71: Chapter 71 One Win and One Loss

"Giant whip."

"For someone darting around everywhere, a whip is a natural enemy, right?"

I didn't expect to face a weapon like a whip—it wasn't a spear or a bow, completely exceeding expectations. But could a whip alone restrain 400% movement speed?

"If you have the ability, come and catch me... *cough*!"

*Whoosh*—*Crack*!

[Received 6,551 damage]

"This madman..."

Even with 400% movement speed, maintaining distance within the narrow Training Tower map was still no easy task. Fu Hao was at the edge of the rectangular map, while the Mimic held the center—once the distance closed, the opponent would definitely pursue.

He had thought a 200% movement speed difference would be enough to evade attacks, but the new weapon, the "whip," disrupted his predictions:

The attack wind-up was extremely short, the trajectory was hard to predict, and the range even exceeded that of a long spear.

[Received 3,111 damage]

"Damn it."

After failing to dodge several times, Fu Hao realized this wasn't an attack that could be avoided through practice; even a Block was difficult to pull off. The only relief was that the damage was lower than expected, but compared to the scratch damage of Earth Shatter, the opponent's damage was actually higher.

"Did the first-phase tactic fail..."

Actually, he hadn't expected to win in one hit; he mostly wanted to test his high-movement-speed response capability when facing ranged weapons like bows and ballistae.

Defense tactic activated: Absolute Barrier.

"Indomitable."

[Activated Indomitable skill, can be canceled after 5 seconds]

- Immune to all abnormal status effects

- Block rate 100%

- Defense increased by 247%

- Cannot move while Indomitable skill is active

"Breath of Protection."

[Consumes 30% of max HP / MP, applies "Final Damage Reduction 68%" buff to self and up to 26 allies]

- Cannot use Earth Shatter, Spatial Slash, or Shield Charge while active

"Guardian Shield."

[Consumes 20% of max HP / MP, generates a shield equivalent to 71% of current shield stats to protect self and up to 27 allies]

- Cannot use Earth Shatter, Spatial Slash, or Shield Charge while active

Stacking defense, damage reduction, and auto-shields, Fu Hao traded negative engagement for "Absolute Defense."

The Mimic's whip arrived as scheduled, but in front of the dual shields, it was reduced to scratching:

[Received 29 damage]

[Damage lower than 10% of max HP, damage negated]

With defense maxed out, Fu Hao was nearly invincible as long as he successfully performed a Block.

"Let's fight head-on like a man."

["Jin Hao" donated 50 Yuan. (Hit him, hit him, hit him!)]

The Mimic seemed to understand the provocation, withdrew the whip, switched to a sword, and slashed in close quarters. Fu Hao simultaneously swung his sword—although he couldn't counterattack after a Block, "standing and trading blows" was currently the optimal solution.

[Received 670 damage]

[Dealt 1,729 damage to the target]

A 3x damage difference; although he lost 50% HP, he could still hold on.

"Let's see who runs out of HP first?"

Looking at base stats, Leonhardt had the advantage, but Fu Hao was betting that he "couldn't accurately judge his own total HP," especially since he didn't know that "Fu Hao had already lost 50% HP to use skills."

However, after one exchange, the Mimic actively created distance—

- "He actually beat Leonhardt back."

- "Can he really win?"

- "If he wins, it'll be legendary."

- "It's just a Mimic, after all."

This time, what the Mimic pulled out wasn't a whip, but a giant ballista.

"Not using a spear?"

Fu Hao guessed wrong again—although he knew ranged damage was usually lower than melee, the oppressive feeling of the giant weapon meant he couldn't take it lightly.

- "Is this ballista size normal..."

- "Isn't this a siege weapon?"

- "Quick, dodge!"

- "How did a siege weapon appear here?"

After a brief hesitation, Fu Hao made a decision:

"I trust my shield."

He placed the floating "Guardian Shield" in front of him, lining it up with his own shield.

4 seconds later, the ballista bolt pierced through the air—

"Not dead?"

His vision hadn't turned gray, so Fu Hao hurriedly checked the combat log:

[Received 11,249 damage]

[Damage lower than 10% of max HP, damage negated]

"Phew..."

