Douluo: Starting by Crafting a Gun Chapter 44

When Shen Feng woke from his cultivation again, the lake of liquid soul power within his body had vanished, replaced by two small, star-ringed spheres—one white and one red.

The spheres were solid soul power, equivalent to the Poison Core within Dugu Bo, while the star rings were a mixture of unsolidified liquid and gaseous soul power, designed for easy access during a soul master's combat.

This was the complete soul power core, or simply, the Soul Core.

At this moment, these two Soul Cores were rotating slowly around the center of Shen Feng's dantian, much like the Water and Fire Dragon Crystals rotating relative to one another.

As the Soul Cores continued their rotation, Shen Feng could clearly perceive strands of water and fire elemental energy from the outside world converging into his dantian in an endless stream.

This state was like stepping from the acquired into the innate; from this point on, the Heaven and Earth Bridge was opened, connecting his internal circulation with the greater external circulation of the world.

Furthermore, this state was entirely passive; as long as Shen Feng did not consciously stop these two Soul Cores, they would continue to rotate indefinitely.

This was equivalent to Shen Feng cultivating at every waking moment; even if he never meditated again, the soul power within his body would grow on its own as time passed.

Of course, meditation would still accelerate the accumulation of soul power.

Solid soul power is difficult to cultivate, but the self-sustaining rotation of the Soul Cores greatly shortened Shen Feng's cultivation time.

With this trade-off, Shen Feng seemed to have gained a massive increase in combat power for free, while his cultivation speed had not decreased in the slightest.

Beyond this, Shen Feng also discovered that with the Soul Cores, he had been equipped with a super-accelerator for soul power recovery.

The solid soul power, combined with meridians as tough as those of a Title Douluo, allowed Shen Feng to directly absorb the unrefined, violent spiritual energy between heaven and earth for his own use, greatly extending his combat duration.

It is no exaggeration to say that, given the rate at which Shen Feng's three soul rings—one yellow and two purple—consumed soul power, even if he released soul skills continuously until his mental energy was exhausted and he fainted, the soul power in his body would still be full.

It was equivalent to plugging a water pump into the ocean to supply a swimming pool; it was inexhaustible, truly inexhaustible.

What Shen Feng did not know was that the Water and Fire Dual Soul Cores within him were not as simple as he imagined.

Just as the Water and Fire Dragon Crystals needed to rotate around him, the "One," what were the Water and Fire Dual Soul Cores rotating around?

Or rather, at the intersection of that water and fire, what new thing was being gestated?

Of course, Shen Feng had no knowledge of these things at present.

At this moment, he was captivated by an even greater anomaly.

Shortly after he successfully condensed the Water and Fire Dual Soul Cores, the Water and Fire Dragon Crystals that had bound him began to bloom with blinding, precious light.

One begets two, two begets three.

The light was brilliant; the Water and Fire Dragon Crystals actually split from one into three, and from two into six, dividing from their original positions into three smaller clusters of light each.

Powerful waves of energy radiated from these clusters, and a terrifying pressure swept over him.

Watching this scene and feeling the surging, overwhelming pressure, Shen Feng, who was at the very center of these six forces, could not stop his body from trembling—first from agitation, second from excitement, and third from being far too agitated and excited.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle." (I thank the two seniors for this generous gift; I, your junior Shen Feng, offer my gratitude here.)

The terrifying pressure came and went quickly; soon, the pressure subsided and the precious light receded.

In the original positions of the Water and Fire Dragon Crystals, two soul bones with restrained brilliance, two heart-shaped Dragon Reverse Scales, and two drops of Dragon King Origin Essence Blood as bright as crystal slowly appeared.

Releasing a wisp of soul power, Shen Feng drew the six relics belonging to the Water and Fire Dragon Kings toward him.

The Dragon Reverse Scales and the Dragon King Origin Essence Blood had nothing particularly strange about them.

The two scales, one milky white and one crimson, were the size of a palm and exceptionally hard.

Perhaps because Shen Feng did not possess a dragon-type martial soul, he did not perceive anything special about them.

The Dragon King Origin Essence Blood was the same: one milky white, one crimson, crystal clear throughout, looking like two teardrop-shaped crystals.

Surrounded by rich elemental fluctuations, Shen Feng felt intuitively that as long as he absorbed these two drops of origin essence blood, both his physical body and soul power would receive a massive boost.

It was a pity, however, that the soul power within Shen Feng's body had already reached the limit of his dantian's capacity.

Even if he absorbed these two drops of origin essence blood, he could only release the excess energy into the world through the 'Heaven and Earth Bridge'; if he forced the absorption, the only outcome would be to explode and die.

