The Strongest Talent Tree

The second floor of the Iron Hand Martial Arts Hall was a gathering place for the young elites of Five States City. Any Mage who wanted to enter the second floor had to possess a Silver Badge, and most who had earned one were above level fifty.

However, Feng Hao was an exception. He had obtained a Silver Nine-star Badge at only level forty.

And so, when Feng Hao stepped onto the second floor, he drew quite a few looks of shock and suspicion:

"Huh? Since when can level forties hang out on the second floor? What are the guards getting paid for?"

"Holy shit, a Silver Nine-star Badge? For real?"

"No way. I worked my ass off just to get a Silver Four-star, so how did a Fourth-rank Mage like him get a Nine-star Badge?"

"I remember now! He’s the guy who broke the simulator a while back. The Hall Master specially approved a Silver Nine-star Badge for him."

"Broke the simulator? How come I didn’t hear about that?"

"Weren’t you in Xueyun Country during that time? It’s normal that you wouldn’t know."

"Damn, what’s this kid’s background?"

...

Feng Hao couldn’t care less about these kids’ chatter. He scanned his surroundings and quickly located the Monster Simulators.

However, as he was about to head to the Monster Simulator area, he inadvertently spotted a familiar figure: Xie Kuangfeng, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.

"Brother Kuangfeng, long time no see. Where have you been?" Feng Hao said with a light smile, walking up to him.

Xie Kuangfeng was having a drink. When he saw Feng Hao, he grinned and said, "I was out gaining experience. I ran into some chaos caused by the Celestial Eagle Team along the way, so I was delayed for a long time."

"Ah." Feng Hao frowned slightly. "Is the Celestial Eagle Team really that active already?"

"’Active’ is an understatement. They’re practically everywhere," Xie Kuangfeng said with a bitter smile, shaking his head. "You might not feel it here in Five States City, but if you just take a trip outside, you’re guaranteed to run into some of those Celestial Eagle Team bastards."

Feng Hao was greatly alarmed; he hadn’t expected the situation to escalate this much in just a few months.

"Speaking of which, do the guys from the Celestial Eagle Team have nothing better to do? Why are they causing trouble everywhere? Or do they have some ulterior motive?" Feng Hao asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Who knows," Xie Kuangfeng sighed, clicking his tongue. "But from what I know, those lunatics kill on sight. Unless you’re like them and choose Root Cutting. Recently, quite a few students from the academy have been abducted by them. Some have been killed, while others were forced to join."

’Damn, classic cult behavior.’ Feng Hao was inwardly stunned.

Xie Kuangfeng let out a low sigh and continued, "I heard the chaos is even worse in other countries. Wolf Country’s remote location is actually a blessing in disguise."

"Sigh... For now, we can only hope the major sects eliminate them soon," Feng Hao sighed, then changed the subject. "By the way, Dean Sun went to Xueyun Country. He asked me to let you know."

Xie Kuangfeng froze, his expression a mix of shock and doubt. "Has Teacher’s research succeeded?"

"That’s right," Feng Hao confirmed with a smiling nod.

"Hahaha, this is wonderful news!" Xie Kuangfeng laughed excitedly. "With a breakthrough this significant, the Zhongsheng and Taixu sects will definitely send their experts over. When that happens, the Root Cutting Cult is probably going to die a miserable death."

Feng Hao paused. On second thought, it was true.

If experts from the outer-realms came, the Root Cutting Cult certainly wouldn’t be able to run rampant for much longer.

However, Feng Hao had a nagging feeling that the Celestial Eagle Team and the True God Sect weren’t that simple. Things would be fine if the outer-realms sent down plenty of experts. Otherwise, something unexpected was highly likely to happen.

After all, for the Root Cutting Cult to have survived this long under the combined siege of the major sects, they must have a top-tier expert at the helm. Otherwise, given the power and resources of the Five Great Sects, they would have sent their own experts to deal with it long ago.

Besides, he had spoken with the Thief Master a few days ago, and from the Thief Master’s brief words, he could clearly sense that the experts of the major sects were wary of something.

In other words, there was a terrifying figure lurking behind the Celestial Eagle Team and the True God Sect.

After chatting with Xie Kuangfeng for a little longer, Feng Hao arrived at the Monster Simulator area on the second floor.

The young woman at the reception desk was visibly stunned for a moment when she saw Feng Hao’s level. She quickly recovered, however, and put on a professional smile. "Sir, are you here to use a simulator?"

"That’s right. Book me a session until noon tomorrow," Feng Hao said with a nod.

’The performance is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so staying in the simulator until noon will be perfect.’

"Of course." The receptionist smiled faintly and skillfully operated the device in front of her before handing Feng Hao an access card. "Here is your access card. The fee will be one hundred thousand Level 1 Magic Crystals."

"Are you kidding me? One hundred thousand Level 1 Magic Crystals?" Feng Hao was dumbfounded. "The first floor is only fifty thousand a day, you know?"

The receptionist explained with a light laugh, "All fees on the second floor of the martial hall are calculated in Level 1 Magic Crystals. On the third floor, they’re calculated in Level 2 Magic Crystals."

"Shit!" Feng Hao couldn’t help but curse.

’I thought going from a Copper Badge to a Silver Badge would increase the cost tenfold at most. Turns out, I still underestimated just how much of a rip-off the Iron Hand Martial Arts Hall is.’

"Um... if you feel it’s too expensive, you could try the first floor. It’s cheaper there." The receptionist smiled faintly, a barely perceptible trace of contempt flashing in her eyes.

Her words immediately pissed Feng Hao off. ’Are you kidding me? I’m a whale now; why would a whale care about such a small amount of money?’

"Here. Ten Level 3 Magic Crystals. Give me the access card." Feng Hao directly tossed out ten Level 3 Magic Crystals. After grabbing the card, he turned and stormed into one of the Monster Simulators.

After watching Feng Hao go in, the receptionist sneered. "Heh, coming to the second floor without any money. How ridiculous."

But she had no idea that from the moment Feng Hao entered the simulator, her salary for the month was already gone.

Inside the familiar Monster Simulator, Feng Hao had already inserted the access card and expertly summoned a horde of Tier Five Magical Beasts.

For some reason, however, he finished killing the huge horde of Tier Five Magical Beasts in no time at all.

’Do these simulator monsters seem a lot dumber? Or is it just my imagination?’ Feng Hao wondered to himself, then went back to the console and summoned twice the number of monsters.

However, even twice the number of monsters didn’t put any pressure on him.

And so it went: four times... eight times... sixteen times...

Not until he reached sixty-four times the original number did Feng Hao finally get a taste of a bloody battle.

At the same time, Feng Hao finally realized what the problem was.

’After experiencing the Monster Simulator that Mei Meimei modified, this normal simulator seems like a child’s toy. There’s no challenge at all.’

’Even cranking the number of monsters to the maximum of sixty-four times can’t compare to the pressure of that nightmare-level simulator.’

"Now that I think about it, I’m actually a little nostalgic for the simulator Fourth Sister modified," Feng Hao mused. He weaved effortlessly through the dense swarm of monsters, and with every flash of his blade, another beast fell.

A dark green chain slithered like a long serpent through the monster horde, binding dozens of them together in an instant.

He smashed them with a combo, and his monster-clearing efficiency skyrocketed.

As the simulated monsters fell one by one, the proficiency of his [Poisonous Chain] skill also grew steadily.

Outside the simulator, however, it was a completely different scene...