Douluo: Starting by Crafting Guns Chapter 23

Moreover, the firearm in the hands of Shen Feng was a specially modified high-power pistol; even a defensive-type Soul Ancestor activating their defensive soul skill could have their defense shattered by a single shot.

Such power was already enough for him to deal with most dangers.

Oscar followed the same strategy; his Martial Soul could not be used for combat, his self-created soul skill was extremely dangerous in close-quarters, and he only had one life.

Therefore, Oscar gradually became more reliant on firearms for combat, only using his self-created soul skill to escape danger when absolutely forced to.

His firearm was also a piece of exclusive equipment specially crafted for him by Shen Feng: a two-meter-long anti-material sniper rifle modeled after the Bullet from his past life.

The slender, all-black gun body, the unique metallic texture, and the ergonomic design made this anti-material sniper rifle aesthetically stunning.

The massive 25mm caliber gave it a deterrent power that surpassed the original model.

The muzzle brake installed at the barrel effectively reduced the firearm's recoil, and the installation of a silencer significantly lowered its noise.

Equipped with a high-precision optical scope, this custom sniper rifle possessed terrifying accuracy.

It was only because Douluo Continent possessed all kinds of peculiar materials that Shen Feng could disregard the limitations of material science and spare no cost to forge this terrifying weapon of mass destruction for Oscar.

Oscar held the gun with both hands, channeled his soul power to his soles, and in a few leaps, scrambled up a large tree near the group, using the scope to search for the source of danger.

"Target spotted, one Swift Shadow Leopard."

"Shoulder height of 1.1 meters, body length of four to five meters; preliminary assessment, the age is around 1400 to 1500 years."

"It has already discovered us and is currently sixty meters ahead, slowly approaching."

"Target locked, shall I hunt it?"

It was only after Oscar accurately reported the detailed intelligence on the source of danger that Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun reacted, barely managing to complete their Martial Soul Avatar.

Shen Feng pondered slightly: "A Swift Shadow Leopard—fast speed, strong attack, weak defense. Hunting relies mainly on surprise sneak attacks; it is most suitable for agility-attack soul masters."

"Hongjun needs a fire-attribute Blazing Falcon, and Mubai needs a gold-attribute beast; neither is particularly suitable."

"Xiao Ao, drive it away; let's find something better."

"Received!" Oscar replied, placing his finger on the trigger.

"Wait, I want this soul beast!"

Just then, Dai Mubai's voice suddenly rang out, leaving everyone on the scene stunned in their tracks.

Shen Feng, you really are afraid, actually trying to use this method to delay the time it takes for me to become a Soul Elder.

Heh, I won't let you succeed.

Even if the Swift Shadow Leopard isn't the most suitable soul beast for me, I will definitely be able to use this to break through to the Soul Elder realm, and then, defeat you!

Even if I have to sacrifice a less-than-ideal third soul ring for this, I will not regret it.

"Gari, what kind of madness are you spouting?"

"Isn't what Xiao Feng said clear enough? The Swift Shadow Leopard is best suited for agility-attack soul masters, not a power-attack soul master like you."

The straightforward Zhao Wuji roared out; he truly couldn't understand what kind of stupidity Dai Mubai was committing again. He wouldn't walk the well-paved road, insisting instead on taking such a rugged, narrow path.

Could it be that these powerful, wealthy, and handsome young masters just love playing with flashy, useless things?

Dai Mubai's expression looked slightly unnatural as he said: "Teacher Zhao, I am not spouting madness; I truly feel that this Swift Shadow Leopard is suitable for me."

Flender frowned slightly: "Mubai, I have said before that everyone's Martial Soul is different, and the cultivation methods for Martial Souls are also vastly different."

"Even with the same type of Martial Soul, absorbing the same type of soul beast as a soul ring can result in completely different soul skills due to the age of the soul beast and subtle individual differences in the soul master."

"Therefore, as long as your reasoning is sound, I will not stop you from absorbing this Swift Shadow Leopard as your soul ring."

Flender knew of Dai Mubai's background and naturally understood his identity.

As a member of the Star Luo Empire's royal family, he possessed the White Tiger, a top-tier Martial Soul that produced a Title Douluo in every generation.

