NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: Acid Zerg
After making his purchase, Xu Luo was left with only a few thousand faith power, not enough for anything substantial. He decided to return to his divine realm from the capital.
In his realm, over a hundred thousand mayflies were diligently working, constantly collecting evolution points. Being too small to see with the naked eye, Xu Luo could only sense their presence. As for the other Zerg, they were mostly hidden underground.
The Zerg preferred dark, damp environments, which was why Xu Luo wanted to build a hive to enhance their evolution speed.
Compared to when he entered in the morning, Xu Luo clearly felt the realm had shrunk slightly, evidently the mayflies' handiwork. A substantial number of eggs had also been stored. He didn't rush to hatch them, as it would only increase his feeding burden.
Thinking of the acid pool terrain card he'd just bought, Xu Luo chose an area at the edge of his realm to use it. Terrain cards essentially sealed a landscape within them. Using one was like breaking that seal.
A dazzling light flashed.
An area of about ten square kilometers suddenly collapsed. After a thunderous rumble, a pungent odor emerged, followed by green liquid filling the sunken pit.
This was a massive acid pool, its corrosive substance making it inhospitable for most life forms.
[Divine realm has acquired Acid Pool x1!]
[Acid Pool can provide special acid, which can combine with Explosive Zerg to form a new Zerg species: "Acid Zerg"!]
A new species?
Xu Luo was curious. He hadn't chosen Explosive Zerg before as they were consumables, but now they had a new evolution path.
Acid Zerg: Explosive Zerg + Acid, explodes and corrodes a certain area, Bronze Tier 6.
A Bronze Tier 6 Zerg!
Xu Luo was thrilled. A Bronze Tier 6 explosion must be incredibly powerful!
With the acid pool, Acid Zerg didn't require additional evolution costs. Only one Explosive Zerg was needed. Placing eggs in the acid pool and choosing the Explosive Zerg direction would automatically absorb acid during hatching, evolving into Acid Zerg. They didn't need feeding, subsisting on acid, which was extremely convenient.
Generally, species couldn't evolve autonomously. They needed a deity's help to load other evolution templates or consume vast amounts of faith power for bloodline evolution. Otherwise, they remained as they started, only able to increase their strength and level slowly.
Since Acid Zerg didn't need feeding, Xu Luo threw all 1,000 existing eggs into the acid pool, spending 1,000 evolution points to choose the Explosive Zerg direction, then waited for them to hatch naturally.
The process was swift. After using evolution points, the eggs quickly hatched, absorbing the acidic substance. In about a minute, the Acid Zerg completed their evolution. The hatchlings were fingertip-sized, growing to fist-sized Explosive Zerg. Now, as Acid Zerg, they grew further to about half an arm's length, roughly the size of a washbasin.
Acid Zerg: Bronze Tier 6
Skills: Strong Acid Spray, Self-Destruct!
Fanatic: 6/day
After evolution, the Acid Zerg were completely different, providing much more faith power than ordinary Bronze Tier 1. Each provided six faith power daily, so 1,000 yielded 6,000 points. Adding to the original amount, it became a 7,000 faith power income!
Xu Luo discovered that Acid Zerg weren't completely without combat ability. They could spray strong acid ten times before self-destructing.
The explosion was comparable to a hand grenade, with additional corrosive damage, making them quite formidable.
Seeing the acid pool reduced by a fifth, Xu Luo realized he couldn't recklessly produce Acid Zerg. Though the acid could replenish, it wasn't unlimited. With a group of Bronze Tier 6 Acid Zerg and over 9,000 Jumping and Armored Zerg, Xu Luo felt more confident about the upcoming monthly exam for new students.
The school's monthly exam aimed to check students' divine realm development and select elite students for special attention in the following month. Of course, underperformers might be kicked out of the elite class.
Due to the incident with Xiang Yang, he had offended Dean Zhao Yiming and might face unfair treatment. With his increased strength, Xu Luo now had some confidence.
Compared to others, Xu Luo's biggest advantage was not needing specialized feeding.
Species weren't easy to raise. Scaled claw types like tigers, lions, and eagles needed meat. Goblins required some meat and other foods. Elves drank flower dew and ate fruits. Fire demons only lived in lava regions. Each had different requirements. Whether it was living environment or food, the Zerg only needed evolution points, which could be obtained by decomposing any substance.
They didn't need specific items.
Of course, feeding was secondary.
More importantly, obtaining more gene templates would make the Zerg increasingly powerful. Xu Luo knew he couldn't develop steadily like farming players. He would become an invader, taking the path of plunder, so his forces needed to be as strong as possible.
At the current rate, even if Xu Luo stayed hidden, he could gain 7,000 faith power per game day, or 70,000 per real day. In just over ten days, he could accumulate enough for one divine power, igniting the divine flame to become a true deity. But such a deity without any force, divine kingdom, or domain would be useless. He certainly wouldn't choose to become a god that way.
With the Overlord system and continuously evolving Zerg, he naturally wanted to accumulate sufficient power before choosing to become a god.
Becoming a god too early would only make him a target for established deities. It was better to accumulate more power in the novice divine realm before venturing out to plunder those veteran gods.