Lin Feng's voice was steady: "I'll handle this alone. Yu Rou, keep me healed."

The group exchanged glances; though worried, they followed instructions and retreated to the edge of the plaza.

Su Yurou gripped her blue crystal staff tightly. The gem at its tip lit up with a pale golden glow, her Healing Spell ready to be cast at any moment.

Lin Feng took a deep breath, gripped his Wildfire Spear, and charged forward again.

A blinding purple light suddenly erupted from his body.

【Armor Unification】!

Purple flames surged from his entire body, illuminating his silhouette as if he were a god descending from the heavens.

Lin Feng shifted his feet, his figure transforming into a streak of purple light as he charged straight at Gruen.

He didn't take a detour, nor did he dodge; he simply charged straight ahead.

Gruen raised its shield to block. Lin Feng's spear struck the shield surface. "Clang!" The block was successful, and the charge stack increased to one.

But Lin Feng didn't retreat; a second strike followed immediately. "Clang!" Charge stack increased to two.

The third strike, "Clang!" Charge stack increased to three.

The fourth strike, "Clang!" Charge stack increased to four.

The fifth strike, "Clang!" Charge stack increased to five.

With five stacks reached, the damage of Gruen's next attack increased by 25%.

The battle-axe, carrying the bonus from the five stacks, swung down at Lin Feng. Lin Feng didn't dodge; he raised his spear to meet it head-on.

The battle-axe slammed into the shaft of the Wildfire Spear, sparks flying everywhere. The immense impact shattered several stone slabs beneath Lin Feng's feet.

"-81." Lin Feng's health bar barely moved.

A flash of confusion crossed Gruen's eyes. This human had taken its full-force strike head-on and appeared completely unscathed.

Lin Feng didn't give it time to think. He thrust his sixth strike, which grazed the edge of Gruen's shield and pierced its shoulder. "-500."

Gruen roared and swung its battle-axe horizontally. Lin Feng didn't dodge °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° or evade, taking the hit head-on. "-46." Then, he thrust his seventh strike into its side. "-510."

Trading injury for injury!

Every one of Lin Feng's strikes took away five hundred of Gruen's HP, while every one of Gruen's axe swings could only take away less than fifty of his.

Armor Unification made him nearly indestructible, and Su Yurou's Healing Spell kept his health bar constantly topped off.

Gruen's health bar dropped from fifty percent to forty percent, then to thirty percent, then to twenty percent.

Gruen's health bar fell to less than nine percent remaining.

It turned around, battle-axe held high, attempting one last struggle.

But Lin Feng had already retreated. He stepped back a dozen paces, opening up distance between himself and Gruen.

Gruen froze for a moment; it didn't understand why this human had retreated. It took heavy strides, charging toward Lin Feng, each step causing the ground to tremble.

Lin Feng raised his right hand. A crimson light was coalescing on the tip of the Wildfire Spear.

Twenty. The final twenty Blazing Spear Light strikes.

He had already used forty of the spear lights he had stored today; these were the last twenty.

The damage of each spear light wasn't high. Given Gruen's defense and blocking ability, each one only caused twenty or thirty points of damage. Twenty combined would only amount to four or five hundred points.

And Gruen's current health bar definitely had less than four hundred points left.

The twenty spear lights slammed into the shield surface one after another, exploding in a spray of sparks.

Gruen's health bar plummeted from nine percent all the way to one percent, its charging steps slowing down more and more.

When the final spear light struck, its health bar hit zero completely.

Gruen's body stiffened. It was still three steps away from Lin Feng, battle-axe held high, tower shield held across its chest.

But it would never be able to bring that axe down again. The light in its dark red eyes faded bit by bit, like two lamps blown out by the wind.

Chains slid off its body, clattering to the ground.

The battle-axe fell from its hand, slamming into the ground with a dull, heavy thud.

The tower shield slipped from its hand, shield-face down, crashing against the stone slabs.

Then, that massive body collapsed with a boom.

It didn't fall slowly; it toppled straight forward like a tower whose foundation had been ripped away.

The ground trembled violently. Gravel and dust were shaken into the air, permeating the fluorescent moss light into a grayish-yellow mist.

Gruen's head landed just three steps in front of Lin Feng's feet.

Those dark red eyes had completely lost their luster, turning into two balls of dead-gray stone.

A golden pillar of light rose from Gruen's corpse, illuminating the entire plaza.

Within the pillar of light, two orbs of purple light coalesced into shape, floating in mid-air and rotating slowly.

【Killed Lv35 Rare Boss · Gatekeeper Gruen】

【Level Up: 26 → 27】

【Level Up: 27 → 28】

【Obtained Free Attribute Points: 2】

Lin Feng had leveled up twice. He looked down at his level, the corners of his mouth curling upward slightly.

"I leveled up too," Jiang Yelan's voice came from behind him, cold yet carrying a hint of imperceptible joy. "Level twenty-one."

Lin Feng looked back at her and nodded.

Although Zhao Hu and Tie Dun hadn't leveled up, their experience bars had increased significantly. The experience granted by Gruen was enough for everyone to take a big step forward.

He turned around and walked toward the two purple lights.

The first item was a belt. It had a deep purple band, about a palm's width, embroidered with dark golden patterns on the surface, with a faint light flowing between the patterns.

The belt's buckle was silver-white, polished as smooth as a mirror, with the small characters "Comrades" engraved on it.

Lin Feng picked it up, and the attribute panel unfolded before his eyes.

【guardian belt (Purple)】

Slot: Waist

Base Stats: constitution +3, Defense +50, HP +500

Equipment Requirement: constitution ≥ 20

Skill Effect: 【Shield of Comrades】 (Active Skill, Cooldown 15 minutes)

Upon activation, constitution +5, and you can bind two friendly units. After binding, it generates a shield based on 30% of the holder's maximum HP. This shield cannot be destroyed by enemy attacks; it can only be consumed by sharing damage.

When bound teammates are within a three-mile radius of the holder and take damage, the shield will automatically share 50% of that damage (meaning the teammate actually only takes 50% of the damage, and the other 50% is absorbed by the shield).

The effect disappears once the shield is depleted. The shield lasts for 10 minutes.

Lin Feng's eyes lit up. constitution +8, Defense +50, HP +500.

The base stats alone were significantly stronger than the bone-patterned belt he was currently using.

And that active skill, while leaning more towards protecting teammates rather than directly boosting his own combat power, was still very valuable in team battles.

Binding two teammates and sharing half the damage, effective within three miles—this meant that in the future, when Tie Dun and Zhao Hu were tanking monsters on the front line, he could help them absorb half the damage.

"Good stuff," Lin Feng murmured. He unbuckled the bone-patterned belt from his waist on the spot and fastened the guardian belt in its place.

A purple light shone from his waist, then immediately receded. A warm energy surged from the belt into his body; he could feel his constitution and HP increasing.

He looked at the bone-patterned belt in his hand and turned to Su Yurou: "Yu Rou, this one is for you."

Su Yurou was stunned for a moment, then smiled and accepted it.

The bone-patterned belt was of blue quality; for her, it was already a significant upgrade.

She fastened the belt around her waist. A pale blue light flashed and faded, and the gem at the tip of her staff seemed to brighten a little.

"Thank you, Lord," Su Yurou's voice carried a smile.