Douluo: Starting by Crafting Guns Chapter 20

With tea and fruit prepared, Shen Feng picked up an apple, took a bite, and got straight to the point.

"Headmaster, Teacher Zhao, are you here this time to help junior brother Ma Hongjun hunt for a soul ring?"

Flender nodded: "First, to hunt for soul rings for Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai, and second, to come and see how you two boys are doing now."

"As for the third, sigh."

Shen Feng was stunned for a moment. It hadn't even been a year since he last beat him up; he didn't expect this guy to have already reached level thirty.

Thirteen years old, level thirty?

Tsk tsk, this talent is no worse than Tang San's.

No wonder he looked at me with such confidence yesterday.

Heh heh, I hope you little tiger can use your head; growing in strength without growing in intelligence is not a good sign.

Seeing Flender in a difficult position, Oscar blurted out: "Headmaster, I have always kept your kindness toward me in my heart. There is no need to be troubled; just speak your mind."

"As long as there is any way we can be of use, we will definitely do our best to help."

"Right, Xiao Feng?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, Xiao Ao is right." Shen Feng nodded repeatedly: "If there is any trouble, just say it. If it's something we can help with, we certainly will."

"Back then, my parents' sixth soul ring was hunted with the help of the Headmaster and Teacher Zhao. Now that our Soul Hunting Guild is flourishing, helping the Headmaster solve some minor troubles is nothing."

Flender nodded, sighed, and said: "This child Ma Hongjun's martial soul is a mutated one. Although it has great potential, the martial soul still has some flaws."

Flender then carefully recounted Ma Hongjun's situation. Beside him, Ma Hongjun, who had not yet become the shameless character from the original story, turned as red as a pig's liver.

It was partly out of shyness and partly out of embarrassment.

If Zhao Wuji hadn't kept his hand on his shoulder, he probably would have run out by now.

"As he grows older day by day and his body matures, the Evil Fire within Hongjun becomes more and more intense."

"Because the Evil Fire attacks his heart, this child has to run to the brothel once a week at such a young age. If he gets any older, I really don't know what to do."

"Of course, it's not that I begrudge those few Gold Soul Coins; helping destitute women in need is just like doing charity."

"I am just worried that if this continues, this child Hongjun will be completely ruined."

After listening to Flender's account, Oscar stared at Ma Hongjun in shock.

"Brother, that's impressive. You should be about the same age as Xiao Feng, right? At ten years old, can you even get it up?"

Smack—

A crisp sound rang out as Shen Feng slapped the back of Oscar's head.

"Too much nonsense. Also, I can get it up too, so don't say things that lead to misunderstandings."

After warning Oscar, Shen Feng turned to look at Flender.

"Is the Headmaster looking for me to help come up with an idea?"

Flender sighed: "Hongjun is my personal disciple. You read a lot of books and your brain is sharper than ours, so I want to hear your thoughts."

Shen Feng nodded and pondered for a moment: "If you want to completely solve the martial soul flaw at the root, I only have one method at this stage."

"If it's just to suppress the Evil Fire so that it doesn't hinder his cultivation, I do have quite a few folk remedies."

Flender was overjoyed and asked eagerly: "Completely solve the martial soul flaw? Speak, speak quickly!"

Shen Feng did not hesitate and said slowly: "Everyone should know that when a soul master absorbs a soul ring, the martial soul will also undergo subtle mutations based on the type of soul beast absorbed."

"These mutations can be good or bad, but generally speaking, the more the martial soul and the soul beast align in category, species, characteristics, attributes, and so on, the greater the probability that the martial soul will mutate in a positive direction after a successful absorption."

"Hongjun's martial soul is a Phoenix. As long as every one of his soul rings comes from soul beasts with Phoenix bloodlines, then as they accumulate, quantitative changes will lead to qualitative changes. There will definitely be a day in the future when his martial soul flaw is resolved."

Flender shook his head slightly: "I have considered this method, but it won't work. It's too slow to take effect."

"The growth rate of Hongjun's Evil Fire is directly proportional to his soul power cultivation. The faster he cultivates, the faster the Evil Fire grows, and his needs will become even more intense."

"According to my estimation, if this method is adopted, his body will be hollowed out before he even reaches the seventh-ring Soul Saint level."

Shen Feng smiled slightly: "Headmaster, don't be anxious. Didn't I say I have folk remedies to help him suppress the Evil Fire?"

