559: What about the trust between humans and insects?!

Qian Yuanqing seemed to sense Gu Qinghan's emotions. He looked at him and said, seemingly without intending anything: "Do you know why I'm willing to follow you?"

"I don't know." Gu Qinghan was honest.

"Besides that inexplicable sense of closeness, I think you're truly powerful."

It seemed only at times like this that Qian Yuanqing would drop his casual façade and become serious.

Gu Qinghan remained silent, quietly waiting for Qian Yuanqing to continue.

"Actually, when I first became a Cleric, I heard many things about you."

I didn't witness your two great feats at the Auction House, but I can imagine the pressure you were under at the time.

I thought then that if I were in your place, I should be able to achieve the same.

But as I learned more and more about you, I realized it was impossible for me to achieve the same level as you.

You, my friend, are simply a monster."

"If I told you that I've actually witnessed my own death countless times, would you believe me?"

Gu Qinghan smiled, uttering something that left Qian Yuanqing completely bewildered.

In the Time Rift Secret Realm, he had indeed witnessed countless ways he could perish.

But quickly, Qian Yuanqing nodded:

"I believe it. Even if you told me you’d died several times and were now resurrected, I’d still believe you."

Honestly, I can't imagine how you managed to break free from one desperate situation after another."

"I don't know either." Gu Qinghan shrugged.

"That's why, after entrusting my forces to others, I entered the Giant Kingdom Secret Realm, wanting to see exactly what kind of person you are."

After all, someone like you definitely wouldn't pass up a Secret Realm of this caliber.

As luck would have it, my skills were sealed right then, and I saw you take down those guys from the Cleric Alliance all by yourself.

So cool! If I were a girl, I would have married you on the spot!"

The more excited Qian Yuanqing became, the more he spoke. Toward the end, Gu Qinghan looked at his somewhat wicked face and suddenly leaned back.

Noticing Gu Qinghan's reaction, Qian Yuanqing’s lips twitched.

"Don't read too much into it; I'm just giving you genuine praise."

That's why I'm even more determined to stay by your side and see how far someone like you can truly go."

"I'll take things one step at a time."

Gu Qinghan said this seemingly as a joke, but only he knew it was the absolute truth.

No matter how much preparation one makes, an accident could still happen in the very next second.

The powerful experts who died in the jaws of Dragons might have been imagining a wonderful life just minutes ago, but moments later, not even their corpses remained.

Xiao Hei was already far away from the Stone City base, but there was still no sign of a Dragon, so Gu Qinghan decided not to waste any time traveling.

After a few more casual words, Gu Qinghan suddenly thought of something and spoke to Gu Qingyuan mentally:

"Leave the heart. You can consume the corpse of that Fire Elemental Dragon first."

Gu Qingyuan instantly grew excited. In the next moment, the Dragon's corpse appeared within the contract space.

Gu Qinghan had originally expected the process to be quite calm, but in less than ten minutes, his expression shifted.

Immediately afterward, Gu Qingyuan suddenly appeared in front of him. If Gu Qinghan hadn't grabbed him, he would have plummeted straight down.

"What's the matter?"

Qian Yuanqing also looked over, watching Gu Qingyuan, who was being held by Gu Qinghan, with some confusion.

But quickly, the look on his face also turned strange.

Because he saw that Gu Qingyuan, currently in Gu Qinghan's grip, was slowly elongating.

It seemed that he was transforming into Gu Qinghan's exact likeness.

Gu Qinghan righted Gu Qingyuan's body, then looked at the latter, whose clothes were nearly bursting, and asked:

"What is happening?"

Just moments ago, Gu Qingyuan had urgently told him that he needed to come out.

Before Gu Qinghan could even react, Gu Qingyuan simply appeared beside him.

"The energy was too abundant; the contract space couldn't quite handle it..."

Gu Qingyuan answered sheepishly, which allowed Gu Qinghan to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Thankfully, it wasn't anything serious.

But looking at Gu Qingyuan's current appearance, Gu Qinghan’s expression darkened:

"Can you stop turning into my likeness every time you absorb energy? It's far too bizarre."

After all, watching someone who looks exactly like you, yet is wearing children's clothing, standing right in front of you—anyone would find that strange, right?

Gu Qingyuan chuckled, and then his body rapidly shrank:

"Hehe, my bad, my bad."

Soon, he reverted to his previous child appearance, causing the nearby Qian Yuanqing to exclaim in surprise.

But Gu Qinghan quickly noticed something was amiss. He stared at Gu Qingyuan for a long time and asked suspiciously:

"Can you actively control your appearance now? I mean, you can willfully change between the appearance of a child or an adult, right?"

Gu Qingyuan's expression froze. He had hoped to rely on this ability to show off in Whale Fall City later on, but he hadn't expected Gu Qinghan to see through him immediately.

Seeing Gu Qingyuan’s self-incriminating expression, Gu Qinghan confirmed his suspicion.

"If you dare secretly transform into my appearance and cause trouble, you're dead if I find out!"

"Don't worry, I'm the most reliable one!"

Gu Qingyuan guaranteed this solemnly, but Gu Qinghan still didn't quite trust his words.

Seeing that Gu Qinghan was about to say more, Gu Qingyuan immediately changed the subject:

"Don't just focus on my mistake, okay? I just leveled up!"

Now, I can also create skills."

Hearing this, Gu Qinghan raised an eyebrow. This guy leveled up so quickly.

Clearly, he was already close to leveling up, as he had been Level 50 for a long time, and consuming the Dragon might have just been a way to break through a bottleneck.

Of course, Gu Qinghan had reason to suspect that he was merely finding an excuse to taste the Dragon.

[Source Worm (Emperor): Level 60]

[Combat Power: 1,000,000]

[Return to Source: Source Worm can refine more primal energy through devouring]

[Condense Dew: Source Worm can capture a portion of energy and condense it into honeydew with special effects]

[Mimicry: Transforms some of the enemy's abilities so they can be utilized by other units]

[Energy Storage: Stores various types of energy within the body, which can be used by other skills]

[Source Power Infusion: Infuses energy stored in the body toward the enemy, causing massive damage]

[Empowerment: Can strip a designated skill upon devouring and grant it to another unit. This skill will gradually strengthen alongside the recipient's power.]

What was even more of a surprise to Gu Qinghan was that Gu Qingyuan's combat power had reached one million, and his rarity had changed to Emperor.

However, an Emperor-level being with only one million combat power... seemed a little embarrassing.

Of course, Gu Qinghan understood that if his one million combat power was utilized properly, he could definitely inflict damage upon a Dragon.

Gu Qingyuan was an extremely specialized type: defense, survival, and sustained combat were all zero, but his burst damage was terrifying.

Of course, compared to Gu Qingyuan's own strength, Gu Qinghan was more eager to know the specific effect of his new skill, [Empowerment].

"You can separate the Dragon's skills. Can all of its skills be stripped out?" Gu Qinghan asked with anticipation.

"Yes, but I can only choose one to strip out, and it takes time. Also, it seems I can only grant it to one person for use."

To strip another skill and grant it to the next person, I would have to consume the corresponding corpse again..."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Qingyuan saw Gu Qinghan's suspicious gaze and immediately wailed as if he were about to burst into tears:

"Damn it! Don't look at me like that! I'm telling the truth!"

Shouldn't there be a little more trust between a person and a bug?"