Douluo Dalu 2: Reincarnated as the Auspicious Beast

"What do you mean by that, Bear King?" Bi Ji furrowed her brows, glaring at the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear King, "Do you want to defy Di Tian's arrangements?"

She understood what was going on in her heart—ever since Dark Cloud announced the abandonment of the great calamity that spanned seventy thousand years, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear King had been challenging her authority in the Star Dou Forest, trying to take her place as the second fiercest beast in Star Dou.

He didn't want to wait even ten thousand years.

But now, he actually dared to use the divine beast as a raft in front of numerous hundred thousand year soul beasts—this was going too far.

"I mean no harm. It's just that the Tiger King, as a Dark Nether Tiger, possesses both the shadow and space attributes. And this divine beast is clearly light-attribute, so it wouldn't be suitable for the Tiger King to nurse it," the Bear King said.

His eyes betrayed an undeniable greed. "Moreover, my female bear just gave birth to cubs. Although the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear clan carries the word 'gold', we don't use elemental power. The energy in our milk is purer and more natural, making it more suitable for nurturing a divine beast."

If he could truly become the divine beast's foster mother, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear clan would gain endless benefits.

"Not to mention," the Bear King sneered, his face filled with disdain, "The Tiger King must be seriously weakened after her pregnancy. She hasn't been seen in her human form for nearly a thousand years. This is a time for rest, so how could she protect the divine beast? I'm doing this for your own good."

"So, you're trying to provoke a fight with me?" the Tiger King cocked her head, then picked up the divine beast, which was soundly asleep in her forepaws, and placed it in Bi Ji's arms.

"Fine, I've not stretched my muscles for a thousands of years," the Black Tiger nodded to herself, her eyes full of bloodthirsty fighting spirit.

Ever since she decided to have a cub, this battle-hungry tiger had been holding back her aggression. Now, she couldn't suppress herself any longer, and with the Bear King offering a legitimate reason to fight, how could the Tiger King not be excited?

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear King choked, his heart beginning to regret. He had only wanted to test the Tiger King's bottom line, but he didn't expect her to escalate the situation to the point of fighting.

Fighting with the Tiger King… After being beaten by this mother tiger for hundreds of thousands of years, the Bear King's face twitched.

But now, he couldn't back down. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear King sneered coldly in his heart, he didn't believe that the Tiger King's strength would be diminished after giving birth. If he could defeat her directly, maybe this mother tiger would even give him a cub.

The Tiger King, An Yun, had no mate, and there were no other powerful tigers in Star Dou Forest.

But she would rather go to a ten thousand year tiger soul beast to mate than mate with the Bear King.

This enraged the Bear King, who was obsessed with expanding his clan.

"Let's fight, I'm not afraid of you!" The giant bear let out a heavy breath, and dark golden light enveloped his limbs.

"Heh, Shadow Realm, open—" An Yun's cold voice echoed, and the shadows beneath the giant bear suddenly roiled, the land under him vanishing, leaving only an endless, terrifying void.

The shadows, like a swamp, swallowed the bear's limbs.

"What? What is this move?" The Bear King was horrified.

He had challenged the Tiger King several times before and had seen her fight against Di Tian and Wan Yao, but he had never seen her use this kind of move.

He tried to break free from the shadow swamp, and terrifying power even caused tiny space fractures around him, but he couldn't move the shadows even an inch.

The more he struggled, the faster he sank, until he was completely engulfed by the darkness.

"You held out longer than I expected..." An Yun muttered to herself, then gracefully walked into the shadows, vanishing from sight.

"What new technique is this?" Wan Yao gasped, starting to think of countermeasures in case he ever fought the Tiger King.

Bi Ji, while gently stroking the golden fur of the divine beast, said slowly, "An Yun has only recently come up with this technique. The Shadow Realm is a field she enhanced by adding space to her innate domain. It attaches to the shadows, using darkness as the gateway. With both darkness and space combined, it creates its own realm."

The Emerald Swan narrowed her cunning eyes, "An Yun probably didn't inform you of this new technique because you were all in closed-door cultivation at the time, right?"

Her eyes glinted with the implication: she had isolated them on purpose.

The Shadow Realm was filled with dense darkness, and unless someone could suppress it with a strong dark attribute or possess powerful light attributes, any enemies entering the Shadow Nation would be at a huge disadvantage.

But An Yun had reached the peak of darkness comprehension... the only way to counter this move was likely to avoid touching the shadows and being dragged into the Shadow Nation.

But achieving that was easier said than done.

