Peerless: Auspicious Beast's Star Revival Plan

Chapter 170 The Conflict of the Golden Apple... Uh, the Soul Bone

Wang Rui opened his eyes and felt the dormitory room in front of him shaking violently. He involuntarily reached up and pressed his temples.

The cultivation level of one's physical body is still too low.

Even if his mental strength was sufficient to support him projecting his consciousness onto the puppet Emperor Feng, his soul power in human form was far from enough.

"You used a power similar to divine intervention?" Electrox asked with interest. "It's a bit like divine intervention in our world... When a person favored by the gods prays to them, the gods will project a part of their consciousness and abilities onto them, but you haven't become a god... This doesn't seem to be the same as controlling the undead."

"More or less," Wang Rui said wearily.

He gave Electrox a rough description of his method for creating puppets, which amazed the Necromancer Saint: "This is probably far beyond the scope of alchemical puppets. The embryos used as materials have just lost their life force, but embryos are neither alive nor dead. You used so much life-giving metal and dragon blood, and the corpse was resurrected. The physical body can still grow, and it can no longer be considered an undead, but is no different from a living person."

At this point, the old man's voice carried a hint of mischief, "So, can your puppet clone have children?"

Wang Rui: "..."

Electrolux nodded knowingly: "If this reaction means you can, then you can totally self-fertilize and have children on your own..."

"Does not!"

After locking Electrolux's "research discussion" deep into his mind, Wang Rui felt refreshed and relaxed. He lay down on his side, snuggled into the blankets, and stretched.

Then he began to think about a very serious question: Where should he take Huo Yuqing to play?
Does this count as a date? Can it be considered a date?
When was the last time I went out to play with humans?

When Di Feng was active on the mainland, he spent most of his time inspecting industries and supplementing the framework and rules of the Beast Sect's external affairs... If you really want to count, the last time he truly went out to play with humans was 15,000 years ago... when he went out with Wang Rui.

There's no other way; the only reference point for the mother's order is her unfortunate younger sister.

But Wang Rui's case isn't very useful for reference.

Wang Rui's hobbies are reading novels, comics, animation, and movies. Even when she goes out, she goes to anime stores, bookstores, and anime conventions. She's the same after she started working—she buys clothes very cheaply, but she can buy metal foil with anime characters printed on it for hundreds of yuan without batting an eye.

It seems that Miss Qiu from another world has become obsessed with commissioned works under Wang Rui's influence. Unfortunately, the Huo Gua in her memory is quite different from the comic and anime character. Most artists believe that it is her own creation... but no matter what, it can't be as different as this one.

Wait a minute, where did the orange cat get the money to commission articles? Could it be from his inheritance?
On the Douluo Continent side, there aren't any anime/manga shops to browse.

Speaking of this world... those who have the means to pursue cultural entertainment are busy cultivating themselves, while those who are not busy cultivating themselves are struggling to survive.

The needs of ordinary people are ignored to the greatest extent possible, which makes it difficult to improve the productivity of the human world—the Soul Masters who have more power do not care about farming—in addition, the speed of information dissemination is extremely slow, so there is no soil for spiritual needs to take root.

If he could truly create a work that is widely recognized by people all over mainland China, given Wang Rui's past experience in managing various anime and manga merchandise, selling blind boxes of character figurines would definitely make him a fortune.

Wait, blind boxes.

A flash of inspiration struck him, and Wang Rui sat up abruptly, seizing the opportunity.

The blind box model is very interesting.

People who get the hidden item are overjoyed and excited, but those who get the same item will naturally be disappointed, and when they get more of the same item, they will most likely become angry – this is a negative emotion that is hard to control.

A negative emotion that can be subtly directed at a target.

Then people who buy blind boxes get carried away, negative emotions accumulate, and a cycle begins.

With Shrek Academy's diligent promotion, is there any IP in the Douluo Continent that is more well-known than "Douluo Continent"?
Ten thousand years have passed, and the Douluo people, who are good at forgetting, show no sign of forgetting the legend of the Sea God Tang San.

It's important to understand that humans can deny the past, deconstruct history, and overturn myths. In Wang Rui's hometown, some people are keen on interpreting historical figures negatively, using conspiracy theories to explain the actions of those famous figures in history. There's also a group of people who love unofficial histories—regardless of whether they're unofficial or not, as long as they're historically accurate.

But ten thousand years have passed, and there are no negative comments about Tang San on the mainland.

Even true saints are brought out for criticism by later generations, and Tang is no exception—the "history lessons" of Shrek Academy certainly deserve much credit for this.

Wang Rui was certain that Tang San needed faith.

The Sea God ascended to godhood through the faith of millions of sea spirit beasts and sea spirit masters. When Tang San inherited the Sea God's position, he also relied on faith to achieve sublimation. It is likely that even now, his Sea God position still requires the power of faith.

However, Tang San's base of support had already shifted to humans on the Douluo Continent after defeating the Spirit Hall, unlike the old Sea God who relied on sea spirit masters and sea spirit beasts as his base.

How can the ignorant faith of soul beasts compare to that of humans?

