Douluo 2: Check-In Douluo Dalu

Elder Xuan walked ahead, occasionally sipping wine from his bottle and chewing on a piece of chicken, as if he didn't care about the world at all.

Wang Feng observed his surroundings as they walked. Towering trees stretched high into the sky, massive roots sprawled across the path, and the sounds of birds and other wild beasts echoed around them. The atmosphere of the Star Dou Forest was clearly different from that of the cities.

The Great Star Dou Forest could be divided into three zones, mainly based on the strength of the soul beasts.

Among them, the outermost twenty-kilometer radius was known as the outer region.

Generally, soul beasts appeared only once every ten, hundred, or thousand years.

In the outer area, soul beasts that were ten thousand years old were rarely seen.

The region with a radius of around forty kilometers was called the mixed zone.

The mixed zone was the area of the Great Star Dou Forest with the highest variety of beast species.

In this area, there were typically hundred-year, thousand-year, and even ten-thousand-year soul beasts. To survive in this mixed zone, soul beasts usually had to rely on the strength of their tribes.

The innermost 40 kilometers—an area with an 80-kilometer diameter—was called the core zone.

Even though this area was also vast, the number of soul beasts was much lower than in the mixed zone.

This was because hundred-year soul beasts had basically gone extinct in the core, and there were also few thousand-year beasts. The core zone was dominated by ten-thousand-year soul beasts.

Of course, one might also occasionally see the silhouette of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.

The very center of the core zone belonged to the true king of the Star Dou Forest.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the inner core of the core zone.

After Wang Feng and Elder Xuan entered the Great Star Dou Forest, they continued forward without pause and went straight into the heart of the forest.

There were many soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest, so one had to explore it cautiously, and movement was typically slow.

However, instead of slowing down, Wang Feng and Elder Xuan sped up. They didn't even encounter a single living creature along the way.

By noon, they had already reached the mixed zone.

"From here on out, you'll be walking alone. I'll only observe you from a distance." After saying this, Elder Xuan left without another word.

"Wa—" Wang Feng wanted to say something to Xuan Zi, but the elder didn't seem to hear him and vanished from Wang Feng's sight.

Wang Feng sighed in resignation, not expecting his escort to just leave him like that.

He looked around. Being in the Great Star Dou Forest, he was surrounded by dense, towering trees.

The trees were so large that it would take several adults holding hands to fully circle around one trunk.

Wang Feng didn't feel nervous, as this wasn't his first time hunting soul beasts alone. In fact, he had done so since he was seven years old.

"Alright, first, I should probably conceal myself."

Wang Feng activated the Ethereal Lotus ability to camouflage and protect himself.

Then he began walking in search of a suitable soul beast.

... …

After Wang Feng left, Huo Yuhao, still in the dormitory, also began to wake up.

As usual, he got up to practice the Purple Demon Eye technique.

But when he turned to look at Wang Feng's bed, he saw that it was already empty.

'Hm? Where did Wang Feng go? He's usually meditating on his bed.'

Huo Yuhao was puzzled. Then he remembered Wang Feng had mentioned yesterday that he would be going to hunt for a soul beast today.

"But does he really have to leave this early?" Huo Yuhao muttered.

Wang Dong, who had been sleeping nearby, began to wake up just as Huo Yuhao finished practicing his eye technique.

"Wang Dong, you're awake. I'm going to buy breakfast. What do you want to eat?"

"Just get me the same thing as you."

"Alright."

Huo Yuhao replied, put on his shoes, and turned to walk out the door.

After Huo Yuhao left, Wang Dong began preparing to take a bath.

He shut and locked the dormitory door, then carefully checked the windows on the other side.

After making sure everything was closed, he picked up his towel and bathing supplies and headed to the bathroom.

Soon after, the sound of running water could be heard.

In the bathroom, faintly, one could see a hazy white silhouette.

....

Huo Yuhao had arrived at the cafeteria near the dormitory building.

He ordered some bread, a cup of soul beast milk, and two soul beast eggs.

