The Strongest Talent Tree

The young man surnamed Niu’s eyes bulged as he hastily raised his broadaxe, forming a Gang Qi shield before him.

However, in the face of Dark Force, Gang Qi was practically useless. Two black, crescent-shaped blasts of energy easily pierced the Gang Qi and struck the young man’s chest. Though they lacked impact force, the damage they inflicted was terrifying.

As a Defense Mage, the young man surnamed Niu boasted high health and defense, but now he was left with just over twenty thousand points of Qi Blood!

"Yingzai, you fucking tricked me! This kid isn’t level thirty-eight at all!"

Feeling the terrifying force of Feng Hao’s attack, the young man began to flee in a panic. There was nothing he could do. As a Mage specializing in Gang Qi, he stood no chance against a Dark Force Mage. Unless his tendon and bone foundation reached five hundred base points, allowing him to evolve the [Gang Qi Damage Immunity] ability, a Dark Force Mage could cut him down as easily as slicing a vegetable.

Meanwhile, the injured young man nicknamed Geoduck could only hang back at the edge of the fight. Hearing the other’s shouts, he hastily unleashed a flurry of sword shadows to cover the retreat.

"Trying to run?" A playful smile touched Feng Hao’s lips as he turned incorporeal, phasing right through the sword shadows.

As he watched the young man run into the crowd, Feng Hao’s sneer only grew colder. He sidestepped a few arrows and light projectiles, then threw a dark red ball of light with a flick of his wrist.

The young man instinctively tried to dodge, only to realize the dark red ball of light wasn’t aimed at him. Instead, it was hurtling toward the ground nearby.

"Haha, he missed!" the young man cheered, waving his hand and shouting, "Brothers, fire!"

However, the words had barely left his mouth when a scorching blast wave erupted within the crowd.

BANG!

Dark red sparks flew like splattering molten iron. The explosion created a scorched zone, and the surrounding ranged Mages’ Qi Blood began to plummet. The young man was in an even more pathetic state; his twenty-thousand-plus Qi Blood was burned away in an instant, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Haha, large-scale Magic really is something else!" Feng Hao laughed, his mind already racing as he planned his future.

After all, reality was different from the game. Back in the game *Mage*, your class determined what skills you could use, and that was it. But the Mage World was different. As long as you were willing to put in the effort, you could learn any skill.

Of course, for Feng Hao, other skills were merely supplementary. Perfecting the path of the Assassin was his ultimate goal.

Seeing the effect of Shadow Sparks, Feng Hao couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. ’What was that saying again? When an Assassin learns Magic, not even the gods can stop them! Looks like I’ll have to multiclass in the future.’

Meanwhile, with the fall of the young man surnamed Niu, the group instantly lost their backbone and scattered in a panic.

"Brother Niu is down! Everyone, fall back!"

With a final, miserable howl, the once-confident mob vanished without a trace.

The young man called Geoduck stood frozen, his expression stiff. "You just wait! This isn’t over!"

With that, he scrambled and stumbled his way out of the small courtyard...

Feng Hao and the other two had no intention of giving chase. They’d had their fun in the fight, and besides, they were all members of the Thief God Hall. Squabbling among themselves was fine, but wiping each other out was strictly off-limits.

"Brother Feng, you’re incredible! As expected of a man on brotherly terms with the Thief Master himself!" Lu Linfei said, his eyes filled with admiration.

Feng Hao rolled his eyes. "Less ass-kissing, more recruiting. Go find us some teammates."

"Er, no rush on the teammates. Three days is more than enough time." Lu Linfei gave an awkward smile, then his expression suddenly turned serious. "By the way, Brother Feng, do you have any more of that Divine Medicine you gave me yesterday? Xiaoxue wants some too."

Ting Xiaoxue looked at Feng Hao, her eyes full of hope. "That’s right, Brother Feng. You’re my older cousin’s friend, how could you forget about me?"

"Well..." Feng Hao’s brow furrowed in hesitation.

