Douluo Dalu 2: Reincarnated as the Auspicious Beast

Wang Yan lowered his head and glanced at the roster. "An Wen, are you also running for class president?"

He didn't pay as much attention to An Wen as he did to Wang Rui, but he still knew a bit about her—after all, even in Shrek Academy's history, three first-year students with only one spirit ring making it into the top sixty-four was an extremely rare occurrence.

It was just that the strong attack department had too many little monsters this year, so he hadn't considered An Wen as a class president candidate.

Since Wang Rui had now withdrawn from the election, leaving one fewer candidate for the strong attack department, Wang Yan simply added An Wen to the candidate list.

An Wen watched as her name was written on the blackboard, nodded in satisfaction, and returned to her seat.

Although Wang Yan included her as a candidate, he considered her nothing more than a participant to fill the numbers.

After all, unlike the less competitive control department, the strong attack department still had two powerful contenders after Wang Rui dropped out—Dai Huabin, who was also at the Soul Elder level and ranked second in the assessment, and Wang Dong, whose second spirit ring was at the millennium level.

Wang Yan adjusted his glasses, estimating that the final class president would likely be one of those two.

Between Dai Huabin and Wang Dong, he actually favored Wang Dong.

After all, Wang Dong's Bright Goddess Butterfly martial soul was simply too beautiful and eye-catching—an inherent advantage.

The class president election wasn't just about strength; popularity mattered too, Wang Yan thought with a smile.

Without commenting further, he instructed the students to write down the names of their two preferred candidates and hand in their votes.

However, when the final tally came in, Wang Yan was quite surprised.

Huo Yuqing became the control department's class president, which didn't surprise him—there were no particularly strong contenders there. But the candidate with the most votes in the strong attack department was entirely unexpected.

Wang Dong came in second, while An Wen claimed first place, earning nearly five times as many votes as Dai Huabin.

Considering that the first-year class had only just been formed and most students were still unfamiliar with each other, many naturally voted for their former classmates from the strong attack department. Under these circumstances, such a vote gap was astonishing.

Wang Yan had overlooked one detail—at the age of twelve or thirteen, if someone led their peers in defying a teacher's authority and succeeded, their reputation among classmates would skyrocket.

An Wen had challenged Zhou Yi on the first day of school, sparing everyone from running laps and saving several students from being expelled. She was practically the protector of the first-year class, and it was only natural that many supported her.

In contrast, Dai Huabin always wore a cold expression, looking down on everyone equally, which hardly endeared him to his peers.

As An Wen stood up and cheerfully said, "Thank you for your support," Dai Huabin's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

He had assumed that with Wang Rui out of the race, the class president title would be his as the strongest candidate—but clearly, that wasn't the case. Since he didn't particularly care about being class president, he remained seated with a sour expression, unwilling to appear like a sore loser.

Ironically, it was Zhu Lu who seemed even more upset about Dai Huabin's loss, glaring at An Wen in frustration.

After the election, the students introduced themselves briefly to become better acquainted. With that, the first day of the new class came to a successful conclusion.

Wang Yan dismissed the students, allowing them to relax.

A noisy group of students chattered their way back to the dormitory—mainly An Wen and Wang Dong, who had started arguing again for some unknown reason.

Wang Rui, feeling like he was being followed by two hundred quacking ducks, quickened his pace alongside Huo Yuqing.

When they arrived at the dormitory building, An Wen and Wang Dong followed them up to the third floor without hesitation, as if they lived there themselves.

"So, what exactly did Mu Jin give you as a reward?" An Wen asked curiously.

Wang Rui glanced at her and replied, "Nothing good."

As he spoke, he pulled out a soul tool shaped like a leather pouch.

An Wen's expression froze.

Wang Rui opened the pouch and shook it, allowing the precious secret soul bone—an item invaluable to any soul master—to tumble onto the table like it was worthless trash.

An Wen's eyes widened in shock, her expression resembling someone who had just taken a punch to the face.

"How dare she?" She suddenly stood up, shouting, "I'll kill her!"

Wang Dong was startled by her reaction.

A violent fury burned in her golden eyes, and Wang Dong instinctively felt a chilling, beast-like menace radiating from her. He scooted closer to Huo Yuqing.

"Sit down, An Wen," Wang Rui ordered, his voice carrying a heavy, unyielding tone that made it difficult to meet his gaze.

"But Rui—"

"No buts," Wang Rui interrupted. "If you can't control your temper, go home. Understand?"

An Wen bit her lip and heavily dropped back into her seat.

A tense silence filled the room.

"So… what's going on?" Wang Dong finally whispered, leaning toward Huo Yuqing for an explanation.

Realizing she had been staring at Wang Rui, Huo Yuqing quickly looked away, feeling a sudden warmth in her ears as she quietly explained the story behind the secret soul bone.

Meanwhile, Wang Rui silently picked up the bone from the table, paused, and closed his eyes.

A strange, ancient language slipped from his lips, each syllable resonating with a mysterious power.

The room grew colder and dimmer, the light turning a ghostly pale.

A ring of pure white runes appeared mid-air and slowly descended onto the soul bone.

A blood-tinged mist with a putrid scent rose where the runes touched the bone, and the once-brown bone began to fade, turning as white as snow.

With a soft crack, the bone shattered into countless snowflake-like fragments.

Before anyone could react to the destruction of such a precious item, the glowing fragments floated upward under the influence of the ancient chant.

Gradually, the fragments took on the shape of small, fluffy birds with delicate wings.

The glowing birds hovered and chirped faintly, filling the air with a soothing melody.

As the chant continued, the glowing birds clustered like clouds and flew away.

A collective understanding dawned on those present—the ancient words were calling them home.

Outside the dormitory, a girl with long purple hair looked up. The glowing birds left a brilliant trail reflected in her hollow, violet eyes.

A single droplet of water fell to the ground—no one knew why.