Once the last game for the day ended, Su Bai and the others could finally return to Carp Town.

"Since you two aren't returning with us, you should be careful. You're playing tomorrow, so I hope that you don't make any trouble." Chen Bo glanced at the couple.

"Don't worry. I'm just picking up my brother and classmates before returning home with them," replied Su Bai reassuringly.

He and Chen Rouxue left the rest area and exited the Jiusheng Gymnasium. As soon as they were out, they saw Yang Zhou and the others waiting.

"Your middle finger earlier was full of vigor!" Yang Zhou exclaimed happily upon seeing his friend.

Su Bai shrugged and simply said, "Let's go back. There's nothing fun here."

"Okay."

Nodding, they got ready to go out and take the bus back.

"By the way, where did you two go in the morning? What did you do?" Jiang Yang looked at them in puzzlement.

Having hung around them often, only a fool would not notice that there was something going on between these two.

"We were going to find you but got delayed by other things," said Su Bai.

"Can you tell us about it?" Chen Tingting also joined in on the fun.

"It's about the monster wilderness, but I can't tell you for the time being." He shook his head.

The others nodded and stopped asking upon hearing this. They thought that the two had run off on a date, but now it did not seem to be the case.

They walked to the bus stop while chatting about their experiences.

"Did you pick up the advertisement contract by yourself today?" Yang Zhou was a little shocked that it had not been the whole team.

"It seems like you're very motivated; there should be a lot of money in exchange, right?" Jiang Yang asked curiously. A small sum could not make this friend of theirs work this hard.

"I'll tell you when the game is over. Anyway, it's truly no small amount." Su Bai shook his head.

Chen Rouxue smiled. "Who told you guys to fail the selection in the first place? We can't bring you along even if we want to. If you had moved past the selection round, you would have obtained 200,000 yuan per person."

"Sister, stop harping on it. My heart hurts." Yang Zhou refused to listen further. He already understood the logic behind it, but some people were just born with poorer self-control. It was harder for him to train his pet than for the Little Conch to train itself.

"Sister Tingting isn't that bad. She's just a little poor, though she's strong. You two really need to work harder. I don't think you want our friendship to last only for a short one or two years, right? If our strength is too far apart, we'll separate after the college entrance examination. No matter how good our relationship is, we'll still start to drift apart."

Su Bai spoke solemnly.

He was very serious about this because he had experienced the college entrance examination on Earth previously. At that time, he had a good relationship and shared a deep friendship with each of them.

However, the exam separated them, and the distance gradually caused everyone to drift apart. In the end, he was even afraid of sending them a message in case he disturbed them.

Although he was talented in learning, he was quite cynical and was not serious, so he had failed to enter the same school as Chen Rouxue. Eventually, the feelings they had developed in high school disappeared.

Such an experience made him realize the importance of working hard at this age. This was probably the reason why he got transported to this parallel world; it was so that he could work hard.

"Su Bai is right. If we can't enter the same school, it's good if we're in the same city at least."

Chen Rouxue nodded.

"Lu Xun said that distance is the greatest enemy of friendship. My brother isn't lying." Su Yue nodded affirmatively.

Yang Zhou was speechless.

Jiang Yang was speechless.

"The bus is coming; let's go. I'll leave it at that and won't remind you about working hard in the future. I'm not working hard enough myself, so I don't have time to remind others."

Su Bai glanced at the bus, got on it, and paid for the ticket. He only had to remind his friends once or twice, or else they would start feeling annoyed.

He could assist them, but they needed to rely on their hard work.

Chen Tingting, Chen Rouxue, and Su Yue followed him one by one.

Yang Zhou and Jiang Yang were silent for a long time and only got on the bus when it was about to leave.

The group of people remained silent in the bus, looking out the window thoughtfully.

Half an hour later, the bus arrived at their town. Su Bai's home was nearest, so he alighted first.

"Take care and send a message to the group chat when you all reach home," He waved goodbye to them and led his brother out of the bus to return home with the pets.

It was dark on their way home, and only sparse dim yellow streetlights guided their path.

The siblings walked side by side, leading the happy pets.

"Big bro, I've always wanted to tell you that, ever since you became a Pet Tamer, you have matured and by a lot. You have your clear goals now.

"It doesn't feel like you're messing around anymore like before; instead, you're filled with enthusiasm every day. You're my role model now, and I found the direction to work hard toward."

