The Strongest Talent Tree

After ending the Stone Listening Communication, the huge stone weighing on Feng Hao’s heart finally lifted, and he felt more relaxed than ever before.

He had always been striving, but without a clear purpose. Now, knowing that his family was safe gave him a newfound drive and motivation he’d never had before.

He was definitely going back to Earth; it was just a matter of time. For now, at least, he didn’t yet have that power.

’The most important thing right now is to secure the position of the Fifth Thief, raise my level and strength as quickly as possible, and then gather as many useful resources and jade slips as I can to prepare for my return to Earth.’

At that moment, Feng Hao’s heart was exceptionally calm. He looked up at the brilliant sky of the Secret Realm, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Huh? How can there be shooting stars in a Secret Realm?"

Feng Hao froze for a second. Across the magnificent, dark sky, a cluster of streaking lights had suddenly appeared.

After all, Secret Realms didn’t have a sun or moon, so shooting stars should have been impossible.

Just as Feng Hao was racking his brain over it, the cluster of star-like lights grew larger and larger. Then, a blurry human figure appeared amidst the points of light. Even from ten thousand meters away, Feng Hao could feel the person’s terrifying aura.

"Am I seeing things? Flying through the air... isn’t that something only a Hundred-level Mage can do?" Feng Hao exclaimed in shock. "Holy moly, what’s a Hundred-level Expert doing in the Second Secret Realm? To crush some noobs?"

’Is it some hired muscle?’ Feng Hao wondered. ’But even if you were hiring muscle, you wouldn’t go so far as to get a Hundred-level Expert, right?’

Just then, the figure in the sky drew closer, apparently chasing something. The points of light surrounding him also began to reveal their true forms. Those weren’t shooting stars at all; they were clearly enormous Fireballs.

"Fuck, who the hell did I piss off to get dragged into this?" Feng Hao’s face turned pale with horror.

With a sky full of Fireballs about to rain down, Feng Hao had no mind to remain calm. This was no joke; it was a Secret Technique unleashed by a Hundred-level Expert. Just getting grazed by one would be enough to obliterate his soul.

"Damn it, why is this mark activating so slowly!"

In his sea of consciousness, Magic Power frantically surged into the Taiyi Mark. It felt ten thousand times slower than its usual activation speed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...

Just as the sky full of Fireballs came crashing down, the Secret Realm Mark finally finished activating. Feng Hao heaved a sigh of relief. A familiar spatial ripple washed over him, and just before the plains before him were engulfed in a Sea of Fire, his vision distorted, and he was back in the secret base on Thief Peak.

’Son of a bitch, good thing I’m fast.’ Feng Hao thought, feeling lucky. He couldn’t help but complain, ’He’s a fucking hundred-level and he’s still dicking around in the Second Secret Realm. The guy’s insane!’

It took him a good while to recover from the shock. After muttering a few curses to himself, he retraced his steps back to the workshop.

The old thieves inside the workshop were still busy, and the Thief Master was nowhere to be seen. Seeing that it was getting late, Feng Hao decided not to linger. He walked carefully toward the exit, trying not to disturb the old thieves at their work.

"Oh, you’re back, young man?" Elder Jiang, who had been engrossed in his research, looked up and asked.

Feng Hao was taken aback, not expecting to be noticed. "Yeah, I’m back. I didn’t disturb you, did I?"

"It’s fine," Elder Jiang said nonchalantly. "I heard from Xiaowu that you’re a Ninth-level Alchemist. Is that true?"

Feng Hao raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What, does Elder Jiang want to test me?"

"I wouldn’t call it a test, I’m just a little curious." Elder Jiang casually set aside his work, his special Crystal Eyes studying Feng Hao. "To be honest, I’ve met plenty of Alchemists, but this is the first time I’ve ever encountered a Ninth-level Alchemist as young as you."

"How about I give you a little demonstration?" Feng Hao said with confidence.

Elder Jiang studied Feng Hao for a few moments, then shook his head with a faint smile. "Let’s not. This place is for Arrays and mechanics; we don’t have any alchemy materials here."

