Douluo: Starting by Crafting a Gun Chapter 17

"Right now, only boiling hot blood can stir a hint of passion in me; only by lingering on the edge of death can I push myself further."

Flender stared intently at Shen Feng, and Shen Feng did not flinch in the slightest, meeting his gaze with firm determination.

After a long silence, Flender sighed, looking at Oscar with a sense of frustration that he couldn't live up to his expectations.

"What about you? Do you also crave boiling hot blood? To linger on the edge of death?"

Oscar turned his head to glance at Shen Feng.

"Don't look at him! I want to hear your own thoughts!"

Flender's sharp shout made Oscar jump in fright.

Swallowing hard, Oscar looked firm, though his tone was timid: "I... I want to follow Xiao Feng."

"Only he, only he can make me like a Battle Soul Master, not only able to charge into the fray but also strengthen my inner self."

"Xiao Feng, Xiao Feng is the lighthouse of my life!!"

Oscar shouted the last sentence directly; he used his actions and his cry to demonstrate his unwavering resolve.

Flender's spirit suddenly deflated, as if he had aged in an instant.

After a long while, Flender let out a long sigh: "Go, just go. I should have known long ago. Shrek Academy is too small, its resources too barren. We only have passion, but we cannot raise a true dragon."

"But don't forget, you came from Shrek—"

"Forget it. Perhaps you are the last batch of students of Shrek Academy. Whether Shrek Academy will even exist in the future is uncertain, so what does it matter if you remember it or not?"

Oscar felt a lump in his throat, and hot tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Dean, my martial soul was awakened by you. You took me in and gave me a sense of home."

"I have never seen my own parents; to me, you and Teacher Shao Xin are like my fathers."

"And Shrek Academy is my true home!"

Hoarsely speaking his heart, Oscar knelt directly on the ground and kowtowed three times heavily to Flender.

In an instant, it felt as if sand had gotten into Flender's eyes. He blinked hard, but he couldn't alleviate the uncomfortable sensation.

He had no choice but to look up at a forty-five-degree angle, unwilling to let others see his embarrassment.

A level 75 Agility-type Soul Saint, blinded by mere dust—it was truly shameful to the extreme.

He waved his hand gently: "Go. Before you leave, go say goodbye to the academy teachers."

"Come back and visit often. Shrek Academy will always be your home, and I will always welcome you."

Oscar climbed up from the ground, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, bowed to Flender along with Shen Feng's family, and turned to leave Shrek Academy.

Their steps were firm, as if they had made up their minds.

As long as there is a home in one's heart, the world is vast—where is not home?

After leaving Shrek Academy, Shen Feng and Oscar formed one group, while Shen Rui and Ling Na formed another, splitting up to act.

Shen Feng and Oscar were going to the village to recruit a group of soul masters to take to the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest, becoming the first members of the Soul Hunting Town.

Shen Rui and Ling Na headed to Suotuo City to find Fels and demand official credentials.

In the starting phase, as long as you don't have the means to flip the table, you must play by other people's rules.

Want to avoid eating beef? You need at least several Title Douluo to hold the fort.

Shen Rui, Ling Na, Shen Feng, and Oscar were four exceptionally gifted soul masters.

Reaching the level of several Title Douluo was only a matter of time.

Moreover, Shen Feng knew of several important resources in this world. With these "cheat" locations, rising to power would be an easy task for them.

By evening, Shen Rui and Ling Na returned, accompanied by two others.

One wore a black cloak with a hood covering their face, making their identity impossible to discern.

The other was burly and wore a veil over their face, making them unrecognizable.

Meanwhile, Shen Feng and Oscar had already gathered twenty soul masters of various levels.

Among them were one 5-ring Soul King, three 4-ring Soul Ancestors, eight 3-ring Soul Elders, five 2-ring Soul Grand Masters, and two 1-ring Soul Masters.

These were the ones who volunteered to join Shen Rui and Ling Na's team, willing to follow them to establish their own base of power.

