The Strongest Talent Tree

She snuggled against Feng Hao’s chest like a docile kitten, murmuring unintelligibly.

Feng Hao, looking smug, playfully squeezed the young woman and asked with a wicked grin, "Will you behave from now on?"

"Mhm, Yaoyao will be the best girl," the young woman murmured, lost in a daze of passion.

"That’s more like it," Feng Hao said, nodding in satisfaction.

"Mhm." The young woman nodded obediently before quickly striking a seductive pose. Her face flushed red as she cooed, "Brother Feng~!"

How could Feng Hao possibly resist such a temptation? With a roar, he transformed into a beast once more.

Early the next morning, Feng Hao climbed out of bed, feeling fantastic. He felt an unprecedented sense of ease. It couldn’t be helped; the satisfaction of reasserting his authority as the man of the house last night was just too great.

However, to his complete surprise, the moment the young woman got out of bed, she was like a different person. She had reverted to her old self, completely forgetting the promises she’d made him in bed the night before, leaving Feng Hao at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.

Inside the general store, Xi Yueyao was squatting on the floor, playing with Xiaohai. She would occasionally ask Feng Hao, "Hey, medicine-seller, don’t you think Little Miaomiao has grown a lot?"

"It does seem a size bigger," Feng Hao said thoughtfully.

"Hee hee." Xi Yueyao gave a sweet smile, her eyes full of anticipation. "When do you think it’ll be as strong as Miaomiao?"

"That... will probably take a few years," Feng Hao replied casually. He then brought out his Alchemy Equipment and began setting it up with gusto.

Xi Yueyao was a little disappointed by his answer, but her attention was quickly captured by Feng Hao’s movements. "Huh? What are you doing? Are you going to perform alchemy?"

"That’s right," Feng Hao said with a mysterious smile. "I got my hands on a few top-grade medicinal herbs yesterday. I’m going to see if I can refine the legendary Foundation Establishment Pill."

"What kind of pill is a Foundation Establishment Pill?" Xi Yueyao asked, curious.

"Er, I’m not sure of the specific effects myself," Feng Hao admitted with an awkward expression.

It couldn’t be helped. The Foundation Establishment Pill was one of the top-tier pills in the game *Mage*. Because its main ingredients were exceedingly rare, very few people had ever managed to refine it. As a result, Feng Hao wasn’t too clear on its effects either.

If not for the two boxes of medicinal herbs Sun Yaowen had given him, he would have almost forgotten that a pill like the Foundation Establishment Pill even existed.

"Aren’t you an Alchemist? How could you not know?" Xi Yueyao asked, finding it incredible.

"It’s a long story. In any case, we’ll find out once it’s refined." Feng Hao grinned, smacking his lips, and took out the two boxes of herbs from Sun Yaowen. "Yao Girl, you should head to the academy. It should be just about done by the time you get back tonight."

"Alright." Xi Yueyao didn’t argue. Cradling Xiaohai, she skipped out of the general store.

After seeing Yao Girl off, Feng Hao threw himself completely into refining the Foundation Establishment Pill. The first step was to process the ingredients.

The two medicine boxes from Sun Yaowen yesterday contained three types of ingredients in total: two stalks of Yin Yang Ginseng, two stalks of Jade-Faced Red Beauty Flower, and three drops of Earth Spirit Milk. All were precious, rare-grade herbs that were absolutely unobtainable on the open market.

Among them, Earth Spirit Milk was the main ingredient for the Foundation Establishment Pill. It grew in an extremely harsh environment, requiring the intersection of at least three large Magic Crystal Veins to form, and its formation speed was incredibly slow, taking several hundred years to produce a single drop.

This just went to show how incredibly precious Earth Spirit Milk was.

’A pill that requires Earth Spirit Milk can’t have a bad effect, right?’ Feng Hao mused. He carefully took out one drop of Earth Spirit Milk and began to prepare it.

Although Feng Hao had never refined a Foundation Establishment Pill before, with his Ninth-Level Alchemy Techniques, it shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, he also had the help of the game panel in his Divine Sense.

He closed his eyes, carefully reviewed the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill in his mind, and officially began the refinement process.

As it turned out, the Foundation Establishment Pill was truly worthy of its status as one of the top-tier pills in *Mage*. The refinement difficulty was considerably high; even with his Ninth-Level Alchemy Techniques, he found it to be a struggle.

Fortunately, Feng Hao’s alchemy methods had improved significantly over this period. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

Time passed in a blur...

The moment the Foundation Establishment Pill emerged from the furnace, Feng Hao’s heart leaped into his throat. ’Please don’t fail, please don’t fail! That was a drop of Earth Spirit Milk!’

BANG!

The furnace opened, and a fresh, rich fragrance instantly filled the entire general store.

Gazing at the three milky-white pills in the furnace, Feng Hao finally relaxed. ’Phew~, thank goodness it wasn’t a failure.’

Next, it was time to test the pill’s efficacy, but he had no test subject. After thinking it over, Feng Hao thought of Three-second Fire within his sea of consciousness. He immersed his Divine Sense and called out, "Xiao San’Er, stop watching your shows and come out and help, will you?"

"What is it? A fight?" Three-second Fire shot out of the sea of consciousness instinctively and asked.

"Here, help me test the effects of this pill," Feng Hao said, unable to wait.

Hearing this, Three-second Fire instantly flared up in a rage. "Holy shit, you fucking called me out just for this?"

"Relax, this pill won’t kill you," Feng Hao coaxed.

"Then why don’t you take it yourself?" Three-second Fire snapped.

"Hey now, my life is more precious!" Feng Hao said without a blush or a single skipped heartbeat. "Come on, hurry up and help me test it. When this is over, I’ll reward you with a spell soul."

Three-second Fire was on the verge of tears. "Can you please use your brain for once? Do you think I can take human pills like Xiaohai can?"

"Er, you fire seeds can’t take pills?" Feng Hao asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Of course not! With which of your eyes have you ever seen me take a pill?" Three-second Fire snorted coldly and explained, "We fire seeds are Spirit Bodies. Pills are only effective on physical bodies. Got it?"

Feng Hao had a moment of sudden realization. He looked at the pristine white Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand and sighed helplessly.

’Forget it, I’ll just take it myself,’ he said. Without further hesitation, he swallowed a Foundation Establishment Pill and sat cross-legged on the floor to begin refining it.

BOOM!

The Foundation Establishment Pill melted the moment it entered his mouth. Its medicinal effects detonated inside him like a bomb, surging through his meridians to every corner of his body.

Feng Hao gritted his teeth against the discomfort from the pill’s impact and focused on the changes within his body.

But no matter how he tried to sense it, he couldn’t detect the slightest change in his physical body. Just as he was completely baffled, the medicinal energy coursing through him suddenly began to boil, rushing into his sea of consciousness like a tidal wave.

’Huh? Could it be a genetic effect?’

Surprised and suspicious, Feng Hao hurriedly immersed his consciousness in his sea of consciousness to carefully observe the changes.

A few minutes later, Feng Hao opened his eyes. An unprecedented glint of brilliance shone within them. Then, under the astonished gaze of Three-second Fire, he burst into loud laughter. "Haha... My lucky day has finally come!"