---
32 evolution points, plus the remaining 3 points, a total of 35 points.
"Hand of Greed... It takes 210 points to evolve again. I'll hold off for now."
"This temple of faith could be dangerous. Let's evolve passive dodge first."
To increase his chances of survival, Yang Shung chose to evolve 'Ghost Blur.'
——
[You have consumed 1+2+3+5 evolution points, leaving 24 points. ]
[Ghost Blur (Gold Level → Epic Level): Assassin skill. Passively gain 15%→75% dodge rate, triggering dodge can make you immune to all damage. ]
——
After reaching the epic level, the evolution points required for further evolution increased tenfold.
"Originally, only 8 points were needed. Now, from epic to legendary, it requires 80 points..."
Yang Shung shook his head and set the skill aside for now.
A 75% dodge rate was already high enough.
He then proceeded to evolve Shadow Slash, bringing it to the epic level:
——
[You have consumed 13 evolution points, leaving 11 points. ]
[Shadow Slash (Diamond → Epic): Dash up to 27→30 meters, entering an invisible state (lasting 9→12 seconds). Perform 7→9 slashes on all enemies along the path. Cooldown: 12→8.8 seconds. ]
[Slash width: 4.1→5 meters. Each slash adds 300→500 attack power. ]
——
From diamond to epic, Shadow Slash's additional attack power increased by 200 points.
The slashes increased from 7 to 9, nearly doubling its damage.
"Too powerful…"
Years later in his previous life, Yang Shung had learned epic skills.
Now, in this life, he had epic skills right from the start!
Although the skill levels were low, they could evolve infinitely.
"However, evolving from epic to legendary multiplies the cost tenfold. This means starting with higher-grade skills is more efficient."
Yang Shung calculated:
If a skill was already epic, evolving it to legendary would only require 10 points.
It could then quickly evolve to mythical and beyond—ancient or even immortal!
On the other hand, evolving a basic skill to epic required multiple evolutions, costing far more points.
"But there's an advantage... Any skill I learn can eventually reach at least epic level at a low cost."
With 11 evolution points left, Yang Shung decided to upgrade his initial skill, Shadow.
——
[You have consumed 3+5 evolution points, leaving 3 points. ]
[Initial Skill: Shadow (Silver→Gold→Platinum). Enter an invisible state for 16→20→24 seconds. Breaking invisibility increases attack power by 90→120→150. Cooldown: 26→24→22 seconds. ]
——
The final cooldown time was reduced to 16.3 seconds due to his 35% cooldown reduction attribute.
"The cooldown is still too long, and the invisibility attack power feels weak... I'll replace it later."
Having used up all his evolution points, Yang Shung turned his attention back to the maze ahead.
A 'devout believer' crawled forward, moving quickly.
When it passed a corner, a massive iron ball suddenly shot out from the wall, smashing the believer!
-6666!
-99999!
The first hit was from the iron ball.
The second hit was from crashing into the wall. The devout believer was flattened on the spot, a gruesome sight...
Yang Shung paused, waiting for the cooldown to summon another devout believer.
"This maze is too dangerous. Summoning is the only way to scout ahead."
He sighed. Though it would waste time, this temple of faith was likely tied to his "Eye of Judgment." He had to explore it fully to uncover its secrets.
---
Meanwhile, at the temple's entrance...
The long-legged queen Gray Orchid, along with her teammates—two men and three women—approached cautiously.
When they prepared to face two silver-level mini-BOSSes, they were stunned to find the bosses already dead!
Gray Orchid, with black curly hair and a gray robe that highlighted her curvaceous figure, frowned at the sight of the fallen 'devout believers.'
"They were killed?"
"At this stage, only the Shadow Master could take down two silver-level BOSSes so quickly," she muttered.
Her teammates gasped.
"Shadow Master is here?"
Relieved, they examined the lifeless devout believers, chatting among themselves. Though they were prepared, they feared being defeated and losing progress.
However, Gray Orchid seemed puzzled.
"Last time I came here, I saw a figure communicating with a silver boss... Was it the Shadow?"
She recalled stepping into the hall and glimpsing a dark figure with the silver bosses. The roar of the bosses had forced her to retreat, where she was burned by their green flames.
"Could the Shadow have a way to confuse bosses?" she wondered.
Regardless of her guesses, she couldn't unravel the truth.
---
In Shell Town, the number of players had surged, leaving the area overcrowded.
The town's capacity was nearly maxed out at 10,000 players, leading to a shortage of monsters for grinding. Players overwhelmed the creepers and polluters, driving them into hiding.
Even elite teams like Wang Tao's struggled to farm efficiently, taking three hours just to reach level 5. Lin Xiyu's gold-level skills remained underutilized.
"We need to teleport to less crowded towns to level up faster," said Wang Tao, frowning.
Lin Xiyu nodded. "Agreed, but let's wait for Brother Shadow and complete our trade first."
As they talked, Yang Xiaoyou, standing nearby, quietly smiled to herself.