Chapter 646: Chapter 646

"The next place is Butterfly Valley."

Qin Sang took out his geomantic map to determine the direction.

Butterfly Valley wasn’t far from the poisonous swamp. If he traveled by sword, it would take only two days to reach.

As the name suggested, Butterfly Valley was a beautiful gorge filled with countless butterflies.

Those who had visited it all described the same impression—beauty.

Thousands upon thousands of butterflies danced among the blossoms that filled the valley year-round. Whether spring, summer, autumn, or winter, the scenery was always enchanting.

These butterflies were ordinary species found in the mortal world. They were not spiritual insects, and the valley itself was just an ordinary valley. There were no barriers or spiritual herbs hidden within.

When cultivators first discovered Butterfly Valley, they suspected it might conceal a treasure that attracted the butterflies and caused them to linger.

They scoured the entire valley, only to confirm it was a completely natural place. Due to the terrain, the spiritual qi there was slightly denser, and the climate remained temperate, with spring-like conditions throughout the year.

It was said that a spiritual insect known as the Sky-Eyed Butterfly resided in the valley.

Qin Sang had come specifically for the Sky-Eyed Butterfly. However, he was uncertain whether he should use it as his life-bound insect gu.

The witch race considered the Sky-Eyed Butterfly one of the least suitable choices for a life-bound insect gu. Within Yuling Sect, records regarding this butterfly were incomplete and based on a damaged ancient scroll.

According to those records, the Sky-Eyed Butterfly resembled a common butterfly in size. Its wings were light, its form graceful, and its most distinguishing feature was the splendor of its wings.

When illuminated by sunlight, its wings displayed a faint sky-blue color. As it flew, it looked like waves rippling across a blue sea, and from time to time, the wings would shine with rainbow-like brilliance.

When fully spread, it seemed to be surrounded by waves and rainbows as it danced through the air, a creature of surreal beauty.

Its wings also bore markings that resembled eyes.

Hence the name, Sky-Eyed Butterfly.

In truth, the eye-like patterns were not merely decorative. After the butterfly completed its third metamorphosis, those markings would become actual Sky Eyes. This was the source of its innate talent.

Even at the second metamorphosis, the Sky-Eyed Butterfly possessed the abilities of concealment and shapeshifting.

When disguised as an ordinary butterfly, it showed no flaws. Once hidden, it was said to be able to evade even the spiritual consciousness of a Core Formation cultivator.

Such powerful survival abilities, however, served only that purpose: survival.

Other than that, the Sky-Eyed Butterfly had no special powers. It was as delicate as a common butterfly. A single strong breeze could be fatal. It was prone to dying young.

Its ability to survive in the wilderness depended entirely on its sharp sense for danger and its skills in concealment and transformation.

If a cultivator chose the Sky-Eyed Butterfly as their life-bound insect gu, it would be of no help in combat until after its third metamorphosis.

Even then, its physical weakness remained largely unchanged. Only the Sky Eyes on its wings would begin to manifest supernatural abilities.

The exact nature of these powers was unclear. The Yuling Sect’s records only mentioned that one such ability was the power to see through illusions and barriers, unaffected by visual obstructions.

There was no detailed explanation of its strength.

It was certain that the Sky-Eyed Butterfly had the potential to reach at least a fourth metamorphosis, but the records beyond that were even more vague. Only a single line remained, stating that the butterfly's Sky Eyes would continue to evolve.

This was the source of Qin Sang’s hesitation.

He cultivated a life-bound insect gu for two reasons. First, to deal with the seal fragments within his body. Second, to have a companion capable of assisting him in breaking through to the Spiritual Infant Realm.

He already possessed a life-bound spiritual sword, so combat ability was not the most important criterion when choosing an insect gu.

Even so, it could not be too weak. If the insect provided no support yet required tremendous effort and resources to raise, it would be a waste of time and potential.

