“Who’s evolving?” Han Wu looked over in surprise to see the Vampsprite undergoing its own ultimate evolution.
It had absorbed a massive amount of the giant’s blood during the fight against the Sloth Petrified Mountain Giant. That Blood Energy, combined with the Demon Claw Han Wu had given it, pushed the Vampsprite’s stored energy to its limit.
The Vampsprite understood that the battles ahead would only get harder, and it simply couldn’t contribute enough at the perfect tier. The only option was to advance to the ultimate tier. Only by growing stronger and helping Han Wu more could it earn greater rewards. It was with this resolve that the Vampsprite underwent its ultimate evolution.
Han Wu fixed his gaze on the Vampsprite. This was his first time watching a native of Sprite Civilization evolve on its own. He coordinated with his avatars to observe the process from every angle.
Han Wu spotted dozens of Evolution Icons for the Vampsprite to choose from within the hazy glow of evolution light. Each icon represented a different species—some strong, some weak. If the Vampsprite evolved into a powerful race, its intelligence would carry it to great heights. If it picked a weaker one, it would need many times the effort to reach the same level.
Considering the Vampsprite’s efforts during the battle against the Sloth Petrified Mountain Giant, Han Wu decided to lend it a hand. He used his avatars to capture screenshots of every Evolution Icon that flashed by and checked their attributes.
After looking through every possible race the Vampsprite could evolve into, he identified the three that stood out as the strongest.
[Belial Vampsprite: Combines wisdom and raw power, surpassing the original in every stat.]
[Neo Vampsprite: Specializes in summoning various types of familiars to attack.]
[Venom Vampsprite: Gains a massive body and tremendous strength at the cost of its sanity.]
Taking into account the Vampsprite’s usual fighting style of maintaining an elegant posture while releasing swarms of bats, Han Wu called out, “Choose Neo Vampsprite!”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it reached the Vampsprite’s ears with perfect clarity. The Vampsprite followed Han Wu’s suggestion and searched for the Neo Vampsprite icon, then charged toward it and merged with it.
Powerful energy radiated outward from its body. When the pillar of evolution light faded, the Vampsprite had completed its ultimate evolution, becoming a Neo Vampsprite.
[Neo Vampsprite, ultimate (Heavenrender life form). Skills: Demon Mouth, Nightmare Swoop, Bloodstream Claw, Heart Strike. Description: a powerful Demon King-type Digital Sprite and the final evolution of the Vampsprite.]
[Demon Mouth: Summon an endless horde of familiars.]
[Nightmare Swoop: Use the power of nightmares to twist the target into a wretched form.]
[Bloodstream Claw: Freely extend both arms to strike the target.]
[Heart Strike: A concentrated blast of Dark Energy.]
These stats were several times more powerful than the old Vampsprite.
At that moment, the Neo Vampsprite suddenly flew toward Han Wu. Seeing this, Han Wu assumed the Neo Vampsprite was using its newfound ultimate-tier strength to try to take him hostage. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
The Neo Vampsprite didn’t lay a finger on him. Instead, it dropped to its knees with a thud. Then, plunging a claw into its own chest, it ripped out its heart and offered it to Han Wu.
“Master, please accept my heart,” the Neo Vampsprite surrendered.
This gesture genuinely shocked Han Wu. Tearing out its own heart on the spot was a bit... too zealous for his taste. Still, the Neo Vampsprite’s intentions were crystal clear. It was offering its heart to prove its loyalty.
The Neo Vampsprite had watched Han Wu shower Yinglong, Stinger, and the others with rare treasures while only giving it scraps. It clearly wasn’t one of Han Wu’s inner circle yet, and this was its way of earning that recognition.
If Han Wu accepted the heart, it meant he would treat the Neo Vampsprite as one of his own. That meant it would finally be considered during the distribution of top-tier materials.
After mulling it over for three seconds, Han Wu accepted. The Neo Vampsprite’s potential and strength were both admittedly impressive. Moreover, with its heart in his hands, he essentially held its lifeline. It was only fair that he invested more resources into the Neo Vampsprite from now onward.
Han Wu’s policy was to be generous to his own people. Thus, after accepting the heart, he pulled out two Sins—Wrath and Greed—and tested them on the Neo Vampsprite.
It immediately matched with the Greed Sin.
As a native of the Kingdom of Sin, it fused with the Greed Sin with ease. It was fresh off its ultimate evolution, but was immediately undergoing a Sin Evolution as well, gaining yet another boost.
Its strength shot straight to the Microcosm rank and officially became a Sin Lord, the Greed Neo Vampsprite. The Greed Sin didn’t change its form. Instead, it amplified every aspect of its existing power. The Greed Neo Vampsprite was at least twenty times stronger than it had been before its ultimate evolution.
Empowered by its new abilities, the Greed Neo Vampsprite grew even more loyal to Han Wu. Drawing on its knowledge of the Kingdom of Sin, it revealed the location of another Sin Lord it knew of—Gluttony.
This immediately piqued Han Wu’s interest. After all, his rise itself was owed much to Gluttony’s influence. Raising a powerful Gluttony-type Digital Sprite would be a fitting tribute to his roots.
Han Wu followed the Greed Neo Vampsprite’s lead toward the Gluttony Sin Lord’s territory.
Meanwhile, a large number of family heirs had gathered inside the Kingdom of Sin.
These heirs came from different families and factions, but they shared a single goal: to seize the Giant Crest from Han Wu. Using information relayed through donations, they already knew the number, levels, and skills of every Digital Sprite Han Wu had, as well as his exact location.
“Everyone, since we all share the same goal, I won’t waste words. Our objective is to take the Giant Crest from Han Wu. Before we can do that, we need to kill all of his Digital Sprites,” one of them began.
“His Digital Sprites are powerful,” another added. “No single family can handle them all, so I suggest each family takes on one Digital Sprite.”
“Han Wu will be a toothless tiger without his Digital Sprites. He’ll be ours to deal with as we please. After that, getting the Giant Crest will be a matter of individual ability,” said Gu Bei of the Destruction Clan.
“Agreed. Our family will handle Yinglong,” someone volunteered.
“Our family will take on one of the War Saint Locustmen,” said another.
One by one, the families divided up Han Wu’s Digital Sprites among themselves, unaware that Han Wu’s avatars had been watching their every move the entire time.
When Han Wu received the intelligence, a playful smirk crossed his face. “Things are getting interesting. Let’s see who gets the last laugh!”