Gun Modification Bench?
That page that had been quiet for half a year?
Zhang Yang hurriedly chose to enter the Gun Modification Bench.
On the Gun Modification Bench interface, the simple yet powerful Lord M14 lay quietly. Around it, nine locked attachment slots glimmered.
Muzzle, barrel, handguard, optic, magazine, stock, flashlight, foregrip, and functional attachments.
Zhang Yang understood what this meant.
All he had to do was click on an attachment slot, and it would unlock.
Then Zhang Yang noticed a few differences from the game.
In the game, "flashlight" was part of the broader "functional attachments" category, alongside the laser, gas block, and bipod.
But the system had removed the rear grip attachment type entirely and made the flashlight its own category.
Zhang Yang naturally understood why. The M14 couldn't even take a rear grip.
Besides, the M14 had nine slots.
These nine slots were the attachment slots the M14 could currently equip.
They were the muzzle, barrel, handguard kit, scope, canted optic, magazine, cheek pad, magazine base, and handguard.
These nine attachment slots belonged to six attachment types.
The handguard kit and handguard both belonged to the "handguard" attachment type.
The scope and canted optic belonged to the "optic" attachment type.
The cheek pad and magazine base belonged to "functional attachments."
So which attachment slot should Zhang Yang unlock first for the biggest improvement?
Wasn't it obvious?
Without a second thought, Zhang Yang chose the [Magazine] attachment.
He already hated the preset magazine with its measly 10-round capacity.
The M14 fired so quickly that a slight squeeze of the trigger emptied the magazine.
Now Zhang Yang was going to fit Lord M14 with a huge drum magazine and enjoy holding down the trigger in the battles to come.
A golden flash passed over the screen. The lock in the middle of the [Magazine] attachment slot disappeared, and the other attachment slots dimmed at the same time.
"[Magazine] attachment slot unlocked. You can now purchase magazines in the pre-battle preparation interface."
"Please select a magazine attachment to set as your cosmetic attachment."
"Cosmetic attachments also affect the function and performance of your Martial Soul in reality, influencing its practical combat performance. Please choose carefully."
"Note: You may change your cosmetic attachment only once per calendar year."
Cosmetic attachments could affect combat performance?
Zhang Yang naturally chose the most intimidating option, the [M14 50-Round Drum Magazine], as his cosmetic attachment.
Did they even understand how intimidating an M14 with an iron sights setup and a drum magazine was?
With the attachment unlocked, Zhang Yang looked at the lower-right corner of the Gun Modification Bench interface.
The "Purchase All Attachments" and "Remove All Attachments" buttons had disappeared. In their place was a button called "Soul Ring Age Enhancement Function."
When he clicked it, the attachment slots around the M14 disappeared, and the M14 shrank to a third of its size. A pale-yellow Soul Ring appeared from the edges of the screen and began pulsing rhythmically around the M14.
On the left side of the interface were five slots, labeled from top to bottom: "Ten-Year Soul Ring," "Hundred-Year Soul Ring," "Thousand-Year Soul Ring," "Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring," and "Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring."
A quantity was displayed in the lower-right corner of each slot.
The number beside "Ten-Year Soul Ring" was 4248, beside "Hundred-Year Soul Ring" was 1558, and beside "Thousand-Year Soul Ring" was 990. The remaining three types all had a quantity of zero.
Zhang Yang turned back to the Hundred-Year Soul Ring behind the M14 and touched it with his thoughts. Its detailed information appeared.
"First Soul Ring:"
"Age: 312 years."
"Source: Mirror Shadow Prism-Eye Sparrow."
"Can be enhanced by: 245 years."
As the First Soul Ring's details appeared, a "+" symbol also showed up beside each of the five Soul Ring slots on the left side of the screen. That meant he could enhance the Soul Ring's age right away.
Zhang Yang tried clicking the plus sign beside "Ten-Year Soul Ring," then clicked the [Confirm Enhancement] button.
A new prompt appeared.
"Are you sure you want to consume 1 [Ten-Year Soul Ring] to increase the age of your First Soul Ring by [1] year?"
"Note: The age of the material will be converted into Soul Ring age at a ratio of 10:1."
Seeing that the conversion ratio was 10:1, Zhang Yang began calculating in his head.
Using the optimal Soul Ring configuration of two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red, the total should come to nearly 220,000 years.
If Zhang Yang wanted to enhance all nine of his Soul Rings to Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings, he would need to hunt Soul Rings totaling 6.8 million years in age—in other words, 680 Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
Zhang Yang thought about it and felt like that number wasn't too bad. Once he reached the level of a Titled Douluo, wouldn't Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts be easy pickings?
