The Strongest Talent Tree

Chapter 72: Chapter 70: Handling a Gun for the First Time

West Moon Ridge was a Seventh Rank Mage, after all, so her reactions were swift. The moment she turned back, she frantically tried to steer away and dodge, but unfortunately, the Ghost Eagle was clearly aiming for them. There was no escape.

’Damn it, we’ve flown right into a Tier Eight Ghost Eagle’s territory!’ West Moon Ridge cursed inwardly, her expression turning ugly.

If they had encountered it on the ground, West Moon Ridge naturally wouldn’t have feared it. As a Seventh Rank Mage who had returned from tracing her lineage, teaching a lesson to a magical beast that had just reached Tier Eight would have been a simple matter.

The problem was, they had run into it in the air. The Ghost Eagle was a flying magical beast, and its combat power in the sky was terrifying.

It was no exaggeration to say that even a Ninth-rank Mage would have to retreat if they encountered a Tier Eight Ghost Eagle in the sky. Otherwise, they might very well be toyed with until they were killed. This was a perfect example of the saying, "A tiger in the open plains can be bullied by a dog."

After all, before reaching level 100, Mages couldn’t fly on their own. Fighting a flying magical beast in the air was just asking for a beatdown.

"SCREEE~~~!"

The Ghost Eagle closed in fast. Its wings, spanning nearly a hundred meters, whipped up a furious gale that sent the Magic Energy Flying Vehicle rocking violently.

Just as the Magic Energy Flying Vehicle was about to fall, West Moon Ridge hastily channeled the Magic Power in her body into the control system. She activated the emergency defenses, forming a pale blue Energy Shield around the vehicle’s body, which quickly stabilized it.

"Hold on tight. Get ready to find a chance to land." In this moment of crisis, West Moon Ridge was unusually calm. She reminded Feng Hao and Xiyue Frost in a deep voice while skillfully piloting the vehicle to evade the Ghost Eagle’s pursuit.

Feng Hao gripped the handrail tightly, trying his best to keep his balance. Every so often, he would see a dark red shadow flash past the window. A tense and oppressive atmosphere filled the entire cabin.

The Ghost Eagle, also known as the Killer Eagle, was primarily found in the northwestern part of the Ancient Cang Realm. It was massive and extremely aggressive. As long as any living creature intruded upon its airspace, the Ghost Eagle would attack without hesitation. Ever since humanity developed flight technology, the Ghost Eagle had become the main culprit behind most air disasters.

In recent years, due to extermination campaigns by humans, not many Ghost Eagles were left. They just never expected to run into one.

"Once we land, try to hide yourselves. I’m going to pluck this thing bald today!"

West Moon Ridge was no pushover. Being bullied like this by a newly-advanced Tier Eight Ghost Eagle had already sent her into a rage. She only wished she were a Gun Magic Master or a Bow and Arrow Mage; otherwise, she could have started the fight right there in the air.

"I have two Magic Energy Guns here for self-defense. Use them to distract the Ghost Eagle and provide cover for our landing."

As she spoke, West Moon Ridge took out two uniquely designed, silver Magic Energy Guns from her Spatial Ring and tossed one to Feng Hao and the other to Xiyue Frost.

Feng Hao was a bit stunned as he caught the Magic Energy Gun. He couldn’t figure out why West Moon Ridge would have something like this. ’Aren’t these things exclusive to Gun Magic Masters?’

"What are you spacing out for? Help Auntie with some cover fire!" Xiyue Frost cried out, immediately sliding open the window and starting to shoot.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Pale blue Energy Bullets shot out from the muzzle, tracing beautiful arcs of light in the air, as dazzling as fireworks.

"Uh, right." Feng Hao, momentarily startled, quickly raised the Magic Energy Gun and prepared to fire.

As he slid open his window, he subconsciously scanned the weapon with his Divine Sense. The gun’s stats left him dumbfounded:

[Holy Hall Special-Issue One-Handed Magic Energy Gun] (Tier Seven)

Magic Damage: 8024

Focus Assist: 125

Energy Penetration: 37

Charge Speed: 1.8 seconds

Consumption: 102

Weight: 235

’No wonder they say Gun Magic Masters have high damage. You can dish out a ton of damage with this thing without even specializing in magic damage,’ Feng Hao complained silently.

Based on his current attack speed tolerance, he could just barely handle this Magic Energy Gun. Fortunately, Magic Energy Guns only cared about charge speed; attack speed didn’t really affect them. As for Feng Hao’s 147 points of magic damage, that was basically negligible.

’Damn it, with a Divine Artifact in hand, let’s see if I don’t shoot you to pieces!’

Feeling confident, Feng Hao didn’t waste any time. He directly activated [Black Pupil] as a support ability. Although doubling his presence concealment wouldn’t be enough to evade the Ghost Eagle’s Divine Sense, it would at least reduce the attention it paid to him.

