Matches between rookie Beast Masters are often quite boring.
Especially rookie Beast Master matches within one month of graduating and awakening their initial Spirit Beasts, they are basically chicken pecking at each other.
After all, few rookie Beast Masters can train their initial contracted Spirit Beasts into something presentable within a month of graduating and awakening.
Well, it should be said that most rookie Beast Masters will basically not have much training progress in the first month, often failing to even properly train an ordinary-level advanced skill, at most learning an entry-level one.
Therefore, the Baby Cup rookie Beast Master matches during this period are basically like turn-based street fights between children.
You pinch my neck, I press your head, and then the two Spirit Beasts roll together.
The Beast Master, in the command area, shouts things like 'Stand up!', 'Hold on!', 'Quick, dodge!'—rejuvenating roars, but with no meaningful commands.
Such battles often end in less than half a minute, as Baby Spirit Beasts have relatively weaker physiques, and taking two heavy hits from an opponent usually means their health bar is almost depleted.
This is generally the case, but this world is never short of excellent individuals, or even true geniuses.
Whether it's outstanding talent or extraordinary opportunities, one thing is the same: excellent Beast Masters will certainly convert their own talent and various other resources into nourishment for their Spirit Beasts' growth with extremely high efficiency, forging a stable ladder for their progress on the Beast Master path.
Truly excellent and talented Beast Masters, even in the rookie stage, even after cultivating for less than two weeks, can still cultivate their Spirit Beasts to be presentable and possess initial combat power.
Battles between such excellent rookie Beast Masters are very exciting to watch.
Clearly, Ping Kai and Sun Yinyin are like this.
It's still hard to say if they are geniuses, but they are definitely very excellent Beast Masters.
These two not only awakened powerful Beast Taming talents far surpassing those around them, but more importantly, their respective Spirit Beast cultivation ideas were very clear and definite. In contrast, most rookie Beast Masters are not like this; they don't have a good cultivation idea, or they might have one initially, but as cultivation progresses, they fail to implement the cultivation plan well, always acting on impulse, letting their Spirit Beasts practice whatever skill seems powerful, resulting in failure to achieve anything substantial and ultimately not even laying the most basic foundation.
Getting back to the main topic, Sun Yinyin follows the fast-paced offensive style.
In the two weeks since awakening her contract, Sun Yinyin has focused on cultivating the speed and reaction of her Golden Silk Werewolf, Dayin, as well as the Flame Fist she learned by chance. This is also the fundamental reason why Sun Yinyin and Dayin were able to win the championship in another supermarket park Baby Cup previously; none of her previous opponents could withstand a single paw strike from her dog.
As for Ping Kai, his cultivation idea is defensive counterattack.
Ping Kai believes that rookie Beast Masters' initial Spirit Beasts cannot possess overly powerful offensive capabilities, at least not in a small place like Tianshang Town, where there won't be monstrous rookie Beast Masters or cheating Spirit Beasts capable of instant kills.
Therefore, it's perfectly feasible to first endure an attack, then seize the absolute window when the opponent's offensive has passed and new strength has not yet risen, and take down the opponent with a smooth small combo.
Unlike Sun Yinyin, who had already won a Baby Cup championship, Ping Kai had only achieved one runner-up position before this.
Because in the previous Baby Cup, his opponent in the final used a relatively rare Ghost-type Spirit Beast.
Hmm, that kind of Spirit Beast, which naturally ignores physical damage; his Blazing Top Gray-Furred Monkey, Little Red, hasn't trained any fire-attribute skills yet. Its only skills are the two innate ones, Straight Punch and Claw Strike. The smooth small combo composed of Straight Punch and Claw Strike simply couldn't cause damage to the Ghost-type Spirit Beast, so he could only regretfully lose.
...
The Golden Silk Werewolf, Dayin, landed a Flame Fist directly on the face of the Blazing Top Gray-Furred Monkey, Little Red.
A thudding sound, causing the audience's teeth to ache.
However, the Blazing Top Gray-Furred Monkey, having taken such a heavy blow, merely grimaced, gritted its teeth, and squeezed out two low, growling monkey cries, enduring it stubbornly without even retreating half a step.
Ping Kai immediately ordered: "Grab it."
Sun Yinyin's expression changed abruptly: "Dayin, run!"
However, it was too late.
Even before Ping Kai gave the order, the Blazing Top Gray-Furred Monkey's paws had already clambered onto the Golden Silk Werewolf Dayin's shoulder, gripping it tightly. The next second, the Blazing Top Gray-Furred Monkey used the momentum to flip itself onto the Golden Silk Werewolf Dayin's back.
Chokehold, clinging, leg-clamping—in this strongman-locks-man posture, it smoothly rode onto Dayin's back.
Dayin howled continuously, struggling fiercely, but was unable to break free for a while.
Thus, an interesting scene of a monkey riding a wolf appeared in the arena.
The audience watched with amusement, cheering and encouraging. Ping Kai and Sun Yinyin, the two Beast Masters, were also sweating with nervousness, constantly commanding their respective Spirit Beasts.