Don't ask where he got the money—of course, it was thanks to his friends Wang Dong and Wang Feng who helped pay for it.

Actually, it wasn't that Huo Yuhao didn't want to buy something cheaper. It's just that for his still-growing teenage body, he had no choice but to spend more to meet his nutritional needs.

He also ordered another portion with the same menu for Wang Dong.

Then, Huo Yuhao casually walked back to the dorm.

He walked to room 108, tried to open the door, but found it locked.

With no other choice, Huo Yuhao knocked on the door and called out to Wang Dong.

Before he could react, a hand reached out, pulled him inside, and slammed the door shut.

Huo Yuhao looked at Wang Dong, who was still wearing a bath towel, with a confused expression on his face.

"You haven't finished showering?"

"I just finished and haven't changed yet," Wang Dong replied.

"By the way, where did Wang Feng go?" Wang Dong asked while carrying clothes into the bathroom to change.

"I don't know. When I woke up, he was already gone. Maybe he went soul beast hunting like he mentioned yesterday," Huo Yuhao said while unpacking the food he brought.

"Is that so? He might have been called or escorted personally by Dean Yan," Wang Dong said as he came out of the bathroom.

Then Wang Dong sat down and joined in enjoying the breakfast Huo Yuhao had brought.

After breakfast, the two of them, as usual, went to class for their lessons.

When they entered the classroom, it was already buzzing with students.

They sat in their usual seats, but since Wang Feng normally sat between them, one of the two had to take the empty spot.

Huo Yuhao took the initiative to sit in that seat.

It didn't take long before Zhou Yi, who was teaching that day, arrived.

Silence.

The entire classroom, which had been noisy just moments ago, immediately went silent at the sound of approaching footsteps outside.

Zhou Yi slid the door open and stepped in, glancing at the students in her class. Those who met her gaze immediately sat up straight and placed their hands on the desk.

Zhou Yi looked toward Wang Feng's seat, now occupied by Huo Yuhao. Her gaze seemed to be confirming something.

After making sure Wang Feng wasn't present, she retracted her gaze.

The students unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. Over the past month, even though no students had been expelled on the first day or in the days that followed, many had begun to think of Zhou Yi's warnings as empty threats.

But by the start of the second week, they realized just how terrifying and serious Zhou Yi truly was.

The first victim was one of the nine students Zhou Yi had called out on the first day.

That student was named Tai Long. He was one of the students with the highest soul power in class.

On the first day, he wasn't expelled because Huo Yuhao's persistence had moved Zhou Yi.

However, after a week, his true nature started to show. At the start of the first week, he still worked hard and put in effort due to fear of Zhou Yi's threats of expulsion.

But after seeing that no one had been expelled during that first week, he began to think Zhou Yi's words were just bluffs. Besides, he believed the academy wouldn't expel someone so easily.

So, on the first day of the second week, when the class was ordered to run 100 laps again by Zhou Yi, he secretly cheated by pretending he had completed all the laps when he actually hadn't.

Of course, he got caught by Zhou Yi and was called over after everyone finished running.

Without mincing words, Zhou Yi immediately gave the order for his expulsion from Shrek Academy.

At first, Tai Long didn't believe it and went to the Academic Affairs Office to complain. But when he brought up Zhou Yi to someone there, he found out that Zhou Yi had been telling the truth. From that day on, he was to be expelled from Shrek Academy. He was also instructed by someone at the office to pack up and leave his dorm.

It was at that moment that Tai Long truly felt regret. He regretted not holding on a little longer, at least until someone else got expelled first. But now, it was too late. He couldn't turn back time.

Powerless, he could only pack up and leave the academy.

This incident served as a wake-up call to many students in the class—Zhou Yi had been serious all along. Many who had shared Tai Long's thoughts felt lucky, thinking, "Thank goodness I didn't go through with it."

Since then, the number of students who tried to cheat decreased significantly. Even so, students were still expelled in the following days.

That was why every student now feared Zhou Yi.