No one could see it, but Qin Feng was sneering.
The first time he encountered this "Ya Li," he hadn't recognized her. After all, he had met countless people in his previous life; how could he remember everyone? But when he heard the name "Dajiang Industries," it clicked.
The young woman in front of him, acting all high and mighty, was Jiang Li, the daughter of the chairman of Dajiang Industries.
In his previous life, Jiang Li had committed numerous ruthless acts.
For example...
She would buy tradable lifespan with cash, and once back in reality, she would not only refuse to pay but would pretend to hand over the money while secretly plotting to kill the person in real life!
At least ten people had fallen victim to her schemes.
By then, society had already descended into chaos.
Murders in reality had become common.
And with the tradable lifespan she acquired, combined with her status as a hidden class player, Jiang Li quickly rose to power.
Qin Feng recalled that it wasn't until the fourth or fifth year of the Forsaken Game's arrival that she finally met her downfall...
Of course, none of this had much to do with him.
In his previous life, he had been focused on protecting Qin Xiaoyou, so his early progression was slow, and he had little interaction with Jiang Li.
As for now, Qin Feng had no reason to believe her lies.
One million RMB?
Sure, the money might be useful right now, but only if he survived long enough to claim it.
Although Qin Feng was stronger than everyone in the Forsaken Game at the moment, in reality, he was still just an ordinary person.
Dajiang Industries had plenty of thugs at their disposal.
Would Qin Feng dare to go collect that cash?
Doing so would be a death sentence!
"Besides, cash will soon lose its value in this world."
"Very soon, the global currency will become—lifespan!"
And so, Qin Feng remained indifferent.
He wasn't even interested in dealing with Jiang Li in front of him.
His cold attitude left Jiang Li stunned. She hadn't expected him to completely ignore the temptation of a million RMB.
Jiang Li frowned and said, "Shadow. You may be strong in this game, but no one knows what's really going on yet. If you stick with me, I can guarantee you a life of luxury. Cars, houses, women—you can have it all!"
Qin Feng waved his hand dismissively. "If you're not buying anything, move aside. Don't interrupt my business."
"You!"
Jiang Li was so angry she almost exploded.
She had always been her family's precious princess, and as the beloved daughter of the chairman of Dajiang Industries, no one had ever dared to slight her. Who would have the audacity to treat her like this?
For the first time in her life, Jiang Li had been treated with such disregard!
A flash of malice flickered in her eyes, but she quickly masked it.
She forced a smile. "Fine, since you're not interested, forget it."
She turned and walked away, her face darkening once more.
Qin Feng watched her leave but didn't pay her much mind.
"Right now, no one knows that tradable lifespan can be used to extract equipment and skills into the real world."
"No one realizes that the Forsaken Game will bring chaos to the real world."
"True strength is the only thing that matters…"
As for Jiang Li, her pride in the backing of Dajiang Industries would soon become irrelevant.
...
After leaving the central plaza of Shell Town, Jiang Li was plotting how to uncover Qin Feng's true identity.
At that moment, a young man with tattoos on his arms approached her.
"Sister Li, I'm Mao Lijun, but you can call me Old Mao," the young man said with a sly grin. "I'm level 2 now, and I know a few tricks for leveling up. Does the offer for that million still stand?"
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow. "Tricks? What tricks?"
The young man, codenamed "Old Mao," immediately replied, "I don't usually share this info, but for you, Sister Li, I'll show some sincerity. To level up quickly in this game, you need to put all your starting attribute points into Agility."
"That way, when you sprint, you'll be just fast enough to outrun the Crawlers... Do you get what I'm saying?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li felt like she had just had an epiphany.
But soon, her brows furrowed again.
She had already allocated all her initial 5 attribute points into Strength, thinking that higher damage would solve everything.
But now she was overwhelmed by the hordes of Crawlers...
"Fine, take me to level up."
Without hesitation, Jiang Li said, "But you're not as strong as Shadow. I'll give you five hundred thousand. Get me to level 3, and you'll get the cash when we return to reality."
Old Mao happily agreed. "No problem."
As he accepted the offer, Old Mao couldn't help but think, "That Shadow may be strong, but he's dumb as rocks! How could he refuse such an easy million?"
Unfortunately for him, Old Mao had no idea what kind of person Jiang Li truly was.
That five hundred thousand...
It wasn't going to be as easy to claim as he thought.
...
Meanwhile, Qin Feng quickly sold out all his items.
Compared to skill books, equipment sold for much less.
He had two Bronze-tier items left: one for warriors and one for priests. Both had mediocre stats, so they only sold for thirty or forty days of tradable lifespan each.
As for the low-quality equipment and skill books, their prices were even lower.
By the time he had sold all ten items, Qin Feng had accumulated nearly 300 days of tradable lifespan.
——
[Tradable Lifespan: 546 days!]
——
"Not bad."
"By now, the Curser should have evolved into a Silver-tier boss, right?"
Qin Feng closed up shop and left Shell Town.
In stealth mode, he quickly headed toward the location of the Curser.
On the way, he saw Old Mao leading Jiang Li out of town, presumably to help her level up.
One look, and Qin Feng could already tell what Old Mao's fate would be…
Of course, he couldn't be bothered to warn him.
As long as no one messed with him, Qin Feng had no interest in meddling in other people's affairs.
Ten minutes later, Qin Feng ventured deep into the shadowy forest.
He reached the area where he had previously spotted the Curser, and sure enough, the boss had evolved into a Silver-tier, surrounded by gray mist as it continued to advance…
"The evolution from Silver to Gold takes at least seven or eight hours."
"I don't have time to wait."
Qin Feng decided to take action.
There would be plenty of Gold-tier bosses later on. There was no point in wasting time here—taking down the boss and growing stronger was the priority!
This place was full of danger.
The dense forest was crawling with monsters.
Only Qin Feng could reach this far thanks to his permanent stealth.
Without hesitation, he silently approached the Curser, which resembled a withered treant, and launched a poisonous dart, hitting the boss directly in the head!
"A Silver-tier boss has two to three times the health of a Bronze-tier one."
"So, two or three poison darts should do the trick."
Qin Feng threw the dart and immediately went back into stealth.
The Curser, heavily wounded, saw its health drop by nearly a quarter, and the poison continued to sap its strength!
But when it turned around…
There was no one there!
Angered, the Curser let out a low growl, raising its shriveled arms as gray energy gathered in its hands and began to expand.
A massive area-of-effect attack, spanning over twenty meters, exploded around it, engulfing the entire area!