Scorpion Tiger Zhang Peng

Only five to eight drops of blood...? This was probably the only thing in the commercial district she could afford...

Unable to suppress her curiosity, Huo Yuqing asked, "What exactly do these pills do?"

"Oh, kid, you know your stuff." The crow hopped excitedly on its perch and tapped one of the bottles with its beak. "The pills in this bottle are the lowest grade, suitable for little Soul Masters with low cultivation like you. Taking one can temporarily let you wield Soul Power at around the thirty- or forty-rank level... Of course, it can't make up for differences in Martial Souls or Soul Skills, but you can use Soul Tools above your level. Perfect for running away or taking a beating."

A dark glint flashed through the girl's eyes. She lowered her gaze and asked within her Sea of Consciousness, "Brother Sky Dream, if I use a pill like that to temporarily reach the Soul Elder level, could I defeat a Soul Elder whose Martial Soul is the White Tiger with Spiritual Shock?"

"If he ain't prepared at all, you can definitely knock him unconscious," Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said with certainty. "But if he's on guard, Spiritual Shock will probably be less effective. Still, I wouldn't recommend taking that crooked path. The side effects of these pills have to be enormous. Besides, even if you had one, you couldn't get into Shrek or reach the person you want revenge on."

"I know." Huo Yuqing gave a bitter smile.

She understood every word of Brother Sky Dream's reasoning, but seeing such a shortcut before her, she could not help asking.

"...There are stronger ones too. Like this one—it can let someone around Rank Sixty use their Martial Soul Avatar ahead of time. Give this to a Soul Saint, and they can temporarily display the strength of a Soul Douluo." The crow continued his sales pitch with remarkable dedication. "This one can raise a Soul Master's Soul Power from Rank Ninety-Four to around Rank Ninety-Six, or from Rank Ninety-Six to Ninety-Seven... That's a huge boost for a Titled Douluo. But whoever takes the pill pays with their blood~ Little friend, do you know any adults who need these pills? Introduce a couple to your big brother here~ Really not buying one? Little friend, our goods are guaranteed genuine~ If you don't believe me, ask around..."

The middle-aged man sitting on a small stool finally frowned in irritation. He shot Wang Rui a subtle glance, then reached out and clamped the crow's beak shut. "He's just a child. Why are you trying to sell him this stuff?"

"Mmff! Mmff! Mmph!" The crow flapped its wings and struggled. Once free, it took the chance to peck the middle-aged man. "I only noticed there's a lot of resentment in his heart! Little friend, you have an enemy you can't beat right now, don't you? You definitely need this stuff, right?"

Huo Yuqing was startled and watched the large crow warily.

"It is an Omen Resentment Crow, an extremely rare soul beast with both darkness and spiritual attributes," Wang Rui said. He glanced at the large crow with a faintly amused smile. "Mutated soul beasts like it are exceptionally sensitive to negative spiritual energy."

"Hehehe, human little friend, you know far too mu—caw?" The large crow let out a strange laugh, only for its voice to abruptly cut off. It stared fixedly at Wang Rui with its blood-red eyes.

The crow's sharp beak slowly closed.

If you dare reveal my identity, you're dead, Wang Rui conveyed with a smile through Spiritual Power.

Most Beast Sect disciples had never seen the Auspicious Beast in human form, but the middle-aged man before them was also a Titled Douluo and held a lofty position in Gu City. As his contracted partner, the Omen Resentment Crow had naturally seen Wang Rui's appearance before.

The crow obediently fell silent. It squatted honestly on its perch like a brooding hen, pretending to be nothing more than a pitch-black ornament.

The middle-aged man gave a loud snort of laughter, then turned to Huo Yuqing. "Kid, this stuff isn't for young people like you. Only desperadoes who live with their heads on the line, or unlucky bastards being hunted down, would take this medicine to save their lives in desperate circumstances. One pill will keep you bedridden for two months. Take two, and your meridians are basically ruined. Kids shouldn't be thinking about this stuff."

The middle-aged man paused, then flipped his hand over. An eerie dark-gold bottle appeared in his palm. He winked at Huo Yuqing and lowered his voice. "Look at this. Make your enemy swallow it, and as long as there isn't a healing-type Titled Douluo present, anyone below Rank Ninety-Five is guaranteed to be cured as soon as the medicine takes effect... Er, cured of life, that is. Just be careful not to spill it on yourself."

