The Strongest Talent Tree

Chapter 272: Chapter 269: A Great Increase in Strength

By the time he emerged from the Enhanced Cultivation Pod, it was just early evening.

The Thief Master watched Feng Hao quietly, raising an eyebrow with a smile. "I didn’t expect you to break through so fast. So, tell me, what talent did your fourth-rank branch awaken?"

"Uh, aren’t you able to see through genetic talents?" Feng Hao asked, stunned.

"Too much effort. I’m too lazy to look," the Thief Master said, pursing his lips. "It’s better if you just tell me."

Feng Hao clicked his tongue and answered honestly, "It’s the [Dark Force Weapon] talent. Each point of lethality adds 3 points of Dark Force."

"Not bad. A three-point bonus is decent," the Thief Master nodded thoughtfully. "You’re accustomed to using daggers, so grafting a [Light Weapon Specialization] branch would be an excellent choice."

"I was thinking the same thing," Feng Hao said with a smile, but then his brow furrowed. "The only problem is, I don’t know who has the [Light Weapon Specialization] talent."

The Thief Master stroked his chin, musing, "For [Light Weapon Specialization], Xiaolinzi and Cankun both have it. The problem is, they aren’t back yet. If you’re going to graft it from someone else, you’d better find someone you can trust."

"When will they be back?" Feng Hao asked, his brows knitted together.

"It’s hard to say. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe the day after."

"Alright then, I’ll ask around." Feng Hao sounded a little disappointed. In theory, grafting from Lin Luo or Wang Tongqian was the safest bet, but his match with Fang Jie was tomorrow. He clearly didn’t have time to wait for them to return.

Left with no other choice, he had to find another way. So, Feng Hao connected to Lu Linfei’s Spiritual Mark.

"Xiaoluzi, do you know anyone who has awakened the [Light Weapon Specialization] talent?"

Lu Linfei answered quickly, his tone surprised. "Brother Feng, why are you asking about that?"

"Don’t ask so many questions. Just know that this is very important to me," Feng Hao said impatiently.

"Really? In that case, you can stop looking. My third-rank talent is [Light Weapon Specialization]."

"Haha, that’s perfect! Stay put, I’m on my way." Feng Hao grinned in pleasant surprise. He never thought Lu Linfei himself would have the [Light Weapon Specialization] talent. He bid farewell to the Thief Master, hopped into his Mansa, and sped toward the contestants’ residential area.

Arriving back at the residential area, the familiar sights greeted him. The pavilion that had been destroyed in the explosion seemed to have been completely repaired.

After a quick look around, Feng Hao walked straight into Lu Linfei’s courtyard next door.

The young couple led a lively life. When Feng Hao entered, the two of them were playing chess. They immediately stopped their game when they saw him walk in. "Brother Feng, you’re here!"

"Quick, quick, I need to borrow a drop of your blood," Feng Hao said, unable to wait.

Lu Linfei gave him a strange look. "Uh, what do you need my blood for?"

"Yeah, Brother Feng, what do you want Lin Fei’s blood for?" Ting Xiaoxue chimed in, full of curiosity.

Of course, Feng Hao couldn’t tell them the truth, so he spun a tale. "I’ve been researching a new kind of medicine, and it requires blood from someone with the [Light Weapon Specialization] talent."

Hearing this, Lu Linfei and his wife didn’t doubt him for a second. Having taken his Experience Pills, they were well aware of Feng Hao’s skills in pharmacology. To them, his research was a very big deal.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lu Linfei grabbed a short knife, sliced open his finger, and looked up to ask, "How much do you need, Brother Feng?"

"Just one drop is enough."

"No, no, how could one drop possibly be enough?" Ting Xiaoxue said with a serious expression. "Medical research consumes a lot of materials. Lin Fei, squeeze out some more. You should at least fill this vial."

"Xiaoxue’s right," Lu Linfei nodded in sudden understanding and began frantically squeezing blood from his finger.

"..." Feng Hao was speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I really don’t need that much. One drop is enough."

But Lu Linfei declared righteously, "Don’t worry, Brother Feng. It’s just blood. I have as much as you need."

Feng Hao could only feel utterly helpless in response.

