The Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly

Ye Guchen activated his first Soul Skill, Spiritual Detection, and shared it with everyone, scanning Butterfly Valley from all directions.

"Please help me. Search carefully and find the Rainbow Butterfly with the most colors!"

"Got it!"

Everyone answered in unison.

"Let's split up and work together. Each person will search one area!"

Dai Yueheng proposed a more efficient strategy.

At his words, everyone immediately spread out their attention and began searching the valley carefully.

Butterfly Valley was fairly large. Its U-shaped valley stretched for nearly three or four li, with lush vegetation and waterfalls and streams crisscrossing its slopes.

Butterflies of every color danced through the air, but most were ordinary butterflies. Rainbow Butterflies were mixed in among them, and most were ordinary Ten-Year Soul Beasts with just one or two colors. Finding the one with the most colors was undoubtedly like fishing for a needle in the sea.

Still, with the Shrek Seven Devils and Ye Guchen spread out across the valley, their search was fairly efficient thanks to Spiritual Detection Sharing.

"I found a four-colored one over here!"

Yao Haoxuan's voice came from the left, carrying a hint of excitement.

Ye Guchen's Spiritual Power swept over it, and he shook his head slightly. Four colors weren't enough. It needed to have at least five. Otherwise, he would rather give up and look for another Soul Beast as a substitute.

"There's a three-colored one over here, and a two-colored one, but I haven't seen any five-colored ones."

Xi Xi's voice came from farther away.

Gongyang Mo was searching carefully in the depths of the valley, walking along as he recalled the records in his family's ancient texts.

"Rainbow Butterflies like damp places and avoid dry ones. The closer they are to a water source, the more likely you are to find one with more colors. Look around the waterfall!"

At his words, everyone started heading toward the waterfall.

Ye Guchen walked across the water. The chill of the Ice Jade Scorpion beneath his feet froze the surface into a string of ice lotuses. He stepped lightly from one to the next, his figure graceful.

He closed his eyes and pushed the detection range of his first Soul Skill to its limit. Centered on him, Spiritual Power scanned every living creature within several hundred meters.

Rainbow Butterflies weren't large; their outspread wings were no bigger than a palm. But under the scrutiny of his Spiritual Power, their colors stood out vividly. Each one appeared as a moving point of light, and the more colors it had, the brighter it shone.

"Three colors... four colors... two colors..."

Ye Guchen counted silently. He had detected several hundred Rainbow Butterflies so far, but most had two or three colors. Even four-colored ones were extremely rare, with only a handful to be found. He hadn't seen a single five-colored one.

He wasn't in a hurry.

Gongyang Mo had said that five-colored ones were already extremely rare, while seven-colored ones had appeared only once in the records of his family. Finding one would naturally take patience.

Just then, Ma Xiaotao's voice rang out.

"Guchen, come take a look at this!"

Her voice held a trace of surprise, as if she had found something extraordinary.

Ye Guchen moved at once, swiftly skimming across the ice lotuses toward Ma Xiaotao.

It was a small pool beneath a waterfall. The water was crystal clear, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds above the valley.

A large patch of unknown wildflowers grew around the pool. Dew clung to their petals, refracting the sunlight into rainbow colors.

Dozens of Rainbow Butterflies danced among the flowers, their colors noticeably more vivid than those of the butterflies elsewhere in the valley.

Ye Guchen swept the area with his Spiritual Power and felt a surge of delight.

Among these Rainbow Butterflies, seven or eight had four colors, and there were even two with five!

"Not bad. The quality here really is higher."

Ye Guchen nodded, his gaze moving back and forth between the two five-colored Rainbow Butterflies.

One was mostly blue-green, the other red-yellow. Their five colors were evenly distributed across their wings, and the shifting light made them especially beautiful.

"Let's catch these two five-colored ones first. If we can't find one with more colors, we'll choose one of them."

But Ye Guchen still felt something was missing.

Five colors... weren't enough.

He wanted a seven-colored one.

"Let's keep looking. If five-colored ones can be found here, there might be an even better one hidden deeper in."

Gongyang Mo scratched his head, looking puzzled.

"Strange. Five-colored ones are already extremely rare. How did we find two so easily this time?"

As Ye Guchen spoke, his gaze shifted to the area behind the waterfall.

Beyond the waterfall's veil of water, the faint outline of a cave could be seen. Water poured down over its entrance, forming a natural curtain.

"There..."

Ye Guchen narrowed his eyes and tried to peer through the curtain with his Spiritual Power.

