freenovelworld Chapter 452: Grand Upgrade Plan: An Army of One
Chapter 452: Grand Upgrade Plan: An Army of One
"Bring the war drum!"
"I will personally beat the drum to rally the soldiers of the Northern Domain!"
On the walls of Beitian Pass, Qin Zhen seemed to come alive again. The dejection and regret that had clung to him were swept away, replaced by the grim resolve of one who had burned his bridges.
He let out a great shout with his hoarse voice, and immediately, several people scrambled to haul up a massive war drum.
DONG! DONG! DONG!
The deep, powerful drumbeats echoed across a battlefield shrouded in slaughter and despair, attempting to drive the chill from the soldiers’ hearts.
However, on a battlefield already locked in a chaotic melee, it seemed... somewhat useless.
Meanwhile, Chu Sheng, who was not far away, found the noise incredibly annoying.
He glanced at the old man, who was red in the face and beating the drum with all his might.
’Is he crazy?’
he complained silently to himself.
’What time does he think this is? Everyone’s already lost in a bloodlust, about to be overrun by the Alien Race. Who has the spare energy to listen to your drumming?’
’Can you eat that thing? Can it block the claws of the Alien Race?’
’It’s completely ridiculous.’
Chu Sheng couldn’t be bothered with this old man lost in his own self-indulgent heroism. He had more important things to do.
He focused his entire consciousness on the Nether Flame Insect Nest.
Seeing that his Life Essence had already surpassed nine digits, Chu Sheng’s heart burned with excitement.
’It’s time!’
’It’s time for my Insect Race army to undergo a complete, transformative evolution!’
[Current Insect Beast Species—]
[Spirit-Devouring Worms: 30,000 Fourth-Grade Middle Stage, 32,000 larvae, 2,000 specially modified units.]
[Bloodthirsty Demon Bees: 192,000 Fourth-Grade Middle Stage, 4,000 Fifth-Grade Late Stage / Peak of Fifth-Grade.]
[Special Individuals: New Cockroach Warrior, Reconnaissance Louse]
[Current Life Essence: 108,340,390]
Chu Sheng first turned his attention to the Spirit-Devouring Worms.
The 2,000 specially modified units he had left at the Alien Race Base to act as "spies" and "coordinates" could be ignored for now... In truth, it was because he had left in such a hurry that he hadn’t had time to retrieve them.
The focus now was on the rest.
’First, I’ll upgrade the Spirit-Devouring Worms, since there are relatively fewer of them.’
’System, upgrade all thirty-two thousand Spirit-Devouring Worm larvae to Fourth-Grade Middle Stage for me!’
[Ding!]
[Consuming Life Essence... 1,760,000 Life Essence has been consumed. 32,000 Spirit-Devouring Worm larvae have been successfully upgraded to Fourth-Grade Middle Stage!]
As the system notification sounded, a large mass of wriggling larvae inside the Nether Flame Insect Nest was instantly enveloped in cocoons of light and Energy.
The light flickered as their forms changed rapidly.
First-Grade... Second-Grade... Third-Grade... Fourth-Grade Middle Stage!
The upgrade was complete in just a few breaths.
’Very good.’
Chu Sheng nodded in satisfaction.
With that, all sixty-two thousand of his Spirit-Devouring Worms had reached the Fourth-Grade Middle Stage, forming a unified echelon of combat power.
But this was just the appetizer.
The real main course was about to begin!
Chu Sheng’s will became incredibly firm.
’System!’
’Upgrade all sixty-two thousand of these Fourth-Grade Middle Stage Spirit-Devouring Worms to Seventh-Grade Early Stage!’
This command was nothing short of insane.
To upgrade tens of thousands of Insect Beasts across three entire Grand Realms at once would undoubtedly consume an astronomical amount of Life Essence.
[Warning! A multi-realm upgrade command has been detected. This will consume an enormous amount of Life Essence. The system is calculating an estimate...]
[Estimate complete—Upgrading each Spirit-Devouring Worm from Fourth-Grade Middle Stage to Seventh-Grade Early Stage requires 350 Life Essence.]
[Total of 62,000 units requires a total of 21,700,000 Life Essence.]
