Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly

Ye Guchen activated his first soul skill, Spiritual Detection and Sharing, scanning Butterfly Valley in every direction.

"I ask you all to assist me; we must search thoroughly to find the Rainbow Butterfly with the most colors!"

"Understood!"

The group responded in unison.

"Let's divide the labor; everyone take a section!"

Dai Yueheng proposed a more efficient strategy.

Hearing this, the group immediately dispersed their attention, searching the Butterfly Valley with great care.

The area of Butterfly Valley was not small; the U-shaped valley stretched for nearly three or four miles, filled with dense vegetation and crisscrossed by waterfalls and streams.

Butterflies of all colors danced in the air, but most were common varieties. With Rainbow Butterfly mixed among them, and the majority being common ten-year soul beasts with only one or two colors, finding the one with the most vibrant hues was undoubtedly like finding a needle in a haystack.

However, with the Shrek Seven Devils and Ye Guchen, the eight of them spread out, and with the aid of Ye Guchen's Spiritual Detection and Sharing, their search efficiency was quite high.

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

Yao Haoxuan's voice came from the left, tinged with excitement.

Ye Guchen's spiritual power swept over it, and he shook his head slightly. Four colors were not enough; he needed at least five or more, otherwise, he would rather give up and find another soul beast as a substitute.

"I have three-colored and two-colored ones here, but no five-colored ones."

Xi Xi's voice also drifted from afar.

Gongyang Mo was searching carefully deep within the valley, walking while recalling the records in his family's archives.

"Rainbow Butterfly prefer moisture and fear dryness. The closer you are to a water source, the more likely you are to find individuals with more colors. Everyone, look more toward the waterfall!"

Hearing this, the group moved toward the waterfall.

Ye Guchen walked across the water, the cold air of his Ice Jade Scorpion freezing the surface into a trail of ice lotuses. He stepped lightly upon each one.

His eyes were slightly closed, his first soul skill's detection range pushed to the limit. With him as the center, every living thing within several hundred meters was scanned by his spiritual power.

Rainbow Butterfly were not large, their wings spanning only the size of a palm, but their colors were exceptionally distinct under the probe of spiritual power. Each one appeared like a moving point of light; the more colors they possessed, the more brilliant the light.

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

Ye Guchen counted silently in his heart. So far, he had detected hundreds of Rainbow Butterfly, but most were two or three colors. Four-colored ones were already extremely rare, with only a handful found, and he had yet to see a single five-colored one.

He was not anxious.

Gongyang Mo had said that five colors were already extremely rare, and seven colors had only appeared once in the family records. Finding one naturally required patience.

Just then, Ma Xiaotao's voice suddenly rang out.

"Guchen, come over and look at this!"

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

Ye Guchen moved, stepping on the ice lotuses and swiftly darting toward Ma Xiaotao's location.

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

The pool was surrounded by large patches of unknown wildflowers, their petals beaded with water droplets that refracted seven-colored light under the sun.

In this cluster of flowers, dozens of Rainbow Butterfly were dancing, their colors significantly more vibrant than those elsewhere in the valley.

Ye Guchen's spiritual power swept over them, and his heart leaped with joy.

Among these Rainbow Butterfly, there were seven or eight four-colored ones, and surprisingly, two five-colored ones!

"Not bad, the quality here is indeed high."

Ye Guchen nodded, his gaze lingering on the two five-colored Rainbow Butterfly.

The two five-colored butterflies, one leaning toward blue-green tones and the other toward red-yellow, had their five colors distributed evenly across their wings, looking quite beautiful as the light shifted across them.

"Let's catch these two five-colored ones first. If we can't find anything with more colors, these will have to do."

Yet, Ye Guchen felt something was still missing.

Five colors... were not enough.

What he wanted was seven colors.

"Let's keep looking. Since five-colored ones can appear here, perhaps there are even better ones hidden deeper inside."

However, Gongyang Mo scratched his head, looking puzzled.

"Strange. Logically speaking, five-colored ones are extremely rare. How did we find two so easily this time?"

As Ye Guchen spoke, he cast his gaze toward the back of the waterfall.

Behind the curtain of the waterfall, there was a faint outline of a cave. The water poured down from above the cave, forming a natural liquid barrier.

"Over there..."