After a while, Bi Ji's eyes dimmed again.

When Di Tian first saw An Yun's Shadow Realm, he had also praised it and then lamented.

If given time, An Yun might have been able to infuse this otherworldly space with energy flow and circulation, which could have allowed it to grow into a small world.

But she didn't have time.

"Good heavens, closing the door and beating the bear," muttered the large head of the Red King, before being bitten by the middle head.

Hearing this, the Fox King barely restrained a laugh.

"Bi Ji, aren't you worried about An Yun?" The King of Ten Thousand Demons frowned, glancing at the shadows. "After all, She just gave birth, and her vitality must have been somewhat weakened. Meanwhile, Dark Cloud extended the time of her pregnancy to a thousand years... Putting aside our personal connections, let me be blunt—With Bear King's intelligence and temperament, he absolutely can't sit in the second place of Star Dou."

"However... Bear King may not win," Bi Ji said quietly.

"Why? Although An Yun has a cultivation of 690,000 years, her bloodline isn't strong enough," the Wan Yao remarked, sensing a trace of darkness in Bi Ji's tone, "In terms of bloodline, she can't compare to the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear clan, which can fight above its rank. Now she's severely weakened... It's probably hard for her to win."

"Because Dark Cloud can now fight without any hesitation," Bi Ji lowered her head, her slender fingers tightening involuntarily. When she squeezed the divine beast, which was soundly asleep, it made a faint sound, and she quickly loosened her grip in surprise.

"A hundred years ago, when I examined her body, I found that she had burned her life force in battle," she looked up at Wan Yao, warning him with her emerald eyes.

"Is that so?" The Wan Yao was stunned.

Fierce beasts can naturally burn their life force to increase their strength. However, each one faces the trial of the Heavenly Calamity and would only risk burning their life force in life-or-death situations, fearing it might damage their foundation and affect their ability to survive the calamity.

A 690,000-year-old fierce beast who dares to burn her life force... even Di Tian, without using the Dragon God Claws or directly relying on her attribute suppression, would probably find it difficult to stop her unharmed.

At that moment, the dark elements in the forest surged again, and the shadows of the trees suddenly converged, forming an abyss of darkness.

A giant black tiger emerged from the shadows... It seemed the Tiger King had won.

The black tiger leapt into the air and, in a burst of purple-black light mist, transformed into a woman.

The woman was over two meters tall, wearing a fur-trimmed short top and tight leather pants. Her tail, as thick as a steel whip, flicked irritably in the air.

Unlike the soft body of most women, this woman had a tall, muscular frame, and though her abs were slightly blurred due to recent childbirth, her muscular lines were very clear.

If the divine beast were awake, it would surely exclaim: what a perfect "Golden Barbie."

The woman had short black hair with a purple tinge at the ends, black tiger ears on her head, and dark purple tiger patterns on her face.

Beneath her thick black brows, her cat-like eyes held no trace of cuteness, instead gleaming with fierce, authoritative light—silent yet commanding.

Anyone standing opposite this woman would immediately recognize her as a humanoid fierce beast, the un-crowned king of the Star Dou Forest.

"Alright, go away," An Yun coldly said.

The soul beasts around them immediately scattered in panic.

As the shadows beneath Dark Cloud swelled, a giant dark golden bear was spat out from the shadows.

It was the Bear King.

But now, the Bear King looked a bit miserable—he had a bald patch on his head, and one of his ears was dripping blood.

No wonder An Yun had ordered the soul beasts to leave first—if any of the other ten thousand year soul beasts saw the Bear King's condition, they would probably be dining on revenge all day long.

The Fox King and Red King couldn't hide their amusement, while Wan Yao laughed outright and mocked, "Oh no, Bear King, just a moment ago and you're already balding?"

"Bi Ji, help him heal. I'm going back now," An Yun said, taking the divine beast from Bi Ji's arms and cradling it in her own before stepping into the shadows, disappearing once more.

"Tiger King! You wait!" The Bear King roared, glaring at Dark Cloud's retreating figure, but no one noticed the flicker of fear in his eyes.

...Anyone trapped in a void with no light and beaten relentlessly would inevitably feel afraid.

Whether An Yun would live to see the day the Bear King got his revenge was unknown. However, all the fierce beasts present understood that the Bear King was in for a thorough beating from Emperor Tian.

What else could he expect for questioning the leader's decisions?

On the other side, An Yun returned to a cave very close to the Lake of Life, holding the divine beast.

A purple giant dragon was guarding the cave entrance, eagerly pawing at a small black tiger cub.

(End of chapter)