The Strongest Talent Tree

When Feng Hao saw its poison immunity, he was left speechless. He had been counting on using Soft Bone Powder and A Little Red to counterattack, but now it looked like poison was out of the question. He would have to rely on pure damage.

Fortunately, the Emperor Scorpion’s Dark Force protection wasn’t high, only 20 points, so he could still deal damage.

Moreover, among Feng Hao’s current main Secret Techniques, all except for [Rapid Shadow Slash] had an [Instant Death] effect. Combined with Dark Force Fifth Layer, he could inflict extremely high life force damage. This was especially true for [Moon Wheel Dance] and [Shadow Sparks], whose effects were terrifying.

Needless to say, Moon Wheel Dance dealt a total of 20 points of life force damage over its two hits. Shadow Sparks was the same; its first hit of Dark Force damage dealt 10 points of life force damage, and the subsequent ten-second burn also dealt another 10 points of life force damage.

The Emperor Scorpion had a total of 361 life force. As long as he had a chance to attack, it wasn’t impossible to kill it.

"Xiaoluzi, this beast’s speed isn’t high. Are you confident you can keep it tied down?" Feng Hao asked grimly.

Lu Linfei pondered for a moment. "Keeping it occupied shouldn’t be a problem. The key issue is that I can’t tank its damage, especially from the poisonous stinger."

"As long as you can keep it occupied, that’s what matters. Don’t worry about the poison. I have special Antitoxic Pills here. While they can’t completely remove the toxin, they can greatly reduce its potency." Without another word, Feng Hao tossed a bottle of pills to Lu Linfei.

Antitoxic Pills were a staple item for Feng Hao. In the game *Mage*, they were poison resistance medicine, and their effect in reality was much the same: they could effectively weaken a poison’s potency and reduce its damage.

"Then it’s no problem," Lu Linfei said, his face full of confidence now that he had the pills.

Because of the Experience Pills, Lu Linfei had a great deal of faith in Feng Hao’s elixirs.

After briefing Lu Linfei, Feng Hao turned his gaze to Ming Xin Yan. "Do you have any [Instant Death] type Secret Techniques?"

"No. I specialize in the [Swift] and [Hidden Kill] legacies. [Instant Death] doesn’t suit my style," Ming Xin Yan said, her brow furrowed.

Feng Hao looked slightly disappointed. "Then it’s all up to me. The Emperor Scorpion’s Qi Blood is too high; brute-force damage won’t work. We have to target its life force. In a bit, you’ll be responsible for suppressing it with firepower and creating an opening for me."

Ming Xin Yan considered this. "My golden form can last for about ten minutes. Can your [Instant Death] damage output keep up?"

"Ten minutes is more than enough," Feng Hao nodded confidently.

"Alright then, let’s start the fight!" Ming Xin Yan wasted no time, turning and charging toward the Emperor Scorpion. A golden light showered down, and in an instant, she transformed into her golden body as a continuous rain of gold fell with her.

Lu Linfei followed close behind. At full speed, he left a trail of afterimages, weaving around the Emperor Scorpion.

BOOM!

Ming Xin Yan’s Golden Energy Ball sent out a massive shockwave, blasting the Emperor Scorpion’s enormous body far into the distance.

"Haha, nice one!" Feng Hao laughed wildly. He activated [Black Eyes] and [Shadow Jaunt] simultaneously, rushing into attack range in the blink of an eye.

The Emperor Scorpion clearly noticed Feng Hao but ignored him. Instead, it wildly swung its stinger in pursuit of Lu Linfei while brandishing its pincers straight at the golden-formed Ming Xin Yan. Large swaths of grass and trees were sheared in half.

This was exactly the kind of opportunity Feng Hao was waiting for. He didn’t hesitate, closing in with Rapid Shadow Slash. His twin daggers flashed, unleashing Dark Moon Slaughter, Moon Wheel Dance, and Moon Thorn all within a single second.

In that moment, deep black energy danced wildly, instantly draining 40 points of the Emperor Scorpion’s life force.

As for the damage from this skill combo, it was practically negligible—less than 10,000 points in total. It couldn’t be helped. The Emperor Scorpion’s defense was as high as 3,520, which was an insurmountable wall for someone at the Dark Force Fifth Layer.

Faced with such high defense, Dark Force Fifth Layer could basically only land one or two layers of damage; the subsequent three layers only had the [Instant Death] effect.

HISS~!

The sixth-rank Emperor Scorpion was quite intelligent. It instantly understood who the biggest threat was and turned its pincers and stinger on Feng Hao, unleashing a frenzied barrage.

