Chapter 275: Gentle Snow
Training already?
Qiao Sang's face lit up with a smile. Although Lubao had evolved into a cold and aloof creature, she was still quite easy to trick.
"Once Yabao finishes this round of Meteor Rain training, we’ll continue with the previous routine." Qiao Sang said.
The Stone Fragment Barrage had shown great results, so it was still effective to continue this training at the current stage.
"Lu Lu!"
Lubao shook her head. She would train on her own; she didn’t need Yabao’s help!Qiao Sang was taken aback. Although Little Treasure could also help with Stone Fragment Barrage training, if Lubao kept avoiding Yabao, it would definitely affect the team's cohesion over time.
That just won’t do…
Qiao Sang pondered for a moment, then crouched down and asked, "Do you want to become stronger than Yabao?"
Nearby, Yabao, who was practicing Meteor Rain, perked up his ears.
"Lu."
Lubao flicked her tail and lifted her head, indicating that surpassing Yabao was only a matter of time.
"Xun..."
Little Treasure glanced at Lubao, who was roughly his own size, then at the mighty figure of Yabao and shook his head quietly.
With that frame? Compete with Yabao…
"Yap."
Yabao looked at Little Treasure with approval, who clearly had a good eye.
Qiao Sang mercilessly pointed out the reality: "To be honest, surpassing Yabao will be very difficult."
"Yap!"
Yabao, hearing this, proudly puffed out his chest and released an energy ball larger than before.
If Qiao Sang checked the Beast Codex now, she’d find that Yabao’s Meteor Rain skill level had just increased by two points.
"Lu!"
Lubao suddenly felt a bit offended, feeling her own beast master was seriously lacking judgment!
"But."
Qiao Sang continued, "Your attribute does counter Yabao’s, so if you work hard, it’s not impossible to surpass him."
"Lu!"
Lubao’s eyes brightened, her tail wagging as she reconsidered. Her beast master’s judgment was actually pretty good!
"But."
Qiao Sang changed the tone, "As things stand now, that’s still a bit difficult. You don’t even fully understand Yabao’s current strength, so how can you expect to surpass him? Don’t forget how you lost every time you fought Yabao in the past."
"Lu..." Lubao froze.
"As the saying goes, Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will never be defeated." Qiao Sang explained.
"Lu?"
The unschooled Lubao looked confused.
"It means you need to understand Yabao to defeat him." Qiao Sang clarified.
"If you don’t train with Yabao, you won’t know his strength, nor will you know how much you need to improve to surpass him."
"Lu..." Lubao seemed thoughtful.
Seeing it was the right time, Qiao Sang finally stated her true purpose: "So, you need to spend more time with Yabao. Training together would be ideal."
To her, Lubao viewing Yabao as a rival wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Firstly, Yabao was strong and disciplined. If Lubao aimed to match Yabao, her training motivation wouldn’t be a concern.
Of course, surpassing Yabao seemed nearly impossible right now. Attribute advantages only provided a chance for victory, not an assured one.
Plus, Yabao wasn’t just a fire type; he had psychic powers too.
Most importantly, Yabao had perfected his Shadow Clone skill. In terms of skill proficiency, Lubao could never keep up.
Once she understood Yabao's capabilities, Lubao would likely decide to increase her training regimen.
Secondly, while Yabao and Lubao were rivals, spending time together could deepen their bond.
After all, Lubao had developed a fondness for Yabao not long ago. As for the heartbreak… that was a bit of a mystery, as Yabao hadn’t really done anything wrong.
Over time, that would probably be forgotten, so it wasn’t much of an issue.
The more Qiao Sang thought, the more she felt her reasoning was sound.
"Lu..."
Lubao struggled internally, torn between not wanting to train with Yabao and feeling that her beast master's words made sense.
She looked over at Yaobao, only to find Yabao looking back with a determined gaze.
"Yap!"
Yabao's eyes were full of defiance and fighting spirit.
He had heard what his beast master said earlier, this guy might surpass him? That was impossible! Even with all-day training and full access to observe, she would never beat him!
"Lu Lu!"
Lubao recognized Yabao’s unspoken message in his gaze and responded with her own fighting spirit.
Under Yabao's challenging stare, Lubao finally agreed to train with him.
Her beast master was right; to beat Yabao, she had to fully understand its strength!
Five minutes later, as a rain of stones flew down, Lubao began to fully realize Yabao’s strength.
In previous Stone Fragment Barrage, Yabao would train his Meteor Rain with his clones while controlling the stones with his main body.
The energy split limited the number of stones he could control.
But this time, Yabao didn’t use clones for Meteor Rain. Instead, he concentrated all his energy on telekinesis.
The number of stones instantly multiplied several times over.
"Lu!"
Lubao scrambled to dodge the stones.
Barely dodging one, several more came flying, forcing her to grit her teeth and push past her usual limits.
Potential often emerges under pressure.
However, on land, Lubao couldn't fully use her strengths. Even as she surpassed het usual speed, several stones still hit her.
"Use Gentle Snow!" Qiao Sang called out.
"Lu!"
Lubao immediately puckered her lips and blew out white frost while dodging the stones.
The surrounding stones instantly froze and dropped to the ground.
Qiao Sang nodded in satisfaction. Gentle Snow was an entry-level ice skill, with minimal energy requirements.
If Lubao could build endurance and refine Gentle Snow’s proficiency at the same time, it would greatly improve her training efficiency.
---
That night.
At bedtime.
Yabao would close his eyes, then open them, pout, close them again, and then reopen them.
"Yap!"
Finally, he couldn’t hold back and turned to Qiao Sang, who was scrolling on her phone, and whined.
Did she really think that Lubao could surpass him one day?
She’d forgotten how sensitive Yabao’s hearing was, so he must have overheard everything from the afternoon. No wonder he had controlled even more stones in training today… Qiao Sang put down her phone and looked at Yabao, speaking seriously:
"I can’t say for sure what will happen in the future, but the only reason I said that was to motivate Lubao. In my mind, no beast weaker than you could ever catch up to you."
"Xun."
Little Treasure, learning to use a computer, nodded in agreement.
"Yap~"
Yabao immediately perked up, satisfied, and closed his eyes.
Within minutes, he was sound asleep, smiling blissfully as if dreaming a pleasant dream.
T/N: I was supposed to update this earlier but I found out that some of my old saved drafts for this novel seems to have vanished.😭 I have to do it all over again.