Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Moments later, the audience erupted in deafening cheers.

“How did they win?!”

“Fire fang Dog, I love you!”

“Ahhhhh!”

“Qiao Sang, give me the Fire fang Dog!”

“Qiao Sang, you’re so cool!”

“What an upset! The Scale Controller Doll is down! The final contestant advancing to the championship is Qiao Sang!”

The commentator excitedly exclaimed, “This is definitely the most thrilling match of the Bai Xin Competition! At the last moment, the Fire fang Dog even triggered its Blaze ability! Too bad the Scale Controller Doll collapsed so quickly, we didn’t get to see more of the Fire fang Dog in Blaze mode!”

Hou Xiangyu: ...

Qiao Sang stared blankly at the Fire fang Dog in the arena, covered in injuries but still exuding more power than ever before.

Sensing its beastmaster’s gaze, the Fire fang Dog turned its head. The moment its fierce eyes met Qiao Sang’s, they softened into crescent-shaped smiles.

Then, the flames around it dissipated, and it closed its eyes, collapsing.

“Fire fang Dog!” Qiao Sang snapped back to reality and rushed over to pick it up.

---

In the Beast Arena’s medical room.

A green pet beast with two antennae on its head, each ending in a glowing spherical tip, clenched its claws, focusing hard.

The glowing tips of its antennae released a soft green light, scattering fine green powder over the Fire fang Dog lying on the bed.

Two minutes later, the Fire fang Dog opened its misty eyes.

“The Fire fang Dog is fine now.” The female vet said after a quick check-up.

“But since it just triggered its Blaze ability, it’s better to let it rest a bit longer. Skip the pre-battle warm-up.”

“Yap!”

The Fire fang Dog perked up at the sound of the vet’s voice and happily jumped over to her.

Qiao Sang caught it in his arms and gratefully said, “Thank you, doctor. I understand.”

“I’m just doing my job. I watched the match earlier, it was incredible. Good luck in the finals.” The vet encouraged.

“We will.” Qiao Sang smiled.

“Yap!” The Fire fang Dog barked energetically.

Seeing the Fire fang Dog fully recovered, Qiao Sang finally had the mental space to recall the final moments of the match.

Blaze, a unique ability.

Every pet beast had its own innate ability.

Most of them were beneficial to the pet, but some could be disadvantageous or even useless.

Take the Moonrush Grass, for example.

As soon as it encountered rainy weather, it would fall asleep.

If you faced one in a match, all you'd need to do is send out a pet that knew how to summon rain, and you’d win without a fight.

Then there was the Eight-Tentacled Coral they encountered recently.

Its ability allowed it to become invisible by adjusting the nanocrystals on its skin when touching objects, though that was more of a supportive ability.

As for the Fire fang Dog’s Blaze ability, it was absolutely advantageous in terms of attack power.

Once it was injured to a certain extent and its energy was severely depleted, Blaze would activate.

It was like being powered up, with fire-type skills and attack speed increasing several times over.

It was an ability every fire-type pet beast wished to have.

However, this ability didn’t always trigger.

Unlike the Moonrush Grass’s ability to fall asleep in the rain, which was a forced trait, the Fire fang Dog’s Blaze had to be mastered to be triggered.

In general, any fire-type pet beast that could reliably trigger Blaze and master it was a formidable opponent.

That’s because it had to be severely injured to even begin practicing how to trigger it.

Though the Fire fang Dog had the Blaze ability, Qiao Sang figured it would take time for it to master it.

There were still about 50 minutes until the finals.

Qiao Sang, holding the Fire fang Dog, decided to head to the stands to watch the pet beast performances.

On the way from the medical room to the stands, the Fire fang Dog caught sight of a reflective glass pane and paused.

It jumped out of Qiao Sang’s arms and stood in front of the glass, staring at its reflection.

Then it panicked.

“Yip?”

“Yap yap!”

“Yip!”

Where were his sunglasses?!

Qiao Sang pulled out a broken pair of red, triangular sunglasses from his bag and held them up.

“The match just now was too intense, they shattered.”

The Fire fang Dog froze in place, as if struck by lightning. It reached out with its paws to take the broken sunglasses and let out a mournful cry, “Yap!!!”

This cry was even more tragic than when the Scale Controller Doll had used telekinesis to slam it to the ground.

“Out with the old, in with the new. I’ll buy you several more pairs tonight, and you can pick whichever you like.” Qiao Sang comforted.

The Fire fang Dog immediately calmed down and nodded tearfully.

At that moment, a voice called out from nearby, “I happen to have a spare pair of sunglasses. I can give them to your Fire fang Dog.”

Qiao Sang turned around.

A woman around 25 or 26, with long black hair and delicate, non-threatening features, was walking toward her.

“Hello, I’m Song Yuan.”

“Hello.” Qiao Sang replied politely.

“I called you yesterday, but you seemed to think it was a spam call and hung up on me.” Song Yuan said with a light laugh, unfazed.

Qiao Sang thought for a moment, “Was that the number ending in 1772? The one I blocked after several calls?”

Song Yuan: …

“Yes, that was me.”

“Sorry, I thought it was a scam call.” Qiao Sang said, embarrassed.

“No worries. It’s good to be cautious. I wouldn’t pick up a call from an unknown number either. The reason I reached out is...” Song Yuan was interrupted by a sudden phone ring.

“Excuse me, I need to take this call.”

“Go ahead.” Qiao Sang said.

She noticed that Song Yuan’s phone screen didn’t have the caller labeled with a name.

“Hello, who is this?” Song Yuan answered.

Qiao Sang: ...

A minute later.

“Sorry about that. Where were we?” Song Yuan asked after hanging up.

“You were saying you wouldn’t pick up a call from a stranger either.” Qiao Sang reminded.

Song Yuan’s face reddened with slight embarrassment. She cleared her throat and explained, “Well, in my line of work, I have to answer all calls, just in case I miss something important.”

Qiao Sang nodded in understanding.

“I reached out because I wanted to ask if Fire fang Dog would be willing to represent my online eyewear store,” Song Yuan finally revealed her intention.

“The way it looks with sunglasses is exactly what I’ve been envisioning. The payment details are negotiable. If you’re interested, we can exchange contact information and discuss further after the finals.”

Initially, she just wanted Fire fang Dog to do a livestream.

But after seeing how Qiao Sang and Fire fang Dog performed today, she believed it had great potential.

Qiao Sang thought for a moment and asked, “What’s the name of your online store?”

Song Yuan quickly replied, “Fearless Eyewear Shop.”

Qiao Sang took out her phone and searched.

The shop was real.

The owner’s name matched.

The number matched the one she had blocked yesterday.

It didn’t seem like a scam...

“Alright, let’s talk more after the finals.” Qiao Sang agreed with a big smile.

“Great! I overheard you talking to the Fire fang Dog earlier. I happen to have a pair of sunglasses from my shop with me. If it’s alright, could you have Fire fang Dog wear them during the finals?” Song Yuan happily pulled out a pair of sunglasses from her bag.

Qiao Sang looked at the sunglasses and fell silent.

Fire fang Dog glanced at them and shook its head like a rattle.

It had standards too, okay!