Douluo: Starting by Taking Control of the Holy Ghost Cult's Saintess

The afterglow of the setting sun brought a wave of warmth, casting a golden light that penetrated the dense leaves and merged with the water mist in the forest, forming pillars of golden light.

Three figures shuttled through the forest at extremely high speed. Beside them, black shadows constantly darted past, and a tense undercurrent surged faintly.

"Squeak—"

A giant rat-type soul beast shot out from the hidden bushes, rushing towards the group with extreme speed, its sharp teeth glinting with a cold light.

A strong white light suddenly erupted from the youth. With a shlick, the sound of claws sinking into flesh was heard. A single blow killed it, and the soul beast fell straight to the ground.

The soul beasts in the outer periphery of the Star Dou Forest were not strong, mostly being hundred-year to thousand-year soul beasts. And these were no match for the few of them at all. In a short while, a large number of them had been reaped.

The youth had a handsome and cold face, with long golden hair parted from the top of his head and cascading down his sides. If one looked closely, they would find that he actually had dual pupils in his deep blue eyes. His figure was also taller than his peers.

To his left, a black-haired girl's mismatched eyes became even deeper in color. Her ears were pricked up sharply, and her delicate body had become more slender and powerful. Sharp blades protruded from each of her fingers. She was not as fierce as the youth, but she had an ethereal lightness. Although her speed did not temporarily surpass the youth's, as her figure flickered, a series of afterimages were left behind.

The two were none other than the most watched new students of Shrek's current year, the possessors of the martial soul fusion skill, the Nether White Tiger: Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu. At their side was the teacher of Class Five, a seven-ring Soul Sage.

Learning that Dai Huabin had already broken through to four rings, this teacher of Class Five was filled with irrepressible joy. The reason they had only come to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for a soul ring after the second day of the assessment was to better hide his strength, only revealing it on the last day of the new student assessment.

The temperament that Dai Huabin displayed was much colder and gloomier than his peers, and he had a bit of a soldier's air. His talent was the best among the White Tiger Duke's several sons and was highly valued by the Duke. And within the White Tiger Duke's clan, it had always been the capable one who inherited the title, which had nurtured Dai Huabin's decisive and ruthless character since he was young. At the tender age of five, he had already personally killed a soul beast.

Dai Huabin, who had trained in the army, had been cultivating even more diligently since hearing the bad news of his biological mother's death, even casting aside all other emotions. And within the Zhu family of the Star Luo Empire, there were many factions. This Zhu Lu was clearly an investment made by one of the Zhu family's factions in Dai Huabin.

Since ancient times, the White Tiger Duke's lineage of Star Luo had maintained a close relationship with the Zhu family. Ten thousand years ago, when the White Tiger Duke's lineage was still the imperial family of the Star Luo Empire, the Zhu family were the hereditary prime ministers. Although the two great families had long lost their former glory, their vast and intricate network of power still held a pivotal position in the Star Luo Empire. And the intermarriages of successive generations were also the best bond and bridge between the Duke's Mansion and the Zhu family.

Of course, not every pair of Evil-Eyed White Tiger and Nether Civet could possess a martial soul fusion skill. But in almost every generation, at least one pair, or even two, would appear. And being able to successfully marry into the Zhu family was also one of the most important prerequisites for inheriting the title of White Tiger Duke. And Dai Huabin was the only direct son of his generation who currently had a martial soul that was compatible with a daughter of the Zhu family.

"Huabin, going any deeper, we might encounter a ten-thousand-year soul beast. Let's stop around here," the teacher of Class Five, named Pei Jue, with a Blazing Lion martial soul, was also one of the top experts among the new student classes.

Dai Huabin nodded. After the series of attacks earlier, he and Zhu Lu had also consumed a lot of energy. Even with Pei Jue around, before they found a suitable soul beast for themselves, they would absolutely not dare to act rashly.

The three of them reached a consensus and made some adjustments on the spot. After their soul power had recovered a bit, they would continue to search for a suitable soul beast in this area.

Although high-level soul beasts were not common in this outer periphery, it did not mean that exceptions would not occur—

"Roar..."

Just at this moment, a heaven-and-earth-shaking roar came from the forest. A giant black tiger appeared from behind a huge tree. It was pure black all over, without a single speck of other color. Its red eyes were filled with a sinister aura. Its body length was a full five meters, and its muscles bulged all over. Its weight was probably over two thousand jin. The "king" character on its forehead was also black, but it was a different black from its fur, a gloomy black like mist. The most peculiar thing was its tail. Compared to ordinary tiger-type soul beasts, its tail was much longer and was held upright, composed of countless bone segments. At the very top was a huge barb, shining with a sinister, dark light.

What kind of soul beast is this? Zhu Lu looked at this strangely shaped giant tiger in shock, almost screaming out loud.