"As the saying goes, 'fullness and warmth lead to lust, hunger and cold lead to theft.' Everything must have a limit, and more importantly, one must master the balance point."

"Isn't Hongjun's problem that the Evil Fire is attacking his heart and he has nowhere to vent his energy? Then let him train. Use physical pain to suppress the desires in his heart."

"As long as he trains until he is exhausted, he naturally won't have time to think about those random things."

Before Shen Feng could finish speaking, Ma Hongjun shuddered violently.

"No, I don't want that. That kind of training will kill me."

Flender turned to look at Ma Hongjun, his eyes dim as he shook his head.

"Xiao Feng, we have tried this method, but the effect is there, but Hongjun he..."

Shen Feng nodded: "Can't take that kind of hardship, right? No problem, I have a way that doesn't involve hardship."

Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up: "Not involving hardship is good, not involving hardship is good! I choose this one!"

Shen Feng looked at Ma Hongjun's lower body, the corners of his mouth curling up into a wicked smile: "Then just cut it off."

"Remove the root of your troubles, and become a carefree man."

Ma Hongjun's pupils suddenly constricted, and he immediately covered his crotch with both hands, shouting and screaming.

"No, no, I won't cut it, I won't cut it! Teacher, save me, save me! Teacher Zhao, save me!"

Flender looked at Shen Feng in a daze, then turned his head to look at Ma Hongjun, and finally shook his head slightly.

"That won't work either. If the body is incomplete, psychological problems will arise, which will ruin Hongjun all the same."

"Xiao Feng, do you have any other methods?"

Shen Feng pondered for a moment, looking troubled: "There is one, but this method is quite expensive. I don't know if the Dean..."

Flender wore a look of distress. He glanced at Ma Hongjun, who had stopped screaming but was looking at him with eager eyes, gritted his teeth, and squeezed three words through his teeth.

"Tell me!"

Shen Feng spread his hands and said helplessly: "Heaven and Earth are the upper and lower bounds of all things; Yin and Yang are the blood and qi of men and women; left and right are the paths of Yin and Yang; water and fire are the manifestations of Yin and Yang; Yin and Yang are the origin of all things."

"Therefore it is said: Yin is inside, the guardian of Yang; Yang is outside, the servant of Yin."

Zhao Wuji frowned, his tone slightly displeased: "Speak human language! I don't understand!"

Shen Feng was stunned, then explained: "Heaven and Earth give all things the distinction of upper and lower, while Yin and Yang give blood and qi the distinction of male and female."

"Left and right are the paths along which Yin and Yang circulate, while water and fire are the manifestations of Yin and Yang."

"The changes of Yin and Yang are the origin of the generation of all things."

"Therefore, it is said that Yin is inside, with Yang as its outer guard, and Yang is outside, with Yin as its assistant."

"Look, everything in the world has two sides, positive and negative, which are mutually Yin and Yang."

"Someone like Hongjun has fire qi that is too vigorous, or one could say his Yang qi is too vigorous. His internal Yang fire is soaring, yet he lacks Yin qi to harmonize it."

"This is why his desires are stronger than others; he needs the trace of Yin qi from women to harmonize himself."

"But apart from women, there are countless things in the world that contain the Yin attribute."

"As long as we find one of them, we can neutralize the rampant Evil Fire in his body, allowing him to be no different from an ordinary person."

Flender frowned, a sense of foreboding suddenly rising in his heart.

"Things with the Yin attribute? Can you be specific about what those are?"

The corners of Shen Feng's mouth lifted slightly: "Ten Thousand Year Cold Ice Marrow, Far North Eternal Frozen Iron, Hundred Thousand Year Ice Jade Scorpion Inner Core, Snow Sprite Life Core."

"Stop, stop, stop!!" Flender hurriedly rubbed his temples to stop Shen Feng from continuing to list them.

"Don't say any more. These things aren't just 'quite expensive'—that's clearly asking for my life."

"I suddenly feel the second suggestion is quite good. Why don't we just cut it off!"

Seeing the sharp gaze Flender directed at him, Ma Hongjun couldn't help but shrink his neck, and his chubby little face immediately turned miserable.

"T-Teacher, can we not cut it? I'm afraid of pain..."

Flender sighed: "Alright, alright, stop making that miserable face. It won't be cut."