For such a powerful faction with stable inheritance, he, Flender, dared not interfere too much with their soul ring configuration.

What if their inheritance included a Title Douluo whose third soul ring was agility-attribute?

What if he really was right?

One must know that obstructing someone's path of cultivation is akin to killing their parents.

He, Flender, was only a small Soul Saint; it was better to avoid such offensive matters without explicit authorization.

Dai Mubai looked at Flender, sighed, and said: "Dean, Teacher Zhao, I know you have my best interests at heart, and I, Dai Mubai, am not a person who cannot distinguish right from wrong or act unreasonably."

"I have three reasons for wanting to absorb this Swift Shadow Leopard."

"First, the age of this Swift Shadow Leopard is just right to serve as my third soul ring."

"Second, the Swift Shadow Leopard is also a type of feline soul beast, which is similar in species to my White Tiger Martial Soul."

"Third, my first soul skill, White Tiger Protection Barrier, is a self-buffing type, and my second soul skill, White Tiger Intense Light Wave, is an attack type; for my third soul skill, I want a speed-based movement soul skill."

Hearing Dai Mubai's words, Shen Feng was slightly stunned; Dai Mubai's explanation actually seemed to hold water.

In the original work, Dai Mubai had completely abandoned his own development due to Yu Xiaogang's team theory.

There was no defensive-type soul master among the Shrek Seven Devils, so Dai Mubai, the power-attack soul master who charged into the fray, added a large number of self-buffing soul skills to himself to withstand the frantic attacks of the opposing power-attack types.

First soul skill: White Tiger Protection Barrier, self-buffing.

Third Soul Skill: White Tiger Vajra Transformation, self-buff.

Fifth Soul Skill: White Tiger Demon God Transformation, self-buff.

Seventh Soul Skill: White Tiger Avatar, self-buff.

Good grief, how is this an assault-type? Isn't this just purely stacking the thickest armor to take the most brutal beatings?

Thinking about it this way, it seems Ma Hongjun also fell for the tricks of that old geezer, Yu Xiaogang.

Fourth Soul Skill: Phoenix Sky-Screaming Strike, a reactive crowd-control skill; the charging time is too long, it cannot lock onto targets, and it is easily dodged by enemies.

Reactive crowd-control?

By the time the enemy is already in your face and your skill still hasn't activated, isn't this just controlling nothing but air?

If there are no teammates around to restrain the opponent, wouldn't this skill be a total piece of trash?

And this was a soul ring absorbed under the personal guidance of Yu Xiaogang. Tsk tsk, his knowledge of basic soul beasts is solid, but as for application, he is simply misleading his students.

However, if one connects this to the weak control of Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.

"Hiss~"

Thinking of this, Shen Feng couldn't help but gasp.

This Yu Xiaogang is truly terrifying.

Unknowingly, he has even calculated against the others. To set the stage for Tang San, to make the others willingly act as support for Tang San, this old thing has done so much without anyone realizing it.

No wonder that old geezer keeps emphasizing that there is no perfect individual, only a perfect team.

It turns out it was all just to brainwash everyone else.

Making Dai Mubai willingly abandon offense in favor of defense.

Making Ma Hongjun absorb reactive crowd-control soul skills to fill the gap in the weak control of Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, while also supplementing some damage.

If things go well, it's because of Tang San's precise grasp of the battle; if things go poorly, it's because Ma Hongjun didn't strengthen his control.

Now that I think about it, Oscar in the original story also seemed to have made huge sacrifices for the team because of his bullshit "perfect team" philosophy.

His mediocre third and fourth soul skills were almost entirely related to his teachings.

It wasn't until after the Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament that Oscar left that old guy to travel on his own, and the subsequent soul skills he obtained were more monstrous than the last.

Of the four males in the Shrek Seven Devils, besides Tang San, the other three were all tricked into crippling their own potential by him.

Damn it, such an old monster, old fox, old swindler, old bastard—to go to such lengths for Tang San.

I must not deal with him in the future; it's best to stay far away and never cross paths again.

Flender turned his head to look at Shen Feng: "Xiao Feng, do you have anything to say?"

