Demon Sword: Elucidator

"Roar—"

A deafening roar erupted again. This time, a shadow identical to its head burst from its massive body. The shadow was even larger than the beast itself, and its bellow sent terrifying waves of sound crashing into the water prison around it, shattering it into fragments that flew in every direction.

Lion Mastiff Roar! The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's signature move. Its sound waves alone were enough to defeat most of its enemies.

Huo Yuhao gave a wry smile. It really wasn't going to be that easy...

At least he'd anticipated the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's attacks and sealed his hearing in advance.

Its fanged jaws opened wide and lunged straight for Huo Yuhao.

His eight Dragon Wings beat once, and wind howled past his ears as he plunged toward the ground, dodging the bite.

He hadn't expected that one move to trap the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff. But at least he'd prepared the battlefield by making sure it was surrounded by water.

Dark-purple bolts of lightning began to snake around him. Lightning would dry things out, but Huo Yuhao still spent Soul Power to keep the area around him damp.

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's strength came mainly from its incredibly powerful body, so naturally, its defenses were terrifying, too. It would be hard to break through with his attacks, and his meager thirty-six levels of Soul Power wouldn't let him keep fighting for long.

He'd have just one split-second opportunity. He only needed to use Ultimate Lightning's powerful piercing quality to break through its defenses in one place.

Against a stat monster, the only way to win was with mechanics and skill.

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff couldn't fly; it relied on its own strength to leap through the air. So when it missed Huo Yuhao, it began to fall.

No matter how powerful it was, it couldn't defy the laws of physics. It had nothing to push off of in midair, and that was when its defenses were weakest.

He didn't use Spiritual Detection to track the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's descent. Instead, he watched it with his eyes—not just its legs, but its entire body—using all five senses to take in every detail.

The fall lasted only two brief seconds, yet to Huo Yuhao, those two seconds felt frighteningly long.

At last, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's hind legs touched down first. The motion inevitably exposed its belly.

Lion Mastiff: part lion, part dog. A feline and a canine in one species. You couldn't call it a genetic mutation, but it was certainly a miraculous chimera.

But it went without saying that for a crawling beast like this, its belly was always the weakest spot—and the only place Huo Yuhao could break through its defenses.

He was already poised to charge. He stepped forward with his right foot, and Ultimate Lightning surged into it, stimulating the muscles in his leg.

He sprang forward like a released spring, charging at the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff in a streak of lightning.

[Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash.]

Dark-blue dragon scales covered his right hand. His dragon claws were razor-sharp, and the dark-purple lightning gathered around them was so dense it seemed ready to spill over into liquid electricity.

His dragon claw came slashing down. The feel of it told Huo Yuhao that he'd struck!

"Argh..."

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff let out a pained cry. Blood poured from the gash in its belly, and the devastating Ultimate Lightning seeped in through the wound, relentlessly tearing apart its body.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao silently thanked Baili Du for his guidance.

Baili Du had told him not to rush to obtain a Soul Ring for his Deep Blue Glazed Dragon Martial Soul. Instead, he should spend more time comprehending [Ultimate Water] and [Ultimate Lightning], exploring how to use them—in other words, studying his own Martial Soul in depth.

So even though Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had offered several times to take him to the Far North to obtain high-level Soul Rings and Soul Bones, Huo Yuhao had still refused.

He'd only injured the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff; that didn't count as a win. And this beast had a trait that made it grow more frenzied the more it was hurt. He'd injured it several times before, only to lose in the end to its near-mad retaliation, shaken to death by the force of its blows.

Huo Yuhao let out a breath. A deep-blue glow rose in his green-gold vertical pupils. The dragon scales covering his body withdrew, and an indescribable aura emanated from him.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened. But the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's wound began to bleed faster, the blood gathering before Huo Yuhao into a crimson sphere of water.

Blood was over ninety percent water, and Ultimate Water inherently possessed the ability to [control water]. Anything that fell under the concept of water could be controlled by Huo Yuhao—as long as his spiritual power was strong enough.

That was what it meant to be [Ultimate].

Still, this method was far too cruel... Huo Yuhao couldn't help turning his head and closing his eyes. To be honest, he didn't want to do this.

"I'm sorry... for using such a shameless method."

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's once-mighty body rapidly shriveled. It swayed, its body protesting, then crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Its ocher eyes stared fixedly at Huo Yuhao, seeming full of resentment.

Its blood had already been drained. No matter how much strength it had left, it was meaningless now.

An emotionless electronic voice rang out:

[Congratulations, [ID0001 Huo Yuhao], for passing Checkpoint 2. Assessment completed before reaching level 40. Evaluating tactical strategy; calculating rewards...]

[Tactical Strategy Overall Rating: A-.]

[Reward: Demon Sword: Elucidator]

Huo Yuhao froze. A weapon as a reward? At Checkpoint 1, all he'd gotten was a slight increase in physical strength...

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's corpse dissolved into golden-black particles. In its place lay a long, black sword.

The hilt had an openwork pattern and was slightly longer than a standard one-handed sword. The blade, edge, and hilt were all an utterly pure black. Though the blade was slim, its blackness, like the very source of darkness, gave the impression that it was indestructible.

The sword's edge was naturally razor-sharp. No matter the angle, there was no reflected light, as if it could cut even light itself.

Huo Yuhao casually beckoned, and the Demon Sword: Elucidator flew into his hand.

His hand sank slightly. It was heavy! It must have weighed more than a thousand jin.

He swung it a few times. This so-called Demon Sword felt as if it had been custom-made for him; it was incredibly easy to handle.

As he examined the sword, Huo Yuhao felt a little wistful. If he'd beaten the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger or the Pure-Blooded Silver Dragon, would he have gotten a better reward?

Lao Huo said he was dreaming. No matter which Soul Beast he beat, this was the only reward.

[[ID0001 Huo Yuhao], would you like to continue the assessment? Would you like to cultivate and reflect?]

Huo Yuhao shook his head without hesitation. "Log out."

Once his consciousness returned to his body, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes.

He blinked, then raised his hand to look at the storage watch on his wrist, which displayed the time.

Time flowed differently in the Douluo World than on the Douluo Continent. That entire battle had lasted only a minute in the real world.

He climbed out of bed and, just as expected, saw the black sword lying quietly beside him.