Moon Shadow Caravan, Silver Moon Queen (4k5)

Wang Rui immediately understood that the person Huo Yuqing meant was Dai Huabin, but he still feigned ignorance and asked, "You two don't get along?"

Huo Yuqing hesitated, then bit her lower lip and said, "Yeah. He's the one who got my mother killed."

News of Dai Huabin enrolling at Shrek had spread like wildfire throughout the Duke's Mansion. The Duchess could hardly wait to let the whole world know that her precious second son would be studying at Shrek Academy... Naturally, Huo Yuqing knew about it too.

Which of the eldest young master and second young master would inherit the White Tiger Duke's position was also the topic the servants of the Duke's Mansion discussed most often in private.

"I want to go to Shrek Academy and defeat him fair and square there," Huo Yuqing said firmly.

"But that guy should be a Soul Elder by now." A bitter smile appeared on the girl's face. "It might sound like wishful thinking for someone who just became a Soul Master to say she'll defeat a Soul Elder..."

Before today, she had always believed that revenge would require a lifetime of struggle, so such a thought would never have occurred to her. But now, she had the power of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and the promise of the Auspicious Beast. Why shouldn't she give it a try?

If she could not even defeat Dai Huabin, who was currently a Soul Elder, how could she defeat Dai Hao, who had long since become a Titled Douluo? Not to mention fulfilling her agreement with the Imperial Auspicious Beast.

"I'll definitely catch up!" Huo Yuqing's eyes were filled with determination.

"That's the spirit!" Wang Rui smiled and patted her shoulder. "But Shrek's registration period will be starting soon, and it'll last about a month. Do you think you have a chance of meeting their requirements?"

Tang Ya had naturally emphasized just how valuable Shrek's exemption slots were while promoting the Tang Clan earlier.

Huo Yuqing thought of the enrollment requirements Tang Ya had mentioned and sighed. "I'm almost at level fourteen now. Breaking through to level fifteen in a month will probably be difficult, and I don't have a recommendation letter from a main city either... But even if I can't enter Shrek Academy, it would still be nice to look around outside and see what the academy is like."

"What do you plan to do after that?" Wang Rui nodded. The issues of Soul Power Level and recommendation letters would be easy enough to solve.

"I want to find out where Beast Sect's affiliated cities are. If possible, I'd like to live in Beast Sect... You know, I don't really have anywhere to return to."

As though it sensed that the unpleasant human had left, Aunt Rat crawled out of Huo Yuqing's pocket again. The girl gently stroked its fur. "It would be even better if I could find some work to make a living."

"Then do you want to join Beast Sect?" Wang Rui pressed.

The girl hesitated before shaking her head. "I do, but I want to consider that after I've gotten my revenge."

Huo Yuqing was still too inexperienced. She did not understand what kind of existence a sect that had stood firm on the continent for eight thousand years was, nor did she know what kind of aid joining one could provide.

She simply felt that the Duke's Mansion was too powerful and did not want to drag others into her personal vendetta.

Wang Rui did not particularly care that Huo Yuqing did not want to join Beast Sect yet. With him by her side, the monk could run, but the temple could not. Huo Hang was already in the bowl; joining Beast Sect was only a matter of time.

As long as she stayed away from the Tang Clan, that was enough.

As for Shrek... Most people on the Douluo Continent had grown up listening to Shrek's legends. Wang Rui smiled faintly, with a hint of mockery. If she did not go there herself, how would the filter of "the continent's number one academy" in Huo Hang's mind ever be shattered?

Besides, other than Shrek, what academy would let Huo Hang join the main team at this age and go through the entire Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament?

Not every academy had an insider Douluo.

No matter how boring the tournament was, it would still be a rare opportunity for training.

Wang Rui planned to promote Beast Sect's contracts and Soul Spirits at the tournament after next, six years from now, when sects would be allowed to participate. He also needed to make a round of the competition himself to familiarize himself with the process.

