It was already evening when the two returned to the supply town outside Sunset Forest.
Clearly, they couldn't make it back that day. They had no choice but to stay another night in the town.
They had to remain vigilant in Sunset Forest, and the effort they had expended absorbing the spirit rings had also been considerable. Although Wang Teng was curious about the new second-tier dungeon, he had no interest in it at the moment. Besides, dungeon runs were a long-term endeavor, and he was exhausted and too lazy to move.
The next morning, the two retrieved their stored carriage and returned to Heaven Dou City. That afternoon, Wang Teng returned home.
"Teng'er, how did it go? Let Mom see what spirit skill you got?"
Li Chan, who was at home, immediately asked with concern upon seeing her beloved son return.
"It's a support-type spirit skill, which can increase attack power by 30%."
"Not bad, not bad, the effect is not bad." Li Chan nodded in satisfaction.
Of course, while the effect seemed decent, it was still far inferior to the boost brought by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda spirit.
After all, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul is recognized as the number one support-type Martial Soul on the continent. Although its amplification effect is not high in the early stages, it will increase as the rank increases.
As for Wang Teng's own first Soul Skill, Weapon Blessing, the amplification effect will not change if the Soul Ring's age does not increase.
Fortunately, Wang Teng has a cheat code: he can consume Lord's Essence to increase the Soul Ring's age.
...
That night, after closing the door, Wang Teng fully armed himself and prepared to begin his dungeon journey. Opening the dungeon panel, he saw two newly added dungeons—Dark Forest and Depths of Dark Forest.
Picking the softest persimmon, Depths of Dark Forest looked a bit more difficult than Dark Forest, so Wang Teng decided to test the waters with Dark Forest first.
When Wang Teng was clearing the first-tier dungeons before, they seemed easy, but that was because Wang Teng was a level 9 Soul Master, already at a high level for his current rank.
Now, however, he is a level 12 Soul Master, at the initial stage of the Soul Master realm, and Wang Teng only has one support-type Soul Skill, which is relatively disadvantageous.
Fortunately, Wang Teng was a Gold Soul Coin Warrior, and his equipment cost a considerable amount of Gold Soul Coins. After all, most first-ring Soul Masters couldn't afford 900 Gold Soul Coins to arm themselves.
In the dungeon - Dark Forest, Wang Teng appeared fully armed. Upon entering the Dark Forest, Wang Teng immediately noticed that it lived up to its name; the light intensity was significantly lower than the previous two dungeons.
Moreover, a light rain was falling, making it less than comfortable.
"It's raining?"
Looking at the drizzling rain, Wang Teng realized he had miscalculated; he seemed unprepared and didn't have a raincoat. However, Wang Teng didn't need to worry about catching a cold, as his body would recover to its pre-dungeon state after returning to the outside world, in addition to the dungeon rewards. Fortunately, the rain wasn't heavy, and his vision wasn't significantly affected.
Then, Wang Teng began to inspect his new rifle. This rifle was 1.1 meters long and looked similar to the Type 98K and Type 38 rifles that Wang Teng had seen online in his previous life, except that it fired Soul Power bullets.
Infusing his soul power, Wang Teng could feel three soul power bullets condensing within the rifle.
"Hmm, only three bullets?"
He fired three bullets at a distant tree, finding the power much stronger than the crossbow he used before, though probably not as powerful as the rifle from his previous life.
Judging from the power of his modern rifle from his past life, even a Soul Master at the Soul Grandmaster level would likely be in serious trouble.
After testing it out, Wang Teng was slightly disappointed. The rifle's firing rate was lower than a crossbow's, and the magazine could only hold three bullets at a time. Fortunately, its range was longer than a crossbow's, so these minor flaws were insignificant.
"Right, I'm a Soul Master with soul skills now!"
Thinking of this, Wang Teng immediately released his first martial soul: the Mystic Light Cross, and cast his first soul skill: Weapon Blessing.
A surge of soul power flowed from the martial soul, directly entering Wang Teng's body, and a layer of golden light appeared on the Mystic Light Cross martial soul.
Afterward, Wang Teng put away his martial soul, since it wasn't suitable for grinding monsters.
After the Xuan Guang cross disappeared, the weapon blessing effect remained, but it transferred to the rifle in his hand, directly turning it gold.
"Is this a gold-plated version of a gun?"
Wang Teng's eyes widened. It seemed pretty good, although it felt a bit tacky, reminiscent of the desert gold of his past life.
He tested it against a large tree in the distance, and sure enough, the power of the soul power bullets increased.
This meant that the weapon blessing didn't affect the martial soul, but rather the soul master, and it was effective regardless of whether the martial soul was released.
Just then, three goblins and two throwing goblins appeared in the distance.
Instantly, knowing that the path of survival was the right one, Wang Teng immediately crouched down in the nearby bushes, raised the dark muzzle of his gun, and aimed at the goblins in the distance. —Call me Ambush Teng!
From a hundred meters away, Wang Teng aimed at a leading throwing goblin and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
A soul power bullet flew out of the muzzle, but unfortunately, it missed!
"Damn it!"
That's normal. After all, Wang Teng hadn't practiced marksmanship, and this rifle didn't have a dedicated optical sight. To hit a moving target a hundred meters away on his first try was a pipe dream.
Although the gunshot wasn't loud, the goblins in the distance clearly heard it. However, the goblins weren't very bright, or perhaps they hadn't learned their lesson yet. They didn't know to seek cover and simply stood there on guard, looking around nervously.
"..."
Looking at the living target, Wang Teng was speechless. The goblins not only looked terrible, but they were also stupid; they deserved to be eliminated!
*Bang*
Another bullet flew out. This time, luck was on his side; a flower of blood appeared on the chest of the throwing goblin Wang Teng had aimed at.
Seeing the throwing goblin collapse to the ground, not dead, Wang Teng knew from its appearance that it was seriously injured. The other four goblins were howling in panic, clearly terrified of the unknown attack.
However, given the goblin's limited brain capacity, it couldn't see the lurking killer and could only pace anxiously in circles.
Wang Teng had miscalculated one thing: he should have waited for the goblin to get closer before firing.
After all, they were still a hundred meters away, and with Wang Teng's current marksmanship, a 50% hit rate would be good enough.
When Wang Teng fired four more shots, hitting two goblins, the remaining throwing goblin and the regular goblin abandoned their companion and ran away.