Douluo: Starting by Forging a Gun Chapter 9

Shen Feng caught his breath and scratched his head in embarrassment: "I poured all my soul power into that one strike; it can only serve as a trump card in actual combat."

Shen Rui shook his head: "To unleash a strike at the level of a Soul Elder while only being a soul master, what more could you ask for?"

"Besides, a single soul ring that offers both a buff and a ranged attack—you aren't losing out."

"Remember, greedy people never end well. Don't be so humble-bragging."

Ling Na covered her mouth and chuckled, taking a crystal ball from her storage soul tool and handing it over.

"Come, let's measure your soul power and see how much that eight-hundred-year Purple Thunder Sword Bamboo has boosted you."

Shen Feng gave a cheeky grin, retracted the Leiming Blade, and placed his right hand on the crystal ball.

As the crystal ball bloomed with a soft glow, a glimmer of brilliance lit up in Ling Na's eyes: "Not bad at all. You've only awakened your martial soul for less than a week, and you're already at level twelve, bordering on thirteen."

Shen Rui also wore a smile: "It's no surprise. A first soul ring of over eight hundred years is already comparable to a second soul ring of optimal configuration, even a cut above the third rings of many white-ringed Soul Elders."

"With such vast soul power energy, it's not strange that Xiao Feng jumped two levels, reaching nearly level thirteen."

Flender chimed in from the side: "The cultivation speed of Innate Full Soul Power is extremely fast, especially for battle soul masters. It's very likely Xiao Feng will reach level twenty before he turns nine, and level thirty before he's twelve."

"Tsk tsk, such talent is truly exaggerated."

When it came to Shen Feng's talent, everyone had endless things to say, though most of it was just speculation.

After all, they had only ever met one battle soul master with Innate Full Soul Power—Shen Feng—so many of their deductions were just hot air with little reference value.

Since it was already evening by the time Shen Feng finished absorbing his soul ring, and nighttime activity in the Star Dou Forest was extremely dangerous, the group decided to stay one more night and return early the next morning.

At night, inside the cliffside cave, the four of them lit a campfire.

After eating a simple meal, Ling Na took a book from her storage soul tool and began reading it with great interest by the firelight.

"Mom, what are you reading?"

The book Ling Na was reading looked quite old, its pages yellowed. She turned them with great care, as if afraid of damaging the book.

Shen Feng was certain that this wasn't a book they had at home; it was highly likely obtained from the relics of that mummified predecessor.

Ling Na glanced at Shen Feng: "This? It was obtained from that predecessor's belongings."

"It seems to be a travelogue. It records a vast amount of local customs, dangerous landscapes, soul beasts, flora, and so on. In any case, it's full of strange and bizarre things of unknown authenticity."

"Senior Flender is knowledgeable, so he let me have this book, saying that reading more could broaden my horizons."

Flender immediately retorted: "I never said it would broaden your horizons. What's written in there is just too exaggerated; it's hard for anyone to believe."

"Claiming there are dozens of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest, or even beasts far exceeding a hundred thousand years—how is that possible?"

"If there really were such a powerful force among soul beasts, how could we humans still have so much living space? We would have been wiped out and slaughtered by those soul beasts long ago, wouldn't we?"

"If you ask me, this is eighty percent likely just a fabricated story written by ancestors to fool us descendants."

"I advise you to just read it for fun; don't take the content inside seriously."

Hearing Flender's words, Shen Feng felt a sudden jolt in his heart. He suddenly felt that the book in Ling Na's hands might very well be the greatest harvest of their entire trip.

Hurrying over to Ling Na's side, Shen Feng couldn't wait to lean in and look at the book's contents.

The first thing that caught his eye was a portrait of a giant bear that occupied an entire page. Its massive body, dark gold fur, sharp claws, and bared fangs were drawn so vividly that it felt as if it were about to leap off the page.

Ling Na looked at Shen Feng: "Xiao Feng likes the content of this book too?"

Shen Feng suppressed his excitement: "I do. It's drawn so realistically. Can I take a look too?"

By now, Shen Feng had recognized it—this was eighty percent likely a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Even if it wasn't, it was definitely a rare and powerful bear-type soul beast.

This book was absolutely not fake; it was an extremely precious piece of literature. It was just that Flender didn't know its true value.

Ling Na smiled slightly and handed the book to Shen Feng: "Here, take a look."

"But don't stay up too late. We have to set off to head back tomorrow morning."

Shen Feng nodded absentmindedly: "Got it, Mom."

