The Strongest Talent Tree

"Cut the crap. I’m right here watching, so just get to mining," Feng Hao replied coldly.

"Damn you! Why should I listen to you?" Jin Li bit out, gritting her teeth.

"Why?" Feng Hao scoffed. "It seems you’ve already forgotten how scared you were before, huh?"

Jin Li’s tone suddenly turned mocking. "Heh, I’m underground now. What are you going to do about it?"

"Shit!" Feng Hao cursed, finally realizing the gravity of the situation. If Jin Li were on the surface, he had a hundred ways to subdue her. But now that she’d burrowed underground, ordinary methods were useless.

’Do I have to do what Yao Girl did last time? Make the Water Luminous Beast piss her out of the ground?’

’But after what happened last time, she definitely won’t pop up to argue with us. She’ll just escape underground.’

And just like that, the situation became tricky.

As if venting her frustration, Jin Li began frantically devouring the Black Gold Ore around her. She glared coldly in the direction of the mining drill and sneered, "Don’t even think about getting a single scrap of this Black Gold Vein!"

"Uh... Miss Mole, let’s not eat just yet. We can talk about this," Feng Hao said with a forced laugh. "I’ve treated you just like everyone else these past few days. You can’t do this to me."

"Utterly shameless," Jin Li seethed. "How dare you even say something like that."

"Alright, fine. I admit I’ve been a little hard on you these past few days," Feng Hao said with a helpless, bitter smile. "But didn’t we have a deal? Twenty percent for each of us once we found the ore. You can’t go back on your word!"

"You have the nerve to bring up twenty percent?" Jin Li was fuming. "You guys just take the ore to sell for money, but I need it to strengthen my body. And you’re only giving me twenty percent?!"

"Who said we were going to sell it?" Feng Hao was exasperated. "I’m learning blacksmithing and tinkering with machinery now. I don’t even have enough for myself, why would I sell it?"

Jin Li froze, blinking. "What did you just say you were learning?"

"Machinery," Feng Hao said, puzzled.

"The part before that."

"Blacksmithing," Feng Hao said, his expression strange. "Why? Are you interested in it?"

Hearing this, a look of ecstasy spread across Jin Li’s face. She asked urgently, "You’re a Blacksmith?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem?" Feng Hao was completely baffled, unable to figure out what she was getting at.

"You should have said so earlier!" Jin Li beamed, her face ecstatic. "Just wait, I’ll come up as soon as I’m done digging."

"What the heck? What’s going on?" Feng Hao was completely dumbfounded.

Then, under his stunned gaze, Jin Li started digging frantically, as if she were on steroids. And she didn’t show the slightest intention of sneaking a bite.

Feng Hao couldn’t figure it out for the life of him. He only retracted the mining drill after the vein was almost completely excavated.

Seeing him retract the drill, Sirlius asked, a little anxiously, "Brother Feng, what’s the situation down there?"

"Nothing much, situation-wise. It’s just that the mole girl is acting a little strange," Feng Hao said, perplexed.

The words had barely left his mouth when dirt flew up in the distance. Jin Li burst out of the ground, her expression ecstatic. Without a word, she dumped a pile of ore on the ground and sprinted over to Feng Hao. "Are you really a legendary Blacksmith?"

"I am," Feng Hao nodded in surprise, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Why? You need some equipment forged?"

"Hahaha... I never thought I, Andoras Jinli, would ever meet a Blacksmith!" Jin Li suddenly burst out laughing like a madwoman.

Not far away, Xi Yueyao, who had been playing with the Water Luminous Beast, heard the commotion and hurried over.

Even more surprisingly, after learning that Feng Hao was a Blacksmith, even Sirlius cried out in shock, "No way! Brother Feng is actually a legendary Blacksmith?"

"It’s just a Blacksmith. What’s all the fuss about?" Feng Hao asked, bewildered.

Sirlius sized Feng Hao up with a look of disbelief and swallowed hard. "Brother Feng, you might not know this, but the art of blacksmithing was lost after the great catastrophe of the Ancient Cosmos. Nowadays, you can count the number of Blacksmiths in the Inner Ring Star Realm on one hand, and they’re all just half-baked amateurs who figured things out from fragmented ancient scrolls. Even so, people would fight tooth and nail over them."