Because Shen Feng had explained in advance that the risks were high but the profits were great, he asked everyone to act according to their own abilities.

The result was that there were very few 1st or 2nd-ring soul masters who felt their strength was lacking; instead, the proportion of stronger soul masters was higher.

Shen Rui and Ling Na walked before the group and took a brief look at them.

"I won't say any more unnecessary words. My son, Xiao Feng, should have already told you everything that needed to be said."

"Now, we must reach the next town before dark. Forced march, move out!"

Shen Rui and Ling Na took the lead, followed by the cloaked figure and the burly man, with Shen Feng and Oscar behind them.

Seeing the leaders running, the twenty scattered soldiers gritted their teeth and followed.

They knew that the bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish. They had no backing to begin with; if they didn't dare to risk their lives, how could they talk about rising to power?

The five-ring Soul King was the first to charge out; he was not old, only in his forties.

He saw hope in the two young geniuses, Shen Rui and Ling Na. Compared to the middle-aged and elderly folks at Shrek Academy, his own hot blood had not yet completely cooled.

If he took a gamble by following these geniuses, perhaps he could truly carve out a bright new future.

Seeing this, the others figured that since the big shots they knew were following, they might as well follow too.

Their own judgment might be lacking, but the judgment of the big shots was sound.

Follow the big shots; even if there's no meat, there's bound to be soup. You can't go wrong.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. More than ten miles from the border of the Star Dou Forest, beside a river with rushing currents, a small town stood abruptly.

The town was not large. The perimeter was made of simple wooden walls, with fewer than a hundred houses inside and a population of no more than three hundred.

But the houses were newly built, the people were enthusiastic, and at night, the place was brightly lit.

This was the base of the Soul Hunting Guild.

Several months ago, after Shen Rui helped Fels, the deputy city lord of Suotuo City, obtain a soul ring, Fels used the convenience of his position to acknowledge Shen Rui's occupation of the Star Dou Forest and recognize his legal rights.

Of course, whether or not he could stand firm had little to do with Fels.

After all, in Fels's mind, Shen Rui was likely just a delusional, arrogant fool who would never amount to anything significant.

Afterward, Shen Rui took the twenty soul masters who had followed them and established this small town.

After half a year of development, the permanent population had reached nearly a hundred, and the floating population was close to two hundred.

With a full two hundred soul masters living here, their strength was hardly inferior to many soul master families.

As for the town being brightly lit at night, that was due to the generators and electric lights Shen Feng had created, with the power source being the nearby river.

At dawn, the light of daybreak illuminated the east, and Soul Hunting Town quickly came to life.

The town gates opened under the watchful eyes of two soul master guards holding rifles.

Soul masters returning from hunts and those heading out to hunt constantly moved in and out, shuttling between the Star Dou Forest and Soul Hunting Town.

At this moment, two youths wearing ink-colored camouflage and face masks walked over from the distance, covered in dust.

The two youths wore identical outfits and were dressed almost exactly the same, except one carried a long blade on his back, while the other carried an assault rifle.

On the left thigh of each hung a small pouch containing a large pistol, and on the right side of their waists were short blades that could be drawn at any moment.

These were only the visible pieces of equipment, not to mention the storage Soul Tools they possessed, which acted as massive, mysterious armories.

To use one word: they were armed to the teeth.

Most striking of all were the badges pinned to the left chest and right shoulder of each youth.

The badges were shield-shaped and purple-black, with a short blade laid horizontally across them; one could vaguely discern the silhouette of a person holding a blade hidden behind the weapon.

Seeing the two return, the two gate-guarding soul masters looked slightly panicked. Their expressions turned unnatural, and they stood up straight, not daring to look askance.

Only after the two had passed did the soul masters let out a small sigh of relief.

"The Reverse Blade Squad. They're back from the outside; someone probably died again."

"They deserved to die. Who told them to be so greedy? There's plenty of legitimate Gold Soul Coins to be made, but they just had to covet those petty scraps."

"Our Soul Hunting Guild has just been established and is on the rise; they just had to cross the line and ruin our reputation."

