Twenty Magma Locusts detonated on the Devilsprite, inflicting severe fire damage. The magma that splashed onto the ground continued to burn it, but the Devilsprite quickly beat its wings and escaped the affected area.
With this sustained burn damage negated, the overall damage from the Magma Locusts fell significantly. Han Wu had no choice but to keep spending. In the end, he summoned ten more waves of Magma Locusts—two hundred in total—before the Devilsprite finally went down.
Its corpse dissolved into data. Parts of this flowed into Han Wu, while the rest formed materials on the ground. Han Wu checked his loot.
Killing one mature-tier Devilsprite had netted him a hundred energy points, thirty evolution points, and a material called the Demon Claw. The total value in Divine Essence was around sixty, but summoning those Magma Locusts alone had cost 1,000 energy points, equivalent to a hundred Divine Essence and a loss of ten points from his barrier damage.
He had spent 110 Divine Essence, but had gained sixty. It was a net loss! This forced Han Wu to rethink his approach. How could he last until the end and claim first place to obtain the Evolution Blueprint?
The other participants faced similar struggles, but most had family-funded gifts to carry them through the initial phase. The real challenge was figuring out what came next. Spending only worked for so long. After all, nobody’s family had infinite Divine Essence.
Moreover, anything purchased through gifts would vanish when the event ended. Only a madman would dump massive amounts of money into this[1]. Most viewers also thought the same.
As Han Wu was thinking this, a notification scrolled across every broadcast screen.
[Viewer “Wisdom Faction Welcomes All Members” has gifted contestant Han Wu: 1 million Divine Essence]
The notification scrolled three times over ten seconds. The shockwave it sent through the audience lasted far longer. A million Divine Essence was enough to buy an entire minor civilization outright! Who would throw it away like pocket change?
Had two consecutive divine war wins allowed the Wisdom Faction to become this wealthy? Was this the same Han Wu responsible for killing both the Butcher and the True Martial God King?
The astronomical gift triggered a frenzy. One viewer bet 10,000 Divine Essence on Han Wu winning first place. He refused to believe anyone backed by a million Divine Essence could lose.
Some shared the same thought, but others still disagreed and even sent messages through the gifting system.
[Contestant Han Wu, you have received a gift from viewer “I Bet On You To Win, Don’t Make Me Beg”: 100 Divine Essence.]
[Contestant Han Wu, you have received a gift from viewer “Pay-to-Win Losers Deserve Death”: 1 Divine Essence.]
[Contestant Han Wu, you have received a gift from viewer “Your Whale Money Can’t Buy My Brother’s Farts”: 1 Divine Essence.]
[Contestant Han Wu, you have received a gift from viewer “I’m Your Father-in-Law Who Hasn’t Met You Yet”: 1 Divine Essence.]
Han Wu was speechless. What were these people thinking? They were spending one Divine Essence just to insult him! If that was the rate, Han Wu was ready to set up a booth and get paid to be roasted after the event.
One Divine Essence per insult was a zero-cost business that generated pure profit! Even the Commerce God King would question his entire career. Han Wu closed the continuous barrage of spam, Divine Essence problem having been resolved.
In truth, the one million wasn’t from Xu Hai, but from Han Wu himself. Specifically, from the avatar he’d left in his divine realm.
This was a personal investment. He was confident that winning the Evolution Blueprint would return far more than a million Divine Essence, so he’d gone all-in to maximize his odds, using overwhelming spending power to discourage competitors with similar ideas.
After all, who else could match a million Divine Essence? That wasn’t a small number, even for God King families and factions. Feeling more confident in his odds, Han Wu began lighting up his Evolution Tree.
The self-detonation evolution line was completed in full.
[Locust (juvenile, Common life form) > Bomber Locust (adolescent, Elite life form) > Magma Locust (mature, Unique life form) > Magmabomb Locust (perfect, Lord life form) > Nuclear Locust (ultimate, Sage life form)]
Unlocking the Magmabomb Locust cost 2,300 Divine Essence, while the Nuclear Locust cost 54,600 Divine Essence. This was only the first step.
Self-detonation was powerful, but it couldn’t be his only strategy. He needed other evolution lines. Specifically, he needed a strong personal guard.
After skimming through his options, his eyes eventually fell on the Locustman icon. Locustmen were humanoid locust variants he’d previously cultivated using Sacred Objects. They had better stats than regular locusts of the same tier and could wield weapons, making them ideal for prolonged combat.
The Locustman line was expensive and equally as diverse, but it was essential for the long term. Han Wu traced the Evolution Tree to find the evolution line he wanted before finally confirming it.
[Locust (juvenile, Common life form) > Half Locustman (adolescent, Unique life form) > Locustman (mature, Heroic life form) > Soldier King Locustman (perfect, High Lord life form) > War Saint Locustman (ultimate, Earthsunder life form)]
The Half Locustman was only partially humanoid and had lower intelligence, though with overall improved parameters. The Locustman was more humanoid than the previous and had an intermediate intelligence, again with further improved parameters.
The Soldier King Locustman was mostly humanoid, had high intelligence, and was naturally equipped with a weapon that it could use decently well. Most of its parameters were significantly improved.
As for the War Saint Locustman, it was almost completely humanoid, also had high intelligence, and could wield its natural weapon with perfection. All of its parameters were drastically improved.
Han Wu wiped the sweat off his forehead as he finished upgrading the line. The full evolution line cost him 578,000 Divine Essence—more than half his total injection! He then converted another 100,000 Divine Essence to energy points so he could summon a single War Saint Locustman as his personal guard.
A figure clad in golden-green armor appeared before him, a sharp spike bound tightly to its arm.
“Divine one, your servant offers the most loyal of greetings,” the War Saint Locustman said, high intelligence clear in its speech.
1. I should probably rename Shaura as the God King of Gacha Games... ☜