"How about this? Beast Sect's Jade City isn't far from Shrek Academy. They're both northwest of Star Dou." Wang Rui thought for a moment. "I'll take you to Jade City first, and you can stay there for a while. When Shrek's registration period is nearing its end, we'll head to Shrek Academy. How does that sound?"

Huo Yuqing's eyes lit up. "That's wonderful, thank you!" Then she asked somewhat hesitantly, "But wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

"It's fine. I happen to be going that way too."

Though they were supposedly heading northwest toward Jade City, Wang Rui did not lead Huo Yuqing out of Star Dou Forest. Instead, he headed deeper into the forest.

Huo Yuqing was a little confused, but she trusted that Wang Rui would not harm her.

After walking for around two hours, the trees around them grew increasingly thick and lush. The girl noticed enormous claw marks, some fresh and some old, gradually appearing on the trees beside them.

"...Are there powerful Soul Beasts active nearby?" Huo Yuqing lowered her voice and asked nervously.

"You could say that." Wang Rui nodded, climbed over a fallen dead tree, then pulled Huo Yuqing over as well. "We're here."

It was a broad clearing in the forest. A broken, dead giant tree stood at its center, and a number of stones were piled around its roots, clearly moved there deliberately.

Rough scratches near the top of the trunk formed the totem of a crescent moon and a wolf's head. Beneath it were dense claw marks—perhaps the Soul Beast equivalent of "so-and-so was here."

"That's Moon Shadow City's emblem." Noticing Huo Yuqing's gaze, Wang Rui explained.

The girl walked over and hesitantly touched the claw marks. Then she turned back to Wang Rui, her large eyes filled with confusion.

"Jade City is far from here, so I'm taking you to catch a ride," Wang Rui said, winking at her.

"A ride?" Huo Yuqing was even more puzzled.

Would there be a carriage in the forest?

But Wang Rui walked directly to the pile of stones, found a suitable spot, and sat down. He patted the space beside him, signaling Huo Yuqing to sit as well.

"The reason ordinary people can't find Beast Sect's affiliated cities is because all five of Beast Sect's cities are located within Star Dou Forest."

"Cities inside a Soul Beast Forest?" Huo Yuqing's eyes widened in disbelief.

"All of the cities were originally built along the edge of Star Dou Forest. But as time passed, the forest's boundary gradually expanded outward, and those cities ended up being enveloped by the forest. Now, most of the people settled in these cities are descendants of civilians who originally lived along Star Dou Forest's edge," Wang Rui said. "The people in the cities still need supplies, so caravans regularly leave to purchase goods and exchange with other cities. This is where the caravans rest."

"We're currently in the southern part of Star Dou Forest, so Moon Shadow City isn't actually that far away," Wang Rui said. "Besides Moon Shadow and Jade City, Beast Sect's other three cities are Gu City, Jade City's twin city; Mad Lion City, directly east of Star Dou; and New City, southwest of Star Dou."

"Mad Lion City rose to prominence after Moon Shadow City declined. Its first city lord was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Crimson Flame Blood Lion who had taken human form and begun cultivating again."

"Isn't that like Xiao Wu from the legendary Shrek Seven Devils?" Huo Yuqing recalled the stories her mother had told her when she was young and asked.

Wang Rui nodded, eagerly sharing gossip with his new friend. "But lions have their instincts. The first lord of Mad Lion City had many wives, including members of his own kind and many humans... That's why Mad Lion City has the most half-Soul Beasts."

Then he suddenly remembered that he could barely count as a lion himself and hurriedly clarified, "Of course, it depends on the individual. Not every lion can't control what's below the belt."

Wait, why am I clarifying that to Huo Hang? It's not like she's my wife. Wang Rui scratched his head awkwardly.

"Half-Soul Beasts...?" Huo Yuqing asked hesitantly. "Are they the children of humans and Soul Beasts?"

"Yes. That Sea God, Tang San, was also a half-Soul Beast. His mother was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor." Wang Rui shrugged. There had never been reproductive isolation between humans and Soul Beasts on the Douluo Continent. "In Beast Sect, the birth of half-Soul Beasts is very common."

