The Strongest Talent Tree

Once a free-for-all begins, it’s difficult for things to quiet down. After all, with a limited number of spots, every opponent eliminated was one less to deal with.

Inside the Thief God Realm, Feng Hao gazed at the surrounding scenery, thoroughly impressed.

The scene before him was like a miniature version of the Overlapping Shadow Mountain Range. Peaks crisscrossed and verdant canopies stretched across the landscape, with all sorts of wild animals and Magical Beasts moving through the forests, giving it a vibrant, lively feel.

’What an amazing place. It’s just like the outside world,’ Feng Hao marveled internally.

If there was one difference between the Saint Realm and the outside world, it would probably be the hazy, gray sky overhead.

He drew his Su Mu Dagger and spread his Divine Sense, then began to explore the area, wary of any enemies who might appear at a moment’s notice.

Feng Hao’s luck was decent. He found himself in a mountain hollow and, for the moment, detected no sign of anyone else.

He hadn’t been exploring for long when he received a Divine Sense message from Ming Xin Yan. "Where are you? We should regroup as soon as possible if we can."

"I seem to be in a small mountain hollow, but I don’t know my exact position," Feng Hao replied.

"You didn’t bring a map?" Ming Xin Yan asked, stunned.

"A map?" Feng Hao was completely in the dark. "There’s a map for the Saint Realm?"

Ming Xin Yan was speechless. "They sell them at the Black Market at the foot of the mountain for one Level 3 Magic Crystal each," she said, exasperated. "It’s a tradition for all contestants. I assumed you’d already bought one."

"..." A dark mood fell over Feng Hao. "No one ever told me!"

"Forget it. Just stay put, and I’ll come find you," Ming Xin Yan said, sounding rather helpless.

After cutting off the Stone Listening Communication, Feng Hao was completely bewildered. He hadn’t once gone down the mountain since arriving at the Grand Hall. How the hell was he supposed to know he needed to buy a map for the first round?

He found a large tree to hide in, then contacted Lu Linfei through his Divine Sense. "Hey, Xiaoluzi, how come you never told me we needed a map for the competition?"

"Brother Feng, you didn’t get a map?" Lu Linfei asked, surprised.

"Prepare my ass! I’ve never even heard of the damn thing."

"Uh, I thought the Thief Master had already prepared one for you," Lu Linfei replied awkwardly.

Feng Hao was speechless. He helplessly cut the Divine Sense connection, touched the [Pulse Wrist Guard] on his wrist, and gave a bitter, internal laugh. ’Oh, my dear brothers and sisters, are you trying to make things harder for me?’

On the viewing platform at Thief God Peak, seeing that Feng Hao still hadn’t made a move, the Thief Master, Lin Luo, and the other two clearly realized something was amiss.

Kang Shuai glanced at Mei Meimei in confusion, raising an eyebrow. "Sanmei, didn’t you get a map for Fifth Brother?"

"Oops, I forgot!" Mei Meimei gasped, covering her mouth.

"..." Everyone rolled their eyes at once, looking like they wanted to throttle her right then and there.

The Thief Master glared at Mei Meimei, his face livid. "I’ll deal with you when we get back!"

"Didn’t you forget, too?" Mei Meimei muttered resentfully.

Hearing this, the old Thief Master’s face flushed red, and he retorted defensively, "I’m swamped with countless important matters every day. How would I have time to worry about something so trivial?"

"Hmph!" Mei Meimei scoffed and turned her head away.

Meanwhile, inside the Thief God Realm, a massive melee had already erupted, and contestants were being eliminated one after another.

Huddled on a tree branch, Feng Hao suddenly realized he’d been thinking about this all wrong. ’Even though I don’t have a map, the others definitely do. So... can’t I just find someone and take theirs?’

’Damn it, I let Ming Xin Yan make a fool out of me,’ Feng Hao cursed internally before leaping lightly from the branch.

He activated his Crystal Eye’s detection function and began searching for a target. Unfortunately, instead of finding a person, his path was blocked by a Tier Four Mantis.

