Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:
patreon.com/ZeroMoney
*****
"According to the original story, Zhuyun's fourth soul skill should be the same as Zhuqing's third—Netherworld Slash. I wonder if things will turn out differently this time."
With that, Dai Weisi led the group deeper into the forest, continuing their search for a suitable soul beast for Zhu Zhuyun. Just like that, three hours slipped by unnoticed.
"Awoooo!"
Suddenly, a chilling wolf's howl pierced the air, followed by a wave of oppressive killing intent. In the near distance, a pack of black wolves emerged.
Each of these black wolves stood taller than a grown man, their bodies completely cloaked in jet-black fur, giving them excellent camouflage in the dark—though unfortunately for them, it was daytime now.
There were fifteen wolves in total, slowly closing in on Dai Weisi and the others. Leading the pack was a particularly massive and muscular alpha, its limbs thick and powerful—clearly a formidable beast.
"It's a Netherworld Wolf pack!"
Lin Qiuyang immediately became alert. Netherworld Wolves were frequent denizens of the Star Dou Great Forest. Numerous in population, they were one of the most commonly encountered soul beasts.
"And they're all millennium-class soul beasts. That wolf king at the front has already cultivated for 6,500 years," Lin added. "Your Highness, do you have your eye on one?"
Netherworld Wolves were incredibly fast, attacking with relentless ferocity and lightning speed. As an agility-type soul beast, they were an ideal match for Zhu Zhuyun. And the wolf king's base abilities far surpassed those of ordinary Netherworld Wolves.
Zhu Zhuyun's gaze locked onto the savage-looking Netherworld Wolf King. With a slight nod, she made her decision. "Dean Lin, I'll take that Netherworld Wolf King."
"If Weisi can absorb a soul ring beyond his level, then so can I! Dean Lin, please help me severely injure it!"
Hearing this, Dai Weisi didn't object. Zhu Zhuyun had taken large amounts of ten-thousand-year whale glue and had a resilient physique—well-suited for absorbing a higher-level soul ring.
After all, millennium-class soul beasts didn't possess soul shock like ten-thousand-year ones. It shouldn't pose much danger. And even if something did go wrong, he would intervene immediately.
"No problem. Xuan Iron Sword!"
Before the words had fully left his lips, Lin Qiuyang unsheathed his sword and charged straight at the Netherworld Wolf King. But the beast was extremely alert—it had grown up in the Star Dou Great Forest and had personally witnessed countless of its kind fall at the hands of human soul masters.
So, the moment it laid eyes on Dai Weisi and the others, it silently issued a command to the pack: tear them apart!
"Awooo!"
Receiving the order, the Netherworld Wolves howled skyward in unison. Their limbs sprang into motion as they fanned out and launched a coordinated assault on the group.
"There are fourteen Netherworld Wolves in total," Li Hu analyzed, narrowing his eyes. "Ten of them have cultivation levels above a thousand years, and the other four are at the three-thousand-year mark—equal to a Soul Elder with three rings..."
He stepped in front of Dai Weisi, shielding him with his aging body, and smiled. "That's a lot of wolves, Your Highness. Allow me to deal with these small fry."
"Hehe, Uncle Li, they're just millennium-class soul beasts. There's no need to trouble yourself—I can handle them."
Dai Weisi smiled calmly, then reached into his soul tool ring and drew out a flintlock rifle. He aimed it at one of the wolves and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out, smoke burst forth, and a tiny solid bullet whizzed from the barrel—hitting a Netherworld Wolf right between the eyes. The beast dropped dead on the spot.
"Awooo!"
Just then, two more wolves lunged at him from the left and right, baring sharp fangs and claws as if trying to rip him to shreds.
"Hmph. Courting death!"
Dai Weisi sneered coldly and didn't hesitate. Two more gunshots rang out—bang, bang—and both wolves collapsed instantly.
