Douluo Continent: Ink Bamboo as a Cauldron to Break Through Ten Thousand Heavens

"Holy crap, I almost forgot what kind of martial spirit this minor character possessed. It turns out he's a fox spirit! Truly, people start by questioning King Zhou, but eventually come to understand him. Who says women are the cause of disaster? I am Yu the Great, I'll control the floods! Cough cough..."

While Chen Cheng was lost in thought, on the competition field, the three of them finally closed the distance to a range where their soul skills could be effective. The fox spirit on the stage—no, it was Cui Yajie—also lit up her first soul skill. Her already captivating eyes lit up even more as she cast a flirtatious glance at Huo Yuhao, activating her first soul skill, Charm.

Huo Yuhao and his two companions had just released their martial souls, seemingly unhurried, while Cui Yajie's charm, which had just arrived, seemed to have vanished without a trace, having no effect whatsoever.

"No, this kid's first soul skill is completely useless. I remember that charm is less effective on women, well, it's not as effective on women with normal sexual orientation. And then, Huo Yuhao is a mental soul master. This half-baked, power-attack-oriented battle soul master with mental attributes is trying to charm someone who is purely mentally skilled. Isn't that like showing off one's skills in front of an expert? I even suspect that if Huo Yuhao had his second soul skill, Simulation, in advance, combined with his mental power and other methods such as mental interference, he might have been able to create the feeling of Tsukuyomi directly."

Huo Yuhao smiled at Cui Yajie, and then, taking advantage of her momentary daze as her attack failed, he directly used Wang Dong's Hao Dong power to launch a soul strike at her. Unfortunately, no matter what, Cui Yajie was a Soul Master with a mental attribute. Even in the rush and without any warning, she wasn't instantly killed. She just let out a muffled groan and stopped, covering her head with her right hand and falling behind the other two.

However, Dai Huabin's attack followed closely behind. He rushed in front of Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, his tiger claws whistling as if to crack open their heads.

"Clang!" "Clang!"

After two intermittent muffled thuds, the situation on the field instantly changed. Just now, as the tiger claw was about to strike Huo Yuhao, he took out the shield with Chen Cheng's ingenuity from his storage ring on his left hand. With the shield's ability to deflect force, he perfectly blocked the attack. Immediately afterward, he took out a forging hammer, and as he put away the shield and turned around, he casually threw it at Cui Yajie, who had just recovered, in the distance.

Wang Dong then flew diagonally upwards to the side, and then suddenly propelled his body to appear behind Dai Huabin, fiercely slashing at Dai Huabin's back with his wing blade.

The other sound came from Zhu Lu, who was about to launch a sneak attack from the side. Her path was blocked by Xiao Xiao's perfectly timed appearance of the Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, causing her attack, which she thought would secure the first victory, to land directly on the cauldron. It's worth noting that although Xiao Xiao was behind Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao in distance, the three of them consistently maintained positions where they could support each other. Even though Zhu Lu's ghostly attacks were difficult for most to defend against, under Huo Yuhao's mental detection, Xiao Xiao's Soul-Suppressing Cauldron still appeared at just the right moment.

At this moment, Dai Huabin's team, which had been on a fierce offensive, suddenly became the defensive side.

However, Dai Huabin, worthy of being the most talented among this year's freshmen, made a swift decision amidst the siege. First, he released his first soul skill, White Tiger Protective Barrier, forming a shield around his head and back to prevent injury from Huo Yuhao's soul impact and Wang Dong's impending sneak attack from behind. Finally, without pausing, he unleashed his second soul skill, White Tiger Blazing Light Wave, at the forging hammer flying towards Cui Yajie, successfully blocking the attack that Cui Yajie, having just recovered from the soul impact's dizziness, couldn't dodge in time.

