The Strongest Talent Tree

Of course, taking damage was inevitable when surrounded by over a hundred Mages.

Even with Feng Hao’s flashy footwork, he couldn’t possibly dodge so many Secret Techniques and attacks. He could only do his best to avoid the harder-hitting physical strikes and those aimed at his weak points.

Speaking of which, because Feng Hao focused on cultivating the [Meridian Root System], his Gang Qi defense was higher than an ordinary person’s. He wasn’t particularly afraid of magic-based damage.

With the protection of his 1385-point Protective Gang Qi, magical attacks weren’t much of a threat to him.

’These root-cut guys pack quite a punch,’ Feng Hao muttered to himself. He used Shadow-meld to hide in a corner and swallowed a few pills. Although killing them wave after wave was exhilarating, his Qi Blood and Magic Power were also draining quickly.

Moreover, the few Tier Six Cultists were quite strong. Every time Feng Hao revealed himself to attack, they would lock onto him instantly.

’Good thing I managed to take out two of the Tier Six guys by chance. Otherwise, this would be a real pain.’

After a short wait, his Secret Techniques were off cooldown. Feng Hao’s pitch-black eyes locked onto a Tier Six Cultist like a demon’s. With a two-part shadow strike and some nimble footwork, he easily slipped in behind him.

STAB! STAB! STAB!

He opened with [Moon Jab], followed immediately by Moon Wheel Dance, striking the Tier Six Cultist in the blink of an eye. He dragged his crossed Su Mu Daggers across the man’s neck, and the black energy of [Dark Moon Kill] finished him with a BANG.

"He’s over there! Kill him!" The cultists immediately swarmed toward Feng Hao.

Seeing dozens of cultists rushing at him, Feng Hao showed no fear. He gave his dagger a nimble twirl and threw a dark red orb of light directly into the crowd—it was Shadow Sparks.

The moment the orb hit the ground, it exploded with a BOOM! Shadow and fire intertwined, congealing into a scorching Sea of Fire on the ground.

The poor cultists screamed continuously as they fell one after another, burned by the persistent flames of Shadow Sparks.

The battle raged on. Under wave after wave of attacks, the hundreds of cultists suffered countless casualties. Before anyone knew it, only a dozen or so Fifth-rank Mages and one Sixth-rank Mage remained.

Meanwhile, the Seventh-rank Cult Guardian was still tangled up with Mei Meimei. Despite being a Seventh Rank, he could only fight her to a standstill.

One had to admit, Mei Meimei’s combat prowess was terrifying, especially her incredible variety of Magic Energy Weapons. They were simply dazzling and impossible to defend against.

’Damn it, what’s going on? How can so many of them not even beat a single Fourth-rank Mage?’ Seeing only a dozen or so cultists left in the Earth Palace, the Seventh Rank Mage’s expression was utterly grim.

He had thought they would quickly deal with Feng Hao and then help him gang up on Mei Meimei. He never imagined that this bunch of useless fools couldn’t even handle a Fourth-rank Mage!

"Guardian, this kid has the [Shadow] Secret Technique from the Thief God Hall, and his methods are treacherous. There’s nothing we can do!" the last remaining Tier Six Cultist said with a bitter smile.

"Useless trash! Get rid of him now! This gun-wielding woman is a real handful," the Cult Guardian snarled through gritted teeth.

The Tier Six Cultist just shook his head with another bitter smile and led the remaining group to search for Feng Hao.

Unfortunately for them, Feng Hao had already locked his sights on the Seventh-rank Guardian. While the Guardian’s guard was down, Feng Hao used the superior breath-concealing effect of [Black Eyes] to sneak toward him.

At that moment, the Seventh-rank Guardian was fully focused on dealing with Mei Meimei. He had no spare attention to scan his surroundings with his Divine Sense, so he didn’t notice Feng Hao approaching.

"Damn you, woman! I swear I’ll make you wish for a fate worse than death!" The Seventh-rank Guardian’s eyes were bloodshot, and his gaze toward Mei Meimei was filled with lecherous intent.

Especially the sight of her two Mount Everests straining against her armor; it made his heart pound with desire.

"Tch! It’ll take more than threats to scare me," Mei Meimei sneered, then unleashed a wild volley of shots at him.

Just then, the Magic Energy Guns strapped to her arms suddenly started emitting white smoke and became scalding hot.

"Ugh, broken again?" Mei Meimei seemed used to this. She expertly detached the two Magic Energy Guns and tossed them at the Seventh-rank Cult Guardian.

The Cult Guardian froze, clearly not understanding her intention.

Just as he was trying to figure it out, the two scalding Magic Energy Guns exploded with a deafening BOOM! The terrifying blast instantly wiped out over ten thousand of his Qi Blood.

For a moment, the Cult Guardian was completely dumbfounded by the explosion. But after a brief stun, he burst into laughter. "Hahaha! You’re out of weapons! Let’s see what you’ll fight me with now!"

"Who said I’m out of weapons?" Mei Meimei’s eyes glinted playfully.

Then, under the Cult Guardian’s astonished gaze, she pulled out two large-caliber Magic Energy Guns from who-knows-where and let loose another barrage right in his face.

RAT-TAT-TAT!

These Magic Energy Guns seemed even more powerful than the last pair. The light projectiles they fired were so dense they looked like a curtain of light.

The Cult Guardian’s laughter died in his throat. Caught off guard, he was blasted for nearly twenty thousand Qi Blood.

Seeing his Qi Blood down to a third, the Cult Guardian hastily retreated to dodge the fire.

However, the very instant he pulled back, a black shadow suddenly appeared behind him and unleashed a full combo of Secret Techniques.

"Urk—!" The Cult Guardian lost consciousness before he could even react.

That combo of Secret Techniques from Feng Hao had actually one-shotted the Seventh-rank Cult Guardian. To be honest, even Feng Hao himself hadn’t expected it.

"No way... He was that squishy?" Feng Hao said with a strange expression.

Mei Meimei walked over with a light chuckle and explained, "He must have cut his [Tenacity Root System]. His defense is zero, so he relies entirely on his armor and Gang Qi to absorb damage. Your shadow energy damage is his biggest weakness."

"No wonder," Feng Hao nodded in realization.

It was just as the Thief Master had said: Root-cutting Mages expose fatal flaws. If this Seventh-rank Guardian had been a normal Mage, that last combo of Secret Techniques would never have been enough to kill him.

He had no one to blame but himself for his poor choice in root-cutting. Instead of cutting other useless roots, he just had to cut a crucial one like [Tenacity].

After all, the Tenacity Root System was the main source of physical defense and vitality!

At the same time, the cultists who had been frantically searching for Feng Hao finally realized what had happened. Seeing that their Guardian had fallen, the group felt like bursting into tears.

"The Guardian is dead! Fight them to the death!" the Tier Six Cultist cried out, overwhelmed with grief.

"You few want to fight to the death?" Mei Meimei scoffed. She set up the Four Elements Mortar in front of her, raised her twin guns, and fired a volley of light projectiles.

With the bombardment of Four-Color Elemental Shells, the dozen or so cultists were instantly reduced to a pile of gore.

Feng Hao instinctively covered his nose and mouth. He couldn’t help it. Although he had killed countless people in the game *Mage*, this was the first time he had seen such a gory, bloody scene in person. It was a bit nauseating.

Mei Meimei, on the other hand, looked exhilarated. She wiped a smear of blood from her face and roared with laughter, "GAHAHA! I’ve been holding back for over two years! Finally, a satisfying fight!"

"Um... Fourth Sister, shouldn’t we look for the captured locals first?" Feng Hao reminded her, stunned by her reaction.