The Trial of Lao Huo, Fierce Battle with the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff

Although the evaluation provided by the Douluo World didn't sound very flattering, it was actually something Baili Du had intentionally arranged.

For a Soul Master of Huo Yuhao's rank to possess such data was, in reality, quite absurd.

In terms of spiritual power alone, the Spirit Abyss Realm would have been the standard for a Soul Douluo in Tang Wulin's era; in Huo Yuhao's relatively backward time, it was already on par with a Titled Douluo.

As for vitality and strength, thanks to the amplification of the Dragon God bloodline and the nourishment of the Gold of Life, Xiao Huo's stats were enough to rival a Soul Saint, with even greater endurance.

To use an inappropriate analogy, if Xiao Huo and Ma Xiaotao were to engage in "happy activities" to their heart's content, the one unable to get out of bed the next day would definitely be Ma Xiaotao.

As for the bonus values, Baili Du calculated these based on external items like spirit bones and battle armor; a 100,000-year spirit bone or a piece of Heaven-Forged battle armor counted as 1000, a 10,000-year spirit bone as 100, 20,000 years as 200, and so on.

Huo Yuhao and Ma Xiaotao had sparred before, and neither had used their full strength. He didn't use his second martial soul, and she didn't use her sixth soul skill. Relying on the precognition of the Spirit Eye's third soul skill, Epitaph, combined with the two powerful defensive soul skills of the Golden Hawksbill Turtle left leg bone, he could hold his own against her for a while. However, the gap in cultivation was ultimately too large, and Huo Yuhao lost more often than he won.

That said, Huo Yuhao could occasionally win if Ma Xiaotao was careless.

Everyone was a genius, and in reality, no one was truly inferior to the others; if one had to point to a reason for the gap, it was simply cheats and luck.

The target Baili Du had set for Huo Yuhao was to pass the second stage before reaching level forty. Naturally, there would be a reward for clearing it.

In truth, this so-called second stage wasn't difficult; he just had to pick one of three five-thousand-year-old spirit beasts and defeat it.

Huo Yuhao shouted toward the sky, "I wish to attempt the second stage assessment."

An emotionless electronic voice echoed from above.

[Received. Initiating the second stage for [ID0001 Huo Yuhao]. Please select your combat target.]

A golden light descended, manifesting as a screen before Huo Yuhao.

Looking at the three silhouettes of a lion, a dragon, and a tiger on the screen, Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched.

If he had a choice, he really didn't want to fight these guys.

Five-thousand-year-old spirit beasts didn't sound strong, but these three were:

[Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff], [Seven-Element Pure-Blood Silver Dragon], [Dark Demon Evil God Tiger].

A stat monster, a mechanic monster, and a mechanic-plus-stat monster.

Before obtaining the third soul ring of the Golden Hawksbill Turtle, and while using the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon martial soul, Xiao Huo had fought all three, but he hadn't managed to win a single time.

From Huo Yuhao's personal combat experience, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff had the most raw strength and destructive power, and he had taken the most beatings from it. The Pure-Blood Silver Dragon's attacks were ever-changing, and he was often blasted away by elemental combos before he could even get close.

As for the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger... it wasn't as good at elemental control as the Silver Dragon, nor as strong as the Lion Mastiff.

But in other aspects, the other two combined couldn't compare to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, especially in intelligence.

This thing's brain was just too good! Aside from not being able to speak, Huo Yuhao even suspected its IQ was higher than a human's.

After fighting it twice, Xiao Huo gave up. He would rather fight the Silver Dragon or the Lion Mastiff ten times than fight this guy again.

Clenching his fists, Xiao Huo made his choice, following his heart.

He reached out and tapped the [Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff] screen.

The electronic voice followed:

"[ID0001 Huo Yuhao] has selected the stage guardian [Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff]. Generating... Combat Arena: [Jingyang Mountain Range]. The battle will begin in five minutes. Please prepare."

The screen containing the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff dissolved into golden-black particles that gathered nearby, instantly forming a bizarre creature.

Huo Yuhao swallowed hard and released the three soul rings of his Spirit Eye. This time, he didn't use Simulation to mask their colors; he had to go all out to have any chance of winning.

Before long, the figure of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff appeared fully before Huo Yuhao.

It was about two meters long, not particularly massive, but its physique looked incredibly coordinated. Every muscle seemed filled with explosive power. Its head was huge, like a giant lion, but it possessed a demonic face. Compared to its brilliant golden fur, its face was black, etched with a devilish expression.

"Hoo..." He took a deep breath and formulated a battle plan in his mind.

He had certainly considered using hit-and-run tactics to wear the beast down, but the system would deem that a failure; 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—" An angry roar erupted from the beast's throat. Its brownish-yellow eyes locked onto Huo Yuhao, its golden fur bristled, and with a leap, it charged toward him.

Spiritual Detection Sharing had already covered the entire field. Although the explosive power surrounding the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was difficult to handle, his Spirit Abyss Realm spiritual power was enough to lock onto its position.

It was fortunate that they were in the mountains, or it might have taken much more effort... Thinking this, Huo Yuhao simultaneously activated his third soul skill, Epitaph. The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's subsequent movements began to synchronize within his vision.

This skill had its pros and cons. Although he could know the opponent's actions ten seconds in advance, the "future vision" and "present vision" occurred simultaneously. After all, his opponent wouldn't just stand there waiting, so one could easily get distracted and fail to react.

He stepped forward with his left foot, stomping on the ground. Instantly, a brown-gold rock pillar erupted from the earth, intercepting the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff as it lunged from mid-air.

The Golden Hawksbill Turtle left leg bone skill: Epitaph.

The defensive power of this rock pillar was extremely high, and it appeared so abruptly that even the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff couldn't react in time, slamming headfirst into it.

He had to admit, this thing was truly strong... Caught off guard, it still managed to shatter the rock pillar generated by Epitaph.

However, this impact left the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff dazed for a moment. Seizing this precious opening, Huo Yuhao quickly unleashed the first soul skills of his Spirit Eye.

[Spiritual Clone], [Spiritual Interference Domain].

The area-of-effect spiritual skill [Spiritual Interference Domain] wasn't very useful against the Silver Dragon or the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger because their spiritual resistance was high enough, and the hallucinatory weakening effect wasn't very potent.

But it was incredibly effective against a brute-force fighter.

After leaving a fake [Huo Yuhao] clone in his original position, he transformed his martial soul into the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon. With a flap of his four pairs of wings, he shot into the air like a rocket.

His right hand transformed into a deep blue dragon claw, and vast swathes of water mist billowed outward from his body in every direction.

The area surrounding the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was instantly plunged into a watery domain.

This was one of Huo Yuhao's ultimate talents: the Pure Water Barrier.

Water benefits all things without contention, encompassing all existence and tolerating all things; although its direct destructive power might not compare to lightning or fire, water remained one of the most troublesome attributes in the world.

No matter how strong a force might be, what use was it when struck into water?

However...