In contrast, Dai Huabin's face showed ecstatic joy. He had specifically learned about this type of tiger from ancient books. The original name of this demonic beast was the Dark-Devil God Tiger. Legend has it that an evil god descended upon a white tiger, causing its bloodline to mutate, giving the white tiger the darkness attribute, giving birth to black wings representing depravity, and that scorpion-tail-like Evil God Hook.

The strength of the Dark-Devil God Tiger could be said to be extremely formidable. Generally speaking, any soul beast could potentially be a human's martial soul, but this Dark-Devil God Tiger was an exception. No one had ever been able to possess this martial soul. It itself was not of the darkness attribute, but the ultimate evil attribute left by the evil god, which was absolutely not something a human body could withstand.

And the one before them was a Dark-Devil God Tiger of at least a thousand years!

Facing this soul beast filled with a sinister aura, Dai Huabin's entire body was filled with fighting spirit, his eyes covetously staring at the black tiger.

He had a White Tiger martial soul. Obtaining the soul ring of this evil god tiger would surely take his strength to the next level! It could even cause his martial soul to evolve into the unprecedented Dark-Devil God Tiger!

It was said that ten thousand years ago, the Sea God Tang San had been fortunate enough to kill a ten-thousand-year Dark-Devil God Tiger and thus obtain its soul ring.

"This is... the Dark-Devil God Tiger?" Pei Jue, as a teacher of Shrek Academy, naturally knew some ancient records. His face became serious. Although this Dark-Devil God Tiger only had a thousand years of cultivation, it was enough to be comparable to an ordinary Soul Sage.

A fishy wind full of evil qi washed over them. The huge Evil God Hook on the Dark-Devil God Tiger's back swayed gently, letting one feel the dangerous aura on it.

It did not act rashly, seeming to be evaluating the strength of these few people.

The two sides faced off. Finally, with a flow of air, the Dark-Devil God Tiger flashed in front of them.

At the same time, a terrifying oppressive feeling erupted from Pei Jue's body. His muscles suddenly swelled, and even the air around him had become scorching hot.

A thunderous roar erupted in the air. Scorching flames wrapped around Pei Jue's body. His soul rings lit up, and a punch of the Lion King's Fury shot out. The Dark-Devil God Tiger was sent flying directly, smashing through several large trees along the way.

"Roar!"

The Dark-Devil God Tiger roared and got up, its front claws gathering power, wanting to counter-attack again.

Pei Jue, as a teacher of Shrek, was experienced in combat. He didn't give it a chance to counter-attack at all. He opened his mouth and spat out a huge fireball that rushed towards the evil god tiger, wanting to burn it to ashes.

The Dark-Devil God Tiger could clearly judge that the person before it was by no means an opponent it could defeat. Realizing the danger, its tiger nature made it immediately turn and flee towards the depths of the forest.

The darkness-attribute Dark-Devil God Tiger was extremely formidable. Even such a terrifying attack only managed to scorch a trace of a burn mark on the fur on its back.

However, Pei Jue's initial blow had clearly caused it some injuries. The blood flowing from its mouth trickled down its fur to the ground. As long as they followed the blood trail, they could catch up.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dai Huabin's eyes showed a fierce light. How could a cooked duck fly away? He circulated his nearly recovered soul power and fiercely gave chase.

Seeing that Dai Huabin was already impatiently chasing the injured Dark-Devil God Tiger, the Class Five teacher hurriedly instructed Zhu Lu at the side, "This place is dangerous. I'll go after Huabin first. You wait for us outside the forest."

"Alright, you two be careful," Zhu Lu clearly knew that a three-ring like her couldn't help much in this kind of situation. And fusing with Dai Huabin into the Nether White Tiger would affect tomorrow's competition. This outer periphery of the Star Dou Great Forest was naturally no threat to her, an agility-attack type Soul Elder. She could retreat safely on her own.

...

At the same time, after the assessment on the second day, Wang Dong's team of three left the academy and headed for Shrek's East Gate.

After two days of competition, they had not suffered a single defeat. It was a time when their confidence was soaring. They were preparing to find a place in the area of Shrek's East Gate to reward themselves.

Since Shrek's East Gate faced the Star Dou Great Forest, the merchants here undoubtedly had the richest source of soul beast meat. And the flesh and blood of a soul beast was undoubtedly a great supplement for a soul master.

Just as the three of them were strolling along the main road, preparing to find a restaurant to sit down in, a conspicuous giant meatball slowly moved past them, came to a barbecue stall on the roadside, and in one go, poured all the roasted meat on the stall into its mouth.

"What is that?" Xiao Xiao felt her brain short-circuit for a moment. That thing seemed to be a... person?

It was Wang Dong who reacted first, quickly sorting out the person's appearance from his memory.

Xie Huanyue? Wasn't he seriously injured in the assessment and already in a coma? Why would he appear here?