Chapter 44 – New Life Form: Locustmen

Han Wu led a simple yet fulfilling life, attending classes during the day and managing his divine realm at night. Through the constant use of Increased Growth on his locusts, he managed to cultivate 14 billion of them within a few days.

Remarkably, only ten percent of the locusts were Common; thirty percent were Elite and the remaining sixty percent were Unique.

He knew people would be shocked by the sheer number of Unique locusts in his divine realm. Considering that an average God possessed a maximum of 8 billion Unique life forms, and a Demigod even fewer, Han Wu’s situation was exceptional. However, supporting so many Unique locusts was very expensive.

He was forced to expend nearly a million Divine Points daily just to obtain enough Flesh Golem corpses to feed his locusts. To make things worse, a recent shortage of those corpses had led to a slight price increase, making his realm even more expensive and difficult to manage.

With a heavy heart, Han Wu made the difficult choice to Sacrifice his locusts, keeping only a billion Unique ones. The colossal array materialized in the skies above his divine realm, absorbing the life force of the sacrificed locusts.

As usual, Han Wu was then presented with three options.

[Option 1: 10,000 Unique Night Hunters]

[Option 2: 3 Star God weapon: Overlord Sabre. Effect 1: Also functions as a Sacred Object. When equipped to the Core, it enables the core race to summon a metal sabre as their weapon. Effect 2: Increases damage against beasts by 15%. Effect 3: Divine Skill: Overlord Body.]

[Option 3: Rank 2 Sacred Object: Revelation Stone. Offers a chance for a core race to receive a revelation and transform into a demi-human when equipped to the Core (Exclusive to core races that are neither human or demi-human)]

Han Wu’s gaze lingered on the third option.

He’d initially thought Sacrifice had malfunctioned, giving him a mere Rank 2 Sacred Object after the sacrifice of 13 billion locusts. However, upon reading the Revelation Stone’s description, he realized his mistake. The first two options paled in comparison!

The idea of a core race gaining humanoid characteristics wasn’t unusual; in fact, it was a relatively common occurrence within the Divine Civilization. Races like the Swordwinds, minotaurs, Lizardmen, and even Ratmen were classified as demi-humans. Despite potential misconceptions, a demi-human form offered significant advantages to a core race. For instance, they had the ability to use weapons designed for humanoid forms.

Han Wu’s long-cherished ambition of gaining an aerial army was within reach, as the humanoid locusts could fly and wield weapons simultaneously. After all, nothing said “elite military unit” like Unique ranked weapon-wielding mutant bugs.

Without hesitation, he selected the third choice and the Rank 2 Sacred Object materialized, resting weightless in his palm. He examined his Core, and after a tense moment of contemplation and deliberation, he finally removed the Molten Earthflare. The Sacred Object shattered upon removal, but he just shrugged, completely unbothered.

With the Revelation Stone now bound to his Core, an invisible and subtle but undeniable energy wave radiated outward, surging through the entirety of his locust swarm—all 1 billion of them.

The Revelation Stone’s power coursed through his swarm, marking approximately one thousandth of his locusts—around 1 million—for mutation into demi-humans. The transformation process was gradual and time-consuming, so Han Wu zeroed in on a single Unique locust, scrutinizing the changes taking place.

After a full realm month, the transformation of all 1 million locusts reached completion. One million locusts stood reborn as something entirely new, their forms unlike any recorded demi-human. Han Wu couldn’t wait another second, diving right into analyzing every detail of their mutation.

[Race: Locustman]

[Rank: Unique]

[Talent: Flight, Low Intelligence, Humanoid]

[Faith: Zealots]

[Faith Points: 50,000/day]

[Reproduction: 5/lifetime (Produces high-quality eggs)]

[Lifespan: 10 years]

As Han Wu scanned through the data streams, a satisfied smile crossed his face. The new species were no mere mutated insects, as they had transformed and ascended into actual Unique Locustmen! Surprisingly, these humanoid creatures now possessed real intelligence. Sure, they only possessed the cognitive ability of preschoolers, but for Han Wu’s plans, this was absolutely perfect!

Given that his locusts had previously lacked any semblance of intelligence, the emergence of even rudimentary cognitive abilities was a welcome improvement. For an army comprised of former locusts, this was a game-changing development for his forces.

Han Wu shifted his attention to two other important details: their Faith Points and lifespan. Upon analyzing the Faith Point generation stats, he gasped. Each Locustman, should it complete its lifespan without further evolution and ascension, would generate a staggering 180 million Faith Points, equivalent to 1.8 Divine Points.