"Arrays and mechanics?" Feng Hao paused, surprised. "Are you an Array Master?"

"No, no, no, I’m the one who does mechanics," Elder Jiang said, shaking his head. "Old Seal is the Array Master."

"Oh." Feng Hao nodded thoughtfully. His curiosity piqued, he couldn’t help but look over Elder Jiang’s workbench. It was covered in delicate components crafted from all sorts of high-grade materials, along with densely packed Magic Energy Circuit Boards. Just looking at it all was enough to make his head spin, like a grade-schooler seeing an advanced calculus problem for the first time.

Elder Jiang asked in surprise, "What? You’re interested in mechanics, young man?"

"I’ve been dabbling in mechanics for some time now," Feng Hao nodded, his eyes full of curiosity as he looked at Elder Jiang’s project. "This must be a high-level ion compression circuit, right?"

"Oh? You even know about ion compression circuits?" Elder Jiang’s interest was clearly piqued.

"I heard about it from Sister Sanmei," Feng Hao replied.

"Ah, that makes sense. That girl has stolen quite a few things from me," Elder Jiang said with a laugh of realization. He then asked, "So, you’re learning mechanics from Sanmei, then?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Feng Hao asked, confused.

Elder Jiang’s expression turned serious. "That girl is too extreme. Learning mechanics from her isn’t reliable. If you have any questions in the future, you can come here and ask me."

"Thank you, Elder Jiang," Feng Hao said, pleasantly surprised.

"It’s nothing. Besides, Xiaowu has already earmarked you for the position of Thief anyway," Elder Jiang said with a shrug.

...

Emerging from the secret base, Feng Hao felt like he was in a dream. He couldn’t help but reach out and touch the cliff face, just to confirm that he wasn’t dreaming.

The night had deepened. He drove the Mansa all the way back to the Thief’s Palace. He had planned to have a drink and a long chat with Lin Luo and the others, but he found all three of them were out. After asking Mei Meimei, he learned they had gone on a mission.

"Sigh... All this joy and no one to share it with," Feng Hao lamented. ’Oh well. I guess I’ll go easy on my opponent in the match tomorrow. What can I say? I’m just in a good mood.’

Humming a little tune, he returned to his room. He took out the Magic Crystals and Life Spirit Pills and began to cultivate with a cheerful grin.

He couldn’t help it. After confirming that his parents and younger sister were safe and sound, he was in such an explosively good mood that everything he saw looked wonderful.

He recalled the message his little sister had Solos pass on to him, and a feeling of both warmth and exasperation washed over him.

His younger sister’s name was Feng Ran, two years his junior. She had been spoiled since she was a child, and when she got rowdy, she was a match for Yao Girl. Back when he first started playing *Mage*, she had tagged along for the fun of it and ended up getting completely hooked.

He had to admit, Feng Ran’s talent for gaming was terrifying. Unfortunately, she only enjoyed killing and looting other players and reselling their equipment, making her infamous in the game.

She would only ask Feng Hao for pointers on her technique when she lost a PK. To put it bluntly, she had no real drive to improve.

But even so, she still managed to fight her way into the top ten of the Huaxia District, becoming one of its top Mage players.

Honestly, with his sister Feng Ran’s natural talent for the game, if she put in even half the effort he did, she could have easily wiped the floor with Solos. The title of Magic God would have been hers.

He wondered if her playful and mischievous nature had mellowed out at all after the hardships of the past two years.

’Whatever, I won’t think about it now. I’ll deal with her when I get back,’ Feng Hao thought viciously.

...

「The next day, at the crack of dawn.」

The summit of Thief God Peak was already crowded with countless contestants and spectators. According to yesterday’s schedule, today’s competition featured a major highlight: the match between Fang Jie and Huang Danian.

In any case, by the time Feng Hao arrived, the arena was already packed to the brim. After squeezing through the crowd for what felt like an eternity, he finally found the young couple, Ming Xin Yan and Lu Linfei.