The Strongest Talent Tree

With the Advanced Academy assessment drawing near, Feng Hao had been spending the last few days fooling around with Xi Yueyao, causing a scene everywhere they went.

Especially with a cool mount like Chief Black Cat, they were the center of attention wherever they went.

They left their imperious footprints all over Rongcheng. Of course, the only imperious one was Xi Yueyao; Feng Hao was just responsible for cleaning up her messes and keeping her company for a few fun days.

Perhaps because Rongcheng was the first place he had landed after transmigrating, Feng Hao had developed a unique attachment to it. While it couldn’t compare to his home, Earth, it felt like a second home.

Now that he was about to leave Rongcheng, he couldn’t help but feel a mix of reluctance, curiosity, and apprehension about the world outside.

Because of this, Feng Hao made quite a few trips to the City Lord’s Mansion to ask the Old City Lord about the outside world.

Naturally, Feng Hao didn’t spare Yue Linglong, the intern teacher, either. After several conversations, he had gained a comprehensive understanding of the Five States Academy.

The final conclusion was that the outside was a dazzling world, teeming with geniuses and crawling with Mages. Many large cities were also at the forefront of Demon Pattern Technology, and Five States City, where the Five States Academy was located, was one of them.

Since he was heading into that dazzling world, Feng Hao naturally had to prepare himself thoroughly.

After fooling around with Xi Yueyao during the day, he would lock himself in the Alchemy Room at night, going all out to refine pills and build up some inventory for the Miao Medicine Tower.

Basic red and blue potions didn’t require his attention, as Miao Feng was already proficient enough to handle them. Feng Hao mainly focused on refining some Experience Pills and top-grade pills; after all, his contract with the three great families hadn’t expired yet.

In addition to that, Feng Hao also returned to his old trade, using materials he could gather in Rongcheng to concoct several practical poisons.

As an old Assassin, he couldn’t go without something as essential as poison—a must-have for home and travel.

In the days that followed, Feng Hao also didn’t forget to guide the ruffians of the Dance Team. Thanks to his improvements and training, the Dance Team’s combat power was on a completely different level. Sister Ting, in particular, showed a great aptitude for the dance style Feng Hao had modified.

With ten days left until the Advanced Academy assessment, his big bro Lin Luo finally returned.

The brothers were overjoyed to see each other again. The moment they met, Lin Luo gave him a bear hug and immediately said, "Brother Feng, come with me! I’ll show you around our new branch hall and get you inducted into the Thief God Hall while we’re at it."

"In such a hurry?" Feng Hao said, a little speechless.

"Of course! I went through a lot of trouble to set up this branch hall, so I have to be the first one to show it to you," Lin Luo said with a laugh.

Feng Hao gave a surprised smile and nodded in agreement.

After they stepped outside, Lin Luo waved his hand, and a black vehicle emerged from his Spatial Ring. Unlike the sports car belonging to the trio from Wanglao City, the vehicle before him looked more like a uniquely styled motorcycle.

"What do you think of your big bro’s ride?" Lin Luo asked teasingly, clearly in a good mood.

"It’s great! Very cool!" Feng Hao exclaimed, stepping forward to get a better look. "Big Bro, is this a Magic Energy Flying Vehicle too?"

"Yes and no," Lin Luo explained. "This is a Magic Energy Vehicle, a variation of the Magic Energy Flying Vehicle. It’s faster and more convenient, so people in our line of work usually prefer them."

Feng Hao nodded in understanding, his mind conjuring images of characters from Earth’s movies and TV shows who rode motorcycles, coming and going as they pleased.

As it turned out, the Magic Energy Vehicle was quite different from a motorcycle. At the very least, he didn’t hear the roar of an engine when it started up and ascended into the air.

The Magic Energy Vehicle was incredibly fast. As it sped along, Feng Hao could only feel the wind howling past his ears, the scenery below a complete blur.

After some time, they arrived in Jin City, thousands of miles from Rongcheng. As the capital of Jinzhou, it was the natural choice for the Thief God Hall’s branch hall.

Seeing a major city for the first time, Feng Hao was struck with a shock that was beyond words. Compared to Jin City, Rongcheng didn’t even seem like a city—it was a border town at best.

"Come on, I’ll take you to get registered first," Lin Luo said, stowing the Magic Energy Vehicle and slinging an arm around Feng Hao’s shoulder as they walked into the Thief God Hall.

Since the branch hall had just been established, it was a bustling scene, with an endless stream of people coming and going.

The moment they entered, a staff member in charge of reception came up and bowed. "Scoundrel, you’ve returned."