Given Han Wu’s consistent population of tens of billions of locusts, he could effortlessly sustain 10 million Locustmen. Like an ecosystem, this stable population would generate 1.8 million Divine Points for him daily, 18 million in ten days, and 1.8 Divine Essence in a hundred days.

Han Wu could already visualize his Divine Essence accumulating rapidly in his inventory.

Excellent! I’ll get richer and richer, and then become a Demigod. Demigod status, here I come!

He was engrossed in enhancing and nurturing his divine realm when a video call request from Tian Wen appeared.

Tian Wen had called to inform him that the Imperial College would be administering another test to determine Han Wu’s eligibility for the reserve list. The recruiter would be at school to meet with him tomorrow, so Tian Wen wanted him to get ready.

Han Wu expressed his gratitude to Tian Wen and then dedicated his attention to nurturing his locusts in preparation for the significant day ahead.

The following day arrived swiftly, and Han Wu was teleported to his classroom, his presence instantly causing a stir among the students. Having secured first place on two separate occasions, Han Wu was regarded as someone almost divine.

Seeing that Qin Shuang’s desk was empty, Han Wu thought, Is she still nurturing her Lord life form, or has she already gone to the Imperial College?

“Good morning, Han Wu,” Xu Sun greeted him cheerfully as he walked over.

Having witnessed Han Wu’s power during the previous test, Xu Sun had resolved to adopt a more humble attitude when interacting with him.

Han Wu silently nodded in response.

Xu Sun inquired, “Han Wu, how’s your divine realm progressing? If you need rare resources for its development, with my Demigod family’s extensive network, I can assist you in obtaining them. They’re difficult to find online.”

Xu Sun was confident that Han Wu would soon be accepted into an elite college. Establishing a favorable relationship with him at this juncture wasn’t just prudent; it was an investment in future influence.

As it happened, Han Wu had been thinking about getting more core fragments. He had already exhausted all the core fragments he had obtained from the Blood Coliseum to repair the cracks in his Core.

It would be amazing if I could obtain enough core fragments to raise my core level to 10, the maximum for a Divine Being.

He then asked Xu Sun, “Can your family get me some core fragments?”

Xu Sun’s eyebrows lifted slightly at Han Wu’s unusually specific request for such a scarce resource. After a moment’s consideration, however, he nodded to himself and deemed it reasonable. If core fragments were easy to get, Han Wu would have them already. Someone of his caliber would require exceptional materials. Common resources would have already been within his grasp.

“I can acquire them, but they are quite expensive, even if I were to sell them to you at their cost price.”

“That’s fine. I require enough core fragments to raise my core level from 7 to 10. Can you inform me of the total Divine Point cost?”

After contacting his family, Xu Sun relayed the price: 400 million Divine Points. And that was merely the cost price, not to even mention the market price.

Han Wu found himself in a predicament, as it was a significant amount of money. Even with his Locustmen earning him a lot daily, it would take a long time to save that much.

Xu Sun proposed an alternative. “My family mentioned that you could sell us 1,000 Unique Skeleton Knights instead if you’re short on funds at the moment.”

“Unique Skeleton Knights?” Han Wu asked, surprised. It seemed Xu Sun had mentioned him to his family.

“Yes, Unique Skeleton Knights. And if you could also sell us the Heroic Osteomancer, I might be able to negotiate a reduced price.”

Han Wu preferred the Osteomancer because its bone giant form was considered the strongest Heroic life form by the Divine Civilization, and even Demigods coveted their strength!

However, skeletons rarely acknowledged anyone other than their Lord as their master. Han Wu’s ability to command them was solely due to the Skeleton Lord’s suppression; otherwise, he would never have gained their loyalty, even if they were reduced to dust.

After confirming that the recruiter had not yet arrived, Han Wu, eager to finalize the deal, stated, “I’m not selling my Osteomancer. However, I am willing to sell the Unique Skeleton Knights, if we agree on a condition.”

Xu Sun, equally eager to secure the deal and earn his family’s praise, asked, “What’s your condition?”

“I need corpses of Unique life forms from your family.”

“Hold on, let me check with them.”

Xu Sun contacted his family, and they promptly sent him a card containing 1,000 Unique life form corpses.

Han Wu transferred the card to the Skeleton Lord within his divine realm through the landing pod on his desk. Following his commands, the Skeleton Lord transformed all the corpses into Unique Skeleton Knights. Han Wu then sealed the Knights into a card and handed it to Xu Sun, who, in exchange, provided him with the core fragments he had requested.

Just as he prepared to upgrade his Core, Tian Wen entered the classroom and summoned him. “Han Wu, could you step out for a moment?”

The recruiter from Imperial College had arrived.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep