Douluo Dalu 2: Reincarnated as the Auspicious Beast

"Only five to eight drops of blood…? This might be the only thing in this marketplace I can actually afford," Huo Yuqing thought, her curiosity piqued.

"Excuse me, what exactly do these pills do?" she asked.

"Ah, you've got an eye for quality, kid," the crow said gleefully, hopping on its perch and tapping one of the bottles with its beak. "This bottle contains the lowest-grade pills, suitable for a low-level soul master like yourself. Taking one of these will temporarily let you wield the power of a level 30–40 soul master. Of course, the gap in martial spirit strength and soul skills won't be bridged, but it'll let you use higher-level soul tools, which can be a lifesaver in a pinch."

A glint of darkness flashed in the girl's eyes. She instinctively lowered her gaze and asked in her mind, "Brother Tianmeng, if I use this pill to temporarily reach the Soul Elder level, could I defeat a Soul Elder with the White Tiger martial spirit using Soul Impact?"

"If they're completely unprepared, you could definitely knock them out," Tianmeng Iceworm confirmed. "But if they're on guard, the effect of Soul Impact might be reduced. I must warn you, though—this kind of pill must have significant side effects. Besides, even if you have the pill, you wouldn't be able to enter Shrek Academy to face the person you want revenge on, would you?"

"I know," Huo Yuqing replied with a bitter smile.

She understood Tianmeng's reasoning perfectly, but standing in front of a shortcut like this, she couldn't help but ask.

"…We've got stronger stuff too," the raven continued enthusiastically. "For instance, this one can help a level 60 soul master temporarily activate their martial spirit avatar. For a Soul Sage, it can boost them to a temporary Soul Douluo level. And this one can enhance a level 94 soul master's strength to around level 96, or a level 96 master to level 97—huge for a Titled Douluo! But remember, the cost is in blood—your blood, specifically. Kid, do you know any adults who might need these pills? Introduce a few to us, would you? How about trying one yourself? Our products are guaranteed authentic, I promise!"

The middle-aged man on the small stool finally couldn't take it anymore. He frowned and cast a subtle glance at Wang Rui, then reached out to clamp the crow's beak shut. "Why are you pushing this stuff on a kid?"

"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!" The crow struggled and flapped its wings, eventually breaking free and retaliating by pecking the man. "I just sensed his deep resentment! Kid, you have a grudge against someone stronger than you, don't you? You need this, don't you?"

Huo Yuqing was startled and stared warily at the raven.

"It's a Omen Dread Crow, a very rare soul beast with dual dark and spiritual attributes," Wang Rui explained, glancing at the bird with a sly smile. "These mutated soul beasts are extremely sensitive to negative emotions."

"Kehehe, human kid, you sure know a lot… caw?" The raven's laugh abruptly stopped as its blood-red eyes locked onto Wang Rui. Its sharp beak slowly closed.

If you dare reveal my identity, you'll regret it. Wang Rui smiled faintly, transmitting the message through his mental power.

Most disciples of the Beast Sect wouldn't recognize the humanoid form of the Auspicious Beast, but the middle-aged man before them was a Titled Douluo with a high status in Gu City. His contracted companion, the Omen Dread Crow, had naturally seen Wang Rui's face before.

The crow obediently shut its beak and squatted on the perch like a brooding hen, pretending to be a glossy black ornament.

The middle-aged man let out a loud snort of amusement and turned to Huo Yuqing. "Kid, this stuff isn't for young people like you. Only desperate fugitives or doomed folks use these pills in life-or-death situations. Swallow one, and you'll be bedridden for at least two months. Two pills, and your meridians are basically ruined. Don't waste your thoughts on this."

He paused, then flipped his hand to produce a strange black-gold bottle. Leaning in, he winked and lowered his voice. "But look at this. If you can get your enemy to ingest it, and there's no Titled Douluo-level healer around, anyone below level 95 is guaranteed to… uh, let's say, permanently retire. Just be careful not to spill any on yourself."

"Uh, no thanks, senior. I don't think I can afford it anyway. Thank you," Huo Yuqing stammered, shuffling backward step by step.

What kind of poison is this?! That's terrifying! Are all people from Gu City this scary? If this can kill a Titled Douluo below level 95, wouldn't that include Dai Hao…

Huo Yuqing quickly squashed the thought. Revenge should be earned by defeating Dai Hao fair and square to seek justice for her mother.

The crow tilted its head, giving her a curious look.

The middle-aged man chuckled heartily at her reaction. "Just messing with you. I wasn't planning to sell it to you. Kid, just focus on your cultivation. When I was your age, my whole family had been killed, and I was being hunted all the way to the Star Dou Forest. But look at me now—I've lived to this old age, and my enemies are still alive and kicking. Revenge isn't the most important thing in life. Keep your mind calm, and don't let your gloom attract the likes of this raven."

The Omen Dread Crow flapped its wings in protest. "Don't make it sound like there's something wrong with crows! I'm drawn to negative emotions by instinct, okay? Instinct!"

The man clamped its beak shut again. "In any case, leave the future to the future."

Huo Yuqing was momentarily stunned, then gave a wry smile. "Thank you for the advice, senior. I…"

"Alright, alright, kid, don't be so long-winded. Could your enemy possibly be more formidable than mine?" The middle-aged man waved his hand dismissively. "Judging by your reaction, that guy shouldn't be much stronger than you. Focus on cultivating yourself. If that doesn't work, just live longer than him. Spit on his grave someday, and that counts as revenge too."

