After collecting everything he had gained on this trip, Heavenly Insect ignored the Golden Origin Heavenly Silkworm clamoring for supreme spirit liquid in his consciousness. Together with Demon Butterfly, who had received the Spirit Butterfly Fairy's complete inheritance and even obtained a sovereign divine insect, he left this shattered, devastated world.
"Now that Flying Locust is dead and Flying Spirit City has no master, this is a good opportunity for the Spirit Butterfly Lineage. But you still need to tell me exactly how much fighting strength your lineage has."
Outside the Insect Prison Site, Heavenly Insect looked back at Kongsang Mountain, which had returned to normal, and spoke to Demon Butterfly beside him.
Since Heavenly Insect had agreed to help the Spirit Butterfly Lineage, there was no longer any need to conceal this information. Demon Butterfly pondered briefly, organized what she knew about her tribe, and said, "The Spirit Butterfly Lineage isn't particularly conspicuous in Flying Spirit City. We mostly use the Butterfly-Phoenix Pavilion as our public face."
"There's not much to say about the Butterfly-Phoenix Pavilion. It's only a second-rate faction. I'm its only Heaven Fusion Realm cultivator, and there are three others in the Divine Soul Realm..."
"As for the tribe, our chief is in the Heaven Transformation Realm. She's also my mother. Besides her, there are three Heaven Fusion Realm elders, and then there's me..."
After hearing Demon Butterfly's explanation, Heavenly Insect couldn't help scratching his head.
He had guessed that the Spirit Butterfly Lineage wouldn't be very strong, but he hadn't expected it to be this weak...
For a clan with several centuries of history, having no Sovereign expert was one thing, but they didn't even have anyone in the Heaven-reaching Realm, let alone someone at the level of the Three Minor Tribulations of the Sovereign.
Heavenly Insect suddenly realized that the task he had accepted wasn't merely difficult-it was extremely difficult!
"In that case, we can't step into the spotlight just yet. We'll lie low for a while and improve our strength. You also need to get your Black-Feathered Star Locust recovered as soon as possible. If your Spirit Butterfly Lineage wants to take control of Flying Spirit City, you'll need its help to have any chance."
Although Flying Locust, the city lord and strongest expert in Flying Spirit City, had fallen, the city still had plenty of powerful experts.
The greatest threats to the Spirit Butterfly Lineage were the two deputy city lords, both Second Grade Sovereigns. Each controlled a substantial force, and they had only submitted because Flying Locust had kept them suppressed.
If Flying Locust's death was confirmed, the two would surely fight to determine who would claim the city lord's seat.
As for the Flying Spirit Army, the city's third-largest faction, it had originally sworn allegiance to the city lord alone. Besides, two of its three commanders were now dead. With Black Yu left to hold everything up alone, like a lone tree trying to support a roof, he probably wouldn't be able to stir up much trouble.
"We'll use this time to let all those ox-headed demons and snake spirits come crawling out. Once the moment is right, we'll step in, clean up the mess, and settle everything in one stroke!"
Demon Butterfly couldn't help nodding repeatedly at Heavenly Insect's words. When she heard that he needed somewhere quiet for secluded cultivation, she took him straight back to the Spirit Butterfly Lineage's ancestral grounds.
It was a valley hidden deep within the mountains.
Perhaps because they had inherited the spirit butterflies' bloodline, flowers that bloomed throughout all four seasons also grew in the Spirit Butterfly Lineage's valley. Brilliant purples and vivid reds filled the view, and an exotic fragrance hung so thickly in the air that Heavenly Insect couldn't help sneezing.
After entering the Spirit Butterfly Lineage's grounds, Heavenly Insect found that things were much as he had imagined. Women made up most of the tribe, and even the guards were predominantly female. Men were rarely seen.
Led by Demon Butterfly, Heavenly Insect met her mother. She looked about the same age as Demon Butterfly, but carried herself with greater grace and dignity. Her lovely face lacked Demon Butterfly's unconventional smoky makeup, and her whole presence radiated charm.
Demon Butterfly had already used a messenger spirit butterfly to give her mother a rough account of what had happened in the ruins, so her mother knew something about Heavenly Insect.
At their first meeting, this woman who had inherited the Spirit Butterfly Fairy's name showed Heavenly Insect an extraordinary degree of warmth,
giving him the distinct impression of a mother-in-law sizing up her son-in-law. Heavenly Insect felt rather awkward and restrained, however, so he exchanged only a few pleasantries before excusing himself to rest. That would also leave mother and daughter enough time for a private conversation.
