Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Grand Skill Master Yu Bao

As Cao Mingyu left after the meeting, a slight smile played on his lips. He walked a little faster than usual, a picture of smug satisfaction.

The arbitration match was a pleasant surprise.

He hadn’t expected to get a chance to spar with Su Zhi before the qualifiers.

Cao Mingyu had long been preparing for a match against this rising star.

During today’s exhibition match, Cao Mingyu had watched and recorded the entire thing, witnessing the upper limits of Su Zhi’s ability with his Envoy’s Pet for the first time.

Frankly, Cao Mingyu was both surprised and impressed.

Su Zhi was a great deal stronger than when he’d had Zhang Wei provoke him.

Cao Mingyu was glad he had been cautious enough to patiently gather data instead of charging in recklessly.

He had to admit, Su Zhi was a formidable opponent who improved at a rapid pace.

But the arbitration match was tomorrow morning. Su Zhi’s Pet Beast had just lost an important match; simply recovering mentally by tonight would require incredible fortitude, making it impossible for them to focus on training.

Even if Yu Bao trained as usual tonight, he couldn’t possibly make any significant progress or changes.

Cao Mingyu would go back and immediately devise a targeted strategy for his Pet Beast, while Su Zhi wouldn’t even learn about the arbitration match until tomorrow morning.

’Su Zhi doesn’t stand a chance!’

"Mingyu? Planning to go back and train?"

The Dean of Academic Affairs passed by as Cao Mingyu was lost in thought.

"Hello, sir."

Cao Mingyu quickly flashed an impeccable smile. "Yes, I plan to go back and get some more training in with my Pet Beast."

"Ha, good. You’re a real role model for the other students. I’ll be on my way, then."

"Yes. Goodbye, sir."

The Dean of Academic Affairs walked off into the distance.

Cao Mingyu’s eyes filled with disgust as he watched the man’s retreating back. The joy he’d felt about facing Su Zhi was considerably dampened.

He loathed these incompetent bureaucrats, and he loathed the student council, which was cut from the same cloth.

But in this environment, he also understood that sometimes it was necessary to put on a mask and play along...

Cao Mingyu shook his head, his thoughts returning to the man who was constantly on his mind.

’Whatever. No point thinking about this stuff.’

’Time to go back, formulate a strategy, and get ready to face Su Zhi tomorrow!’

...

...

"Bye, I’m heading home."

Having walked to the entrance of her apartment building, Shao Ya waved goodbye.

The walk tonight was unusually quiet. The three of them hadn’t exchanged a single word, and Liu Yuhang hadn’t been convinced to come back with them.

Su Zhi waved in return. "See you."

But Shao Ya stopped. After taking two steps, she turned back, hiding most of her face behind her shoulder, revealing only a pair of azure eyes.

"You did great, you know. And don’t just keep it all bottled up. Sometimes it’s better to let it out."

Su Zhi: "Huh?"

"See you!"

The girl trotted away, her long, bright-white hair shimmering under the brilliant moon.

Today’s Emperor Shao wasn’t quite on her game; her stomps failed to light up all nine stories of voice-activated lights at once.

Su Zhi fell silent for a moment. Then, a slight smile touched his lips, and he gave a small wave.

"See you tomorrow."

「Back home.」

A smile crept into Su Zhi’s eyes. He rubbed his hands together and took Yu Bao’s head in his hands.

’Time to add some points!’

Su Zhi allocated the 0.10 Points to Yu Bao, splitting them evenly: 0.05 to Intelligence and 0.05 to Perception.

Pure agility was no longer the meta.

Yu Bao now had many Skills that relied on Elemental Perception. Strengthening his Perception would yield much more immediate and dramatic results!

The instant the points were allocated, Yu Bao’s eyes shot wide open.

He discovered that his perception of the Earth Element had reached an entirely new level. It was as if every particle of earth nearby was an extension of his own body—a sensation he had never experienced before.

