The Strongest Talent Tree

"You’re the real brat! I’m going to whip that mouth of yours raw today!" Xi Yueyao sneered, swinging her long whip and clashing with Beixing Ran.

On the other side, her three underlings had already engaged Zhou Chen and his teammates. With Tu Xiaoshan holding the front, Zhang Meng and Li Mufeng unleashed their full might. In the blink of an eye, they knocked the other three team members to the ground, leaving only Zhou Chen struggling to hold on.

Xi Yueyao was now level thirty-five, and her hybrid damage—a mix of raw power and subtle energy—was beginning to take shape. Combined with the talent Feng Hao had grafted onto her, her overall strength was terrifying. Even Zhou Chen, with his own bloodline talent, was no match for her.

Beixing Ran, however, paled in comparison. Having just advanced to the third tier, she couldn’t withstand Xi Yueyao’s damage at all.

In less than two rounds, Beixing Ran’s Qi Blood had already dropped by over half. She was running on nothing but pure rage.

"Heh heh, you brat! You’ll never beat me!" Xi Yueyao’s eyes gleamed with pride and confidence. For the past half-year, she hadn’t slacked off in the slightest, practicing the techniques Feng Hao taught her every day. Her skills had improved dramatically.

"You think I’m the same Beixing Ran I used to be?"

In response to Xi Yueyao’s taunt, a proud look crossed Beixing Ran’s face. The next moment, a cyan halo materialized around her, instantly stirring up a violent gale.

The tide of battle turned in an instant. The howling gale uprooted trees and quickly swept toward Xi Yueyao and her three underlings.

"Holy crap, where did this wind come from?" Zhang Meng and the other two cried out in alarm. Before they could even react, the gale had swept them into the sky.

Xi Yueyao was startled as well. She instinctively recoiled and asked in shock, "You brat, have you awakened your bloodline?"

"I’ll give you that, you’re not completely blind," Beixing Ran sneered. Shrouded in the gale, she rapidly closed in on Xi Yueyao.

Xi Yueyao hastily scrambled backward, but unfortunately for her, Beixing Ran was much faster with the wind at her back.

As Beixing Ran closed in, Xi Yueyao shrieked, "You useless fatty, get over here and save your princess!"

"You’re on your own, Boss~!" came the desperate voices of Zhang Meng and the other two from afar.

Her three underlings had been swept into the sky by the gale and were being tossed about, completely disoriented.

Zhou Chen had also broken free. He raised his sword and charged toward Xi Yueyao. Recalling the past half-year of humiliation under her thumb, his eyes filled with a cold malice. He was going to let Xi Yueyao know what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a painful beating.

"Don’t bother struggling. You can’t escape!" Beixing Ran cackled, unleashing a barrage of wind blades to encircle Xi Yueyao.

At the same time, Zhou Chen arrived, riding the wind, and instantly cut off Xi Yueyao’s escape route.

"What are you doing here? This has nothing to do with you. Get out of my way," Xi Yueyao said, glaring at Zhou Chen, though her bravado was failing her.

"Nothing to do with me?" Zhou Chen sneered through clenched teeth. "You didn’t say that when you were beating the hell out of me, did you?"

With that, he flicked his wrist and unleashed a threefold blast of Sword Qi. It combined with Beixing Ran’s wind blades, completely boxing Xi Yueyao in.

’It’s over, it’s over. I’m going to get beaten up.’ Xi Yueyao squatted on the ground in despair, covering her little face and muttering to herself, "Don’t hit the face, don’t hit the face, don’t hit the face..."

However, after waiting for a long while, she felt nothing.

"Huh?" Xi Yueyao murmured in surprise. She instinctively parted her fingers, revealing two big, blinking eyes.

A familiar figure flickered into existence before her, effortlessly blocking the attacks from Zhou Chen and Beixing Ran. Simultaneously, the agile form of Chief Black Cat shot out, sending Zhou Chen flying with a loud THUD.

"Feng Hao?!" The sudden turn of events stunned Beixing Ran.

Feng Hao was in no mood for banter. He broke into the gale with a Shadow Strike, using the wind’s current to leap repeatedly until he was behind Beixing Ran. One effortless [Dark Moon Annihilation], and he knocked her unconscious to the ground.