Besides, the Magic Energy Gun had 125 points of Focus Assist, which meant it boosted his Divine Sense attribute by 125%, greatly improving his aiming ability.

"Here goes!"

Magic Power surged into the charging chamber. After a short 1.8 seconds, it was fully charged. He pulled the trigger, and a pale blue light bullet shot out in an instant. Unfortunately, the Ghost Eagle was too fast, and the shot missed.

Feng Hao wasn’t discouraged. Instead, he became extremely interested. He casually took out a few Qi Recovery Pills and popped them into his mouth, then began firing like a madman.

"Here, take some Qi Recovery Pills to replenish your energy. Don’t be stingy with your Magic Power." Feng Hao didn’t forget about Xiyue Frost. As he swallowed his own Qi Recovery Pills, he tossed a handful to her.

Xiyue Frost glanced back at Feng Hao, her eyes filled with a complicated emotion. But in this urgent situation, she couldn’t afford to dwell on it. She hastily grabbed a Qi Recovery Pill and put it in her mouth. The powerful restorative effects of the Tier Five Qi Recovery Pill quickly refilled her Magic Power.

With a plentiful supply of Qi Recovery Pills, the two of them didn’t have to worry about Magic Power at all. They took aim at the Ghost Eagle and unleashed a barrage of shots. Although their accuracy was extremely low, a few shots were bound to hit. After a while, they managed to chip away a good amount of the Ghost Eagle’s Qi Blood.

Under the cover of their fire, the Magic Energy Flying Vehicle slowly descended and was about to land.

Meanwhile, Chief Black Cat wasn’t idle either. As a Tier Six Magical Beast, it had a decent amount of combat power. Although its strength was limited in its petite form, it was still much stronger than Feng Hao and Xiyue Frost.

"Meeow~!"

As it meowed, it spat several magic energy spikes out the window. Its accuracy was clearly much better than Feng Hao and Xiyue Frost’s, and its damage was much higher too. It would occasionally sneak a few Qi Recovery Pills and seemed to be having the time of its life shooting.

"Stay in the car and don’t come out! Miaomiao, come with me, we’re gonna fuck this thing up!"

The vehicle landed with a crash in a sparse patch of forest, and West Moon Ridge immediately rushed out, unable to wait any longer.

Chief Black Cat also leaped out of the window with a WHOOSH, instantly returning to its normal size. It threw its head back and roared nonstop, madly provoking the Ghost Eagle.

The Ghost Eagle was already ferocious by nature. How could it tolerate a Tier Six wildcat acting so arrogantly right under its nose? With a vicious screech, it dove down.

This was exactly what West Moon Ridge had been waiting for. With her Longsword in hand, she swung it, sending out several blasts of Sword Qi. The moment the Ghost Eagle dove, she directly unleashed her bloodline talent. A howling Ice Domain instantly enveloped the Ghost Eagle.

Chief Black Cat was no slouch either. It leaped between the trees like a phantom, and seeing an opportunity, lunged in for a vicious bite. It soon had a mouthful of feathers.

"SCREEE—!"

The Ghost Eagle was caught off guard. It wanted to beat its wings and take to the sky, but it was pinned down by Chief Black Cat and the Ice Domain.

"Now that you’re down here, you’d better stay down for me."

West Moon Ridge no longer had any trace of her usual gentle, matronly demeanor. She had completely transformed into a ferocious tigress. As her Longsword whistled through the air, countless ice flowers bloomed within the Ice Domain, shredding the Ghost Eagle like a merciless Blizzard.

In a flash of cold light, the Ghost Eagle’s left wing shattered inch by inch into countless shards of ice, completely robbing it of its ability to fly.

The enraged Ghost Eagle began to struggle frantically. It was a Tier Eight Magical Beast, after all, and its destructive power when enraged was still terrifying.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The intense battle razed the surrounding forest to the ground. Waves of energy blasted out, shoving the Magic Energy Flying Vehicle far into the distance.

Inside the cabin, Feng Hao was shaken until he was dizzy. Unwittingly, he ended up piled on top of Xiyue Frost. The soft, warm feeling made his heart race, and at the same time, the atmosphere instantly froze.

"Utterly shameless!" Xiyue Frost’s face was like ice as two words squeezed through her clenched teeth.

PS: Just a small patch. I was sorting out the settings in my sleep yesterday and realized that the two talents, "Lifting the Heavy as if it were Light" and "Lifting the Light as if it were Heavy," were a bit illogical. After racking my brain, I finally came up with a better explanation. "Lifting the Heavy as if it were Light" is changed from "+1 attack speed per point of weight" to "+1 damage per point of weight." "Lifting the Light as if it were Heavy" is changed from "damage is doubled if weight is below 200" to "damage is doubled if weight is below your Strength attribute." This explanation seems a bit more reasonable.

The previous Chapters have already been modified. New readers can just ignore this. Old readers, please update the game data in your heads.