["Class" donated 50 Yuan. (Is this a bulletproof shield?!)]

- "He blocked that?"

- "See that? That's a +10 shield!"

Pet tactic activated: Little Gold's magic counter test.

While the chat area was boiling over the defensive miracle, the Mimic switched back to a regular bow. Fu Hao took the opportunity to summon Little Gold:

"Little Gold, cast Fireball."

[Summoned "Golden Young Dragon"]

"Awoo—!"

After months of climbing the tower, the grown-up Little Gold's size had surged, and its roar was much deeper.

- "Little Gold has grown up."

- "How can a Summoned Beast be this cute?"

"Testing magic counter, Little Gold is the best fit."

"Hm?"

"Nothing, Little Gold, do you see that uncle?"

"Yeah."

"Cast Fireball."

[Golden Young Dragon dealt 1,020 damage to the target]

"As expected."

Just as Fu Hao predicted, targeted abnormal status magic would trigger a counter, but continuous area-of-effect magic (like Fireball) would not.

The Mimic turned to aim its bow at Little Gold; although the latter had a shield, its massive size made it hard to fully evade:

"Little Gold, use Polymorph."

"No! A dragon's dignity is at stake!"

"Oh? Then just take a few arrows to cool down."

"Hmph! It's just a few arrows... ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

[Golden Young Dragon HP dropped below 70%]

"Time to use Polymorph, right?"

"...Just you wait."

The moment the Mimic nocked an arrow, Little Gold finally activated Polymorph—

A golden light flashed, and it transformed into a boy with golden hair and golden eyes, wearing fancy clothes and jewelry, even the arrogant expression was lifelike.

Transformed into human form, Little Gold hid behind Fu Hao, clearly terrified of the bow and arrows.

["Xiao Xi" donated 50 Yuan. (Little Gold, ahhhhhhh)]

["Little Gold Fan #1" donated 50 Yuan. (So handsome!)]

- "The golden-haired shotacon is hitting all the right spots."

- "Smaller than I thought."

- "Little Gold is still a baby..."

- "Hao, give us a close-up of Little Gold!!!"

Fu Hao ignored the screaming, focusing on observing the counter mechanism:

"Try Sleep."

[Golden Young Dragon fell into a 0.2-second stun]

"Only targeted abnormal status magic can trigger a counter."

Subsequent tests led to the conclusion:

- Counter count at least 11 times

- Physical attacks and non-targeted magic cannot be countered

The decisive moment: Turning from defense to offense.

"It's about time to end this. Little Gold, infinite Fireball until you're out of mana."

After figuring out the counter mechanism and the new weapon, Fu Hao stopped lingering. Although Little Gold's Fireball damage was negligible, a thousand stacks forced the Mimic to close the distance.

When the Mimic charged again, Fu Hao decisively canceled Indomitable.

"You fell for it!"

["Blink" stored in "Oath Necklace" activated]

Instantly dodging away, he simultaneously canceled the Guardian series skills:

"Cancel Breath of Protection. Cancel Guardian Shield."

With this, all restrictions on activating Earth Shatter were removed.

The Mimic really did pursue, and Fu Hao smiled:

"The Strongest 1 Second."

[Final damage dealt to enemies within 1 second increased by 1000%]

Turning off the broadcast audio, he lowered his voice:

"Fates Luck, 10-hit combo."

[Forcefully triggers weapon effect to "100% activation of 10-hit combo."]

"Let's see the real deal in five months, Leonhardt."

Staring at the Mimic's face one last time, Fu Hao swung his sword:

"Earth Shatter!"

[Triggered troll sword effect, launched 10-hit combo]

[Dealt 91,350 damage to target × 10]

[Target has been defeated]

[Cleared Training Tower floor 71]

[Clear ranking: 2nd place]

["Jin Hao" donated 50 Yuan. (He did it, the luckiest guy in the universe)]

["Brother Hao is the Yongyuan God" donated 50 Yuan. (Damn, he actually won)]

["Gambling King" donated 50 Yuan. (Thank heavens)]