The Strongest Talent Tree

Feng Hao gently wiped the blood from his Su Mu Dagger and glanced at Sha Wenwu’s corpse at his feet.

’I’d better deal with this first, or there’ll be trouble tomorrow.’

Although this world had countries and governments, they were only for managing ordinary people and held little sway over Mages. The only real constraints on Mages were the rules established by the five great sects.

Corroded by the Soft Bone Powder, Sha Wenwu’s body had already dissolved into a pile of slush, making it rather difficult to dispose of.

’I’ll just put it in the Storage Ring and deal with it outside the city.’

Just as Feng Hao was about to place the corpse into his Storage Ring, a series of sinister, cold chuckles came from behind him. Startled, Feng Hao instinctively used Shadow Strike to create some distance and spun around.

An unknown bald man in black clothes had appeared behind him at some point. His complexion was a sickly pale, and he had two daggers tucked into his belt and a shortbow slung across his back. A strange eagle tattoo stretched from the corner of his right eye to his forehead, and his entire body radiated an intense killing intent.

"Are you Sha Wenwu’s accomplice?" Feng Hao demanded, his brow furrowed with suspicion.

The bald man gave a wicked smile and grinned. "Of course not. But we do share the same goal—we both came to kill you."

"If it’s not related to Sha Wenwu, then it must be about Cao Heng, right?" Feng Hao mused.

"Very clever. Too bad you’re about to die." The bald man glanced at Sha Wenwu’s corpse with a demonic look in his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "You shouldn’t have lived this long, but I’m quite interested in the poison you used."

"Poison?" Feng Hao frowned in thought.

The bald man sneered, "Hand over the formula for that poison, and I can give you a quick death."

"And what if I don’t?" Feng Hao asked coldly. He felt a sliver of relief; if his poison hadn’t piqued this man’s interest, he probably would have been attacked already.

"Heh heh... Are you trying to bargain with me?" the bald man said, his eyes filled with contempt.

"What if I am?" As he spoke, a playful smile touched Feng Hao’s lips. He had already sensed reinforcements from the Thief God Hall approaching—and more than one of them. With backup on the way, his confidence naturally changed his tone.

The bald man sneered and pointed at Sha Wenwu’s corpse. "You think you can take me out like you did him?"

"You look like a professional assassin, so you probably wouldn’t fall for the same trick. Too bad for you, I’m not alone anymore," Feng Hao grinned.

The next moment, two dark figures shot through the night and appeared by Feng Hao’s side. They spoke in unison, "Sorry, we’re late."

"It’s fine. Just take care of this guy." Feng Hao nodded with a slight smile. The two twin thieves before him were Qian Sanduo’s personal bodyguards. Although they were only at the sixth rank, their coordination gave them the strength to contend with seventh- or even eighth-rank opponents.

"Leave it to us." The twin thieves nodded grimly, their gazes shifting to the bald man.

The bald man’s expression changed. He gritted his teeth and grunted, "No wonder you were so fearless. So you’re from the Thief God Hall. You’re lucky today. Next time, I’ll definitely take your life!"

With that, the bald man threw several pellets that looked like smoke bombs, which burst with a BANG, releasing a cloud of white smoke.

"Don’t let him get away!" The twin thieves’ faces darkened as they flanked him from the left and right, quickly giving chase.

Unfortunately, by the time the white smoke cleared, the bald man was already gone.

The twin thieves cursed under their breath. They wanted to search the area but were worried about Feng Hao’s safety, so they had no choice but to give up the chase. "Damn it, he got away!"

"It’s alright. If he ran, he ran," Feng Hao said with an unconcerned smile.

Just then, a bloodcurdling scream echoed from the distance, putting all three of them on high alert.

Immediately after, as the three watched warily, a figure appeared before them with eerie swiftness. The figure casually tossed a corpse to the ground—it was none other than the bald man who had just escaped.

The moment the mysterious figure appeared, Feng Hao instantly relaxed, his eyes filled with pleasant surprise. "Big Brother?!"

"Mm." Lin Luo grinned, stepping forward to pat Feng Hao’s shoulder. He sounded a little surprised. "Haha, you’re doing well for yourself, Brother Feng! Promoted to high-rank thief already!"

"Just so-so," Feng Hao joked back easily.

