Although the evaluation the Douluo World gave him didn't sound very flattering, Baili Du had done it on purpose.
For a Soul Elder to have stats like Huo Yuhao's was frankly outrageous.
Just in terms of mental strength, the Spirit Abyss Realm would have been standard for a Soul Douluo in Tang Wulin's era. In Huo Yuhao's relatively backward era, it was already no weaker than that of a Titled Douluo...
And thanks to the boost from the Dragon God Bloodline, as well as the way the Gold of Life nourished his body, Xiao Huo's vitality and strength stats were enough to rival a Soul Sage's, with even greater stamina.
To put it in a not entirely appropriate way, if Xiao Huo and Ma Xiaotao spent the night enjoying themselves, Ma Xiaotao would be the one unable to get out of bed...
As for the bonus value, Baili Du calculated it based on external items like Soul Bones and Battle Armor. A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone or a Heavenly-Forged Battle Armor component counted as 1,000; a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone counted as 100, a twenty-thousand-year one as 200, and so on.
Huo Yuhao and Ma Xiaotao had sparred before. Neither had gone all out: he hadn't used his Second Martial Soul, and Ma Xiaotao hadn't used her sixth Soul Skill. Relying on the foresight of his Spirit Eye's third Soul Skill, [Epitaph], along with the two powerful defensive Soul Skills of the Golden Hawksbill Turtle's left leg bone, he could hold his own against Ma Xiaotao for a while. But the gap in cultivation was ultimately too great, and Huo Yuhao lost more often than he won.
That's right, Huo Yuhao could occasionally beat Ma Xiaotao when she let her guard down.
They were both geniuses, and neither was really inferior to the other. If one had to name what could set them apart, it was their cheats and their luck.
The benchmark Baili Du had set for Huo Yuhao earlier was to pass the second trial before reaching level forty. Of course, there would be a reward for beating the trial.
Actually, this so-called second trial wasn't difficult. He just had to choose any one of three thousand-year Soul Beasts with five thousand years of cultivation and defeat it.
Huo Yuhao called out to the sky, "I'd like to take the second trial."
An emotionless electronic voice rang out from above.
[Received. Preparing the second trial for [ID0001 Huo Yuhao]. Please select your opponent.]
A ray of golden light descended, transforming into a screen in front of Huo Yuhao.
Looking at the three phantom images of a lion, dragon, and tiger on the screen, Huo Yuhao's lips twitched.
If he had a choice, he really didn't want to fight these guys.
Five-thousand-year Soul Beasts didn't sound very strong, but these three thousand-year Soul Beasts were:
[Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff], [Seven-Element Pure-Blood Silver Dragon], [Dark Demon Evil God Tiger].
One was a stat monster, one was a gimmick monster, and one was a gimmick-and-stat monster.
Before obtaining the Golden Hawksbill Turtle as his third Soul Ring, Huo Yuhao had fought all three while using the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon Martial Soul. He hadn't beaten a single one.
From Huo Yuhao's personal experience, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff had the greatest strength and destructive power. He'd taken the most beatings from it, too. The Pure-Blooded Silver Dragon had attacks that varied in countless ways; he was often blown away by its combined elemental attacks before he could even get close.
As for the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger... It couldn't control the elements as well as the Pure-Blooded Silver Dragon, and it wasn't as strong as the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff.
But in every other respect, the two of them combined still couldn't match the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger—especially in intelligence.
That thing's brain was just too sharp! Apart from not being able to talk, Huo Yuhao even suspected it was smarter than a human.
After fighting it twice, Xiao Huo gave up. He'd rather fight the Silver Dragon or the Lion Mastiff ten times than fight that thing again...
Clenching his fists, Xiao Huo still went with his gut and made his choice.
He reached out and tapped the [Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff] on the screen.
The electronic voice sounded again:
"[ID0001 Huo Yuhao] has selected trial guardian [Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff]. Generating... Combat location: [Jingyang Mountain Range]. Battle begins in five minutes. Please prepare."
The screen displaying the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff dissolved into golden-black particles and gathered a short distance away, where they formed a strange creature.
Huo Yuhao swallowed. The three Soul Rings of his Spirit Eye appeared. This time, he didn't use Simulation to disguise their colors. He would have to give it everything he had to stand a chance of winning.
Before long, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff had fully appeared in front of Huo Yuhao.
It was about two meters long, not especially large. But its body was extremely well-proportioned, every muscle seeming to brim with explosive strength. Its head was huge, like a lion's, but it had a ghastly face. Its fur was a brilliant gold, while its face was black and shaped like a demon's.
"Phew..." He took a deep breath and worked out a plan in his mind.
Of course, he'd thought about wearing the creature down with ranged attacks while keeping his distance. But the system would judge that as failing the trial. He had to defeat it head-on to earn the reward.
The five minutes passed quickly, and the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's dull eyes suddenly lit up.
"Roar—" The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff let out an angry roar. Its yellow-brown eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao as the golden fur on its body bristled. It leaped into the air and charged at him.
Spiritual Detection Sharing had already covered the entire area. The explosive strength packed into the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's body was troublesome, but the mental strength of the Spirit Abyss Realm was enough to lock onto its position.
Good thing they were in a mountain range, or this might have taken a lot more effort... As the thought crossed his mind, Huo Yuhao activated his third Soul Skill, [Epitaph]. The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's movements began appearing in his field of vision as they happened.
The skill had its pros and cons. It let him know what his opponent would do ten seconds in the future, but [Future Sight] and [Present Sight] operated simultaneously. After all, his opponent wasn't going to stand around waiting for him. If he lost focus for even a moment, he could fail to react in time.
He stepped forward with his left foot and stamped on the ground. A brown-gold Rock Pillar suddenly burst up from beneath the earth, right in the path of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff as it pounced down from the air.
The Golden Hawksbill Turtle's left-leg Soul Bone Skill, Earth Core.
The pillar was extremely sturdy, and it had appeared so suddenly that even the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff hadn't had time to react. It slammed straight into it.
There was no denying it: that thing was strong... Even caught completely off guard, it still smashed apart the Rock Pillar created by Earth Core.
But the collision left the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff dazed for a moment. Huo Yuhao seized the precious opening and immediately used two Soul Skills of his Spirit Eye.
[Spiritual Clone], [Spiritual Interference Domain].
The area-of-effect mental Soul Skill [Spiritual Interference Domain] wasn't very useful against the [Silver Dragon] or the [Dark Demon Evil God Tiger]. Their resistance to mental attacks was high enough, and the domain's hallucinatory weakening effect wasn't particularly strong.
But it was extremely effective against a brawler.
Leaving a false [Huo Yuhao] clone in his original position, he transformed his Martial Soul into the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon. He beat all eight wings in four pairs and shot into the air like a rocket.
His right hand turned into a deep-blue dragon claw, and vast clouds of water vapor spread out from him in every direction.
The area around the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was instantly transformed into a watery marsh.
One of Huo Yuhao's ultimate talents, Pure Water Barrier.
Water nourished all things without contending, embracing all things and excluding none. Its direct destructive power might not match lightning or fire, but water was still one of the hardest elements in the world to deal with.
What good was even the greatest force once it struck water?
But...
Before you continue