Douluo: Starting by Crafting a Gun Chapter 2

Facing the villagers' greetings, Shen Rui and Ling Na responded with smiles and nods.

As for exchanging pleasantries, well, they had been here for six years, and they were only on nodding terms with the villagers of Shuiyun Village; they didn't even know their names.

Passing through the crowd and arriving before the Martial Soul Hall, Shen Rui and Ling Na gave a few simple instructions before letting Shen Feng enter the building alone.

Stepping into the room, Shen Feng discovered that besides the ten children—a mix of boys and girls—there was a man in his forties.

This man looked quite distinct: tall and thin, with a face like a shoehorn, a protruding chin, wide cheekbones, a flat face, and a slightly hooked nose.

He wore black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, the frames rigid and square. Although his eyes were closed, one could still discern a cunning nature etched into his very bones from his brow.

Given such an appearance, a character from the original work immediately came to Shen Feng's mind: the dean of Shrek Academy, Flender.

"Kid, get in line now that you're here. We've been waiting for you."

Just then, the man who looked so much like Flender opened his eyes.

Hearing him speak, Shen Feng stopped guessing the man's identity and walked a few steps to the far right of the line.

Once Shen Feng stood still, the man who resembled Flender gave him a thoughtful look before stepping forward to stand in front of the row of children.

"My name is Flender, an officially certified patrol deacon of the Martial Soul Hall, and I will be your guide for your martial soul awakening today."

Hearing the man's introduction, Shen Feng realized that this really was the Flender from the original story.

It stood to reason that Flender would come out to do this himself to help relieve the pressure on the Suotuo City Martial Soul Hall, while also allowing the Martial Soul Hall to promote his Shrek Academy to the public.

Secondly, he was likely scouting for talent, hoping to find a budding soul master with exceptional innate ability to bring back and bolster his Shrek Academy.

In the original work, that food-type soul master with Innate Full Soul Power and the sausage martial soul, Oscar, was apparently a promising talent he had personally brought back from the outside.

While Shen Feng was lost in thought, Flender had already begun the awakening process for the first boy on the left.

Flender casually tossed out six pitch-black, round stones, arranging them into a hexagram formation on the ground, then signaled for the child to stand in the center.

"Don't be afraid. Close your eyes and sense carefully."

After giving the instruction, Flender channeled six streams of soul power into the black stones on the ground.

The hexagram formation was instantly activated, and a layer of pale golden light enveloped the boy.

Golden specks of light began to drift out from the black stones on the ground, slowly floating into the boy's body.

The boy's body began to tremble slightly; his expression was a mix of pain and pleasure, his mouth slightly agape, wanting to cry out but unable to make a sound.

"Extend your right hand." A glint flashed in Flender's eyes as he stared intently at the boy, commanding with authority.

The boy subconsciously extended his right hand, and suddenly, all the light specks surged out. In an instant, a steel fork over two meters long materialized in his palm.

Flender frowned slightly: "A tool martial soul, a three-pronged fork. It can barely serve as a weapon, I suppose."

Muttering softly, Flender took out a small crystal ball and held it out to the boy.

"Your martial soul is a three-pronged fork, which belongs to the category of tool martial souls."

"Come, test if you have any innate soul power. If you do, you can become an assault-type battle soul master."

"M-master, what should I do with my martial soul?" the boy asked timidly.

Flender said calmly: "Use your mind to retract it. You can summon it the same way in the future."

The boy struggled for a good while before he managed to retract the two-meter-long steel fork into his body.

"Come, place your right hand on the crystal ball to test your soul power."

Hearing Flender's instruction, the boy carefully placed his hand on the crystal ball.

The next moment, a soft light began to bloom from the crystal ball.

"Not bad, Innate Soul Power level four. If you cultivate diligently, reaching the level of a four-ring Soul Ancestor in the future won't be a problem."

Upon hearing this, the boy jumped up in excitement: "Hahaha, I can be a soul master! I can be a soul master!"

It is truly difficult for an ordinary person to become a soul master; it is no exaggeration to say it is one in ten thousand. The population of the entire Douluo Continent is well over a billion, yet the number of soul masters has never exceeded six digits from beginning to end.

And a Soul Ancestor is already considered a backbone powerhouse on the continent.

Even within the two great empires, the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, a Soul Ancestor can be granted the title of Baron and serve as the lord of a city.

