Douluo: Starting by Forging a Gun Chapter 5

As he spoke, Shen Rui winked at Ling Na, seemingly conveying some kind of message.

Ling Na was startled into awareness, following Shen Rui's lead as she said, "Right, right, how could I have forgotten about that?"

"We really should check Xiao Feng's physical strength. If the age of his first Soul Ring is too low, it would be a shame to hinder his future."

Flender looked completely bewildered. "You two, what exactly are you talking about?"

Shen Rui chuckled and explained, "Senior, it's like this."

"Back then, while I was in the Star Dou Forest, I picked a red fruit that emitted a strange fragrance. It was called... what was it?"

"Zhu Fruit!" Shen Feng reminded him.

"Ah, right, Zhu Fruit. After Xiao Feng ate it, he became exceptionally bright. Not only did his memory improve significantly, but his physical fitness also far surpassed his peers."

"Xiao Feng, go lift that rock over there for the senior to see."

"You got it." Following Shen Rui's instruction, Shen Feng ran off to a pile of rocks scattered by the roadside.

He selected a medium-sized stone, weighing about a hundred pounds.

Shen Feng bent down, his small hands gripping the edges of the rock. Without any other movement, he simply exerted a bit of force and lifted the stone with ease.

"Dad, is this enough?"

As he spoke, Shen Feng tossed the hundred-pound rock over a meter into the air and caught it steadily, looking completely relaxed.

Flender stared at the scene, dumbfounded. "This, this, this... how is this possible?"

It wasn't that Flender didn't want to believe it, but it was truly too exaggerated.

Never mind that Shen Feng was still a six-year-old child who hadn't fully developed; even a fully grown adult, or even a first-ring Soul Master, would find it difficult to do this without using soul power.

Not to mention tossing it over a meter high and catching it steadily like Shen Feng did.

In truth, Shen Feng couldn't have done this an hour ago, but things were different after his Martial Soul awakened.

This was because a Body Martial Soul is the most unique type of all Martial Souls.

It doesn't need to possess the user like a Beast Martial Soul to take effect, nor does it rely on external objects like a Tool Martial Soul, where most of the enhancement is focused on the detached weapon.

A Body Martial Soul is the Soul Master's own body; even if it isn't actively triggered, it provides a significant, constant enhancement.

Especially when it comes to absorbing Soul Rings, Soul Masters with Body Martial Souls are the true chosen ones—their advantages are simply immense.

Take Shen Rui, for example. Although his Body Martial Soul is only his arms, his first Soul Ring already reached an age of about 500 years, and his second Soul Ring is as high as 900 years, nearing the thousand-year level.

That so-called 423-year limit for a first ring? Heh, that doesn't apply to Soul Masters with Body Martial Souls at all.

And since Shen Feng's second Martial Soul is his entire body, with such a massive enhancement, he wouldn't just be looking at a 423-year pseudo-limit; he could likely attempt a first Soul Ring of seven or eight hundred years.

After a long while, Flender finally accepted, albeit in a daze, that he wasn't dreaming and that Shen Feng was truly gifted.

"Xiao Feng, come here. Let me check your physical strength."

Hearing Flender's call, Shen Feng looked at his parents. After receiving their nod, he dropped the rock and walked over to Flender.

"Senior, how do you check it?"

Flender smiled kindly. "Don't be nervous. Let me feel your muscles and bones, and I'll know."

As Flender felt around Shen Feng's body, his expression grew increasingly solemn.

It wasn't that Shen Feng's physical fitness was poor; rather, his formidable physical condition had once again shattered his poor understanding of reality.

"A Soul Elder!!"

When Flender uttered the words "Soul Elder" in extreme shock, even Shen Rui and Ling Na, who had been mentally prepared, were stunned.

To be honest, even Shen Feng hadn't expected his body to be this strong.

He had only awakened a Body Martial Soul, it was merely a Twin Martial Souls, and just an unremarkable Innate Full Soul Power—how could it have such a massive impact on a six-year-old child?

Shen Rui's voice was slightly hoarse. "Se-senior, could you be mistaken?"

Flender was also a bit dazed and, feeling less confident, said, "I-I suppose so. You two should check as well, and confirm it properly."

Simple bone-feeling was the most basic skill for Soul Masters who needed to have a clear grasp of physical conditions.

As expected, Shen Feng was soon trapped in the clutches of the three adults.

After being kneaded by Flender, Shen Rui, and Ling Na for a good while, they finally confirmed that Shen Feng's physical fitness was truly comparable to that of a three-ring Soul Elder.

Once Shen Feng's physical fitness was confirmed, a stark problem was laid out before the three of them.

