Chapter 229: Witnessing Evolution
On the way home, Qiao Sang sat on Yabao's back, taking a big sip of her iced milk tea and letting out a satisfied sigh.
School wasn't physically exhausting, but it sure took a toll on her mentally.
Especially sitting among a group of top students, with every teacher giving her extra attention, it was truly a struggle.
It felt less like she was in a class with one teacher and a group of students and more like one student surrounded by a group of teachers.
Fortunately, the energy readings from Yabao and Little Treasure gave her a sense of comfort.
As Qiao Sang enjoyed her milk tea, she was in quite a good mood.
Given the current situation, beating all the major beast-taming high schools in Zhejiang Province, securing first place in the province, advancing to the regional tournament, and qualifying for the national finals, it might not be a certainty, but she was at least 80% confident.
At that moment, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
It was a call from Song Yuan.
Qiao Sang swiped to answer and greeted, "Hey, Sister Song."
Song Yuan sounded upbeat.
"The photos from Yabao's last shoot are out, and we've written up a topic for them. I'll send everything over shortly, remember to post it on Superblog."
"Got it." Qiao Sang replied.
"Oh, by the way, are you staying at the school now?" Song Yuan asked.
Qiao Sang paused for a moment.
"No, why?"
"You didn't take the new sunglasses the other day, so I'll mail them to you." Song Yuan laughed.
"Sure. I don't live at the school, so I'll send you my address later." Qiao Sang said.
During collaborations, brands would often gift the products endorsed by the beast companions.
Part of it was out of goodwill, but another reason was to have the companions use the products regularly, increasing visibility for the brand.
As soon as the call ended and before Qiao Sang could take another sip of her milk tea, her phone buzzed again.
Glancing at the caller ID, Qiao Sang was a bit surprised.
It was Bai Yunmiao.
"Why the sudden call?" She asked after picking up.
The two would chat online occasionally, but this was the first time Bai Yunmiao had ever called her.
On the other end, Bai Yunmiao's voice was so excited it nearly cracked.
"Qiao, the genius! Are you free right now? My Golden Vine is about to evolve! Wanna come and watch?"
Qiao Sang instinctively held the phone a bit farther from her ear.
After Bai Yunmiao finished talking, Qiao Sang put the phone back and said, "Of course I want to see! Send me your address, and I'll head over now."
A beast's evolution was a big deal for a beast tamer. If a beast evolved spontaneously, that was one thing. But if it was through resources and a known timing, most tamers would prepare in advance.
Notifying friends and family and recording the entire evolution process was standard practice.
The more enthusiastic ones would even bathe and burn incense beforehand to show respect for the evolution.
Even if it wasn't their own beast, no beast tamer would be uninterested in a beast's evolution.
Beast evolution remained a hot topic throughout the entire league.
If Yabao's situation hadn't been so unusual last time, Qiao Sang probably would have recorded the whole thing too.
"I've sent you the location! Hurry over!"
"Got it."
Hanging up, Qiao Sang opened her messaging app and clicked on the location Bai Yunmiao had sent.
[341 Nanhe Street, Nanli Park]
Meanwhile...
"Why hasn't that little trickster shown up yet..."
Along a route from Shengshui High School to Tianjing Gardens, Li Songhai hid in a narrow alley, repeatedly glancing out.
This area was in the suburbs, with few people around and not much in terms of entertainment.
It was over an hour past the typical end of work hours, so those who needed to go home had done so, and those looking for fun had already left. Hardly anyone was passing by.
Li Songhai had been waiting there for three hours just to catch Qiao Sang.
He never thought that he, a dignified D-rank beast tamer, would be tricked by a young girl who hadn't even fully grown up.
The thought of how he had kindly warned her about the ghost-type beast in her house made him want to slap himself.
How foolish! Too foolish! He'd actually believed whatever she said!
That little trickster was probably laughing at him behind his back! No wonder she wasn't the least bit scared of the ghost-type beast, it was her own!
They say the prettier a woman, the better she is at lying; he didn't expect even young girls to be like this!
Li Songhai had initially thought about storming in and giving that girl a lesson, but ultimately, the allure of Water Luriana won out.
Though he managed to hold back, the frustration kept him up all night, so at around 6 a.m., he sent his Water Snail to monitor the girl and see when she'd leave, hoping to locate Water Luriana.
To his surprise, the Water Snail reported back that Water Luriana was in the girl's backpack, accompanying her.
This raised Li Songhai's suspicion.
Water Luriana actually chose to stay close to a human...
He wasn't too worried about the girl contracting with Water Luriana; she already had two beasts, and considering her age, she definitely couldn't have unlocked the third page of the beast-taming codex.
But Water Luriana being outside did provide an opportunity; after all, Tianjing Gardens was a residential area, and making a scene there would attract attention.
Li Songhai had checked: The only nearby school was Shengshui High, so she would have to pass by here on her way back.
So he'd stationed himself there before school let out, and here he was still waiting.
"It's so late, and she's still not back."
As Li Songhai muttered, he slapped his face with a loud smack.
Looking at the nth mosquito carcass on his hand, blood smearing the skin, he cursed under his breath, "Damn it, if she doesn't come soon, I'll be anemic from all these bites!"
Nanli Park.
Bai Yunmiao set up the camera and gave a solemn nod to his Golden Vine.
After exchanging a look with its master, Golden Vine placed the evolution stone on its forehead.
The stone glowed green, and in the next second, a brilliant white light of evolution engulfed Golden Vine's body.
When the light faded, a beast with green flowers on its head, matching green eyes, and pink leaves resembling a grass skirt appeared in the park.
Qiao Sang's eyes lit up. Though she had already seen Yabao evolve once, no matter how many times she witnessed a beast's evolution, it always felt magical!
Yabao shared the same bright-eyed expression, though his mind was on something else.
"Yap!"
Yabao turned and let out an excited cry at his master.
He wanted to challenge the newcomer to a match! Oh boy, after a long battle yesterday, it still wanted to go again today... Qiao Sang chuckled.
"Hang on; let me ask first."
"Xun..."
Little Treasure watched from the side, full of envy.
He wanted to evolve too...
Bai Yunmiao rushed over, happily hugging Golden Vine.
"I thought your Golden Vine would've evolved a month ago. Didn't expect you to only use the evolution stone now." Qiao Sang said as she walked over, smiling.
The Golden Vine usually grew tendrils on its head, and generally, they reached six centimeters before evolving into Sweet Knot Vine with a grass-type evolution stone.
Last time she saw Golden Vine at the Bai Xin Competition, its tendrils were already over five centimeters long.