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

"Opponent successfully defeated. Advanced assessment complete. Entering the final assessment now."

As soon as the voice fell, the Huo Yuhao from the advanced assessment vanished, and another new version of him appeared before Bai Chen.

"First stage of the final assessment: endure for thirty seconds. Begin."

Finally, the last enemy...

Bai Chen took a deep breath. Rather than rushing forward, he assumed a defensive stance.

He was worried that the Huo Yuhao in this final assessment possessed the Darkgolden Terrorclaw. If he charged in blindly, he might be killed instantly.

It was precisely because the Bai Chen of the Douluo II Era also possessed the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Right Palm Bone that he understood just how terrifying this soul skill was.

If the Bai Chen of the Douluo II Era had come instead, he could have withstood it with his monstrous physical strength. But the Bai Chen of this era could not; his physical strength was far inferior to that of his Douluo II Era self.

The Huo Yuhao in the final assessment had no idea what Bai Chen was thinking. A layer of diamond ice crystals rose over his body, protecting his body and hands before he charged straight at Bai Chen.

"He still isn't using Soul Shock..."

Bai Chen smiled.

Throughout the advanced assessment just now, Huo Yuhao had never used Soul Shock. Bai Chen had guessed that the opponent's artificial intelligence would summarize previous combat experience and fight accordingly.

Now, that guess had been half-confirmed.

If that was truly the case, then Bai Chen's caution had been correct.

During the advanced assessment, Bai Chen had actually possessed a means of ending the battle instantly, but he had not used it.

He had been afraid that the opponent would record it, develop a countermeasure, and make the subsequent assessments more difficult.

Now that he had reached the final stage, he could finally unleash those methods.

At the same time, he relaxed slightly.

The Huo Yuhao simulated by the final assessment was already at the Late Second Ring stage. At this point, his spiritual power was more than ten times that of an ordinary Soul Elder, and he could even kill a Millennium Soul Beast with a single Soul Shock.

Bai Chen did not know how strong his evil attribute's protection of the Spiritual Sea was. It was better not to test it if he could avoid it.

While he was thinking, Huo Yuhao had already rushed toward him using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step.

Faced with Huo Yuhao's aggressive charge, Bai Chen did not choose to meet him head-on as before. Instead, he retreated backward.

At the same time, the Evil God Hook behind him began to sway restlessly.

As the saying went, an inch longer meant an inch stronger. Since Bai Chen's Evil God Hook had an advantage in attack range, he naturally had to make the most of it.

Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes, and then his entire figure gradually faded away.

"..."

Bai Chen's eyelids twitched.

Simulation. Huo Yuhao had ultimately used this soul skill.

Although this soul skill was only a thousand years old, its usefulness absolutely ranked among the very best of all Huo Yuhao's soul skills.

Simulation and Spiritual Disturbance operated on fundamentally different principles. Spiritual Disturbance leaned more toward creating illusions—by affecting another person's mind, it created false images within their consciousness.

Simulation, on the other hand, used spiritual power to influence real light, thereby creating false images.

Bai Chen vs. Huo Yuhao (Part Two)

Simply put, Spiritual Disturbance affected the enemy, while Simulation affected the environment.

That was also why Simulation was so difficult to see through. Spiritual Disturbance could not affect opponents whose strength vastly surpassed the user's, but Simulation affected the environment around Huo Yuhao, so it could function at any time.

At this stage, Huo Yuhao's Simulation could not yet completely conceal his aura, but merely hiding his figure was already troublesome enough for Bai Chen.

Because that meant he would be unable to see his opponent's exact movements.

If Huo Yuhao successfully unleashed this soul skill, the rhythm of the battle would completely fall into his hands.

I can't hold back any longer!

Bai Chen made his decision instantly. His first soul ring, which had not played any role since the battle began, finally lit up, and Huo Yuhao's body was immediately frozen in place.

Time Freeze. The moment this soul skill activated, it instantly rewrote the battle.

Bai Chen did not dare waste time. He closed in directly, striking out with the Evil God Hook and the two forging hammers in his hands at once.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two violent impacts rang out in succession. The sheer sound alone conveyed the power behind the attacks.

At the same time the hammers struck, a streak of pure black light flashed past.

The Evil God Hook sliced through the air and stabbed straight toward Huo Yuhao's throat.

"Pshht!"

The sound of piercing rang out. Huo Yuhao, frozen in time, could not dodge, and the fatal strike hit his vital point directly.

"..."

Even in that state, he did not immediately die. Instead, he raised a hand as though he wanted to do something.

"Tch!"

Could he have simulated Life Gold's regenerative ability too?

Bai Chen clicked his tongue. His second soul ring, which had never lit up before, finally shone at that moment.

"Boom!"

A violent explosion erupted, and Bai Chen was sent flying backward by the blast's recoil.

The opponent at the center of the explosion was finally completely defeated.

"Whew."

Only then did Bai Chen truly relax.

His other self also possessed the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Right Palm Bone. If he had not been mistaken, Huo Yuhao had intended to give him one last strike with the Darkgolden Terrorclaw before dying.

It would have been bad if Huo Yuhao had successfully used it, so Bai Chen immediately unleashed the strongest offensive method he currently possessed.

His second soul skill, Evil Explosion Technique. The name made it obvious that it was a soul skill similar to Ice Blast Technique and Corpse Blast Technique.