Moreover... the faith of sea spirit beasts is actually only directed towards the [Sea God]. To put it bluntly, even an aggressive pig that becomes the vessel for the Sea God's divine position will also gain this part of the faith directed towards the [Sea God].

Tang San didn't even put much effort into maintaining the faith that came from the sea spirit beasts.

If Wang Rui wanted to shake Tang San's foundation through faith, he would naturally have to start with the human side.

However, if he directly spreads negative news about Tang San on a large scale, the Clear Sky Sect and Shrek Academy, which are controlled by the Sea God, will not be killed.

It is unwise to expose oneself prematurely for a plan that is not yet certain of success in striking the enemy.

But what if Tang San became the "Thank You for Your Patronage" item in the new Douluo Continent blind box trend—or, after being hyped up, became a "Thank You for Your Patronage" item blocking the way for some people who bought "blind box lottery tickets" hoping to make a fortune?

Based on this, will opinions questioning Poseidon emerge silently once again?

Could the smallest human annoyances and impatience become a hidden poison, or a nest of ants gnawing at a dam?

Can such insidious erosion shake the sea god whose foundation is faith?

You can give it a try. Even if you can't shake the faith in the Sea God, the Beast Sect can still make a fortune if handled properly.

The key issue is that Wang Rui is short-handed!

In order to build the new city, he sent all the humans and half-soul beasts who were willing to devote themselves to soul tools, as well as all the soul beasts with smart brains and claws that could be pried open, to the new city to study soul tools. He wanted to create exquisite blind box dolls that would lead the trend, and he needed human aesthetics even more... The Beast Sect was short of people!

"If only I could have some human labor willing to come and help," Wang Rui daydreamed for a while, then listlessly swept this completely unworkable plan into his long list of plans.

Wang Rui, sprawled on the bed like a cat pancake, had no idea that he was in the Starry Sky Revival timeline, a world where cats get what they want.

Wang Rui was racking his brains over his date plans for a while when the hallway became noisy, and he heard a familiar voice.

Anwen and Wang Dong are arguing again—these two are always arguing, as if they were born to be incompatible. No, you can't call your sister a dog—Huo Yuqing's attempts to break up the fight are ineffective, causing the situation to escalate.

Two people were chatting behind them; they were Bai Chenxiang and Ma Xiaotao. Excellent, Bai Chenxiang and Ma Xiaotao quickly became friends; the plan was progressing smoothly. There was also a barely audible sound of footsteps, so light it was almost indistinguishable, as rhythmic and elusive as the wind.

Jiang Lan, the mysterious inner court student.

The purple-haired girl was beautiful and reserved, rarely expressing her emotions, like a marble statue devoid of joy or sorrow. Her mystery and elusiveness made Wang Rui wary—Wang Rui could tell that this mysterious girl was attracted to Wang Dong, but was this part of Tang San's plan?
He got up and stared at the wooden door of the dormitory.

The next second, Wang Dong and Han Wen grabbed each other and almost simultaneously crashed into the room.

"He stole my soul bone!" the two shouted in unison.

The two roommates, who couldn't get along with their cat and dog, glared at each other and started yelling at each other.

"You're of the dark attribute, why would you want a light attribute soul bone? Aren't you afraid of attribute conflict and going berserk?"

"Your martial soul has absolutely nothing to do with even half a copper soul coin of the Dragon Clan. What are you doing using a Dragon Clan soul bone? You'll be crying if your martial soul gets contaminated by dragon blood!"

Huo Yuqing pushed the two of them aside, exchanged a glance with Wang Rui, helplessly shrugged, plopped down on his bed, and sighed.

Ma Xiaotao, Bai Chenxiang, and Jiang Lan followed her in.

No one thinks there's anything wrong with 1.5 men and 5.5 women crammed into a small double male dormitory room.

"Let me introduce myself. This is Chen Xiang, who was admitted to the Inner Academy this year. Remember to call her senior." Ma Xiaotao acted as if she were a member of the group, sitting down at the only desk in the dormitory without any hesitation. She crossed one leg over the table, with her ankle pinned under her knee by the other leg.

"Chen Xiang, a level 66 pure agility-type Soul Master, an inner court Soul Guidance Department student." The gray-brown-haired girl greeted Wang Rui, then turned to Ma Xiaotao and teased, "You seem to be getting along well with the outer court juniors, Xiaotao."

"Don't underestimate him, this guy is formidable." Ma Xiaotao pouted, pulled over two chairs from the desk, and invited Jiang Lan and Chen Xiang to sit down.

The latter tilted her head and looked at Wang Rui, her dark eyes revealing a restrained curiosity, as if she really didn't know this red-haired junior.

"Tsk tsk, no wonder he's a seasoned veteran who's been human before. His acting is top-notch. It's completely different from the innocent and foolish expressions of those 100,000-year-old soul beasts who have just transformed into humans," Wang Rui thought to himself.

Moreover, Bai Chenxiang's human form was quite good. After consuming the pill made from the Acacia Heartbreak Red, she no longer possessed the aura of a soul beast.

