Douluo Dalu 2: Reincarnated as the Auspicious Beast

The long-standing feud between Mu Jin and Zhou Yi had its roots in the past.

Since their student days, they had been romantic rivals. In the end, Zhou Yi emerged victorious, successfully marrying her dream lover, while Mu Jin became the loser in love.

Later, despite Mu Jin's desperate pleas, Zhou Yi expelled her younger brother… It's hard to say that personal grievances weren't involved in that decision.

This grudge ran deep.

So, when Mu Jin saw Zhou Yi getting berated by a student, she was in an excellent mood.

"Alright, everyone. You've seen enough excitement. Time to return to your seats," she said with a smile, walking up to the podium and waving her hand to signal the students to sit down.

Relatively speaking, Mu Jin was a fairly normal teacher. She didn't engage in any power plays or intimidation tactics. Instead, she kindly introduced herself to the class and then spent the entire morning having each student come up to the front for self-introductions.

Wang Rui lay sprawled on his desk, feeling completely uninterested. Other than having to mention their martial souls during the introductions, the whole morning felt no different from an ordinary junior high school opening day.

With over a hundred students introducing themselves, it took up a good chunk of time.

Mu Jin stood at the podium, beaming as she observed her students. Her class had two Soul Elders, and one of them was even the young master of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. This practically guaranteed that Class Nine would secure first place in the freshman assessment. This year, she would undoubtedly outshine Zhou Yi—an outcome that was practically set in stone.

If it weren't for the fact that she was in the middle of a lesson, she would have burst into song on the spot.

She originally planned to assign Wang Rui as class monitor due to his high soul power, with Ning Tian as vice monitor. However, Wang Rui couldn't be bothered to manage a bunch of eleven- and twelve-year-old human cubs, so he let Ning Tian take the position instead.

After a lunch break of over an hour, the afternoon session started with a theory class.

But as everyone knew, Shrek Academy's Outer Court wasn't truly part of Shrek Academy. In the Outer Court, students hardly learned anything unique to Shrek, let alone before the freshman assessment.

So, the theory lessons for the freshmen were just the most basic knowledge—such as simple classifications of soul masters or introductions to soul beasts and soul rings, most of which they had already learned at their previous primary soul master academies.

…Of course, there was also the heavily edited version of Shrek Academy's history, a course designed to instill the glory of Shrek into the students.

All in all, Wang Rui hardly paid any attention to the lectures, and Mu Jin, in turn, chose to overlook her strongest student's lack of interest. The entire afternoon passed without any major incidents.

Before dismissal, Mu Jin handed out the class schedule. Shrek Academy's schedule wasn't particularly tight—mornings were left to the teachers' discretion, while afternoons were reserved for theory classes. Mu Jin instructed her students to train independently in the mornings to prepare for the freshman assessment. While they weren't learning much from her, it was still better than running laps indiscriminately.

Thus, the first day of school passed in an utterly uneventful manner.

In the western part of Shrek City, an unusual five-story building occupied the most bustling district.

The building's domed roof had smooth, flowing curves. Its ridges were steep at first but arched gracefully at the ends, with the tips raised like soaring wings. Along the four ridges sat a row of wolf-shaped statues, each unique in form, gazing into the distance.

The roof tiles were a deep, night-sky blue, made of some unknown material. The dark blue surface shimmered with platinum-colored specks, resembling stars scattered across the night sky. The walls were silver-white, like a snowy landscape under moonlight, exuding a delicate and playful beauty.

The plaque on the building bore no words—only a silver crescent moon and a wolf's head as an emblem.

But everyone in Shrek City knew that this building belonged to the Moonshadow Merchant Association.

Most humans were unaware of the existence of the Beast Sect, but everyone on the continent knew of the mysterious and powerful Moonshadow Merchant Association.

The Moonshadow Merchant Association had branches in all three great nations of the Douluo Continent. Most of its core members possessed wolf-type martial souls, and powerful Title Douluo-level experts were known to reside within its establishments.

