Peerless: Auspicious Beast's Star Revival Plan

Chapter 177 The Ugly Duckling

Perhaps because she had finally put an obsession to rest, Huo Yuqing unusually did not replace sleep with cultivation. However, she slept very restlessly, sometimes laughing and sometimes shedding tears with her eyes closed. She could only calm down by grabbing Wang Rui's hand and holding it tightly.

Wang Rui reached out and brushed aside a few strands of black hair that were wet with tears and stuck to the corners of Huo Yuqing's eyes. Half of Huo Yuqing's face was sunken in the pillow, her fair skin showing a healthy light pink hue—just like an ordinary little girl.

But she is obviously not.

She was like... the ugly duckling he had fished out of the ditch in front of Old Dai's house, Wang Rui thought.

He prepared the most nutritious food and the best living environment for this ugly duckling, because such an ugly duckling only appears once every ten thousand years. She will transform and grow into the most terrifying monster in this ten thousand years—this is her destined fate.

When this ugly duckling grows up, she will possess a pair of wings that blot out the sky. Those sharp wings will tear through the heavens and allow her to fly to places higher than the sky itself. Wang Rui will follow behind her, using the air currents from the monster's flight to soar to the heavens together, leading his people to escape their cage.

Wang Rui initially saw himself as an investor. He would give the Ugly Duckling more knowledge, resources, protection, care, and necessary guidance than she deserved, in exchange for the soul beast riding the wave of the God of Emotions' ascension to godhood. This was a very fair trade—in fact, if Tang San hadn't been manipulated by the God of Asura to possess the son of the Blue Silver Emperor, this might have happened ten thousand years ago.

It was agreed that "the Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and one is hidden away." The son of the Blue Silver Emperor should have been a glimmer of hope for soul beasts. Wang Rui deduced that he should have died with his parents at the scene of the battle with the Spirit Hall, and then awakened the power of the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline between life and death. With the bloodline ability that cannot be burned by wildfire, he was reborn as a sentient Blue Silver Grass. Then he was carried away by a rabbit, grew up and transformed together, and traveled in the world. The Blue Silver Emperor is gentle by nature, so he can become a bridge between humans and soul beasts.

But things changed when Tang Hao entered the City of Slaughter. After transmigrating, Wang Rui had a much clearer understanding of some vague power comparisons: even with the sacrifice of the Blue Silver Emperor, a newly promoted Clear Sky Hammer Title Douluo was no match for an Angel Spirit Title Douluo plus four Spirit Hall Title Douluos. There was an 80% or even 90% chance that the Asura God had protected him. It was perfectly reasonable for the Asura God to protect his "favored successor"—Wang Rui had observed from afar with his Eye of Destiny, and that blood-red half of the sky was simply unbearable to look at.

Tang San, the Tang Sect assassin sent by the God of Asura and protected by him, was a "chosen one." They couldn't win him over, nor could they kill him. The spirit beasts could only silently tuck their tails between their legs for over a hundred years. Now that Tang San had become a god, the entire Blue Silver Grass lineage was completely untrustworthy.

Huo Yuhao—now Huo Yuqing—is much better. A native, not a transmigrator with a fixed mindset, all his abilities, aside from his Thought Fist and Mind Sword, have absolutely no connection to the God Realm. Instead, they are deeply bound to soul beasts. Although Tang San has his eye on him, the current Asura God's methods are far inferior to the old Asura God's.

The ugly duckling was swimming alone in the Dai family's ditch when Wang Rui, who had been waiting for it for ten thousand years, scooped it out: "House cats, we've found a person, and he wants to come with me!"

This ugly duckling, destined to become a swan, is the precious hope for soul beasts to escape their predicament over the past ten thousand years, and also the precious hope for Wang Rui himself to achieve his ideals.

As for Wang Rui, he was an investor with a script, but after the ugly duckling flapped its little wings and embraced him, he could no longer say that he was just investing in the future god of emotions.

After all, apart from this idiot, no one has ever thought that the Emperor Beast has worked hard.

Now, Wang Rui's wrists are damp—his precious hope is wiping away tears with his hands.

He couldn't resist reaching out and pinching Huo Yuqing's cheek.

"Actually, this is your disguise, isn't it?" Wang Rui said softly. "Powerful soul beasts often disguise themselves when they are newly born and still weak, and humans do too. Weak cubs look cute and fragile, making others reluctant to hurt them."

How could a monster destined for greatness and destined to achieve something extraordinary silently shed tears like an ordinary little girl?
"Why didn't you ask me for help? Why are you crying here instead?" he asked again. "He's just a level 90 White Tiger Martial Soul Title Douluo. You don't even need anyone else to help you. I can kill him myself."

Huo Yuqing knew nothing and simply huddled next to Wang Rui.

He was silent for a moment: "Since you're not coming to me, you're not allowed to ask anyone else to help you get revenge, do you understand?"

……

Huo Yuqing felt she hadn't slept this well in a long time.

