Douluo: Starting by Crafting Guns Chapter 30

Oscar had barely finished speaking when a sudden change occurred below. The Ox Dragon let out a furious roar, its front hooves lifting high into the air. A massive amount of electric arcs began to erupt from its body, and its spiral horns pointed toward the heavens, blooming with blinding lightning.

Shen Feng's pupils suddenly constricted: "Holy crap!"

"Teacher Zhao, save them!"

He might not have bothered saving unidentified soul masters, but he couldn't just stand by and watch these ones die.

Especially since they were his own people.

Zhao Wuji didn't waste a word, immediately activating his Martial Soul Avatar. With a powerful push from his legs, he leaped high into the air and dove straight toward the battlefield below.

"Fifth Soul Skill: Gravity Squeeze!"

While still in mid-air, Zhao Wuji unleashed his fifth soul skill. A massive force of gravity was exerted upon the Ox Dragon, briefly restricting its movements.

Bang—

A gunshot that wasn't particularly loud rang out, and one of the Ox Dragon's front limbs immediately snapped.

"Roar—"

The Ox Dragon let out a mournful cry, slamming its remaining front hoof heavily against the ground.

Boom—

Thunder roared and lightning scattered in all directions. Arcs of electricity splashed everywhere, and of the six people besieging the Ox Dragon, all five except for the Soul King were sent flying by the shockwave.

"You wicked beast, stop hurting people."

Zhao Wuji roared from mid-air, his second, third, and fourth soul rings lighting up in succession.

His hands transformed into bear paws the size of iron pots. Zhao Wuji descended from the sky with the force of Mount Tai, slamming down toward the gravity-suppressed Ox Dragon below.

The Ox Dragon stood on three legs, its eyes blood-red. It lifted its head high, aiming its spiral horns—which had gathered countless bolts of lightning and were ready to strike—directly at the figure above.

Crackle—

Lightning sputtered, and a thick pillar of electricity erupted from between the Ox Dragon's horns, shooting straight toward Zhao Wuji in mid-air.

Zhao Wuji's expression turned stern as his first soul ring lit up.

A layer of intense golden light exploded from his body. He actually used his physical body to withstand the thunder, charging straight through the lightning pillar.

Vajra Palm—

The bear paw swung down heavily, slamming fiercely into the Ox Dragon's massive head.

Crack—

The horns snapped, and the ten-ton Ox Dragon was actually sent flying by Zhao Wuji's strike.

Landing heavily on both feet, the two-meter-tall, burly Zhao Wuji twisted his neck, walked over to the Ox Dragon as it tried to crawl up, and stepped firmly on its head.

"Xiao Feng, Xiao Ao, come out."

Seeing the seven soul rings on Zhao Wuji, the five-ring Soul King in the soul master squad felt his pupils contract sharply.

He walked respectfully to Zhao Wuji's side, bowed, and said, "Thank you, senior Soul Saint, for saving our lives. My name is Lin De, a squad leader in the Intelligence Team of the Soul Hunting Guild."

Zhao Wuji waved his hand impatiently: "Alright, alright, who told you to report your identity?"

"I'm good brothers with your guild leader Shen Rui, otherwise do you think I would have bothered to save you?"

"Your young guild leader is here too; just report whatever you need to him. I can't be bothered to listen."

Lin De was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "The young guild leader is here too?"

"Yes, yes, the Soul Tool that attacked the Ox Dragon earlier was clearly the Breaker. I should have guessed that sooner."

"Uncle Lin!" At this moment, Shen Feng and Oscar ran down from the mountain.

"Young Guild Leader, Xiao Ao, it really is you two."

Seeing Shen Feng and Oscar appear, Lin De finally let out a sigh of relief.

Shen Feng glanced at the severely injured members of the intelligence team: "Uncle Lin, we can talk about anything else later. Let's save them first."

"Xiao Ao, White Jade Healing Spirit Sausage."

Oscar's third soul skill performed a great service, and the five soul masters who had been heavily wounded by the Ox Dragon quickly stabilized.