That was exactly the issue with the Sky-Eyed Butterfly. Its body was fragile and it offered no support in battle, unlike the Twilight Stink Bug. Qin Sang also had no way of knowing how powerful the butterfly’s supernatural abilities would be. He would have to wait until its third metamorphosis to find out.

If its power turned out to be on par with ordinary eye-based Dao Techniques, he would have no choice but to regret the decision.

Like other supernatural insects listed in the Supernatural Insect Register, the Sky-Eyed Butterfly was extremely difficult to cultivate. It needed to be fed using special methods to accelerate its growth, which would demand large amounts of resources. Qin Sang would have to personally gather and prepare them.

Despite all this, after weighing the pros and cons, Qin Sang decided to include the Sky-Eyed Butterfly as one of his options.

Any insect that made it onto the Supernatural Insect Register clearly had potential. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NoveI★Fire.net

Supernatural insects with well-documented records usually had greater potential and underwent slower metamorphoses, but in return, they developed formidable innate talents. The Sky-Eyed Butterfly likely would not fall too far behind and was worth taking a chance on.

If its ability to pierce illusions turned out to be strong enough, it would be immensely valuable in many situations, especially when exploring hidden or mysterious places. And this might not even be the butterfly’s only ability.

If he couldn’t find a better supernatural insect, Qin Sang would choose the Sky-Eyed Butterfly.

That was, of course, assuming he could catch one.

Two days later, Qin Sang arrived at the mountain range where Butterfly Valley was located. As he neared the valley, his brow suddenly furrowed. He descended onto a mountain peak, lowered his head, and glanced toward the insect basket at his waist.

From inside the basket came a soft but sharp rustling sound.

The fat silkworm was gnawing on the basket again.

Qin Sang felt a headache coming on. Over the past two days, the silkworm had done nothing but eat and sleep. Whenever it woke up and found no food, it would start chewing on the basket nonstop to demand more from him.

And the worst part was that it refused to eat anything else but the Crimson Fire Gilded Gold.

Qin Sang had tried offering it all kinds of spirit pills, elixirs, and even poisons, but the fat silkworm ignored them completely. It didn’t even spare them a glance. It had even spat at him and rolled its eyes, as if offended by his offerings.

If not for his sharp eyes, he wouldn’t have even noticed it had eyes at all.

With a spiritual insect , Qin Sang didn’t dare consider using it as his life-bound insect gu. It was impossible to raise.

Yet the creature wasn’t completely foolish. It seemed to know that only Qin Sang carried Crimson Fire Gilded Gold. No matter how many times he tried to throw it away, it would stubbornly crawl back each time.

Once it latched on, it would blissfully fall asleep again.

But it hadn’t acknowledged him as its master.

There were only three known ways for a cultivator to command a spiritual insect. The first was through Yuling Sect’s insect-taming techniques. The second was the witch race’s life-bound insect gu. And the third was an extremely rare phenomenon, which was when a spiritual insect voluntarily acknowledged a master.

According to legend, when a spiritual insect took the initiative to form a bond, the cultivator and insect would share an extraordinary spiritual resonance and potentially gain unexpected benefits.

This kind of opportunity was said to be beyond luck, completely unpredictable.

Due to their low intelligence, it was nearly impossible to guess what spiritual insects were thinking.

Some had even attempted to use tactics meant for winning over humans, like staging a fake ambush and swooping in to save the insect’s life in a show of mercy.

In the end, it proved completely ineffective. Spiritual insects didn’t feel gratitude that way.

Qin Sang had patiently fed the silkworm for two full days. Yet the creature showed no gratitude, only an insatiable appetite. Finally, he decided he had tolerated enough. It was time to teach it a lesson.

Although its appetite wasn’t huge, it was constantly eating. That added up fast.

"Crimson Fire Gilded Gold is far too precious. I only have a single fruit left, and I still need it for my life-bound insect gu’s metamorphosis. How could I let a dumb silkworm use it as feed?"

With a cold snort, Qin Sang took out the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions and summoned a wisp of Devilish Flames of the Nine Hells, transforming it into a fine needle. He then opened the insect basket.