Fang Tao looked at the boy in front of him, his eyes bursting with astonishing killing intent. If it weren't for the rules, he might have already killed. He understood very well that given the opponent's growth rate, this exchange match was the only chance to defeat him.
"Boy, I'll show you the gap between us," Fang Tao said in a cold voice.
Chu Chen heard this, and his expression showed no fluctuation. He looked up at the opponent and said calmly, "You and I were not meant to be enemies, but since you insist, I'll have to accompany you."
This wasn't Chu Chen showing weakness but rather influenced by previous life concepts that having one less enemy is better than one more friend.
But such a concept would soon be crushed by reality, after all, this world believes in the survival of the fittest.
Upon hearing this, Fang Tao's face became a bit more sullen. He coldly stared at Chu Chen and said hoarsely, "Accompany me? It is you who disrupted my life, all of this is your fault."
"It's really laughable, have I ever actively poached your clients? Everyone has the right to choose. They chose me as the coach for their own reasons. You should think about your own problems," Chu Chen replied coldly.
"Enough talk, let's show our true abilities on the field."
"Alright, let me experience Coach Fang's strength."
Zhou Ying, seeing the situation, didn't delay and directly announced the start of the final.
As soon as Zhou Ying's voice fell, Fang Tao couldn't wait to give the Thunder Ant an attack order, "Use Thunder Jaw Clamp."
Fang Tao immediately went for the killing move, apparently planning to defeat Chu Chen directly.
The onlookers cheered at this.
Seeing this, Chu Chen couldn't help but sneer. Although the Thunder Ant's injuries had recovered, its star power had only recovered sixty to seventy percent. If it was thinking of a war of attrition, it was wishful thinking.
Thinking of this, Chu Chen said coldly, "Lei Yao, use Thunder Blade."
Lei Yao let out a low growl upon hearing this, and the dense thunder elements quickly gathered toward it. In a blink of an eye, a blade shining with thunder appeared before it.
The Thunder Jaw Clamp and Thunder Blade collided heavily, producing a huge roar.
Under the Thunder Jaw Clamp's attack, Thunder Blade's light gradually dimmed, and its power also began to weaken. On the other hand, the Thunder Jaw Clamp was the same, but its weakening speed was much slower than that of Thunder Blade.
Chu Chen showed a hint of solemnity upon seeing this. The Thunder Ant's realm was two realms higher than Lei Yao's, and its star power was naturally much more vigorous.
The two skills only stalemated for an instant before deciding the winner. Thunder Blade couldn't hold on and directly exploded, consuming ninety percent of the star power within the Thunder Jaw Clamp.
The power generated by the explosion of the Thunder Blade directly shattered the already fragmented Thunder Jaw Clamp completely.
Two furious airwaves exploded in mid-air, even flags a hundred meters away fluttered under the pressure of the airwaves.
The Thunder Jaw Clamp and Thunder Blade were both rare-level skills and had both reached the skilled level. Although Thunder Jaw Clamp had somewhat greater power, it still couldn't pose any threat to Lei Yao.
Fang Tao also realized the issue and immediately changed his combat strategy.
The Thunder Ant stopped using skills and let out a low roar, charging directly at Lei Yao.
Obviously, the Thunder Ant wanted to resolve the battle through hand-to-hand combat. After all, the Thunder Ant had already reached the mature stage; its power was incomparable to Lei Yao's.
Seeing this, Chu Chen simply gave Fang Tao a cold glance and did not instruct Lei Yao to evade.
Seeing this, Fang Tao displayed a cold smile. He had absolute confidence in the Thunder Ant in terms of power. Moreover, the years of coaching were not in vain; the Thunder Ant's combat experience was extremely rich, and the opponent's Thunder Ape stood no chance in melee combat.
At this point, the Thunder Ant had already rushed to Lei Yao, and its huge jaws, shining with thunder, viciously clipped toward Lei Yao's waist.
This momentum, if it hit Lei Yao, would certainly cut it in two.
Lei Yao let out a low roar, the battle intent in its eyes grew stronger, its right fist pulled back abruptly and released the Thunderbolt Fist, striking up against the giant jaws of the Thunder Ant.
