The Strongest Talent Tree

Feng Hao and Xi Yueyao dismounted from the Water Luminous Beast’s back and curiously sidled up to Sirlius.

"Brother Xilu, this mining machine of yours looks pretty high-end." Feng Hao carefully examined Sirlius’s mining machine, clucking his tongue in amazement.

He was now a bona fide Mechanic. He could tell if a machine was good or not with just a single glance.

This exquisitely designed mining machine before him was definitely no ordinary item. Setting aside everything else, just the materials used for its body were more expensive than those of the high-grade mining machine he had acquired from the Treasure Pavilion.

Sirlius chuckled as he controlled the machine with his Divine Sense. "An elder in my family researches mechanics. He gave this to me after I had my awakening, and I’ve been using it ever since."

’Is that so? Brother Xilu’s elder must be a very powerful Mechanic,’ Feng Hao thought, nodding to himself.

"Of course. He’s been a Divine-level Mechanic for as long as I can remember," Sirlius said with a hint of pride.

"Gasp... a Divine-level Mechanic?!" Feng Hao couldn’t help but exclaim.

A so-called Divine-level Mechanic was a Mechanic who had broken through the ninth level. That realm was beyond comparison to an ordinary Mechanic.

It wasn’t just Mechanics; other secondary professions also had the "Divine-level" title after the ninth level.

Of course, reaching the Divine level in a secondary profession was no simple feat. The most basic requirement was to reach level 100 in strength, which was why in the Ancient Cang Realm, there were so many ninth-level secondary profession masters, yet none could break through to the Divine level.

But one should never underestimate a Divine-level secondary profession. Just like with Literary and Dance Skills, when a secondary profession reached the Divine level, their combat power would become off the charts.

Take Alchemists, for example. Once they reached level 100 and comprehended the true meaning of the Medicine Dao, they could condense an exclusive Dao Fruit, thereby gaining the ability to perform alchemy and control poisons out of thin air.

This was because after one’s genes reached level 100, their Magic Power would gain a certain creative quality. This was also the biggest difference between ordinary humans and cosmic lifeforms.

Feng Hao had recently read a book of miscellaneous records that mentioned a Divine-level Pharmacist. With a wave of his hand, he had poisoned a small Life Planet, turning it into a living hell. Afterward, he was put on the wanted lists of all the major sects, and experts from all corners hunted him for nearly a hundred years before he was finally brought to justice, but not without incurring heavy losses.

Although this person’s actions were brutal, they also demonstrated the power of a Divine-level secondary profession.

As for Divine-level Refiners and Divine-level Mechanics, it went without saying. Unleashing ten thousand swords or firing ten thousand cannons with a wave of a hand was a perfectly normal occurrence.

In short, never look down on any Mage with a secondary profession. You never know when they might reach the Divine level. When that happens, wiping out your entire clan would be as easy as a wave of their hand.

Although Feng Hao’s main class was Assassin, he would definitely do his best to condense a Pharmacist’s Dao Fruit when the time came. After all, he had a foundation in Ninth-Level Alchemy Techniques, so it would be a waste not to pursue it.

After a brief moment of astonishment, Feng Hao wasted no more time. Based on the scale of the ore deposit Sirlius had surveyed, he began digging from the other side.

Meanwhile, Yao Girl was getting a little bored. Without a mining machine of her own, she could only stand by and watch.

"Have you hit anything yet? What kind of ore is it? How much can it sell for?" Xi Yueyao stared at Sirlius like a little money-grubber.

"The deposit is a bit deep. I haven’t reached it yet, but it should be soon." Sirlius smiled, pursing his lips as he focused his full attention on controlling the drill below. A few minutes later, he cried out in excitement, "I’ve hit it! I’ve hit it! It’s a Tri-color Crystal Ore, a top-grade crystal material!"

"What’s Tri-color Crystal?" Xi Yueyao smacked her lips, confused, then said impatiently, "Come on, stop wasting my time. Just tell me if it’s valuable or not!"

"Valuable is an understatement. This is an astronomically priced material," Sirlius said, his breathing quickening.

