Chapter 55: Chapter 53: Big Business
Based on the skill’s stats, it had basically achieved Feng Hao’s original vision.
Feng Hao loved this method of creating his own skills. Unlike in a game where skills were fixed, this allowed for true customization.
This was undoubtedly a massive benefit for him. The Demon Pattern framework allowed him to accomplish many things that were impossible in the game.
For instance, creating the perfect Assassin build!
’Reality is even more amazing than a game.’ Feng Hao smiled to himself and left the Secret Technique Pavilion as everyone watched.
Back in the device room, Yue Linglong’s gorgeous figure stood waiting. When she saw Feng Hao, she hurried over to him.
"Teacher Yue, are you waiting for me?" Feng Hao asked curiously.
Yue Linglong smiled beautifully and took out a certificate bordered with gold thread. "Here. This is your letter of recommendation. With it, you can take the entrance exam for the Five Provinces Academy."
"Thanks!" Feng Hao accepted the letter with a nod.
"Also, the dean asked me to speak with you about your student registration." Yue Linglong paused, her brow furrowing. "I know you don’t want to officially enroll, but I still have to urge you not to miss the academy tournament."
Feng Hao was taken aback. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why? Are the rewards for this tournament that great?"
"Not exactly. The academy tournament is mainly for the primary academies. It’s the main way the major powers select outstanding talent. Many young geniuses emerge from the tournament each year," Yue Linglong explained honestly.
"If there are no rewards, what’s the point?" Feng Hao scoffed. "Besides, I’ve already decided to join the Thief God Hall."
Yue Linglong shook her head helplessly and continued to urge him, "What I mean is, you should meet some of the other talented young people. It will be very helpful for your future."
Feng Hao understood. ’It might be good to see what the other geniuses are like,’ he thought. But the problem was that the academy tournament was just for primary academies, and they didn’t even let third-year students compete. For him, there was basically no challenge.
"Thank you for the kind thought, Teacher Yue, but I’m really not interested in a competition that’s basically child’s play," Feng Hao said with a faint smile.
"You—" Yue Linglong was speechless with anger. She rolled her eyes and said, "The academy tournament brings together talented youths from the entire Ancient Cang Realm. The competition is incredibly fierce. Don’t think you can place well with that little bit of strength you have."
"Yeah, right. Reverse psychology doesn’t work on me," Feng Hao said with a teasing smile. "By the way, can I use this letter of recommendation this year?"
"You can use it any time within its three-year validity period," Yue Linglong replied, annoyed. She suddenly realized what he was implying and asked in shock, "You’re not thinking of going to the Advanced Academy this year, are you?"
Feng Hao grinned. "Congratulations, you guessed right."
"I’m not trying to put you down, but with your current strength, you’re not even strong enough to be last place at the Five Provinces Academy," Yue Linglong said, exasperated.
"Tch. I’m applying to the alchemy department. As long as my Alchemy Techniques aren’t at the bottom, I’ll be fine," Feng Hao said with a confident smile. He then added, "Besides, at my age, skipping a few grades is no big deal."
Hearing this, Yue Linglong remembered that Feng Hao was already twenty-one. It was indeed inappropriate for him to stay at a primary academy.
"In that case, I won’t say any more." Yue Linglong nodded slightly and reminded him, "This year’s entrance exam for the Five Provinces Academy is in a little over a month. You’d better do some serious preparation."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Feng Hao brushed it off and waved goodbye to Yue Linglong.
’Are you kidding me? With my Ninth-Level Alchemy Techniques, what do I need to prepare for?’
Back in his training pod, Feng Hao began to make the most of his time to cultivate. After all, his level was the most fundamental thing. That girl, Xi Yueyao, was still running wild outside, but with Chief Black Cat protecting her, she should be fine.
...
Over the next few days, Feng Hao tried to find ways to increase his proficiency with Moon Wheel Dance. Unfortunately, he had been explicitly banned from using the Monster Simulation Pod.
Feng Hao even went to argue his case with Zhao Hao, but the bastard insisted on using his student registration as blackmail.
With no other choice, he had to give up on the idea of using the Monster Simulator.
In a small grove on the back mountain, Feng Hao was coaching Xi Yueyao as usual. After this period of training, the girl’s mechanics were starting to look decent, and she had completely shed her newbie status.
Chief Black Cat was dozing off to the side, its tail twitching every now and then. It was the very picture of leisure.
Lately, Xi Yueyao no longer needed Feng Hao’s guidance and was doing great training on her own. Out of boredom, Feng Hao’s attention turned to Chief Black Cat. "Chief Black Cat, how about you stop concealing your aura and let me see your stats?"
Uncle Cat glanced at him, then held out a paw.
"..." Feng Hao was speechless. Annoyed, he tossed it a few Qi Recovery Pills. "There. Is that enough?"