"I don't want your martial soul to have defects, and I certainly don't want your body to have defects."

"Just set your heart at ease. As long as there is a glimmer of possibility, I will definitely solve your martial soul defect."

Hearing this, Ma Hongjun's expression immediately cleared up, and he grinned cheekily: "Teacher, you are like a parent to me in this life."

"You are so good to me; in the future, I will definitely take care of you in your old age."

"Pfft~" Zhao Wuji burst out laughing, which instantly earned him a sharp glare from Flender.

Suppressing his smile, Zhao Wuji casually slapped Ma Hongjun on the forehead.

"You brat, your teacher is only in his fifties. With his current cultivation speed, he might even outlive you."

Ma Hongjun pondered seriously: "Doesn't that just make him an old immortal?"

Suddenly, everyone present turned their heads at the same time, not daring to look at the teacher-student pair of Ma Hongjun and Flender. They were holding back laughter so hard it was painful, but they were afraid that if they didn't, Flender would hold a grudge later.

Flender's brows were locked tight. He glanced at the useless Ma Hongjun, then looked at Shen Feng and Oscar, shaking his head in utter speechlessness.

They were all around the same age, so why was the gap so large?

Glancing unintentionally at Dai Mubai, who was huddled to the side holding back laughter, Flender was stunned. Could it really be that one takes on the color of those one associates with?

These two brats had been fooling around together every day, lazy and slack for a whole year. They had only just managed to stand steadily on the water during Water Treading. If they were even half as worry-free as Xiao Feng and Xiao Ao, he would wake up laughing in his dreams.

Sighing once more, Flender turned to look at Shen Feng.

"Xiao Feng, your Soul Hunting Guild can issue missions, right? I want to put out a bounty for information on the materials you mentioned earlier. Help me look into it."

"But you must remember, keep costs down. You must keep costs down..."

When mentioning the word "cost," Flender's hands began to tremble. Making him spend money was more painful than killing him.

Shen Feng thought for a moment: "Issuing a bounty for material information is no problem. The price for information isn't high; it can be done within ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. It's nothing at all."

"However, I don't know how long it will take from the bounty for information to actually obtaining the materials. We cannot delay Junior Brother Hongjun's matter for too long."

"I have a substitute here. Although it isn't as effective as the things I mentioned earlier, it can resolve the trouble in Junior Brother Hongjun's body for a short time."

Flender's face lit up with joy: "You have it on you? Then why didn't you say so earlier? What a waste of emotion."

Shen Feng shook his head with a wry smile, flipped his right hand, and retrieved a jade pendant, blue all over, from his bracer.

The jade pendant was not large, three fingers wide and one finger long, made entirely of ice, with wisps of cold mist gathering on its surface.

"This is a Millennium Cold Jade that Xiao Ao and I obtained by accident. Although it cannot completely solve the trouble with junior Hong Jun, it should have no problem helping him suppress the Evil Fire within his body."

"However, the age of this item is truly a bit low; it can only be used up to level forty at most. Once he exceeds level forty, it won't have much effect."

As he spoke, Shen Feng handed the jade pendant to Flender.

Flender took the jade pendant excitedly, his tone filled with gratitude: "Xiao Feng, Xiao Ao, thank you both. What is the value of this item? I will purchase it with Gold Soul Coins."

In recent years, thanks to that strategy of Shen Feng's—charging fees to provide guidance to others—Shrek Academy had an annual income of nearly ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Life was getting better and better, and there was hope for the future; even the stingy Flender had begun to grow wealthy.

Shen Feng smiled and shook his head: "It's just a small trinket, not worth much."

"Back then, when the Dean and Teacher Zhao helped my parents hunt for their sixth spirit rings, they didn't talk about money either."

"Friendship is priceless; as long as it can help the Dean, that is enough."

Oscar also smiled slightly: "That's right, Dean. Xiao Feng is right; friendship is priceless."

"I was brought to Shrek Academy by you when I was six years old. For five years, you have taken care of me like your own child."

"How can such kindness be compared to this small object?"

Shen Feng and Oscar did not want Flender's Gold Soul Coins at all.

As the saying goes, "The kindness of a drip of water should be repaid with a gushing spring." Debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay.

Back when Shen Feng's parents were breaking through to level sixty, it was Flender and Zhao Wuji who helped them hunt for their sixth spirit rings.