Douluo Dalu 2: Reincarnated as the Auspicious Beast

Hearing an unfamiliar term, Huo Yuqing hesitated and shook her head. "Beast Sect...? I've never heard of it. what is it?"

The name sounded a lot like that of a sect. Huo Yuqing had heard of such organizations back when she lived at the Duke's residence.

On the Douluo Continent, sects held immense influence, especially those with a long history of nurturing soul masters. In a way, even the Duke's residence could be considered a major sect.

Beast Sect... It probably had something to do with soul beasts.

Hearing the mention of Beast Sect, Wang Rui raised his eyebrows slightly, listening attentively.

Beast Sect was an organization Wang Rui had established over the course of ten thousand years, a sect where humans and soul beasts coexisted.

It was Emperor Auspicious Beast's most crucial move to exert influence over human society and served as the primary bridge between the Star Dou Forest and the outside world. It was also a pilot project aimed at easing the conflict between humans and soul beasts.

Over time, the Beast Sect had indeed gained a notable position in the human world.

As for what the outside world knew about Beast Sect, it was information selectively released by the sect.

On the surface, Beast Sect appeared to be founded by humans, but in reality, it was backed entirely by fierce beasts and hundred-thousand-year-old soul beasts—something humans were completely unaware of.

Wang Rui was now curious to hear how Bei Bei would describe Beast Sect.

"Beast Sect is a very mysterious and unique ancient sect," Bei Bei explained with a smile to Huo Yuqing. "It was established about eight thousand years ago. Today, it is considered one of the most powerful forces on the continent."

"An ancient sect that old!" Huo Yuqing blinked in surprise.

"Hmph..." Tang Ya, the disgraced head of Tang Sect, snorted jealously, paying no attention to the grilled fish. "I heard that Beast Sect's teachings are quite broad. As long as a soul master agrees with their ideology, they can join and learn. Naturally, with such openness, their legacy wouldn't die out over time."

"Beast Sect has five affiliated cities," Tang Ya added with a hint of envy in her tone. "But sooner or later, I'll..."

Tang Ya stopped herself just in time. She still had a basic sense of caution—not to reveal too much about herself to strangers, even if the other party was just an eleven- or twelve-year-old child.

But in her heart, Tang Ya was determined. One day, she would develop Tang Sect into a force stronger than Beast Sect.

Bei Bei glanced at Tang Ya with a smile. He liked her unyielding spirit, especially when it came to restoring the legacy of Tang Sect.

"Most of the people living in those cities are ordinary folks who agree with Beast Sect's principles," Bei Bei continued. "It's rare to see direct disciples of Beast Sect traveling across the continent, and no one knows where the sect's headquarters is located."

"Huh? Why's that?... Ah, your grilled fish is ready." Huo Yuqing quickly handed the skewers of grilled fish to Bei Bei.

The wild chicken and rabbit that Bei Bei had brought back took longer to cook and were still sizzling over the fire.

"Wow! Finally done! Smells amazing, I was starving!" Tang Ya grabbed the grilled fish from Bei Bei's hands and took a big bite.

"Careful, it's hot..." Bei Bei's warning came too late.

Tang Ya was already jumping around, huffing and puffing after being burned by the hot fish. Still, she refused to spit it out and forced herself to swallow it. Bei Bei could only smile helplessly and shake his head.

"What exactly is Beast Sect's ideology? And why are its disciples so rarely seen on the continent?" Huo Yuqing couldn't contain her curiosity and asked.

"I don't know much about Beast Sect myself, so I can only answer your second question." Bei Bei tore off a piece of fish, eating much more gracefully than Tang Ya.

"I've heard from my elders that Beast Sect's cultivation methods are highly unique. Their disciples can tame soul beasts and cultivate alongside them, which allows them to progress faster than ordinary soul masters and even learn skills from their soul beast partners. As a result, they travel with their soul beasts."

"Travel with soul beasts?" Huo Yuqing was surprised.

She thought about how Tang Ya had assumed her Auntie Mouse was merely a backup soul ring and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wouldn't people target their soul beasts for soul rings?"

"Of course," Bei Bei nodded. "But Beast Sect is very powerful, and those disciples allowed to venture into the world are usually strong enough to protect their partners... At least, I've never personally encountered such individuals."

"You treat that little striped mouse so well, so I just assumed you were a Beast Sect disciple on a training journey," Bei Bei said with an apologetic smile.

