The Strongest Talent Tree

The victor was decided. The duel ended with Feng Hao clutching a narrow victory with low health.

But Ming Xin Yan knew that it wasn’t a narrow victory at all. Feng Hao had been going easy on her from the very beginning, and he’d done it so skillfully that no one could tell.

In the noisy crowd below the stage, Lu Linfei went to congratulate Feng Hao, while Ting Xiaoxue went to console Ming Xin Yan.

From the moment she stepped off the stage, Ming Xin Yan wore a furious, teeth-gritting expression. As she took a Qi Blood Pill to recover, she raged at Feng Hao, "You just wait! When I can finally beat you, I’ll challenge you to a spar every single day, and I’ll go easy on you every single time!"

"..." Lines of frustration appeared on Feng Hao’s forehead. "We’re all on the same team. What’s the big deal about going easy on you?"

"Who’s on the same team as you?" Ming Xin Yan snapped, exasperated. "I don’t need anyone to go easy on me!"

"Fine, fine, fine. I won’t go easy on you anymore, okay?" Feng Hao was speechless, palming his forehead.

Ming Xin Yan gritted her teeth and huffed coldly. "Hmph, next time, it’ll be my turn to go easy on you! I’ll let you have a taste of what it’s like to be looked down on."

"I’d love it if people went easy on me," Feng Hao retorted.

"That’s because you’re shameless!" Ming Xin Yan said resentfully.

Seeing the two of them bickering endlessly, Lu Linfei and his girlfriend were exasperated beyond words. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he said, "Brother Feng, Sister Ming, could you watch your image a little? So many people are watching."

Feng Hao and Ming Xin Yan froze. Only then did they realize many people were watching them, so they quickly shut up and stopped arguing.

"Hmph!" Ming Xin Yan shot Feng Hao a glare, her cheeks slightly flushed as she turned her head away.

Feng Hao couldn’t be bothered with her either and turned his attention back to the stage. After another round of competition, the day’s main event had finally arrived: the duel between Fang Jie and Yanziqing.

However, the duel between the two went completely against everyone’s expectations.

The duel, which was supposed to be a clash of titans, ended the very instant it began. Yanziqing didn’t even have time to use his Secret Technique before Fang Jie closed the distance and killed him instantly. The terrifying speed stunned everyone.

"Such incredible speed! He’s even faster than me!" Lu Linfei exclaimed, his eyes wide with amazement.

Feng Hao clicked his tongue and gave Ming Xin Yan a speechless look. "Hey, Sis, didn’t you say these two would be an even match?"

Ming Xin Yan’s expression was just as grave. She shot him an annoyed glare and huffed, "What I said was assuming Fang Jie didn’t have any other trump cards. It’s obvious now that he does."

"Do you know what kind of trump card?" Feng Hao asked, his brows furrowed. Beside them, Lu Linfei and his girlfriend also leaned in curiously.

Ming Xin Yan glanced at the three of them, her eyes thoughtful. "If I’m not mistaken, it must be some kind of high-level Body Technique, a speed-burst type."

"No wonder," Feng Hao and the others said, nodding in sudden understanding.

A so-called speed-burst Body Technique was a support-type Secret Technique that could instantly multiply one’s speed several times over. In contrast, a technique like Lu Linfei’s, which provided a stable speed increase, was considered a normal Body Technique.

In a way, [Shadow Pounce] could also be considered a speed-burst Body Technique. It wasn’t teleportation, but rather an instantaneous burst of ten times one’s normal speed over a short distance. After imprinting the "Swift" Demon Pattern, this speed burst could be amplified to twelve times.

Generally speaking, a Mage who had awakened [Shadow Pounce] wouldn’t need a speed-burst Body Technique. However, Body Techniques had their own unique advantages, which were even more pronounced in high-level ones.

Although a burst-type Body Technique couldn’t match the speed multiplier of the [Shadow Pounce] Secret Technique, it completely blew it out of the water in terms of practicality.

This was because a Body Technique had no distance limit. As long as one had enough Magic Power, they could move as far as they wanted. This was a point where [Shadow Pounce] couldn’t compare, unless one awakened a subsequent enhancement talent for it.

