Chapter 453 - 450: Departure
Chapter 453: Chapter 450: Departure
Sun Yaowen watched from the side, feeling a pang of regret. For someone like him, hopelessly addicted to research, Feng Hao’s decision was a genuine shame.
But there was nothing to be done about it. After all, Feng Hao could go much further on the path of a Mage.
After giving Miao Feng some pointers, Feng Hao turned his attention back to Sun Yaowen. He pondered for a moment before speaking. "The only thing left is human testing, right?"
"Don’t worry. I tested it on myself the moment the research was a success." Sun Yaowen said with a smug expression. "Haven’t you noticed any change in me?"
Feng Hao was taken aback for a moment. After a closer look, he realized that Sun Yaowen had broken through his bottleneck and advanced to become an Eighth-rank Mage.
With that, the golden liquid’s effects were officially confirmed. After a heated discussion, at Feng Hao’s mischievous suggestion, it was ultimately named Miracle-Gold.
Once the name was decided, Feng Hao began to carefully review the experimental data and detailed production process for Miracle-Gold.
Thanks to his experience from the initial research phase, Feng Hao quickly mastered the method for creating Miracle-Gold.
"By the way, Old Sun, what do you plan to do with Miracle-Gold? Are you going to contribute it to the Student Union Headquarters, like you did with the Magic Toxin Antidote?" Feng Hao asked, looking up.
"As if!" Sun Yaowen said with a dismissive smile. "I only gave the Magic Toxin Antidote to the Student Union Headquarters for the sake of the Warriors on the Extraterritorial Defense Line. There’s no such need for Miracle-Gold."
"Besides, Miracle-Gold is of immense significance. If its existence were made public, it would inevitably attract the covetous attention of every major power. We need to think about this carefully and make a long-term plan."
Feng Hao nodded in understanding. Just as Sun Yaowen had said, Miracle-Gold was an incredible temptation to the major powers. After all, no faction was short on Mages stuck at a bottleneck. And once those Mages broke through, their faction’s overall strength would increase dramatically.
This was especially true for Mages stuck at level ninety-nine. If they broke through their bottleneck, it would be a fundamental transformation!
Furthermore, the reason Mages encounter bottlenecks is largely due to using Magic Beast Crystal Cores to guide their talent advancements. One method relies on random chance, while the other is a deliberate choice. Thus, even knowing that guided advancements would leave behind negative side effects, countless people still rushed to do it.
But with Miracle-Gold, they would no longer need to worry about bottlenecks, and could choose whatever branch talents they wanted or needed without any reservations.
Just think about it: between a Mage who relies entirely on randomly awakened talents and one who has meticulously selected guided talents, who would be more powerful?
This was Miracle-Gold’s greatest value. This alone was enough to drive any power in the universe into a frenzy!
...
After returning to the general store, Feng Hao settled into a peaceful daily routine.
He spent his days with Yao Girl and his nights peacefully cultivating. In his spare time, he tinkered with mechanical research and honed his forging skills. As for the general store’s business, aside from some creepy old men who would show up in the evenings, there were hardly any other customers.
「Three months passed in the blink of an eye.」
Not much of note happened during those three months. Every day was filled with laughter and joy, and before he knew it, Feng Hao’s level had risen to fifty-one.
Additionally, both Xi Yueyao and her sister advanced to become Fifth-rank Mages.
Xi Yueyao’s fifth-rank talent awakened as "+1 Strength per point of Magic Power." It was neither good nor bad. However, when Feng Hao grafted his own "+25 Qi Blood per point of Magic Power" talent onto her, it resulted in a transformative boost.
As for the withdrawn Xiyue Frost, she awakened an Ice-attribute enhancement talent. While it greatly amplified her Frost Bloodline, it was very difficult to find a suitable, synergistic talent to pair with it.
Beyond that, Feng Hao accomplished a lot during these three months. For instance, he contacted Earth and reminded them to build up their people’s solidarity. He also ventured into the Sixth Secret Realm with Zhang Meng and his two followers.
It had to be said, the Sixth Origin Secret Realm was truly dangerous. Even a team of five found it hellishly difficult.