"I've never even heard of Beast Sect before," Huo Yuqing shook her head.

"It's not about taming; it's a mutually beneficial, equal contract. Beast Sect disciples see their soul beasts as family and partners... If you ever meet a Beast Sect disciple, don't say something like that. They take it very seriously." Wang Rui naturally joined the conversation, sounding as though he had nothing to do with Beast Sect.

He then handed two rabbit legs to Huo Yuqing. "Here, have some. Take care of yourself too."

Wang Rui was probably the kind of person who, in a group at a barbecue outing, would make sure everyone was equally fed—a fatherly figure, he mused.

Huo Yuqing, feeling quite hungry, accepted the rabbit leg and began eating gracefully. The roasted rabbit had cooled just enough for her to enjoy.

Bei Bei, meanwhile, looked at Wang Rui in mild surprise. "Brother, you seem well-informed."

The red-haired youth didn't sound like someone from Beast Sect, but he must have a powerful backing of his own to know such detailed secrets... Perhaps he was from a hidden family.

"When you're out and about, you have to be careful and learn a lot. Otherwise, if you offend the wrong person and get beaten up, where would you go to cry?" Wang Rui shrugged, effortlessly spinning a lie to maintain his cover.

Though, given his real identity, his words carried a hint of irony.

"As for Beast Sect's ideology..." Wang Rui paused, considering how much to reveal. "They hope for relative harmony between humans and soul beasts."

"There's a legend that, eight thousand years ago, a human baby was abandoned near the outskirts of Star Dou Forest." Wang Rui began recounting the widely accepted origin story of Beast Sect.

"A female Moonshadow Wolf, who had lost her cub, raised the child. Later, he naturally awakened his martial soul, and by some coincidence or post-birth influence, his martial soul happened to be a Moonshadow Wolf.

Perhaps because he grew up among wolves, this soul master developed a unique cultivation method based on the wolves, allowing him to advance quickly. When he reached bottlenecks, he could directly absorb soul rings from the wolves' prey. Moreover, he learned many skills from the wolves that weren't limited to soul rings... As a result, his strength far exceeded that of other soul masters of the same rank."

"The people of that era gave him the title 'Wolfpack Douluo,'" Bei Bei added. "I read about him in history books. Later, Wolfpack Douluo became the leader of his wolf pack. Though he eventually returned to human society, he always fought alongside his wolf pack. Perhaps due to their shared growth, his wolves were much smarter than ordinary soul beasts of the same level. He even single-handedly stopped a beast tide."

Wang Rui nodded and continued, "Because of his experiences, Wolfpack Douluo believed that humans and soul beasts could coexist. However, being human, his lifespan was far shorter than that of soul beasts. He feared that after his death, his wolf pack would be hunted by human soul masters. So, in his later years, he established Beast Sect at the edge of Star Dou Forest, welcoming disciples who wished for peaceful coexistence with soul beasts and teaching them his cultivation methods. He also promised the three great empires that Beast Sect would resist beast tides and protect civilians from soul beast attacks."

"As Beast Sect grew, more like-minded soul masters joined, and the sect's headquarters moved to an unknown location. The city built by Wolfpack Douluo became one of Beast Sect's five affiliated cities—Moonshadow City."

"I've never heard of any soul beasts massacring villages on the outskirts of Star Dou Forest. To my knowledge, during the beast tide a few hundred years ago, Beast Sect played a significant role. In the end, it was thanks to their mediation that Star Dou Forest agreed to sign a peace treaty with humans," Bei Bei said thoughtfully.

Wang Rui's story was entirely true; he merely omitted the involvement of the fierce beasts and himself in Beast Sect's founding.

"Beast Sect's goal is quite naive, really. Soul masters need soul rings to break through bottlenecks. How can humans and soul beasts truly coexist? After all, soul masters must obtain soul rings to advance," Tang Ya said bluntly, her mouth full of fish.

"Beast Sect doesn't oppose soul masters obtaining soul rings. They just hope humans won't kill soul beasts excessively," Wang Rui said with a shrug.

Since there was already an Emperor Auspicious Beast overseeing things, soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest experienced accelerated cultivation speed overall, but the ecosystem still remained relatively balanced.

As long as humans refrained from wanton slaughter of soul beasts for spirit bones, hides, and other materials, and avoided using forbidden techniques to exterminate entire tribes, the demand for soul rings from ordinary soul masters was actually within the forest's capacity for self-recovery and would not disrupt the ecosystem's balance.

