Douluo Dalu 2: Reincarnated as the Auspicious Beast

Tang Ya, with her Purple Demon Eyes activated, noticed the first light streak and quickly dodged to the left. However, due to her limited movement, she couldn't evade entirely, and the second energy ball fired by the soul-guided wrist cannon hit her right arm directly—making it seem as though she ran straight into the attack!

Tang Ya's right upper arm instantly turned blackened, and she let out a muffled groan as the purple glow in her eyes flickered momentarily.

Seizing this opportunity, a golden flash appeared in Huo Yuqing's eyes as she activated the last skill granted by Tianmeng Iceworm: Mental Shock!

Tang Ya felt a sudden blunt pain in her forehead, as if something had crashed into her. It didn't take long for her to realize that she had been hit by a mental attack!

However, Huo Yuqing wasn't in perfect condition either. Though Tang Ya's Purple Demon Eyes briefly stalled from the pain and caught her off guard, years of practice had made her mental power stronger than that of an average Soul Elder, causing Huo Yuqing to suffer a minor backlash.

Huo Yuqing felt as if she had run headfirst into a wall, letting out a muffled groan of her own.

"You scoundrel!" Tang Ya shrieked furiously, her third soul ring—the darkest yellow one—flashed brightly. A massive blue-black vine net, reeking of poison, surged toward Huo Yuqing.

Yet Huo Yuqing stood still without dodging.

A blazing wall of crimson-gold fire suddenly rose in front of her. The poisonous net of the Mandala Snake vine instantly turned to ash upon contact. The crimson-gold flames even followed the vines back along the ground, incinerating other creeping tendrils.

"It's over," Wang Rui said in a deep voice. "You used your third soul ring."

"Heh, don't think you've passed the assessment just yet." Tang Ya sneered. "According to Shrek Academy's traditions, using soul-guided weapons during assessments is strictly forbidden."

"What do you mean?" Huo Yuqing frowned.

"Indeed, students aren't allowed to use soul-guided weapons during the assessment," the instructor confirmed.

"But she was the one who started using hidden weapons first!" Huo Yuqing glared in frustration.

"The Tang Sect's hidden weapons are considered ordinary tools, not soul-guided devices. Moreover, we don't have explicit restrictions on what higher-grade students can use… Technically speaking, senior students can use anything."

This was Huo Yuqing's first experience with Shrek's infamous, arbitrary "we reserve the right to interpret the rules" policy.

The young girl, who had only just begun to see the treachery of human nature, looked utterly dumbfounded.

Jiang Nannan was fuming with anger, but there was nothing she could do.

"If Yuhao doesn't pass Shrek's assessment, we'll just go to another academy." Wang Rui stepped forward, wrapped an arm around Huo Yuqing's shoulders, and began walking away, subtly giving her a meaningful look.

Still dazed, Huo Yuqing followed him without fully understanding what was happening.

"W-wait, students!" The instructor panicked. He had initially thought that Wang Rui and Huo Yuqing had only a casual acquaintance. He hadn't anticipated that this high-potential new Soul Elder would give up on enrolling at Shrek just to leave with Huo Yuqing—a white-ringed freshman with no notable background.

Expelling a Level 16 freshman was no big deal, but if word got out that he had allowed a promising Soul Elder with no significant backing to slip away, he would certainly face harsh consequences from the administration.

Panicking, he hurriedly stepped forward to block Wang Rui's path.

"Well, there might have been some issues during the assessment," the instructor said awkwardly, "but Huo Yuhao's performance was truly outstanding, so the academy can offer him a second chance at the assessment."

Tang Ya heard this and glared at the instructor with hatred but said nothing.

"Who wants another assessment?"

"Teacher, I'll go." A round-faced girl stepped forward. Her gaze toward Tang Ya carried a hint of disdain.

And so, the assessment restarted.

This girl's martial soul was unusual. Upon activating it, her round face became more angular, a pair of small yellow-brown ears appeared on her head, and her fingers became short and stubby with webbing between them.

Wang Rui's mouth twitched slightly.

The diversity of human martial souls never failed to amaze him—this senior's martial soul was clearly a capybara!

Capybara-type soul beasts were a strange powerhouse in the forest. Any soul beast with a lower cultivation level that approached them would feel inexplicably peaceful and lose all will to fight.

If a capybara ever reached a hundred-thousand-year cultivation level, it would undoubtedly become a natural-born peacekeeper.

Unfortunately, capybaras were all too lazy and indifferent to everything, living by the philosophy of "whatever happens, happens." Not a single one had ever reached the hundred-thousand-year threshold.

The girl introduced herself as a control-type battle soul master… What a waste of Shrek's resources!

"How close are you to that girl?" Wang Rui asked Jiang Nannan through soul power transmission.

Jiang Nannan paused for a moment before replying, "Very close. Why?"

"If her character is decent… I'll give you two years to recruit her to Emerald City."

Jiang Nannan's eyes lit up, and her gaze toward her friend grew fervent, resembling that of a child trafficker about to lure away her target.

In the arena, the round-faced girl's first soul ring lit up, and a peculiar aura of serenity spread from her.

Huo Yuqing, who had been on high alert, suddenly became dazed, her eyes slightly vacant, and she began to feel drowsy.

Suddenly, she snapped back to attention, only to find that the round-faced girl had already rushed in front of her, ready to land a hit.

Huo Yuqing hastily dodged.

The two of them quickly fell into a bizarre rhythm of control-escape-dodge, neither able to gain the upper hand, dragging the match into a prolonged stalemate.

"She's holding back," Tang Ya grumbled in dissatisfaction.

The instructor forced a bitter smile. "That's just how she fights…"

Inwardly, he prayed that this young troublemaker wouldn't involve him further. He had no idea what grudge Tang Ya held against these two newcomers, but this was clearly a case of "when gods fight, it's the mortals who suffer." Letting a Level 30 newcomer go was out of the question, but Tang Ya wasn't someone he could afford to offend either!

Although he was referred to as a teacher, he was merely a general assistant in Shrek Academy. He had no teaching responsibilities but only managed enrollment and assessments due to some personal connections.

Initially, he had hoped to network with promising students during registration. Instead, he had ended up offending several people in one go.

This was truly…

In the end, he had no choice but to declare Huo Yuhao's assessment as passed and hand her the certificate of admission.

"You may proceed to register as a new student."

Wang Rui followed Jiang Nannan out without sparing another glance at Tang Ya.

Perhaps due to Tang Ya's recent surge of negative emotions, Wang Rui had clearly seen black energy—a sign of corruption—emanating from her Blue Silver Grass.

Ah, what's the point of holding a grudge? After all, there's no Blue Silver Emperor left in Douluo Continent.

[T/N: Isn't there a Blue Silver Emperor with 190,000 years cultivation in Sun Moon empire?]

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(Chapter End)