Reward... A Divine Tool?

Huo Yuhao had seen the Star Crown's soul skills unleashed before and remembered them quite clearly; after all, during the tournament, he had been sitting in the peanut gallery watching the spectacle. The Divine Throne had been right there watching alongside him back then, so it had probably seen them as well. He simply hadn't expected that the Eternal Angel, who wielded astral power, could simulate those abilities with the Divine Throne's assistance. Yet when he recalled Oscar of the original Shrek Seven Devils, Huo Yuhao felt there was nothing particularly surprising about it. The Mirror Image Beast's soul skill had allowed Oscar to copy soul skills, and after ascending to godhood, he could even replicate the abilities of gods. The power of creation gave birth to all things and inherently governed astral force, so using it to simulate the techniques of various martial souls was hardly far-fetched. If one had to find a comparable example on Douluo Continent, it was much like Miss Auspicious Beast simulating the Golden Dragon. 'So that first soul skill just now couldn't be...' Huo Yuhao thought back to the chain infused with starlight and realized what it was. Fortunately, he had dodged it. If he had been bound by that chain of starlight, things would have gotten troublesome. The thought flashed through his mind in an instant. Huo Yuhao's silhouette blurred as he charged forward at an even greater speed than before. The opponent before him was similar to his own archetype—rich in combat experience and mastery over power. Underestimating her was out of the question. Seeing him close in, the Eternal Angel moved to tap her staff against the ground. Suddenly, she sensed a sharp pulse of spiritual power; her movement hitched, preventing her from casting a defensive ability. By then, Huo Yuhao was already right in front of her. The Eternal Angel could only take to the air, but Huo Yuhao's second and first spirit rings flashed in unison, bringing him before her in the blink of an eye. Second soul skill: Divine Sculpt of Myriad Forms. It allowed him to shape spiritual power into intangible yet substantial forms at will. When manifested as cages or chains to bind enemies, the opponent had to rely on spiritual power to break free. He could also wrap spiritual power around himself or others to achieve an effect akin to telekinesis, enabling rapid movement and flight. The Eternal Angel furrowed her brows. Her figure shifted instantaneously to the right, and she pointed her staff into thin air. A golden halo appeared beneath Huo Yuhao's feet once more. This time, he didn't dodge, and chains of starlight bound him completely. Yet just as the Eternal Angel moved to press her advantage, the Huo Yuhao before her vanished. The sound of tearing air whistled behind her, causing her expression to change drastically. When she whipped her head around, what met her eyes was a palm coated in thick frost. Fleeting World Painted in Frost! The mental intent carried within the spiritual power stunned the Eternal Angel for a fraction of a second, and then... a direct blow landed right on her face. Smack! "...Yuhao really doesn't know how to treat a lady gently. You never hit someone in the face!" In the Sea of Spirit, the Tianmeng Iceworm grumbled as he watched the Eternal Angel fly backward. The Ice Empress also furrowed her brow. "Who cares about etiquette in the middle of a battle? Still, hitting the examiner like that really is... a bit much." Humans always said not to hit someone in the face or bring up their shortcomings, but the Ice Empress had noticed that in practice, they usually did the exact opposite. Huo Yuhao dropped down from the air, landing not far from the Eternal Angel. At his current stage, pure spiritual power remained formless, but he could infuse soul power into Divine Sculpt of Myriad Forms to create tangible objects. Just now, he had woven his spiritual power and soul power together to create an illusionary decoy that was virtually indistinguishable from reality. Through that decoy, he had also confirmed that her starry chains carried an absolute success effect, identical to the soul skill of a certain Miss Xu. Once bound, one would be forcefully incapacitated for at least one second! Had the Divine Throne been bored lately and spending all its time spying on the outside world? He had even read through records on the Star Staff martial soul recently... With those thoughts in mind, Huo Yuhao looked at the Eternal Angel. "You aren't accustomed to fighting with soul skills, are you? Such a system must feel terribly restrictive to you. How about using your original power instead?" The Eternal Angel wiped a trace of blood from the corner of her lips with