The Strongest Talent Tree

Bai Yin smiled dismissively. "Exactly what it sounds like."

"You..." Yao Ying was so furious she was speechless, her finger trembling as she pointed at Bai Yin. There was nothing she could do. Bai Yin was the champion of the academy’s grand tournament, while she was just a Dancing Magic Master and stood no chance in a fight.

"Enough nonsense. Where’s Feng Hao?" Bai Yin asked in a cold voice.

"He’s not here," Yao Ying ground out, returning to the counter to sulk.

Bai Yin stared blankly. "Not here? Then where did he go?"

"I don’t know," Yao Ying said through clenched teeth. "If there’s nothing else, get out. Don’t interrupt my work."

Bai Yin mulled it over for a moment, then turned to leave. "Give him a message for me. Tell him I came looking for him, and that he should think carefully about his next move."

With that, she turned and left the general store.

Watching Bai Yin’s arrogant retreat, Yao Ying furiously pounded the counter. Her expression was even uglier than when Feng Hao had kicked her. "Bai Yin the Little Bitch, I’m not done with you!"

’No, this is infuriating.’ The more Yao Ying thought about it, the angrier she became. Bai Yin’s words echoed in her mind, and she completely lost the will to tend to the shop.

But of course, it was at this exact moment that a passing Mage wandered in, his curiosity piqued, and began to browse the shop on his own.

He soon stopped in front of one of the MP3 players, turning to Yao Ying to ask, "Proprietor, what’s this little thing for?"

"It plays music," Yao Ying replied distractedly, still fuming.

The man’s brow furrowed slightly, but he paid no mind to Yao Ying’s attitude. He picked up one of the MP3 players, examining it as he asked, "How does it work?"

"You just have to record the songs onto it with your Divine Sense." Yao Ying finally snapped out of her funk and began to explain properly.

The man looked surprised but tried manipulating his Divine Sense. A moment later, melodious music began to flow from the palm-sized MP3 player.

"Huh, that’s pretty interesting." The man nodded, intrigued. He then smiled and asked, "How much for this?"

"Twenty million," Yao Ying replied.

"It’s that expensive?" the man asked, taken aback.

"That’s the price. Take it or leave it." Yao Ying was clearly not cut out for customer service, her eyes filled with arrogance as she replied.

The man looked a little annoyed. He tossed 20 Level 3 Magic Crystals to Yao Ying, grabbed the MP3 player, and walked out.

Yao Ying stared at the Magic Crystals, stunned. It took her a long moment to snap out of it. ’Uh, some idiot really bought this thing?’

’Twenty million in a single sale... this is too easy!’ Yao Ying’s eyes began to sparkle.

As a part-time designer, she only made twenty to thirty million a month. Compared to this, her design work wasn’t even in the same league.

’If I’d known it was this easy to make money, why did I ever bother learning design?’ Yao Ying thought, full of regret.

...

Meanwhile, Feng Hao had already driven the Mansa to the front of Xiyue Frost’s dormitory.

A few minutes later, Xiyue Frost emerged, clad in impressive-looking gear. Without a word, she climbed right into the passenger seat.

Feng Hao stared at her, astonished. He clicked his tongue and asked, "So, where are we going to do this?"

"Let’s go to the outskirts. I don’t want anyone to see," Xiyue Frost said calmly, her eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"Fine by me." Feng Hao didn’t feel like arguing. He started the Mansa, which lifted into the air and sped toward the outskirts of Five States City.

Xiyue Frost was the same as ever, sitting silently beside him for the entire journey.

The silence was killing Feng Hao. He gave a wry smile inwardly. ’I really don’t get this woman. She and Yao Girl are sisters, but their personalities are polar opposites.’

Soon, the Mansa landed in a wide clearing within a small forest—an excellent spot for a fight.

Xiyue Frost silently leaped from the vehicle. She immediately drew a black greatsword from her Spatial Ring and pointed it at Feng Hao. "Let’s begin. This time, I will defeat you, fair and square."

