Douluo Dalu 2: Reincarnated as the Auspicious Beast

Wang Rui silently waved his hand.

A patch of gray-white mist spread before him, within which appeared a vast expanse of lush green forest. The image quickly shifted, and the forest gradually shrank in size until only a small ring of trees remained around a shallow, pond-like Lake of Life.

"This is the original fate of the forest," he said softly.

"I knew there was something wrong with the laws of this world," Electrolux shook his head, a hint of sarcasm flashing across his aged face. "Human greed… Although I vaguely recall having encountered selfless and noble humans before, it's clear that the greedy ones are still in the majority."

"If the soul beasts don't find a way to save themselves, they won't ultimately go extinct," Wang Rui remarked with a self-deprecating smile, his tone tinged with inexplicable weariness. "Humans will always find a way to preserve the soul beasts—for soul rings, for advancement."

"What a pity. This old man can't recall anything useful right now," Electrolux said leisurely, his hands behind his back. "Aren't you going to find a comfortable place for me to stay? If I get a good rest and recover some of my strength, perhaps I'll remember something useful. I might even lend you a hand, consider it my rent."

Electrolux didn't make any direct promises.

At the moment, he was merely a remnant of spiritual consciousness residing in someone else's mental sea. He certainly didn't want to owe any favors, but neither did he fully trust Wang Rui.

Everything Wang Rui had said about this world was something Elec still needed to observe and verify for himself.

"Naturally," Wang Rui nodded, squinting slightly as he smiled. "In advance, I thank you. I happen to have a piece of Vitality Gold, which might aid in your recovery."

He had previously been concerned that Electrolux would attempt to scan his mental sea and extract memories, so he had deliberately rearranged the memory storage areas, burying important memories deep within his consciousness. Fortunately, it seemed Electrolux had no intention of doing that, at least for now.

"Quite generous," the old man chuckled, shaking his head. "But before that, shouldn't you tell me about that neighbor of mine?"

Wang Rui was momentarily stunned.

"You noticed that too? Looks like I can't hide anything from you." He sighed. "Please, follow me."

Wang Rui led the way to the edge of a dark lake and dove beneath its surface.

The murky water was illuminated by shimmering golden protective bubbles, which attracted curious schools of fish swimming nearby. Following the fish was a massive squid.

In the distance, dense clusters of underwater plants swayed, and nestled amidst them was a crude stone statue of a mermaid. The hastily carved figure looked particularly grotesque in the shadowy depths.

"An… interesting aesthetic choice," Electrolux remarked, unable to resist commenting. "After spiritual energy has been materialized, the scenery within a mental sea generally reflects what the owner considers most fundamental or significant. Even if it can be altered, most of what appears in a mental sea are scenes the owner cherishes or values most. So, care to explain why squid are so important to you?"

"…Because squid are delicious, and they live in the ocean, so I can't easily eat them," Wang Rui said with a wistful tone.

Electrolux rolled his eyes, clearly not buying that explanation in the slightest.

"Alright, it's actually to recreate some scenes from my memories and to remind myself not to forget certain… things," Wang Rui shrugged. A normal person wouldn't bother replicating a magical school scene from when they were eleven, but he was clearly not a normal person.

"We're here."

They hovered in the middle of the lake.

The water here was unusually turbulent, forming a perpetual whirlpool in defiance of natural laws. No living creatures were present in the area—only endless currents of water swirling endlessly.

At the center of the whirlpool lay a void of pure darkness, devoid of any constructs formed by Wang Rui's spiritual energy.

It was as if the owner of this mental sea had deliberately left this region blank, a buffer zone to isolate something… tainted.

In the heart of this void sat a young girl, curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees.

She wore nothing but an oversized nightgown with a bunny print, looking as if she had just woken up from bed and had been thrown into this dark place. Her long, wavy hair was a peculiar shade of pastel blue and pink, messily draped over her small frame. With her face buried in her arms, her appearance was obscured.

At first glance, she seemed like a perfectly ordinary girl.

A closer look, however, revealed that her entire body had a translucent, ethereal quality. Whether her fair skin or the fabric of her nightgown, they were both covered in layers upon layers of fine cracks.

A faint glow of blue and gold shimmered between the cracks, preventing the fragmented pieces from fully merging.

She resembled an exquisite yet fragile piece of cracked porcelain, ready to shatter at any moment.

The girl's petite form trembled, and a weak, pitiful sob echoed through the void. "Mommy… sob… Mommy, I want to go home… Xiao Qi is scared. It's so dark here. Mommy, it hurts… Auntie, PUncle, save me…"

The girl's pitiful cries added an eerie atmosphere to the already bleak void.

If one listened closely, it became apparent that the girl was repeating the same phrases over and over, like a broken record playing a short loop of sobbing.

Electrolux's expression grew grave.

"What a vile method," he murmured. With his vast experience, he immediately understood what was happening. "Someone's trying to completely fuse that little girl's soul into yours? You were lucky to react quickly and didn't attempt to use your spiritual energy to touch her."

Forcing two different souls to fuse was no simple task.

If a complete, intact soul was forced into a body that already had a healthy soul, they would remain distinct no matter how long they were together. Unless the invading soul was vastly superior in strength, it could never overpower the original.

It was like dropping a stone into a glass of water—the water would remain water, and the stone would remain a stone. Separating them would be straightforward.

But if the invading soul wasn't a complete fragment but instead crushed into a fine powder… things would get complicated.

Have you ever ground a piece of chalk into dust, added water, and stirred it into a milky suspension? Perhaps after some time, the chalk powder would settle, allowing you to separate some of it.

But if a pulverized soul was forcibly fused with another, it would become nearly impossible to separate them. Once fused, the resulting entity's character and consciousness would be profoundly altered.

Tang Xiaoqi's soul had already been ground into powder by Tang San.

Had Wang Rui recklessly attempted to extract this powdered soul from his mental sea, he would have been contaminated by it the moment his spiritual energy touched it, turning him into a pathetic patchwork puppet.

"Wait. Normally, this type of soul fusion is done to influence the host's will or to seize something that responds to souls—like an artifact or…" Electrolux stroked his beard thoughtfully. "So why target an immature little girl?"

"Well then, why don't you guess why this girl, despite lacking clear consciousness, cries out for her mother, aunt, and uncle but never once calls for her father?" Wang Rui sneered.