After killing three Netherworld Wolves in quick succession, Dai Weisi casually wiped the rifle's barrel with his palm and said with a grin, "Master Lou Gao truly lives up to his name. This repeating flintlock rifle is amazing!"
A year ago, Master Lou Gao had already crafted the first flintlock rifle. But back then, it could only fire a single bullet at a time.
After each shot, the user had to reload both gunpowder and a bullet—an extremely cumbersome process. By the time you finished reloading, the enemy would likely already be in your face.
Originally, Dai Weisi had planned to give up on flintlock rifles and move on to working with Master Lou Gao on developing revolvers instead.
The principle behind revolvers wasn't particularly complicated. The real challenge lay in crafting the conical bullets. Flintlock rifles used solid spherical pellets, which were relatively easy to produce. However, revolvers required conical-shaped bullets—something that demanded extremely precise forging skills.
With the current level of forging technology in the Star Luo Empire, only Master Lou Gao was capable of crafting such bullets. But he couldn't work around the clock without rest—he was already quite old.
As a result, research into firearms had hit a bottleneck. Dai Weisi had even considered skipping over firearms entirely and jumping straight to developing cannons.
Yet, the concept of the revolver still sparked inspiration in Lou Gao. Since they had to reload gunpowder and bullets manually, he wondered—why not just increase the number of barrels?
Just like the revolving cylinder of a revolver: fire once, rotate, fire again. With this idea in mind, Lou Gao started researching that direction and, surprisingly, managed to create a repeating version of the flintlock rifle.
The repeating flintlock had six barrels, similar to a Gatling gun. Each was pre-loaded with gunpowder and solid pellets, enabling multiple shots in a row like a revolver—plus, its firepower was impressive.
Within a 100-meter range, it could inflict serious injuries on Soul Emperors. Though not as powerful as a grenade, it far outclassed Tang San's Zhuge Crossbow and was much cheaper to produce.
"Awooo!"
Seeing three of their own fall, the remaining Netherworld Wolves snarled and charged at Dai Weisi, their vicious howls deafening!
"Weisi, be careful!" Zhu Zhuyun called out, activating her martial spirit and preparing to rush to his aid—but Dai Weisi simply smiled.
"No need to panic, Zhuyun. Just stand back and watch your husband wreak havoc."
Without even activating his martial spirit, Dai Weisi calmly raised his rifle, took aim at three approaching wolves, and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shots rang out—and all three Netherworld Wolves dropped dead.
With six bullets spent, the repeating flintlock was empty. But Dai Weisi didn't bat an eye.
Sure, he was out of bullets—but who said he only had one gun? With a casual motion, he pulled out two more repeating flintlocks and resumed firing.
His soul tool ring contained a total of fifty fully-loaded repeating flintlock rifles. Once one ran out, he simply swapped it for another.
Thanks to the convenience of soul tools, Dai Weisi had no reason not to plan for this. After all, changing guns was far easier than reloading bullets.
Dodging the wolves' attacks as he moved, Dai Weisi kept firing relentlessly. Before long, the remaining eight Netherworld Wolves were all slain, eight purple soul rings slowly rising above their corpses.
"Uncle Li, these Netherworld Wolves are all millennium-class soul beasts. No need to let them go to waste—let's take them back for barbecue."
"As you command!"
Li Hu immediately stored all fourteen wolf corpses into his soul tool. Meanwhile, the once-arrogant Netherworld Wolf King was now effortlessly subdued by Lin Qiuyang, who dragged it over and threw it down in front of Zhu Zhuyun.
"Your Highness, I've already knocked out the Netherworld Wolf King."
"Thank you, Dean Lin!"
Zhu Zhuyun smiled and drew a dagger, swiftly ending the beast's life. A wave of violet soul power rose from its body, forming a soul ring that hovered in the air above.
Not daring to waste a moment, Zhu Zhuyun quickly focused her soul power and attached the ring to her martial spirit, beginning the process of silent absorption.
(End of Chapter)