This soul skill could detonate the Evil Power Bai Chen released, achieving the greatest possible destructive force in an instant.

The evil attribute itself possessed extremely strong corrosive power. Combined with this soul skill, its troublesome nature multiplied several times over.

At that moment, the mechanical voice finally sounded once more.

"Assessment complete. You have successfully passed all current assessments and may now leave."

As the voice fell, a gentle pillar of white light descended from above and landed a short distance in front of Bai Chen.

Bai Chen straightened his clothes and stepped into the white pillar of light.

A familiar pulling sensation came over him. When Bai Chen's vision stabilized once more, he had returned to that deep-blue space.

He was greeted by Zhen Hua's smug expression and Zang Xin's face, which looked as if he had seen a ghost.

It was no wonder he reacted that way. The final assessment represented the highest difficulty of the Hall of Heroes challenge. Since this technology had been developed, no one had ever passed the final assessment presided over by the Huo Yuhao Phantom.

And every person who had successfully reached the final assessment had become one of the foremost figures of their era.

Yet Bai Chen, a six-year-old child, had passed it?

Moreover, from Zang Xin's perspective, Bai Chen had passed the final stage with remarkable ease. The entire battle had lasted less than three seconds.

Zhen Hua grinned at Zang Xin.

"Well, sir? Didn't I tell you this child's talent as a Soul Master is unmatched in the world?"

Actually, before today, even he had not known Bai Chen was this strong... But that did not stop him from showing off in front of Zang Xin.

Zang Xin gave Bai Chen a long look, then nodded heavily.

"Yes. His talent is indeed the greatest I have ever seen in my life."

Zang Xin bent down and asked gently,

"Child, can you tell me how you defeated your opponent in the final stage?"

"Mm." Bai Chen nodded lightly. "My first soul skill is Time Freeze. Its effect is..."

He then explained the effects of both his soul skills to Zang Xin.

Zang Xin listened quietly to Bai Chen's explanation, then could not help letting out a long sigh.

"No wonder. That explains everything."

One soul skill was a powerful control ability with no warning before activation, while the other maximized the offensive power of the evil attribute. No wonder Bai Chen had accomplished such a miracle.

The first-time kill potential of these two soul skills combined was extremely strong. In Zang Xin's view, even if his Four-Ring self encountered Bai Chen, he might still suffer a defeat to these two soul skills.

Bai Chen thought for a moment, made up his mind, and said to Zang Xin,

"Senior Zang Xin, I discovered that my Martial Soul has a flaw."

"Oh? What flaw?"

Zang Xin blinked in surprise and asked curiously.

Bai Chen said gravely,

"My Martial Soul can only advance by devouring life. Normal cultivation is almost incapable of producing any growth."

"..."

In an instant, both Zang Xin and Zhen Hua's expressions changed.

That sounded exactly like the talent of an Evil Soul Master.

However, they were both experienced and knowledgeable people, and quickly calmed themselves.

Zang Xin asked softly,

"So what are you trying to say?"

Bai Chen said seriously,

"I hope you can help me find something outside of humanity that I can kill freely."

"Hmm..."

Hearing that, Zang Xin's somewhat stiff expression immediately softened considerably.

From Bai Chen's words, it was clear that he had no intention of killing people to cultivate.

That was good. Evil Soul Master was a term for a person, not for a Martial Soul. Even if a Martial Soul was evil, as long as its owner remained kind, he was not an Evil Soul Master.

Seeing Zang Xin's expression soften again, Bai Chen also breathed a sigh of relief.

In truth, Bai Chen needed tremendous courage to say those words.

The Tang Sect also accepted Soul Masters with Evil Martial Souls, but there were probably none as thoroughly evil as his, who could only advance through killing.

He did not dare guarantee that Zang Xin would not develop killing intent.

But since he had already become involved with Zang Xin, it was only a matter of time before his method of advancement was exposed. Rather than hiding it and inviting suspicion, it was better to be honest from the beginning. That would instead reduce potential risks.

The facts proved that he had gambled correctly. After realizing that Bai Chen had no intention of killing people, Zang Xin no longer bore much hostility toward him.

The Tang Sect Six Absolutes

Hearing Bai Chen's request, Zhen Hua seemed to think of something and instinctively looked at Zang Xin.

As a Divine Artisan, he knew many secret matters across the continent, including the affairs of the Bloodgod Legion.

He had even helped craft Heartless Douluo's Four-Word Battle Armor. In his view, Abyss creatures perfectly met Bai Chen's requirements.

Killing people was absolutely unacceptable, and killing Soul Beasts could potentially have a harmful impact on the ecosystem. But killing Abyss creatures required no consideration for either of those problems.

Zang Xin understood the meaning in his gaze, but merely shook his head slightly, rejecting Zhen Hua's idea.

Bai Chen could not go to the Abyss, at least not yet.

No matter the time or place, going onto a battlefield was no trivial matter, much less a battlefield where different races fought to the death.

Bai Chen was too weak right now. If anything unexpected happened, he had no ability to protect himself.

It was no exaggeration to say that even the aftermath of a battle between powerful experts could shatter him.

He could not so casually place such a talented child in danger. Before Bai Chen possessed the strength to contend with a Soul Saint, Zang Xin would not allow him to risk his life on the Abyss Battlefield.