The Strongest Talent Tree

Chapter 102: Chapter 99: Country Bumpkin, Don’t Run

The food in the Pharmacy Department’s cafeteria was decent enough. At least compared to the cafeterias of other departments, it had a lot more medicinal cuisine. Eating it regularly could regulate various bodily functions, thereby improving one’s base stats.

When it came to food, Feng Hao was never stingy. He spent nearly three thousand Magic Crystals on a single meal!

Of course, in the context of the entire academy, three thousand for one meal was considered merely a Xiaokang level. It was nothing compared to those second-generation rich kids.

After eating and drinking his fill, he left the cafeteria and headed for the academic building.

The Advanced Academy’s curriculum was relatively relaxed. Take Feng Hao’s Pharmacy Department, for example. There were only three classes per week: one on Magic Foundations, one on Alchemy, and one on Martial Arts. The rest of the time was left for the students to manage freely.

You could take electives from other departments, or go to the Celestial Secret Tower to complete missions for academic credits. If you were really too lazy to move, you could also do nothing at all and just sleep soundly in your dorm.

Today was the first official day of classes, and the specific course was Magic Foundations. This was the same Magic Foundations course that Instructor Yang had spent half of yesterday explaining.

As an outsider, Feng Hao was interested in most of the courses, with the exception of Alchemy. After all, with his level of skill in alchemy, he didn’t need anyone to teach him.

It was some distance from the cafeteria to the academic building, and the path went past the department’s main gate.

And so, as Feng Hao reached the department’s main gate, he heard a sharp cry from behind him, "Country bumpkin, don’t run!"

Feng Hao froze. He instinctively turned to look and saw Man Tiaotiao charging over like a whirlwind. The gauntlets on her hands were glowing faintly with magic light, a clear sign she was about to start a fight.

’Damn it, this girl isn’t done yet! Isn’t it just about the materials for four servings of Body Refining Nutrient Liquid?’

Feng Hao cursed under his breath. Not wanting to get tangled up with her, he took off running toward the academic building. It wasn’t that he was afraid of Man Tiaotiao, but rather because the biggest trait of women was that you could never reason with them, especially a spoiled rich girl like her.

So, in situations like this, retreating was the wisest choice...

However, Feng Hao had barely taken a few steps before a familiar, beautiful figure blocked his path. It was the withdrawn girl, Xiyue Frost.

"Move, move! Can’t you see that crazy woman is chasing me?" Feng Hao thought Xiyue Frost was just looking for him to chat and pass the time, so he anxiously gestured for her to get out of the way.

"Little thief, let’s see you run this time!" Xiyue Frost snorted coldly, brandishing the greatsword in her hand with the air of a one-woman army holding a pass against ten thousand men.

"Stop fooling around, we’re on the same side," Feng Hao said, his face darkening.

Unfortunately, Xiyue Frost had no intention of moving. Her face was as cold as frost as she said, "Hand over the stolen goods, swear you’ll never steal again, and I’ll let you go!"

"Stolen goods? Stealing? What are you talking about?" Feng Hao was completely bewildered. Seeing Man Tiaotiao getting closer, he could only shake his head with a wry smile. "I say, milady, what are you getting mixed up in this for? When have I ever stolen anything?"

"Still trying to argue? Tiaotiao already told me everything," Xiyue Frost snapped, her voice full of righteous indignation.

"Damn it, I just scammed her out of a few sets of alchemy materials! How is that stealing? Besides, I saved those materials through my own skill."

Xiyue Frost froze, looking at Feng Hao with a mixture of belief and doubt, unsure whether to trust him.

Just then, Man Tiaotiao arrived. Seeing that escape was impossible, Feng Hao could only draw his Dark Moon Dagger and prepare to fight.

WHOOSH!

The wind from her punch swept past, lifting the hair at Feng Hao’s temple. With his strength, it was naturally impossible to be hit by Man Tiaotiao’s clumsy attack. Moreover, he was now level twenty-eight, and his stats in every aspect were on a completely different level than before.

As he dodged to the side, he swung his hand in a horizontal slash—a [Dark Moon Slaughter]—and roared, "Are you fucking done yet?!"

"Haha, I just got new gauntlets and my power has surged! I’m definitely going to beat you up today!" Man Tiaotiao’s expression was arrogant as she charged forward, taking the damage from [Dark Moon Slaughter] head-on.