Ah, ecological balance—so fragile yet so resilient. Never underestimate the power of life.

Nowadays, the Star Dou Forest had essentially been fortified into an impenetrable stronghold, with the watchful eyes of powerful soul beasts everywhere.

It was impossible to outright prevent ordinary soul masters from obtaining soul rings. If humans couldn't get out of the Star Dou Forest, war with the three major empires would be imminent. The forest couldn't afford such devastation.

However, if someone sought to recklessly hunt soul bones or harvest several hundred-thousand-year soul rings like the Body Sect…

Heh.

The Star Dou Forest's staunchest militant soul beasts were already itching for a fight.

But their jurisdiction only extended within the forest.

While the Demon Forest of the Sun-Moon Continent and the Extreme North also followed the Emperor Auspicious Beast's supervision model, neither of those regions had an entity as powerful as the Emperor Auspicious Beast. Consequently, their high-level combat strength was far weaker than that of the Star Dou Forest, and the various soul beast tribes were far less united, making effective monitoring of humans nearly impossible.

Thus, Wang Rui intended to promote the Beast Sect's contract method in the future. This approach would accelerate the cultivation of some soul beasts while restraining human overhunting through contractual obligations.

The contract technique he developed utilized the power of destiny to foster a symbiotic relationship between humans and soul beasts with pre-existing emotional bonds, allowing them to share their fates and benefit mutually. However, only he could perform this technique, and its stringent requirements made it unsuitable for large-scale adoption.

Unfortunately, research on the contract technique had reached a bottleneck. To make further progress, Wang Rui needed new ideas from Electrolux. Based on the neighboring "Sealed Divine Throne" world, the contract magic of the Saint-Magic Continent seemed highly valuable as a reference.

Since Wang Rui didn't understand the magic of that other world, he had spent idle moments over the past ten thousand years trying to study soul spirits. However, he had made no headway, as he didn't even know where to begin—an unavoidable outcome.

If the soul spirit technology described in the original work could be fully mastered by the soul beasts, it would undoubtedly be a significant boon for their race.

But whether it was contracts or soul spirits, they were merely temporary solutions for easing the tension between humans and soul beasts.

The only permanent solution would be for soul beasts to achieve godhood and break free of the soul ring system.

"The Beast Sect has always worked toward harmonious coexistence between humans and soul beasts. From what I know, one of the five Beast Sect cities, Jasper City, once signed a non-slaughter agreement with several major powers on the continent," Beibei added.

The agreement with Jasper City had been signed with Shrek City.

Roughly three hundred years ago, the Shrek Sea God Pavilion had sought assistance from Jasper City's city lord, Jasper Douluo, leading to the signing of this pact. However, Beibei wasn't clear on the exact details.

Huo Yuqing felt a tinge of admiration for the Beast Sect. It wasn't about coveting their cultivation method, which was said to accelerate progress. The relatively pure-hearted girl simply admired the sect's philosophy of peaceful coexistence between humans and soul beasts.

Perhaps in that sect, Auntie Mouse would be respected, not just dismissed as a loathsome rodent.

After achieving her revenge, maybe she could visit one of the legendary Beast Sect's affiliated cities.

But first, she needed to obtain her first soul ring before thinking about anything else.

"Big sister, your roast chicken and rabbit are ready," Huo Yuqing said, taking the skewered fowl and rabbits off the fire.

"So fragrant, so delicious!" Tang Ya exclaimed as she accepted the roasted meat, savoring the aroma.

Huo Yuqing smiled, walked over to the stream, washed her hands, and filled a waterskin.

"Big brother Bei, big sister Tang Ya, I'm leaving now," she said with a smile, shouldering her bundle. "It was nice meeting you. I hope we'll meet again someday."

She then turned to wave at Wang Rui but didn't say much else. Somehow, she had a vague premonition that she would see him again soon.

"Goodbye," Wang Rui responded softly.

See you in half an hour, Wang Rui thought to himself. He could already sense the presence of the Tianmeng Iceworm nearby.

Watching Huo Yuqing's departing figure, Tang Ya curiously turned to Wang Rui. "Weren't you two together?"

"No," Wang Rui replied, a little speechless.

Oh well, it wasn't her fault for not noticing. Tang Ya was just being her usual carefree, warm-hearted self.

"Then I'll be on my way too," Wang Rui said, standing up and brushing off non-existent dust. "Take your time eating. See you around."