Even the referee and the Professional Beast Masters over there showed slight smiles. Although there were still many shortcomings, it was rare to see such a scene in the Baby Cup.
Lin Chuan was also watching very seriously at this time. Guoguo and Sakura were released from his Pet Space Device to watch with him.
"How do you feel?"
Lin Chuan asked.
Guoguo and Sakura looked at the arena, where a ferocious and wild monkey and wolf were fighting.
"Yi ya yi ya yi ya!"
"Ying ying, ying ying ying."
Guoguo and Sakura made sounds simultaneously.
Sakura shook her head repeatedly, raising her two chubby hands to push, indicating resistance.
Guoguo, on the other hand, jumped twice, raising her chubby hands with a 'ho ho ho' sound, looking eager to try.
He couldn't understand Spirit Beast language, but Lin Chuan could sense the emotions of the two little cuties and deduce what they were expressing.
Sakura meant 'can't win, can't win,' that the battle scene was too brutal and not elegant at all.
However, that monkey and dog shouldn't even think of defeating Miss Sakura; with that kind of attack damage, and with the current sunlight intensity, as long as she activates Photosynthesis, her natural healing and recovery efficiency would be much higher than the damage they inflict.
To summarize, that monkey is a scrawny monkey, and the wolf is a scrawny dog.
Guoguo's meaning was even simpler.
Before this, Guoguo had inherited the combat training experience of a certain fighting-attribute Spirit Beast through Lin Chuan's stat allocation, the experience of being beaten as a sandbag in a martial arts gym. The experience wasn't extensive, but the key was the belief within it. That fighting-attribute Spirit Beast's talent was not good, but its desire to engage in fist-to-fist combat with powerful Spirit Beasts was ardent and surging. This fighting spirit slightly influenced Guoguo, making her more aggressive than ordinary Flower Leaf Leaf, especially when it came to close-quarters hand-to-hand combat!
Lin Chuan frowned, feeling speechless. He regretted having given Guoguo that combat experience.
A guy he had already arranged to follow the energy spell skill route, yet all he thought about all day was 'ho ho ha he,' fist-to-fist combat.
"So, if you were to face them, who plans to go?"
Lin Chuan reined in his internal complaints and then asked a little more seriously. If the situation wasn't especially urgent, in regular matches, Lin Chuan would still respect the Spirit Beasts' desire to participate if possible.
Guoguo and Sakura looked at each other, then at the monkey and big dog—er, werewolf!—in the arena.
"Ying ying!"
"Yi ya ya!"
Sakura pointed at the monkey, and Guoguo pointed at the werewolf.
Meaning, whoever wins among them, the corresponding one of them will fight next. If the monkey wins, Sakura will fight if they meet. If the dog wins, Guoguo will fight if they meet.
As for other opponents, well, Lin Chuan looked around and so far hadn't found anyone else worth fighting besides Ping Kai and Sun Yinyin. He felt that no matter whether Sakura or Guoguo went, it would be a crushing victory, not even needing to activate Photosynthesis, Rooting, or Growth, the three small blood-tank skills. Simply relying on the solid foundation laid by eating nutrient soil and nutrient water, and Photosynthesis, over these two weeks, they could easily sweep through with just their basic attributes.
Just as Lin Chuan, Guoguo, and Sakura were quietly talking, in the arena, the battle had reached a fever pitch, about to determine the victor.
Sun Yinyin's Golden Silk Werewolf, Dayin, and Ping Kai's Blazing Top Gray-Furred Monkey, Little Red, actually had little difference in strength. Both Beast Masters had cultivated them very well, developing the abilities of both Spirit Beasts nicely, and their respective skills were in their initial embryonic stages, basically trained to ordinary level.
At this point, it came down to the will to win of both Beast Masters and Spirit Beasts—who was stronger, who could grit their teeth and persevere more.
Ping Kai and Sun Yinyin's desire to win wasn't actually very strong. Their idea was that it wasn't worth going all out for such a small Baby Cup. If no accidents happened, it would be fine, but if some accident occurred, even winning would be a big loss. If a critical injury occurred, lying in bed for a week or half a month would truly be life-threatening and would definitely affect subsequent daily cultivation and training, impacting the entrance examination three months later. Unless they spent a lot of money to hire a professional Professional Beast Master healer, even if they could find one, it would still waste at least a day or two.
Such were the two Beast Masters, and the two Spirit Beasts in the arena...
The two Spirit Beasts were panting heavily, clearly at their limits.
Among them, the Blazing Top Gray-Furred Monkey didn't have a strong desire to win or lose. By now, its mind was blank, with no particular thoughts. It felt like if it could fight, it would continue; if it couldn't hold on, it would just lie down.
But the Golden Silk Werewolf was different. At this moment, the Golden Silk Werewolf Dayin's wolf eyes seemed to burn, filled with fierce light, its teeth grinding audibly.
It had to win!
It absolutely, definitely had to win!
"Awoo!!"
(From now on, no Spirit Beast is allowed to call me a scrawny dog ever again!)
Werewolves can stand on two legs like humans, but their more agile movement method is to crouch down and move on all fours like true wolf beasts.