Having read so many encyclopedias on Magical Beasts, Feng Hao was familiar with most of them. This mantis, for instance, was a Brain-Eating Mantis. It was entirely emerald green, adept at hiding and camouflage, and earned its name from its penchant for devouring the brains of living creatures.

The Brain-Eating Mantis showed no fear in the face of the level-thirty-eight Feng Hao. It scraped its scythe-like forelimbs together as if cleaning its utensils, with Feng Hao as the delicious meal right in front of it.

"What are you looking at? Think you’re so tough with those two scythes? Well, I’ve got two daggers!"

Feng Hao was already seething with pent-up frustration, so he didn’t wait for the Brain-Eating Mantis to attack and charged forward first.

After all his experience with nightmare-level monster simulations, Magical Beasts seemed like they were made of paper to him. He’d killed countless Tier Five Magical Beasts; a single Tier Four Mantis should have been a piece of cake.

However, it turned out there was a considerable gap between simulator monsters and real Magical Beasts. Their combat strength wasn’t on the same level at all.

The instant Feng Hao attacked, the Brain-Eating Mantis reacted. It used its powerful jumping ability to leap into the air, dodging the strike. Then, flapping its wings, it wheeled around and thrust its twin scythes toward Feng Hao’s back.

"Damn it, you think you’re so special ’cause you can fly?"

But Feng Hao was no pushover. He instantly dodged with a shadow-like flicker and swung his daggers in a [Moon Wheel Dance]. SLASH! SLASH! The two blows took out a quarter of the Brain-Eating Mantis’s Qi Blood.

The Brain-Eating Mantis shrieked, its scythe-like forelimbs slamming down in a frenzy and gouging deep pits into the ground.

Unfortunately for the mantis, Feng Hao’s footwork was impossibly slick, and with the [Shadow Strike] Secret Technique, he gave it no chance to land a hit. He exploited the openings after each of the Brain-Eating Mantis’s attacks, relentlessly hacking at its soft underbelly with [Dark Moon Massacre].

After a few more strikes, the Brain-Eating Mantis was nearly dead. Several wounds gaped open on its belly, spewing green slime.

BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!

Sensing things were not going its way, the Brain-Eating Mantis buzzed its wings to flee, ascending more than ten meters in the blink of an eye.

"Hah, trying to run, are we?" Feng Hao sneered, aiming his [Pulse Wrist Guard] and letting loose a volley of shots.

The Brain-Eating Mantis was already low on health. After two pulse shots connected, its Qi Blood was completely depleted. Weakened, it could no longer fly and plummeted to the ground with a THUD.

Feng Hao leaped forward and plunged his dagger into the mantis’s head, finishing it off.

"A little bug dares to pick on me?" Feng Hao grinned smugly. With a few quick slashes, he hacked off the Brain-Eating Mantis’s scythe-limbs. They were excellent materials for Artifact Refining and would fetch a good price.

Just then, a sharp pain flared in his back. His Qi Blood instantly dropped by over ten thousand. A cold sneer emerged from the shadows.

Feng Hao had no time for the pain. He subconsciously activated his shadow-step to flash aside and saw a man in black staring at him in surprise.

"Huh? You didn’t die in one hit? Are you a Defense Magic Master?"

"Die my ass!" Feng Hao’s temper flared, and he instantly counterattacked.

The man in black gave a mocking smile, clearly underestimating Feng Hao. He sneered and swung his dagger to meet the attack head-on.

As it turned out, underestimating an opponent was a mistake. The moment they clashed, Feng Hao sidestepped the man’s attack and landed a backhanded [Dark Moon Massacre].

The instant he felt the hidden-force damage, the man in black paled. "Hidden-force damage? Aren’t you a Defense Mage?"

"Did I ever say I was a Defense Mage?"

Feng Hao gave a chilling smile. He closed the distance with [Rapid Shadow Slash] and followed up with a sweeping [Moon Wheel Dance], instantly leaving the man on the verge of death.

The man in black never dreamed he’d be eliminated by a level-thirty-eight opponent. In his panic, he tried to use stealth to escape, but Feng Hao saw right through it. A [Moon Thorn] shot out, and the terrifying damage eliminated him from the competition instantly.