Oslo's challenge was about to begin. Once Ning Rongrong defeated the Sea Star Douluo, they headed to the Sea Fantasy Sacred Pillar to face the Sea Fantasy Douluo.
Unlike the other pillar guardians who waited openly, when they arrived, they saw only an illusory blue glow, floating over the sea. Under its cover, they couldn't see the pillar square at all—let alone the Sea Fantasy Douluo.
"What's going on—if Sea Fantasy Douluo doesn't appear, how do we even start our trial?" Oslo asked, puzzled.
At that moment, a purple-robed guardian of Sea God Island arrived. "The three of you, by order of Lord Sea Fantasy, I've been waiting here. In fact, your trial has already begun. This blue mist is Lord Sea Fantasy's strongest illusion domain and his proudest technique. What you must do is cross this blue mist—do that, and you pass."
"A domain right from the start? Looks like this Sea Fantasy Douluo is a tough customer. Not that I'm afraid!" Oslo said confidently. "Let me go first."
With that, Oslo invoked his Ghost Leopard martial soul and charged into the mist, hoping to cross it at top speed as an agility-assault soul master.
But upon entering the mist, he seemed to lose his way and suddenly found himself in a forest.
This was Sea God Island—how could there be a forest here? Yet the place felt oddly familiar to him.
Just then, a spinning hammer came flying at him. Sensing danger, Oslo dodged instinctively, finally seeing what it was.
"The Clear Sky Hammer!" Oslo was shocked. He looked up in the direction the hammer came from—a man in a cloak stood atop a tree. This scene was all too familiar.
It was exactly how he'd died to Tang Hao in the Star Dou Forest years ago.
"You're Tang Hao? No, Tang Hao is already dead—this is an illusion created by Sea Fantasy Douluo. Xiao Bai said Sea Fantasy Douluo could bring out a person's deepest fear." Oslo's greatest fear, of course, was being slain by Tang Hao—he had truly experienced death back then.
"I'm not afraid—it's fake!" Oslo's arms trembled, but he kept telling himself that psychological shadows weren't easily overcome.
"Heh, whether it's fake or not, you'll experience it yourself." A deep, sinister voice echoed in the air—surely Sea Fantasy Douluo's. The sound alone made Oslo's fear intensify.
The 'Tang Hao' moved, the Clear Sky Hammer returning to his hand, and swung a heavy blow at Oslo.
Oslo reflexively crossed his arms to defend—then remembered this was exactly how he died last time, his arms and skull crushed.
He quickly abandoned defense and used Dragon-Leopard Transformation to dodge. Now, as a soul douluo with full soul bones, his speed matched even Title Douluo; dodging this was no problem.
'Tang Hao' missed but didn't seem to care. He looked at Oslo, killing intent surging. Oslo felt all his attributes drop by more than thirty percent.
"The Deathgod Domain? This illusion is too real—it even uses the Deathgod Domain," Oslo thought, feeling as if he were really fighting the Clear Sky Douluo.
Tang Hao's fifth soul ring shone. The hammer didn't change in appearance, but grew heavier and heavier. When it weighed over ten thousand pounds, Tang Hao hurled it.
"Third soul skill—Leopard Shadow Doppelganger!" Oslo quickly created clones to dodge, but the flying hammer ignored them and homed in on his true body.
This was the Sky-Shattering Strike—besides its power, it also locked onto its target.
"Sixth soul skill—Void!" Oslo immediately used his hundred-thousand-year soul skill. In this state, he was immune to physical attacks.
"Tang Hao, I am no longer who I was. I'm far stronger now—you'll never kill me so easily again!" Oslo shouted. "Volcanic Gorilla Soul Bone Skill—Blazing Smash!"
He counterattacked. The Void state lasted a minute—within that time, only he could attack, and others couldn't touch him.
'Tang Hao' glanced at him, the hammer circling once before returning to his side. Tang Hao's sixth soul ring shone, and black shields surrounded him.
This was Tang Hao's sixth soul skill—Clear Sky Bodyguard.
Oslo's punch hit the shield to no effect. Tang Hao couldn't hurt him, but he couldn't break Tang Hao's defense, either.
"Fourth soul skill—Ghost Leopard Thousand Claw!" Oslo refused to give up. Since normal attacks didn't work, he'd use armor-piercing: his fourth soul skill reduced the enemy's defense with each strike.
One claw, two claws... a thousand claws!
In a short span, Oslo struck one spot a thousand times. Finally, the shield cracked.
Oslo used Blazing Smash again, shattering the shield. The residual force hit Tang Hao's abdomen, sending him flying.
"How about that, Tang Hao? See how strong I am? I know I'm still not your match, but in my dictionary, there's no such thing as fear. I'm an assault-type agility-attack battle soul master!" Oslo realized that this Tang Hao's strength was determined by his own fear.
The more afraid he was, the stronger Tang Hao became. Conversely, with no fear, defeating him was easy.
Oslo had always been bold—clashing head-on with other assault types was normal for him.
When he first saw Tang Hao, his psychological shadow accounted for half his feelings, but the excitement of being able to take revenge made up the other half.
As Oslo fought more bravely, his fear diminished, and Tang Hao's strength declined.
In the end, Oslo locked Tang Hao from behind.
"Sixth soul skill—Explosive Killing Eight-Stage Throw!"
Oslo's strongest hundred-thousand-year soul skill—he'd once killed Yu Luomian with it. Now, he shattered all his inner fears.
As the phantom Tang Hao died, the scenery around Oslo broke like glass. Finally, he saw the Sea Fantasy Sacred Pillar—he had passed the trial.