Flender's eyes flickered, and he said, unable to make the decision, "You two, you've confirmed it yourselves—Xiao Feng's physical fitness has indeed reached the level of a three-ring Soul Elder."

"Whether we take the risk to hunt an unprecedented thousand-year first Soul Ring for Xiao Feng, or play it safe and absorb a hundred-year Soul Ring, you two will have to make the call."

Subjectively, if Shen Feng risked absorbing a purple thousand-year Soul Ring, it would make a much bigger name for their Shrek Academy.

But Flender's nature wasn't so unscrupulous; if something went wrong while Shen Feng was absorbing a thousand-year first ring, he really wouldn't be able to bear it.

Shen Rui looked at Ling Na. "Nana, what do you think?"

Ling Na frowned, also unable to decide. "You make the call. I trust you."

Shen Rui nodded, his voice heavy. "Xiao Feng's physical fitness has indeed reached the strength of a three-ring Soul Elder."

"If we can successfully absorb a thousand-year first soul ring, it would certainly be an unprecedented feat. It would also lay a solid foundation for the future development of Shen Feng, and a ten-thousand-year third soul ring might not be impossible in the future."

"However, the human meridians are complex and fragile. No one can be one hundred percent certain that the meridians in Shen Feng's body can withstand the extremely violent energy impact of such a soul ring."

"To avoid Shen Feng suffering severe trauma that could affect his bright future, I think it is better to play it safe."

"Therefore, I have decided to let Shen Feng absorb a hundred-year first soul ring."

Ling Na nodded solemnly, "I agree. Shen Feng has a very bright future; there is no need to gamble on this thousand-year first soul ring."

At this moment, Ling Na also realized that since Shen Feng possessed Twin Martial Souls, as long as he cultivated his first martial soul to perfection before moving on to the second, the second martial soul would at the very least have a black, ten-thousand-year soul ring.

There was no need to be a degenerate gambler over a mere thousand-year first soul ring.

As the saying goes, gamblers never end well.

Flender also nodded with a hint of regret: "That is indeed true. While a thousand-year first soul ring is shocking, it is not worth gambling a genius's future on it."

"However, since Shen Feng's innate conditions are so good, we shouldn't waste them. At the very least, he should absorb a soul ring of around 900 years."

"If we do that, his second soul ring can be a thousand-year one, and his fourth can be a ten-thousand-year one, which would also be a legendary achievement that stuns the world."

Shen Rui nodded in agreement: "That is true, but I think the age of the soul ring should be lowered even further."

"After all, what Shen Feng needs to absorb is the most violent lightning-attribute soul ring. I think a first soul ring of around 800 years is already enough."

"A first soul ring of this age will not affect Shen Feng's ability to absorb a thousand-year second soul ring in the future, it will maximize his safety, and it won't be a waste of his excellent innate conditions."

Flender pondered for a moment, "You are right. It was my oversight; a 900-year lightning-attribute first soul ring is indeed too risky."

"Then let's do as you say. But where shall we go to hunt for the soul ring? The Star Dou Forest?"

Shen Rui looked toward the direction of the Star Dou Forest and said, "Yes, we will go to the Star Dou Forest."

Listening to the three adults constantly discussing, debating, and haggling over his affairs, Shen Feng did not say a word.

Because he knew that one should not comment too much on unfamiliar fields, and one should not express opinions on matters one does not understand.

He had never hunted a soul beast, nor had he absorbed a soul ring; how could he know if the energy of a thousand-year soul ring was truly violent or not?

If he stubbornly insisted on absorbing a thousand-year soul ring and an accident occurred, resulting in damage to his meridians and preventing him from cultivating ever again, he wouldn't even have a place to cry.

A first soul ring of around 800 years was just right; it would allow him to stay a step ahead of Tang San without being too flashy. It was quite good, and at the very least, Shen Feng was satisfied with it himself.

After everything was settled, Shen Rui politely extended an invitation to Flender.

"Senior, we need to go home to prepare some necessary supplies for the soul hunt. Would you be willing to come with us?"

Flender glanced at Shen Feng: "I'll go with you. I don't have anything else to do anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to accompany you."

Having finally persuaded Shen Feng to attend Shrek Academy, Flender was not about to let him out of his sight at a time like this.

The world was vast; if this family changed their minds and ran off, he, Flender, would have nowhere to cry.

Shen Rui gave a sheepish smile, "My humble home is at the foot of the mountain, just a few hundred meters away. Please follow me, Senior."

The distance of a few hundred meters was not far. In less than ten minutes, the family of three brought Flender to their home.

Shen Rui gestured for Flender to enter, "Please, Senior. My home is simple; I hope you will forgive any lack of hospitality."

Flender looked at the cozy, all-stone house before him and waved his hands repeatedly, "Not at all, not at all."

