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Chapter 45: Bai Chen vs Huo Yuhao (Part 1)
"Seriously? It ended that fast?"
Outside the Hall of Heroes, Zang Xin stared at the battle displayed on the large screen and couldn't help but mutter in disbelief.
In the Hall of Heroes' assessment system, the beginner and intermediate tests correspond to the strength of a one-ring Soul Master, while the advanced and ultimate tests correspond to the strength of a two-ring Soul Master.
Although Bai Chen himself possessed two spirit rings, considering that he was only six years old and likely lacked real combat experience, Zhen Hua had set his starting difficulty at the intermediate level.
Who would have thought the battle would end almost instantly?
Normally, every level of assessment has two stages.
The first stage requires the participant to hold out for thirty seconds.
The second stage requires them to survive another thirty seconds or defeat the opponent.
The reason defeating the opponent isn't included as a condition in the first stage is simple—no newcomer had ever managed to accomplish that within thirty seconds.
Yet Bai Chen had done exactly that.
As a result, he skipped the second stage of the intermediate test entirely and moved straight into the advanced assessment.
"Heh, well? I told you this child's talent was extraordinary, didn't I?"
Zhen Hua raised an eyebrow proudly toward Zang Xin.
Zang Xin could only smile bitterly and nod.
"Indeed. I underestimated him. If my guess is correct, he must have protected his head with soul power in advance. When the simulated Huo Yuhao tried to defeat him, it used its only offensive soul skill—Spiritual Shock. It happened to collide directly with Bai Chen's soul power protection. Not only did it fail, but it even suffered a backlash and was defeated."
By the end of his explanation, he couldn't help sighing with admiration.
"A truly heaven-defying genius."
What Bai Chen had done sounded simple, but it actually required two crucial conditions.
First, extremely fast reaction speed.
The moment he recognized his opponent as Huo Yuhao, he had to immediately recall the legendary abilities associated with him and prepare defensive measures instantly. That required exceptional combat awareness.
Second, powerful spiritual strength and soul power.
Even if one protected their head in advance, blocking Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Shock was far from easy. His attack was strengthened by the Purple Demon Eye, and under normal circumstances even a Great Soul Master should not be able to shrug it off like Bai Chen did—let alone cause a backlash that knocked Huo Yuhao down.
To accomplish that meant Bai Chen's spiritual power and soul power were far from ordinary.
In fact, Zang Xin's guess was largely correct.
The reason Bai Chen had won was that the moment the assessment began, he wrapped his head in soul power infused with an evil attribute.
After all, he had only awakened his martial soul recently. If it had been a pure clash of spiritual power, he wasn't certain he would have had the advantage.
But the evil attribute changed everything.
Among all attributes, evil energy possesses some of the strongest offensive properties, and it is also closely connected to spiritual power.
Huo Yuhao had suffered a backlash from that evil power, which was why he was defeated instantly.
However, the next battle would not be nearly as easy.
Unlike the protagonists of the other two earlier eras, Huo Yuhao experienced a qualitative leap with every one of his first three spirit rings.
First Ring: He obtained Tianmeng Iceworm, gaining four soul skills. At this stage he was merely stronger than ordinary one-ring Soul Masters and would often lose against Great Soul Masters.
Second Ring: He gained the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion martial soul, the 400,000-year Ice Jade Empress Scorpion spirit ring and soul bone, the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear right palm bone, the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone, Life Gold, and the Eye of Destiny. His combat power rose to the Soul Ancestor level.
Third Ring: After obtaining a ten-thousand-year spirit ring and undergoing a year of extreme special-forces training, he reached the level of a sixth-rank Soul Engineer and could even instantly defeat four top-tier fifth-rank Soul Engineers, reaching the Soul Emperor level in battle power.
The two-ring Huo Yuhao was incomparably more troublesome than his one-ring self.
Bai Chen absolutely could not grow complacent just because he had instantly defeated the earlier version.
Taking a deep breath, Bai Chen did not retreat.
Instead, he rushed straight toward Huo Yuhao.
Perhaps because the one-ring version had been instantly defeated after using Spiritual Shock, this simulated Huo Yuhao did not use that technique again. Instead, he activated Ice Empress' Pincers, choosing to engage Bai Chen in direct combat.
Bang!
Their fists collided.
Frost immediately spread across Bai Chen's fist.
Meanwhile, the diamond-like ice crystals coating Huo Yuhao's hand were also corroded by a black-purple glow, becoming noticeably thinner.
"Tsk…"
Looks like head-on clashes won't work.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger's strength was certainly formidable, but competing in raw power with someone who possessed at least two top-tier soul bones was simply foolish.
Moreover, Bai Chen currently lacked any soul skills that enhanced strength or defense. He had to directly endure the effects of ultimate ice, while Huo Yuhao could use Ice Empress' Pincers to resist his evil power.
The situation was far from fair.
With a thought, the Evil God Hook behind Bai Chen shot toward Huo Yuhao like a whip.
Huo Yuhao's footsteps instantly turned elusive.
Executing the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, he completely evaded Bai Chen's attack.
"Of course… he's still using Spiritual Detection."
It was obvious Huo Yuhao had predicted the trajectory of the attack, which allowed him to dodge so easily.
With the assistance of Spiritual Detection, even the level-11 Huo Yuhao could defeat Wang Dong without using his martial soul. The boost it gave to close combat was extraordinary.
Bang!
Another clash of palms.
Bai Chen staggered backward several steps and was forced away.
He exhaled deeply, expelling the cold energy that had seeped into his body, his expression becoming far more serious.
After just two brief exchanges, he had already gained a clear understanding of this Huo Yuhao's strength.
No wonder even Gu Yue at the two-ring level couldn't deal with him. His power had reached a truly exaggerated level.
Who knew whether this version could use Ice Emperor's Wrath or Eternal Frozen Domain?
If it could, his offensive output might even reach the Soul King level.
The good news, however, was that based on their exchanges so far, Bai Chen could easily stall until the one-minute time limit of the advanced assessment ended.
Should he do that?
"Heh."
Bai Chen suddenly smiled.
Of course not.
This wasn't a life-or-death battle, and the gap between them wasn't so great that it couldn't be overcome. To lack the courage to challenge such an opponent would be utterly pathetic.
He wanted to defeat him.
Just as he smiled, Huo Yuhao appeared beside him like a ghost.
As a simulation program, Huo Yuhao had only one purpose: defeat the opponent in front of him.
Yet when he reached out with the hand coated in Ice Empress' Pincers, things did not go as before.
Crack—!
Ice shards scattered.
Huo Yuhao's hand was knocked aside, and the Ice Empress' Pincers shattered instantly, revealing the jade-white hand beneath.
If not for the protection of Mysterious Jade Hands, his hand might have been crushed by that blow.
At some point, a pair of forging hammers had appeared in Bai Chen's hands.
The one that shattered the Ice Empress' Pincers was the hammer possessing a devouring property.
By using the devouring property to weaken the pincers, then relying on the hammer's own weight and quality to smash it in a single strike, Bai Chen had found his countermeasure.