Douluo: The Chosen of Different Versions Gather, but Their Eras Are Misaligned

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 story, 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 lead 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 anything but easy.

Gu Yue had been utterly crushed by the two-ring Huo Yuhao simulated by the Hall of Heroes.

Before Bai Chen had much time to dwell on it, the battle began as the countdown ended.

Then, accompanied by the sound of someone vomiting blood, Huo Yuhao actually collapsed straight to the ground, clearly having lost his ability to fight.

A mechanical voice echoed through the empty space.

"The enemy has been defeated. Intermediate assessment passed."

Immediately afterward, without giving Bai Chen time to recover, the mechanical voice announced the requirements for the next stage.

"First stage of the advanced assessment, preparations complete."

The Huo Yuhao lying on the ground vanished at once, and a new Huo Yuhao appeared in the space.

Two Soul Rings circled this Huo Yuhao's body.

Bai Chen vs. Huo Yuhao (Part One)

"No way, 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 one-ring strength, while the advanced and ultimate assessments corresponded to two-ring strength.

Although Bai Chen had two rings, considering that he was only six years old and presumably had little combat experience, Zang Xin had set his initial difficulty at the intermediate level.

Who would have thought that the battle would end in an instant?

Normally, every assessment tier had two stages. The first stage required enduring for thirty seconds, while the second required either enduring for another thirty seconds or defeating the opponent.

The reason defeating the opponent was not included in the first-stage requirement was that no newcomer had ever managed it within thirty seconds.

Yet Bai Chen had done exactly that. As a result, he had directly skipped the second stage of the intermediate assessment and entered the advanced assessment.

"Hehe, how about it? I told you that child was exceptionally gifted, didn't I?"

Zhen Hua smugly raised his brows at Zang Xin.

Zang Xin nodded with a bitter smile.

"Indeed. I underestimated him too much. If I'm not mistaken, he must have used his soul power to protect his head in advance. The simulated Huo Yuhao tried to defeat him by using his only offensive soul skill, Soul Shock, and it happened to collide with his soul power. Not only did it fail to have any effect, but it also suffered backlash and was defeated."

By the end, he could not help sighing.

"He truly is a heaven-sent genius."

What Bai Chen had done sounded simple, but it required at least two things.

First was lightning-fast reactions. The moment he realized his opponent was Huo Yuhao, he had to immediately recall the legendary abilities of his opponent and take protective measures in time. That required outstanding combat awareness.

Second was powerful spiritual power and soul power. Even if he protected his head with soul power in advance, blocking Huo Yuhao's Soul Shock was far from easy. His Soul Shock was enhanced by Purple Demon Eyes. Even a Great Soul Master should not have been able to remain completely unaffected like Bai Chen, much less defeat Huo Yuhao through backlash.

Being able to accomplish that showed that Bai Chen's soul power and spiritual power were anything but ordinary.

In fact, just as Zang Xin had guessed, the reason Bai Chen had won was that, at the instant the assessment began, he had protected his head with soul power carrying an evil attribute.

After all, he had only awakened his Martial Soul not long ago. If he had directly competed with pure spiritual power, he might not have gained much of an advantage.

But soul power with an evil attribute was different. Among all attributes, the evil attribute's offensive power was among the very best, and it was also closely connected to spiritual power. Huo Yuhao had suffered the backlash of Evil Power, which was why he had been instantly defeated.

However, the battle ahead would not be so easy.

Unlike the other two protagonists from the first three parts, each of Huo Yuhao's first three rings brought a qualitative transformation.

With his first ring, he gained Skydream Iceworm and possessed a full four soul skills. At that stage, he was merely stronger than ordinary One-Ring Soul Masters, and he lost more often than he won even against Great Soul Masters.

With his second ring, he gained 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 power had already reached the level of a Soul Ancestor.

After three-ring Huo Yuhao obtained a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and underwent a year of extreme single-soldier special training, he became a Level-Six Soul Engineer. He could even rapidly kill four top Level-Five Soul Engineers, reaching the level of a Soul Emperor.

Two-ring Huo Yuhao would be countless times more troublesome than he had been with one ring. Bai Chen absolutely could not become complacent just because he had instantly defeated his one-ring self.

Bai Chen took a deep breath. He did not retreat and charged straight at Huo Yuhao.

Perhaps because the 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 faced Bai Chen head-on.

Bang!

Their fists collided, and Bai Chen's fist was immediately coated in a layer of frost.

