Douluo Dalu 2: Reincarnated as the Auspicious Beast

The eagle brought Wang Rui to the edge of the Star Dou Forest in less than half an hour.

Wang Rui patted the eagle's head and thanked the soul beast, which was quite old, before walking toward the forest's edge.

Outside the Star Dou Forest... it was still an endless sea of trees.

This ordinary forest surrounding Star Dou is known as the buffer zone to humans. It's home to soul beasts that are hundreds or even thousands of years old, but the vegetation is younger, and plant-type soul beasts are rarely seen here.

Only the area where plant-type soul beasts grow is considered the true Star Dou Forest.

...Within the true boundaries of the Star Dou Forest, all plant-type soul beasts act as eyes and ears for the fierce beasts.

There is a saying among human soul masters: if you encounter a ten-year-old plant-type soul beast in the forest outside of Star Dou, you must be careful, because a ten-thousand-year soul beast could appear out of nowhere, facing you.

If you're lucky, you might even see a hundred-thousand-year soul beast pass by.

While the buffer zone is not as dangerous as the real Star Dou Forest, it's not exactly safe either. After all, the powerful soul beasts are not chained, and no one can stop them from wandering out and taking a stroll if they feel like it.

Years later, plant-type soul beasts would emerge in the buffer zone, officially expanding Star Dou's range. Ordinary vegetation would then extend outward to form a new buffer zone.

But for Wang Rui, this place was as safe as his own backyard.

He leisurely made his way through the forest.

Within the vision of the Eye of Destiny, a large, bright light orb was moving toward him.

It was the fate of the world's chosen one.

In Wang Rui's eyes, anyone else's fate was like a firefly compared to the moon when compared to Ho Yuhao's.

There was a faint sense of connection between him and Ho Yuhao, like a glowing misty thread linking them. Wang Rui could vaguely feel the pull coming from that thread.

This was what people called fated destiny, an unfulfilled cause and effect.

With that light thread in place, even if Wang Rui tried to avoid it, they would eventually meet.

Wang Rui estimated the distance and wandered through the woods for five or six days.

By the time he thought Ho Yuhao was getting close, he chose a small, clear river to sit by and began waiting.

At this moment, he tied a headband around his head, and the Eye of Destiny opened behind it, its blood-red eye swirling inside its socket.

Ho Yuhao's bright, eye-blinding fate wasn't far now.

This place was near a human-made road. Given Ho Yuhao's speed, he'd likely arrive near the river in about half a day.

Wang Rui decided to start a campfire.

He eagerly picked up some wood and tried his hand at fire-starting by rubbing the sticks together. But the materials he had gathered were unsuitable, and after some effort, there wasn't even a spark. In frustration, he threw the stick aside, snapped his fingers, and a bright flame of soul power appeared above the wood.

The fire crackled and popped, and within two seconds, it turned the wood into charcoal.

Wang Rui: ...

It had been thousands of years since he last tried starting a fire this way, so it was understandable that he might have overdone it, right?

Fortunately, this was the buffer zone outside Star Dou, and no soul beasts saw the "disaster" of him trying to cook. Otherwise, he'd probably be turned into dinner by the embarrassed Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

Wang Rui awkwardly rubbed his face, stood up, and picked up more wood to toss back into the fire.

This time, the flame burned steadily, and upon closer inspection, the fire hovered two centimeters above the wood.

There was still time to catch some wild game, which he could give to Ho Yuhao later to build up goodwill.

Wang Rui managed to catch a few wild rabbits from the forest, quickly prepared them, and skewered one on a stick to roast over the fire.

Then he went down to the river, intending to catch some fish.

But when he looked at his reflection in the water, he suddenly chuckled.

With the headband on, if he added a metal plate engraved with the symbol of a leaf, he could totally cosplay a ninja!

When using soul skills, he might even trigger an outburst of his "chuunibyou" soul and shout something like "Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon" or "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu" or something.

He could even add a tactical vest!

A flash of golden light, and a dark green vest appeared in Wang Rui's hands.

If anyone with a spiritual attribute soul beast or human saw this, they'd likely curse: "Damn it, you're using your spiritual power to make cosplay outfits?!" —If they knew what cosplay outfits were.

"...Not quite." Wang Rui stared at the green vest in his hands and sighed softly.

The vest then transformed into a black cloak with red cloud patterns.

"...Still not quite."

Wang Rui smiled wryly, shaking his head. The cloak, full of flaws and missing details, crumbled into golden light particles, slowly drifting back to him.

After fifteen thousand years, he could no longer remember all the details.

Of course, if he tried to dig into his memories, he could still perfectly recreate every manga he'd ever seen.

But what was the point?

After the erosion of time, some things had inevitably changed.

He spent some time catching a few fish from the river, and not long after, Ho Yuhao emerged from the forest behind him.

When Wang Rui finally saw Ho Yuhao, he was a little surprised.

The child before him had messy black short hair, a pale face, was small and thin, with delicate features. His dark blue eyes were bright and sharp, and his expression carried a mix of determination and stubbornness.

...If he were told this was a frail, gender-neutral little girl, Wang Rui would believe it.

Mainly because this didn't match the description in the original work! In the original story, Ho Yuhao had a decent build, not like this at all.

I clearly instructed those silver-backed chipmunks stationed at the White Tiger Duke's manor to take good care of Ho Yun'er and her son, Wang Rui frowned, feeling a sense of caution. Could the plot have changed unexpectedly?

He opened the Eye of Destiny, concealed under his headband. The glowing fate surrounding Ho Yuhao was definitely him.

He had never considered that Ho Yuhao might have been turned into a little girl.

Although Wang Rui had been sending small soul beasts to spy on the White Tiger Duke's manor, their intelligence was limited. They were like humans observing small animals—difficult to tell the gender unless they were very familiar.

Wang Rui never specifically asked his spies whether Ho Yuhao was male or female, so they hadn't reported that.

Silver-backed mice: "Is it our fault?"

The Emperor Sacred Beast and the Child of Destiny are fated to be intertwined... Simply put, it's like a red string of fate.

Wang Rui didn't want to think about how, after shouting in the egg that he wasn't a girl, he was no longer the original Golden Lion. The child of destiny born later, who was fated to be involved with him... why would he still be male?

While he was still puzzled about why Ho Yuhao looked so different from the original description, the child hesitantly spoke: "Uh, your... it's already burned."

Wang Rui quickly turned to look at the fire.

There was no rabbit roasting anymore. Only a piece of black charcoal was left hanging on the stick.

Wuhu! Wang Rui's roasting failure!

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion had eaten raw food for ten thousand years, and when he finally tried cooking meat with his ultimate fire, he was completely unskilled at it! It's reasonable, right?

Thankfully, this was the buffer zone outside Star Dou, so no one could make the connection.

Wang Rui smiled awkwardly, thinking to himself that he had overdone it with the flames a bit. Well, it happens.

(End of Chapter)