The Strongest Talent Tree

Thanks to his Shadow Sneak, Xiyue Frost and the others had no idea Feng Hao had already jumped to the bottom of the valley.

After a long time, the three of them finally realized something was wrong. Man Tiaotiao grumbled, "What’s that hick doing? How is he not back yet?"

"You don’t think he ran into some kind of danger, do you?" Houhuiyao asked, his eyes filled with worry.

"Something’s not right. Let’s go check on him," Xiyue Frost said grimly. Without another thought, she hefted her heavy sword and charged toward the swarm of Snow Demons above the canyon.

Houhuiyao and Man Tiaotiao didn’t hesitate, following right behind Xiyue Frost. Feng Hao was their teammate and a good friend; there was no way they would just leave him on his own.

"SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH..."

Without any stealth abilities, the three of them were quickly swarmed by a large pack of Snow Demons.

The three fought back with all their might against the Snow Demons’ frenzied attacks. Man Tiaotiao took the lead, punching, kicking, and shouting all the while, reminiscent of a young Bruce Lee.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

In the heat of battle, Man Tiaotiao was even more frenzied than usual, like a rampaging bull wreaking havoc among the Snow Demons.

Magical light surged from her dark-red gauntlets. Each punch landed with the force of a whirlwind. The Snow Demons were like toys in her grasp, getting swung and tossed about. She completely ignored the damage from their ice spikes.

What else could she do? With a healer like Houhuiyao backing her up, she could afford to be this reckless.

"Gahaha! Bring it on! I’ll smash every last one of you today!" Man Tiaotiao cackled arrogantly. "Houhuiyao, find a chance to get to the cliff and see what’s going on. Xiaoshuang and I will hold them off here."

"Alright. Call me the second your health gets low," Houhuiyao instructed. Under the cover of the two warrior women, he carefully crept toward the edge of the cliff.

As for Xiyue Frost, she had activated her Ice Domain and become a mobile fortress. Her Sword Qi danced through the air, felling countless Snow Demons.

The Snow Demons had strong resistance to frost, but her damage was primarily physical, so it wasn’t being countered. The only thing giving her a headache was that the control effects of her Ice Domain were greatly diminished, making it difficult to land effective hits.

Fortunately, her attack speed was decent, unlike the slow attacks typical of other Heavy Sword Mages.

Meanwhile, Houhuiyao had slipped unnoticed to the edge of the cliff. His eyes scanned the depths below, and he soon spotted Feng Hao.

"I found him! I found him! The boss is right down there," Houhuiyao hurriedly told the other two.

When they heard Feng Hao had already gone down, both Xiyue Frost and Man Tiaotiao frowned. Man Tiaotiao was the first to complain irritably, "What the hell is with that hick? Why’d he just go down without a word?"

"How should I know," Houhuiyao muttered with a shrug.

"Idiot, use Stone Listening Communication to ask him!" Man Tiaotiao snapped, sending a Snow Demon flying with a punch.

Houhuiyao’s brow furrowed. "The boss is in the middle of a fight with the Snow Demons. I’m afraid using Stone Listening Communication will distract him."

"So what do we do?" Man Tiaotiao asked, at a loss.

Just then, Xiyue Frost stepped up and moved decisively toward the cliff’s edge. "Let’s not waste any more time. We’re going down, too."

Man Tiaotiao’s face darkened. "Won’t we be smashed to bits if we jump from this high up?"

"Feng Hao survived the fall. We’ll be fine," Xiyue Frost reasoned.

"But... I’m afraid of heights," Man Tiaotiao said, her face a mask of misery.

"..." Xiyue Frost was speechless. She snapped, "Trust me. Just close your eyes. It’ll be over in a flash."

"You’re sure?" Man Tiaotiao asked weakly.

Xiyue Frost was too worried about Feng Hao’s safety to waste time arguing. She rushed forward, grabbed Man Tiaotiao, and pulled her over the edge.

