After regaining control of his body, Zhang Yang stretched a little, then glanced at the personal terminal on his left arm.
He tapped the terminal and found the map.
The map showed the extraction point to the northwest. A small river ran between the two locations.
So his first step was to find that river.
After settling on his first-stage goal, Zhang Yang continued studying the map.
Several red beast-claw markers were scattered across it, each surrounded by a red activity-range warning line.
Zhang Yang tapped one of the red claw markers, and information immediately popped up: "Long-Tusked Boar, Ten Years."
He tapped another red claw marker: "Nether Wolf, Ten Years."
Then another: "Soft Bone Rabbit, Ten Years."
Besides the red claw markers, Zhang Yang also spotted a green plant-shaped icon on the map, something he'd never seen in the game.
He tapped it, and information popped up: "Crescent Moon Herb."
There was also another icon on the map: a golden treasure chest.
He tapped it, and information popped up: "A Pair of Silver (gold), Gold Soul Coins (purple), Silver Soul Coins (green), Copper Soul Coins (white)."
It looked like a high-tier search container, similar to a large safe.
"Not even a red item?" Zhang Yang frowned.
Large safes in Delta Force also showed what might be found inside, and they usually contained top-tier collectibles worth tens of millions, like the Heart of Africa. But most players only got two pirate coins, worth a hundred times less.
Now that he was seeing only one gold item among the predicted drops, Zhang Yang couldn't help feeling disappointed.
Would everything be blue skies and white clouds when he finally got around to searching it?
Thinking this, Zhang Yang closed his personal terminal, fixed his eyes on the right direction, and toddled toward the golden treasure chest icon.
The Silent Forest truly lived up to its reputation as an untouched region. Countless trees, each thick enough to be encircled by dozens of people, grew unchecked throughout the forest. The ground beneath them was piled nearly a foot deep with dead branches and leaves, soft underfoot.
Specks of light filtered through the leaves, giving the shrubs and vines struggling to claim their share of sunlight a little strength to survive.
Green moss clung to the trunks of trees that never saw sunlight, wrapping their rough bark in a soft layer.
Holding his M14, Zhang Yang explored the forest cautiously.
"Hiss~"
At the faint, intermittent hiss, Zhang Yang stopped and looked up at a branch more than ten meters above the ground.
A large green snake, about as thick as Zhang Yang's forearm, was coiled around the branch.
As Zhang Yang spotted the green snake with a health bar above its head, the personal information terminal on his arm vibrated.
"Green Tree Python. Nonvenomous. Won't attack creatures larger than itself. A distinctive raised ridge of scales runs down the middle of its back; its color can usually be used to determine its age."
"White indicates it's at least ten years old but less than a hundred. This entirely green Green Tree Python is even younger—less than five years old."
Zhang Yang quickly read the information displayed on his terminal and understood.
Fortunately, with the help of his cheat, he wasn't completely helpless in this forest.
Seeing that the Green Tree Python wouldn't attack him, Zhang Yang breathed a quiet sigh of relief, carefully skirted the tree, and continued on.
Zhang Yang hated snakes. Even if they were nonvenomous pythons, he wanted nothing to do with them.
After moving past the Green Tree Python, Zhang Yang soon spotted another Soul Beast.
It was an utterly unremarkable bamboo, only about ten meters tall, with a stalk about as thick as an adult's arm.
Even without looking at the red health bar above its head, Zhang Yang had immediately noticed something was off.
It stood out like a sore thumb: a lone bamboo stalk growing among several trees. If there wasn't something fishy going on, Zhang Yang would be an idiot.
"Lone Bamboo, a widely distributed Plant-type Soul Beast. Its attack method is to gather Soul Power and unleash a blast. Its attack power is weak, but its defense is decent."
"Ten meters tall means it has ten years of Soul Power."
His gaze swept quickly across the area. Seeing no second health bar nearby, Zhang Yang's baby-fat cheeks broke into a wicked grin.
He only got one beginner tutorial in this life, and he hadn't even managed a single kill. That just wouldn't do, right?
So, sweetheart, you're the one.
Grinning wickedly, Zhang Yang raised Lord M14 and took aim at the Lone Bamboo.
As if sensing the threat, the Lone Bamboo's body gave off white waves of Soul Power, as though warning Zhang Yang that it wasn't to be trifled with.
"Oh, what, you're putting up a fight? Take it up with my Lord M14!" Zhang Yang closed one eye and lined up the sights on the Lone Bamboo in the distance, whose stalk was about as thick as an adult's arm.
"Vmm."
Unwilling to sit and wait for its own destruction, the Lone Bamboo's white Soul Power surged violently, trying to resist Zhang Yang's attack.
But as Zhang Yang's finger squeezed the trigger, a sharp burst of Soul Power shot from the muzzle of the M14.
"Bang!"
"Crack!"
The gunshot rang out. Zhang Yang, firing for the first time, swayed from the recoil, while the Lone Bamboo in the distance was blown apart even more spectacularly.
The next moment, a square wooden box appeared at the foot of the Lone Bamboo.
And its body slowly vanished, like an illusion.
Even a Plant-type Soul Beast with tenacious vitality couldn't withstand a single shot from Lord M14.
No wonder everyone said Lord M14 was just too powerful.
Still, Zhang Yang turned Lord M14 over and over in his hands, puzzled.
The gunshot hadn't been as loud as he'd expected, and the recoil hadn't rocked him as much.
The M14's gunshot just now had been about as loud as a balloon popping—around 90 decibels.
So how loud was a normal gunshot?
Over 140 decibels.
That was quite a difference.
Could it be because the gun was a Martial Soul, and the bullets were also converted from Soul Power?
Whatever the reason, the reduced gunshot and recoil were definitely good news for Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang let out a long breath. The M14 vanished from his hand, and he reached out to open the Lone Bamboo's box.
The next moment, a 4-by-4 search interface appeared before his eyes.
Three single-slot shadows appeared, and a small magnifying glass spun back and forth over the first slot.
"Ding."
"White, Bamboo Brush, value: 1,368."
"Ding."
"Green, purified water, value: 2,052."
The first two were searched incredibly quickly; they refreshed in the blink of an eye.
Only the third slot took its time. The magnifying glass spun a full three times before the slot finally refreshed with a flash of blue.
"Ten-Year Soul Ring (*1), value: 1."
"Huh?"
Zhang Yang stared at the white Soul Ring that had finally appeared. "No, man, you spun three times and got me this?"
Zhang Yang scratched his head and tapped on the description of the Ten-Year Soul Ring.
He refused to believe it. A mere white Ten-Year Soul Ring—the most useless thing in the Douluo World, beneath the notice of even a Level 10 Soul Master—had really taken three full spins?
The system description popped up. Zhang Yang only glanced at it before his eyes widened further.
"Holy crap!"
Zhang Yang stared at the description in disbelief.
"Ten-Year Soul Ring, proof of a Soul Beast's tireless cultivation through the night. Can be used to increase the age of a Soul Master's Soul Ring."
Increase a Soul Ring's age?
Holy crap.
This was bad. Bro, I had to drop my pack and get out.
Before you continue