Chapter 771: A Losing Trade

The intense sounds of battle resounded from afar, together with constant screams and cries of desperation.

That was the Lord of Desolation showing off his might at the border of two worlds.

Taking the little time that he still had, Gu Qing Shan closed his eyes and carefully sensed the miraculous changes in his body.

He found that after he transformed into the Blue Flame Divinity, the 5-Elements became exceedingly closer to him.

The world he saw had also changed, the Elemental spirit energy that usually lingered in the air now became almost clear enough to be seen with the naked eyes.

Red was Fire, Yellow was Metal, Brown was Earth, Green was Wood and Blue was Water.

Among them, Elemental Water was constantly maintaining a connection with him as if it was an extended part of his body.

—–this feeling is similar to how I formed a connection with hundreds of flying swords after I achieved Great Attainment as a Sword Saint.

“Blue flame…”

Gu Qing Shan muttered and reached his hand out.

A drop of water in his palm crystallized into ice and began to give off a deep blue color.

Starting from where Gu Qing Shan was standing, white frost began to crawl along the ground and quickly spread in every direction.

Gu Qing Shan was surprised.

So having a blue flame represents control over Elemental Water.

But, was it really just control over Elemental Water?

Gu Qing Shan thought briefly and tried something.

His entire body vanished, turning into a freezing cold mist of frost that lingered in the air.

It was as if his body was completely made up of ice and frost.

Gu Qing Shan once again gathered his body.

He raised one hand.

His hand casually scattered into tiny white mist, then quickly reformed as his hand.

…not water.

This seems to be a different form of water, Frost.

So what kind of existence are Divinities actually?

At this point, notifications were blinking on the War God UI.

Gu Qing Shan stopped thinking and glanced at the War God UI.

[You’ve used 1 million Soul Points to transform into a 6-legged winged snake]

[You killed the God of Frost and Chill, Soul Points +800,000]

[You’ve used 900,000 Soul Points to transform into the God of Frost and Chill]

Seeing the notification, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help asking: “System, I remember that I only obtained 300,000 Soul Points from killing the 6-legged winged snake, why did it cost me more to turn into it than to turn into a Divinity?”

[Ting]!

The system replied: [Thank you for 10 Soul Points, the answer is as such:]

[Because the 6-legged winged snake is a unique Desolate life form. It is a beast-shaped weapon created by the Bygone Era humanity, using its body as the medium to perform the few abilities it inherited from humanity’s heritage]

[Whenever you transform into the snake, you would automatically grasp these abilities]

[The abilities were the three abilities that you used when killing the Divinity]

Gu Qing Shan understood and asked: “In other words, the Soul Points that I paid for transforming into the snake was mostly to pay for inheriting these human abilities?”

[Indeed, Soul Points are the most basic form of power, without it, your ‘all being’ transformation ability would not be able to accomplish the ability inheritance] the System replied.

“What if I had turned into a Desolate guard? Would I need to pay extra Soul Points for their abilities as well?”

[No, a Desolate guard is an intelligent, humanoid life form, you will need to upgrade War God Skills two more times in order to comprehend its Desolate abilities, as well as being able to use those abilities again after you transform back into a human]

“In other words, the 6-legged winged snake was a very unique creature that allowed me to directly inherit those abilities?”

[Correct]

“Then why can’t I use those abilities now?”

[It had already been answered. The snake was unique, it performed those meager inherited abilities through its unique body structure—– when you use the Mystery to recreate its body, you also recreate those abilities. When you are no longer a snake, you would naturally be unable to perform those abilities]

Gu Qing Shan helplessly shrug: “I’ve already turned into a Divinity, but I haven’t been able to comprehend any Divine Crafts”

[That is easily explained. Aside from the beasts that pass on their abilities through their bodies, you must learn the skills of other races through War God Skills, only then can those abilities truly become yours]

The System continued: [Overall, that is the reason why you only need 900,000 Soul Points to transform into a Divinity, but 1 million Soul Points to turn into the 6-legged winged snake]

Gu Qing Shan regretfully sighed.