Huo Yuqing: cosmic cat ascension.jpg

The aptitude of half-Soul Beasts was mainly influenced by their Soul Beast bloodline. The higher the cultivation of the Soul Beast parent, the better the child's talent would be—sometimes even surpassing humans. If a Soul Beast with less than ten thousand years of cultivation had a child with a human... then the child would be more beastly by nature. But with proper guidance, they would not turn out badly; they would simply be a little less intelligent than ordinary humans.

Half-Soul Beasts would not produce Soul Rings after death, but they could drop Soul Bones, with the drop rate increasing with cultivation... If Tang San had been killed after his Blue Silver Emperor bloodline awakened, he would have had a guaranteed drop.

And according to the information Wang Rui had accumulated over the years, three-quarter Soul Beasts... would definitely produce Soul Rings after death.

So, the Tang family...

"Ahem, I got off topic." Wang Rui cleared his throat. "Where was I? Ah, Jade City. Jade City is a very special city, a city of healers through and through. It gathers a vast number of healing-type Soul Masters and has more healing-type Soul Masters than anywhere else on the Douluo Continent. The Jade Swan martial soul inherited by the city lord's lineage is one of the finest healing-type martial souls on the continent. As for its twin city, Gu City, it is home to many highly venomous Soul Beasts and Soul Masters, most of them insect-type."

"New City was only built within the past thousand years. It has the shortest history of the five cities, but what it researches is the most innovative." Wang Rui paused, pride entering his voice. "New City is the most advanced city in the three nations of the Douluo Continent when it comes to Soul Tool research. In certain specialized Soul Tools, its technical level even far surpasses the Sun Moon Empire."

Huo Yuqing listened with great interest and could not help asking curiously, "Wang Rui, you know so much. Are you a Beast Sect disciple?"

"Mm... not exactly, but I do have some ties to Beast Sect," Wang Rui said.

Heh, Beast Sect's ancestor and founder certainly did not count as a disciple. That was not a lie.

"Ah, they're here."

Huo Yuqing heard the dull sound of claws striking the ground, mixed with the rustling crack of breaking branches and leaves. It sounded as if a large pack of animals was approaching.

Soon, a pack of giant wolves emerged from the forest and appeared before her.

There were roughly forty or fifty giant wolves in the pack. Every one of them stood taller at the shoulder than an adult human, with sturdy limbs and broad paws.

The wolves had different fur colors—silvery white, gray-black, and reddish brown—so they likely belonged to different breeds.

Some of the giant wolves carried luggage on their backs, while more than ten bore humans—presumably the human partners who had formed contracts with them.

The leading wolf stood more than two meters tall at the shoulder, its body dark as the night. Its blue-black fur was thick and glossy. A moon-shaped marking sat at the center of its forehead, glowing with cool moon-white radiance.

A beautiful woman sat upon the wolf king's back. She looked twenty-five or twenty-six and wore a sharp, valiant riding outfit. Her cloudlike black hair was tied high in a ponytail, threaded with several thin three-strand braids adorned with gleaming white jade. Her delicate features were serene and gentle, and she gave off the same refined elegance as a bright silver moon beneath the night sky.

She raised a hand and made a gesture. The wolf pack halted in perfect order, leaving only the heavy breathing of the giant wolves in the woods.

Every giant wolf looked toward Huo Yuqing and Wang Rui, and the girl nervously clutched Wang Rui's sleeve.

Then she realized that the giant wolves tilting their heads and staring at them with pink tongues hanging out did not have any viciousness in their eyes. Every last one of them looked adorably curious.

The woman, beautiful as moonlight, patted the giant wolf beneath her. It lowered its body in tacit understanding, allowing her to slide down from its back.

"Organize the team." A deep male voice came from the wolf king's mouth.