To the sound of Man Tiaotiao’s shriek, the two landed safely at the bottom of the valley. Houhuiyao followed right behind, chugging a potion and waving his Magic Staff. In the blink of an eye, he had replenished their lost Qi Blood.

"The boss is in that direction. We have to hurry," Houhuiyao said, not daring to waste a second as he led the two of them toward Feng Hao.

Man Tiaotiao trailed behind them, her face pale. She clearly hadn’t recovered from the shock of the fall.

...

The valley floor was covered in ice pillars, forming a veritable maze. Some gaps were passable, but others were too narrow to squeeze through.

Feng Hao used Shadow Sneak to weave between the ice pillars, feeling incredibly anxious. However, navigating the maze was wasting too much time. To conserve his Magic Power, Feng Hao gave up on stealth and began to fight his way through.

As he drew closer to the "helpme" youth, Feng Hao grew more and more excited.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The sound of explosions echoed from up ahead. Countless bursts of fire refracted off the ice pillars, casting a dazzling, kaleidoscopic light.

Finally, after a series of brutal fights, Feng Hao made it to the "helpme" youth.

The man wore a filthy, tattered robe that looked like it had been haphazardly stitched together from random scraps of material. A mess of blond hair was tied back loosely. He had deep-set eyes and a high-bridged nose—a typically handsome Caucasian man.

Most striking of all were his blue eyes. They currently radiated a profound light, turning them completely blue—much like Feng Hao’s own when he activated [Black Pupils].

The moment he saw the blond youth, Feng Hao was completely dumbfounded. The blond youth, in turn, was just as stunned to see him.

Feng Hao knew this blond man all too well. His game ID was Solos, and his real name was also Solos. He had been Feng Hao’s strongest rival in the game *Mage*, and was hailed as the Magic God.

’To be honest,’ Feng Hao thought, ’if it hadn’t been for my class advantage, I might not have been able to beat him in the final championship.’

"You’re... Solos?!" Feng Hao asked in disbelief, casually slaying a nearby Snow Demon.

The blond youth stared back at him in equal astonishment. In halting, heavily-accented speech, he asked, "You’re... the Mad God?"

"Holy shit, it really is you!" Feng Hao was inwardly ecstatic, unable to stop himself from cursing out loud.

His ID in *Mage* was Mad Wolf. After he’d achieved godlike status in the final championship, the game’s massive player base had respectfully dubbed him the "Mad God."

Solos was ecstatic. He continued to expertly dispatch demons as he spoke. "I knew you weren’t dead! Too many others survived. How could the Mad God himself have died?!"

Feng Hao was suddenly reminded of the situation back on Earth. His expression turned grim. "We can talk about that later. Let’s finish off these bastards first!"

"Haha, with the two of us working together, this will be no problem at all," Solos said, brimming with confidence.

A smile touched Feng Hao’s lips as his fighting spirit soared. ’The Mad God and the Magic God, the two who once dominated *Mage*, fighting side-by-side.’ Any number of Snow Demons they faced now would be nothing but cannon fodder.

SWISH! SWISH!

With a diagonal strafe and a leap, he easily dodged a Snow Demon’s attack. His [Moon Wheel Dance] traced a dark moon in the air, shredding the demons that were lunging for Solos.

With Feng Hao covering him, Solos could unleash his Secret Techniques without reservation, instantly transforming into a living turret.

A chaotic barrage of Fireballs and magical missiles annihilated swathes of Snow Demons in an instant. Feng Hao watched in awe. Not a single one of Solos’s Secret Techniques missed its mark; each one struck a Snow Demon’s vitals with pinpoint accuracy.

’The Magic God is called that for a reason,’ Feng Hao marveled internally. ’Compared to him, the Magic-type Mages of the Ancient Cang Realm are complete garbage!’

It just went to show the truth of that old saying from the gaming world: A Mage who can’t act as a turret is no Mage at all.