’Honestly, the reason I gave Lu Linfei the Experience Pill was partly because we get along, but the main reason was his membership in the Thief God Hall. After all, ever since I took the Thief Master as my own master, I’d decided to contribute my Experience Pills to the Hall.’

’But Ting Xiaoxue is another matter. As a child of a prominent family, her connections are complicated. Giving her an Experience Pill would surely cause a lot of trouble.’

Seeing Feng Hao’s troubled expression, Lu Linfei couldn’t hide his disappointment. He sighed sadly, "I knew it. A Divine Medicine like that... you can’t possibly have much of it."

Ting Xiaoxue also lowered her head, looking dejected.

"Er." Feng Hao shook his head, at a loss for words. "Honestly, I do have more Experience Pills. But Xiaoxue’s situation is unique. If she takes one, her family is bound to question her, and that’s what I’m worried about."

Ting Xiaoxue paused, then quickly understood his meaning. Her expression turned conflicted. "Brother Feng is right. If he gave me an Experience Pill, my family would definitely interrogate me."

"Then let’s forget it," Lu Linfei said, also realizing the gravity of the situation and choosing to drop the matter.

"Actually, it’s not out of the question," Feng Hao said after a moment of thought. "But there’s one condition: you have to join the Thief God Hall."

At these words, Lu Linfei’s eyes lit up, but Ting Xiaoxue’s expression grew troubled again. "I really want to join the Thief God Hall, but my family would never agree."

"What, you look down on our Thief God Hall?" Feng Hao asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ting Xiaoxue shook her head with a wry smile. "That’s not it at all. We in the Mu Country hold no prejudice against the Thief God Hall. The main issue is that many of my clan’s elders hold positions in the Holy Hall and the Student Federation, so most of the younger generation are sent to one of those two factions."

Feng Hao understood. He chuckled and said, "The Holy Hall is fine, too. But it would be even better if you could join the Thief God Hall."

"The Holy Hall is an option, too?" Ting Xiaoxue asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Of course," Feng Hao chuckled. "Actually, my girl’s situation is similar to yours. Her aunt is a Special Envoy for the Holy Hall, so she’ll probably have to join them in the future as well."

Ting Xiaoxue gasped. "A Special Envoy of the Holy Hall?! Do you mean *the* Special Envoy who just returned from the outer worlds?"

"Whoa, you certainly know a lot," Feng Hao said, surprised.

"Of course. My family has deep roots in the Holy Hall," Ting Xiaoxue said smugly. "I just never imagined that my future sister-in-law would be the Special Envoy’s niece! I heard the Envoy is an incredibly powerful career woman. Is that true?"

Feng Hao rubbed his nose and pursed his lips in confirmation. "More or less."

"Then after I graduate, I’ll apply to the family to join the Holy Hall," Ting Xiaoxue said, looking at Feng Hao with eyes full of expectation.

Feng Hao naturally understood what she was getting at. With a light laugh, he took out a bottle of Experience Pills and handed it to her. "If you can manage it, it would still be best to join the Thief God Hall. Otherwise, you’ll still have a hard time explaining this to your family."

Ting Xiaoxue shot a loving glance at Lu Linfei, then turned back to Feng Hao and nodded solemnly. "Don’t worry, Brother Feng. I’ll find a way to make it happen."

"Good." Feng Hao nodded with a faint smile, then added a reminder, "By the way, you don’t need a sudden surge of power right now, so don’t take them all at once. Take the five Experience Pills separately, raising your strength a little at a time to avoid attracting your family’s attention."

"Oh, right! Why didn’t I think of that?" Ting Xiaoxue’s eyes lit up. "Thank you, Brother Feng."

Feng Hao nodded with a chuckle and reminded her again, "And one more thing. Just take one before you return to Snow Cloud City. The first pill always has the most dramatic effect, so taking any more than that will be difficult to explain."

"Understood." Ting Xiaoxue gave a charming nod, her gaze toward Feng Hao now filled with gratitude and respect, completely devoid of her usual sharp-tongued demeanor.