The Strongest Talent Tree

Feng Hao watched from the side, dumbfounded. It was his first time witnessing the terrifying power of a Gun Magic Master. No, that wasn’t right. The Mei Meimei before him used not only guns but all sorts of Magic Energy Weapons. She ought to be called a Gun and Cannon Mage.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The barrage continued unabated. Four-Color Elemental Shells clogged the narrow entrance to the tunnel, their destructive power compounding with each explosion, inflicting terrifying damage.

Below the entrance, the cultists suffered heavy casualties, completely unable to break through.

Right now, Feng Hao truly felt like they were shooting fish in a barrel.

After the successive barrages, the cultists had clearly learned their lesson. They stopped charging and began clamoring amongst themselves, trying to figure out a new plan.

"Heh. You think I can’t do anything just because you’re hiding in there?" Mei Meimei sneered. With a wave of her hand, she recalled the four mortars into her ring and then brought out a large-caliber Magic Energy Cannon.

"What’s this now?" Feng Hao asked, swallowing hard.

Mei Meimei’s eyes were full of pride. "A compression-type Flamethrower. It’s also equipped with a fire-attribute intensity amplifier. The temperature will absolutely bring tears to your eyes."

"Fourth Sister, are you going to roast them to death?" Feng Hao asked, stunned.

"What do you think?" Mei Meimei gave a playful smile, then popped a few Qi Recovery Pills into her mouth. With a slight stir of her Divine Sense, the Flamethrower instantly activated.

The next moment, a spiraling torrent of monstrous flames surged out, engulfing the entire entrance to the Earth Palace. The terrifying temperature made it unbearably hot even from where Feng Hao stood.

Mei Meimei, however, seemed accustomed to this temperature. The longer she fired, the more energized and excited she became.

"Mwahahaha... Listen up in there! This young lady is the Fourth Scion of the Thief God Hall! If you know what’s good for you, get on your knees and surrender now! Otherwise, I’ll roast every last one of you into suckling pigs!" Mei Meimei cackled wildly.

Feng Hao was left speechless. He couldn’t help but feel a little pity for the cultists down below.

The cultists apparently heard Mei Meimei, and someone soon responded, "The True God Sect has no grievance or enmity with your esteemed hall. Why are you destroying our temple?"

"You’ve been harming the nearby commoners, and you’re involved with the Root Cutting Evil Path. You tell me why," Mei Meimei retorted with a sneer.

Hearing this, the tunnel fell silent. Only after a good while did a voice call out again, "Harming commoners? We are helping them evolve! Helping them ascend!"

"Ascend my ass! How are you supposed to ascend when your roots have been cut?" Mei Meimei sneered. "Let me be straight with you. The six great sects have already joined forces. The Celestial Eagle Team has become a public enemy and will be wiped out soon. I suggest you surrender peacefully!"

"Isn’t it the five great sects? Where did a sixth one come from?" the cultist sneered.

Her words sent Mei Meimei into a fury. She gritted her teeth and roared, "So you look down on the Thief God Hall, is that it? Today, I’ll make you feel the might of the Thief God Hall!"

With that, she turned to Feng Hao. "Xiaowu, Big Sis is going to give them a taste of ice and fire, then you and I are charging in."

"Understood." Feng Hao had no intention of refusing. To be honest, after watching from the sidelines for so long, his hands were itching for a fight.

Mei Meimei wasted no more words. She poured her Magic Power into the Flamethrower, launching a single, lava-like Fireball. Then, with a SWISH, she swapped it for a sky-blue Ice Crystal Cannon and unleashed a frantic barrage at the entrance.

In the next instant, a storm of ice crystals riding a frigid wind surged into the Earth Palace, filling it with a bone-chilling cold.

The Earth Palace, which had just been baptized by fire, was now covered in a layer of frost. From the extreme temperature shifts, even the stone walls began to crack.

Before long, the sounds of shivering and agonized screams echoed up from the Earth Palace.

