"Crackle pop"
A somewhat uneven applause sounded.
Everything had happened so quickly just now that the spectators only reacted at this moment.
Chu Chen slightly nodded to everyone in gratitude, then recalled Lei Yao into the Soul Sea and turned to walk off the arena.
As the exchange match progressed, more and more onlookers gathered. Some interested ones had already obtained membership cards for the Thunder Daoist School, which made the referee Zhou Ying quite pleased, her raised lips even harder to suppress than an AK.
Soon the first round of the exchange match ended with enthusiastic applause.
The participants who managed to pass the first round were mostly above Fifth Rank Slave Level, and unsurprisingly, both Fang Tao and Sun Zhou advanced, defeating their opponents in just a few breaths, showing the strength of these two.
Next was the second round of the exchange match. Whether due to his good luck or others' bad luck, Chu Chen drew a bye in the second round.
This result made other participants quite envious, while Fang Tao gritted his teeth in anger, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
After the second round ended, only five participants remained.
After the third round of draws, Sun Zhou was the one who got a bye.
"Well, I thought of letting my Guardian Beast accumulate some battle experience, but now that I've got a bye, I won't participate in the remaining matches." Sun Zhou waved his hand and left the Daoist School.
Many newcomers couldn't understand Sun Zhou's choice, but some veteran Beast Masters agreed with his decision.
The ten thousand Alliance Coins prize was alluring to someone like Chu Chen, but for a seasoned Beast Master like Sun Zhou, it was insignificant. Besides, the final battle was bound to be tough, and if the Guardian Beast got injured, it would affect subsequent training, making it not worthwhile.
This time, Chu Chen's opponent was a high school senior novice Beast Master named Li Feng, whose Guardian Beast was a Fifth Rank Thunder Sparrow.
Li Feng relied on the Thunder Sparrow's flying ability to make it into the top four of the exchange match. At this stage, many new Guardian Beasts lacked countermeasures against air attacks, leaving them vulnerable to flying beasts.
Once they got on stage, neither spoke but directly summoned their Guardian Beasts.
The Thunder Sparrow wasn't of high quality, barely reaching the Elite Level Lower Grade, yet its price was much higher than Lei Yao. As rarity adds value, its body length was about a meter, with a wingspan of about 1.6 meters. Judging by the wingspan, its flying ability wasn't strong, its feathers were light blue, its beak hook-like, claws resembling curved blades, possessing quite a striking appearance.
Zhou Ying announced the start of the match without wasting words.
As soon as Chu Chen heard, he immediately commanded Lei Yao to attack.
Lei Yao let out a low roar, causing dense Thunder Elements to gather towards it.
Li Feng saw this and quickly commanded: "Release Thunder Shield."
The Thunder Sparrow screamed loudly, and the surrounding Thunder Elements seemed to be attracted, gathering towards it.
At this moment, a little boy of eight or nine years old under the arena tugged his father's clothing and asked softly: "Dad, why doesn't the Thunder Sparrow fly higher to avoid attacks?"
The man smiled and explained: "The exchange match has rules limiting flying beasts to a maximum height of three meters."
The boy asked again: "Why have such rules?"
The man patiently explained: "Flying beasts inherently have aerial advantages over land beasts in combat. Without restrictions, they could easily fly high and remain undefeated."
The boy then showed an expression of sudden realization.
At this moment, Lei Yao had already formed a meter-long Thunder Blade in front of it.
The Thunder Sparrow wasn't slow either, forming a round Thunder Shield about a meter in diameter.
Lei Yao let out a low growl, and the Thunder Blade, under its control, speedily headed towards the Thunder Sparrow.
The Thunder Sparrow dared not be careless and promptly placed the Thunder Shield ahead.
"Bang"
The Thunder Blade collided directly with the Thunder Shield, producing a loud noise. The frenzy of the Thunder Element raged in the mid-air, generating a powerful air current.