Giving a perfunctory reply, Shen Feng used the light of the campfire and quickly became immersed in the book.

As he kept turning the pages, his heart was deeply shaken.

This book was written 3,000 years ago. It not only recorded those powerful fierce beasts in the core area of the Star Dou Forest but also documented a vast number of rare flowers and herbs, as well as historical events.

Shen Feng even discovered something even more worth celebrating in the book: immortal herbs.

That's right, the very same immortal-grade medicinal herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Consuming them could not only change a person's innate aptitude but also provided various extraordinary healing effects. They were absolutely the essential, "cheat-code" home remedies for anyone traveling the world.

Shen Feng found a total of thirty-six types of immortal-grade medicinal herbs in the book, sixteen of which had detailed methods for harvesting and usage.

Such essential reading material made Shen Feng lose track of time as he read, until a faint light appeared outside the cave. Only then did he reluctantly pack the book away into his soul tool, drifting off into a peaceful sleep filled with wonderful dreams.

"Xiao Feng, Xiao Feng, wake up. It's time to go."

Early in the morning, Shen Feng was awakened from a dream of blanching immortal herbs in a hotpot by Ling Na's voice.

Rubbing his eyes, Shen Feng climbed up groggily: "What is it, Mom?"

Ling Na glared at him: "Did you stay up late reading that travelogue last night?"

Shen Feng paused, gave a cheeky grin, and held up his fingers to show a tiny distance: "Just a little bit longer."

Shen Rui said irritably, "Sit cross-legged and circulate your soul power through your entire body, filling your limbs and bones; it can quickly dispel fatigue."

"However, this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. It can only be used for emergencies and cannot replace sleep."

"The Star Dou Forest is filled with danger everywhere; you must never do this again in the future."

Shen Feng nodded heavily and said, "Yes, Dad, it won't happen next time."

A moment later, Shen Feng woke up from his meditation. The group of four descended from the cliff cave and headed toward the outside of the Star Dou Forest.

The group had gained quite a lot from this trip into the Star Dou Forest.

Shen Feng had obtained an eight-hundred-year-old Purple Thunder Sword Bamboo soul ring, his own level had risen to 12, nearing 13, and he had even acquired an extremely useful soul skill.

Shen Rui had an explosion of luck; he was the first to explore the cave and picked up a ten-thousand-year left leg bone.

Ling Na didn't do too badly either; Flender had graciously let her have a travelogue book that was a treasure worthy of being passed down as a family heirloom.

Flender was also very happy. The mummified predecessor had left behind quite a lot of miscellaneous junk, and although most of it was unusable due to its great age, he, Flender, was a true businessman. At the very least, the small shop he ran in Suotuo City would not lack a source of goods for a short time.

It was just a matter of which unlucky soul would run into him and get fleeced for a huge sum.

The group had not ventured too deep into the Star Dou Forest to hunt for Shen Feng, so by noon, they had already walked out of the forest.

Since Shen Feng was already a one-ring soul master, even though he was still young, his soul master training could begin.

To train his endurance, the group did not rent a carriage this time, but traveled entirely on foot.

A week later, the group of four finally finished the five-hundred-kilometer journey and stood at the edge of a small village, where they could see the massive city of Suotuo City standing in the distance.

"Shen Rui, Ling Na, Xiao Feng, Shrek Academy is not far south of Suotuo City, very close to here. Would you like to go to Shrek Academy to rest your feet first?"

The Star Dou Forest was five hundred kilometers southeast of Suotuo City, and Shrek Academy was two kilometers south of Suotuo City.

What Flender said about it not being far was, in fact, quite accurate.

Because Shrek Academy was right at the other end of the village.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Rui nodded, "That sounds good, then we'll trouble you, Senior."

Flender gave a strange smile and waved his hands repeatedly, "No trouble, no trouble, please follow me."

Following Flender into the village, the village was not large, with only about a hundred households, much smaller in scale than Shuiyun Village where Shen Feng had grown up.

Perhaps because it was closer to Suotuo City, anyone with the means had likely moved into the city to live.

As the four walked along, it seemed that every villager in the village knew Flender; almost everyone who saw him would greet him.

Flender didn't put on any airs of a soul master toward these ordinary villagers, responding to everyone who greeted him with a smile and a wave.

Passing through the center of the village and arriving at a corner on the west side, Flender suddenly stopped, "The three of you, welcome to Shrek Academy."

