The Strongest Talent Tree

The entire square had descended into chaos. Thousands of fanatics were attacking madly, the glow of their Secret Techniques dyeing the plaza red.

Feng Hao weaved through the crowd like a specter. The Su Mu Dagger in his hand was a blur of motion, slicing and dicing as bolts of Shadow Qi shot forth. Aside from a few Defense Mages or those with powerful equipment, no one could withstand his terrifying damage.

The damage from Shadow Qi was just that straightforward. Unless you had protective gear crafted from the finest materials, you were guaranteed to be insta-killed.

Watching their companions fall one after another, the fanatics started to target Houhuiyao.

"Take out Houhuiyao! Don’t let him heal!" several Magic-type Mages yelled.

A large group of Mages immediately swarmed Houhuiyao.

Houhuiyao trembled in fear and hastily tried to flee. "What the hell? Why are you chasing me? I’m not the one who offended Senior Sister Bai Yin!"

"How dare you say that?" the fanatics fumed. "If you weren’t constantly healing him, Feng Hao would’ve been dead long ago!"

"Tch. You can have thousands of people ganging up on one guy, so why can’t I heal him?" Houhuiyao retorted with disdain.

Their weak spot struck, the fanatics shrieked and charged at Houhuiyao. All manner of weapons and blasts of Secret Sword Qi rained down on him from every direction.

Houhuiyao’s heart pounded. He subconsciously tried to dodge, but his footwork was terrible, and his health was halved in the blink of an eye.

At the critical moment, a terrifying aura erupted beside him. A bone-chilling cold spread like a plague as Xiyue Frost proudly stepped in front of Houhuiyao. She stabbed her heavy sword into the ground and said with cold contempt, "Who dares make a move?!"

"Xiyue Frost, are you siding with them?" the fanatics demanded, their faces twisting in anger.

"Who did you just say I’m siding with?" Xiyue Frost’s beautiful eyes widened. Combined with her cold, arrogant aura, it seemed a single glance from her could freeze a man solid.

The poor fanatics immediately lost their nerve. They could only grit their teeth, turn away, and resume their assault on Feng Hao.

Houhuiyao breathed a secret sigh of relief and went back to finding Feng Hao in the chaos to keep his health up. He would pop a few Qi Recovery Pills from time to time to replenish his Magic Power, showing no signs of running low.

Xiyue Frost stood guard by Houhuiyao’s side, heavy sword in hand, her beautiful eyes fixed on Feng Hao’s every move.

’So this is your true strength,’ Xiyue Frost sighed softly, her expression incredibly complex.

Elsewhere, Man Tiaotiao was stunned speechless. She stared at Feng Hao’s figure in the midst of the chaotic battle, her eyes filled with terror.

’Good thing I didn’t rush in just now, otherwise...’ A wave of fear washed over Man Tiaotiao at the thought.

She had originally planned to use this as an opportunity to give Feng Hao a good thrashing. After all, she still held a deep grudge against him. She couldn’t help it; the memories of the Body Refining Nutrient Liquid incident and the few times he’d beaten her were still fresh in her mind.

But after seeing Feng Hao’s terrifying power, she was completely dumbfounded.

’How does this hick even train? His level is clearly lower than mine, so why is he so powerful?’ Man Tiaotiao thought, rubbing her cheeks with a pained expression, completely baffled.

Not far away, Bai Yin stood as still as a statue of a Fairy, completely motionless.

As the champion of the latest academy tournament, a Direct Disciple of a Supreme Elder, and the bearer of a powerful Inner Ring bloodline, no one could possibly know the depths of her pride.

While most people saw her as an approachable, top-ranked beauty, deep down, she held an almost fanatical confidence and pride in her own power!

However, Feng Hao had shattered it all. Twice.

If she had been unwilling to accept her defeat before, then watching Feng Hao’s one-man massacre crushed the last shred of pride she had.

’I’ve been working so hard, nonstop... so why is the gap between us this huge?’ Bai Yin’s beautiful eyes dimmed, her heart a whirlwind of complex emotions.

’I thought that after receiving Master’s Wind Spirit brand, I’d be able to defeat Feng Hao. But now... it seems even if I had the complete Wind Spirit, I might not stand a chance against him.’

At the foot of the Origin Node, the chaotic battle raged on.

The students returning from the Origin Node were instantly dumbfounded by the sight before them, completely unable to understand what was happening.

They were especially stunned when they saw Feng Hao fighting against thousands of opponents by himself.

It was unbelievable. A level thirty-one Mage was effortlessly carving a path through a siege of several thousand academy elites. No one would have believed it if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes.

"Dude, pinch me. Am I fucking dreaming?" one of the students who had just returned from the Secret Realm asked, his expression dazed.

His friend, equally dumbfounded, smacked his lips. "How about you pinch me, too?"

"Alright. On the count of three, we’ll pinch each other."

"Good idea."

After pinching each other, the two students finally confirmed they were awake. They exchanged a look of shocked disbelief before turning their gazes back to the battlefield.

The chaotic battle continued. Thousands of fanatics fell in droves under Feng Hao’s onslaught, as if he were reaping wheat.

Just as everyone was focused on the battle, a ripple spread across the deep surface of the Origin Node. A moment later, several familiar figures appeared beside it: Yang Caide and Liang Dong, returning from the Secret Realm, along with the Dean of Instruction, Shi Lingyun.

Like the students, the instructors were also Mages and needed to venture into Secret Realms to hunt for spirit essences.

Thus, many instructors would team up after their classes to train in a Secret Realm and improve their own strength.

A week ago, Yang Caide had invited Liang Dong and Shi Lingyun to the fifth-level Primordial Secret Realm. She had finally managed to upgrade all her equipment to Primordial quality and was in a pretty good mood.

But upon returning to the academy, they were greeted by an incredibly brutal and chaotic scene.

"What’s going on? Is the academy under attack?" Liang Dong asked, dumbfounded.

Yang Caide looked toward the brawl. Hidden by her Crystal Eyes, she quietly activated her Cat’s Eye ability and quickly spotted Feng Hao’s figure. Her expression turned to one of shock. "It’s that kid, Feng Hao."

"Feng Hao?" Liang Dong paused, then subconsciously swept his Divine Sense across the battlefield. He couldn’t help but curse, "Holy shit, what is that kid doing? Looking for trouble?"

While the two of them were still gaping in shock, Shi Lingyun had already charged into the battlefield. With a light stomp of his left foot, he sent out a terrifying shockwave of air that knocked the entire brawling crowd off their feet.

"All of you, stop this instant!" Shi Lingyun roared. The entire plaza fell silent.

The shockwave also blasted Feng Hao back several dozen steps. It took him a moment to regain his footing. When he saw it was Shi Lingyun, he reluctantly sheathed his dagger. ’Can’t be helped,’ he thought. ’With this brute here, the slaughter’s definitely over.’

The fanatics, too, sobered up. They stood silently to the side, not daring to utter a word.

Shi Lingyun swept a cold gaze over the crowd before his eyes landed on Feng Hao. "Kid, how many times does this make?"

"The third time, I think," Feng Hao said dismissively.

"And you have the nerve to say it?" Shi Lingyun’s eyes bulged, his mustache bristling with rage. "Do you really think I won’t give you a thrashing?!"

"And on what grounds would you do that?" Feng Hao shot back arrogantly.

Shi Lingyun’s voice was low and dangerous. "On the grounds that I am the Dean of Instruction."

"Tch. I’m not a student at this academy anymore," Feng Hao said nonchalantly.

"But you injured the academy’s students," Shi Lingyun retorted, closing the distance between them in an instant.