Bai Chen's mouth twitched.
His opponent was actually Huo Yuhao.
The Hall of Heroes' battle opponents were the Second-Generation Seven Monsters, but which one he drew was entirely random.
In the original work, Tang Wulin had drawn Xiao Xiao, Xie Xie had drawn Jiang Nannan, and Gu Yue had drawn Huo Yuhao.
Among all the Second-Generation Seven Monsters, Huo Yuhao was absolutely the worst possible draw.
As the male protagonist of the Douluo II Era, his abilities were undoubtedly the strongest. Even with only seventy percent of his power at the same rank, defeating him would be no easy task.
Gu Yue had been utterly crushed by the Two Rings Huo Yuhao simulated by the Hall of Heroes.
Before Bai Chen had time to dwell on it, the battle began as soon as the countdown ended.
Then, with the sound of someone vomiting blood, Huo Yuhao unexpectedly collapsed straight to the ground, clearly having lost his ability to fight.
A mechanical voice rang out in the empty space.
"The enemy has been defeated. Intermediate Assessment passed."
Immediately afterward, without giving Bai Chen any time to rest, the mechanical voice announced the requirements for the next stage.
"Advanced Assessment, first stage, preparing to begin."
The Huo Yuhao lying on the ground immediately vanished, and a new Huo Yuhao appeared in the space.
Around this Huo Yuhao floated two Soul Rings.
Bai Chen vs. Huo Yuhao (Part 1)
"It ended that quickly?"
Outside the Hall of Heroes, Zang Xin could not help muttering as he watched the battle on the large screen.
In the Hall of Heroes' assessments, the beginner and intermediate assessments corresponded to the strength of One Ring, while the advanced and ultimate assessments corresponded to the strength of Two Rings.
Although Bai Chen had Two Rings, considering that he was only six years old and likely had little combat experience, Zang Xin had arranged the intermediate difficulty as his starting point.
Who would have thought that the battle would end in an instant?
Logically speaking, assessment stages of every level had two rounds. The first round required one to hold out for thirty seconds, while the second required one to either hold out for another thirty seconds or defeat the opponent.
The reason defeating the opponent was not included as an objective in the first round was because no newcomer had ever managed to accomplish that within thirty seconds.
Yet Bai Chen had done it, skipping the second round of the Intermediate Assessment and entering the Advanced Assessment directly.
"Hehe, what do you think? I told you this child was exceptionally gifted, didn't I?"
Zhen Hua smugly raised his brows at Zang Xin.
Zang Xin nodded with a wry smile.
"Indeed. I underestimated him. If I'm not mistaken, he should have used Soul Power to protect his head in advance. The simulated Huo Yuhao wanted to defeat him, so he used his only offensive Soul Skill, Soul Shock. It happened to collide with Bai Chen's Soul Power, and not only did it fail to take effect, but it also caused a backlash that defeated him."
By the end, he could not help sighing.
"He truly is a peerless genius."
What Bai Chen had done sounded simple, but it required at least two things.
First was extremely fast reflexes. Upon discovering that his opponent was Huo Yuhao, he had immediately recalled the opponent's legendary abilities and taken defensive measures in time. That required outstanding combat awareness.
Second was formidable spiritual power and Soul Power. Even if he had protected his head with Soul Power beforehand, blocking Huo Yuhao's Soul Shock was no easy feat. His Soul Shock was enhanced by Purple Demon Eyes. Even a Soul Grandmaster should not have been able to remain completely unaffected like Bai Chen, much less defeat Huo Yuhao through backlash.
Being able to do that proved that Bai Chen's Soul Power and spiritual power were far from ordinary.
In truth, Zang Xin was right. Bai Chen had won because, at the instant the assessment began, he had protected his head with Soul Power carrying the Evil Attribute.
After all, he had only awakened his Martial Soul not long ago. If he had competed using pure spiritual power, he might not have gained much of an advantage.
But the Evil Attribute was different. Its offensive power ranked among the very best of all attributes, and it was also closely connected to spiritual power. Huo Yuhao had been instantly defeated because he suffered a backlash from Evil Power.
However, the next battle would not be so easy.
