Douluo Dalu 2: You are an Evil Soul Master, but also a good person ?

Star Dou Forest.

The boy's soaked sleeves clung to his arms as he carried a simple bundle on his back, stepping resolutely into the vast, mysterious forest.

At just eleven years old, his understanding of the world had been blocked by the towering red walls of the Duke's mansion. Now, everything outside was unfamiliar and new.

If it were any other young master from the Duke's family, they would never venture out alone—let alone hunt soul beasts. They would be surrounded by guards, enjoying the rewards without any risk.

But he was different.

Even for his first soul ring, he had to risk his life to obtain it.

This world was cruel—either you sat at the table or were served on it.

Of course, he didn't know that no matter how hard he tried or how much destiny favored him, he would still end up on the menu—like an insect, caught in a web, sharing the same fate as a helpless butterfly.

"Phew…"

After just a few steps, the boy was already panting.

He leaned against a large tree to rest, tightening the bundle on his back. His pale blue eyes scanned his surroundings with vigilance.

Inside the Duke's mansion, the Duchess humiliated him and his mother, but she never went so far as to kill them—her cruelty was more subtle. His mother eventually died from overwork and illness.

But outside, people killed without hesitation.

"Awroo!"

Just as the boy was about to continue his journey, a beastly howl pierced the air.

A fierce, white baboon leaped from the dense canopy, charging straight at him.

In the sky above.

A massive black crow streaked across the sky like a dark meteor.

On the crow's back—

"Why are you following me?"

Xu Cheng glanced at Tang Ya, who had insisted on coming along, feeling a headache brewing.

He was about to search for Tianmeng, a secretive mission that could be complicated by her presence.

"I'm just on my way to pay respects to my parents and the brothers and sisters of the Tang Sect. Got a problem with that?"

Tang Ya snorted, crossing her arms and tilting her chin up in defiance as if she could glare him to death with her nostrils.

Xu Cheng: "…"

As they spent more time together, her proud and headstrong personality—reminiscent of the "big sister" from the original story—was becoming more evident. Oddly enough, Xu Cheng welcomed this change.

"Fine, just don't cause trouble," he said helplessly.

"Hmph! I won't cause trouble," Tang Ya huffed, but a smile tugged at her lips as she stole a glance at Xu Cheng.

She had tried numerous times to recruit him into the Tang Sect. With his mysterious abilities and terrifying talent, she believed he was destined to surpass her. If she could teach him the secret techniques of the Tang Sect, he would undoubtedly rise to power—and she could proudly call herself his teacher.

But Xu Cheng was annoyingly slippery, always managing to dodge her invitations.

Still, Tang Ya believed that persistence would pay off. Someday, she would succeed in bringing him into the Tang Sect.

"And why do you think you're the only one who can hunt soul beasts?" she asked.

"You broke through to Soul King level?" Xu Cheng asked, surprised.

"Hmmph~" Tang Ya turned her head proudly.

The black crow remained expressionless.

Seated at the front, it silently played the role of their driver.

Behind them, Scorpion Tiger Douluo Zhang Peng followed closely as their bodyguard.

"Huff… huff…"

Huo Yuhao panted heavily, staring in disbelief at the white tiger dagger clutched in his hand.

A few steps away lay the white baboon, its body nearly cleaved in half, intestines and blood spilling across the ground. From its corpse, a white soul ring began to emerge.

"So… this is a soul ring?"

His wide eyes glistened with excitement.

A ten-year soul ring might be insignificant to most soul masters, but for him, it was the best he could hunt on his own.

Just as he stepped forward to absorb it—

A voice echoed in his mind.

"Finally! A spiritual-type soul master! If I could cry, I'd be weeping tears of joy…"

Alarmed, Huo Yuhao tensed.

The ground trembled, splitting open on either side. A massive white insect emerged, crawling slowly toward him.

Its entire body gleamed like crystal, over seven meters long—an exquisite, otherworldly creature.

"Who… are you?"

Huo Yuhao's grip on his dagger loosened, and it nearly fell from his trembling hand.

Given his limited knowledge, a soul beast of this caliber had to be at least a thousand years old.

"I am a million-year soul beast. You can call me Brother Tianmeng. You're about to become the world's first spiritual-type soul master to possess an intelligent soul ring…"

Tianmeng Iceworm declared smugly.

"A million-year soul ring?!" Huo Yuhao's eyes widened in shock.

In his world, thousand- and ten-thousand-year soul beasts were already the stuff of legend. A million-year soul beast was beyond comprehension.

Excitement surged through him as he nodded eagerly. Was his luck finally turning around?

"Alright, here we go! My spiritual power is pretty intense—brace yourself…"

Tianmeng Iceworm warned, releasing a surge of immense spiritual energy that enveloped Huo Yuhao.

But as the energy settled around the boy, Tianmeng hesitated.

"Your talent… is unbelievably poor," it sighed. "But I'm out of time—no choice but to proceed."

Its vast spiritual power swept across a hundred-mile radius.

For a moment, time seemed to freeze.

Yet, just as Huo Yuhao prepared to receive the soul ring—

Nothing happened.

When he reopened his eyes, Tianmeng was gone. Only the gaping crack in the ground remained, evidence of what had just occurred.

"…Where did he go?"

At that moment, Huo Yuhao felt as if the ancestral blessing he had hoped for had been withdrawn.

In the sky above Star Dou Forest.

A cloud of black mist drifted aimlessly. It had been drawn by Tianmeng's immense spiritual energy but lost its target when the process was interrupted.

As if another layer of earth had been added atop Huo Yuhao's ancestral grave…

"Hehehe! My precious treasure, here I come!"

From a bird's-eye view—

Beneath the surface of Star Dou Forest, a figure burrowed through the earth like a giant mole, moving at breakneck speed.

Tianmeng Iceworm raced forward, desperate not to miss the opportunity.

Between an eleven-year-old boy with weak talent and a fourteen-year-old prodigy already possessing the power of a Soul King—

The choice was obvious.

For Tianmeng, survival and the road to godhood came first.

Sorry, kid—life wasn't fair.

Without looking back, it pushed forward, lowering its presence to avoid attracting the monstrous beings in the forest's core.

"Wait for me!"

(End of Chapter)