The human riders slid down from their partners' backs one after another, helping the giant wolves remove their luggage before opening waterskins to give their partners water. The giant wolves without burdens or human partners began to frolic and play, one biting another's ear, another biting its companion's tail. For a time, the clearing filled with cries somewhere between barking and howling.

The woman walked straight toward them.

"Big Sister Lexuan." Wang Rui greeted her with a grin. "Are you heading to Jade City? We're here to hitch a wolf ride."

"Of course, Rui..." The woman's expression was startled and somewhat unnatural. Her lips moved several times before she finally continued, "...Rui, who is this?"

"This is a friend I just met, Huo Yuhao." Wang Rui introduced with a smile. "Yuhao, this is Zhang Lexuan, the city lord of Moon Shadow City, the Silver Moon Queen, Moon Douluo. She's also my elder's disciple, so just call her Big Sister Lexuan."

"Hello, Big Sister Lexuan." Huo Yuqing greeted her very stiffly.

She could not help being nervous.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was shouting in her mind, "Little Qing, the woman in front of you is a Titled Douluo! The wolf she's riding is a Fierce Beast with at least two hundred thousand years of cultivation... That's roughly equivalent to a level ninety-five Super Douluo among you humans. There are also at least two wolves in this pack with more than one hundred thousand years of cultivation. See that man next to the gray wolf? He's a Titled Douluo too."

It was the first time in Huo Yuqing's life that she had encountered so many powerful beings. Zhang Lexuan was not only a Titled Douluo young beyond imagination, but also the disciple of Wang Rui's elder... Just what kind of background did Wang Rui have?

Little did she know that Zhang Lexuan, standing opposite her, was even more nervous.

As the current lord of Moon Shadow City and the next sect master of Beast Sect, Zhang Lexuan naturally knew what the Auspicious Beast's human form looked like.

She was currently screaming in her head: It's over, it's over! The Imperial Auspicious Beast actually called me big sister... Wuwu, if this gets out, the people in the core area will definitely make things difficult for me!

Seeing that both of them were so tense, Wang Rui was rather speechless and could only step in to smooth things over.

"Big Sister Lexuan, you still have other things to do, right? Could you arrange someone to take us along?"

Zhang Lexuan nodded calmly and called softly, "Lang Xingying, come here."

"Coming, coming!" A small figure darted out from among the giant wolves, some lying down and some sprawled on the ground. "Auntie, what did you call me for?"

He was a boy around twelve or thirteen, slightly taller than Wang Rui. He had short white hair, except for the hair at his temples, which was left long and tied into two little braids. His handsome face still carried childishness, and he had a pair of very warm golden-brown eyes.

"These are juniors from my teacher's family, so they count as my younger siblings. They're going to Jade City too. Keep them company for now, and when the time comes, have your mother take them along."

Huo Yuqing's eyes widened. What Zhang Lexuan said meant... this boy's mother was also a giant wolf? He was a half-Soul Beast?

"Okay, okay, I understand, Auntie. Go do your work, Auntie. I'll take good care of them!" the boy said with a cheerful grin.

Awesome! Zhang Lexuan!

Zhang Lexuan's martial soul was the moon, and the moon had always held special meaning for wolf-kind. When she cultivated with the wolves, they accelerated each other's cultivation, so her strength was far greater than her counterpart's at the same point in the original story.

As for half-Soul Beasts... well, human-Soul Beast pairings were mainstream on the Douluo Continent anyway ()

When Soul Beasts cultivated anew, they were said to completely become human during the mature stage at level seventy... Personally, I think they were still Soul Beasts. Their aura simply no longer exposed them. Otherwise, how could Ah Yin have had a Soul Ring and Soul Bone? ()

Even if a Soul Beast became human in form, its bloodline remained. It could never truly become human.

Anyone on Douluo who discriminates against half-human, half-Soul Beasts should discriminate against the Sea God first! Mixed blood is perfectly reasonable anyway.

Reproductive isolation... Douluo really doesn't have that. Even wolves and monkeys can have mixed-blood offspring there (biology nerds rejoice).