"Wahahaha! Does that mean we’re going to be rich?" the little girl cheered, her eyes sparkling like little stars.

Feng Hao, on his side, had naturally also hit the Tri-color Crystal. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. "You silly girl, all you think about is money. Tri-color Crystal is a rare material. We won’t even have enough for ourselves, so how could we possibly sell it?"

"If we’re not selling it, what’s the point of digging it up?" Xi Yueyao pouted, displeased.

"..." A dark line formed on Feng Hao’s forehead. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Your dear husband here is a Mechanic. What do you think I’m digging it up for?"

"Oh, right. I almost forgot." Xi Yueyao nodded in realization, then her expression turned to one of utter boredom. She retreated to the side dejectedly. "Well, you guys dig then. I’m going to go play with Little Shui-shui."

The Water Luminous Beast, which had been patrolling the area, heard this and immediately bristled, darting around to hide.

"What are you running for? It’s your honor that this young lady wants to play with you!" Xi Yueyao’s temper flared. She swung her long whip and gave chase. "Hmph, you’re ugly, and on top of that, you’re disobedient. You’re nothing like my Miaomiao."

"AWOOOO~!" The Water Luminous Beast fled frantically, wailing and pleading with Sirlius for help.

Unfortunately, Sirlius was so excited he had forgotten everything else and couldn’t hear its cries for help at all.

From a distance, the scene was both harmonious and amusing: two people in the middle, operating their mining machines, while beside them, a person and a beast chased each other in circles.

As a rare crystal, veins of Tri-color Crystal were generally not very large, and they were extremely difficult to mine.

After more than half an hour, the two had excavated less than a fifth of it.

Just as Feng Hao was digging with all his might, a sudden cry of alarm came from Sirlius’s side. "Oh no! There’s someone down there!"

"Huh? You’ve got to be kidding. How could there be anyone down there?" Feng Hao said, his eyes filled with disbelief.

However, the words had barely left his mouth when his Divine Sense, attached to the drill bit below, witnessed a shocking scene.

The drill broke through a chunk of rock, revealing an artificially excavated mine shaft. Inside the shaft, a strange-looking man was digging through the rock with his hands. That’s right, with his bare hands.

What Feng Hao found even more incredible was that the man’s hands were like iron excavators. He crushed the rock with ease, and his digging speed was even faster than their mining machines.

"What the hell? Is that a person or a ghost?" Feng Hao exclaimed in horror.

At that moment, the strange man underground also noticed them. He sneered and reached for their two drill bits.

"Pull back, quick! He’s from the Earth Spirit Race! The drills can’t withstand his tearing!" Sirlius shouted in alarm.

"Shit!" Feng Hao cursed under his breath and hastily retracted his mining drill. If that person really tore the drill bit to pieces, not only would his mining machine be scrapped, but even the Tri-color Crystal they had just excavated would be taken.

After retracting the drill bits and confirming they were undamaged, the two couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"What kind of race is the Earth Spirit Race? Are they related to moles?" Feng Hao asked, panting.

Sirlius gritted his teeth, his expression ugly as he stared at the ground. "The Earth Spirit Race is a humanoid race born from solid-state star systems. To put it simply, they’re metal lifeforms. Their bodies are literally made of metal. They’re universally acknowledged as super-miners."

"Holy crap... Solid-state star systems? Metal lifeforms? Does it have to be this sci-fi?" Feng Hao said, completely dumbfounded.

Sirlius gave a helpless, bitter smile. "In any case, with the Earth Spirit Race here, this crystal mine is definitely none of our business anymore."

"No way. We’re just giving up like that?" Feng Hao said with a pained expression. "Damn it! I don’t care what race he is. Worst comes to worst, we’ll just fight him!"

"He’s underground. How are you going to fight him?" Sirlius said with a wry smile.

"But he has to come out eventually, right?"

Sirlius didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Please. They’re a race from a solid-state star system. Being underground for them is like being in the open air for us."

"Uh..." Feng Hao was stunned. He said in disbelief, "Is that even fucking human anymore?"