Shaking his head in regret, Shen Feng had to set aside these two temporarily useless treasures and cast his eager gaze toward the two Dragon King soul bones.

The relic left behind by the Water Dragon King was a milky-white left arm soul bone; its shape did not resemble a human bone, but rather a miniature dragon arm bone, wreathed in cold mist with abundant water elements flowing over it—truly miraculous.

The soul bone left by the Fire Dragon King was identical to that of the Water Dragon King, only it was the corresponding right arm soul bone, and its color was the corresponding crimson red.

What surprised Shen Feng even more was that, compared to the soul bones produced by soul beasts on the Douluo Continent, these two Dragon King soul bones were surprisingly complete.

From the finger bones to the palm bones, to the forearm and the upper arm, even the shoulder blade was preserved in its entirety.

Not only that, but at the end of the shoulder blades of these two Dragon King soul bones, an extremely unique bone structure extended outward.

Shen Feng guessed that this must be the location of the dragon wings.

Although it was a pity that the dragon wings had not been preserved, Shen Feng was already satisfied.

After all, these two soul bones were produced by God King-level Dragon Kings; although they had undergone tens of thousands of years of change, their power was less than one ten-thousandth of what it was in their lifetime.

However, even this remaining ten-thousandth of their power was, in terms of individual strength, no less than a million-year soul bone produced by the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King.

Moreover, these two Dragon King soul bones could resonate, achieving a balance of water and fire, thereby allowing the use of a legendary Soul Bone Fusion Skill.

With such a supreme treasure in hand, how could Shen Feng not be overjoyed?

Carefully placing the Dragon Reverse Scales and the Dragon King Origin Essence Blood to the side, Shen Feng sat down cross-legged, unable to wait, and circulated his soul power to adjust his state, preparing to absorb these two Dragon King soul bones.

Soul bones are different from soul rings; soul rings contain a large portion of the soul power the soul beast possessed during its lifetime.

Therefore, when a soul master absorbs a soul ring, they must do so gradually according to their realm. Once the age of the ring is too high and the body cannot withstand it, the excessive soul power will burst the soul master apart in minutes.

Soul bones, however, are the exact opposite.

Although soul bones also contain immense energy, when a soul master absorbs them, all of this energy is used to reshape the soul master's original skeleton, strengthening their body without limit until the power contained within the bone is completely exhausted.

Therefore, the increase in soul power from absorbing a soul bone can be completely ignored.

This is also the main reason why soul bones can be absorbed across realms, while soul rings can only be absorbed step by step according to one's realm.

If someone truly had heaven-defying backing and did not fear being hunted or robbed by others, they could theoretically absorb a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone at level one soul power without worrying about exploding to death.

Of course, this is just a metaphor; after all, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone is incredibly precious, and no matter what, it could never be wasted on a soul master with only level one soul power.

A moment later, Shen Feng adjusted his spirit, energy, and essence to their peak state, extending both hands to grasp the Water and Fire Dragon Kings soul bones simultaneously.

To allow the Water and Fire Dragon Kings soul bones to resonate better, Shen Feng decided to absorb them synchronously, seeking a more perfect fusion.

As Shen Feng's soul power was injected into the Water and Fire Dragon Kings soul bones, the precious light emanating from them suddenly became intense.

The milky-white light and the crimson light intertwined, instantly shrouding Shen Feng within a ball of radiance.

Water and fire aid each other; yin and yang merge.

Everything began to progress smoothly.

However, what Shen Feng did not know was that just as he focused all his attention on fusing the soul bones, the Water and Fire Dragon Kings Origin Essence Blood, which he had ignored, also began to bloom with a bright, precious light.

Then, guided by some mysterious force, it silently and invisibly merged into his body, slowly settling at the core of his dantian, the intersection point of his Water and Fire Soul Core energy.

Throughout the entire process, other than his Water and Fire Soul Core trembling slightly, nothing else happened.

Naturally, it did not disturb Shen Feng.

Spring departed and winter arrived; in the blink of an eye, the first snowflake drifted slowly from the sky.

When Shen Feng arrived at Heaven Dou City with Dugu Bo, it was only early spring, and he had even happened to run into Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, who was out "inspecting the people's situation."

Now that the first snowflake had fallen, ten months had already passed since Shen Feng jumped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Dugu Bo, whose hair had turned gray with half of it mixed with white, sat cross-legged on a large rock not far from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, reaching out to catch a snowflake drifting down.

He watched the hexagonal ice crystal gradually melt in his palm, then waited indifferently for it to evaporate from his body heat.

