Could her double standard be any more obvious?

Slash!

Charge!

Stomp!

With its hundreds of compound eyes, the Golden Arthropod could see through any target with stealth no higher than level 2.

Even Qin Feng couldn't escape its detection.

And yet...

No matter what attacks this Gold Tier boss unleashed, none of them could hit Qin Feng!

Compared to a special boss like the Golden Ghost Ship, the Golden Arthropod was clearly much easier to handle.

Qin Feng even had plenty of room to spare as he dodged its attacks.

Whenever his skills came off cooldown, he immediately fired them back, stripping away a sixth of the boss's health each time.

Just over a minute later...

Under the shocked, disbelieving gazes of Gray Rose and the others...

The Gold Tier boss actually turned and fled!

But Qin Feng was too fast!

The Golden Arthropod had only made it a little over two hundred meters into the forest before Qin Feng caught up and finished it off!

[You have killed 'Golden Arthropod (Lv. 8, Gold Tier)'.]

[You have gained 6,400 experience points.]

[You have gained 7 evolution points!]

[You have gained 497 days of lifespan (tradable).]

Before Gray Rose and the others caught up, Qin Feng immediately used Greedy Hand.

[You have gained 7 evolution points!]

[You have gained 7 evolution points!]

[You have gained 7 evolution points!]

[You have gained 497 days of lifespan (tradable).]

[...]

The string of system notifications left Qin Feng feeling thoroughly satisfied.

One Gold Tier boss gave me 28 evolution points and nearly 2,000 days of tradable lifespan!

The combined effects of Greedy Hand and the Ghostfire Bell let Qin Feng progress far faster than ordinary players.

As for experience...

Going from level 9 to level 10 only required ten thousand experience points.

But going from level 10 to level 11 required a hundred thousand.

These 6,400 experience points were a lot, but still not enough for Qin Feng to level up...

When Qin Feng checked the loot, his eyes immediately lit up.

[Blacklight Shield (Platinum Tier): Assassin Skills. When activated, converts all your Evasion Rate into Damage Immunity Shield layers for 8 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds. Required level: 8.]

[Conversion rate: Every 20% evasion grants 1 Damage Immunity Shield layer!]

(Once the shield breaks or its duration expires, Evasion Rate returns to normal!)

This skill book actually dropped?

With this skill, I can defeat plenty of bosses without taking any damage... especially the bosses on the Godforsaken Continent!

Qin Feng was pleasantly surprised.

He learned it immediately!

With the effects of Ghostly Blur, which he had already learned and evolved to Epic Grade, he currently had a passive 75% evasion chance.

After using Blacklight Shield, he would gain three Damage Immunity Shield layers.

In other words, no matter how much damage his opponent dealt, Qin Feng could negate the first three attacks he took!

Not just for fighting bosses, but for exploring ruins and maps, too...

With this skill, I can even explore plenty of high-level areas ahead of schedule!

Qin Feng didn't hesitate.

He immediately spent 1 + 2 + 3 evolution points, six in total, to evolve the skill to Epic Grade!

[Blacklight Shield (Platinum Tier → Epic Tier): Assassin Skills. Damage Immunity Shield duration: 8 → 10 → 12 → 14 seconds.]

[Conversion rate: Every 20% → 15% → 12% → 10% evasion grants 1 Damage Immunity Shield layer!]

Once activated, the Epic Grade Blacklight Shield could convert Qin Feng's 75% evasion chance into seven Damage Immunity Shield layers!

Evolving Blacklight Shield again requires 50 evolution points...

This is enough for now.

Qin Feng had 22 evolution points left.

He first spent 3 + 5 + 8 evolution points, sixteen in total, to evolve Deadly Poison Dart three times.

[Deadly Poison Dart (Silver Tier → Jade Tier): Maximum range: 14 → 17 meters. Adds 120 → 240 attack on hit.]

[Deadly poison: Deals 50% → 80% damage per second, with no weak-point bonus. Lasts 5 seconds. Does not stack.]