"Charge!" Mei Meimei waved her hand to recall the Ice Crystal Cannon and took the lead, rushing down into the tunnel.

Feng Hao had no time to think. He hurriedly activated [Black Pupil] and entered [Shadow Stealth] mode, quickly sneaking down into the Earth Palace.

While stealthed, his eyes blackened into deep voids, giving him a sinister and terrifying aura.

There was nothing he could do about it. The high-spec Crystal Eye from the Thief God Hall didn’t come with a cosmetic contact function. After all, it wasn’t a particularly useful feature and was mostly used by female Mages as a decoration.

Generally speaking, many Mechanics added the cosmetic contact function to their high-spec Crystal Eyes to cater to female consumers.

But Feng Hao’s high-spec Crystal Eye was the work of Elder Jiang, and for an old monster like him who had lived for thousands of years, a frivolous feature like cosmetic contacts would obviously never be included.

The Earth Palace was now a chaotic mess. Of the several hundred cultists, many were dead and the rest were wounded. Aside from a few Sixth-rank Mages and a single Seventh Rank Mage, no one was left unscathed.

On top of that, Mei Meimei’s final Frost Cannon barrage had left the palace coated in a thick layer of ice. Nearly every cultist was covered in frost, their movements becoming incredibly sluggish.

"You actually dare come down here to die?" the leading Seventh Rank Mage sneered, gritting his teeth. "Brothers of the sect, hear my command! The time of our trial is at hand! The True God will protect us!"

As soon as he spoke, the cultists flew into a frenzy, as if they’d been shot up with stimulants. They charged toward Feng Hao and Mei Meimei, yelling an embarrassingly cringeworthy slogan.

"The True God protects! The True God protects—!"

"Protects my ass! Let’s see who’s going to protect you bastards today!" Mei Meimei sneered, raising the Magic Energy Guns on her arms and unleashing a frantic spray of fire.

At the same time, she raised an Energy Shield over her armor, completely unafraid of the cultists’ attacks.

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

The dense barrage of light projectiles was like machine-gun fire, kicking up huge swathes of damage numbers.

Large swathes of cultists fell in an instant, yet the survivors continued to pounce on Mei Meimei as if their lives meant nothing.

The leader, the Seventh Rank Mage, was at the forefront. He easily dodged Mei Meimei’s barrage, his Divine Sense instantly locking onto her as his serrated greatsword came crashing down.

BOOM!

Mei Meimei’s Energy Shield shattered instantly. Fortunately, her armor’s defenses were extremely high, so she only lost a third of her Qi Blood. Still, the terrifying force of the impact sent her flying, and she crashed heavily against the stone wall of the Earth Palace.

’Damn it, who do you think you’re hitting?!’ Mei Meimei cursed under her breath as she got back to her feet, raising her arms and unleashing another frantic barrage.

Meanwhile, Feng Hao had already infiltrated the crowd. His [Moon Wheel Dance] and [Dark Moon Slaughter] skills whirled through the air. Each time he appeared, large groups of cultists fell, just like that time back at the Five Provinces Academy when he fought those rabid fans.

"Guardian, this is bad! There’s a fourth-rank brat over here!" a few cultists exclaimed in alarm.

The Seventh Rank Mage was focused on fighting Mei Meimei and had no attention to spare. "What? You need me, the Guardian, to personally deal with some fourth-rank punk?"

As he spoke, he swung his serrated greatsword and brought it crashing down on Mei Meimei once more.

And just like that, the poor, low-rank cultists were mercilessly reaped by Feng Hao.

Inside the dim, ice-coated Earth Palace, Feng Hao moved like a phantom, flickering in and out of existence as he weaved through the crowd. Each time he materialized, it was like a death lotus blooming. And with every bloom, a large swathe of cultists would fall.

Yet the cultists were completely unable to track his movements.

There was nothing they could do. After Mei Meimei’s "ice and fire" treatment, the cultists’ Qi Blood was already critically low. Combined with the frost hampering their movements, the low-rank cultists were like lambs to the slaughter.