"Your home is neat and cozy. While it may not compare to those magnificent, wealthy mansions, it is nestled against the mountains and by the water, small and exquisite, possessing the air of a reclusive master."

"Furthermore, for us soul masters, only strength is our true pursuit; other external things are merely passing clouds."

Flender dared not say that Shen Feng's home was poor, considering his own Shrek Academy couldn't even find a few intact wooden houses; he was in no position to look down on the stone house of the Shen family.

Shen Rui looked at the home he had lived in for six years with a hint of shock, unable to see what was so good about it as Flender described, so he could only smile awkwardly and invite Flender inside.

Shen Rui accompanied Flender in the main hall for a while, drinking tea and asking questions to gather some basic information about Shrek Academy.

Ling Na went into the inner room to start packing the necessary supplies for entering the Star Dou Forest.

Shen Feng dove into the small room where he developed gunpowder and firearms. He took an automatic pistol he had assembled from various handmade parts, grabbed some matching brass casings and lead-alloy bullets, and finally took a small box of smokeless powder, packing it all into his small backpack.

Originally, Shen Feng had planned to assemble the bullets for his automatic pistol after Shen Rui successfully tested the gun in the morning, but since they were now going to the Star Dou Forest to hunt for a soul ring, the assembly of the bullets would have to be done on the road.

Half an hour later, everyone was packed and ready. They headed east, arrived at Suotuo City thirty kilometers away, rented a carriage, and set off on the road to the Star Dou Forest.

The Star Dou Forest is located in the southeast of the Bala Kingdom, about five hundred kilometers away from Suotuo City where Shen Feng lived. It is one of the three most famous wild soul beast gathering places on the Douluo Continent.

Its vast area is almost equivalent to the territory of the Bala Kingdom, spanning across the two largest empires on the continent: the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire.

Two-fifths of its area lies within the Heaven Dou Empire, while the other three-fifths are in the Star Luo Empire.

Of course, the Heaven Dou Empire had never admitted this, so the Star Dou Forest remained a point of territorial dispute between the two empires.

But ironically, even though these two empires had been arguing over the Star Dou Forest for hundreds of years, to this day, neither had any real control over it.

This was because the Star Dou Forest was a completely primitive forest, with extremely complex terrain including wetlands, mountains, swamps, volcanoes, rivers, and lakes—it contained almost everything.

The soul beasts there were also terrifying; the closer one got to the center of the forest, the more powerful the soul beasts became.

In its core, there were even many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts comparable to nine-ring Titled Douluo lurking within. For thousands of years, few human soul masters had dared to venture inside.

However, risk and opportunity coexist. It was the cradle of all soul beasts, the place with the most complete variety of soul beasts in the world, and the place all powerful soul masters loved to visit.

Because every time they went there, it meant they were about to obtain a soul ring to break through, or they were helping someone else hunt for a soul ring to make a fortune.

Of course, that place was also where soul masters suffered the most casualties; it was a perilous land with the densest concentration of soul master remains in the world.

It would take at least three days for Shen Feng and his group of four to travel to the Star Dou Forest by carriage.

It wasn't that the horses lacked stamina, but rather that the roads in this world were truly abysmal. The better ones might be paved with crushed stone that had been rolled and compacted, while the worse ones were purely dirt paths, riddled with potholes and ruts—the road conditions were simply beyond description.

If they let the horses gallop the entire way, their bodies might have fallen apart before they even reached their destination.

The moving carriage was somewhat bumpy, but since everyone was a soul master, they naturally didn't pay any mind to such minor jolts.

Even Shen Feng, the youngest of them, quickly adapted thanks to the passive enhancement of his Body Martial Soul.

Having just adjusted to the dizziness of riding in the carriage, Shen Feng placed the backpack he had brought from home in front of him.

He then took out the golden bullet casings, filled them with a standard amount of smokeless gunpowder, and finally topped them off with lead-alloy projectiles, handing them to Shen Rui beside him.

"Dad, do me a favor; I need some means of self-defense as well."

Seeing the bullets Shen Feng handed over, Shen Rui nodded slightly and took them without a word.

A faint golden light bloomed from his right arm, and with a forceful squeeze of his fingers, the projectile and casing were joined together seamlessly with a soft click.

"Here, is this alright?"

Shen Feng took the crimped bullets from Shen Rui and inspected them carefully. "Perfect, even better than what I press with the machine."

"There are over a hundred more here; I'll have to trouble you, Dad."

Shen Rui waved his hand. "Small matter. You handle the gunpowder, and I'll help you with the crimping."

After all these years, aside from not knowing how to formulate smokeless gunpowder, Shen Rui had long since mastered the construction of firearms and the manufacturing of ammunition.