After three evolutions, Deadly Poison Dart's damage had at least doubled!

Since the skill's base cooldown was only five seconds, its sustained damage output was no weaker than Instant Shadow Slash's.

I've got six evolution points left. I'll have to save them for now.

Aside from skills, the Golden Arthropod also dropped two pieces of equipment Qin Feng could use.

[Lightweight Ring (Platinum Tier): Assassin-class accessory. Agility +20. Movement speed +20%, attack speed +20%, cooldown recovery speed +20%. Equipment requirement: Level 8.]

[Heavy Red Leather Gloves (Gold Tier): Assassin-class armor. Physical defense +18, all elemental resistances +15. Constitution +12, health +588. Equipment requirement: Level 6.]

After swapping in both pieces of equipment, Qin Feng's cooldown recovery speed reached 55%!

Instant Shadow Slash, which originally had a twelve-second cooldown, now only needed 7.7 seconds!

In addition, Qin Feng's constitution, defense, and health were all higher.

51 constitution, 106 physical defense, and 1,517 health!

With these stats, I could survive two or three hits even from that Golden Arthropod.

As for the level 5 Golden Ghost Ship from before, even its full-screen skill at half health couldn't kill me.

Besides, I also have a passive 75% Evasion Rate.

Qin Feng put away his backpack.

Half of his limited inventory slots were filled again...

Only then did Gray Rose catch up with her three remaining teammates.

When she saw the Golden Arthropod's corpse lying in front of Qin Feng, she was stunned beyond words!

"An expert really is an expert. You actually soloed this boss."

Admiration and anticipation shone in Gray Rose's beautiful eyes. "So, any equipment or skills I can use? I'd like to buy some!"

"For a mage, there's a Gold-Tier Skill book, Frost Ricochet."

Qin Feng glanced through his backpack, took out a skill book with an icy blue cover, and showed it to her. "An area-of-effect skill. It launches an ice orb that ricochets up to ten times... eight hundred days, firm."

Loot dropped by a level 8 boss had level requirements ranging from 6 to 8.

This Frost Ricochet skill book was a level 7 skill book.

Naturally, higher-level skills and equipment had higher stats!

Even though both were Gold Tier skills, level 7 Frost Ricochet dealt over 40% more damage than level 5 Frost Ricochet.

Of course.

The same skill couldn't be learned twice. A higher-level version could only overwrite a lower-level one...

"Eight hundred days? That's way too expensive..."

Gray Rose gave a bitter smile.

But looking at the stats of the skill book Qin Feng had brought out, she couldn't quite bring herself to give it up. After all, Frost Ricochet would greatly speed up her leveling!

Against a large pack of monsters, this skill would deal explosive damage!

In the end, after considering it for half a minute, Gray Rose approached her teammates again and borrowed all their lifespan.

"Eight hundred days. Deal!"

[You have lost 'Frost Ricochet (Gold Tier skill book)'!]

[You have gained 800 days of lifespan (tradable)!]

As the system notifications sounded, Qin Feng turned and left.

He planned to return to town and post a notice offering to buy information on the locations of Silver Grade and Gold Tier bosses.

Thirty days for a Silver Grade boss, a hundred days for a Gold Tier boss.

That way, Qin Feng would have an endless supply of bosses to kill, maximizing his rate of progress!

It was only after Qin Feng killed the Golden Arthropod and sold Frost Ricochet that he received a private message from Wang Meng.

What the hell? Qin Xiaoyou wants to give me a Bronze Tier skill book?

Qin Feng was speechless and refused outright!

Most people out there were now speculating that Dark Shadow had killed Song Fei.

Given Qin Xiaoyou's personality...

If Qin Feng had killed Song Fei, Qin Xiaoyou would absolutely have come after him with everything she had.

But when Dark Shadow killed Song Fei, Qin Xiaoyou wasn't angry at all-and even wanted to give him a skill book?!

Could her double standard be any more obvious?