"Bang"
The Thunderbolt Fist smashed directly on the giant jaws of the Thunder Ant. The recoil from the collision forced Lei Yao to step back, while the Thunder Ant's attacking steps also came to a halt.
Lei Yao roared angrily and stomped hard on the arena, forcibly stopping itself. Its right leg exerted force again, and its form rushed toward the Thunder Ant like a cannonball.
The Thunder Ant, seeing this, was suddenly furious and shook its head, facing Lei Yao.
The giant jaws, like large scissors, kept attacking Lei Yao, making it retreat with each hit.
However, Lei Yao did not retreat. Every time it was pushed back, it would pounce again, and the stinging pain from the fists did not cause it to shrink back; instead, it gradually revealed its ferocity.
As the "bang bang bang" sounds rang out on the arena, the enthusiasm of the onlookers was stirred, attracting more and more spectators, including those impulsively spending, which made Zhou Ying very excited, and her gaze toward Lei Yao became gentler.
After another collision between the two beasts, the Thunder Ant no longer fought but used the recoil force to retreat several meters, opening up the distance from Lei Yao.
Looking at the battle-ready Lei Yao, Fang Tao's face gradually became gloomy. He stared firmly at Chu Chen and said coldly, "Boy, it seems you do have some arrogance."
Chu Chen responded coldly, "If this is all you have, you won't be able to win the championship."
Fang Tao laughed at this, his laughter full of pride.
"Boy, you are fortunate enough to witness my true strength. Thunder Ant, remove the disguise."
With Fang Tao's order, the Thunder Ant let out a low growl and its internal aura began to surge rapidly.
It ascended from the late-stage eighth rank directly to the ninth rank, then mid-stage ninth rank, late-stage ninth rank, until it reached ninth rank perfection before stopping.
At this moment, the aura displayed by the Thunder Ant had reached the peak of servant level, just one step away from entering the war general level.
Below the arena, Sun Zhou looked at the Thunder Ant's transformation and couldn't help frowning, also feeling fortunate about his choice. If he faced the Thunder Ant, he would have no chance of winning.
Fang Tao looked at the Thunder Ant in front of him, the pride on his cheeks slowly faded, replaced by a strong sense of regret.
"I hate it. If the Thunder Ant's quality reached elite level, its realm would have already broken through to the war general level."
The Thunder Ant's quality did indeed limit its growth. An ordinary quality Guardian Beast trying to break through to the war general level is several times more difficult than an elite quality Guardian Beast. This bottleneck may take months or years to overcome, and some Guardian Beasts might be stuck at this bottleneck for a lifetime.
Of course, if there were heavenly and earthly treasures assisting, the Thunder Ant's chance of breakthrough would be significantly higher, which is also why Fang Tao resented Chu Chen so much.
Chu Chen quietly watched this scene, his expression unchanged as if all of this had been anticipated.
Indeed, through the Slaughter Atlas, he had already seen the attribute panel of the Thunder Ant, and to speak, this Thunder Ant was somewhat special.
Generally speaking, the Thunder Ant's talent is either power-based or thunder element-related, while Fang Tao's Thunder Ant has a relatively rare talent of disguise.
An E-level talent disguise can hide up to two ranks of realms.
For Fang Tao to endure until now was truly difficult for him.
Fang Tao, seeing Chu Chen's calm expression, asked puzzled, "Boy, you don't seem surprised?"
Chu Chen replied solemnly, "It's just a promotion of one rank; what's so surprising? But I'm curious, why have you kept the Thunder Ant's strength hidden all this time? Is there some unspeakable secret?"
Fang Tao was not angry upon hearing this but instead laughed mockingly, "Boy, today I'll teach you the importance of having cards up your sleeve." Having said that, he commanded the Thunder Ant to charge at Lei Yao.
Seeing this, Chu Chen's expression became more serious. Facing an eighth-rank slave-level Thunder Ant, his chances of winning were only twenty to thirty percent.
At this moment, facing a Thunder Ant with one foot into the war general level, he had almost no chance of winning.
But to just admit defeat like this, how could he be willing? Even if there was only a ray of hope, he didn't want to give up. After all, the cost of failure was too high.