The Strongest Talent Tree

A wave of sweetness Feng Hao had never known washed over him at her words. He couldn’t help but squeeze Yao Girl’s little hand. He set all other thoughts aside, closed his eyes, and focused on refining the potent medicinal power surging through his body.

The medicinal power of three Foundation Establishment Pills was incredibly potent, but for a Mage like Feng Hao, who specialized in cultivating his meridians, it was nothing he couldn’t handle.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when Feng Hao opened his eyes again, his gene activity had risen to 128 points—seven points higher than Zhou Chen’s.

In the Ancient Cang Realm, a gene activity of 128 points absolutely made him a genius.

Of course, he was no match for an anomaly like Xie Xiaoyu, whose gene activity exceeded two hundred. With a level like hers, she would be considered top-tier even on a universal scale.

’This girl, how did she fall asleep again.’ Feng Hao glanced at Xi Yueyao in his arms and shook his head helplessly.

The girl in his arms had fallen asleep at some point, drooling slightly. Her charmingly innocent expression was truly endearing.

Feng Hao didn’t have the heart to disturb her sweet dreams. He carefully pulled the blanket over her and, without changing his position, drifted off to sleep himself.

Time passed quickly.

Early the next morning, Yao Girl was back to her usual mischievous self. She shook Feng Hao awake with a dramatic gasp. "You damn medicine peddler, did you wet the bed?"

Feng Hao groggily opened his eyes. He glanced at the damp spot on his chest, and his expression immediately soured. "Stop fooling around. Who wets the bed on their own chest? This is obviously your drool, isn’t it?"

"Nonsense!" the girl retorted instantly. "I’m way too cute to drool!"

"..." Feng Hao was speechless, utterly exasperated. "What the hell does being cute have to do with whether you drool? Cut the crap and help your husband get this cleaned up. Otherwise, it’s time for some family discipline!"

"Hmph! Washing clothes is a servant’s job. A young lady like me would never do that." Xi Yueyao huffed stubbornly, but her actions betrayed her words. She obediently picked up Feng Hao’s shirt and headed into the bathroom, muttering complaints under her breath.

Feng Hao nodded in satisfaction. Unable to resist, he followed her in with a smug grin, looking forward to the show.

Inside the bathroom, Xi Yueyao was fumbling with the shirt, trying to figure out how to wash it. When she suddenly saw Feng Hao walk in, she jumped. "You jerk, what are you doing in here?"

"Nothing much. Just wanted to see how you wash my clothes for me," Feng Hao said with a sly grin.

"How am I supposed to wash with you staring at me like that?" the girl complained, pouting. She shot Feng Hao a few fierce glares, a look of pure grievance on her face.

Feng Hao paused for a second, then a sly smile returned to his face. "Well, how about I help you? You don’t exactly look like you know what you’re doing."

"No! I can do it myself," the girl insisted, stubbornly turning her head away. She then started to knead Feng Hao’s shirt haphazardly.

Seeing this, Feng Hao felt his patience fray. ’And you call *that* washing clothes? Are you kidding me? It looks like a kid playing in the mud.’

"All right, let me do it. A pampered young lady like you isn’t cut out for this kind of manual labor." Feng Hao sighed and shook his head, stepping forward to take over the task from Yao Girl. (Revised version. You all know why. There might be some continuity issues after the change, so please bear with it.)

...

Thoroughly satisfied, Feng Hao resumed his daily routine of looking after the general store. Meanwhile, Yao Girl rushed off to the academy. Apparently, she had made plans with Xiyue Frost and Man Tiaotiao to go train in a Secret Realm and wouldn’t be back for some time.

With the girl gone, Feng Hao finally had some peace and quiet. Each day, he would make a token effort of watching the store while dabbling in mechanics and forging. Only at night, around closing time, would he get serious and conduct a few deals.

During this period, his three little brothers became completely engrossed in the Thief God Hall’s affairs, unable to pull themselves away. They were nowhere to be seen for days on end.