"You brat, could it be that you are just like this falling snowflake, a Momentary Beauty that can only bloom for a moment?"

"."

"Grandfather."

Suddenly, the voice of Dugu Yan sounded behind Dugu Bo.

"Grandfather, you are sitting here reminiscing about Xiao Feng again."

Dugu Bo did not turn his head, looking up at the snowflakes falling from the sky: "What if I reminisce, and what if I don't? It has already been ten months, and I still haven't figured out how to explain this to Xiao Feng's parents."

"Immortal grade herbs are good, but they can never compare to a peerless genius who stands above the world, nor can they compare to the kindness Xiao Feng showed our Dugu family."

Hearing this, Dugu Yan fell silent.

After so long, the hidden dangers in her body had long been eradicated. Following the plan provided by Shen Feng, she had successfully consumed the Aromatic Silk Beauty and the Snowy Swan Kiss.

Although successfully consuming these two immortal herbs did not cause her Martial Soul Evolution, it greatly enhanced the power of her toxins.

For example, her first soul skill, Excitement Poison, originally had the effect of stimulating the nerves, increasing the attack power and speed of soul masters of the same level by 20%.

Now, it had directly transformed into Mad Demon Poison; once inhaled, soul masters of the same level would completely lose their sanity, fighting every living thing in sight until death, while their attack power and speed would double.

Her second soul skill, Paralyzing Poison, which eliminated pain and increased the defense of soul masters of the same level by 30%, also transformed after the toxin enhancement into Stone Armor Poison, eliminating pain and increasing the defense of soul masters of the same level by 100%, though speed would decrease by 30%.

Even more terrifying was her third soul skill, Jade Phosphorus Purple Poison; once released, apart from herself, soul masters of the same level would not dare to approach.

It had completely become a domain skill—whoever entered, died.

Now, when she trained at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, no one dared to spar with her anymore, and even her teammates were intimidated.

That terrifying toxin did not distinguish between friend and foe; whoever came was left stunned. If she didn't hold back, Dugu Yan could wipe out their entire team by herself.

After all, once the first and second soul skills were released, the third soul skill protected her, and she could even release poisonous mist to conceal her figure.

In this way, who could still play with her?

Hiding herself to watch others fight among themselves, she had thoroughly mastered the essence of a control-type soul master.

Nowadays, even their team leader, Qin Ming, who was already a Soul Emperor, did not dare to go head-to-head with her.

Especially when there were many people around, because the doubled strength and defense, the 50% increased speed, and the indiscriminate berserk state were not so easy to suppress.

Besides that, the most exaggerated improvement was her soul power. The two immortal items directly caused her to rise seven levels in a row. After obtaining her fourth soul ring, she leaped to become a level 48 Soul Ancestor and gained a long-term soul power buff.

Now, after more than nine months of cultivation, she had successfully reached level 50.

Today, the reason she came was to have Dugu Bo help her obtain her fifth soul ring.

And all these benefits, in the final analysis, originated from Shen Feng.

Under such circumstances, how could she not feel indebted to Shen Feng?

"Yanyan, is there something you needed by coming here this time?"

Dugu Bo suddenly spoke, startling Dugu Yan out of her deep thoughts.

"Oh, it's like this, Grandfather. I've broken through to level fifty and need a fifth spirit ring."

"There is one more thing. Emperor Xue Ye's seventieth birthday is approaching, and this is the invitation for you."

As she spoke, Dugu Yan took three invitations out of her Soul Tool and handed them all to Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo took them and glanced at them: "Weren't there only two in previous years? Why are there so many this time?"

Dugu Yan's expression dimmed slightly as she said: "One of them is for Xiao Feng."

Dugu Bo frowned slightly, his gaze shifting to the three invitations.

Sure enough, one was for him, one was for Dugu Yan, and the last one was an invitation for Shen Feng.

In the bottom right corner of the invitation envelope, the seal of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe was imprinted, indicating that it had been issued under the authorization of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.

"Sigh!"

With a sigh, Dugu Bo pulled out the invitation belonging to Shen Feng. "A peerless piece of raw jade like Momentary Beauty; yet another person with feelings is going to be heartbroken for you."

As he spoke, Dugu Bo held the envelope between two fingers and tossed the invitation belonging to Shen Feng toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

"Since the person is no longer here, let this invitation go with him."

"Who is no longer here?"

Suddenly, a large splash erupted from the calm surface of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Shen Feng's figure broke through the water, reaching out to catch the invitation Dugu Bo had thrown.

"The old man still understands me, knowing I haven't eaten in so long and sending me food the moment I come out. Thank you for the invitation, old man. I've been starving for ages."