In contrast, the diamond ice crystals covering Huo Yuhao's hand were also eroded by blackish-purple light, becoming noticeably thinner.

"Tch..."

It looked like he could not meet him 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 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 Step 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, allowing him to dodge so easily.

With the assistance of Spiritual Detection, the newly eleventh-level Huo Yuhao could even defeat Wang Dong without using his Martial Soul. Its enhancement to close combat was no small matter.

Bang!

Their palms collided once again. Bai Chen staggered back several steps and was knocked away.

He exhaled deeply, breathing the cold air that had entered his body back out. His expression became much more solemn.

After two brief exchanges, he had gained a certain understanding of this Huo Yuhao's strength.

No wonder he had left two-ring Gu Yue helpless. His strength had reached an outrageous level.

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.

The good news, however, was that judging from these two exchanges, as long as Bai Chen kept stalling, he would have no problem lasting until the advanced assessment's one minute ended.

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 vast that it could not be crossed. If he did not even have the courage to challenge his opponent, that would be far too pathetic.

He wanted to defeat him.

While he was smiling, Huo Yuhao appeared at his side like a ghost.

He was only a simulated program. For him, the only thing he needed to do was crush the opponent before him.

Yet when he extended the hand covered by Ice Empress's Pincer, he failed to gain the same advantage as before.

Crack!

Ice fragments scattered. Huo Yuhao's hand was knocked aside, and Ice Empress's Pincer shattered instantly, revealing the jade-white palm beneath.

Had Mysterious Jade Hands not protected it, his hand would have been shattered by that strike 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 possessing the Devouring trait.

He used the Devouring trait to weaken Ice Empress's Pincer, then relied on the forging hammer's own weight to smash it apart in a single blow. That was the countermeasure Bai Chen had chosen.

Bai Chen vs. Huo Yuhao (Part Two)

Outside the Hall of Heroes, Zang Xin's mouth twitched as he watched Bai Chen shatter Ice Empress's Pincer with one hammer strike. He turned to Zhen Hua.

"Brother Zhen Hua, that's your handiwork, isn't it?"

Zhen Hua shrugged.

"I did make the hammers, but he forged the materials himself. That counts as part of his ability too, doesn't it?"

Zang Xin wore an expression that said, Are you kidding me?

"Are you serious? Don't think I can't tell just because I'm not a blacksmith. The materials of 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?"

"Hiss..."

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 involuntarily quickened.

While the two spoke, the battle inside the Hall of Heroes continued.

After drawing his forging hammers, Bai Chen had broken free from his completely disadvantaged position. At the very least, he now had the ability to fight back.

But...

Crack!

The sound of shattering ice rang out. Bai Chen took two steps back and barely avoided Huo Yuhao's outstretched right hand.

A layer of diamond ice crystals had already enveloped Huo Yuhao's body. It protected him extremely well, and Bai Chen's several fierce attacks had all failed to shatter it.

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 his defensive ability by a great deal. At the very least, Bai Chen had difficulty breaking through this soul skill's defense.

"Just as troublesome as expected..."

Bai Chen helplessly shook his head.

It looked like he had to use more methods. Otherwise, he would be unable to defeat his opponent within a minute.

Fortunately, this Huo Yuhao did not seem to have copied Ice Emperor's Wrath and Perpetual Frozen Domain. Otherwise, even if they could only be used once, the current Bai Chen would be unable to withstand them.

As burst-type soul skills provided by the Four-Hundred-Thousand-Year Trunk Bone, their power was terrifying. In the original story, two-ring Huo Yuhao had even used Ice Emperor's Wrath to instantly kill a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Still, 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 straight toward Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao neither dodged nor evaded. He stretched out both hands and struck toward Bai Chen.

He had already blocked similar attacks many times. There was no need to dodge.

Yet he had not expected this attack to differ from the previous ones.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four consecutive explosions 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 this sudden change. He was instantly sent flying, crashed to the ground, and lost his ability to fight.

Watching him lie motionless on the ground, Bai Chen slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

His battle just now had not merely been probing Huo Yuhao's defensive ability. He had also been laying the groundwork for this strike.

Through the Echo trait, he released three hammer strikes he had made before together with this newest strike, landing them all on 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 preparation was complete, its explosive destructive power surpassed that of the other forging hammer.

At this point, the victor of the battle had been decided.

The mechanical voice sounded once more.