Being close, the Thunder Sparrow was directly blown away by the current and struggled to stabilize itself while falling towards the ground.
Thunder Blade and Thunder Shield were both Elite Level Skills, and both were in Entry Realm, so neither had an advantage over the other.
Lei Yao showed joy upon seeing this, suddenly exerted all four limbs and charged towards the falling Thunder Sparrow.
Li Feng's expression turned sour seeing this; such a situation arose from his lack of battle experience; otherwise, he wouldn't commit such a rookie mistake.
Now was not the time for regret; he forced himself to calm down and shouted to the falling Thunder Sparrow: "Don't panic, spread your wings."
The Thunder Sparrow dared not hesitate and quickly spread its wings, trying hard to find its balance.
By now, Lei Yao had reached below the Thunder Sparrow, raising its right arm in an attack posture, waiting for the Thunder Sparrow to enter its attack range.
Chu Chen frowned upon seeing this; Lei Yao's attack approach was too inflexible.
He immediately advised: "Lei Yao, jump to attack; it will shorten the attack distance."
Lei Yao hesitated at the suggestion, never having tried this attacking method, and its attack force would lessen by about five-tenths when leaving the ground.
While Lei Yao pondered, the Thunder Sparrow finally found balance, now only two meters from the ground.
With a sudden flap of its wings and aided by the descending air current, the Thunder Sparrow soared again.
Chu Chen regretted it inwardly; had Lei Yao attacked by jumping first, the battle would have ended.
Though the jumping attack would weaken the force, the Thunder Sparrow, being an Agile Attack Type Guardian Beast, wasn't adept at defense; with Lei Yao's current attack power, even a force reduced by five-tenths could severely damage the Thunder Sparrow.
Any further thoughts were in vain; the battle must continue with the originally planned tactics.
Lei Yao realized it missed the opportunity, let out an annoyed growl, and once again formed a Thunder Blade to strike at the Thunder Sparrow.
The Thunder Sparrow learned from its mistake and wouldn't repeat it again.
As the rumbling echoed, their battle intensified, with both Thunder Blade and Thunder Shield being used seemingly endlessly.
Gradually, Li Feng seemed to realize something; his face grew tense.
Though Thunder Blade and Thunder Shield were Elite Level Skills, Lei Yao and Thunder Sparrow differed in Realm; if the consumption continued, the Thunder Sparrow would lose the match due to depletion of Star Power.
To switch offense-defense, it had to evade the Thunder Blade's attack, but the arena was very narrow, and the Thunder Sparrow's current speed made dodging the Thunder Blade extremely difficult. One misstep could prematurely end the match, and the Thunder Sparrow faced risks of serious injury.
Chu Chen's expression was also tense; although Lei Yao held the upper hand due to Realm advantage, the consumption was vast. The exchange match was tightly scheduled, leaving Lei Yao not much time to recover Star Power, possibly causing it to be overstrained against the final opponent.
During Chu Chen's worry, Lei Yao suddenly let out a content growl, seemingly attracting the surrounding Thunder Elements towards it rapidly.
This scene stunned Chu Chen, then he showed ecstatic joy.
Lei Yao formed another Thunder Blade before it; however, this time Thunder Blade differed—not only had its size increased by half, but its formation speed increased significantly, with its inherent might boosted by about two-tenths, evidently Thunder Blade had broken through to Skilled Realm.
Li Feng showed a stunned expression upon seeing this, then said bitterly: "I surrender."
Chu Chen immediately halted Lei Yao, readying for attack upon hearing this.
Zhou Ying promptly announced the match result.
The onlookers involuntarily gasped in surprise.
In this era of everyone's Guardianship, skill breakthroughs during normal training were common, but breakthroughs during battle were rare.
The reason was none other than the Guardian Beast's focus during combat had to be entirely on the opponent, leaving no room for skill comprehension. Achieving breakthroughs in battle required luck and exceptional psychological resilience from the Guardian Beast.