The Strongest Talent Tree

With Lin Luo’s confirmation, Feng Hao was overjoyed. If he incorporated the [Instant Death] Demon Pattern into all his Secret Techniques, he would gain an additional 5 points of life force damage.

As a master gamer, Feng Hao had his own understanding of fundamental attributes. In his opinion, life force was clearly the most important of them all. After all, once a person’s life force hit zero, they would die.

The life force damage from [Instant Death] might have seemed insignificant, but its effect in actual combat was extremely potent. Paired with his Dark Force Fifth Layer talent, almost all of his skills could deal 5 points of life force damage. For the vast majority of Mages who lacked life force talents, the lethality was terrifying!

Furthermore, when facing demonic beasts and Spirit Beasts, the life force damage would also be quite effective.

’What would happen if I constructed all five inheritances together?’ Feng Hao’s mind raced.

Lin Luo chuckled, momentarily at a loss for words. "Fusing the five inheritances would naturally create a very powerful skill, but the construction difficulty is immense. Besides, you’re on the Dark Force path, so for now, you can’t handle a multi-inheritance Secret Technique."

"Why is that?" Feng Hao asked, confused.

"It’s simple," Lin Luo explained with a smile. "A Secret Technique with over a thousand pathways is considered a high-level Secret Technique, and a Dark Force Mage can only wield those after their Dark Force has taken form."

Feng Hao nodded in realization, finally understanding the criteria for classifying Secret Technique levels. "Oh, right, Brother. I’m currently lacking a single-target burst Secret Technique. How should I go about choosing one?"

Lin Luo frowned in thought. "Generally speaking, as long as you give up the [Force Qi] Demon Pattern, you can increase a Secret Technique’s damage. If you then incorporate the [Swift] Demon Pattern, the effect will be even better."

"Huh? Just give up [Force Qi]?" Feng Hao asked, stunned.

He had been trying to figure out a single-target burst skill for a while. After all, he wanted to follow the Assassin path. ’How could I do that without a single-target burst?’

But he could never find a way to significantly increase the skill’s damage multiplier. He had assumed it was because he didn’t have an Inheritance Demon Pattern, but it turned out the problem was the [Force Qi] Demon Pattern all along.

Lin Luo chuckled. "Actually, I was just like you back in the day. I only learned about the drawbacks of the [Force Qi] Demon Pattern after someone pointed it out to me."

"As everyone knows, the [Force Qi] Demon Pattern allows you to release your power externally. But in the process, it also causes the power to disperse and diminish, leading to a significant reduction in the Secret Technique’s damage."

"I see." Feng Hao’s eyes lit up. He suddenly jumped off the bed and said eagerly, "Thanks for your guidance, Brother. I’m going to try it right now."

"Heh, good luck." Lin Luo nodded with a light laugh.

Back in his own room, Feng Hao sat cross-legged on his bed, closed his eyes, and began to construct the Secret Technique...

Time flew by while he was constructing the Secret Technique, and in the blink of an eye, it was the next morning.

Lin Luo stretched and walked out of his room. The continuous cultivation had started to feel dull. Seeing that Feng Hao was still engrossed in his Secret Technique, he couldn’t help but shake his head with a private smile. ’Looks like I’ll have to watch the shop for him.’

He quickly went downstairs, opened the shop door, and sat down behind the counter to wait.

Perhaps because he’d never run a business before, Lin Luo found it rather novel. The only thing that gave him a headache was that the shelves were completely empty. Left with no choice, he had to dig into his own pockets, placing the stolen goods he had accumulated over time onto the shelves.

’Tsk tsk, being a little Shopkeeper isn’t so bad,’ Lin Luo thought gleefully. ’When I get bored someday, I’ll find a place to open a shop specifically for fencing stolen goods. With my colleagues from the Thief God Hall providing the goods, even the supply chain will be sorted out.’

Just then, a stunningly beautiful and enchanting figure gracefully walked in. It was none other than Yao Ying, the number one beauty of the Five States.