spiritual energy and said coldly, "No need. I said I would fight you using your system, and I will." "..." Hearing that, Huo Yuhao said nothing more. He raised his right hand, and a deep blue longsword, seemingly condensed from ice crystals, materialized out of thin air in his grip. Before the Eternal Angel could even make out the sword's contours, Huo Yuhao swung it downward like a bolt of lightning. A deep blue sword beam tore through the sky, its color shifting from azure to cerulean, then to pale blue, and finally into a blinding white light. Wherever the sword beam passed, the air instantly froze solid before being cleaved apart. A deep trench was carved into the earth, the shattered stones and dirt pulverized into dust by the sword intent. A bone-chilling cold spread outward, causing moisture in the air to condense into fluttering ice crystals. The Eternal Angel's pupils constricted. She tried to muster astral power, but the moment the chill washed over her, the familiar artistic conception assailed her once again, halting her movements. In an instant, she was transformed into an ice sculpture. Huo Yuhao watched calmly, shifting forward in a flash to rest his left hand against the frozen statue. Once spiritual power and soul power were successfully fused, they could be integrated into any combat technique. Fleeting World Painted in Frost represented an entire school of martial intent; he could infuse that spiritual conception into almost any ice-attribute soul skill. As for the ice sword just now, it was naturally... "Empress Sword, Peerless Ice," the Ice Empress murmured. Of the Snow Empress's Three Extremes, Huo Yuhao knew all of them except the domain Empress's Chill, and he had learned them directly from the Snow Empress herself. Tianmeng shook his head as he watched the scene outside. "Now that she's frozen, it's over." Ten thousand years ago, Huo Yuhao had primarily cultivated the Ice Empress martial soul, which was a far cry from the gentleness he showed when fighting with his Body Martial Soul. In human terms, he was... utterly bellicose. Once caught in his rhythm, he wouldn't give anyone a chance to breathe. Before Tianmeng's words had fully settled, Huo Yuhao was already pulling back from the ice sculpture. At the same time, the Eternal Angel trapped inside turned an emerald green. The next instant, a tremendous roar shook the heavens. A terrifying shockwave surged forth like a tsunami. The surrounding vegetation, including towering ancient trees that would take several people to embrace, was instantly obliterated and reduced to powder by the overwhelming force. Yet Huo Yuhao, as if having lived through this exact scenario countless times, retreated with flawless precision, arriving right at the blast's outer edge. In Huo Yuhao's eyes, the Ice Explosion Technique was exceptionally practical. Ten thousand years ago, ice had been his forte, and since Fleeting World Painted in Frost aimed to incapacitate and freeze opponents, Ice Explosion Technique was naturally one of the finest combo finishers available in such situations. He had blown up enough things ten thousand years ago to gain plenty of experience; he knew precisely how much power each type of opponent would yield when detonated. Back at the epicenter, a pillar of golden light suddenly erupted. The Eternal Angel stood at its center with lingering dread, looking around at the massive crater left behind by the Ice Explosion Technique. If she hadn't immediately restored her full strength, she would have been doomed in her suppressed state. Not only had this person hit her in the face, but he didn't ease up for even a second in battle. He had seemed to chat with her just now, but the distance between them hadn't even been a single meter, and he had never intended to give her an opening. Before she could even deploy her strongest abilities, she had been forced to break her self-imposed seal. The Eternal Angel looked up at Huo Yuhao, her eyes flickering before she let out a sigh. "Very well. The Lord of Eternity having me serve as the examiner was itself an acknowledgment of your strength. I was careless, crippling myself from the start because of useless emotions." With that, the Eternal Angel glanced down at the staff in her hands. "Since you have won, this staff will temporarily be left in your safekeeping." Hearing those words, Tianmeng and the Ice Empress inside the Sea of Spirit turned their gazes to the staff. The former swallowed hard. "A Super Divine Tool is this generous?" Given the discernment they had gained from following Huo Yuhao for so many years, they were certain that the staff was far beyond anything a regular tool martial soul could compare to. That was very likely... a Divine Tool!