Su Yue smiled.

Su Bai smiled in relief upon hearing this. "Maybe it's the effect of the soul stone."

He had only worked hard to become extraordinary after experiencing being ordinary and because of his desire to reach the pinnacle with his effort.

He did not like the ordinary and mediocre Earth, not because it was ordinary but because he himself was too ordinary there.

Therefore, he had to live in an extraordinary way so that he could see the pinnacle's landscape.

"No matter what, I'm proud of you, brother." Su Yue nodded.

"Hahaha! I'll take that as a compliment." Su Bai laughed.

When they reached home, they saw that their parents had already prepared their meals.

"Your mom fried golden beef today; hurry up and eat. She bought it after a lot of deliberation. A catty of this golden beef cost us 2,000 yuan, but she bought some to celebrate your victory today. I can only eat this all thanks to you."

Their father quickly informed them happily immediately after they came in.

"Brother, let's taste the golden beef. It's the expensive type. Sit down quickly; I'll go get the dishes." Su Yue almost salivated when he heard about the beef. He ran to the kitchen to get dishes and serve the food quickly.

"I watched the live broadcast of your matches today. You're my son indeed; it's so impressive."

Father Su looked at Su Bai happily before he glanced at the cub. "Purple Jade was very impressive, too."

"Howl! (*๓ ́╰╯`๓)♡"

The cub's ears perked up upon hearing his compliment and it immediately smiled happily.

"It was okay; I actually did it mainly after receiving an advertisement deal," he said.

"Then tell us the details later."

Su Yue served the fried golden beef in a small pot soon.

Seeing his mother sit down, Su Bai prepared the food for his pets and then took the lead in getting a piece of beef.

"Wow, it's delicious!" he exclaimed in surprise. Although he could not tell how much better it was compared to ordinary beef, it was indeed very fragrant. The more he chewed, the more fragrant it seemed, and his tongue was coated in its savoury juices.

"Wow, it's so yummy!"

Su Yue exclaimed as well, then he quickly picked up another piece.

"This beef is really worth it. While it's expensive, it tastes so good." Su Bai took a bite of the meat and chased it down his throat with wine.

Seeing the satisfied expressions on their faces, the cub and the Little Tyrant felt like their energy medicinal cakes were not tasty enough. They looked up at their owner eagerly.

"Okay, there you go!"

Su Bai took some meat for the two pets.

He never treated them badly, always preparing their food first before he ate. He never let them eat only after he did.

Although this might seem trivial, Su Bai did not think so. It meant that he treated his pets as family members, as partners, which was also a sort of method.

After eating beef, the cubs squinted happily and indicated that it was delicious.

While chatting with his parents, Su Bai fed them bits of it from time to time.

The Golden Cow did not have a very high grade but it tasted delicious as a warlord.

On the contrary, the meat of high-grade cows, sheep, and others were not delicious, and some were even hard to chew on.

...

The next day came in the blink of an eye. Su Bai rode the bus again to Jiusheng Gymnasium in Liuyue District.

Today's first big match was between Carp Town and Maple Leaf Town.

It was already the second semi-finals, so the stands were packed with people, but this increase in audience number might also be because yesterday's match had been somewhat beyond everyone's expectation.

"Get ready! Maple Leaf Town's strength shouldn't be underestimated. Fortunately, we're on the attack," Chen Bo exclaimed.

Although he was supervising this team, he had no complete grasp of these members' recent growth.

Su Bai nodded and looked at his teammates. "You must at least defeat one opponent each. Also, remember to advertise properly."

"Don't worry," said Guo Dong confidently.

The match soon began.

"Today's defender is Maple Leaf Town. Please send your player onstage."

With a sweet voice, the host asked for the said town to send their first player up.

"Okay, Maple Leaf Town has sent Xiao Yue as the first player. She owns a high-level servant, the Venomous Sting Turtle. Next, let us invite the attacker from Carp Town to come up the stage."

The Venomous Sting Turtle was dark green all over, with huge stingers ranging from three to five centimeters on its back. It was a double attribute pet of water and poison.

"I'll go." Shi Lei looked at the turtle onstage and led his Little Rock monster up.

According to the five elements, the soil restrained the water, so the battle was not particularly difficult. The body of the Little Rock monster was naturally immune to poison element attacks.

"Okay, the game officially begins now!"