"Kiddo, you seem to have caught my fancy. If you ever need help in the future, feel free to come to Gu City and mention the name of Scorpion Tiger Douluo Zhang Peng. They'll know who you're talking about." He waved his hand again as if shooing away flies. "Now off you go, you two. Stop loitering here and disrupting my business."

Huo Yuqing quickly followed Wang Rui and slipped away.

Once they had walked some distance, Zhang Peng's smile vanished. He muttered to himself with a thoughtful expression, "I didn't expect the news from the wolves to be true... But why would that person choose a child steeped in revenge as their contract partner?"

"That kid sure has a lot of pent-up negative emotions," the crow cawed.

"I wonder if my few words of advice will make any difference. Living for revenge leads only to emptiness," the middle-aged man remarked indifferently, his gaze falling vaguely on an invisible point in the air. "But that's something for that person to worry about."

The crow cackled. "We've got our own problems to deal with."

A blue-green figure swooped down from the sky.

"Gu City people! Are you peddling contraband here again?" A piercing eagle cry rang out. "Take your pills and get out of Emerald City!"

"Tch." Zhang Peng waved his hand, and the small bottles on the ground disappeared. He transformed into a streak of dark light and vanished in an instant. The entire scene played out as smoothly as a street vendor fleeing from approaching law enforcement.

"Boom!" A wide wind blade slashed down, leaving a crack in the ground where he had been moments before.

"Don't let me catch you here again!" the massive blue-green eagle screeched furiously, its cries echoing with frustration.

...

"That senior... are all the people in Gu City like him?" Huo Yuqing asked softly after they had gone a safe distance.

"Most of the people in Gu City have poison or insect-based martial souls," Wang Rui shrugged. "Soul masters with poison-type martial souls… tend to have peculiar personalities."

"Then why does that senior exchange blood for pills? Pills are obviously far more valuable than blood, aren't they?" Huo Yuqing finally voiced her biggest curiosity. She wasn't particularly surprised by Zhang Peng's cultivation level, as she had encountered so many strong individuals in the past couple of days that she was starting to get used to it.

"The Scorpion Tiger martial soul has a peculiar trait—it can evolve by absorbing blood and souls."

"So he's collecting soul masters' blood to cultivate?" The girl astutely picked up on the implication.

"Exactly." Wang Rui nodded. "For him, human and soul beast blood are like cultivation pills. The higher the cultivation level of the blood donor, the better the effect."

"What an extraordinary martial soul…" Huo Yuqing murmured.

"This isn't exactly a desirable trait," Wang Rui sneered. "Many so-called righteous individuals equate the Scorpion Tiger martial soul with those that require killing humans for cultivation. Zhang Peng was hunted down in his youth and forced to flee to the Star Dou Forest, eventually ending up in Gu City."

"But if it's just a little blood and controlled properly, it wouldn't harm anyone, right? Reasonable transactions like that don't seem so bad," Huo Yuqing said, puzzled. She still had a good impression of the Scorpion Tiger Douluo, who had given her advice despite his eccentricity.

Her youthful innocence and straightforward thoughts clearly couldn't comprehend why trading blood would be considered potentially deadly, nor why humanity so readily classified and persecuted their own kind.

"Because his martial soul has such abilities, they assume he'll harm others, so they preemptively root out the 'problem,'" the red-haired boy shrugged, leaving the question for Huo Yuqing to ponder.

He was pleased to see her frown thoughtfully.

Wang Rui hadn't expected to encounter the Scorpion Tiger Douluo in Emerald City. However, he was quite happy to use this real-life example to paint Shrek Academy in a negative light. While he hadn't explicitly mentioned Shrek's Inspection Corps, it was clear that Huo Yuqing had started to develop a dislike for so-called "righteous individuals."

When the time came for her to learn that the Inspection Corps were Shrek's agents... conclusions she reached on her own would always hold more weight than those imposed by others.

Back then, Zhang Peng had been pursued by Shrek's Inspection Corps until he fled to the Star Dou Forest and settled in Gu City. Wang Rui was aware of this history but unconcerned. After all, Gu City had plenty of martial souls far more sinister than the Scorpion Tiger.

Besides, Zhang Peng's abilities were fascinating. He could summon the souls of beasts he had absorbed, combining their spirit, mental strength, and soul power into energy entities.

This phenomenon bore a slight resemblance to spirit souls, but Wang Rui's research showed it was a unique result of the Scorpion Tiger's attributes and couldn't be replicated.

As for Zhang Peng's companion, the Omen Dread Crow, it also had a poor reputation among soul beasts. These crows were instinctively drawn to negative energy, often appearing in places rife with it. Wherever the Omen Dread Crow was present, misfortune tended to follow… making it an oddly fitting match for Zhang Peng, given their shared affinity for darkness.

Behind them, the sound of a massive explosion was accompanied by an eagle's screeching reprimands. Huo Yuqing glanced back nervously. "Is someone attacking?"

"That's the city enforcer eagle driving out contraband dealers," Wang Rui said with a chuckle. "Not our concern. Alright, we've arrived."

He stopped with Huo Yuqing in front of a shop named "Emerald Pavilion."