Under the right conditions, the Desire God Set could grow infinitely.
In fact, even a Level 1 host could equip a 50-star Desire God Set.
Just like Chen Zijin's Wrath God Set, it shared the same upgrade mechanism, each time the wearer attacked an enemy, the equipment would gain experience points.
Once the experience reached a threshold, the equipment's star rank would increase.
Moreover, the Desire God Set's Desire Value could further boost the rate at which experience was gained.
If Luo Chen could keep his Desire Value steady around 300%, it meant that, while wearing the Desire God Set, each of his attacks would grant four times the normal experience.
Because of that, Luo Chen could wear 32-star equipment even at level 155.
A 32-star versus a 25-star, that was a gap of seven stars.
And seven stars were enough to create an enormous difference, an unbridgeable gulf between two sets of gear.
For this reason, coupled with the full-attribute amplification effect of the Desire God Set, level-155 Luo Chen possessed power far beyond what that level should allow.
So Luo Chen being able to kill the larva was purely a case of data suppression.
If he had been using normal 25-star gear, it would've been impossible for him to defeat the larva.
This situation was like giving Zhang Yue a 55-star equipment set, he could easily crush the Emperor too.
At this moment, Zhang Yue asked Luo Chen, ["The drop rate for a Emperor-tier boss shouldn't be low, right?"]
Luo Chen replied, ["Mm, it dropped one Unique Skill Book, one Legendary Treasure, and two 30-star top-tier equipment pieces."]
["Hm?"], Zhang Yue frowned slightly, ["You're not telling the truth, are you?"]
["That's all a Emperor-tier boss dropped?"]
Just then, Overlord Blade's voice came through Luo Chen's chat box, ["Guild Master, I can confirm that's all. I'm standing right next to the boss's corpse right now."]
Zhang Yue frowned deeper.
That couldn't be right.
This was a Emperor-tier boss, stronger than any King-tier boss and even above the Three Main Gods?
You had to know, the three Main Gods, the Lord of Wrath Jie'e, and the Lord of Desire Wu'en, each dropped an infinite growth set, a mythic-tier treasure, and a forbidden curse skill book.
So how could a Emperor-tier boss like this larva only drop this junk?
A Unique Skill Book, one Legendary Treasure, and two 30-star pieces of gear, that's basically a beggar's handout.
If it had been a King-tier boss's loot, that would've been fine.
But this was a Emperor-tier boss.
In fact, even a real King-tier boss usually had better drop rates than this.
Clearly, Ouyang Ling'er noticed the same issue, ["There's only one explanation, that thing's rarity isn't high."]
["Think about it, before the Ten Ferocious Beasts appeared, the highest tier we'd seen in the otherworld was the three Main Gods beyond King-tier. They were the strongest bosses in the world, extremely rare, each one unique, like a national treasure!"]
["But these Ferocious Beasts? Ten of them came out all at once! It's like they were mass-produced, common as street junk! How valuable could that possibly be?"]
To be fair, Ouyang Ling'er's analysis made some sense.
But Zhang Yue quickly figured it out: the real reason behind such low drop rates was that these Ten Ferocious Beasts had been revived by the Demon Emperor using the Resurrection God Stone.
Which meant, they had already died once before.
This was their second life, and thus their second death.
And in this world, nothing is as precious as the first time.
Every subsequent version, secondhand, thirdhand, just loses value.
The proper drops that a Emperor-tier boss should have given were likely already looted upon its first death.
What they just fought was a respawned version.
And for a respawned boss to still drop a Unique Skill Book, a Legendary Treasure, and two ultra-top-tier sets that could dominate the entire World 28, that was already impressive.
At that, Zhang Yue couldn't help sighing, "What a pity… one got taken already. Out of ten Emperor-tier bosses, now there are only nine left."
That said, the Desire God Three-Piece Set had finally found its rightful host.
Now it was up to Luo Chen to see how far he could take it.
Given his potential, Zhang Yue believed that before long, Luo Chen would become one of his fiercest warriors.
Shifting his focus away from Luo Chen, Zhang Yue turned back to his own mission.
After completing his sixth class advancement, Zhang Yue headed toward the World 45's Death Domain to reunite with Chen Zijin and continue their vampire-hunting mission.
Riding atop his Thirty-Six-Winged Armageddon Black Dragon, he soon arrived in the Death Domain.
But as he approached the area where he and Chen Zijin had previously been hunting vampires, the Crimson Sanctuary map, he immediately sensed something off.
Silence.
Too quiet.
From the sky above, he looked down. The vast sanctuary, both inside and around it, was completely still.
There wasn't even a single vampire in sight.
The abnormal stillness carried a faint scent of danger.
Sure enough, right then, Chen Zijin sent Zhang Yue a message, ["Be careful!"]
Those two short words were enough to tell Zhang Yue, Chen Zijin must be in serious danger, without enough time to send any more information.
Zhang Yue didn't dare let his guard down.
He heightened his vigilance, scanning the ground below from the sky.
Suddenly, he caught sight of a shadow darting past the north gate of the Crimson Sanctuary.
Without hesitation, Zhang Yue leapt off the dragon's back, spreading his angelic wings midair, and soared swiftly toward the north gate.
The moment he landed, a cold wind swept past him from behind.
Whoosh!
Zhang Yue spun around instantly, but there was nothing there.
Gripping his Transcendent Staff, waves of magical energy surged within it.
Fully alert, he stood his ground, then, a dark figure appeared before him.
From head to toe, it was cloaked in black, a retro-style bamboo hat on its head, a dark mask covering its face, and a curved blade in hand.
One of the Ten Ferocious Beasts, codename: Emperor.
To be honest, at first glance, Zhang Yue wasn't particularly shocked.
Because before seeing him, Zhang Yue had already guessed who it would be.
After a single encounter, he could always remember his opponent's aura.
And by sensing that aura, he could identify them instantly.
He had known all along that the Emperor would come for him, which was exactly why Zhang Yue had boldly cleared the World 45 and moved straight to the Forty-Sixth.
What he hadn't expected was how fast the Emperor would arrive!
And now, Zhang Yue could clearly feel it, the aura emanating from the Emperor was far stronger than before, even compared to their battle in the World 45.
Its power had grown.
Its strength… had become even greater.