The Strongest Talent Tree

Chapter 271: Chapter 268: Advancement to Tier 4

By the time he left the Thief Master’s Dao Foundation Heaven and Earth, it was already late at night.

He entered the Enhanced Cultivation Pod and began to cultivate. A familiar, aching throb immediately spread throughout his body. Over the past several days, Feng Hao had mostly grown accustomed to the pain; it was no longer as unbearable as before.

The Thief Master seemed to have gained quite a bit from the shadowy figure. He sat quietly in front of the pod, cross-legged with his eyes closed, meditating on some new insight.

Feng Hao didn’t disturb him. As he focused on his cultivation, the events that had just transpired replayed in his mind.

After leaving the Thief Master’s Dao Foundation Heaven and Earth, Feng Hao had discovered that his missing game panel had returned. It appeared the panel was likely the remnant soul of that ancestor in his sea of consciousness.

Combining this with what he’d learned from Solos about the current situation on Earth, he was able to piece some things together.

First, his transmigration was almost certainly connected to that ancestor. The game back then, called *Mage*, was probably also his doing.

’Thinking about it now, the ancestor must have sensed the invasion of the otherworldly demons. That’s why he integrated the knowledge of the Mage World into a holographic online game, to prepare his descendants on Earth ahead of time.’

’This would explain how I and the other players from Earth were able to keep our sub-professions.’

’A game is a virtual world, after all. Things like levels couldn’t possibly exist in reality, especially since Earth had no magical energy back then.’

’But sub-professions were different. As skill-based roles, they could be perfectly simulated within the game.’

’That’s also why my level reset to zero after I transmigrated, but my Ninth-Level Alchemy Techniques remained.’

’In short, it was precisely because of the ancestor’s foresight that Earth was able to stabilize itself so quickly after the apocalypse began. Otherwise, it would have likely been completely annihilated by the otherworldly demons.’

Although this cleared up some of his confusion, Feng Hao still had many unanswered questions.

For example, why was he sent to the Ancient Cang Realm? ’Could it be that the whole point of my transmigration was just to act as a messenger, to warn them about the otherworldly demon invasion?’

If that was really the case, then that would be pretty damn depressing.

After all, Feng Hao was a young man who had read countless power-fantasy novels; there was no way he could accept such a role.

When he had first transmigrated, Feng Hao had thought he was a typical protagonist blessed with all sorts of cheat abilities. But now, it seemed his game panel and Ninth-Level Alchemy Techniques weren’t cheats at all. The only thing that came close was the mutated ability of his [Black Pupils].

’Holy crap, don’t tell me I’m just a messenger boy?’ Feng Hao thought, utterly exasperated.

The thought left him at a loss for words. Shaking his head to clear away the distracting thoughts, he focused on absorbing the magical energy from the Magic Crystal.

For the next few days, Feng Hao spent all his time in the Enhanced Cultivation Pod.

As for the points tournament, not much had changed. Fang Jie was still undefeated. After losing to Feng Hao and Fang Jie, Ming Xin Yan hadn’t lost another match, essentially securing her third-place position.

Lu Linfei had his share of wins and losses, but the results didn’t matter much to him; after all, he had no intention of competing for the title of Thief’s Scion.

Yanziqing’s case was particularly noteworthy. Ever since his loss to Feng Hao, his Divine Sense had been severely damaged. He was in a coma for three days, and by the time he woke up, his points had plummeted, causing his ranking to drop precipitously.

As a result, every time Yanziqing saw Feng Hao these past few days, he would grit his teeth in hatred but didn’t dare to actually challenge him.

As the days passed, the points tournament, which had lasted over a month, gradually neared its end.

Feng Hao’s power grew daily, and he was now just one step away from level forty.

With seven days left in the tournament, Feng Hao was matched against Lu Linfei. The guy surrendered without a second thought. Of course, that wasn’t the important part. The important part was the schedule for the following day: [Feng Hao] vs. [Fang Jie].

The inevitable had arrived, but Feng Hao still hadn’t broken through to the Fourth-rank.

The situation suddenly grew tense. Even the Thief Master hadn’t expected this match to come so soon. When Feng Hao returned to the training ground, he was immediately shoved into the Enhanced Cultivation Pod. Whether or not he could advance to the Fourth-rank would all depend on today’s session.

"It’s the afternoon. If you make the most of your time, you still have a chance to break through," the Thief Master said from outside the pod, his expression grave.

"Don’t worry, Teacher. Even if I don’t reach the Fourth-rank, Fang Jie won’t have an easy time beating me," Feng Hao responded with confidence.

He had been paying close attention to Fang Jie’s matches, observing his style. As the saying goes, "Know thy enemy and know thyself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." Having familiarized himself with Fang Jie’s damage output, skills, and movement patterns, he was at least forty percent confident he could win.

If he could break through to the Fourth-rank, his chances would increase to sixty percent, regardless of what new talent he awakened. And if he awakened a decent Talent Branch, his odds of victory would be even higher.

Inside the Enhanced Cultivation Pod, an immense pressure enveloped him. Enduring this baptism of pain, Feng Hao frantically absorbed the energy from the Level 3 Magic Crystal.

His match with Fang Jie was tomorrow. He had to seize every possible moment if he wanted a chance to break through to the Fourth-rank.

But sometimes, a breakthrough happens when you least expect it.

Just then, as both Feng Hao and the Thief Master were worrying over his chances, an intense wave of energy erupted from Feng Hao’s body. That’s right—after only two or three hours of cultivation, Feng Hao had actually broken through.

Neither the Thief Master nor Feng Hao himself had expected this.

"This..." The Thief Master was stunned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Xiaofeng’s breakthrough really is well-timed."

Seeing that Feng Hao had broken through, the Thief Master breathed a sigh of relief. With a wave of his hand, he shut down the cultivation pod. Now that the breakthrough was complete, there was no need to continue using it; in fact, doing so could interfere with the awakening of his new Talent Branch.

As the pod’s effects shut down, the pain vanished from Feng Hao’s body. Aided by the Life Spirit Pill and the Level 3 Magic Crystal, his Genetic Tree began to change and grow at a visible rate.

His body slowly transformed, cleansed by the energy of his advancement. A layer of dark impurities congealed on his skin.

Soon, a brand-new branch appeared on his Genetic Tree. It sprouted and rapidly took form, marking his official entry into the realm of a Fourth-rank Mage!

At the same time, a genetic message flooded Feng Hao’s mind, and the effect of his fourth-rank talent became clear:

[+3 Hidden Power for every 1 point of weapon damage]

’A Hidden Power weapon talent?’ Feng Hao opened his eyes, delighted. While it was a common type of talent, it was a perfect fit for him.

With this talent, weapon damage was no longer a useless stat. Take the Su Mu Dagger, for instance. It had 120 damage. Dual-wielding two of them would mean 240 total damage. In other words, equipping the Su Mu Daggers would grant him an additional 720 Hidden Power.

And that 720 Hidden Power was not to be underestimated. When combined with his dual Hidden Power talent and the Su Mu Dagger’s own Hidden Power amplification, the increase to his damage output would be substantial.

’If I remember correctly, Yaoyao’s second-rank talent, [Light Weapon Specialization], should be a compatible talent type. If I graft it, the effect will double. Plus, I can graft it onto Yaoyao as well,’ Feng Hao thought, ecstatic.

Of course, [Light Weapon Specialization] wasn’t a rare talent, so there was no need to wait to graft it.

Mages who used light weapons were a dime a dozen in the Thief God Hall. It would be easy to find one with [Light Weapon Specialization]. The real challenge was getting a sample of their blood.

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