A spirited young female guard led Heavenly Insect to a particularly secluded courtyard.
Heavenly Insect looked at the tall flowering trees screening the courtyard from the outside world and nodded in satisfaction.
After returning to his room, he sent his consciousness above his qi sea and saw the enormous Light Cocoon floating there.
Although the Golden Origin Heavenly Silkworm seemed unchanged, Heavenly Insect could still sense a difference in its aura. Clearly, all its devouring over the past several days had benefited it considerably.
"Golden Cicada, stop playing dead. Where's my spiritual energy? Isn't it time you gave it to me?"
The outer energy seal of the Nine Revolutions Black Falsehood that it had devoured earlier contained an enormous amount of energy. According to the agreement between man and insect, half of that energy belonged to Heavenly Insect.
"I'm not playing dead... If you hadn't begged me, I wouldn't have wanted to store this energy for you. It's like putting a plate of delicious food in front of a starving person and forbidding them from eating it. Do you know how cruel that is?"
"All right, all right, enough of that nonsense. If you could break out of your cocoon right now, I'd gladly give you all the energy. But the question is, can you?"
Golden Cicada was immediately speechless. It really couldn't. Besides, although Heavenly Insect now had several thousand drops of supreme spirit liquid, this higher-grade energy was extremely difficult to digest. Even with Heavenly Insect's full support, it would still need a considerable amount of time to absorb it and transform.
There was no helping it. Despite its powerful bloodline, the Golden Origin Heavenly Silkworm wasn't yet a Sovereign-level creature. Devouring supreme spirit liquid should have been utterly impossible; only its formidable innate ability had allowed it to manage even this much.
Moreover, breaking out of its cocoon and becoming a cicada was practically defying heaven to rewrite its fate. A newly emerged Six-Winged Golden Cicada possessed strength comparable to a Third or Fourth Grade Sovereign, so the energy it required was equally terrifying.
"Enough talk. Hand over the energy!"
The instant Heavenly Insect finished speaking, the Light Cocoon floating above his qi sea erupted with dazzling golden light. An exceptionally pure surge of spiritual energy poured out of it and flowed straight into his qi sea.
Boom!
Spiritual energy as vast as an ocean suddenly surged forth, pouring endlessly into Heavenly Insect's qi sea. That overwhelming fullness instantly made him feel as though he were swelling up.
Even half of this spiritual energy was far too immense for him to absorb all at once!
That bastard is definitely doing this on purpose! Heavenly Insect silently cursed Golden Cicada, then hurriedly focused his entire mind on circulating his spiritual art to control the energy.
After his body had been reconstructed, its capacity to contain and absorb spiritual energy had reached the utmost level. Although this energy was immense, it still wasn't enough to reach the limits of what his body could withstand.
Stream after stream of condensed spiritual energy was refined and poured into his qi sea, where the tiny divine soul seated within inhaled it.
This cultivation was countless times faster than his usual training. More importantly, the spiritual energy Golden Cicada returned was pure and devoid of consciousness, offering no resistance to Heavenly Insect's refinement. His cultivation flowed as smoothly as water filling a channel.
Within his qi sea, light rippled around the tiny divine soul. Spiritual energy streamed in without end, and it swallowed every last bit.
As the divine soul devoured this energy so furiously, its body slowly grew larger, and the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from it became increasingly powerful.
Although his rapidly rising cultivation thrilled Heavenly Insect, he remained cautious. Such swift gains might seem wonderful, but there still had to be a limit!
If he leaped ahead too quickly, his spiritual energy might become insubstantial, potentially destabilizing his foundation. That would bode poorly for his future.
For now, however, everything remained under Heavenly Insect's control.
And so, Heavenly Insect's cultivation gradually settled onto the right track.
Time slipped away day by day amid this quiet cultivation. In the blink of an eye, five days had passed...
Over those five days, Heavenly Insect's aura grew increasingly powerful, and his spiritual energy fluctuations became ever more pronounced.
Outside the courtyard, the graceful Spirit Butterfly Tribe Chief stood shoulder to shoulder with her daughter. Her face was full of admiration as she looked toward the man concealed among the flowering trees.
"For this young man to possess such strength at his age, his future achievements will be boundless. What a pity he can't become one of our Spirit Butterfly Lineage..."
At those words, Demon Butterfly couldn't help rolling her eyes.
Over the past few days, she had lost count of how many times her mother had voiced that same lament. She made it sound as though nobody wanted her daughter.
The Spirit Butterfly Tribe Chief paid no attention to her daughter's expression and continued, "You said earlier that our ancestor gave Young Master Heavenly Insect the Ancient Sword Butterfly Egg. Is that right?"
