The Strongest Talent Tree

Of course, Mei Meimei herself didn’t see it that way. She swaggered up to Feng Hao, patted his shoulder, and said, "Don’t you worry, Xiaowu. Big Sis will protect you."

"I hope so," Feng Hao mumbled with a nod, inwardly scared to death.

Lin Luo seemed to notice Feng Hao’s apprehension and stepped forward to reassure him. "Don’t worry. Mei Meimei might be unreliable, but her combat strength is quite high. Protecting you will be no problem."

Feng Hao gave a wry smile and nodded. He wasn’t worried about Mei Meimei’s strength; the issue was her deadly driving.

"Alright, you two should hurry up and get going," the Thief Master instructed. "Sanmei, you all go and prepare as well. You’ll set out first thing tomorrow morning."

"Understood." Lin Luo and the other two didn’t waste any words. After a brief farewell to Feng Hao, they departed.

Meanwhile, Mei Meimei was already beside herself with excitement. Upon hearing the Thief Master’s command, she sprinted back to her courtyard in a frantic hurry to begin her preparations. In an instant, only Feng Hao and the Thief Master remained on the training grounds.

After seeing the four of them off, the Thief Master’s expression softened considerably. "Xiaofeng, come with me for a bit."

"Where are we going? The underground base?" Feng Hao asked in surprise, following after him.

"No," the Thief Master said as they walked. "You’re leaving tomorrow, and as your master, I haven’t given you a proper gift yet. I happen to have some time now, so I’ll take you to the Grand Hall’s Treasure Pavilion."

"Uh, didn’t I already get the Ghost Silkworm Silk set?" Feng Hao asked, stunned.

The Thief Master chuckled. "That hardly counts as a gift. I’ll pick out a couple of real treasures for you at the Treasure Pavilion."

"This... there’s no need to go to such an expense, is there?"

"Heh, why be so polite with your master?" The Thief Master gave a gentle smile. Before they knew it, they had already walked out of the training grounds. "Let’s go."

With that, amid Feng Hao’s cry of alarm, the Thief Master pulled him into the air. They soared through the ethereal mists of Overlapping Shadow Mountain, their speed surpassing most flying vehicles. A faint layer of Gang Qi shielded them, completely negating the feeling of rushing wind.

Before long, the two landed in front of the Main Peak Hall. The massive, ancient-style hall was magnificent and imposing. Countless thieves from the various branch halls bustled to and fro within the main lobby.

’Whoa... is this the aerial flight you get after level one hundred?’

Feng Hao was still reeling from the shock of the flight, subconsciously following the Thief Master forward.

After walking for some time, a Linglong Tower hidden within the palace appeared before them. Its construction was both exquisite and grand, shimmering with a radiant glow.

Stepping into the Treasure Pavilion, a powerful aura of treasures washed over them. All sorts of treasures were on display, enough to dazzle the eye.

As far as the eye could see, countless figures wandered about, browsing and selecting their desired items.

"The Grand Hall’s Treasure Pavilion is different from those of the branch halls. Many items here require a certain clearance level to be exchanged for," the Thief Master explained as they walked. "With your current Advanced Thief clearance, you can’t really get anything good. Once you become a [Thief Scion], there won’t be any clearance restrictions. This is one of the reasons so many lesser thieves compete for that title."

"Uh, are the items in the branch hall Treasure Pavilions all distributed from here?" Feng Hao asked, his eyes wide with wonder.

"That’s right." The Thief Master nodded with a light laugh. "However, our Thief God Hall’s branch halls have a great deal of autonomy, so many of them have their own channels for collecting treasures. Some might even have items that the Grand Hall’s Treasure Pavilion doesn’t."

Feng Hao nodded in realization. If he remembered correctly, the Treasure Pavilion in the Five States City branch hall had many unique treasures.

As they spoke, the Thief Master stopped in front of a crystal counter. With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the restrictive ward around it and took out a delicate little box. "This is a high-spec Crystal Eye personally crafted by Elder Jiang. It’s exactly what you need right now."

"A high-spec Crystal Eye?" Feng Hao took the box, pleasantly surprised. He gently probed it with his Divine Sense and quickly received the descriptive information imprinted within.

[Analysis-type Compressed Crystal Eye] (High-Spec)

Exchange Price: 210,000 Points

Exchange Requirement: Ninth-level Thief

Configuration Info: Base Configuration: Advanced Crystal Eye; Up to 100x Analytical Vision Assistance; Ninth-level Compressed Crystal Hardness; Top-tier Dynamic Vision Assistance (Adapts to speeds of up to 1800 points); Divine Sense Condensation (Amplifies Divine Sense probing effect and range); Latest Material Database; Latest Demon Beast Database; Latest Spirit Beast Database; Advanced Data Analysis Core.

’This is amazing!’ Feng Hao was ecstatic as he absorbed the information. ’High-spec really is high-spec. Compared to this thing, my current Crystal Eye is like a child’s toy. They’re not even in the same league!’

"If you like it, take it. I’ll cover the points for you," the Thief Master said with a light laugh.

"Thank you, Master!" Feng Hao didn’t stand on ceremony and expertly swapped it in.

The moment he put on the high-spec Crystal Eye, his entire world seemed to change. It was like going from a low-res, pixelated video to ultra-HD Blu-ray.

Seeing Feng Hao’s excitement, the Thief Master chuckled and shook his head, then led him to the [Magic Soul] exchange area.

"This is the [Magic Soul] exchange area. Pick one you like," the Thief Master teased with a light laugh. "But I don’t have enough points for any more than that."

"A Magic Soul?" Feng Hao was taken aback, then immediately began to browse with intense focus.

As his collection of Secret Techniques grew, what Feng Hao needed most were Magic Souls. The three [Dark Moon Souls] he had obtained back in Rongcheng had already been refined and used up.

Browsing through the selection was a real eye-opener for Feng Hao; the sheer variety of Magic Souls was dizzying.

"My [Rapid Shadow Slash] and [Shadow Sparks] haven’t been refined with a Magic Soul yet. Master, what do you think would be a good choice?" Feng Hao asked, unable to decide.

The Thief Master furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "In my opinion, [Rapid Shadow Slash] and [Shadow Sparks] don’t really need a Magic Soul. Rather than waste one on those two, it would be better to use a Magic Soul as the core to build an entirely new Secret Technique."

"That’s true," Feng Hao said, nodding in realization.

Just as the Thief Master said, there really was no need to refine a Magic Soul for [Rapid Shadow Slash] or [Shadow Sparks]. This was especially true for [Rapid Shadow Slash]; as a gap-closing skill, its damage wasn’t high, making it a waste of a Magic Soul.

As for [Shadow Sparks], it was clearly better suited for a Fire Attribute Magic Soul, but there were no suitable ones currently available.

With that in mind, Feng Hao stopped hesitating. After a few more serious rounds of browsing, his gaze locked onto a [Chain Soul]. Unlike the Dark Moon Soul, the Chain Soul was shaped like a dark green chain, writhing inside its crystal bottle like a cheerful little snake.

He probed it with his Divine Sense, and the Magic Soul’s information quickly flooded into his mind:

[Deceitful Poison Chain Soul] (Secret Skill Soul)

Magic Power Cost: 30 points

Magic Soul Ability: A bizarre poison soul nurtured in a place of shadow and gloom, possessing extremely potent toxicity and binding power.

Amplification Effects: Toxicity 180; Extension (Increases Magic Power cost by 1 point for each additional meter of length).

Trait: Poison Devour (Can absorb toxins and imbue them as an additional effect).

"Perfect, this is the one!" Feng Hao decided almost without a moment’s hesitation.