Shen Feng was stunned for a moment, only then remembering that he had seemingly made a sound involuntarily.

He shook his head slightly: "No, I have nothing to say. Choosing what kind of soul ring to absorb is the most basic freedom of a soul master."

"We only have the right to advise, not the right to decide."

"Life is like a game of chess; once a piece is played, there is no regret. It is the same for chess, and the same for life."

Flender nodded and looked at Dai Mubai again: "Decided? You want this Swift Shadow Leopard?"

Dai Mubai glanced at Shen Feng and nodded with a firm gaze: "Decided, I want this Swift Shadow Leopard."

Flender sighed: "Young man, fighting out of spite is not advisable."

"However, since you have made up your mind, I will respect your choice and help you take down this Swift Shadow Leopard."

At this moment, Oscar, who was in the tree, suddenly spoke up with a laugh: "Dean, it's just a thousand-year soul beast; you don't need to step in. I'll handle it."

Bang—Awoo—

As his finger pulled the trigger, a not-too-loud gunshot rang out, and the miserable howl of the Swift Shadow Leopard immediately echoed from the jungle thirty meters away.

"Hit in the abdomen, the wound is too large; the Swift Shadow Leopard will die at any moment."

"Xiao Bai, you need to hurry."

Dai Mubai glared at Oscar with resentment, then flashed into the woods.

Shen Feng, Oscar, you two despicable villains, to stop me from absorbing this Swift Shadow Leopard, you actually resorted to such underhanded tactics.

However, I won't let you succeed.

"Second Soul Skill: White Tiger Intense Light Wave."

Seeing that the Swift Shadow Leopard was about to die, Dai Mubai immediately activated his second soul skill.

A beam of white soul power shot out, hitting the Swift Shadow Leopard at the very last moment, delivering the final blow.

A purple soul ring slowly rose.

The sniper shot rang out, the Swift Shadow Leopard was on the verge of death, Dai Mubai rushed out toward his soul ring, while Ma Hongjun stared dumbfounded at the large object in Oscar's hands.

"S-Senior, is that thing in your hand also a gun?"

Oscar jumped down from the tree, gently stroking the cold and heavy barrel of the gun in his hand.

"Yes, the Breaker 3.0. It has an overall length of 2.36 meters, weighs 74 jin, and has a 25mm caliber."

"It can fire three different types of ammunition: 25mm x 300mm tungsten steel armor-piercing rounds, high-explosive rounds, and white phosphorus incendiary rounds."

"Its power is greater than the Breaker 1.0, its accuracy is higher, and its handling is much improved."

"Field tests show it can kill a thousand-year soul beast in one shot, and it can penetrate the defenses of any soul beast under thirty thousand years, regardless of species."

Ma Hongjun was instantly startled: "Good heavens, senior, does that mean as long as you're holding this big gun, you're even more powerful than my teacher and Teacher Zhao?"

Damn it, is this thing really that badass?

With something like this, who the hell would even bother cultivating? I really want to get my hands on one to play with.

Oscar chuckled and scratched his head, saying: "Not at all. It's the firearms Xiao Feng makes that are powerful. My own strength is only that of a Soul Grand Master; how could I compare to the Dean and Teacher Zhao?"

"Besides, Xiao Feng also mentioned before that high-level soul masters have extremely keen senses for danger. I might be discovered by the opponent before I even fire a shot."

"Actually hitting a soul master of the Dean's or Teacher Zhao's level is an extremely difficult thing to do."

"At least with my current level of skill, it's something I simply cannot achieve."

Flender's pupils suddenly constricted: "Xiao Ao, you said it's difficult to hit a soul master of our level, not that it's impossible?"

Oscar glanced at Flender and nodded slightly: "Yes, Xiao Feng said the effective lethal range of this sniper rifle is over 2,000 meters."

"This means that within a 2,000-meter range, this gun can pose a threat to soul beasts under thirty thousand years."

"However, just like arrows, the further the projectile travels, the more variables it is subjected to, and its accuracy will drop rapidly."

"With my current ability, I can only pose a threat to targets within 500 meters; any further than that, and it becomes very difficult to hit the target."