Seeing her attack fail, Zhu Lu immediately tried to retreat, perfectly embodying the combat principles of an agility-type Soul Master: avoid prolonged combat and constantly seek out openings. However, Xiao Xiao, who had been watching her closely, naturally wouldn't let her have her way. Her ghostly retreat was intercepted by the other two Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons. To avoid being directly trapped by the cauldrons, Zhu Lu had no choice but to engage Xiao Xiao in a battle of attrition. Xiao Xiao even took out her second Martial Soul—the Nine Phoenix Arrival Flute. Even without adding Soul Rings, playing it still had some effect on her. After all, playing it unpleasantly was a form of control. With the help of Huo Yuhao's mental detection, Xiao Xiao repeatedly made perfect predictions, giving Zhu Lu a headache. Most importantly, the vibrations from the ground each time the cauldrons slammed down indicated their considerable weight; being hit by one would likely be a painful experience.

Seeing that his attack had failed, Wang Dong actually abandoned Huo Yuhao and flew towards Cui Yajie, who had recovered, on the other side.

  

Dai Huabin and Cui Yajie were dumbfounded. Leaving aside the fact that Huo Yuhao seemed to be just a support character, just considering his first-ring cultivation level, they couldn't fathom how they could have dared to leave him alone to face Dai Huabin, a third-ring cultivator. Were they really going to let an inferior horse fight a superior one? But no matter how you looked at it, Huo Yuhao was the core of this team!

It was clearly Huo Yuhao's arrangement for Wang Dong to switch targets to Cui Yajie. Without any hesitation, he took out another forging hammer from the ring on his right hand and, while Dai Huabin was releasing his second soul skill to help Cui Yajie get rid of the first hammer, he smashed it hard into Dai Huabin's face.

Dai Huabin caught a glimpse of the approaching hammer out of the corner of his eye, and in his haste, he only had time to raise his hands to protect his face. Meanwhile, Cui Yajie looked even more disheveled. Wang Dong's wing-like blades attacked at angles that made it incredibly difficult for her to defend herself. It was like a vain young girl being relentlessly photographed from her most unflattering angle.

Seeing that Huo Yuhao, who only had one white spirit ring, actually dared to stay here alone to block him, Dai Huabin was immediately enraged. He immediately forgot their original strategy of holding off Wang Dong and wanted to quickly take down Huo Yuhao so that he could support his teammates to open up the battle.

Dai Huabin took a sudden step forward, his right claw viciously grabbing at Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao stepped back with his right leg, adopting a lunge stance and lowering his center of gravity, using his left arm as a shield to withstand the attack. He then immediately rose, pushing off the ground with his right leg, swinging the hammer that had bounced up in the air after the previous attack in a wide arc, and bringing it down again. Dai Huabin tried to intercept with his left palm, attempting to catch the hammer and throw it away, but under Huo Yuhao's mental detection, he naturally wouldn't allow it. The hammer slightly deflected, striking Dai Huabin's forearm, and then, using the momentum from the bounce, swung it in an arc in the air, crashing down to the other side.

Dai Huabin was getting annoyed by Huo Yuhao's relentless attacks, so he unleashed his first and second soul skills simultaneously, intending to take the blow with his body and then finish him off with his second soul skill, White Tiger Blazing Light Wave.

This time, however, Huo Yuhao didn't use his shield to block the attack head-on. In an instant, his movements were like a ghost, dodging to the side, not only avoiding Dai Huabin's counterattack but also striking Dai Huabin once again. The moment the hammer hit Dai Huabin, Huo Yuhao retracted the shield into his left-hand ring, freeing his left hand to immediately unleash the Crane Control Dragon Capture technique on Dai Huabin's back of the knee. Under the force of the hammer blow and the pull, Dai Huabin staggered two steps, his body unsteady. He now felt he should immediately interrupt Huo Yuhao's combo; this strange hammer technique was becoming more and more powerful with each strike.