The moment Beixing Ran collapsed, the raging gale came to an abrupt stop. In the distance, Zhang Meng and the other two, who had been flailing in the wind, fell to the ground one after another.

"Ow, my back," Zhang Meng howled in pain as he staggered to his feet.

Li Mufeng shot him an exasperated look and retorted, "Stop faking it. With all that blubber, that fall could kill anyone but you. Besides, do you even have a waist?"

"What the hell do you know? The heavier you are, the more it hurts when you fall, okay?" Zhang Meng retorted, wincing.

Tu Xiaoshan shook his head. "So, what just happened? How did we end up flying?"

"You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? I’m so spun around I can’t even tell which way is up," Zhang Meng said, rubbing the fat on his waist.

Cradling his Magic Energy Gun, Li Mufeng said thoughtfully, "Aren’t we forgetting something important?"

"Have we?" Zhang Meng frowned in thought.

Tu Xiaoshan, who was standing to the side, was the first to realize. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Oh crap, the Boss is gone!"

"Holy crap, how could we forget about our little empress!" Zhang Meng instantly forgot his pain.

"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and find her!" Li Mufeng yelled, hastily starting the search.

When they found Xi Yueyao, they saw that Zhou Chen and Beixing Ran were already lying on the ground, while a familiar and handsome figure stood beside her.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me? That person... looks like the Boss, right?" Zhang Meng asked, rubbing his beady eyes.

"What do you mean, ’looks like’? That *is* the Boss, alright?" Li Mufeng snapped.

Once they confirmed it was Feng Hao, the three underlings burst into tears and came scrambling and stumbling toward him.

"Boss! You’re finally back!" Zhang Meng, a mess of snot and tears, tried to throw himself into Feng Hao’s arms, only to be kicked away.

Feng Hao chuckled and nodded to the three of them, then lowered his voice. "Shhh—keep it down. The girl’s still in a daze!"

"Got it, got it." The three underlings took the hint, nodding and falling silent as they stood by to watch.

Xi Yueyao was still squatting on the ground, peeking at Feng Hao through the gaps between her fingers. She kept covering her big eyes, then parting her fingers to peek again, repeating the motion over and over. All the while, she muttered to herself, ’Mmm, that’s right! It has to be a hallucination. Zhou Chen and that Ran Girl are such bastards... they beat me so hard I’m seeing things.’

Amused and touched, Feng Hao squatted down in front of Xi Yueyao and simply watched her with a smile.

"Hmph, go away, go away! It’s not like I missed that stupid medicine seller or anything!" Xi Yueyao said, shaking her little head, though her words didn’t match her true feelings.

The three underlings watched with awkward expressions. "Should we give them some space?" one of them quietly suggested.

"Good idea." Li Mufeng and Tu Xiaoshan nodded in fervent agreement.

And so, the three underlings carefully tiptoed away into the distance.

Chief Black Cat shot the couple a disdainful glance, then retreated from the scene with elegant strides to go have fun with the three underlings.

For a moment, only the silently smiling Feng Hao and the daydreaming Xi Yueyao remained.

Seeing the little fool still daydreaming and spouting nonsense, Feng Hao couldn’t resist reaching out to pat her head. "Hey," he teased, "time to wake up."

"Huh?" Xi Yueyao’s eyes widened in surprise. She carefully poked the tip of Feng Hao’s nose with her finger and pouted. ’This hallucination is pretty realistic!’

"..." Feng Hao’s nose tickled where she had poked it. He gave her an exasperated look and simply swept her up in a princess carry. "Silly Girl, you’re enjoying this a little too much, aren’t you?"

Xi Yueyao gasped. Feeling the strong, steady beat of his heart, her eyes instantly filled with a joyous light.

"You’re real?" she asked, blinking her wide eyes.

"As opposed to a fake one?" Feng Hao asked, his lips curving into a smile.

"WAAAAH~!"

Once she confirmed it was really him, Xi Yueyao burst into tears, wailing as she pulled at his nose and ears and pinched his cheeks, leaving Feng Hao utterly exasperated.

’Other guys’ girlfriends cry and pound on their chests,’ he thought. ’But this one treats me like a chew toy, pulling me every which way.’