"Meow~!" Chief Black Cat swallowed the Qi Recovery Pills in one gulp and nodded elegantly.
Feng Hao eagerly scanned it with his Crystal Eye and finally saw Chief Black Cat’s genetic data:
[Midnight Cat]
Genetic Level: 61
Evolutionary Path: Agility, Stealth, Strength
Qi Blood Value: 184,500
Vitality: 311
Strength: 4,660
Defense: 2,952
Speed: 1,830
Claw/Fang Damage: 377
Fur Protection: 42 (Dark Force Protection 12)
"Holy shit, these stats are basically a boss’s!" Feng Hao stared, dumbfounded.
One hundred eighty thousand Qi Blood and three thousand defense—just looking at the numbers was enough to make him despair. He did a rough calculation. With his current genetic data, it would be a miracle if one Dark Moon Slaughter could even deal a thousand damage, and that was with the advantage of Dark Force damage.
After all, with such high defense, the effect of the Dark Force Fifth Layer would be greatly weakened. The five strikes would also be subject to five instances of damage reduction.
And against 1,830 points of speed, hitting a weak point was out of the question. He’d be lucky to even touch the cat!
As the shock wore off, an idea suddenly struck Feng Hao. He sidled up to Chief Black Cat with a fawning smile, rubbing his hands together. "Brother Mao, how about you spar with me for a bit? Help me increase my Secret Technique proficiency?"
Chief Black Cat clearly understood what Feng Hao meant. Its emerald, slitted pupils filled with disdain, and it arrogantly turned its head away.
"I’ll make sure you have more than enough pills!" Feng Hao tempted it with a sly grin.
Sure enough, the moment it heard about the pills, Chief Black Cat was immediately interested. It rose elegantly to its feet, its soft, nimble tail swaying back and forth, striking a pose that practically screamed, ’I’m ready. Bring it on.’
"Haha, you’re a real sport, Brother Mao. In that case, I won’t hold back!" Feng Hao said, his eyes filled with excitement.
Chief Black Cat looked utterly contemptuous. It raised a paw and beckoned provocatively.
"Hey, looking down on me, are you? Take this!" Feng Hao yelled, charging straight at it.
Chief Black Cat was certainly strong, but Feng Hao was still pissed about being looked down on by a cat. Dual-wielding his Dark Moon Daggers, he spun forward and unleashed a Moon Wheel Dance.
As his Magic Power surged, both daggers unleashed arcs of black, crescent-shaped energy that spun and whistled, stirring up waves of air.
THUD! THUD!
Chief Black Cat made no move to dodge, tanking both hits from the Moon Wheel Dance. Its slitted pupils instantly widened into round circles as it looked at Feng Hao in mild surprise.
On his end, Feng Hao could clearly see the damage from his Moon Wheel Dance via the Crystal Eye:
377!
372!
The original ten hits had been reduced to only two. The follow-up damage from the Dark Force Fifth Layer had clearly been nullified by the cat’s defense.
’My damage output can’t even keep up with its health regeneration. It really is a boss-level creature,’ Feng Hao marveled.
Chief Black Cat was equally astonished. It had never imagined its defense could be broken by a level-twenty human Mage, even if the damage felt like nothing more than a tickle.
Meanwhile, Xi Yueyao quickly noticed the commotion and ran over, shouting excitedly, "Go, Miaomiao! Beat up that pill-peddling punk!"
"Go practice your mechanics somewhere else." Feng Hao shot her an annoyed glare, then turned back and unleashed a wild flurry of attacks on Chief Black Cat, alternating between Dark Moon Slaughter and Moon Wheel Dance to maximize his efficiency.
After its brief moment of surprise, Chief Black Cat paid him no further mind, simply letting Feng Hao give it a "massage."
After a full three hours, his proficiency in Moon Wheel Dance had finally risen to 38 points. The progress was a bit slow, but there was no helping it. The skill had an eight-second cooldown, so unlike Dark Moon Slaughter, he couldn’t just spam it mindlessly.
Just as his daily training session was about to end, Miao Feng unexpectedly rushed over.
"Shouldn’t you be at home refining medicine? What are you doing here?" Feng Hao asked with a frown, right in the middle of his grind.
Miao Feng panted slightly. "S-Senior Brother, a group of people came to the shop. They say they have some big business to discuss."
"Hm?" Feng Hao paused. "Who are they?"
"They didn’t say," Miao Feng said after a moment’s thought. "But from the way they’re dressed, they must be from out of town."
"Alright, I’ll go back with you and see." Feng Hao nodded, his brow furrowed. He said goodbye to Xi Yueyao and Chief Black Cat, then hurried back to the Miao Medicine Tower with Miao Feng.
...
