Beast Taming: Starting From Zero
Chapter 461: Defensive Swap

Lubao reacted swiftly, lifting her paw, which was instantly covered by a layer of ice, radiating visible cold air.

Just as her ice claw swung fiercely toward Bigmouth Ai, a sudden pain shot through her head.

"Lu."

Lubao furrowed her brows, hesitating to strike immediately.

Big-mouth Ai seized the opportunity to pull back.

The next second, a beam mixed with various colors shot out from its mouth.

Lubao endured the lingering discomfort in her head, leaping just in time to barely dodge the attack.

Bang!

The illusionary beam missed, hitting the ground and leaving cracks.

At that moment, Qiao Sang spoke:

"Water Gun."

Simultaneously, Big-mouth Ai vanished into thin air.

Lubao opened her mouth, and a thick blue water jet burst forth.

To the audience's confusion, the water gun was not aimed at Big-mouth Ai’s previous location but shot straight ahead.

Before they could react, Big-mouth Ai suddenly reappeared about half a meter in front of the water stream.

Struck head-on, Big-mouth Ai was sent flying backward.

The brief exchange ended, and a wave of astonishment spread through the audience.

"What’s going on with Big-mouth Ai? Why does it keep teleporting in front of its opponent? Is it trying to scare them to death since it can’t win?"

"What are you talking about? Big-mouth Ai has Alpha Waves, getting close makes its opponent’s head hurt."

"That’s amazing! But why didn’t it do this in Tian Xiaoyun’s match last time?"

"Probably didn’t think it was necessary."

"Anyway, Qiao Sang is incredible! She directly predicted that Big-mouth Ai would teleport in front of Ice Xilu!"

"I feel like my brain isn’t working… how did she predict that?"

"Don’t ask me. If I knew how to predict moves like that, I’d be competing in the nationals too."

"Don’t compare yourself to Qiao Sang, she’s a freak. She saw through her opponent before the match even started. How many people can do that?"

As beast tamers grow, their battle commands become more concise, and strategies are often prearranged.

Which tactic to use and how to execute it depends on the synergy between the tamer and their beast.

Normally, when a tamer commands Water Gun, it means firing at the opponent’s location.

But for Ice Xilu to fire first and have the target appear later, there was only one possibility: Qiao Sang had already anticipated Big-mouth Ai’s actions and had discussed in advance where Ice Xilu should aim.

This time, the audience guessed right.

Qiao Sang had predicted that Big-mouth Ai would frequently teleport near Lubao to make it suffer and create attack opportunities.

As for how she predicted it...too easy.

After all, Little Treasure used to love teleporting in front of his opponents. Watching others defend against him so many times, she naturally learned something.

Big-mouth Ai was still midair from the impact when Qiao Sang’s eyes flashed. She quickly commanded:

"Ice Flower Seal!"

"Mental Wave!" Tian Xiaoyun responded immediately.

However, Big-mouth Ai had just landed and was still in pain, unable to get up right away.

"Lu."

Lubao raised her head and opened her mouth.

Suddenly, the temperature on the field plummeted. A cold current spread, and large snowflakes began falling.

Just then, a white energy wave shot toward Lubao.

Bang!

Caught off guard after casting Ice Flower Seal, Lubao failed to dodge, and the white energy wave exploded upon impact.

"Lu!"

Gritting her teeth, Lubao dug her sharp claws into the ground, preventing herself from being blown away and only sliding back a short distance.

A blue light shone on her body.

Was it really using Healing Light after just one hit? That’s an advanced-tier skill, using it so casually? But wait, doesn’t Healing Light consume a lot of energy? Should she interrupt Ice Xilu’s healing?

Her mind raced with one question after another.

She looked up and saw that the snow was about to reach the ground.

No time to interrupt! She had to use that move…

Steadying her nerves, Tian Xiaoyun made a decisive call:

"Defensive Swap!"

Defensive Swap?!

What the! Since when could Big-mouth Ai use Defensive Swap?!

Qiao Sang’s mind tensed. Without hesitation, she commanded:

"Melting Water!"

Defensive Swap, a high-tier psychic-type skill, allows temporary exchange of defense and special defense buffs between the user and the opponent.

Since Lubao casted Ice Flower Seal, she had resistance to it. The falling snow wouldn’t affect her.

But if Big-mouth Ai successfully used Defensive Swap, that resistance would transfer to it instead.

And in that case, Lubao would be the one frozen.

Damn it, these people keep hiding their trump cards… Qiao Sang sighed internally.

"Big!"

Big-mouth Ai’s body glowed blue.

At the same time, as Lubao leapt toward a puddle of water, her body also shone blue.

The next second, Lubao melted into the water and disappeared.

Snowflakes fell.

Big-mouth Ai stood motionless, unprotected.

Cold, shimmering snow landed on its body, without effect. It was just like ordinary snowfall.

For a moment, the audience was dumbfounded. Then, a commotion erupted.

"Huh? Why isn’t Ice Flower Seal doing anything?"

"Are you sure that was Ice Flower Seal and not just regular snow?"

"It was Ice Flower Seal! I’ve seen Qiao Sang use Ice Xilu before, her Ice Flowers can bloom in dozens!"

"I think Tian Xiaoyun used Defensive Swap. Judging from the blue glow on both of them earlier, the swap must’ve worked."

"Damn! I didn’t expect Tian Xiaoyun to be hiding this move. I watched all her matches in the regional tournament and never saw Big-mouth Ai use this!"

"Qiao Sang reacted fast, having Ice Xilu merge into water immediately… but is Melting Water really that effective? A three-meter-tall beast just vanished like that?"

As discussions heated up, in the contestant area-

Liu Yao glanced at Sun Boyi.

Sensing the gaze, Sun Boyi stiffened, keeping his eyes locked on the battlefield, pretending not to notice.

"You didn’t gather intel on Big-mouth Ai having Defensive Swap?" Liu Yao asked.

Sun Boyi remained silent.

Liu Yao eyed him.

"Coach Sun?"

Stop calling me that! Do you have to make me admit my failure?

Sun Boyi felt a pang of frustration but took a deep breath, preparing to respond.

"Actually..."

Before he could finish, he saw Big-mouth Ai’s eyes glowing blue midair, as water droplets on the ground began to levitate one by one.

Sun Boyi’s expression turned serious.

"Vice Principal, look!"

Liu Yao noticed the shift in Sun Boyi’s tone and turned to look.

Whew… Sun Boyi secretly exhaled in relief.