Unlike the other two protagonists from the first three parts, Huo Yuhao underwent a qualitative transformation with every one of his first three Soul Rings.
At One Ring, he obtained the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and possessed a full four Soul Skills. At that stage, he was only stronger than ordinary One-Ring Soul Masters, and he would lose more often than win even against Soul Grandmasters.
At Two Rings, he obtained the Ice Jade Scorpion Empress Martial Soul, the Four-Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Scorpion Empress Soul Ring and Soul Bone, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear Right Palm Bone, the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone, Life Gold, and the Eye of Destiny. At that stage, his combat strength had already reached the level of a Soul Ancestor.
After Huo Yuhao, who had three Soul Rings, acquired a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and underwent a year of special Ultimate Soldier training, he became a Level-Six Soul Engineer. He could even swiftly kill four top-tier Level-Five Soul Engineers, reaching the level of a Soul Emperor.
Two Rings Huo Yuhao would be countless times more troublesome than he had been at One Ring. Bai Chen absolutely could not let his instant defeat of One Ring Huo Yuhao make him careless.
Bai Chen took a deep breath. Without retreating, he charged straight at Huo Yuhao.
Perhaps because One Ring Huo Yuhao had been instantly defeated after using Soul Shock, this time Huo Yuhao's artificial intelligence did not use Soul Shock again. Instead, it chose Ice Empress's Pincer and honestly confronted Bai Chen head-on.
Bang!
When their fists collided, a layer of frost immediately spread across Bai Chen's fist.
In contrast, the diamond ice crystals covering Huo Yuhao's hand were also corroded by a blackish-purple glow, thinning somewhat.
"Tch..."
It looked like he could not clash head-on.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's strength was certainly not weak, but competing in raw power against someone with at least two top-tier Soul Bones was simply foolish.
Moreover, Bai Chen currently had no Soul Skill that enhanced his strength or provided defense. He had to directly endure the effects of Ultimate Ice, while Huo Yuhao could use Ice Empress's Pincer to resist his Evil Power. It was far too unfair.
With a thought from Bai Chen, the Evil God Hook behind him lashed toward Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao's footsteps immediately turned elusive. He used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and completely evaded Bai Chen's attack.
"As expected, Spiritual Detection is still active."
It was obvious that Huo Yuhao had predicted the trajectory of his attack, which was why he had dodged so easily.
With the assistance of Spiritual Detection, even the just-eleven-year-old Huo Yuhao could defeat Wang Dong without using her Martial Soul. Its enhancement to close combat was anything but minor.
Bang!
Their palms collided again. Bai Chen staggered back several steps and was forced away.
He let out a long breath, expelling the cold air that had invaded his body, and his gaze grew much more solemn.
After two brief exchanges, he had gained a certain understanding of this Huo Yuhao's strength.
No wonder Two Rings Gu Yue had been left helpless. His strength was already absurdly powerful.
He wondered whether this version could use Ice Emperor's Wrath and Perpetual Frozen Domain. If he could, his offensive power might even reach the Soul King level.
But the good news was that, judging from these two exchanges, Bai Chen would have no problem stalling until the Advanced Assessment's one-minute time limit ran out.
Should he do that?
"Hehe."
Bai Chen suddenly laughed.
Of course not.
This was not some life-or-death battle, and the gap between them was not so great that it could not be overcome. If he did not even have the courage to challenge his opponent, that would be far too pathetic.
He would defeat him.
As he smiled, Huo Yuhao appeared beside him like a ghost.
He was merely a simulated program. To him, the only thing he had to do was crush the opponent before him.
However, when he extended the hand covered by Ice Empress's Pincer, he failed to gain the advantage as he had before.
Crack—!
Ice fragments flew everywhere. Huo Yuhao's hand was knocked aside, and Ice Empress's Pincer shattered instantly, revealing the jade-white palm beneath it.
If not for Mysterious Jade Hands protecting it, his hand would have been shattered by that blow as well.
At some point, a pair of forging hammers had appeared in Bai Chen's hands. The one that had shattered Ice Empress's Pincer was the hammer with the devouring trait.
