand, instinctively trying to summon her back.
At that mont, Charles’ surprised voice interrupted: “Your Ice Xilu still left? I even told it to wake you.”
Qiao Sang paused and looked at him, confused.
Charles explained: “Ice Xilu wanted Feeling Ghost to go with it to find despair targets. I told it to wake you and ask, but it just went back into the backpack. I thought it gave up.”
Qiao Sang glanced at Feeling Ghost beside Charles, thoughts racing.
Lubao had left, but Feeling Ghost stayed. That ant Lubao wasn’t going to locate despair emotions, she was going to find opponents to battle…
She imdiately understood her intentions.
Lately, Lubao had been playing in Sky Battle Over Water battles at night. She firmly believed that battling could increase her power.
Her mindset had been improving, but after days of converting despair, she had grown even more anxious… Qiao Sang didn’t hesitate. She slid off Yabao, waved her hand, and stored the sleeping beast in her Beast Codex.
“Little Treasure, can you locate Lubao’s coordinates?” Qiao Sang asked.
“Xun xun~”
Little Treasure’s eyes glowed blue.
Instantly, a 3D terrain map of the surrounding ten kiloters appeared in his mind, along with glowing green lights marking life forms.
At the sa mont, deep in the mountain, a massive pet beast slowly opened its red eyes.
---
“Xun xun~”
Little Treasure chirped, he could pinpoint the location.
“I’m heading out. I’ll be back before dawn.” Qiao Sang told Charles.
He imdiately realized she was going to retrieve Lubao.
Wouldn’t it be easier to just summon it back? Blue Star Beast masters were so hard to understand… He pulled a small monitor, half the size of a phone, from his pocket and tossed it to her: “Take this. Even without a signal, we can stay in touch.”
“Okay.” Qiao Sang caught it deftly.
She pocketed it, then said to Little Treasure, “Let’s go find Lubao.”
“Xun xun~”
He responded.
The next mont, he vanished with Qiao Sang.
That was fast… Charles swallowed his “Co back soon.”
---
“Lu…”
Lubao was wandering aimlessly.
She rembered there were many pet beasts of similar strength in this direction.
She needed to find them quickly, battle a few, then return before her trainer noticed…
“Lu…”
Thinking of her master made Lubao even gloomier.
She had been outside during the day, but when enemies ca, her master sent Yabao or Little Treasure. Was she still too weak?
Just then, a green pet beast about three ters tall with wings appeared in her sight.
“Lu."
Lubao’s expression turned serious.
“Yin yin~”
The green beast turned at the noise, startled by Lubao, then suddenly acted shy.
Lubao ignored its words, raised her head slightly, and opened her mouth.
The temperature plumted.
“Yin yin…”
The green pet beast seed to realize what was happening. It stopped acting coy and beca serious.
Then, wings spread, it turned and flew away.
Lubao gathered energy. A huge torrent of water swept over her target.
At the sa ti, snowflakes fell from the sky.
Just as she was about to unleash a full-force water blast, two familiar figures appeared.
“Lu…”
Seeing her master, Lubao froze. The water surrounding her vanished.
“You left without telling .” Qiao Sang sighed in relief seeing her uninjured.
“Lu…” Lubao’s tail drooped.
“You wanted to find an opponent, right?” Qiao Sang asked.
“Lu…” Lubao stiffened, then nodded.
Qiao Sang let out a soft sigh.
“Even so, you shouldn't have gone out alone. You could’ve just woken up.”
“Xun xun.”
“Xun xun.”
Little Treasure nodded earnestly in agreent.
In his eyes, his beast master was soone who had once pulled all-nighters for two months straight, staying awake was no problem at all.
“Lu…” Lubao remained silent. She had wanted her beast master to sleep a little longer, but saying sothing that sentintal was just too embarrassing.
Just then, Qiao Sang suddenly sensed sothing. She reached out her hand and caught a falling snowflake.
“Why is it snowing?” Qiao Sang looked at the snowflake in her palm, a little confused.
The next second, an ice flower blood in her hand.
“Lu!!!”
In that mont, Lubao let out the loudest shout of her life since birth.
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