Before coming, Yao Ying had meticulously dressed up. Her goal was to charm Feng Hao and then wheedle out the details of the dance technique used by Xu Zhenzhen.

But when she arrived at the pharmacy, she found that Feng Hao was not there. In his place was a strange man whose strength was profound and unfathomable.

"Who are you? And where’s Feng Hao?" Yao Ying asked as she walked forward, puzzled.

Lin Luo, who had been pondering how to handle customers, breathed a sigh of relief. ’Looks like this beauty knows Feng Hao.’ He couldn’t help but ask with a sly grin, "What should I call you, beautiful? What do you need Feng Hao for?"

Yao Ying frowned slightly, but she didn’t dare to act rashly. After all, the man before her was unfathomably strong and gave off a very dangerous feeling.

"I’m a friend of Feng Hao’s. Is he not here?" Yao Ying asked softly.

Lin Luo gave a playful smile. Driven by curiosity, he decided to keep up the bluff to see if he could figure out her exact relationship with Feng Hao. "Um... Feng Hao had to step out. I’m his older brother. You can tell me anything you need."

"Then when will he be back?" Yao Ying asked.

"I’m not sure about that. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after," Lin Luo lied with a straight face.

Hearing this, Yao Ying couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Her beautiful eyes glanced at Lin Luo hesitantly as a trace of curiosity rose within her. With a flick of her gaze, her lips parted. "I’m his girlfriend. May I ask your name, Brother? Feng Hao has never mentioned you to me before."

Hearing this, Lin Luo laughed hysterically inside. ’An unexpected windfall indeed!’ He quickly and warmly greeted her, "So you’re my sister-in-law! My name is Lin Luo. Just call me Brother from now on."

"Is that so? Then I’ll call you Brother Lin," Yao Ying said, putting on a shy expression.

"Haha, hearing you call me Brother is so damn satisfying," Lin Luo laughed heartily. Even though he knew Yao Ying was probably lying, he still felt quite pleased. He wondered how he could help Feng Hao out and secure this romantic fortune for him. "Come, come, a gift for my sister-in-law for our first meeting."

Yao Ying’s eyes lit up, but she put on a coy act. "Oh, I couldn’t possibly accept."

"Hey, we’re family. What’s there to be embarrassed about?" Lin Luo grinned and took a dark red piece of metal from his Spatial Ring. "I can see my sister-in-law is about to break through to the fourth rank. I happen to have a Level 4 Fiery Sun Stone here, perfect for forging a fire-attribute weapon."

"Wow, a Level 4 Fiery Sun Stone?!" Yao Ying gasped, covering her mouth.

"No need to be so surprised, sister-in-law. It’s just a Level 4 Fiery Sun Stone. I was actually a bit embarrassed to offer something so modest," Lin Luo chuckled to himself.

Yao Ying suppressed her inner ecstasy and shyly put the Fiery Sun Stone into her Spatial Ring. "Thank you, Brother Lin."

"We’re family, no need for thanks. I’m just glad you like it, sister-in-law."

"Mhm." Yao Ying gave a dazzling smile, bowed slightly, and said, "Since Feng Hao isn’t here, I’ll take my leave for now."

With that, she hurriedly left the pharmacy, her heart already blooming with joy. Although she hadn’t seen Feng Hao, she had obtained the weapon material she had been dreaming of, leaving her ecstatic.

’It seems Feng Hao’s background isn’t so simple. Just based on this generous brother of his, he’s worth this lady’s attention.’

Yao Ying pursed her lips into a smile, her beautiful eyes shimmering with a peculiar light, as she secretly planned how to seduce Feng Hao.

Back in the pharmacy, after watching Yao Ying leave, Lin Luo couldn’t help but grin mischievously. ’Tsk tsk, after helping him out this much, Brother Feng should be very grateful to me, right? Young people should play the field a bit. They shouldn’t hang themselves on a single tree, right?’