Six hundred and eighty Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings? A mere drop in the bucket.
After checking out the new feature, Zhang Yang opened the Season Mission.
He wanted to see whether the new season's 3*3 missions were any harder.
He opened the [Season Mission] page and went straight to the [Action Plan] page.
There, Zhang Yang saw two unlocked plans, [Action Plan 1] and [Action Plan 2], followed by locked plans from [Action Plan 3] to [Action Plan 16].
Zhang Yang was stunned. Had the number of 3*3 missions doubled in the new season?
The first season had nine missions. How had the second season ended up with eighteen?
What about the ninth season?
Would he have to complete eighty-one missions?
Zhang Yang felt a headache coming on.
Zhang Yang began meditating to absorb the Soul Ring. Zhang Lingyue stood not far away with his Martial Soul in hand, guarding him.
In front of Zhang Yang, Zhu Ranqing sat on a tree root, still in Martial Soul Possession. She held a strip of dried beef and used her sharp claws to tear it into thin shreds, one by one.
Just as Zhu Ranqing finished the bag of jerky and was about to ask Zhang Lingyue for another, the Soul Power around Zhang Yang slowly flowed back into his body.
After letting out a long breath, Zhang Yang slowly opened his eyes.
In an instant, the yellow Soul Ring around the M14's barrel flickered and vanished. The next moment, a pale-yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring rose beneath Zhang Yang's feet.
From that moment on, Zhang Yang had officially become an eleventh-level Battle Soul Master.
After gaining the first Soul Ring of his life, Zhang Yang underwent some subtle changes.
He had grown a few centimeters taller, his frame had filled out a little, his cheeks were rosy, and his eyes looked brighter and more alert.
That was the Soul Ring's energy enhancing every aspect of a Soul Master's body after absorption.
Seeing the yellow Soul Ring pulsing beneath Zhang Yang's feet, Zhu Ranqing happily pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly.
Zhang Lingyue, standing nearby, remained calm. "All right, Ranqing. Try to calm down. Don't forget, we're still in the Star Dou Forest."
Hearing Zhang Lingyue say that, Zhu Ranqing let go of Zhang Yang and wiped the tears from her eyes with her palm. Forcing herself to calm down, she said, "You're right. This isn't the place to celebrate. Let's get out of here first."
Zhang Lingyue carried Zhang Yang on his back, then burst forth with Soul Power. He shot north like an arrow loosed from its bow.
Behind him, Zhu Ranqing entered Martial Soul Possession and kept pace with Zhang Lingyue without falling behind.
Before long, the family had left the Star Dou Forest and reached the outside.
Climbing down from Zhang Lingyue's back, Zhang Yang couldn't wait to show his parents his First Soul Skill.
Zhang Lingyue flicked his fingertip, sending a Copper Soul Coin spinning into the air.
"First Soul Skill, Precision Shot!"
Zhang Yang raised his M14 with its big drum magazine. The yellow Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up. He quickly shouldered his rifle and aimed it toward the general area.
As Zhang Yang pulled the trigger, a wave of Soul Power shot from the muzzle. A bullet the size of a finger joint traced an arc through the air and struck the Copper Soul Coin with pinpoint accuracy.
The Copper Soul Coin, now a black speck in the sky, flipped over and shot upward before falling to the ground.
"That's interesting." Zhang Lingyue smiled with interest and flipped his hand, revealing more than ten Copper Soul Coins.
He flung his right hand upward, and the coins scattered like stars across the sky.
Zhang Yang immediately understood what his father meant and kept pulling the trigger.
Only after emptying the drum did Zhang Yang deactivate his Soul Skill and return the M14 to his body.
Zhu Ranqing picked up several of the coins that had been hit and showed them to the other two.
The center of each Copper Soul Coin had been punched through, just as expected. Its ragged edges flared outward in one direction, the petals sharp and deadly.
All three were delighted by the results.
Zhang Yang's First Soul Skill was a status-type skill.
When he fired, the Soul Skill subtly adjusted the bullet's trajectory, ensuring a 100% hit rate against stationary or steadily moving targets within effective range.
Against fast-moving targets that changed direction, it greatly increased his chances of hitting them.
It was an absurdly powerful skill.
Simply put, Auto-Aim was one of the core Soul Skills for long-range weapon-type Martial Souls. Naturally, the results it could produce were impressive.
Moreover, unlike other long-range weapon-type Martial Souls such as bows, crossbows, short spears, and blowpipes, bullets traveled dramatically faster than other projectiles.
Combine that incredible speed with Auto-Aim's precision, and the results were naturally even more astonishing.
Before you continue