"Oh, right! There were rumors that a true blacksmithing lineage might still exist on a Bloodline Planet. I never thought it was true, let alone that I’d actually meet one," Sirlius added animatedly.

"Uh, are they really that big a deal?" Feng Hao asked tentatively.

To be honest, he had originally learned blacksmithing mainly to get into Artifact Refining. Later, it was all about honing his ability to channel his hidden power. To put it bluntly, in his eyes, blacksmithing was just a somewhat useful secondary skill.

But hearing Sirlius explain it, ’Suddenly, being a Blacksmith seems pretty badass. No, it’s way more than just badass!’

Jin Li’s eyes glinted. "Big deal? It’s more than that. Take my Fourth Ring Star Realm, for example. A single weapon crafted by a Blacksmith would cost at least ten Level 8 Magic Crystals."

"Holy cow, more than ten Level 8 Magic Crystals?!" Feng Hao stammered in disbelief, swallowing hard.

’Forget Level 8 Magic Crystals, even a single Level 7 Magic Crystal was an astronomical sum to him.’

Sirlius clicked his tongue and sighed. "You have it easy in the Fourth Ring Star Realm. In my Second Ring Star Realm, you’d need Level 9 Magic Crystals for a forged weapon."

"Prices are always higher the closer you get to the Inner Ring Star Realm. Isn’t that normal?" Jin Li retorted.

"Fair point," Sirlius had to concede with a nod.

After hearing their exchange, Feng Hao stood rooted to the spot, completely stunned. It was as if a giant jackpot had fallen from the sky and landed right in his lap, leaving him enveloped in a wave of pure bliss.

"What did you say? Level 9 Magic Crystals?" Feng Hao finally snapped out of his stupor, still looking completely dazed. "Yao Girl, pinch me."

Xi Yueyao had just run over and clearly didn’t understand what they were talking about. Her little face scrunched up in confusion. "Why would I pinch you?"

"To see if I’m dreaming," Feng Hao said, still in a trance.

"How could you be dreaming?" The young girl lifted her chin playfully. "Could you ever dream of someone as cute as me?"

"I guess not," Feng Hao answered automatically. ’The Yao Girl in his dreams was always perfectly obedient and well-behaved.’

After confirming that he wasn’t dreaming, Feng Hao felt like he was walking on air. "Brother Xilu, so you’re saying that from now on, I can make money effortlessly no matter where I go?"

"Naturally," Sirlius chuckled.

Feng Hao nodded in satisfaction. After grinning like an idiot for a while, he finally remembered the mole girl waiting at his side and puffed out his chest. "Alright, spit it out. What business do you have with this master Blacksmith?"

"Well..." Jin Li hesitated, glancing at Xi Yueyao. Looking conflicted, she asked, "Can I speak with you in private?"

"Huh? We’re all friends here. What’s there to be shy about?" Feng Hao said, taken aback.

"No. This concerns a secret of my Earth Spirit Race. We must discuss it alone," Jin Li said, her gaze firm.

"Alright then, let’s talk over there." Feng Hao nodded in surprise. He turned to Xi Yueyao and said, "Yao Girl, go ahead and divide up the ore. Your husband will be right back."

With that, he and Jin Li walked toward a small grove in the distance.

After the two had walked off, Sirlius suddenly slapped his forehead in realization. "My brain must be fried! How could I have forgotten what a Blacksmith means to the Earth Spirit Race!"

The young girl looked puzzled. "Forgot what? Tell me, tell me!"

"Well..." Sirlius hesitated, a strange look on his face. "It’s better if you wait for Brother Feng to tell you himself. In any case, you should probably prepare yourself."

"Hmph. If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t. It’s not like I wanted to hear it anyway!" Xi Yueyao pouted dismissively. Then, her eyes lit up as she pounced on the mountain-like pile of Black Gold Ore. "Gyahaha! Mine, mine, all mine!"