At the Moonshadow Merchant Association, one could purchase all sorts of rare materials and medicinal herbs. Precious metals from the Sun-Moon Empire and soul tools marked with the [New] symbol were also occasionally available. Here, one could even buy pills produced by the Emerald Pavilion!

It was well known that the best-quality pills on the continent came from the Emerald Pavilion. Outside of the Moonshadow Merchant Association, only major sects and organizations had access to them.

The first and second floors of the building served as a shopping area, while the upper floors functioned as an inn. Only those who had spent a significant amount at the Moonshadow Merchant Association were allowed to stay in the guest rooms upstairs.

In the most luxurious suite on the top floor, a middle-aged man with silver-white hair sat at a desk.

In front of him was a stack of documents, and beside him was a tray holding a stone slab with several roasted ribs. The meat's juices sizzled against the residual heat of the stone, accompanied by fresh green garnishes. A large mug of ale sat nearby, condensation clinging to its surface.

After signing off on the last document, the man let out a weary sigh.

He neatly stacked the scattered papers, pushed them aside, grabbed his mug, and took a deep swig before exhaling deeply.

The five cities under the Beast God Sect accumulated a vast number of administrative tasks. Even though not everything required the sect leader's attention, there were still numerous matters that needed his direct approval.

No wonder all those guys back in the day wanted nothing to do with being sect leader. Long Xiaoyao sighed again.

If the Auspicious Beast were still around, these documents would naturally be its responsibility. But since Wang Rui had run off to Shrek Academy to play house with a bunch of kids, all these documents fell to Long Xiaoyao.

What, was he supposed to expect the savage beasts to have the patience to handle the sect's affairs?

Right now, he was just waiting for Zhang Lexuan to hurry up and become a Super Douluo so he could dump the sect leader position onto her.

Thinking of his old friend, who spent his days basking in the sun and watching the world go by while his disciples handled everything, Long Xiaoyao felt even more miserable.

"I'm an Ultimate Douluo, so why the hell am I still working?"

Because of the Auspicious Beast's precious trust.

Ah, and also because he couldn't beat his teacher.

Among the younger generation, the most reliable candidate still wasn't strong enough to take over as sect leader.

Besides, Shrek Academy was full of lazy governance, riddled with problems, mismanagement, and a poor institutional culture… Tsk tsk.

Thinking about it, maybe there wasn't much to be jealous of when it came to Mu En.

Tsk, what's the best way to relieve stress? Eating, of course.

Just as Long Xiaoyao was happily enjoying his meal, a sharp-tailed rain swallow flew in through the window.

"Ah, Clan Leader Bai, what brings you here?" Long Xiaoyao quickly grabbed a handkerchief and wiped his mouth.

"An Wen got expelled from Shrek Academy," Bai Chenxiang said gleefully.

Long Xiaoyao: …

If he could, he would travel back two hundred years and punch that little brat who chose a big black tiger as a contract partner just because it looked cool.

"Wait, let me process this first." He took a deep breath.

"What did she do? Did she strip naked and streak through campus in broad daylight, only to be caught by a teacher?" Long Xiaoyao speculated.

Bai Chenxiang: ?

"Or did she try to eat her classmates for dinner and got stopped by a teacher?"

Bai Chenxiang: ?

"Nothing like that," Bai Chenxiang's beady eyes flickered as she wondered what kind of image Long Xiaoyao had of An Wen. "She was expelled for contradicting a teacher."

"Oh, that's surprisingly reasonable," Long Xiaoyao sighed in relief, then furrowed his brows. "Wait a minute. Expelled for contradicting a teacher? What kind of ridiculous reason is that? Which Shrek Academy teacher is so delicate that they can't handle a little backtalk?"

"Oh, I heard everything. Her homeroom teacher called all the students trash, idiots, and worthless scum…" Bai Chenxiang chattered on, adding fuel to the fire as she recounted the incident.

With a snap, Long Xiaoyao broke the handle of his mug.

He could insult An Wen as a foolish, annoying cat, but someone else?

Zhou Yi, was it? You dare insult my cat? You even dare expel my cat?

You've got guts.