The Strongest Talent Tree

Feng Hao nodded reluctantly. He couldn’t be bothered to dwell on the matter anymore. After all, he had already won the pre-selection championship.

Besides, he never had any interest in being pre-selected anyway. The only reason he was upset was because Jing Lou had questioned his strength at the time.

Now that he had put him in his place and proven what needed to be proven, there was naturally no need to keep fussing over it.

Seeing that Feng Hao was no longer hung up on it, Jing Lou nodded in satisfaction and continued, "I came here this time mainly about Xiaolin and the others."

"What’s wrong with Big Brother and the others?" Feng Hao couldn’t help but grow tense.

The Thief Master chuckled and reassured him, "Don’t worry, Xiaolin and the others are fine. There was just a small problem with their mission. Jing Lou came to get the specific details from them."

"As long as they’re okay." Feng Hao breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Are Big Brother and the others coming back?"

"Yes, they should be back before dark," the Thief Master said with a nod.

Feng Hao couldn’t help but feel happy hearing that Lin Luo and the others were returning. Then he frowned and asked, "By the way, Teacher, what was their mission this time? What kind of problem did they run into?"

The Thief Master pondered for a moment. "The mission was to wipe out an outpost of the Celestial Eagle Team. Logically, with the three of them and their strength, they should have been able to complete it. But they ran into trouble."

"The Celestial Eagle Team?" Feng Hao was taken aback. He couldn’t help but recall his encounter with assassins from the Celestial Eagle Team back in Five States City.

If he remembered correctly, Lin Luo had mentioned back then that the Thief God Hall was planning to exterminate the Celestial Eagle Team. He just didn’t expect that after all this time, the Celestial Eagle Team was still around.

"That’s right." Jing Lou nodded and explained, "Based on the eradication operations conducted by the various branch halls recently, the Celestial Eagle Team is much stronger than we imagined. They might even be on par with a first-rate sect."

"That powerful?" Feng Hao said in surprise. ’They’re clearly a second-rate sect, yet they’re hiding the strength of a first-rate one. Whoa, there’s definitely something fishy going on here.’

"The Thief Master and I were thinking the same thing," Jing Lou said with a nod. "And it seems Xiaolin and his team found an important clue this time."

Feng Hao nodded thoughtfully, a bit of curiosity stirring in his heart.

He recalled that when the major sects had gathered in Rongcheng, the Celestial Eagle Team had been there. They had acted particularly arrogant, posturing as if they were on equal footing with the six major sects. Thinking back on it now, there was definitely something wrong with the Celestial Eagle Team. Otherwise, how could a mere second-rate sect act so arrogantly?

Not long after they finished talking, Lin Luo and the other two rushed back, looking travel-worn. Judging by their battered appearances, they must have gone through a major battle.

Meanwhile, when Mei Meimei saw Lin Luo’s group, she put down what she was doing and hurried over.

"Boss, I heard you failed the mission?" Mei Meimei said bluntly. "This is what you get for not taking me with you. See? Something went wrong, right?"

Lin Luo shot her an annoyed glare and retorted, "If we had brought you, you would’ve died an even more miserable death. Go stand on the side. This isn’t the time for jokes."

Wang Tongqian said irritably, "Fourth, don’t mess around. We ran into something big this time."

"Hmph!" Although Mei Meimei was blunt, she knew when to be serious. She huffed and stepped aside, not saying another word.

"Thief Master, Palace Master, huh? Fifth Brother, you’re here too?" Lin Luo and the other two said as they strode forward.

Feng Hao gave a slight nod in response. Beside him, the Thief Master and Jing Lou also grew serious. "Sit down. Tell us what happened in detail."

"Understood." Lin Luo and his team didn’t waste any words. They found a place to sit, tilted their heads back to down a glass of water, and began their serious explanation. "Originally, we were just going to destroy a Celestial Eagle Team outpost. It wasn’t until we got there that we realized something was wrong."

"From our observations, that place should be a secret base for the Celestial Eagle Team. It was guarded by numerous experts. There were five Seventh Rank Mages alone, and even one Eighth-rank Mage."

"Of course, that’s not the main point." Lin Luo took a breath and continued, "The main point is that after the three of us snuck in, we happened to see that group performing a special ritual. Later, after capturing and interrogating a prisoner, we learned that they were conducting a ritual called [Root-cutting]."

"Root-cutting? What does that mean?" the Thief Master asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Wang Tongqian picked up the explanation, describing it vividly. "This Root-cutting is no simple matter. According to the prisoner, Root-cutting is the process of severing so-called ’useless’ genetic roots to release the [Genetic Points] that would have originally grown on their own. They get eleven [Genetic Points] per rank. I have to say, the strength of these Mages who have undergone Root-cutting is truly terrifying."

Everyone couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

Mei Meimei’s eyes lit up. "Eleven [Genetic Points] per rank? Isn’t that amazing?"

"Amazing my ass! All you think about are shortcuts." The Thief Master shot her an annoyed glare and fell into deep thought. "This method may seem to enhance one’s strength, but it’s actually destroying the Genetic Tree. Besides, among the ten major human genes, how could there be any ’useless’ roots? Each root has its own irreplaceable effect. By severing a root, a fatal weakness is also exposed."

"Take the [Strength Root] for example. It might seem useless to a Mage specializing in magical damage, but if you lose your strength root, you wouldn’t even have the power to hold chopsticks. Do you still think it’s so amazing now?" the Thief Master asked with a scoff.

Mei Meimei smacked her lips, a wave of fear washing over her. "Not in a million years! I’d never undergo [Root-cutting]!"

"The Thief Master is right," Kang Shuai said, nodding in agreement. "When we first clashed, they really caught us off guard. However, we quickly discovered the fatal weakness of these Root-cutting Mages: attacking the very roots they severed."

"Take that Eighth-rank Mage, for example. After Root-cutting, his physical damage could rival that of a Ninth-rank Mage. But he had severed his meridian root, which made him unable to use any Secret Techniques. The three of us ran circles around him."

After hearing the three of them out, Feng Hao, the Thief Master, and the others fell silent.

Jing Lou pondered for a long time before saying with a grave expression, "If this extreme method of self-mutilation becomes widespread in the Ancient Cang Realm, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"This method is more than just self-mutilation." The Thief Master shook his head with a wry smile. "If I’m not mistaken, once a Mage undergoes Root-cutting, it becomes impossible for them to ever comprehend the Dao."

"My god... then this is tantamount to severing the future of the Human Race!" Jing Lou exclaimed in horror.

The Thief Master’s brow furrowed as he analyzed the situation. "Exactly. I’m afraid other non-human races are pulling the strings behind this. By all accounts, we must eradicate this threat as soon as possible."

"That may be so, but shouldn’t this kind of work—exterminating evil and defending righteousness—be left to the five major sects?" Jing Lou said with a frown.

The Thief Master retorted irritably, "This has already become a problem concerning the entire Human Race. All human sects have a responsibility to participate."

"Fine, then. I’ll go draft the documents to notify the five major sects right now." Jing Lou nodded and added teasingly, "For those guys in the five major sects, a good deed like this that adds to the merit of the Human Race is an opportunity they wouldn’t dare to miss."

With that, he hurried away...