’Looks like I need to advance to the fourth-rank as soon as possible, or I’ll have no chance of winning,’ Feng Hao thought to himself.

After this battle, Fang Jie’s popularity skyrocketed. In everyone’s eyes, he was already the champion. It couldn’t be helped; with a Divine Soul Weapon and a speed-burst Body Technique, not even a Fifth-rank Mage could necessarily stop him.

For the other contestants, this was undoubtedly terrible news, and they could only helplessly accept this reality.

As a result, in the days that followed, every contestant matched against Fang Jie would forfeit, without the slightest thought of even trying to compete.

The competition continued. Lu Linfei and Ming Xin Yan both completed their next two matches, while Feng Hao, in his third match, ran into Wu Fei, the Sword Magic Master who worked for Huang Danian.

It had to be said, this man’s high-level Sword Array was rather annoying. Especially on the stage, the moment the Sword Array appeared, it covered the entire arena.

Fortunately, Feng Hao was no pushover. He powered through the Sword Array’s grinding attacks and easily finished him in an instant!

After the match, the schedule for the following day was released. The opponents for Feng Hao and his two friends were all unremarkable, so they chatted and laughed as they left Thief God Peak.

Perhaps because the matches had progressed quickly that day, it was still early when Feng Hao returned to Thief Peak.

He made his way to the training grounds and saw Mei Meimei in the distance, waiting eagerly for him.

Seeing Feng Hao return, Mei Meimei sprinted over, the Mount Everest on her chest trembling wildly and creating a dazzling, dizzying sight.

"Xiaowu, my dear, your big sister missed you to death!" Mei Meimei rushed forward and gave him a bear hug, her Mount Everest pressing into him from all directions, leaving Feng Hao dizzy and short of breath.

Feng Hao swallowed hard, an awkward expression on his face. "Um... Fourth Sister, we only saw each other half a day ago, right?"

"Who cares about that? Anyway, I missed you, so much that I even put my research on the [Pulse Wrist Guard] on hold." Mei Meimei’s pretty eyes shimmered. "Be a good boy, Xiaowu, and quickly refine a few of those miraculous pills for your big sister."

Feng Hao was so startled he broke out in goosebumps. His expression stiff, he said, "Uh, don’t be in such a rush. Let’s take it slow."

"Okay, okay." Mei Meimei beamed, unable to contain her excitement as she pulled out a huge pile of alchemy materials. "Is this enough? If not, I’ll go to the main peak and exchange for more. Don’t worry, your sis has plenty of points."

Looking at the mountain of alchemy materials piled before him, Feng Hao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "It’s more than enough! Actually, all I need are the Magic Crystals and Crystal Cores. I have the rest on me."

"It’s that cheap?" Mei Meimei asked, stunned.

"It was never expensive, you were just overthinking it." Feng Hao grinned and began setting up his Alchemy Equipment. He picked a Level 5 Crystal Core and a Level 6 Crystal Core from the pile of materials, then asked Mei Meimei for a Level 5 Magic Crystal and a Level 6 Magic Crystal.

With all the materials gathered, he began refining with gusto.

Mei Meimei was currently level fifty-eight, so Feng Hao decided he might as well refine a sixth-tier Experience Pill for her too. Oh, wait, it should be called a Life Creation Pill now.

As he was refining the pills, Mei Meimei stood to the side, watching eagerly like a curious child. She had completely lost her usual carefree demeanor, which Feng Hao found a little unsettling.

Before long, a batch of eleven Tier Five Life Creation Pills appeared before Mei Meimei.

Mei Meimei took the pills, unable to wait. Blinking her eyes, she asked, "How do I take these? Just swallow them?"

"Mhm," Feng Hao nodded instinctively. However, what happened next left him completely dumbfounded.

He watched as Mei Meimei swallowed all eleven Life Creation Pills in one go. Then, smacking her lips, she said with a strange look, "I don’t feel anything?"

"For crying out loud, you can only take five pills of each tier at most! Why did you eat all of them?!" Feng Hao’s mouth twitched.

Mei Meimei was shocked. She clutched her throat and shrieked, "Aiyah, does that mean I’m going to die? Waaah, you wretched Xiaowu, why didn’t you say so sooner?! Your sister doesn’t want to die~!"