At the same time, a flood of images from all his previous matches flashed through his mind. The sheer volume of information was overwhelming, making Yu Bao’s head feel a little itchy.

’Woah! Is my brain actually getting bigger...?’

Seeing Yu Bao shaking his head in discomfort, Su Zhi leaned down, slightly worried. "Yu Bao, how are you feeling?"

"AR-WOOO-WOOF... WHIMPER..."

Yu Bao was just babbling nonsense, every bark containing ten grammatical errors.

Suddenly, Yu Bao stopped shaking his head. His entire body froze, like a still frame.

Then, he snapped his head up, a look of profound wisdom in his eyes.

"WOOF!"

’Aha! I’ve figured it out!’

"Huh? What did you figure out?"

"WOOF! WOOF WOOF!"

Without even bothering to explain, Yu Bao excitedly dragged Su Zhi out of the house.

In the small open area by the building’s entrance, Yu Bao demonstrated his newfound enlightenment—

Under his control, sand and dust gathered, swirling violently.

’Isn’t this just Sandstorm? Though it seems a bit more intense...’ Su Zhi thought, curious. But in the next instant, his eyes widened.

The raging sand suddenly coalesced into a single point, launching forward like a high-speed drill.

WHOOSH!

A large branch was instantly sheared off a distant pine tree. The projectile of sand, its momentum unbroken, shot toward the sky before finally disintegrating back into ordinary dust at Yu Bao’s command.

Su Zhi covered his mouth in astonishment. "Is this a new move you invented?"

"WOOF!"

Yu Bao proudly raised his head, as if fishing for a compliment.

Sandstorm was powerful but too diffuse—a fact Yu Bao had keenly felt in the arena.

When he saw 004’s White Flame·Blade Form, he had already started to wonder:

’Could Sandstorm be released in the same way?’

And just now, Su Zhi’s act of adding points had triggered a burst of inspiration: if he concentrated the Sandstorm, the high-speed rotating grit would have incredible cutting power!

Sandstorm·Spearhead·Furious Sand Blade!

’Since when were you so good at naming things...’ Su Zhi inwardly griped, but he was also overjoyed.

The moment Yu Bao had his breakthrough with Furious Sand Blade, his Assignable Attribute Points had instantly jumped to 0.05!

This was a one-time point bonus from his epiphany!

"WOOF!" (I’m not done yet!)

Yu Bao once again controlled the flow of sand. The grit spun and converged, forming a large, oval shield in front of him.

This time, his inspiration came from Hao Waterfowl’s Flowing Shield.

Sandstorm·Defensive Stance·Quicksand Shield!

"HUP!"

With a single look from Yu Bao, the Quicksand Shield shot out, hitting the pine tree with a dull THUD.

By the same token, the Quicksand Shield could also be used to counterattack, creating a brand new ramming-type attack effect!

Su Zhi’s praise was distilled to its purest form: "Holy shit!"

Inventing two brand-new skills in a single night—Yu Bao was a doggone genius!

He really wanted to give Yu Bao’s little head a good, vigorous ruffle.

However, when his palm touched Yu Bao’s forehead, the dog dissolved into a puff of sand.

Unlike Desert Concealment, this was a simple dissipation, like a clone disintegrating on the spot when its energy runs out.

’Wait, a clone?’

As if remembering something, Su Zhi looked up. Sure enough, there was the real Yu Bao, perched on a branch of the pine tree.

Desert Concealment·Li Style·Sand Shadow Guard!

The inspiration came from 004’s Telekinesis Clone!

Yu Bao’s Perception Power over the Earth Element was immense, so it wasn’t difficult for him to construct a clone out of earth using the same principle.

He had invented three new skills in one go!

Yu Bao came scampering back from the tree, all Bling Bling, and circled Su Zhi excitedly.

’Praise me! Praise me!’

’And if you don’t know how to praise me, that skewer place tonight was pretty good, you know~’

[Assignable Attribute Points... 0.18]

Seeing the Points that kept rolling in, Su Zhi’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

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