After a while, Flender frowned and said sternly: "Alright, that's enough excitement. Go stand to the side and don't disturb me."

To Flender, level four innate soul power was just average. While not bad, it didn't catch his eye.

By the admission standards of his Shrek Academy, an innate soul power of level six might only pass the preliminary assessment; whether they could actually enroll would still depend on how hard they worked.

Only geniuses with innate soul power of level seven or higher were the true targets of Flender's trip.

"Tool martial soul, Blue Silver Grass. No soul power. Stand aside."

"Tool martial soul, woodcutter's knife. No soul power."

"Beast martial soul, pig. Innate soul power 0.5. You... you can become a soul master. Stand aside for now."

"..."

Soon, the ten people ahead of Shen Feng had all finished their awakening. Aside from the boy with level four innate soul power, only the one with the pig martial soul and 0.5 level power had the potential to cultivate.

In reality, there wasn't much difference between having 0.5 level innate soul power and having none at all, as it would be a stroke of extreme luck for such a talent to ever break through to level ten and become a one-ring soul master.

However, the piglet belonging to that child was a familiar shade of purple. Seeing the object and thinking of the person, Flender still decided to give this child a chance.

Finally, it was Shen Feng's turn. Without needing Flender to give instructions, he had already stepped into the center of the six-pointed star formation.

"Kid, are both of your parents Soul Masters?"

Seeing Shen Feng, Flender still couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

Shen Feng nodded, feeling a bit strange: "How did the Master know?"

Flender laughed: "The village chief of Shuiyun Village told me. If it weren't for waiting for you kid, I would have finished awakening everyone's Martial Souls long ago."

Shen Feng was stunned for a moment, only then realizing that it was the Shuiyun Village chief who was so thoughtful, calculating that he was also due for an awakening recently. If not for that, he might have really had to make a trip to Suotuo City.

Shen Feng chuckled: "I'm really sorry for taking up your time, Master."

Flender waved his hand, not minding at all: "Forget it, let's just awaken your Martial Soul quickly. I hope you kid can give me a surprise."

Earlier, when he first arrived at the village, Flender had heard that loud noise coming from the back mountain. For such a commotion to be heard from hundreds of meters away, he believed it must have been caused by a Soul Master of considerable strength.

That was why, after questioning the Shuiyun Village chief, he had been willing to wait for a while.

As Flender injected his six strands of soul power, the six-pointed star formation lit up once again. A large amount of golden light particles rose up, converging into Shen Feng's body like swallows returning to their nests.

Flender's heart skipped a beat, and he was immediately overjoyed: "Good, good, I've found a treasure."

At the same time, Shen Feng felt as if he had merged into a warm world; it was cozy and comforting.

As the warm energy permeated his body, Shen Feng clearly felt something within him being stirred up. One stream spread throughout his entire body and limbs, while another surged toward his right hand.

Outside, a faint golden light shone on Shen Feng's skin, while purple-black lightning flickered in his right hand.

The next moment, a black long blade appeared in his right hand, with a blade length of one meter, a width of two and a half fingers, a hilt length of 30 centimeters, and a ring at the pommel.

Most uniquely, the black blade was engraved with strange purple-black inscriptions, and wisps of electric arcs continuously sputtered from the inscriptions, wrapping around the entire blade.

"Quick, quick, test your soul power, test your soul power."

A proper long blade with lightning attributes—with such a high-end Martial Soul, even Flender couldn't help but feel excited.

All Martial Souls on the Douluo Continent can generally be divided into five grades.

Low-grade Martial Souls are very common ones.

Things like flowers, birds, insects, fish, sickles, hoes, shovels, sticks, pots, bowls, tables, chairs, and benches all belong to the category of low-grade Martial Souls.

These types of Martial Souls are not only common, but they also generally cannot awaken any Innate Soul Power, so naturally, they have no future prospects. They are the types of Martial Souls most easily awakened by the common masses.

The second grade is the mid-grade Martial Soul.

The awakening rate for these types of Martial Souls drops sharply. They are usually fierce beasts, birds of prey, knives, spears, swords, halberds, axes, and hooks.

These Martial Souls can generally awaken some amount of soul power, and their owners can become Soul Masters in the future.

Nearly ninety percent of the Soul Masters in the world possess these types of Martial Souls; they can be considered the backbone of the world's Soul Masters.

The third grade is the high-grade Martial Soul.