1 million Soul Points, used up just like that, and I didn’t even learn a single Skill.

——furthermore, transforming into the snake and then into a Divinity cost me a total of 1.9 million Soul Points.

While killing that Divinity only gave me back 800,000 Soul Points.

If I knew this beforehand, I wouldn’t have killed this Divinity, maintained my form as a 6-legged winged snake, and hid among the Desolate monsters.

6-legged winged snakes are already considerably powerful Desolate lifeforms. Since I know Desolate Tongue, have a way with words and do things flexibly, I could’ve survived quite well in the Desolate world.

This was a huge loss.

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but glance at a certain point on the War God UI.

[Remaining Soul Points: 1,702,736/600]

There are still over 1.7 million left.

Gu Qing Shan slowly sighed in relief.

Fortunately, I managed to earn a lot in the slaughterhouse and on the battlefield just now that I still have a bit of Soul Points saved up.

—-otherwise I don’t even know how I’m going to live after this.

Looking at the amount of Soul Points he had, Gu Qing Shan felt a bit more confident.

With this much Soul Points, what am I afraid of?

He quickly walked up to the corpse of the ice Divinity, crouched down and put his hand on a circular long staff.

Earlier when the ice Divinity charged forward, he pulled his weapon out to attack but was heavily wounded by a single swing of the 7-colored spear.

Seems like this was the ice Divinity’s weapon.

Gu Qing Shan had already transformed into the ice Divinity, so he had to learn his skills, otherwise, it would be easy for him to be exposed.

On the War God UI, the icon representing [War God Skills] lit up.

[Discovered item: Frostlie Long Staff]

[You are unable to comprehend the Skills of the Divine race from this item]

Gu Qing Shan asked in surprise: “Why not?”

[Thank you for 10 Soul Points. Because you War God Skills hasn’t been upgraded, you still cannot comprehend the Divine Crafts that mimics humanity’s original skills]

“…”

The sound of battle slowly died down at the frontlines, the voice of the Lord of Desolation echoed across the world:

『 Foolish beings, you will do well to remember today’s lesson! 』

Rumble rumble———

Another earthquake.

The two worlds are beginning to separate.

There isn’t much time left!

Gu Qing Shan gritted his teeth and couldn’t help but spoke: “I’ll pay 1 million Soul Points, upgrade [War God Skills]”

[1 million Soul Points received, War God Skills have been upgraded] the System replied.

“That quickly?”

[Naturally, the System has already made the preparations beforehand]

“But why didn’t I sense any changes in the System?” Gu Qing Shan doubtfully asked.

The System paused briefly.

The [War God Skills] icon on the War God UI suddenly jumped.

[See that? The icon can now jump] the System curtly replied.

“…Fine, I want to comprehend those Divine Crafts now!” Gu Qing Shan declared.

Lines of glowing text appeared on the War God UI.

Every ability that the God of Frost and Chill had ever performed were listed there.

Unfortunately, there weren’t too many Skills here, and since they were all very useful, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t bear to skip out on any of them.

He stared at the UI and carefully asked: “I want to confirm something. After I comprehend these skills, I’ll keep being able to use them, right?”

[Naturally, you will permanently be able to perform these skills. However, when you are in human form, due to the lack of control compared to Divinities, these Divine Crafts would become significantly weaker]

Gu Qing Shan sighed in relief.

As long as I’m able to keep them, I don’t want to have to go through the situation with the snake again.

“Spend the Soul Points, I want to comprehend everything” he declared.

[Are you sure?] the System asked.

“I’m sure”

…

A few moments later.

The comprehension was complete.

From now on, Gu Qing Shan had truly become the God of Frost and Chill.

However, he didn’t seem to be very happy about it, in fact, he seemed sorrowful instead.

Because on the War God UI, a certain number had been reduced to almost nothing.

[Remaining Soul Points: 5/600]