Additionally, Feng Hao made a special trip back to Rongcheng with the two sisters to meet his future father-in-law and pay a visit to the Old City Lord.
The Old City Lord was very concerned about the events in Five States City. He spoke with Feng Hao for a long time and revealed some strange information to him.
Before Feng Hao left, the Old City Lord specifically instructed him to be sure to return for a visit after reaching level one hundred.
After they returned to Five States City from Rongcheng, his departure was imminent. Yao Girl had clearly realized this too. She became incredibly clingy and docile, sticking to his side every day.
On the night before his departure, after coaxing Yao Girl to sleep, Feng Hao carefully slipped out of the general store.
An hour earlier, he had received a message from Xiyue Frost, asking to meet him at their usual spot.
Although he didn’t know why Xiyue Frost wanted to see him so late at night, she was his future sister-in-law, after all. Besides, Feng Hao himself wanted to have a proper, heart-to-heart talk with her before he left.
WHOOSH—!
The Mansa Vehicle streaked across the night sky like a beam of light before landing smoothly at their usual meeting spot.
Xiyue Frost stood elegantly at the cliff’s edge, her back to Feng Hao. Bathed in moonlight, she looked particularly captivating.
"You’re here?" Xiyue Frost slowly turned, a rare smile gracing her exquisite face—a smile of breathtaking beauty.
Feng Hao stared, momentarily lost in a daze, and could only give an absentminded nod.
"How about a match?" At some point, Xiyue Frost had drawn her greatsword, she asked with a charming smile.
In that moment, Feng Hao seemed to understand what was on her mind. He smiled and met her gaze. They both understood what the other was feeling, but by unspoken agreement, they chose not to voice it.
"I’m leaving tomorrow. A match sounds good." Feng Hao gave a faint smile and drew his Su Mu Dagger.
With that said, Feng Hao shot forward.
The battle ignited instantly. Flashes of blade and sword-light crisscrossed as frost and shadow weaved through the air. Under the moonlight, the scene was like a beautiful, moving scroll...
The battle ended, but no victor was decided.
The two sat side-by-side on the roof of the Mansa Vehicle. For a long time, neither spoke, simply enjoying the quiet tranquility of the moment.
An unknown amount of time passed—perhaps a minute, perhaps a century. Xiyue Frost slowly rose to her feet. She gazed up at the twin moons overhead, her eyes filled with a happiness and contentment he had never seen before.
"Tomorrow... I won’t come to see you off. Be careful on your journey." With that, she leaped lightly from the vehicle’s roof and slowly walked away.
A tremor went through Feng Hao’s heart, and he couldn’t help but call out, "Xiaoshuang."
Xiyue Frost’s body trembled, and she froze in place. After a long, conflicted pause, as if steeling her resolve, she began to walk again. Her steps were flustered and hurried, and she quickly vanished into the darkness.
It took Feng Hao a long while to come to his senses as he watched her retreating figure. He glanced up at the twin moons in the night sky and let out a long, sudden sigh...
It was late in the night when he returned to the general store. Yao Girl was sound asleep, looking intoxicatingly adorable.
Feng Hao carefully lay down beside her. He didn’t cultivate, nor did he sleep. He just lay there, quietly watching her sleep.
...
The next morning, a large crowd had gathered outside the general store. There was Miao Feng, Yue Linglong, Zhang Meng and his two followers, Bai Yin, and more. In addition, there were the Xie Kuangfeng siblings, as well as the couple, Man Tiaotiao and Yun Jiansong.
Without exception, all of them were there to see Feng Hao off.
PS: We’ve hit one million words without me even realizing it! Thanks to all you players for your continued support. Starting tomorrow, we’ll be officially entering Version 10.2. The real story is just getting started, so I hope you’ll all continue to show your support.
Also, subscriptions have been dropping like a rock lately. If it’s because the writing is bad, please feel free to leave some suggestions in the review section. West Mountain will do his best to make corrections and turn over a new leaf.
After saying all that, I still hope that any players who are able to will subscribe. After all, this is a game, right? If you don’t spend money (on subscriptions), how can our boy Feng Hao get any stronger? ;)