For these types of Martial Souls, as long as it is a beast Martial Soul, it is generally a soul beast that has transcended the mundane. As long as it is a tool Martial Soul, it will generally carry some elemental power or a specific trait.

Those who awaken these types of Martial Souls, barring any accidents, will have an Innate Soul Power of no less than level five.

As long as they can grow up safely, they can at least reach the realm of a four-ring Soul Ancestor. They belong to the second tier of the Soul Master world.

Flender's own Cat Eagle Martial Soul and Shen Feng's lightning-attribute long blade Martial Soul actually both belong to the category of high-grade Martial Souls.

This was why Flender was so excited; Shen Feng's aptitude was very likely even better than his own.

As for the fourth category, top-tier Martial Souls, this type is truly a bit special.

Because this type of Martial Soul doesn't actually depend on the grade of the Martial Soul itself, but rather on the strength of the Soul Master who awakened it.

As long as a Soul Master who awakens this type of Martial Soul can reach the realm of a nine-ring Titled Douluo, then the type of Martial Soul they awakened can be called a top-tier Martial Soul.

It could also be said that these types of Martial Souls are achieved by the Soul Master, rather than the Martial Soul achieving the Soul Master.

As for the fifth category, god-grade Martial Souls, it's better not to even mention them.

As the name suggests, god-grade Martial Souls are those possessed by those who have become gods, or those created by gods.

In the current Douluo Continent, even Shen Feng, who knew some of the original plot, only knew of two types of god-grade Martial Souls.

One is the Angel Martial Soul of the Martial Soul Hall's Angel family, and the other is the Sea God Martial Soul exclusive to the High Priest of Sea God Island.

The possessors of these types of Martial Souls will inevitably be able to reach the realm of a Titled Douluo, but as for their strength, that is a matter of opinion, or rather, it depends on the person.

Understanding why Flender was so uncomposed, Shen Feng smiled slightly, moved his mind to retract the long blade in his right hand, and reached out to cover the crystal ball that Flender was holding out.

The next moment, Shen Feng's body trembled violently. The crystal ball used to test Innate Soul Power seemed to possess some kind of massive suction force, forcefully drawing out every bit of energy from within Shen Feng.

Shen Feng frowned, but he couldn't break free from that powerful suction.

Looking at the crystal ball that was gradually lighting up, the corners of Flender's mouth were almost reaching his ears.

"Haha, no need to panic, kid."

"Testing Innate Soul Power is just letting the soul power in your body circulate through the crystal ball once. After the test is finished, it will flow back into your body."

"Such a basic thing, didn't your Soul Master parents ever tell you?"

Shen Feng shook his head slightly: "No, it's probably too basic, my unreliable parents must have forgotten about it."

Prompted by Flender, Shen Feng stopped suppressing the soul power within his body. Suddenly, it was as if his soul power had found a vent, surging wildly into the crystal ball.

A dazzling light began to shine from the crystal ball, illuminating the dim, stone-walled Martial Soul Hall with its brilliant radiance.

"Hahaha, hahaha, Innate Full Soul Power, it's actually Innate Full Soul Power! I've struck gold!"

"This trip was worth it, absolutely worth it."

It was Shen Feng who had awakened with Innate Full Soul Power, yet Flender appeared a hundred times more excited than he was.

Seeing Flender so worked up made Shen Feng feel too embarrassed to even show his own excitement.

Shaking his head helplessly, Shen Feng slowly pulled his hand away from the crystal ball, and the light in the room instantly dimmed.

"Kid, what is your name, and would you be willing to join my Shrek Academy to study?"

In his excitement, Flender did not forget his ultimate goal: to discover promising talent and then sweet-talk them into being branded as his own.

And Shen Feng, with his Innate Full Soul Power, was naturally the best talent in his eyes.

Shen Feng curled his lips: "I appreciate the master's high regard, but I haven't decided where I want to study yet."

Shen Feng certainly knew what Shrek Academy was. Although the teachers' soul power levels were not low, their teaching methods were, well, truly hard to describe.

If Shen Feng had to label Shrek Academy, it would definitely be the chaotic neutral faction.

They didn't do good deeds, but they weren't exactly evil either; they acted as they pleased and had a tendency to bully the weak while fearing the strong.

Shen Feng didn't particularly care for such an organization, as his own personality leaned more toward the lawful neutral faction.