"Impressive! Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong are really bold to let Huo Yuhao fight Dai Huabin alone, and he actually succeeded! Even though the current Dou Di Zhuan II world doesn't have things like spirit forging and soul forging like Dou Di Zhuan III, I still used a top-tier forging hammer made of rare metals. Its weight and quality are definitely enough to be used as a weapon. I just wonder how many hits Huo Yuhao can get with this 'wild wind' technique. Maybe after 30 hits, he can really go toe-to-toe with Dai Huabin. Also, the way he wields both the shield and the hammer, he really looks a bit like Captain America."

Dai Huabin tried to block another blow, which further confirmed his suspicion. The damage from this strange hammer technique was even amplified; even with the White Tiger Protection active, his right claw still felt a sharp pain. So he decided to find a way to break the combo and then tried to dodge the blow instead of taking it head-on.

Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao saw through his plan. Seeing that this step would free him from the attack's range, Huo Yuhao neither gave up the combo nor tried to slam the hammer into the ground, creating a huge opening in his back. Instead, he used his left hand to retrieve his shield and slammed it down hard. At the same time, using the Ghostly Shadow Step to dodge Dai Huabin's second soul skill, he closed in again. He swung the hammer in a wide arc and smashed it down.

Dai Huabin was extremely annoyed. The current situation was completely contrary to the initial tactics. Both sides were at a disadvantage, and he, as the only one who could break the deadlock, had been dragged out until now by a mere link-one guy who couldn't provide support.

Just as he was about to use the moment when he repelled Huo Yuhao again to launch a second soul skill to support his teammates, he was caught off guard and Huo Yuhao launched a soul impact, interrupting his attack in an instant. As his head throbbed, he was hit hard on the back.

Now truly enraged, Dai Huabin disregarded all pretense of dignity and unleashed his third soul skill, launching a relentless attack on Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao, using his mental detection, consistently found weaknesses in Dai Huabin's attacks, deflecting them with his hammer or blocking with his shield, then delivering a follow-up hammer blow the instant he retracted his shield. Even though Huo Yuhao appeared to be steadily retreating, blood even flowing from his mouth and nose, it was clear to everyone that Huo Yuhao went from almost being knocked to the ground, to staggering back four or five steps, to only needing to retreat two or three steps, and finally, he was gradually able to withstand Dai Huabin's attacks through evasion and deflection!

"26, 27, 28..."

Just two hammer blows away from reaching the 30 mark, Dai Huabin suddenly withdrew all his protective abilities. Taking advantage of Huo Yuhao's momentary surprise, he rolled forward and slashed at Huo Yuhao's leg with his claws, forcing Huo Yuhao to make a choice again with the hammer that was about to fall.

Facing his enemy, Huo Yuhao finally couldn't give up the opportunity to severely injure him alone. He retracted his left arm and used his shield to block the sweeping claw. At the same time, the hammer's power remained undiminished, slamming hard into the ground, creating a large, cracked crater.

"29!"

However, Dai Huabin already had a confident smile on his face. No matter how badly Huo Yuhao had made him look earlier, now that Huo Yuhao had slammed his full-force attack into the ground with his back to him, there was no chance for him to dodge. Then, he only needed to support any one of his teammates to easily secure the victory.

Dai Huabin unleashed a powerful beam of light, seemingly capable of deciding the match, with a sinister grin, but his smile vanished instantly.

He saw that the White Tiger's fierce light wave actually grazed the back of Huo Yuhao's head and landed on the ground! Even Director Du, who wanted to come to the rescue, was stunned.

Huo Yuhao silently thanked the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm for changing his life. It had given him four soul skills with a million-year soul ring, and none of them were useless! Just now, in what seemed like an inescapable situation, Huo Yuhao took advantage of Dai Huabin's carelessness and the mental interference he released at close range, forcing him to misjudge the distance and causing his soul skills to miss!

"cough!"

Huo Yuhao felt a sweet taste in his throat, but he had no intention of stopping. He desperately wanted to seize this hard-won opportunity—the chance to finally make his enemy feel pain!