Unfortunately, she had still underestimated Feng Hao’s damage. The hidden force damage ignored armor and Gang Qi, so by taking it head-on like this, she absorbed almost the full brunt of [Dark Moon Slaughter].

’You’re still too green to go head-to-head with me!’

Under the detection of his Crystal Eye, Man Tiaotiao’s Qi Blood instantly dropped by more than half. At a time like this, Feng Hao naturally had no reason to be afraid. He swung his dagger, activating [Moon Wheel Dance] and charged straight at her.

Poor Man Tiaotiao had intended to use her advantage as a Martial Arts Mage to defeat Feng Hao in a direct clash. But she never expected Feng Hao to use hidden force. She lost half her Qi Blood at the very start of the exchange. What she found even more incredible was that Feng Hao was already level twenty-eight.

"I’m not fighting, I’m not fighting! I give up!" Seeing the spinning wheel of [Moon Wheel Dance] coming at her, Man Tiaotiao immediately chose to back down.

Seeing Man Tiaotiao back down, Feng Hao hastily retracted the Secret Technique. An instant later, a burning, stabbing pain shot through his meridians, causing his brows to furrow tightly. He had felt something was wrong when he used [Dark Moon Slaughter] earlier, and now, after interrupting [Moon Wheel Dance] midway, the feeling was even stronger.

’What’s going on? Could this be a side effect from cultivating with the Level 3 Magic Crystal last night?’ Feng Hao’s brow knitted as he sheathed his dagger, his expression turning grave.

By this time, Xiyue Frost had already run to Man Tiaotiao’s side. After feeding her a few Blood Recovery Pills, she shot Feng Hao an annoyed glance. "Couldn’t you have gone a little easier on her? Honestly."

"Exactly, exactly," Man Tiaotiao nodded in deep agreement.

Feng Hao was preoccupied with his meridian problem and was in no mood to banter with them. He replied coldly, "Stay out of my way from now on. And as for those four sets of materials, you can forget about getting them back."

"Fine, don’t give them back. Why are you being so fierce?" Man Tiaotiao pouted resentfully, blinking her eyes as she asked, "Hey, country bumpkin! How did you suddenly become level twenty-eight?"

"I was always level twenty-eight; your eyes were just playing tricks on you." Feng Hao couldn’t be bothered to explain to her. He pursed his lips and looked at Xiyue Frost. "Now you believe me, right?"

"Mhm." Xiyue Frost lowered her head, her cheeks flushing slightly, and her voice was as thin as a thread. "I... I’m sorry."

"Alright, seeing as you two are getting along well, I can rest easy." Feng Hao gave a small smile and turned to leave on his own. "I have to get to class. You two do whatever you want, just bother me less in the future."

Watching Feng Hao’s departing figure, Xiyue Frost suddenly felt a strange sense of loss, and she stood rooted to the spot in a daze.

"Xiaoshuang, what’s wrong with you?" Man Tiaotiao was still hung up on Feng Hao’s level. When she came back to her senses and saw Xiyue Frost spacing out, she couldn’t help but worry.

Xiyue Frost let out a soft sigh and forced a faint smile. "It’s nothing. Let’s go."

...

Feng Hao rushed to the classroom and, amidst the enthusiastic greetings of his classmates, took a seat at the very front. His mind was still preoccupied with the problem with his meridians, so much so that he didn’t even notice when Instructor Yang began her lecture.

Throughout the entire class, Feng Hao had no mind to listen. As the teacher, Yang Caide naturally noticed his unusual behavior and called him to her office after class ended.

"Why isn’t Houhuiyao here?" Yang Caide asked with a frown.

Feng Hao, snapping out of his daze, explained, "Oh, he reached a critical point in his cultivation last night, so he couldn’t make it."

"I see." Yang Caide nodded thoughtfully, then looked at him with a meaningful gaze. "Then let’s talk about you. Why weren’t you paying attention in class? Was my lecture not good?"

"No, no!" Feng Hao quickly shook his head and explained, "It seems there’s a problem with my meridians. Whenever I use my Magic Power, they hurt terribly. Do you know what might be causing it?"

"Hmm?" Yang Caide’s expression turned grim. She instinctively placed her hand on Feng Hao’s forehead and closed her eyes to examine him.