Even the two weakest Soul Elders had their injuries fully healed, and with Oscar's help, their combat strength was restored to seven or eight-tenths of its peak.

Seeing that everyone had basically recovered, Shen Feng finally asked: "Uncle Lin, why are you here?"

Lin De sighed: "The vice guild leader personally arranged a mission for our intelligence team to go out and find a lightning-attribute dragon-type soul beast around 7,000 years old."

"We wandered in the Thundercloud Canyon for a week before finally finding a suitable target. Who would have thought that on the way back, we would run head-on into this Ox Dragon."

"If it weren't for the senior Soul Saint and the young guild leader rescuing us in time, all six of us would probably be buried here."

Shen Feng's expression stiffened, and he gave an extremely awkward smile. I really am a terrible person.

What "rescuing in time"?

If Xiao Ao hadn't been observing carefully, I probably would have only been able to help you make your coffins thicker out of guilt.

Zhao Wuji and Oscar almost burst out laughing when they saw Shen Feng's expression, and they both turned their heads away, not daring to look at him again.

Lin De suddenly thought of something: "By the way, Young Guild Master, why did you all come here?"

Shen Feng's expression stiffened: "Uh, we also came to look for a soul beast."

Lin De felt a surge of joy: "Is it also for the mission issued by the Vice Guild Master?"

Shen Feng nodded awkwardly: "You could say that, haha, haha."

"That's great! We were just worrying about how to repay the senior for saving our lives. We'll just hand this mission over to you and the Young Guild Master."

"Although the mission reward isn't much, it's a token of our appreciation. We hope the senior and the Young Guild Master won't refuse."

Afterward, ignoring Shen Feng's protests, Lin De revealed all the details of the mission target they had discovered, much to Shen Feng's extreme embarrassment.

Then, he led his team and left the Star Dou Forest without a moment's delay.

"Hahaha, Xiao Feng, I can tease you about this for an entire year."

After Lin De and his group left, Zhao Wuji could no longer hold it in and began to mercilessly mock Shen Feng.

Oscar also covered his mouth and giggled, completely disregarding Shen Feng's awkward expression.

Looking at the two of them acting this way, Shen Feng was left feeling utterly helpless.

"Stop laughing, both of you. I'm about to absorb the soul ring, don't disturb me."

Walking up to the heavily injured Ox Dragon, Shen Feng ignored its look of extreme resentment, summoned his Leiming Blade, and drove it straight into the beast's eye.

Purple-black light spots drifted out from the Ox Dragon's corpse, rapidly forming a purple-black soul ring in mid-air.

Shen Feng took a deep breath, suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind, sat cross-legged, and began to absorb the soul ring.

A tree that stands above the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

Being level 30 at age 10 with a 7,000-year third soul ring—any one of these facts would be a shocking topic if leaked.

Especially a 7,000-year third soul ring, considering that many Soul Kings only have fifth soul rings of that age.

To avoid attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives, Shen Feng's soul ring configuration was a secret known to only a very few in the Soul Hunting Guild.

That was why the mission Lin De's team received was only to locate the soul beast, and why Shen Feng waited until they left before starting the absorption.

A soul ring approaching 7,000 years is not easy to absorb, especially one from a violent, thunder-attribute sub-dragon soul beast.

The moment he guided the Ox Dragon's soul ring onto himself, Shen Feng's face contorted, and his bones began to emit sharp, crackling sounds.

The purple-black soul power, flickering with wisps of thunder, surged into Shen Feng's body like a river flowing into the sea.

Damn it! There's something wrong with this Ox Dragon!

The thought had barely formed when Shen Feng's consciousness was overwhelmed by this surging, incredibly violent thunder-attribute soul power.

Pfft—

The tyrannical soul power rampaged through his body. Shen Feng felt as if his body were about to tear apart, and the intense pain forced him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

"This, how could this happen? Teacher Zhao, what's wrong with Xiao Feng?"