Dayin crouched down, lowering its body, its fierce eyes fixed on the monkey in front of it.
With the belief of not being a scrawny dog, Dayin howled like a wolf and pounced.
...
"Match over! Contestant Sun Yinyin wins!"
Referee Shi Jie waved his small flag. Sun Yinyin and Ping Kai both rushed into the arena to check the condition of their two Spirit Beasts. After careful inspection, they found that no critical or life-threatening accidents had occurred, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Hmm, just some relatively serious superficial injuries. Have the healing personnel sent by the Beastmaster Association take a look and apply some medicine, then put them back into the Pet Space Device to rest for two hours. They should basically recover, and then it would be perfectly fine to fight another match.
At the referee's signal, Ping Kai and Sun Yinyin saluted each other and exited the arena.
Ping Kai lost. Returning to his friends and family in the audience, he clenched his fists, looking somewhat dejected and unwilling, but he quickly cheered up with the comfort of his loved ones.
Sun Yinyin won, accepting congratulations from her parents, friends, classmates, and teachers with a beaming smile. Some of her classmates and best friends had already started celebrating, popping champagne at halftime, saying that Sun Yinyin was the pride of Middle School No. 5, believing that no other contestant in this Baby Cup would be Sun Yinyin's opponent.
The Professional Beast Master sitting in the special viewing stand closest to the arena noted down the names of Ping Kai and Sun Yinyin and briefly described the course of the battle in 300 words.
Hmm, the Beastmaster Association naturally pays more attention to excellent rookie Beast Masters, even establishing independent files. This is both to provide better growth assistance to these excellent rookie Beast Masters and to constantly monitor them to prevent them from going astray.
The matches after Ping Kai and Sun Yinyin seemed somewhat bland and uninteresting, adhering to the standard Baby Cup style of chicken pecking at each other.
One match, two matches, three matches, four matches...
As the matches progressed, time reached 2 PM, the 13th match, which was Lin Chuan's match.
Hearing the loudspeaker's call, Lin Chuan immediately put down the tray he was selling and his backpack, handing them to the old man next to him, then turned and strode towards the arena.
When Lin Chuan arrived at the arena, his opponent was already there.
Lin Chuan's opponent was a sturdy young man, with no particular distinguishing features in his appearance; in any case, he wasn't as handsome as Lin Chuan.
This time, the referee was someone other than Shi Jie, named Zhuang Lan, a young woman who looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
Zhuang Lan routinely explained the rules of the match, and after confirming that both Lin Chuan and the sturdy young man nodded to show they understood, she waved her small referee flag and blew a whistle, signaling them to salute each other and release their Spirit Beasts.
Sturdy Young Man: "Third Beast Taming Middle School, Class 9, Grade 3, Wang Lu. You must be the son of the owner of this Lin's Farm, right? The previous promotional video was well-made, the clothes looked good, very interesting. I specifically came to participate after watching your promotional video."
Lin Chuan: "First Beast Taming Middle School, Class 7, Grade 3, Lin Chuan. Thank you for the compliment, thank you for your support, haha. My Flower Leaf Leaf is very delicate, she only 'ying ying ying,' please go easy on me."
After exchanging polite greetings, Lin Chuan and Wang Lu moved simultaneously.
Wang Lu raised his hand, revealing a string of glazed jade beads on his right wrist. One of the jade beads lit up.
The sound of ocean waves suddenly erupted.
In the void, waves surged, depicting a stormy sea.
At this moment, a giant wave like a tsunami rose, and a large blue turtle resided atop the wave.
Riding the wave, breaking through the void, the large blue turtle landed in the arena.
Bishui Turtle, bloodline rank: Mid-Tier Soldier.
On Lin Chuan's side.
Lin Chuan originally didn't plan to activate an entry effect, after all, it was just a small Baby Cup.
However, other contestants basically activated effects if they had them, and those without effects would shout loudly to boost their morale, such as 'Come out, my darling ~ XXX!'
Liking to activate entry effects, this is a characteristic of rookie Beast Masters. After all, who isn't chuunibyou at 16 years old?
Especially rookie Beast Masters who have just awakened their Beast Taming talent and contracted Spirit Beasts not long ago; who doesn't have a Sealed Title Heavenly King dream? Some even bolder ones have already started having God dreams, calling themselves 'This Emperor' when no one else is around.
Speaking of which, a considerable portion of the audience who come to watch the Baby Cup are here to see the Spirit Beasts' entry effects; this is much more entertaining than chicken pecking at each other.
Hmm, everyone else is activating effects, so if Lin Chuan doesn't, he'll seem out of place.
If others are chuunibyou and he isn't, he'll stand out.
So, Lin Chuan struck the pose he had struck before.
He raised his left hand, half-covering his face diagonally, revealing the super cool mechanical sci-fi style Pet Space Device on his wrist.
The next moment, the sci-fi mechanical patterns on the watch lit up one by one, continuously spreading.
In front of Lin Chuan.
Flowers bloomed in the void, and lotuses appeared with every step, as Sakura walked out of the void.
Zhuang Lan: "Match, start!"