The Strongest Talent Tree

The one who accepted Feng Hao’s commission was an Intermediate Thief, a Fourth-rank Mage. When he saw Feng Hao’s title of level seven thief, he was nearly scared out of his wits.

And just like that, by leveraging the intimidating presence of a high-level thief, Feng Hao only spent 300 points to obtain the corpse of a third-rank Shadow Beast. The beast was quite large—more than enough to craft a full set of equipment.

After settling the matter of the Shadow Beast, Feng Hao didn’t rush to leave. Instead, he walked into the Thief God Hall’s Treasure Pavilion, filled with anticipation.

He ascended to the seventh floor in one go. Gazing at the five scrolls of Inheritance Demon Patterns, his eyes glinted with mad excitement.

"I can finally exchange for the Inheritance Demon Patterns!"

Taking a deep breath, he solemnly walked up to the "Swiftness" Demon Pattern scroll and pressed the palm bearing his Thief’s Mark against the restriction ward protecting it.

The next moment, 1,000 points were instantly deducted from his mark. At the same time, an incredibly complex Demon Pattern flooded into his sea of consciousness, where it coalesced into a complete pattern.

’So this is an Inheritance Demon Pattern? It really is far more complex than a regular one.’

Sensing the new "Swiftness" Demon Pattern in his sea of consciousness, Feng Hao couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. Compared to ordinary Demon Patterns, the Inheritance Demon Pattern was obviously far more complex—a fact made evident by the sheer number of lines it contained.

The dozens of ordinary Demon Patterns Feng Hao had learned at Rongcheng Academy, for instance, mostly consisted of about a hundred lines. This "Swiftness" Demon Pattern, however, had over five hundred.

’Let’s see what the other four Inheritance Demon Patterns are like.’

Feng Hao reined in his surprise and began to exchange for the other four Inheritance Demon Patterns, from "Shadow" all the way to "Hidden Stab." The points in his Thief’s Mark dropped from 3,850 to 550.

Sensing the five new Inheritance Demon Patterns in his sea of consciousness, Feng Hao couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

The next step was to diligently comprehend and study these five inheritances and then create his own Secret Technique circuits, gradually solidifying his path as an Assassin.

Compared to a single-character Demon Pattern like "Swiftness," the other four Inheritance Demon Patterns were noticeably simpler. However, they still contained over three hundred lines each, utterly crushing any ordinary Demon Pattern!

After acquiring the inheritances, Feng Hao didn’t rush off. Instead, he began to search the lower floors of the Treasure Pavilion.

He finally found what he was looking for on the third floor. On a bookshelf before him were countless Record Jade Scrolls. Unlike Communication Jade Scrolls, these were relatively more expensive to produce and were mainly used for recording various books and data.

A quick scan brought a satisfied look to Feng Hao’s face. This small section contained a collection of all sorts of academic knowledge and reference materials—from Demon Patterns to alchemy, Artifact Refining, and mechanical principles, everything was here.

It couldn’t be helped. After leaving the Five Provinces Academy, Feng Hao, like the other members of the Thief God Hall, had to rely on self-study to gain knowledge.

’Tsk, tsk. It’s a shame each jade scroll costs 100 points. Otherwise, I’d really want to take them all home!’

Feng Hao sighed, pursing his lips. Using his remaining 550 points, he selected five jade scrolls that caught his interest: *Foundations and Advancements in Magicology*, *A Detailed Explanation of Martial Arts*, *Introduction to Artifact Refining*, *Theory of Demon Pattern Mechanism*, and *The Grand Encyclopedia of Secret Realms*.

Magicology, martial arts, and the Secret Realm encyclopedia were self-explanatory—he was lacking knowledge in all those areas. As for Artifact Refining and Demon Pattern Mechanism, those were purely out of personal interest.

Whether he could master them or not, it was always good to learn a little more. This was especially true for Artifact Refining; if he could get good at it, he wouldn’t have to rely on others to craft his equipment anymore.

Demon Pattern Mechanism wasn’t strictly necessary, but Feng Hao couldn’t resist his curiosity about the Otherworld’s "black technology."