Seeing Shen Feng suddenly vomit blood, Oscar was instantly alarmed. He had absorbed soul rings before, but this was his first time seeing someone vomit blood while doing so.

Anxiety clouded his judgment, so Oscar had no choice but to seek help from Zhao Wuji nearby.

Zhao Wuji's brows were locked in a deep frown, his voice heavy: "Perhaps we all misjudged the true age of this Ox Dragon."

"Relying on a soul beast's external characteristics to determine its cultivation age is merely a rough estimate."

"Even among us humans, there are individuals who are stunted or underdeveloped; how could soul beasts be any different?"

"The Ox Dragon before us must be one such case. While it has the external features of a 7,000-year beast, its actual cultivation has reached over 8,000 years."

Oscar's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, his face full of panic: "Then what do we do? Is there any way to help Xiao Feng?"

Zhao Wuji shook his head helplessly: "One cannot use external force when absorbing a soul ring; forcing help will likely produce the opposite effect."

"Now we can only trust Xiao Feng, believe that he can hold on, and believe that he can bring the Ox Dragon's soul ring under his control."

Waiting is agonizing, especially when the life or death of an important companion hangs in the balance.

One minute, ten minutes, thirty minutes, one hour, two hours...

Time ticked away second by second in torment, and in the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.

Shen Feng's condition had not improved in the slightest; instead, it showed signs of worsening.

Blood flowed from his seven orifices—his mouth, nostrils, eyes, and ears.

Even the skin on his body had turned a rose-red color; this was a sign that the capillaries in his body had burst, and blood was being squeezed out through his pores.

The crackling of his bones continued incessantly, sounding like hammer blows or a high-voltage short circuit, and it had lasted until now.

Shen Feng's brows were furrowed, his jaws clenched, and his lips pulled tight. His body was in a constant state of spasm. With his blood vessels bursting and his bones being repeatedly ground down, one could only imagine how intense the pain he was enduring truly was.

Oscar looked at Zhao Wuji with worry: "Teacher Zhao, should we continue like this?"

"Xiao Feng's body is nearing its limit. If this goes on, Xiao Feng will be in danger."

Zhao Wuji also had his brows tightly locked, "I know, but I cannot intervene to interrupt him."

"You haven't seen a soul master fail at absorbing a soul ring, but I have."

"Their fates are undoubtedly miserable; the lucky ones end up with shattered meridians and become ordinary people, while the unlucky ones suffer total paralysis and become living corpses."

"Between these two, which one do you think Xiao Feng would choose?"

"This, this..." Oscar was struck dumb, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Neither of the two choices offered a good outcome; it was nothing more than a choice between living without dignity or 'dying' without dignity.

Glancing at Oscar, Zhao Wuji sighed and said, "Let's wait and see a bit longer. Now is the moment to test Xiao Feng's willpower."

"If the moment of decision truly arrives, then I will be the one to play the villain!"

The reason Zhao Wuji dared to keep stalling was that the steady personality of Shen Feng gave him confidence.

Back when Shen Feng and Oscar were bickering, he had said that he could absorb an 8,000-year spirit ring; although it would be difficult, he dared to take on the challenge.

Zhao Wuji knew that Shen Feng's character was extremely steady; even when joking, he would never brag or make empty boasts.

If he said he dared to challenge an 8,000-year spirit ring, it meant he had at least a 90 percent chance of success. Otherwise, for Shen Feng, that would be nothing more than empty talk and bragging.

However, what Zhao Wuji did not know was that the spirit ring Shen Feng was currently absorbing was not an 8,000-year ring, nor a 9,000-year ring, but a quasi-ten-thousand-year Ox Dragon with a cultivation of 9,999 years—just one year shy of breaking through to the ten-thousand-year threshold.

If you ask how Shen Feng knew so clearly, it was because the remnant soul of that Ox Dragon, fueled by extreme resentment, had already manifested within his sea of consciousness.

"Go to hell, you damn ox-head!"

In the vast, purple-black sea of consciousness, lightning flickered everywhere.