Zhang Meng, leveraging his skills as a Magic Pattern Master, had already earned enough points to redeem five inheritances. He began studying the Inheritance Demon Patterns and would often discuss related issues with Feng Hao.

Li Mufeng and Tu Xiaoshan, on the other hand, had it rougher. Lacking a secondary profession, they could only take on the simplest jobs, like babysitting, delivering letters, and tutoring. To put it bluntly, their grind was a frustrating one.

Meanwhile, the craze for the Wind Love Dance Troupe had begun to spread beyond Beilang Country. According to reports from Qian Sanduo, Yao Ying and her group were very popular in other nations, and the Thief God Entertainment Company was growing stronger by the day.

On top of that, Feng Hao received a message from the Thief Master via his Listening Stone. The main purpose was to ask about the demon poison antidote.

Upon learning that Feng Hao was responsible for half the credit for the demon poison antidote, the Thief Master was furious and was about to head straight to the Student Union Headquarters to demand an explanation. Fortunately, Feng Hao managed to talk him down, explaining that Sun Yaowen had provided the medicinal ingredients. Only then did the Thief Master relent.

In the end, Feng Hao didn’t hold anything back and sent over all the information on the development and treatment protocol for the demon poison antidote.

How the Thief Master chose to use that information was none of his concern. Feng Hao’s main goal now was to cultivate diligently and reach level forty-five as quickly as possible. Then, he would use a Life Creation Pill to break through to the fifth rank in one go.

After all, in a little over half a year, the competition for the Thief’s title would begin. It was always a good idea to get a bit stronger.

Feng Hao’s cultivation speed was no longer what it used to be. With his gene activity at a high of 128 points, his training pace had more than doubled.

Just a few days after Yao Girl left, Feng Hao broke through to level forty-two and was already advancing toward level forty-three by leaps and bounds!

In short, with his increased gene activity, his cultivation was like a rocket that couldn’t be stopped.

’So many days have passed. Shouldn’t Yao Girl be back by now?’ Feng Hao sat bored behind the counter, watching the passersby on the street. His thoughts couldn’t help but drift to Xi Yueyao, who was far away in the Secret Realm.

In the time Yao Girl had been away, although his power had advanced by leaps and bounds, every day felt dull and monotonous.

Thankfully, the lively duo of Xiaohai and Three-second Fire were there to keep him from being bored to death. Otherwise, he would have already fucking run off to the Secret Realm to find her.

’Sigh. If I had known, I would have gone with them,’ Feng Hao thought with a pang of regret.

Just then, a ripple from a Listening Stone came from his Sea of Consciousness. Feng Hao instinctively assumed it was a message from Yao Girl, but when he extended his Divine Sense into the Listening Stone, he realized his excitement had been for nothing.

The message wasn’t from Yao Girl, but from his Second Brother, Kang Shuai: "Xiaowu, I hear that the wildly popular [Wind Love Dance Troupe] is your creation?"

"Yeah, it is. Is there a problem?" Feng Hao replied.

"Not really. I just think you can’t only cater to the guys. The vast legions of love-struck young ladies out there also need a Prince Charming. What do you think of your Second Brother? Find a chance and hook me up, will ya?"

Hearing this, Feng Hao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Well... your looks are certainly not a problem, Second Brother, but aren’t you a Literary Magic Master?"

"Haha, that just shows what you know!" Kang Shuai roared with laughter. "Your Second Brother here isn’t just a Literary Magic Master. I’m dual-specialized in both Literary and Dancing Magic. Dancing is one of my strengths, too."

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"For real?" Feng Hao was dumbfounded.

"Why would I lie to you? If you don’t believe me, go ask First Brother or Third Brother. Hell, you can even ask the Thief Master if you have to."

Feng Hao clicked his tongue. It took him a good moment to recover before he asked curiously, "So, Second Brother, why are you dual-specialized in both Literary and Dancing Magic?"

"Simple. My dad’s a Literary Magic Master, and my mom’s a Dancing Magic Master. I’m their only son, so, I ended up becoming a master of both," Kang Shuai explained, his tone casual.