After getting Lu Linfei’s blood, Feng Hao quickly returned to his bedroom in the eastern courtyard of Thief Peak. He sat cross-legged on his bed and began to graft the talent.

He activated [Black Pupils]. Boiling Bloodline Power surged through his body as he skillfully drew Lu Linfei’s blood into his sea of consciousness, where it quickly transformed into an illusory Genetic Tree.

Thanks to his previous experience with grafting, the subsequent steps were simple. Before long, a brand new talent branch was grafted onto the [Dark Force Weapon] talent branch.

At the same time, a stream of new information about the talent flooded his mind:

[Light Weapon Specialization: When a weapon’s weight is less than your base Strength, its lethality is doubled.]

Opening his eyes, Feng Hao’s face was filled with joy. He was now absolutely confident he could go up against Fang Jie’s Divine Soul Weapon.

In his excitement, he subconsciously opened his game panel. The genetic data appeared before his eyes:

Genetic Level: 40

Qi Blood: 74,550 (3,450)

Life Force: 117 (32)

Magic Power: 2,104

Qi Accumulation: 2

Strength: 528 (248)

Dark Force: 2,210

Magic Damage: 280

Defense: 921 (69)

Gang Qi: 1,385

Speed: 1,227 (170)

Attack Speed: 402 (162)

Divine Sense: 730

Breath Concealment: 715

Divine Sense Strength: 65

Weak Point Enhancement: 113

After advancing to the fourth rank, all of his attributes had improved significantly, especially his six basic stats, which all received a considerable boost during the process.

’Tsk, tsk. The feeling of advancing ranks really is something else,’ Feng Hao thought, nodding in satisfaction. He then took out his Su Mu Dagger.

According to the requirements of the [Light Weapon Specialization] talent, the effect would only activate if a weapon’s weight was lower than his base Strength. Feng Hao’s current base Strength from his root system was 40, and the Su Mu Dagger weighed 30 points, so there was no issue.

Although the combined weight of two Su Mu Daggers was 60 points, [Light Weapon Specialization] calculated each weapon individually. Therefore, in a way, dual-wielding small weapons was the perfect fit for this talent.

As it turned out, the effect of having two weapon-related talents was quite striking.

After equipping both Su Mu Daggers, Feng Hao’s Dark Force stat shot up from 2,210 to 3,650—a total increase of 1,440 points.

Of course, this increase in Dark Force came with a penalty to his Speed and Attack Speed. His Attack Speed dropped by a full 60 points. As for his Speed, it only dropped by 30 points, thanks to the first-stage ability of his Agility root system.

Given Feng Hao’s current Speed and Attack Speed, this penalty was entirely acceptable.

’3,650 points of Dark Force, combined with my two Dark Force talents... a single basic attack will deal over thirty thousand total damage. After subtracting the damage reduction from five layers of defense and Dark Force protection, it’ll still be at least ten thousand damage. Even against a Defense Mage who has evolved Life Strength, I’ll still be able to break the ten-thousand-damage mark.’

At this moment, Feng Hao truly felt invincible, as if he could one-shot anything. And that was just his basic attack damage. If he used a Secret Technique, the damage would be multiplied even further.

This was especially true for Secret Techniques like [Moon Wheel Dance] and [Moon Stab], which had damage multipliers as high as 400% and 500%. With one of those moves, no one of the same rank could stop him. If he hit a weak point or a vital spot, he could even one-shot a Defense Mage!

’A Divine Soul Weapon, huh? You want to compare damage with your grandpa, the Assassin? We’ll see who one-shots who in the match tomorrow,’ Feng Hao thought with a confident smile. After his awakening and the talent graft, he was now 99% certain he could defeat Fang Jie.

「The next morning」

Thief God Peak was unusually lively. Even many of the top figures from the Grand Hall had come to watch. The reason was simple: today was the day of the ultimate showdown.

This duel would decide the champion of the qualifiers. On one side was Fang Jie, wielder of a Divine Soul Weapon. On the other was this tournament’s biggest dark horse, Feng Hao. So far, both of them had maintained a perfect winning streak.

Thus, today’s match would decide which of the two would claim the championship title for the point-based competition...

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