The Strongest Talent Tree

Chapter 232: Chapter 229: Nightmare Simulator

Inside the Monster Simulator, Feng Hao was experiencing a scene he would never forget.

The moment he was thrown into the simulator, he sensed that something was wrong. As far as the eye could see, countless magical beasts roamed the simulated environment. They ranged from second and third-rank to fifth and sixth-rank, making the place look just like a Magical Beast Paradise.

"What is this, a magical beast free-for-all?" Feng Hao swore under his breath.

He’d used a simulator a few times before, but the one before him now was completely beyond his imagination.

The instant the cabin door closed, the gazes of countless magical beasts focused on Feng Hao. Immediately after, furious roars echoed through the simulated environment as over a thousand magical beasts charged him in a frenzy.

’Holy crap, what’s going on?’ Feng Hao didn’t have time to think. He hastily activated Shadow Escape. ’This isn’t a Monster Simulator at all!’

As it turned out, Shadow Escape wasn’t very effective against High-level Magical Beasts. After all, magical beasts were naturally far superior to humans in terms of perception.

The terrifying horde of beasts surged forward like a tsunami. The ground trembled violently, and their momentum was unstoppable.

’Damn it, is this a nightmare-difficulty dungeon?’

Feng Hao grumbled to himself, used the surrounding terrain to finally escape the horde’s pursuit, and then cleverly snuck into their midst.

’It’s impossible to face a horde this massive head-on. I can only strike from within and throw them into chaos.’

He activated Rapid Shadow Slash. The trajectory of his Shadow Strike stirred up a wave of energy, instantly tearing a gap in the horde.

Under the detection of his Crystal Eye, large swaths of damage numbers floated up from the nearby magical beasts. He couldn’t help it; with the Dark Force Fifth Layer talent, even a casual hit produced five lines of damage numbers, to say nothing of fighting in a crowd of monsters.

THUD THUD THUD...

Feng Hao’s focus was stretched to its limit, his mind racing. He used Shadow Strike and nimble footwork to frantically dodge the magical beasts’ bites.

’Huh? Doesn’t Rapid Shadow Slash have a 12-second cooldown? Why is it ready again in just two or three seconds?’

In the middle of the fight, he quickly noticed something strange.

’Could it be because of this simulator?’ Feng Hao frowned in thought, subconsciously moving to a safe spot. He used the Listening Stone to connect to Mei Meimei’s Spiritual Mark. "Fourth Sister, Fourth Sister, what’s up with this simulator?"

Mei Meimei’s voice quickly came through the Listening Stone. She was slightly out of breath, and her voice held a hint of a sob. "I forgot to tell you, I’ve modified most of the equipment here, and the Monster Simulator is no exception."

"..." Feng Hao was speechless, a bitter smile on his face. ’Of course it was Mei Meimei’s handiwork.’ "Can you tell me what modifications you made to the simulator?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just changed the monster generation method in the simulator and increased the virtual magical beasts’ aggression. Oh, right! To make it easier to train Secret Techniques, I also had an Array Master install a Demon Pattern Array. It can drastically shorten the cooldown time for Secret Techniques."

"So it was the Demon Pattern Array. I thought there was something wrong with my Secret Technique." Feng Hao came to a sudden realization, then said before hanging up, "Alright, I’m going back to the slaughter!"

"Go on, go on! Your big sister is suffering over here, too!" Mei Meimei wailed before cutting the Divine Sense connection.

Inside the Monster Simulator, Feng Hao weaved through the horde of magical beasts. With the Demon Pattern Array speeding up his Secret Technique cooldowns and enough Qi Recovery Pills to sustain him, he spammed his Secret Techniques as if they were free. Swathes of magical beasts fell at his feet, transforming into specks of light that were absorbed by the simulator.

However, the magical beasts before him were endless. The moment he killed one, a new one would spawn to take its place.

After more than two hours, Feng Hao was as tired as a dog.

’Damn it, I’m just trying to grind some skill proficiency. Does it have to be this brutal?’

