Under pressure, Lu Chen was grinding diligently.

He started with 2-Star quality monsters, then moved on to others.

[Defeated a particularly burly Gnoll (Level 6), captured 70 points of Ambient Spiritual Qi, obtained 1 Tier-2 Talent Shard, and gained 1 2-Star Quality Evolution Point.]

[Defeated a particularly agile Gnoll (Level 6), captured 70 points of Ambient Spiritual Qi, obtained 1 Tier-2 Talent Shard, and gained 1 2-Star Quality Evolution Point.]

[Ding, acquired item "Damaged Gnoll Club"]

"Hehe, another 300 bucks, I'll take it!" Lu Chen glanced briefly at the equipment and continued grinding.

Previously, he didn't dare to take on the particularly strong Level 6 Gnoll, but after leveling up, he felt confident.

Both sides had the same attack, but Lu Chen had higher attack speed and health, so he wasn't intimidated at all.

[Defeated a particularly strong Gnoll (Level 6), captured 70 points of Ambient Spiritual Qi, obtained 1 Tier-2 Talent Shard, and gained 1 2-Star Quality Evolution Point.]

"Not bad, three materials now. Hopefully, players will come later so I can boost my agility and physique."

Having dealt with the toughest opponent, the other monsters were easy to grind.

After leveling up, Lu Chen's attack power increased further, and with the talent upgrade, his 14% critical hit chance was quite impressive. He was grinding much faster, and three hours later, Lu Chen had gathered 40 2-Star Quality Evolution Points.

"Should I upgrade agility or physique first?" Lu Chen pondered for a moment and made an unconventional choice.

He upgraded agility first!

This decision was made after careful consideration.

While grinding here, his health was more than sufficient, and he could recover stamina and health simultaneously. Increasing physique wouldn't improve grinding efficiency.

However, upgrading agility would enhance his movement and attack speed, speeding up his grinding process.

After lunch, Lu Chen cautiously logged back in.

"Hmm? No players here yet? What's going on..." Lu Chen was a bit puzzled, "Maybe they just haven't come to this area."

Since no players were around, Lu Chen continued grinding.

With his agility upgraded, Lu Chen's efficiency increased even further.

Find the original at "pawread.com".

Two hours and forty-five minutes later, Lu Chen had collected another 40 2-Star Evolution Points.

"Haha, finally gathered them all! Time to upgrade my star level!"

[Character Bound: Lu Chen]

[Character: Particularly Strong, Particularly Agile, Particularly Burly Gnoll]

[Quality (2-Star Perfect): Base Strength, Agility, Physique increased by 100%]

[Level: 6 (Upgrade Progress: 17833/20000)]

[Physical Strength: Strength: 20, Agility: 20, Physique: 20]

[Attack Power: Physical Attack 36-39]

[Defense: Physical Defense 10]

[Health: 650]

[Talent "Inferior Werewolf Bloodline" (Tier-2): Normal attacks have a chance to critically hit, 14% chance for double critical hit.]

[Talent Evolution Shard: 0/80 (3-Star Shard)]

[Quality Evolution Points: 0/80 (3-Star Evolution Points)]

[Monster Reputation: 0]

"Haha, 2-Star Perfect! I've got 650 health now!" Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction, "I can still evolve, I wonder what the next star level will bring?"

With each star upgrade, Lu Chen's base attributes increased significantly, and he was increasingly looking forward to the next star level.

Maybe, he could even evolve from a weak Gnoll into... a BOSS!

Of course, that's just a "maybe," no one knows what he will ultimately evolve into.

After the star upgrade, Lu Chen's name above his head was a bit intimidating, stretching over two meters long...

"Damn... can't this thing be hidden? Does it have to be so flashy?"

Players could hide their IDs, but it seemed he didn't have that option...

"Whatever, just a bit more experience to reach level seven, let's level up first!"

With over two thousand experience points needed, it wasn't difficult for Lu Chen, who had the wild area all to himself. His only concern, the players, still hadn't shown up in the area.

An hour later, Lu Chen successfully leveled up.

After leveling up, each of his three attributes increased by 2 points, base attack increased by 2, and base health increased by 50!

"Attack power is now 40-43, and health is 740, haha, awesome!"

After leveling up, Lu Chen needed a break. Seven hours of continuous grinding had left him a bit fatigued.

"It's better not to log off here, just in case players find me when I log back in." Lu Chen was still worried about players intruding, "Let's go somewhere further away."

Gnolls were already quite dense in this area, but as Lu Chen moved towards the foothills, he found the monsters even denser!

Not only denser, but also higher level, with more special monsters.

"Damn, they're all level 7 or 8."

The denser the monsters, the safer it was for Lu Chen.

"Alright, let's settle here, sell some equipment, and get some sleep."

Lu Chen found a large rock on a high ridge and sat down to organize his backpack.

However, just as he sat down, he saw a big guy appear on the other side of the slope!

The creature had a menacing face, larger than the particularly strong Gnoll beside it, standing at least over two meters tall!

With thick arms, pure black hard fur, baring its teeth and drooling, its blood-red eyes like copper bells constantly scanning the surroundings.

Even the club it carried on its shoulder was a size larger than the others!

Beside it were five particularly XX special Gnolls, each level 7!

"Damn, level 8... Elite Monster!" Lu Chen's heart raced.

The creature had a name above its head.

Gnoll Commander Quinn Zakas.

"Damn, it's a named Elite Monster, and I don't even have a name!"

This was the highest quality wild monster he had ever encountered! And it was also a high level, level 8!

"Damn, with so many subordinates, five 2-Star monsters, over a dozen 1-Star monsters, and so many high-level monsters, if a regular player came here, an entire squad would get wiped out!"

After seeing the creature, Lu Chen lost the mood to deal with equipment.

A crazy thought kept popping into his mind.

Elite Monsters have a much higher drop rate than regular monsters, almost guaranteed to drop equipment! But the equipment wasn't the main point, the main point was, this creature was very likely to drop 3-Star materials!

"This one's attributes must be even more insane, and it's a higher level than me... definitely can't take it down!" The last bit of rationality told Lu Chen.

This didn't match his "cautious" style.

However, who wouldn't want to take down an Elite Monster when they see one!

"Any ideas? Think fast..." Lu Chen instinctively checked his backpack.

Four healing potions, which were definitely not enough in quantity, and the cooldown time wouldn't keep up.

The rest were 17 clubs, waiting to be thrown onto the Trading Platform.

Unfortunately, Lu Chen's luck wasn't great this time, with three small epic items, all primarily boosting agility.

The rest were just a bunch of low-star upgrade materials.

There were over 1100 0-Star, 280 1-Star, 18 2-Star, and all the 3-Star materials were Talent Shards, totaling 12, all synthesized from 2-Star Talent Shards.

"This isn't enough for me to upgrade my star level..."

Lu Chen frowned.

But at that moment, he suddenly stared at a line of description on the 570 Tier-0 Talent Shards, and was stunned.

[Sell: Gain 57 Monster Reputation.]

"Monster Reputation..." Lu Chen repeated thoughtfully.