Feng Hao gave a wry smile as he recalled the Mansa into his own ring, taking a Su Mu Dagger in each hand. "Honestly, you really can’t beat me."

"Less talk. Face my blade!"

With a sharp cry, Xiyue Frost swung the greatsword down on Feng Hao.

The Vibrating Sword strike slammed down, sending dirt and grass flying as a powerful shockwave radiated outward.

Feng Hao shook his head with a sigh and activated Shadow Fade, vanishing from Xiyue Frost’s sight. In the blink of an eye, he was behind her, striking with a [Dark Moon Slaughter].

BAM!

Xiyue Frost’s face fell when Feng Hao suddenly vanished. Before she could even react, she felt a terrifying, insidious force strike her from behind. Her Qi Blood instantly dropped by a third. What shocked her even more was that her very life force had dropped by 10 points.

Shocked as she was, Xiyue Frost had no intention of admitting defeat. She instantly activated her Bloodline Power, and a biting chill immediately enveloped the area.

At the same time, ice flowers began to bloom silently in the cold air, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

’Holy crap, isn’t that West Moon Ridge’s Ice Domain?’

Feng Hao was stunned. He tried to retreat, but frost had already encased him, making his body incredibly stiff, as if frozen solid.

Xiyue Frost sneered. Empowered by her Ice Lotus Sword Qi, she brought her greatsword crashing down on Feng Hao.

With no time to think, Feng Hao hastily used Shadow Strike to dodge. He was still caught by the shockwave from the greatsword’s impact. He tried to activate Shadow Fade again, but found that the relentless frost kept interrupting the cast.

There was nothing he could do. Shadow Fade had a 0.8-second cast time, but the Ice Domain dealt continuous damage. In other words, as long as he remained within the domain, he would never be able to activate Shadow Fade.

"You shameless thief! Let’s see how arrogant you are now!" Xiyue Frost’s face lit up with triumphant joy as she relentlessly pursued Feng Hao, making sure he couldn’t escape the range of her Ice Domain.

Feng Hao, miserable from being hunted down, gave up on trying to use Shadow Fade. He spun around to face her head-on.

’Like hell!’

Feng Hao was getting angry now, too. Even though the Ice Domain greatly reduced his movement and attack speed, his damage output was no joke. He’d only used [Dark Moon Slaughter] earlier because he was afraid of crushing her spirit. If he had used [Moon Pierce], she would’ve been instantly defeated.

Seeing Feng Hao charge, Xiyue Frost swept her greatsword at him. The terrifying force of the impact sent him staggering back more than ten steps.

’Damn it, I almost forgot strength-based Mages have a built-in knockback,’ Feng Hao thought with a bitter smile, spitting out a few ice chips.

After the Baiji Evolution of the Power Root, one gains enhanced impact force—in other words, enhanced knockback. This was an advantage no other type of Mage could match.

It was especially crucial for a heavy-weapon Mage like Xiyue Frost.

Luckily, Feng Hao was no pushover. Possessing the skills of a top-tier Assassin, he quickly devised a countermeasure. He charged forward again. This time, as he blocked her attack, he used the force of the blow to launch himself out of the Ice Domain’s range and instantly activated Shadow Fade.

"Bastard," Xiyue Frost cursed under her breath. She began swinging her Vibrating Sword wildly, smashing it into the ground all around her.

But it was too late. Feng Hao was already behind her again. Although her Ice Domain allowed her to sense his position, he had used a double Shadow Strike to close the distance in an instant, giving her no time to react.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

He seamlessly chained [Dark Moon Slaughter] and [Moon Wheel Dance], depleting all of Xiyue Frost’s Qi Blood in an instant.

The spar was over.

Xiyue Frost remained standing, but just barely. Her eyes were vacant and spiritless as the once-howling Ice Domain slowly dissipated around her.

"I lost... again?" Xiyue Frost murmured to herself.