Shen Rui was stunned on the spot, looking around; the surroundings were still residential houses, and there wasn't the slightest change in the buildings.

"Shrek Academy? Senior, you must be mistaken, where is there an academy here?"

Flender chuckled, "No, no, no, there is no mistake; this is Shrek Academy."

"Look there, it's written clearly on the sign."

The three followed where Flender pointed, and sure enough, on a wooden archway not far away, they saw a nearly rotten, dilapidated sign with the five characters "Shrek Academy" written on it.

In front of the academy name, there was also a green humanoid monster head that looked ugly yet cute; after looking at it for a while, one actually felt it looked quite unique.

However, the minimalist renovation style of Shrek Academy immediately made Ling Na want to retreat.

How was this a soul master academy? The wooden archway wasn't even as luxurious as the gate of Shuiyun Village, and the buildings inside weren't even as tidy as the Martial Soul Hall built in Shuiyun Village.

To call it a soul master academy, it would be better to say it was just a part of the village. The biggest difference between it and the village was that its name was a bit long; usually, the archways of villages only had three characters, like "XX Village."

"Um, Big Feng, Little Feng, let's just go back. I don't think this looks like a proper academy."

Shen Rui nodded silently, "I agree."

Shen Feng covered his mouth and chuckled, his eyes fixed on Flender, wanting to see how he would handle this.

Flender was getting anxious now; he had finally managed to lure them here, how could he let them run away right at his doorstep?

"Everyone, everyone, don't be in such a hurry, don't be in such a hurry."

Flender moved extremely quickly, flashing in front of the Shen family and blocking their path.

"Let's go inside and take a look, just go in and let me fulfill my duties as a host. If it really doesn't work out, it won't be too late for you to leave then."

"We hunted souls together, surely you wouldn't deny me, Flender, even this little bit of face?"

Shen Rui and Ling Na exchanged glances, both seeing the hint of a smile in each other's eyes, and sighed, "Alright then, going in to take a look is fine."

Flender beamed with joy, "That's more like it! Come, come, come, I'll call the others in the academy to come and celebrate with you."

"Xiao Feng, there is another little brother in this academy who is two years older than you. He also has Innate Full Soul Power. How about I introduce you to him in a moment?"

Shen Feng smiled, "Sure, Dean. I've never actually met a soul master with Innate Full Soul Power other than myself."

Entering the gate of Shrek Academy, what could be seen were still simple wooden buildings, many of which were damaged, with quite large holes in the roofs and walls.

Flender laughed awkwardly, "Well, Shrek Academy has too few students, so there's simply no money to renovate the buildings."

"Another thing is that including myself, there are only six people in the academy. Even if we repaired the buildings, we wouldn't be able to fill them, so I just let them slowly fall into disrepair."

"However, the interior structures are still in decent shape; at the very least, they are perfectly fine for living in and hosting you all."

Worried that Shen Feng and his family might reconsider leaving after seeing the state of Shrek Academy, the usually proud Flender appeared slightly humble, continuously explaining the reasons to them.

But what he didn't know was that Shen Rui and Ling Na had no intention of leaving at all.

Shen Feng's Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power aptitude—either one of these, once exposed in a Soul Master academy with many eyes and ears, would be a massive disaster.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Tang San and Xiao Wu were able to sleep soundly in the same room at Notting Soul Master Academy for six years; that was entirely the result of Tang Hao working tirelessly alone for two thousand days and nights, regardless of the heat or cold.

The Douluo Continent has never been a peaceful world.

Shen Rui smiled slightly: "Senior, you are overthinking it. Since we have entered this place, we have no intention of leaving anytime soon."

"That's right, we should at least see the quality of your academy's teaching first. Besides, with those three conditions in place, you shouldn't stop us when the time comes, right?" Ling Na followed up in agreement.

Flender was overjoyed: "Of course, that goes without saying. Please, the three of you, come inside."

Because Shrek Academy had been in disrepair for years and rarely had any outsiders visiting, there were basically no clean or tidy rooms inside the academy other than a few teacher dormitories and one student dormitory.

Helpless, Flender had no choice but to bring Shen Feng and his family to his headmaster's office—or rather, the place where he and his old cronies hung out and chatted.

"The three of you, please wait here for a moment. I will go call the others from the academy so we can all get to know each other."

Shen Rui cupped his hands: "Please go ahead, Senior."

After Flender left, Shen Rui stood by the window, his expression flickering slightly.

"Na Na, do you think it was the right decision for us to come here?"