"Mm," Lin Luo nodded slightly in acknowledgment and continued leading Feng Hao deeper into the hall.

Feng Hao watched from the side, dumbfounded. ’Judging by the looks of it, my big bro’s status in the Thief God Hall is anything but simple,’ he thought. ’But on second thought, that makes sense. He’s in charge of establishing a branch hall, so how could his status be low?’

"Big Bro, your title seems a bit... odd," Feng Hao couldn’t help but ask. He couldn’t help it; hearing the title "Scoundrel," he’d automatically thought of the phrase "rebellious scoundrel."

Lin Luo just smiled nonchalantly. "It’s true, it doesn’t sound very pleasant. That’s why I prefer the title ’Advanced Thief’."

"So what kind of position is ’Scoundrel’ anyway?" Feng Hao asked curiously.

"’Scoundrel’ isn’t a position, just a special status. You’ll come to understand the specifics later," Lin Luo explained simply.

As they spoke, they arrived at the registration room, the place to sign up as a member of the Thief God Hall.

Because the branch hall had just been established, there were quite a few Mages lined up to register. Fortunately, his big bro Lin Luo had special privileges and led Feng Hao straight to the front of the line. "Master Shu, help my brother get registered first."

The one in charge of registration was an old man with a pointy chin and monkey-like face, giving him a very shifty appearance. After hearing Lin Luo’s request, he glanced at Feng Hao curiously and said in surprise, "Little Thief, since when did you have a brother?"

"Enough with the nonsense. Just register him," Lin Luo said, looking annoyed and striking a roguish pose.

Master Shu didn’t get angry. He chuckled, looked Feng Hao over a few times, and took out a registration form. "Little guy, just fill out this form. I’ll handle the rest of the procedure for you."

"Thank you very much, Senior," Feng Hao said hurriedly.

"Just call me Master Shu. We don’t have that much respect for seniority in the Thief God Hall," Master Shu said with a grin, revealing a row of gapped teeth.

Feng Hao broke into a cold sweat. He had a feeling he’d just walked into a den of thieves. ’No, this *is* a fucking den of thieves!’

Seeing Feng Hao’s awkwardness, Lin Luo began to explain, "Brother Feng, no need to be so formal. This is how we are in the Thief God Hall. From now on, you call thieves of a lower level than you ’Little Thief’ and those of a higher level ’Old Thief.’ If they have a moniker, you use that."

"Uh... okay," Feng Hao nodded strangely, then handed the completed form to Master Shu.

Master Shu wasted no time. With a flurry of taps on the registration device, he quickly completed the process. Then he said with a grin, "Alright, Little Thief, place your hand under the needle, palm up. I’ll implant the Thief’s Mark for you."

Feng Hao was completely baffled but placed his hand on the device, half-believing, half-doubting.

ZAP!

Feng Hao felt a slight sting in his palm. A tiny crystal had appeared under the skin. When he probed it with his Divine Sense, he immediately received a string of information:

Name: Feng Hao

Origin: Jinzhou - Rongcheng

Title: First-level Thief

Points: 0

Service Authorization: Basic

Current Mission: None

"Whoa, this is so high-tech!" Feng Hao couldn’t help but exclaim. ’Isn’t this basically a legendary chip implant?’

Master Shu smiled and explained, "The Thief’s Mark can sense nearby colleagues and ’Service Terminals.’ You can accept missions anywhere there’s a terminal. When you have time, do more missions and you’ll shed that ’Little Thief’ status in no time."

"However, it looks like there’s no secret post set up in your city, Rongcheng, yet," Master Shu said, glancing at a map on the device’s screen.

Hearing this, Lin Luo slapped his forehead and grimaced. "I almost forgot if Master Shu hadn’t mentioned it. Brother Feng, I’m planning to set up the secret post at your medicine shop. What do you think?"

"It won’t affect the shop’s business, will it?" Feng Hao asked with a frown.

"Don’t worry," Lin Luo laughed. "On the surface, it’ll be business as usual. It’ll just secretly serve as a mission hand-off point. I can even send some Mage clerks over to help you out."

"That would be great," Feng Hao agreed readily after hearing the explanation. As for Miao Feng, there shouldn’t be any problem as long as he was the one to talk to him.

Seeing that Feng Hao had no objections, Lin Luo burst out laughing and started pulling him away. "With this, my mission is finally complete! Come on, I’ll show you around the Divine Hall."

P.S. I hear that today is the Mid-Autumn Festival for a certain ancient civilization back on Earth. West Mountain is currently doing research in the Ancient Cang Realm, so I can only wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival from afar.