Chapter 57: Initial Battle

"Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect... I recall that, generally, your second Soul Rings are taken from Soul Beasts that lean toward speed, right?" Dugu Bo pondered for a moment and said, "It just so happens I remember there are Cockscomb Phoenix Snakes in the outer perimeter of the Sunset Forest; there should be... Soul Beasts that have just reached the thousand-year level... right?"

He was actually not quite sure; after all, as a Title Douluo, thousand-year level Soul Beasts had no value worth remembering to him.

It was only because the Cockscomb Phoenix Snake is a rare non-venomous snake-type Soul Beast that he remembered a little bit about it.

Snake-type Soul Beasts on the Douluo Continent are not like in Ning Feiliu's past life, where large size automatically meant they were non-venomous; only those with small to medium builds are venomous snakes with potent toxins.

Basically, the larger their build, the more likely they are to have venomous fangs and a robust physique.

A Cockscomb Phoenix Snake that is large in size but non-venomous is indeed rare.

"Cockscomb Phoenix Snake, for increasing Speed Enhancement?" Ning Feiliu nodded and said, "That works too."

Although he had a slight desire for his second Soul Ring to be a Soul Skill similar to the Purification skill Ning Tian had during the Peerless Tang Sect era.

But thinking about it carefully, the Purification ability of a second Soul Skill would likely be very limited, so he might as well stick with the standard Speed Enhancement.

At the same time, he was a bit curious, because now when his Crescent Moon Divine Weapon Set each uses its current First Soul Skill, what is unleashed are the various combo Q-skills of Aphelios from the game.

And when other Crescent Moon Divine Weapons are used as the main-hand weapon, paired with different Crescent Moon Divine Weapons as the off-hand, there are also various First Soul Skill combinations with different effects.

For example, if Ning Feiliu's main-hand weapon is Calibrum, the First Soul Skill becomes Moonshot, firing a powerful energy bullet forward, simultaneously marking the enemy hit; the next attack will track the marked enemy over a long distance.

How do you describe an aim-bot? If there's a frame, you just hit it, that's all!

Or there is the Gravity Moonshot from Infernum plus Gravitum, directly controlling and imprisoning with area-of-effect gravity; how are you supposed to run then?

This is just with one Soul Ring, so Ning Feiliu is very curious about what will happen when he obtains his second Soul Ring.

It could be said that with only one Soul Ring, the number of Ning Feiliu's Soul Skills is already comparable to that of a Twin Spirits possessor.

And when paired with different off-hand weapons, there are different effects; for example, pairing with the current Severum, it becomes Soul Reaping Moonshot, where the next attack causes a blood blade slash, increasing attack effect by 30%, while absorbing the enemy's life force to heal Ning Feiliu's current wounds.

Pairing with Gravitum is Gravity Moonshot, causing percentage-based deceleration to the target, and it can chain into Earth Frost Dark Erosion, using gravity to control the opponent.

No matter how fast or strange San Ge's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track is, sorry, but my Severum plus Calibrum combo's Severing Shadow area attack plus the Calibrum weapon effect comes with a lock-on.

Counting the original auxiliary pagoda's Strength Enhancement, that makes eighteen Soul Skills.

Moreover, these Soul Skill combinations can all be used to deal with different enemies and different situations; for example, if Ning Feiliu were to face Tang San.

All those Severing Shadow, Phosphorus Covering Shadow, Gravity Covering Shadow, etc... there are a full sixteen combinations; only when the main-hand weapon is Gravitum is there only one Soul Skill, Earth Frost Dark Erosion.

But even calculating it this way, Ning Feiliu already has seventeen First Soul Skill combinations...

Remaining are the Phosphorus Covering Moonshot paired with Infernum, and the Arcane Moonshot paired with Crescendum, each having different effects.

Should he directly obtain the powerful Soul Skill Clear Radiance Night Condensation?

After confirming that Ning Feiliu wanted to absorb the Cockscomb Phoenix Snake's Soul Ring, Dugu Bo took him and Dugu Yan and walked directly out of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

They even had to leave the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for a very long distance; after all, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well belongs to the core area of the Sunset Forest, and the creatures living nearby are all Soul Beasts over fifty thousand years old.