"Sigh! Let's be careful ourselves. We should try to break our old bad habits as much as possible; I don't want them coming for us."

"..."

Upon entering the town, people were discussing the Reverse Blade Squad all along the way, mostly with fear, terrified that one day they might find themselves in their crosshairs.

Stepping into the center of the town, the two members of the Reverse Blade Squad entered a building that resembled a tavern.

The tavern was quite large, covering several hundred square meters, with many tables and chairs neatly arranged inside.

Early in the morning, over a dozen soul masters were already drinking and chatting here, while several others sat in chairs with their eyes closed, resting and seemingly waiting for something.

Directly opposite the entrance was a counter, behind which a burly man in his forties was lazily rocking in a recliner.

"Uncle Liao, we're back."

The two youths of the Reverse Blade Squad pulled down their masks; they were none other than Shen Feng and Oscar.

Liao Yong immediately sat up from the recliner and laughed, "You're back quite early this time. No accidents, I hope?"

Liao Yong was the Soul King whom Shen Feng had recruited from the village near Shrek Academy half a year ago. His martial soul was the Kubikiribōchō, and he was at level fifty-four.

With Shen Rui and Ling Na away on business, and his own strength being somewhat lacking, he naturally had to stay behind to guard the base.

Shen Feng shook his head and took a square wooden box from his storage Soul Tool, placing it on the counter.

"Yellow-tier level three target: Tapa. Martial soul: One-Eyed Giant Rat. Level: thirty-six."

"Offense: During a soul hunt, he attacked his employer over a thousand-year soul bone, leaving the employer severely injured and nearly dead."

"The Reverse Blade Squad accepted the order to hunt him down; the target has been executed!"

Liao Yong nodded, reached out to open the box, and carefully examined the object inside.

It was a preserved human head and a right-arm soul bone, no longer than a forearm.

"Mission target confirmed, lost soul bone recovered, mission complete."

"Xiao Feng, Oscar, take out your identification credentials; I will register them for you."

Shen Rui and Oscar nodded, taking out white iron badges to hand over.

After Soul Hunting Town was established, it naturally attracted many soul masters, though there were certainly many troublemakers among them during that time.

It wasn't until Shen Feng distributed firearms to the soul masters he brought and formed a security team that the rules of Soul Hunting Town were finally established.

Subsequently, Shen Rui took office as the first president of the Soul Hunting Guild, with Ling Na as vice president and Liao Yong as captain.

From then on, the Soul Hunting Guild began to accept various soul hunting missions, material searches, team expeditions, bodyguard escorts, and a whole series of other tasks.

As long as it did not violate local laws and regulations, and as long as enough Gold Soul Coins were provided, anything could be posted within the Soul Hunting Guild, even a mission to hunt a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Of course, whether anyone would dare to accept such a mission and actually complete it was something no one could guarantee.

However, just as the Soul Hunting Guild was gradually growing and expanding, there were always people who violated the rules, attacking employers, double-crossing, or abandoning employers to save their own lives.

In order to prevent the reputation of the Soul Hunting Guild from being ruined, the Reverse Blade Squad was born.

Dealing with those soul masters who violated the rules and helping employers recover losses caused by the mistakes of the Soul Hunting Guild was the responsibility of the Reverse Blade Squad.

The classification of mission levels was the same as the color of soul rings.

White corresponded to Soul Masters and Soul Grand Masters, yellow to Soul Elders and Soul Ancestors, purple to Soul Kings and Soul Emperors, black to Soul Saints and Soul Douluo, and red to Title Douluo.

Of course, each level of mission was further subdivided into ten minor grades, with each minor grade corresponding to two levels of a soul master's strength, which was enough to ensure that soul masters of every strength bracket could accept missions corresponding to their own capabilities.

This prevented them from dying or failing missions due to greed for large bounties when their own strength was insufficient.

As for Shen Feng and Oscar, they were currently executing a mission above their rank.

Under normal circumstances, exceeding one's rank was not permitted.