PFFT—PFFT—PFFT— Dark green stingers shot out like cannonballs, quickly boxing Feng Hao in.

’Shit,’ Feng Hao cursed inwardly. He quickly used Shadow Strike to escape but was still hit by the Emperor Scorpion’s poison. His Qi Blood began to plummet at a rate of 484 points per second.

Feng Hao didn’t have time to think. He hurriedly swallowed a few Antitoxic Pills to weaken the poison. The toxin, which had been draining 484 points per second, was instantly weakened to just 78 points. The effect was remarkable.

At that moment, the Emperor Scorpion lunged at him again, its hooked tail sweeping out and flattening a large patch of the jungle.

"Feng Hao, watch out!" Ming Xin Yan shouted, hastily conjuring a golden vortex to pull the Emperor Scorpion back.

Unfortunately, the Emperor Scorpion was too large, and the vortex’s pull wasn’t very effective.

But it did create an opportunity for Feng Hao to escape. As he teleported away with another Shadow Strike, he didn’t forget to toss out a [Shadow Sparks]. A burst of Dark Force and fire erupted, chipping away even more of the Emperor Scorpion’s life force.

The Emperor Scorpion grew even more frenzied and began chasing Feng Hao with reckless abandon. This inadvertently created an opportunity for Ming Xin Yan and Lu Linfei. Lu Linfei could barely deal any damage, but each of his attacks targeted its critical joints. Ming Xin Yan’s damage, on the other hand, was substantial. After a barrage of attacks, she had already taken down an eighth of the Emperor Scorpion’s health.

"Don’t worry about me, just focus on dealing damage," Feng Hao transmitted via the Undying Brain Scripture. Seeing the Emperor Scorpion locked onto him, he immediately adjusted the plan to let Ming Xin Yan take over as the main damage dealer.

Of course, this decision was based on the fact that the Emperor Scorpion’s Gang Qi was low, making Ming Xin Yan’s Magic damage very effective.

Using the terrain and his footwork, Feng Hao easily toyed with the Emperor Scorpion. Whenever his cooldowns were up, he would hit it with [Moon Thorn] and [Shadow Sparks], steadily whittling down its life force.

From time to time, he would take a few shots at it with his [Pulse Wrist Guard]. The damage was surprisingly decent, since the Emperor Scorpion’s Gang Qi was low and it was susceptible to magic damage.

Meanwhile, Ming Xin Yan was unleashing a torrent of damage. The combined power of her Energy Balls and golden rain was considerable, and the Emperor Scorpion soon began to buckle under the assault.

Finally, the Emperor Scorpion switched its focus to Ming Xin Yan. Seizing the opportunity, Feng Hao charged forward and unleashed another full combo.

"My golden form is about to end! Hurry up!" Ming Xin Yan warned Feng Hao as she dodged the Emperor Scorpion’s attacks.

"Got it," Feng Hao grinned. He used Shadow Strike and [Rapid Shadow Slash] to dash under the Emperor Scorpion’s belly. With his daggers working in tandem, a crisscrossing web of Dark Moon Slaughter’s energy erupted, draining the last of the Emperor Scorpion’s life force in an instant.

BOOM!

Its life force depleted, the Emperor Scorpion crashed to the ground. Its remaining hundred-thousand-plus Qi Blood dissipated like air from a punctured balloon.

Feng Hao used the last of his two hundred-odd points of Magic Power to Shadow Strike out from under the Emperor Scorpion’s belly. He plopped onto the ground, sighing in relief.

"Oh no, there’s an ambush!" Ming Xin Yan’s golden form was gradually fading when she suddenly shouted a warning.

The color drained from Feng Hao and Lu Linfei’s faces as they instinctively scanned their surroundings.

A sky-blanketing volley of Flaming Arrows rained down on them. Immediately after, five figures charged out from nearby. The one in the lead was none other than Huang Danian, one of the top contenders to win. The other four were all level 45 or higher.

"Haha, I heard Huo Yuanjia fell to you guys. Get ready to go join him on the outside!" Huang Danian laughed arrogantly, hurling his twin hammers toward Feng Hao’s trio.

BANG!

The terrifying impact instantly scattered the three of them. Combined with the volley of Flaming Arrows, the trio lost over ten thousand Qi Blood in an instant.

Feng Hao stabilized himself and roared through clenched teeth, "Xiaoluzi, get Ming Xin Yan out of here! I’ll cover your retreat!"

"Got it." Lu Linfei didn’t dare to hesitate. He hoisted Ming Xin Yan onto his back and quickly fled.