However, she followed the path of a ferocious beast transforming into human form, and inevitably carried the characteristics of a soul beast—but that was just a tuft of downy feathers hidden in her gray-brown hair by her ear. Bai Chenxiang also pinned a delicate hair clip to her ear, and this tuft of downy feathers became part of a beautiful feather hair ornament.

Wang Rui had never seen Bai Chenxiang when she was young, but when the shadow of the past appeared, looking at the graceful and ethereal girl in front of him—it wasn't surprising that Ma Hongjun, who had seen three of the Shrek Seven Devils with different styles of beauty, would also fall in love with Bai Chenxiang.

"We ran into Sister Xiaotao, Senior Sister Jiang Lan, and Senior Sister Chen Xiang at Jubao Pavilion, so we left together," Huo Yuqing said.

Of course, she didn't know that this senior was the swift that was beside Wang Rui. After chatting with Chen Xiang, she found that the other party's ideas about soul tools were very interesting, and the two quickly became close.

On the other side, Wang Donghan and Wen were still arguing about something pointless, starting to argue about who left the lunchbox that was left in the dormitory last time. Jiang Lan watched them expressionlessly.

Ma Xiaotao, who knew her very well, noticed that her sister's lips... had turned up by about one pixel.

She is very happy.

This has led to Ma Xiaotao now finding Wang Dong very displeasing, extremely displeasing.

This kid, relying on his good looks and a beautiful martial soul, had Jiang Lan completely infatuated with him, losing her appetite and unable to eat or sleep. Even when she went out on holiday, she couldn't stop thinking about him—his strength as a twelve-year-old Soul Master was just passable, and his personality was nothing to write home about, incredibly childish.

Ma Xiaotao, who considers her ideal type to be a handsome, strong, and mature man, can't understand why Jiang Lan would like an outer academy student who is less capable than her and younger than her.

It's like how people who are attracted to mature women don't understand why people who are attracted to young girls exist.

It's not like she hasn't asked before.

What did Jiang Lan say?
As they walked along the country dirt road, investigating the truth behind the purplish-black fire ten years ago, dappled shadows fell on Jiang Lan's shoulders, and a certain expression appeared on her empty face that was enough to sting Ma Xiaotao.

“Wang Dong is discordant, incomplete, and distorted.” The purple-haired girl tilted her head to look at her.

Suddenly, Ma Xiaotao felt that the face didn't resemble Jiang Lan anymore, yet it carried a strange familiarity, like someone else she knew, but she couldn't figure out who it was—this fleeting thought sent chills down Ma Xiaotao's spine.

She asked Wang Dong again, "Doesn't Wang Dong seem to be doing well? He's happy and carefree every day. Wang Dong and his friends have a good relationship with Wang Rui. Sometimes she would go with Jiang Lan to find those first-year students to discuss issues related to martial spirits. Most of the time, Wang Dong was arguing with his roommate, surrounded by other classmates, and generously sharing the snacks he brought as the class's godfather."

How could she associate such a popular first-year student with the word "distorted"?

As if sensing her confusion, Jiang Lan spoke softly again: "I can see that he's just like me. I'm trapped, I'm trapped, I'm trapped..."

She mechanically repeated the actions, her eyes vacant, as if she were trapped in some strange emotion, or as if some kind of illness had suddenly struck. No one could see her. Ma Xiaotao was terrified. She desperately tried to wake Jiang Lan up. It took a while for Jiang Lan to break free from that broken soul tool-like state.

Ma Xiaotao vaguely heard her teacher say that Jiang Lan had suffered a lot, but she didn't dare to ask any more questions. She could only violently threaten Xu Sanshi, who had witnessed the whole thing, not to tell anyone about it.

Sigh, if he likes him, he likes him. Ma Xiaotao felt like a tired old father, reluctantly accepting this son-in-law.

Anyway, Jiang Lan is very strong, and even if Wang Dong tries to bully her, he can't beat her.

Meanwhile, Wang Rui had already found out about the argument between Anwen and Wang Dong, and looked at them speechlessly.

"So, you two both want that Golden Radiance Soul Bone, and you've been arguing about its ownership all this way, and now you're coming back to ask me for money." Wang Rui rolled his eyes at Han Wen, then glared at Wang Dong with an unfriendly expression, making Wang Dong shudder. "And you?"

"Who would carry ten million gold soul coins around with them?!" Wang Dong exclaimed. "The credit limit on the card I brought isn't enough, so I'll have to contact my family to ask for money, won't I?"

"Have you two thought about where that soul bone is now, and whether it has been bought by someone else?" Wang Rui smiled kindly.

The two, who had been arguing so fiercely, looked at each other, both sweating slightly.

"Uh, really? We told the seller to hold it for us." Anwen's face revealed a clear innocence, as if she had never been beaten by humans.

"This price is very expensive. A typical ten-thousand-year-level soul bone only costs three or four million. Most people can't afford it," Wang Dong added.

Wang Rui looked at Ma Xiaotao and Bai Chenxiang. Bai Chenxiang gently shook her head at him, her gaze subtly shifting towards Jiang Lan.

“I’ll buy it.” Jiang Lan raised her hand.

　He slowly died...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)