Using the devouring trait to weaken Ice Empress's Pincer, then using the forging hammer's own weight to shatter it in a single blow—this was the countermeasure Bai Chen had chosen.
Bai Chen vs. Huo Yuhao (Part 2)
Outside the Hall of Heroes, Zang Xin's mouth twitched as he watched Bai Chen shatter Ice Empress's Pincer with a single hammer strike. He turned to Zhen Hua.
"Brother Zhen Hua, that's your handiwork, isn't it?"
Zhen Hua shrugged.
"I made the hammers, sure, but he forged the materials himself. That counts as part of his own abilities, doesn't it?"
Zang Xin wore an expression that plainly said, Are you kidding me?
"Are you serious? Don't think I can't tell just because I'm not a blacksmith. The materials in those two forging hammers are at least Thousand Forging grade."
Zhen Hua chuckled.
"What else would they be? I'm a Divine Artisan, after all. Why do you think I took a six-year-old child as my disciple?"
"Gasp..."
Understanding Zhen Hua's implication, Zang Xin stared at the large screen in disbelief.
A six-year-old Level-Three Blacksmith? That had to be a joke!
Zang Xin's breathing could not help quickening.
While the two spoke, the battle inside the Hall of Heroes continued.
After taking out the forging hammers, Bai Chen broke free from his completely disadvantaged position and at least gained the ability to fight back.
But...
Crack!
The sound of shattering ice rang out. Bai Chen retreated two steps and barely dodged Huo Yuhao's outstretched right hand.
A layer of diamond ice crystals had already enveloped Huo Yuhao's body. The diamond ice crystals protected him well, and Bai Chen's several fierce attacks had failed to shatter them.
Ice Emperor's Body Protection, another Soul Skill granted by the Ice Empress Soul Ring.
Unlike the offense-oriented Ice Empress's Pincer, this Soul Skill focused on defense.
Compared to Ice Empress's Pincer, Ice Emperor's Body Protection had clearly raised its defensive power by a great deal. At the very least, Bai Chen found it difficult to break through this Soul Skill's defense.
"Sure is troublesome..."
Bai Chen shook his head helplessly.
It seemed he would have to use more methods. Otherwise, he would be unable to defeat his opponent within one minute.
Fortunately, this Huo Yuhao did not seem to have copied Ice Emperor's Wrath and Perpetual Frozen Domain. Otherwise, even if he could only use them once, Bai Chen would not be able to withstand them in his current state.
As explosive Soul Skills provided by the Four-Hundred-Thousand-Year Trunk Bone, their power was terrifying. In the original work, Two Rings Huo Yuhao had even used Ice Emperor's Wrath to instantly kill a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
However, even for the real Huo Yuhao, those two Soul Skills were trump cards. Bai Chen did not believe the Hall of Heroes could imitate the abilities of a Four-Hundred-Thousand-Year Trunk Bone as well.
Bai Chen raised his right hand and changed tactics. The golden forging hammer smashed directly toward Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao neither dodged nor evaded. He extended both hands and struck toward Bai Chen.
He had already blocked similar attacks many times. There was no need to dodge.
However, he did not expect this attack to be different from the previous ones.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four consecutive blasts rang out, and the defense formed by Ice Emperor's Body Protection was forcibly shattered.
Bai Chen seized the opportunity. The instant Ice Emperor's Body Protection broke, he swung the other forging hammer, which had long been poised to strike, and smashed it heavily into Huo Yuhao's chest.
Huo Yuhao was completely unprepared for the sudden change. He was instantly sent flying, collapsed onto the ground, and lost his ability to fight.
Watching him lie there without rising, Bai Chen slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
His earlier attacks had not merely been testing Huo Yuhao's defensive capabilities. They had also been laying the groundwork for this strike.
Through the Echo trait, he launched the three hammer strikes he had previously made together with this latest strike, landing them all upon the weakened Ice Emperor's Body Protection and finally breaking through that defense.
Echo's weakness was that it required advance preparation, but once the preparations were complete, the destructive power it unleashed exceeded that of the other forging hammer.
At this point, the victor of the battle had been decided.
The mechanical voice rang out once more.
Before you continue