’Everything is ready. Time to break through to the third rank!’ Feng Hao mused, then resolutely departed from the Thief God Hall.

...

In the following days, Feng Hao began discussing the matter of the specialty stores with Qian Sanduo. They eventually settled on a brand name based on his name—"Feng’s Finery."

Immediately afterward, with the full backing of the Thief God Hall’s commercial department, Feng’s Finery specialty stores began popping up in cities large and small across the Wolf Country. Riding the wave of fame from the "mysterious designer from Five States City" and employing various business tactics, they quickly established a firm foothold in the equipment industry.

At last, Feng Hao’s life returned to a state of peace, while Qian Sanduo became incredibly busy managing the specialty stores.

The days passed peacefully. During the day, Feng Hao would look after the pharmacy, study the knowledge from the five jade scrolls, and occasionally tend to customers. At night, he would cultivate while exploring the Inheritance Demon Patterns. Life was comfortable and satisfying.

As for Houhuiyao and Xiyue Frost, thanks to the Listening Stones, they could communicate at any time.

He recently heard that the Five Provinces Academy was about to hold its annual grand competition. The two of them were planning to team up for the two-person team event. In Xiyue Frost’s own words, it was "to change people’s perception of Healing Mages."

Feng Hao was completely in favor of this, but Houhuiyao felt differently. Subjected to Xiyue Frost’s "cold shoulder," Houhuiyao was suffering immensely and had complained to Feng Hao about it on more than one occasion.

With the academy’s grand competition fast approaching, Feng Hao had also begun his push toward level thirty.

That evening, Feng Hao was sitting cross-legged on his bed to cultivate as usual when he received a Stone Listening Communication from Houhuiyao.

"Brother Feng, the competition is almost here. What do you think I should do about my equipment?" Houhuiyao asked, his voice full of woe.

"Simple. Just stack as much Qi Blood and defense as you can. As long as you can stay standing, Xiyue Frost won’t go down."

"That makes a lot of sense, Brother Feng. I’ll go make preparations tomorrow."

After cutting off the Divine Sense connection, Feng Hao gave a resigned smile, closed his eyes, and resumed his cultivation.

Time slipped by, and soon it was late at night. Following a powerful fluctuation of magic energy, his Genetic Tree finally reached level thirty. Feng Hao was overjoyed but didn’t dare to relax, because the tree’s third branch had yet to sprout.

With the aid of a Life Spirit Pill and Magic Crystals, the abundant Magic Power was more than enough for the Genetic Tree to grow its third-rank Talent Branch.

’I should be able to use a Level 3 Magic Crystal now, right?’

After a moment of consideration, Feng Hao swapped the Level 2 Magic Crystal he used for cultivation with a Level 3 Magic Crystal. A dense surge of magic energy instantly flooded his sea of consciousness, and the slowly growing Genetic Tree erupted with vigorous life.

It then began to bud, sprout a branch, and grow rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Very quickly, the third Talent Branch finished growing. At the same time, a stream of genetic information flooded his mind.

[Shadow Strike: Instantly move a short distance. Cost: 100 Magic Power]

The moment he perceived the brand-new talent, Feng Hao’s eyes flew open in delighted surprise. He had never imagined his third-rank talent would be the Genetic Secret Technique, "Shadow Strike." For an Assassin, this talent couldn’t be more perfect.

"Haha! I really was born to be an Assassin!" Feng Hao couldn’t help but laugh in excitement.

"Shadow Strike" was a Genetic Secret Technique-type talent. So-called Genetic Secret Techniques were skill effects inherent to one’s magic energy genes, making them fundamentally different from regular Secret Techniques.

Additionally, "Shadow Strike" wasn’t highly rated among agility-type talents, as it didn’t provide a significant boost to overall power.

Although many people didn’t think much of "Shadow Strike," for Feng Hao it was like adding wings to a tiger. With this short-range movement ability, he could pull off all sorts of flashy maneuvers.

Besides, for an Assassin, movement abilities were an extremely important element!