Feng Hao complained endlessly in his heart. Fortunately, with the Demon Pattern Array accelerating his skill cooldowns, the proficiency for Rapid Shadow Slash and Shadow Sparks was rising quickly. Before he knew it, he had already gained over ten points.

At this rate, he estimated he could max out the proficiency in four or five days.

"Take this!"

He easily dodged the lunging bites of several Netherworld Wolves and, with a backhand motion, tossed Shadow Sparks at them. A cluster of dark red sparks exploded in the middle of the wolf pack. The combination of dark force damage and fire damage incinerated the Netherworld Wolves in an instant, leaving only ash behind.

As it turned out, after Mei Meimei’s modifications, these virtual beasts knew no fear or retreat. They had only one thought in their minds: attack, attack relentlessly, without any regard for their own lives.

Facing wave after wave of magical beasts, Feng Hao’s mind went blank. He was fighting purely on muscle memory.

After several consecutive days of slaughter, Feng Hao felt like he was sleepwalking, completely unaware of what he was doing.

On the third day, a strange fluctuation from his sea of consciousness jolted Feng Hao awake.

Feng Hao subconsciously submerged his consciousness into his sea of consciousness and was amazed to discover that [Darkmoon Slaughter] had broken through the 100-proficiency limit. The originally complex Secret Technique Mark had simplified to its absolute essence, with all the useless lines and patterns vanishing completely.

"What’s going on?" Feng Hao exclaimed, hurriedly opening his game panel to check.

[Darkmoon Slaughter]

Secret Skill Soul: Dark Moon

Realm: 125

Magic Power Cost: 41 points

Effect: Deals 225% dark force damage, and applies instant-death vitality damage.

Attack Range: 2 meters

Mastery: Secret Technique Destructiveness +25

"Proficiency turned into Realm? And what the hell is Mastery?" Feng Hao was dumbfounded.

’All this time, I thought Secret Techniques could only be leveled up to 100. Apparently, that’s not the case.’

’Whatever. I’ll max out Rapid Shadow Slash and Shadow Sparks first, then I’ll go ask the Master.’

With that in mind, Feng Hao stopped dwelling on it and charged back into the horde to continue the slaughter.

...

When Rapid Shadow Slash and Shadow Sparks both reached 100 proficiency, Feng Hao felt a huge sense of relief. He rushed toward the cabin door and shouted, "Open up, open up! I’ve maxed out the skills!"

At Feng Hao’s shouts, the cabin door finally opened, and the previously frenzied horde of beasts at last fell silent.

The moment the door opened, Feng Hao scrambled out as if fleeing for his life. He collapsed onto his back on the ground, gasping for air. "Damn, I’ve finally escaped that hell."

The Thief Master walked over to Feng Hao’s side, a look of shocked disbelief on his face and a sharp glint in his eyes. He had been monitoring Feng Hao’s progress for the past few days, and to be honest, Feng Hao’s combat ability had completely surpassed his expectations.

He knew exactly how terrifying the modified simulator was. At first, he had just wanted to scare Feng Hao a bit, then pull him out when he couldn’t take it anymore.

But he never expected that Feng Hao would actually endure it, and even manage to grind the proficiency of both Rapid Shadow Slash and Shadow Sparks to 100 points in one go!

One had to know that even Mei Meimei, the Fourth Disciple, could only last for four days.

"No wonder you were so confident about the competition. Based on your performance in the simulation, you’ve already crushed all the other participants," the Thief Master said, his eyes filled with amazement.

Feng Hao gave a dry laugh as he stood up. "Heh heh, I made you worry, Master."

The Thief Master said with satisfaction, "Alright, go take a shower first."

"Okay." Feng Hao was about to leave when he suddenly stopped. "Oh, right, Master, what’s the deal with a Secret Technique breaking past 100 proficiency?"

The Thief Master froze, a look of astonishment on his face. "What? You already have a Secret Technique that’s reached the Mastery level?"

"Uh, I think so." Feng Hao didn’t waste any words. He directly channeled his Magic Power to manifest the stats for [Darkmoon Slaughter].

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