"Uh, no need, Senior. I don't think I can afford that. Thank you." Huo Yuqing laughed awkwardly and inched backward.

What kind of poison was that?! That was terrifying! Were people from Gu City all this scary?! It could poison even Titled Douluo below Rank Ninety-Five to death—then wouldn't Dai Hao also...

Huo Yuqing hurriedly suppressed that frightening thought. To avenge herself, she had to defeat Dai Hao openly and honorably. Only then could she seek justice for her mother.

The crow, on the other hand, tilted its head and scrutinized her.

Seeing her reaction, the black-clad middle-aged man burst into hearty laughter. "I was just messing with you. I wasn't going to sell it to you. Little friend, just cultivate properly. When I was your age, my family was all dead, and I was hunted all the way to Star Dou. Now I'm this old, but my enemies are still alive and well. Hatred isn't the most important thing in your life. Take it easier. Don't brood so much that you attract crows..."

Behind him, the Omen Resentment Crow flapped its wings and loudly protested, "Don't make it sound like there's something wrong with crows! Being drawn to negative emotions is my instinct, all right?! Instinct!"

The middle-aged man grabbed the crow's beak again. "In any case, leave everything to the future."

Huo Yuqing froze for a moment, then smiled bitterly. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior. I..."

"All right, all right, big lad, stop being so wishy-washy. Could your enemy really be more formidable than mine?" The middle-aged man waved a hand. "From your reaction, that guy probably isn't much stronger than you. Cultivate properly. If you can't cultivate past him, then just try to outlive him. Spit on his grave—that counts as revenge too."

"Little friend, I like the look of you. If anything happens to you in the future, come find me in Gu City. Just give them the name Scorpion Tiger Douluo Zhang Peng, and they'll know." He waved them away as though swatting flies. "Go on, go on. You two go play somewhere else. Don't hold up my business."

Huo Yuqing hurriedly slipped away with Wang Rui.

After the two had been gone for a while, Zhang Peng's smile faded. He muttered thoughtfully to himself, "I never expected the news from the wolf pack to be true... But why would the one he chose as a contract partner be a child immersed in vengeance?"

"Hehe, there's quite a lot of pent-up negative emotion in that child's heart," the crow cawed.

"I wonder whether those words of advice did him any good. Becoming a creature of revenge isn't a good path." The middle-aged man spoke somewhat indifferently, his eyes vaguely fixed on some point in empty air. "All that comes from immersing yourself in revenge is emptiness."

"That's something that one should worry about," the crow cackled. "We should worry about ourselves first."

A blue-green figure dove down from the sky.

"People from Gu City! You're selling contraband here again!" An eagle's cry rang out. "Take your pills and get the hell out of Jade City!!!"

"Tch." Zhang Peng waved a hand. The small bottles on the ground vanished, and his entire body turned into a streak of black light and disappeared.

The whole process was smooth and practiced, no different from a pancake stall packing up at the sight of city inspectors.

Boom! A broad wind blade descended, cleaving a crack straight through the place where he had just been standing.

"Don't let me catch you again!!!" The blue-green giant eagle remained where it was, shrieking in impotent rage.

"Senior... Are most people in Gu City like that Senior?" After they had gone some distance, Huo Yuqing asked quietly.

"Most people in Gu City have poisonous Martial Souls or insect-type Martial Souls." Wang Rui shrugged. "Soul Masters who cultivate poisonous Martial Souls... tend to have some peculiarities in their personalities."

"Then why did that Senior exchange pills for blood? The pills were clearly much more valuable than blood," Huo Yuqing asked the question that had intrigued her most. Zhang Peng's cultivation did not surprise her. She had seen too many powerful people over the past day or so, and she was starting to get used to it.

"The Scorpion Tiger Martial Soul has a peculiar trait. It can evolve by absorbing blood and souls."

"So he came out to trade for Soul Masters' blood to cultivate?" the girl immediately picked up on it.

"Yes." Wang Rui nodded. "The blood of humans and soul beasts is a cultivation aid to him, like pills. The higher the cultivation of the blood's owner, the better the effect."

"There are actually Martial Souls this strange in the world..." Huo Yuqing murmured.