Ye Guchen narrowed his eyes, his spiritual power attempting to pierce through the water curtain to probe inside.

But the flowing water of the waterfall interfered with his spiritual power, making the detection unclear. He could only faintly sense a life fluctuation behind the water curtain, and that fluctuation was far more intense than any other Rainbow Butterfly.

"I'm going in to take a look."

Ye Guchen spoke, and as an ice lotus bloomed beneath his feet, he leaped forward and charged toward the waterfall.

The chilling air of the Ultimate Ice condensed before him, instantly freezing the cascading water into a tunnel. Ye Guchen followed the momentum, passed through the water curtain, and landed in the cave behind it.

The cave was not large, measuring about twenty or thirty square meters. Unknown ores on the cave walls emitted a soft glow, illuminating the entire space.

In the very center of the cave, atop a flat bluestone, sat over a dozen Five-Colored Rainbow Butterflies, and there were even three or four six-colored ones!

Before Ye Guchen could even feel excited, he saw a single butterfly resting quietly, surrounded by the others.

Ye Guchen's gaze fell upon it, and his pupils constricted sharply.

Seven colors.

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet were distributed evenly across its wings. Each wing looked as if it had been meticulously blended by a master painter; the transitions between colors were seamless, and as the light shimmered, a seven-colored halo seemed to circulate along the edges of its wings.

What was even more astonishing was that the wings of this Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly were thicker than those of the other butterflies in the valley, yet its body was only the size of a ten-year-old Rainbow Butterfly—no different from an ordinary butterfly. The veins on its wings were clearly visible, with a faint luster flowing within them.

Is it only a hundred-year cultivation?

Upon sensing it carefully, Ye Guchen discovered that it indeed only had a hundred-year lifespan. However, that did not matter; once the contract was formed, its age would rapidly grow to over ten thousand years in a short period.

It seemed to sense Ye Guchen's arrival and slowly flapped its wings. Seven-colored halos rippled outward, and the entire cave seemed to be dyed in a dreamlike hue.

Ye Guchen held his breath, fearing he might startle this exquisite creature.

"Found you..."

He whispered to himself, his voice filled with unconcealable joy.

He crouched down in the cave to be at eye level with the Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly. He did not rush to approach it, but instead slowly released his aura.

The coldness of the Ultimate Ice, the pressure of the Ice Jade Scorpion, and his own level-fifty soul power fluctuations were all carefully controlled, presented in the gentlest way possible.

Rainbow Butterflies were not combat-type soul beasts and were naturally sensitive to the pressure of strong individuals; if he released it too violently, he feared he would frighten it.

There were two ways to contract a soul beast. One was like a normal soul master absorbing a soul ring: kill the soul beast, let the Contract Grimoire absorb its soul ring and corpse, and the grimoire would automatically resurrect it.

The other way was for a living soul beast to voluntarily enter the grimoire and accept the contract.

There was no difference after contracting; both methods allowed the beast to fully retain its original abilities and remain completely loyal to Ye Guchen.

However, Ye Guchen still hoped to contract his pet through the second method.

To Ye Guchen's surprise, the Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly did not show fear. Instead, it tilted its head slightly, as if it were sizing him up.

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

Gongyang Mo had specifically reminded him to prepare this before he came. Rainbow Butterflies were extremely sensitive to nectar-like foods, and using this was the best way to close the distance.

He opened the cap, dipped his fingertip into the honey, and gently extended it toward the Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly.

As the fragrance spread, the antennae of the Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly trembled slightly, as if sniffing the sweet scent.

Although the other Rainbow Butterflies were of low age—the highest being only at the nine-thousand-year level—and possessed no combat power, they now shielded the Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly behind them, like loyal guards protecting their queen.

The Seven-Colored Rainbow Butterfly hesitated for a moment before finally flapping its wings, passing through the protection of the butterfly swarm, and landing lightly on Ye Guchen's fingertip.

The seven-colored halo on its wings was even more stunning up close; every flap left a fleeting seven-colored afterimage in the air.

Ye Guchen could feel the warmth from its tiny body and its faint but pure life fluctuations.

"Come with me."

Ye Guchen said softly, his tone like that of a friend discussing something, rather than giving an order to a soul beast.

"I will take you to see higher scenery and help you break through the limitations of your species' growth to reach a height no Rainbow Butterfly has ever attained before."