The Strongest Talent Tree

"Alright, if you’re really thinking about it, Second Brother, I’ll be happy to help," Feng Hao said, nodding in surprise. "By the way, where are you right now?"

"I just got to Dust Wind Country yesterday. Right now, I’m enjoying a performance by the Wind Love Dance Troupe," Kang Shuai said with a faint smile.

"Uh..." Feng Hao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "So, when can you come over?"

Kang Shuai chuckled. "The performance isn’t urgent. We can prepare for it after you get back to headquarters. I’m mainly just calling to say hi and catch up a bit."

"..." Feng Hao was speechless, but he couldn’t help but feel touched.

After chatting with Kang Shuai for a little while longer, Feng Hao ended the Divine Sense communication.

He then sank back into his longing for Yao Girl. It couldn’t be helped. Not seeing her for so many days was making him restless.

Business at the general store was the same as always. A few customers would occasionally wander in, see the empty shelves, and then turn right around and leave without a second thought, heading next door to wander around the Treasure Pavilion instead.

Before he knew it, afternoon had arrived.

Feng Hao cleaned up his messy mechanical workbench, stretched his back, and decided to go for a stroll to unwind.

The moment he stepped out of his shop, he saw the neighboring Treasure Pavilion being festooned with lights and decorations. A crew of workers scrambled up and down ladders, making the storefront a dazzling sight, while Xue Xiaoyun directed them from below with a flurry of commands.

Curious, Feng Hao couldn’t resist walking over to ask, "Xiaoyun, what’s all this for? Having some kind of event?"

"What event?" Xue Xiaoyun shot him a look, then pouted and huffed, "It’s almost the New Year! We have to decorate for it, don’t we? Hey, aren’t you going to get your store ready?"

"The New Year?" Feng Hao looked completely bewildered. "I thought people in the Ancient Cang Realm don’t celebrate the New Year?"

"Who told you we don’t?" Xue Xiaoyun gave him an odd look. "Just look at all the shops on this street. Aren’t they all putting up decorations?"

Feng Hao instinctively looked around. All up and down the commercial street, every single storefront was being decorated. Row after row of large, red, magical lanterns were being hung up. It really did have the feel of the New Year.

"That can’t be right! I was in Five States City last year, too. How come I didn’t see anyone getting ready for the New Year?" Feng Hao asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

In fact, he’d been in the Ancient Cang Realm for a few years now, but he’d never once seen anyone celebrate the New Year.

Xue Xiaoyun paused for a moment, then it dawned on her and she chuckled. "You’re thinking of the Ancient Cang calendar year. We’re about to celebrate the Cosmic Year. One Cosmic Year is about the same as four Ancient Cang calendar years. Seriously, did you not go to the Enlightenment Academy? How do you not even know this basic stuff?"

"A Cosmic Year?" Feng Hao looked stunned, but he was finally starting to understand.

’No wonder I haven’t seen anyone celebrate it all these years. So the Mage World doesn’t follow a planet’s orbit, but a Cosmic Year.’ "So... how is a Cosmic Year calculated?"

"You really don’t know?" Xue Xiaoyun stared at Feng Hao like he was some kind of freak.

"Ahem, well, I actually never went to the Enlightenment Academy," Feng Hao admitted with an awkward laugh.

At his words, Xue Xiaoyun burst out laughing, bending over with mirth. It took her a while to compose herself. Wiping a tear from her eye, she explained, "The Cosmic Year marks the cyclical eruption of the Cosmic Origin. Every so often, a massive amount of magic energy pours into the various planets through the Origin Nodes. It’s commonly called the Magic Tide. People hold celebrations to show their gratitude for the Cosmic Origin’s gift."

"’A cyclical eruption? The Magic Tide?’" Feng Hao was utterly confused. As a young man who had grown up on Earth, this was all a bit hard to grasp.

"Anyway, the Magic Tide is set to erupt in a few days. When it does, the concentration of magic energy in the air will be several times higher than normal. I’m planning to use this opportunity to break through to the fifth rank," Xue Xiaoyun said, her eyes shining with anticipation.

"Whoa, a deal like that actually exists." Feng Hao gasped in surprise. He hadn’t understood her explanation before, but he definitely understood that last part.

He didn’t care about the other details. The fact that the magic energy in the air would be several times more concentrated was more than enough to get him excited.

After hearing this, Feng Hao was no longer in the mood for a stroll. He immediately picked out some decorations at the Treasure Pavilion and started setting them up with gusto.

’Can’t be helped. When in Rome!’ Besides, if celebrating the New Year could speed up his training, how could he possibly not join in?

’Not bad, not bad. It has a great feel to it.’ Looking at the bright, festive decorations on his storefront, Feng Hao felt like he was back on Earth. The two big red lanterns, in particular, were exactly like the ones used to celebrate the New Year back in Huaxia.

Feng Hao even got his hands on some red paper and wrote out a few couplets with a flourish, which attracted the curious gazes of many passersby.

’Something still feels... missing,’ Feng Hao thought, rubbing his chin. He quickly realized what it was. ’Of course! How can you celebrate the New Year without fireworks and firecrackers!’

’But the Mage World probably doesn’t have anything like that. Whatever. If you want something done right, you do it yourself. With my current skills as a sixth-rank Mechanic, how hard could it be to whip up some fireworks?’

With that thought, Feng Hao didn’t hesitate. He shut himself in his general store and got to work.

To make fireworks and firecrackers, gunpowder would normally be essential. But Feng Hao didn’t need it. He was in the Mage World, a world filled with fantastical technology.

’With tech like that, who needs gunpowder?’

For starters, he could use the Magic Energy Shells commonly employed by Gun Magic Masters as a base to create all sorts of spectacular fireworks.

Most importantly, magic energy explosions were not only dazzlingly colorful but also green, eco-friendly, and pollution-free. It was just too damn cool!

With a clear goal in mind, his research progressed at twice the speed. After just a few days, Feng Hao had successfully developed magic energy firecrackers and fireworks. They had a large blast radius but almost zero destructive power, and they could even be detonated using his Divine Sense.

He could even adjust the visual effects of the fireworks by using the Fire Element Crystal particles inside them. These were truly the King of firecrackers, the aristocrats of fireworks!

Three-second Fire had been watching Feng Hao’s research for the past few days. In his opinion, it was all completely useless.

"Why are you making all this useless junk?" Staring at the mountain of fireworks, Three-second Fire was completely baffled. "If you want to play with fire, why not just ask me?"

"You don’t know a damn thing," Feng Hao said dismissively. "This stuff is called fireworks. It’s also known as a lady-killer, the ultimate chick magnet. Come the New Year, you set these off into the sky, and you’re guaranteed to attract a whole crowd of beautiful women."

"For real? With this junk?" Three-second Fire asked, skeptical.

"Forget it. It’s beyond your intellectual capacity to understand something like this." Feng Hao sighed and pursed his lips. He then turned to look at Xiaohai and immediately felt his brow darken in exasperation.

Xiaohai was curiously hopping around the pile of fireworks, sniffing them from all sides before picking out a firecracker and starting to chew on it.

Feng Hao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He rushed forward to stop it. "You little rascal, all you ever think about is eating! You can’t eat these, you know?"

"Meow~!" Xiaohai looked at Feng Hao in confusion, as if asking why not.

"Go on, shoo! Go chew on your cat food," Feng Hao said, giving it an exasperated look as he tossed it a few Qi Recovery Pills.