[Confirm upgrade?]
’Over twenty million!’
Even though Chu Sheng had been mentally prepared, he couldn’t help but suck in a breath at the number.
’But when he thought about a legion of over sixty thousand Seventh-Grade Insect Beasts, what was this small cost?’
’Confirm! Upgrade them for me, damn it!’
[Ding! Command confirmed! Commencing final evolution!]
BOOM—!!!
The entire Space within the Nether Flame Insect Nest began to vibrate violently due to this unprecedented, large-scale evolution.
The sixty-two thousand Spirit-Devouring Worms were once again enveloped in even more brilliant cocoons of Energy.
This time, the cocoons were no longer just pure Energy; countless profound and complex runes appeared on their surfaces, as if undergoing some deep, life-level metamorphosis.
A few short minutes later.
CRACK... CRACK...
The cocoons shattered.
The brand-new Spirit-Devouring Worms were born!
Their size hadn’t increased—they remained the same as before—but their appearance had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
Spikes as translucent as crystal had sprouted from their previously smooth carapaces, with faint glimmers of Energy flowing within them. Their mandibles, once used for gnawing, had become longer, thinner, and sharper, resembling some kind of precision drill bit. Their previously short limbs had evolved to be thicker and more powerful, with suckers at the ends that could firmly attach to any surface.
To Chu Sheng’s greatest surprise, these Seventh-Grade Spirit-Devouring Worms had all awakened a new Active Skill—[Spiritual Energy Blast]!
They could compress the Spiritual Energy stored in their bodies into a highly unstable Energy ball and then launch it, causing area-of-effect explosive damage!
’Is this an upgrade of their original self-destruct ability?’
’They’re basically mobile artillery platforms!’
’Sweet!’
Chu Sheng was blooming with joy internally.
[Current Remaining Life Essence: 84,880,390]
Looking at this number, Chu Sheng’s ambition swelled even further.
’It’s not over yet!’
’Next up is the main event—even more expensive and even more significant!’
’Upgrading the Bloodthirsty Demon Bees!’
’System! Upgrade all one hundred ninety-six thousand Fourth-Grade Middle Stage Bloodthirsty Demon Bees to Seventh-Grade Early Stage!’
[Warning! A massive-scale, multi-realm upgrade command has been detected... Calculating estimate...]
[Estimate complete. Upgrading each Bloodthirsty Demon Bee from Fourth-Grade Middle Stage to Seventh-Grade Early Stage requires 300 Life Essence.]
[Total of 196,000 units requires a total of 58,800,000 Life Essence!]
[Current Life Essence is sufficient. Confirm execution?]
’Fifty-eight million, eight hundred thousand!’
The number made Chu Sheng’s heart skip a beat.
’This is practically burning money!’
However, he didn’t hesitate for a moment.
’Confirm!’
[Ding, upgrade commencing!]
The commotion this time was even greater than when he had upgraded the Spirit-Devouring Worms.
The Nether Flame Insect Nest was almost completely filled with the light radiating from nearly two hundred thousand Energy cocoons.
Ten minutes later.
As the Bloodthirsty Demon Bees emerged from their cocoons one by one, Chu Sheng was completely stunned by their new forms.
Unlike the "Mage" path of the Spirit-Devouring Worms, the evolution of the Bloodthirsty Demon Bees went completely in the direction of "heavy-armored warriors."
Their size exploded from their original thumb-like proportions to as large as a basketball!
Their previously fragile bodies were now completely covered in a layer of thick, black armor that gleamed with a metallic luster, making them look ferocious and full of power.
Their already incredibly sharp tail stingers had become even thicker and longer, now marked with spiraling, blood-colored patterns that screamed of potent poison.
Likewise, they too had awakened a new Active Skill—[Blood Light Poison Spike]!
Each Bloodthirsty Demon Bee could now fire three sharp spikes from its tail at once, each containing potent poison and an armor-piercing effect, granting them extremely high penetration power!
’Nearly two hundred thousand heavy-armored flying soldiers, and they have ranged armor-piercing attacks?’
’Awesome!’
’This combat power is off the charts!’