The twin thieves, however, were dumbfounded. Through the Thief’s Mark, they could clearly perceive Lin Luo’s information, and his status as a "Thief Scion" left them stunned. "You are... a Thief Scion?!"

"It’s just a worthless title. No need to be so formal, you two." Lin Luo said with a faint smile. "I’ll handle things here. You two can head back for now. By the way, I was just passing through to check on him, so there’s no need to inform the higher-ups in the Hall."

"We can’t do that, sir. The arrival of a Thief Scion in Wolf Country is a major event. We must return to the organization and report it at once," the twin thieves said seriously.

"Fine, do as you please." Lin Luo shook his head helplessly and waved for them to leave.

The twin thieves understood immediately. They gave Feng Hao a meaningful look and quickly left the scene.

"Big Brother, when did you get here?" Feng Hao asked joyfully.

"Just now." Lin Luo pursed his lips into a smile, his gaze shifting to the two corpses on the ground. He frowned and asked, "What’s the story with these two?"

Feng Hao clicked his tongue in frustration and explained the whole sequence of events.

Hearing that Feng Hao had been expelled from Five Provinces Academy, a cold smile appeared on Lin Luo’s face. "That’s just how those old fossils at the Academic Federation are. Don’t worry about it, Brother Feng. Just focus on making your way in the Hall. As for those bastards in the Federation, we’ll get a chance to teach them a lesson eventually."

Feng Hao nodded lightly and looked at the bald man’s corpse with a strange expression. "Big Brother, what’s this bald guy’s background? The way he escaped earlier seemed a little unusual."

"Him?" Lin Luo curled his lip. "Judging by the mark on his forehead, he’s probably from the Celestial Eagle Team."

"The Celestial Eagle Team? Are they powerful?" Feng Hao pressed.

"Just a garbage-tier second-rate sect that deals in assassinations. Their reputation is even worse than our Thief God Hall’s," Lin Luo said with utter contempt. "I hear they’ve been getting pretty brazen these past few years. The Grand Hall is planning to clean them up."

"So they really are a professional assassination organization," Feng Hao nodded thoughtfully.

Lin Luo frowned as he placed both corpses into his Spatial Ring. He then looked up with a smile and asked, "I’ll take care of the bodies. By the way, Brother Feng, do you have a place to stay? If so, let’s go there. We brothers need to catch up properly."

"I do. Follow me, Big Brother." Feng Hao smiled happily and led Lin Luo toward the pharmacy.

...

Meanwhile, the twin thieves had already returned to the Five States City branch hall. They immediately woke up all the high-ranking members in the middle of the night.

A group of the branch hall’s bigwigs gathered groggily in the conference room, grumbling incessantly. Qian Sanduo was particularly annoyed; as an ordinary person, he needed sleep more than the others. "One and Two, why’d you drag us all here so late at night?"

"Department Head, Feng Hao was just attacked," one of the twin thieves said with a grave expression.

Qian Sanduo was instantly wide awake. He frowned and asked, "How is Feng Hao now?"

"He’s fine. The situation has been resolved."

Qian Sanduo breathed a quiet sigh of relief, then his expression darkened. "If it’s already resolved, why did you wake me up? Don’t you know I haven’t slept in two days?"

"The crucial thing is, while we were rescuing Feng Hao, we encountered a Thief Scion," the twin thieves said seriously.

"Hm?"

At these words, everyone in the room snapped to attention, their eyes wide and all traces of sleepiness gone.

"What did you just say? A Thief Scion has come to Five States City? Which one?" a group of the leaders asked in shock and disbelief.

"Judging by his appearance and aura, it must be the First Thief Scion, Lin Luo. It also seems he’s close with Feng Hao."

Qian Sanduo’s eyes went wide. "You’re saying Feng Hao knows a Thief Scion?"

"That’s right. And they address each other as brothers," one of the twin thieves confirmed with a solemn nod.

"Good heavens!" Qian Sanduo exclaimed in amazement. He turned to a few of the other leaders beside him. "Lao Liu, Old Wang, what are you standing around for? Hurry up and have someone pull Feng Hao’s detailed file. We can’t afford to be careless with this!"

And just like that, the once-peaceful Five States City branch hall was thrown into a sudden uproar...