After the match, Su Zhi walked slowly back to the stands with Yu Bao.
The crowd of onlookers parted to form a path, whispering amongst themselves.
"Holy shit, that’s the mutt that thrashed Azure Wave Claw..."
"What do you mean, mutt?! That’s a Yu Dian Farm Dog!"
"He’s so strong, I can’t believe he knows that many Skills..."
*Hahhh...* Hearing the crowd’s murmurs, Yu Bao grinned smugly. He whipped out a pair of shades, put them on, and struck a cool pose for everyone:
The Skills Azure Wave Claw didn’t dare use, I use!
The Pet Beasts Azure Wave Claw didn’t dare fight, I fight!
A master of all ten events! The makings of a Great Emperor!
From now on, no one can raise their voice at me!
Yu Bao was about to add a crooked smirk, but Su Zhi reached down, scooped him up, and carried him off, snatching the shades off his face in the process.
"Tons of people are recording you with their phones. Act decent, will you, Yu Bao!"
Su Zhi was exasperated. "Well, this is just great. You’re probably going to end up in a short-form video now!"
"Woof."
’Isn’t that perfect?’ Yu Bao thought.
’I can leverage the dissemination channels of modern technology to allow more people to understand my Great Emperor-like bearing and experience the advanced nature of the Yu Bao-style Skill Dao.’
’No, what I mean is you’re going to be turned into a ridiculous meme video...’ Seeing the little guy lost in his own world, Su Zhi just sighed with a smile and set him back down.
Yu Bao was getting a little heavy; carrying him with one hand was genuinely tiring.
Going against the thinning crowd, the duo of man and beast made their way up the steps.
Su Zhi’s match had been one of the later ones, so the morning’s solo competitions were mostly finished. The team competition, a two-on-two format, was in the afternoon. Su Zhi would be teaming up with Xu Jianzhi.
Xu Jianzhi had also performed well that morning. Relying on his Battle Frenzy talent, he had instantly knocked out his opponent. Besides Su Zhi, he was arguably the most-talked-about member from the Flying Shadow Alliance camp.
For the afternoon team match, Su Zhi felt that Yu Bao wouldn’t even need to lift a paw. Brother Jianzhi could probably have Black Wood sweep both opponents alone.
—You could say it would be a laughably easy slaughter. Brother Jianzhi would handle the "slaughter," and Su Zhi would handle the "laughing."
In the back rows of the Divine Strategy Alliance spectator section, Su Zhi found the white-haired girl who had been waiting for him. Her azure eyes were beautiful and striking.
She stood and waved at him, her bright white ponytail bobbing up and down, looking especially vibrant in the dimly lit stands.
Su Zhi waved back, asking curiously, "I thought you were sitting in the front row?"
"Hmm?"
The girl gave him a mischievous wink and bounced right in front of him, her face almost touching his. "Is Su Baby unhappy because I wasn’t watching the match from the front row?"
"...Of course not!"
"Alright, alright. I’ll sit in the front row for all your matches from now on," the girl said, patting his head soothingly.
Su Zhi rolled his eyes, gave up struggling, and simply enjoyed the girl’s petting.
—’Can’t deny it, though. Maybe because she pets cats so often, Shao Ya’s technique is pretty skilled. It feels really nice.’
Seeing his expression, the girl stifled a light laugh, her hand moving even more gently.
Yu Bao stared eagerly at the two Beast Tamers, then glanced at Xiaoyue, who was curled up at the girl’s feet, and licked his chops.
"A-woof."
’Big Bro, Big Bro, can you pet me too?’
Xiaoyue yawned and lay back down. "Meeeow."
No.
The rejected Yu Bao wasn’t disappointed. Instead, he grew thoughtful, pondering the motive behind his big brother’s behavior.
A moment later, he had an epiphany.
’So that’s how it is.’
’I’ve evolved now. Big Bro sees me as mature, so he’s not treating me like a kid anymore... This shows his high hopes for me, and his relief!’
’In that case, I’ll be the one to thank Big Bro.’
*Heh heh.* Yu Bao reached out a paw and patted Xiaoyue’s butt.
’Pat-pat for you!’
Xiaoyue’s face darkened, and he unleashed a flurry of Cat Cat Fist on him.
Su Zhi watched the two little furballs roughhousing, a smile in his eyes.
Shao Ya finished her petting and winked at him. "Guess who’s here?"
"Hm?"
Su Zhi looked behind him and froze, seeing a familiar face in the stands.
Even shrouded in the dim light, those calm eyes were incredibly striking.
A White Flame Battle Spirit floated silently beside the young man’s leg, emitting a faint white glow. Vague, light pink markings swirled across its form.
"Fang Yuan?" Su Zhi said, surprised and delighted.
"Woof?" Yu Bao lifted his head. His eyes lit up when he saw the pretty, light pink eyes of the other creature.
"Chirp chirp." Lilith bounced with a little excitement and waved a claw at Yu Bao.
Fang Yuan waved at Su Zhi as well.
The moment Su Zhi saw him, Fang Yuan felt a small thrill of surprise himself. But not wanting Su Zhi to know, he put on an indifferent act and maintained his usual deadpan expression.
But when Su Zhi walked over and shook his hand, the two of them looked into each other’s familiar-yet-unfamiliar eyes and couldn’t help but smile.
"Long time no see!"
"Yeah, long time no see."
Meanwhile, Xiaoyue watched Yu Bao’s friendly interaction with Lilith and frowned.
’This is a problem. The stupid little dog isn’t clinging to his Big Bro anymore.’
’This won’t do... I have to give him a little something to win him back!’
·
A light rain was falling. After leaving the Cui Feng Alliance Battle Hall, the three of them walked in the rain under two umbrellas.
"So that’s the situation. I made an appointment with a doctor at the Huichun Alliance General Hospital to treat Lilith’s Nether Flame Body."
Fang Yuan glanced at the White Flame Battle Spirit perched on his shoulder and gently patted her small claw.
"If things go well, she can recover more than ninety percent, and there’s even hope for a full recovery. She’ll be able to return to the ring then."
"Yeah. I hope the treatment goes well."
Su Zhi smiled. "I look forward to facing you two in the ring again someday!"
"That might not be possible for a while."
Fang Yuan also gave a slight smile. "As of the day before yesterday, my visiting student status at Shanda University Affiliated School was officially revoked."
Su Zhi asked in surprise, "Why?"