"That isn't a good trait." Wang Rui sneered. "Many so-called righteous people equate the Scorpion Tiger Martial Soul with Evil Martial Souls that cultivate by absorbing human lives. Scorpion Tiger Douluo was hunted when he was young and fled all the way here before reaching the Beast Sect."

"But it only absorbs a little blood. If properly controlled, it wouldn't hurt anyone at all, would it? There's nothing wrong with fair trade like that, right?" Huo Yuqing was somewhat confused. Though she could never abandon her revenge, she had formed a favorable impression of the Scorpion Tiger Douluo who had comforted her.

She was still young, with a pure heart. Clearly, she could not yet understand why trading blood would lead others to conclude that someone might murder people, much less why humans would crudely categorize and persecute their own kind.

"Because his Martial Soul has that ability, they assume he'll harm people and decide to eliminate the threat before it grows." The red-haired youth shrugged and did not elaborate, leaving Huo Yuqing to think for herself.

He watched with satisfaction as she furrowed her brow.

Wang Rui had not expected to encounter Scorpion Tiger Douluo in Jade City either. But he was more than happy to use this real-life example to smear Shrek a little—though he had not directly mentioned the Shrek Monitoring Group, Huo Hang had clearly developed a distaste for so-called righteous people.

Once Huo Hang learned that the Shrek Monitoring Group was made up of those "righteous people"... conclusions reached through one's own reflection were naturally more firmly rooted than those drilled in by others.

Wang Rui knew that Zhang Peng had once been hunted by the Shrek Monitoring Group and had fled all the way to Star Dou before settling in Gu City. But he was not worried. There were plenty in Gu City whose Martial Souls were more sinister than the Scorpion Tiger.

Moreover, Zhang Peng's ability was quite interesting. He could summon the souls of soul beasts he had absorbed, combining them with his own Spiritual Power and Soul Power to form energy bodies.

These energy bodies sounded a tiny bit similar to Soul Spirits. Wang Rui had studied them, discovering that Zhang Peng could awaken the souls of the soul beasts within his own Soul Rings, allowing them to exist as energy bodies while retaining a degree of consciousness. Unfortunately, this phenomenon arose from the Scorpion Tiger's unique nature and could not be replicated.

Zhang Peng's partner, the Omen Resentment Crow, also had a poor reputation among soul beasts. Such crows were innately drawn to negative energy and always appeared wherever negative energy gathered. Thus, wherever an Omen Resentment Crow appeared, bad things would happen... These two fellows, both possessing darkness attributes, were quite well matched.

A huge boom and curses mingled with eagle cries came from behind them. Huo Yuqing looked back uneasily. "Is someone attacking?"

"Jade City's law-enforcement eagles are driving away merchants selling contraband... It has nothing to do with us." Wang Rui smiled. "All right, we're here."

He led Huo Yuqing to stop outside a shop called Emerald Elixir Hall.

The Shrek Monitoring Group...

Personally, I think the fact that the three nations could grant it that level of authority meant they were really letting Shrek shit all over their heads.

Shrek says it is absolutely neutral. I'd say it really is quite neutral—equally sitting on top of all three nations, poaching their talent, draining their resources, then sending its brainwashed students back as planted agents... Truly impartial. Of course only Shrek's own glory matters, so naturally it is neutral.

They say the Monitoring Group only kills Evil Soul Masters... But the Shrek Monitoring Group also holds the power to define what counts as an Evil Soul Master... Think about that carefully. It's terrifying.

Let me give an example. Suppose a noble from one of the three nations realizes Shrek's danger and opposes Shrek. The Monitoring Group could cover their faces, storm into his home, and declare that he is an Evil Soul Master, that he shelters Evil Soul Masters, or that intelligence says his Martial Soul has turned evil... They could do all of that.

Shrek says it would disdain doing such things... I can't say for sure. How clean could Shrek possibly be? Leans back.

After all, even when they provoke people, they have an excuse.

Why can't the three nations resist Evil Soul Masters themselves? Wasn't it Shrek that poached all their talented people?

Later on, they can toss out Martial Souls that aren't even particularly evil and call their owners Evil Soul Masters. The key point is that their judgment is brutally arbitrary. Hard to say... In any case, the Monitoring Group is really disgusting.

As for revenge... Vengeance-driven wolves have their own appeal, but personally, I don't think revenge should be everything! Huo Lolita still needs to escape that dark mire as soon as possible!