The Thousand-Year Light Butterfly!

The group changed direction.

After traveling for nearly half a day, they found that although the towering trees around them grew denser, the soil underfoot was no longer slick.

The air had become much less humid, too.

Bright sunlight pierced the branches and leaves without obstruction, spilling across the dry rocks around them.

The group pressed on.

At last, they entered a broad, sunlit hollow.

Yue Guan, who was in front, suddenly raised a hand for everyone to stop.

A butterfly the size of a washbasin rested on a huge sunflower ahead.

Its entire body was golden, its wings covered in fine patterns. It had extended its slender proboscis to drink the sunflower's nectar.

"That's a Light Butterfly a little over a hundred years old,"

Yue Guan said, lowering his voice.

Qian Renchuan's eyes sharpened as he said,

"Light Butterflies live in groups. If there's one here, there must be a sizable colony nearby."

"Deal with it first. We don't want it flying around and alerting the whole colony."

"Understood."

Gui Mei acted at once, becoming a dark shadow that skimmed along the ground.

The hundred-year Light Butterfly did not even have a chance to flap its wings and flee before Gui Mei killed it.

He had not even used a Soul Ring.

It was no contest.

The body drifted down onto one of the sunflower's broad leaves.

With the sentry dealt with, the group carefully ventured onward.

Before long, the view ahead opened up.

A lake as clear as a mirror appeared before them.

Exotic flowers and plants grew all around its shores, filling the air with a rich floral fragrance.

And above the lakeshore,

dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Light Butterflies danced through the air.

Golden specks of every size fluttered up and down among the flowers, weaving a dazzling curtain of light.

It was a breathtaking sight.

But Qian Renxue, standing at the edge of the lakeshore, swept a keen gaze across the vast colony.

After only a few seconds,

her eyes locked onto a thick, dead tree trunk in the middle of the lakeshore.

A particularly striking Light Butterfly rested there.

This one was twice the size of its companions.

Its wings spanned over a meter when fully spread.

The patterns on them had the deep, lustrous color of solid gold.

Most striking of all was the strange ring of incandescent light along their edges. Each slight beat of its wings seemed to scorch the surrounding air, leaving faint ripples in its wake.

"That's the one."

Qian Renxue raised a hand and pointed.

"A wingspan over a meter, brilliant golden markings, and white light along the edges. Those are the clearest signs of a thousand-year Light Butterfly."

"That's the one I want."

At those words, Yue Guan's and Gui Mei's faces twitched with helpless frustration.

They had hoped to pick some random four- or five-hundred-year-old Light Butterfly from the colony and pass it off as their target.

They had not expected Miss Xue to know the signs of a thousand-year Light Butterfly so well.

Now,

their plan to fool her was dead.

With things as they were, the two Titled Douluo had no other choice.

The Grand Priest had given his approval, so they could only grit their teeth and do it.

The two Titled Douluo struck together.

Neither even released his Martial Soul. Relying solely on the crushing pressure of his Soul Power and his incredible speed, each charged into the colony.

Soul Power surged from their palms

and became sweeping waves of invisible force.

Ordinary Light Butterflies, some decades old and others centuries old, fell in swathes.

A golden downpour swept over the lakeshore.

They were clearing out the ordinary Light Butterflies so none could interfere while Qian Renxue absorbed her Soul Ring.

As Yue Guan cleared the area,

Gui Mei appeared above the thousand-year Light Butterfly like a ghost.

Sensing mortal danger, the butterfly beat its wings hard. Blinding white light burst from them in a last attempt to fight back.

But Gui Mei's withered hand pierced the light and struck precisely at the base of its wings.

A sharp crack of bone rang out.

The thousand-year Light Butterfly let out a shrill cry.

Its huge body fell like a kite with its string cut. It struggled on the ground, unable to fly again.

The battle was over almost as soon as it began.

The ordinary Light Butterflies had been swept from the lakeshore, and their target lay gravely wounded.

Qian Renxue hurried over to the dying thousand-year Light Butterfly.

Yue Guan followed beside her. His lips moved, as though he still wanted to talk her out of it.

But when he saw her draw a short blade,

he swallowed his words.

The next moment, Qian Renxue drove the blade into the butterfly's vital point without hesitation.

Squelch.

Blood sprayed.

The Light Butterfly's huge body convulsed violently, then went still.

Soon, specks of purple light drifted from its body and gathered in midair, forming a purple Soul Ring that radiated a sacred glow.

Purple

meant a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Qian Renxue turned for one last look at her elder brother, Qian Renchuan.

As though she had found the encouragement she sought in his eyes, she immediately sat down cross-legged.

She steadied her breathing and focused,

drawing the purple Soul Ring into her body.

But the instant it entered, Qian Renxue's slender body went rigid and began to shake violently.

Vast thousand-year Soul Power swept through her like a breached dam.

In an instant,

Qian Renxue's expression changed.

She felt as if every bone in her body was being crushed, bit by bit, beyond her control.

Fine beads of blood began to seep through her skin,

sliding down her cheeks

and staining her clothes red, little by little.

The finest Whale Rubber had greatly strengthened her body, but absorbing a Soul Ring several hundred years beyond her limit still brought the agony of having her meridians stretched apart and remade inch by inch. It was far more than an ordinary person could bear.

But Qian Renxue had lived through rebirth.

Her resolve

was second to none.

From beginning to end, she did not make a sound, even as her nails dug into her palms.

On the backs of her hands,

her veins bulged!!!

A few steps away, Yue Guan and Gui Mei watched with troubled expressions.

Neither dared so much as breathe loudly.

At the first sign that the Second Young Lady's body might burst, they would interrupt the absorption without hesitation. Even if it left her gravely injured, they had to save her life.

But time passed, bit by bit.

Though more beads of blood appeared on Qian Renxue's skin, her aura gradually stabilized.

At the sight,

Yue Guan was stunned.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then instinctively turned to see how the Eldest Young Master and Third Young Master were reacting.

What he saw

left him frozen in place.

On a patch of grass nearby,

Qian Renchuan had somehow pulled a folding lounge chair from his Storage Soul Tool and was reclining in it quite comfortably.

Huo Yuhao sat in another chair beside him.

With a piece of metal in one hand and a Carving Knife in the other, he was intently engraving the casing of a Soul Tool.

Every so often,

he picked up the teapot on the table, poured a full cup, and pushed it toward the Eldest Young Master.

Neither had said a word throughout.

But it was clear that the Eldest Young Master and Third Young Master now got along remarkably well.

More importantly,

neither seemed the least bit worried about Miss Xue.