"Hey, Xiao Qing, you're finally awake!" Tian Meng's tone was strange, hesitant and as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

"You're exhausted; you've been sleeping for almost a whole day," Hyotei said calmly.

"What?!" Huo Yuqing sat up abruptly. She had wanted to go shopping with Wang Rui!
The simple dormitory of Shrek Academy came into view. Wang Rui was blocking the doorway, talking about something. "The tailbone doesn't match... It's definitely not the Ice Jade Scorpion! What... spirit is it?" Wang Yan's excited voice drifted from outside the door.

Wang Rui was getting annoyed by this theoretical expert, who had been blocking the door since morning, insisting on a face-to-face meeting with Huo Yuqing. It wasn't at the behest of Shrek Academy's higher-ups; a prestigious academy wouldn't so openly offend a student with such a powerful background. It was simply that Teacher Wang's thirst for knowledge had run wild. Wang Rui patiently answered his prepared explanation: "Even if it's an Ice Jade Scorpion, humans can have black or white skin. The appearance of the same type of soul beast can also vary due to different living environments. Teacher Wang, you don't think all soul beasts look the same as those in textbooks, do you?"

Huo Yuqing was about to get up when Wang Rui gestured behind her back, signaling her not to come out.

Wang Yan, unwilling to give up, said something else, seemingly asking about Huo Yuqing's soul skills, but was coaxed away by Wang Rui with gentle persuasion.

"Quick, pack up, let's go out." Wang Rui turned around and winked his left eye at Huo Yuqing.

Huo Yuqing, feeling dizzy, carried the basin of water to wash up.

Most students had gone to class, and the washroom was empty. She washed her face, brushed the hair from her forehead behind her head, and stared blankly at the mirror for a while.

"Oh, Xiao Qing, that was so satisfying!" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm exclaimed in her mind. "That bastard Dai Huabin even ordered his wife to ambush you... I bet he'll never be able to hold his head up in front of you again!"

"Yes, I got my share back," Huo Yuqing said softly. "And my mother's share... I will definitely get it back too."

She looked up at herself in the mirror and smiled. "I also want to thank you, Tenmeng and Hyotei."

"Hey... no need to thank me! We're like family, no need to be so formal!" Tianmeng Bingcan said no need to thank him, but his voice sounded very happy.

“Winning over that heartless brat is your own skill, Xiao Qing,” Bing Di said decisively. “I never expected that you could use the soul bone skill I gave you at this level of cultivation.”

"What do you mean? Are there anything special about these two soul bone skills?" Huo Yuqing asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The two spirit ring skills I gave you, Ice Emperor's Claw and Ice Emperor's Protection, are useful abilities inherent to the Ice Jade Scorpion clan. Of course, how I use them is vastly different from how other little scorpions use them. But the spirit skills on the two spirit bones are unique to me; other Ice Jade Scorpions don't possess them." The Ice Emperor's voice was filled with pride. "Eternal Frozen Domain is a domain-type skill, an ability that even ordinary 100,000-year-old spirit beasts might not have. And the Ice Emperor's Descent you used earlier... is a new skill that I've been developing for nearly a thousand years."

"This ability is not yet fully refined. I just tried it out, and I'm not even sure if it can be imprinted on the soul bone and passed on to you. But when we merged, I suddenly had an epiphany... Maybe that's why it succeeded."

"The essence of this soul skill is to attempt to summon the power of heaven and earth in the far north, to transform the far north into myself and myself into the far north, so as to unleash power far beyond my own limits. I only succeeded a few times in my practice. I was planning to try it out when I sparred with Xue'er, but alas..." Thinking of the Ice and Snow Maiden, the Ice Emperor sighed, "At your current cultivation level, you cannot mobilize the power of heaven and earth. You can only use the original energy of me stored in your soul bone, so the effect is naturally much worse. Perhaps, when my strength is no longer 'far beyond' yours, I will be able to truly unleash its power."

"Oh my, our Bingbing is indeed the most amazing!" Tianmeng Bingcan praised with a sense of pride.

Hyotei ignored him and remained silent.

When Huo Yuqing returned to her dorm room, Wang Rui was lying on the bed looking completely spineless. He said in a sarcastic tone, "I almost thought you drowned in the bathroom."

"Yes, I fell into the sink and struggled for a while before I could climb out." Huo Yuqing nodded sadly, then sat down on the edge of the bed, ran her hands, which had just been wet with cold water, through her extreme ice soul power, and stuffed them into Wang Rui's collar.

"Hiss." Wang Rui was caught off guard by the cold and sprang up. Before he could condemn her misdeeds, Huo Yuqing, who had successfully pulled off the prank, pressed herself against him, her entire upper body weight on him.

"Rui Rui, where are we going to play?" She opened her eyes wide and looked up at Wang Rui innocently.

　This is just a haphazard rant; if you experience any discomfort while reading this chapter, it proves the author has gone crazy from work.
　　(Lifts the coffin and rises) (Lies down)

　　The wiggling eel here advises all friends who want to study medicine: Run!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)