And in Soul Beast gathering grounds, generally, the further toward the outer perimeter, the lower the age of the Soul Beasts living there.

Taking the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as the core, the outer circle is the activity area for fifty-thousand-year Soul Beasts, the next circle out is the activity area for Soul Beasts that have just broken through ten thousand years, and only further out is the activity area for Soul Beasts over a thousand years.

The search didn't take long; in about half a day, Ning Feiliu, Dugu Bo, and Dugu Yan saw two thousand-year Cockscomb Phoenix Snakes in the air in the distance.

After all, the fleshy crest on the Cockscomb Phoenix Snake's head and its ability to fly are particularly special.

"That one... looks to be about three thousand years old, hmm... it might be a bit dangerous for you to absorb," Dugu Bo said, "But that female Cockscomb Phoenix Snake is just right... looking at it, it should be just over a thousand years, so go ahead, kid."

Ning Feiliu nodded and said, "Very well, Teacher."

"Feiliu... do you want me to help you? After all, these are two Soul Beasts," just then, Dugu Yan also asked, eager to try.

"No need," Ning Feiliu chuckled and said, "It just so happens... I'll use them to test my strength; Sister Yan, you and Teacher just watch from the side."

Then he flashed out instantly, summoning his martial soul mid-leap, "Black Night Silent Illumination, Moonlight Fills the Sky!"

This time, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, which serves as an arsenal, did not appear; instead, Calibrum and Severum, two Crescent Moon Divine Weapons, appeared directly in Ning Feiliu's hands.

Seeing this, Dugu Yan, though somewhat worried, chose to respect Ning Feiliu's idea and remained in place.

The Crescent Moon Divine Weapons are ranged weapons, so Ning Feiliu naturally didn't need to get close to the two Cockscomb Phoenix Snakes and immediately began his attack!

Ning Feiliu held Calibrum high and fired soul power bullets with extreme speed forward!

The bullets traveled a distance of one hundred meters without attracting the attention of the two Cockscomb Phoenix Snakes at all.

The next moment, a bullet hole appeared on the body of that female Cockscomb Phoenix Snake!

A large amount of blood sprayed from the bullet hole, simultaneously startling the two Cockscomb Phoenix Snakes!

That three-thousand-year-old male Cockscomb Phoenix Snake was immediately enraged; it emitted a rapid buzzing sound, which was quite ear-piercing.

Ning Feiliu did not hesitate at all, directly leaving his original position; when using Calibrum and Severum as weapons, his speed and attacks both received a 20% enhancement effect.

Then he used Calibrum to fire continuously again!

The target was naturally that female Cockscomb Phoenix Snake.

But at this moment, the female Cockscomb Phoenix Snake also reacted; the previous attack was actually just an insignificant injury to its massive body, not enough to severely wound it.

Its reaction was very fast, and it dodged directly!

At the same time, the male Cockscomb Phoenix Snake had already discovered Ning Feiliu.

It charged toward Ning Feiliu's location in extreme anger; Ning Feiliu retreated rapidly, but at the same time, he switched his main-hand weapon to Severum, and then his First Soul Skill activated!

Severing Shadow!

Ning Feiliu's speed increased by another 20%, and while retreating rapidly, he used Severum to continuously attack the male Cockscomb Phoenix Snake lunging toward him!

In the setting, the protagonist is not a pure glass-cannon ranged character; after all, the game and reality cannot be exactly the same. When using Calibrum, Infernum, and Gravitum as main-hand weapons, it is ranged, while Severum and Crescendum are for the melee berserker style.

I've been stockpiling chapters recently, planning to burst-update after the book goes live; ten thousand words on the first day of release, and on the second day, I'll add updates based on the initial subscription results, and then at least three chapters every day after going live, maybe even four; however, ten thousand words is a bit difficult, as I'm still working, and writing the book is a side job.

Thanks to Zuiyang Shaonian for the 500 Qidian coin tip.

(End of this chapter)