The falling water interfered with his Spiritual Power to some extent, making it difficult to see clearly. He could only vaguely sense a living presence behind the veil, and its aura was far stronger than that of the other Rainbow Butterflies.

"I'll go take a look."

As Ye Guchen spoke, an ice lotus bloomed beneath his feet. He leaped toward the waterfall.

The chill of Ultimate Ice gathered in front of him, freezing the falling water into a passage in an instant. Ye Guchen slipped through the curtain and landed inside the cave.

The cave wasn't large, perhaps twenty or thirty square meters. Unknown ores embedded in the walls gave off a soft glow, illuminating the entire space.

In the very center of the cave, a dozen or so five-colored Rainbow Butterflies rested on a flat green stone. There were even three or four six-colored ones!

Before Ye Guchen could get excited, he noticed a Rainbow Butterfly resting quietly in the middle of the group, surrounded by the others.

Ye Guchen's gaze fell on it, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

Seven colors.

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple were evenly spread across its wings. Each wing looked as though it had been meticulously painted by a master artist. The colors blended seamlessly, and as they shimmered, a halo of seven hues seemed to flow around the edges of its wings.

Even more astonishingly, this seven-colored Rainbow Butterfly's wings were thicker than those of the other Rainbow Butterflies in the valley, though its body was no bigger than that of an ordinary ten-year Rainbow Butterfly. Its size was no different from an ordinary butterfly, and the veins in its wings were clearly visible, with a faint sheen flowing through them.

"Only a hundred years of cultivation?"

Only after sensing it carefully did Ye Guchen realize that it had a cultivation age of just one hundred years. But that didn't matter. After he contracted it, its age would quickly grow to more than ten thousand years.

It seemed to sense Ye Guchen's arrival and slowly fluttered its wings. A halo of seven colors rippled outward, as though the entire cave had been dyed in a dreamlike glow.

Ye Guchen held his breath, afraid of startling this beautiful creature.

"I found it..."

He murmured softly, struggling to contain his delight.

He crouched down in the cave, meeting the seven-colored Rainbow Butterfly at eye level. He didn't approach rashly, instead slowly releasing his aura.

He carefully controlled the chill of Ultimate Ice, the pressure of the Ice Jade Scorpion, and the fluctuations of his own Soul Power at level fifty, letting them emerge as gently as possible.

Rainbow Butterflies weren't combat-type Soul Beasts and were naturally sensitive to the pressure of the strong. If he released it too fiercely, he might frighten the creature.

There were two ways to contract a Soul Beast. The first was like a normal Soul Master absorbing a Soul Ring: the Soul Beast was killed, then the Contract Grimoire absorbed its Soul Ring and corpse before automatically resurrecting it.

The second was for a living Soul Beast to willingly enter the Grimoire and accept the contract.

There was no difference between the two once the contract was complete. Either way, the Soul Beast retained all its original abilities and became completely loyal to Ye Guchen.

Even so, Ye Guchen much preferred the second method of contracting a pet Soul Beast.

To his surprise, the seven-colored Rainbow Butterfly showed no fear. Instead, it tilted its head slightly, as if sizing him up.

Ye Guchen thought for a moment, then took a small bottle of honey from his Storage Soul Tool.

Gongyang Mo had specifically reminded him to prepare it before they came. Rainbow Butterflies were extremely sensitive to nectar-like foods, making honey the best way to get closer to one.

He opened the bottle, dabbed a little honey onto his fingertip, and gently held it out to the seven-colored Rainbow Butterfly.

The fragrance spread through the air. The Rainbow Butterfly's antennae trembled slightly, as though it were smelling the sweet scent.

Although the other Rainbow Butterflies weren't highly cultivated—the strongest among them was only at the nine-thousand-year level—and had no fighting power, they now shielded the seven-colored Rainbow Butterfly behind them, as though they were loyal guards protecting their queen.

The seven-colored Rainbow Butterfly hesitated for a moment. At last, it fluttered its wings, passed through the protection of the swarm, and settled lightly on Ye Guchen's fingertip.

Up close, the seven-colored halo on its wings was even more breathtaking. Every flap left a brief rainbow-colored afterimage in the air.

Ye Guchen could feel the warmth of its tiny body, as well as the faint but pure pulse of life within it.

"Come with me."

Ye Guchen spoke softly, as though discussing it with a friend rather than giving orders to a Soul Beast.

"I'll take you to see even grander sights and help you break through the limits of your race's growth, so you can reach heights no Rainbow Butterfly has ever reached before."