"Venomous Sting Turtle, use Water Gun!"

The half-meter-tall turtle opened its mouth and sprayed a jet of turbulent water.

"Little Rock, use Soil Wall then Earthquake!"

...

Seeing the fierce battle between the two onstage, Su Bai could not stand it anymore.

No, at this level, the Venomous Sting Turtle's skills were already exposed yesterday. Under such a circumstance, was he not too much of a rookie to fight back and forth with the Venomous Sting Turtle?

"Carp Town's attack was successful. Please invite the next player."

"Everyone, do you know why I'm so powerful? That's right! It's the effect of the green plum energy medicinal cakes! They're really good!"

Standing in the middle of the stage, Shi Lei revealed a proud smile as he advertised the green plum medicinal cakes to the surrounding audience.

Alas, there was no response from the audience, and they all looked dazed. No way. Was he advertising despite being of this caliber? It was ridiculous!

He was in over his head; it was simply comical!

Su Bai also helplessly facepalmed as he glanced at the rest of his teammates. "If you're at this level, then don't advertise. I'm afraid that my efforts yesterday will only be in vain."

Wang Er and Guo Dong sneered as they ignored him.

After a while, another player from Maple Leaf Town was sent up. They did not use a wood pet to restrain the soil pet and sent a Quicksand monster of the same soil attribute, instead.

"The game begins." The host announced in a passionate voice.

The game was unsurprising; Shi Lei was defeated in three minutes. He was actually still quite proud when he walked off the stage and told the others, "I'll leave the rest to you!"

Su Bai did not even bother looking at him anymore. At this level, he was only worthy of showing off in school.

Chen Rouxue patted him. At least, they won, so could he not give the other boy some face?

"Sorry, I don't want to give this rookie any face," he said. More importantly, he was baffled by how Shi Lei could still show off in school despite being at this level. He could not understand why he would tell on others and act like a local tyrant.

"I'll go for this round. It's a Quicksand monster, eh? I'll let him have a taste of my Lava Dog!"

He brought his Lava Dog up.

"The game begins!" The host announced.

"I thought your team would send the captain; I didn't expect to see another rookie." The teenager opposite sneered.

"Hmph. Your Little Quicksand awaits death!" Guo Dong glanced at the enemy disdainfully and started his attack. "Lava Dog, use Huge Lava Fireball! I want to see just how strong your opponent is."

"Woof woof!"

The appearance of the Lava Dog was very similar to a husky. It looked up in the sky and howled like a lone wolf, then it condensed a big red fireball which resembled slowly growing sand.

The surrounding sand and gravel flew along with dust, gradually ignited by the strong fire attribute spiritual power. They turned into lava which gathered at the mouth of the Lava Dog. In an instant, a lava fireball with a one-meter diameter was formed.

"Woof woof!"

With a loud bark, the dog directly launched the fireball. The speed of it was too fast, and they were at close range, so the Quicksand monster had nowhere to dodge.

Bang bang bang!

The huge lava fireball smashed down on the target, a terrifying explosion sweeping past the surroundings like a terrible wave. Even the protective shields around the stadium shone with light.

However, this was not over yet. After launching the lava fireball, the dog instantly condensed seven or eight smaller lava fireballs and fired them.

Explosions sounded one after another, each time resembling a small rocket explosion. This was not an actual skill; it was simply the art of explosion. Real men were always straightforward and never used sneak attacks.

"F*ck, I surrender! My Quicksand is doomed if I keep playing!" yelled the teenager immediately. How could there be such a lunatic?

"The match is over; Carp Town wins!"

The host announced enthusiastically.

As the smoke and dust in the arena cleared, huge potholes two or three meters deep appeared on the ground.

"F*ck, he's a real man; I'm a fan now!!"

"This is how real men should play. There's no need for schemes or tricks; he just has to explode them!"

"Real men fight within range; that's the true path!"

Compared to Shi Lei's lackluster performance, Guo Dong's explosive act ushered in a wave of cheers from the audience.

Guo Dong looked around and spoke loudly. "Do you know why my Lava Dog still has spiritual power after its attacks? That's because it ate the green plum energy medicinal cakes!"

"Master, I acknowledge it now!"

"It's time for the advertising again? I love it!"

"I already bought a truckload of that and my pet loves it!"

Compared to Shi Lei's stretch, this advertisement was much more acceptable.