Demon Butterfly nodded lightly. "Yes. It was one of his conditions for agreeing to help our Spirit Butterfly Lineage."
The Spirit Butterfly Tribe Chief nodded slightly, then said, "Our tribal records state that hatching an Ancient Sword Butterfly Egg requires not only a considerable amount of spiritual energy, but also the assistance of Sword Jade. We happen to have a piece passed down in our treasury. Once he comes out of seclusion, give it to him..."
Sword Jade was an extremely unusual precious jade containing exceptionally pure sword intent. It was said to form only where powerful sword cultivators trained, and was considered rare even in the Great Thousand World.
Most importantly, Heavenly Insect had none at present and would struggle to obtain any in the short term. That made the Spirit Butterfly Lineage's piece of Sword Jade particularly crucial.
Demon Butterfly saw nothing wrong with her mother's decision. The Sword Jade was of no use to them now anyway, and an Ancient Sword Butterfly wasn't something easily obtained. Its value rivaled that of certain rare divine beasts.
"I understand, Mother. Once Heavenly Insect comes out, I'll give it to him myself."
"But word of City Lord Flying Locust's disappearance has begun spreading through Flying Spirit City. I'm afraid the city will soon fall into chaos. We need to keep a constant watch on developments there, so you'll have to assign people to monitor it, Mother."
Demon Butterfly had been organizing the complete inheritance the Spirit Butterfly Fairy had left her. She also needed to keep a close eye on the Black-Feathered Star Locust's recovery, leaving her no time to concern herself with outside affairs for now.
"Don't worry. I've already made the arrangements. Just focus on your cultivation."
At that moment, Heavenly Insect was in a wondrous state within his secluded cultivation.
Advancing from the Heaven Fusion Realm to the Heaven Transformation Realm required more than an increase in spiritual energy. It depended even more on one's understanding of heaven and earth.
Once his spiritual energy reached the limit of the Heaven Fusion Realm, Heavenly Insect felt that wondrous sensation arise naturally within him, filling his heart with delight.
This kind of breakthrough was like a sudden enlightenment...
The Heaven Transformation Realm meant that the divine soul could escape the flesh's restraints and merge into heaven and earth. One could conceal oneself at any moment, making detection difficult. Even when attacked, one could merge the body into heaven and earth to lessen the injuries sustained.
That was also why Heaven Transformation Realm cultivators could withstand attacks far better than those in the Heaven Fusion Realm...
For the most part, it wasn't because their bodies were tougher. Rather, when attacked, Heaven Transformation Realm experts could merge into heaven and earth, automatically dissipating part of the attack.
At that moment, mighty spiritual energy surged continuously through Heavenly Insect's body. He made no deliberate effort to control it, instead letting it circulate freely.
Within his qi sea, a luminous divine soul sat cross-legged. Halos of light flowed ceaselessly over its surface, and a strange fluctuation emanated faintly from it.
After an unknown length of time, the divine soul slowly opened its eyes. They were as profound as the night sky. It gradually spread its hands, as though embracing heaven and earth.
Rumble.
At that same moment, a deep sound rose from the world outside, and fierce winds swept up.
The light on the divine soul's surface grew increasingly brilliant. Its tiny body seemed to rise little by little, and moments later, it reached the edge of the qi sea.
There, a feeling of resistance seemed to hold the divine soul in place, making movement difficult.
The divine soul remained still, immersed in that strange sensation of resonating with heaven and earth. Then a pulling force seemed to come from the world outside, drawing Heavenly Insect's divine soul free, little by little, from the restraints of his qi sea and flesh.
Outside, a ray of light appeared at Heavenly Insect's lower abdomen, then passed through his body and rushed toward the crown of his head.
Whoosh!
A clear beam of light suddenly shot from the crown of Heavenly Insect's head and soared into the sky. The light was exceedingly strange. It carried no spiritual energy fluctuations, yet gave an incomparably clear, translucent impression.
"The divine soul leaves the body and merges into heaven and earth."
Outside the courtyard, the members of the Spirit Butterfly Tribe watched this scene, envy appearing on many faces.
Achieving this meant that Heavenly Insect had already taken that crucial step and truly advanced into the Heaven Transformation Realm.
In the entire Spirit Butterfly Lineage, no one besides the Spirit Butterfly Tribe Chief had reached such a realm. Yet now they had watched a young man not even twenty accomplish it so effortlessly. No wonder they were envious.
Many of the Spirit Butterfly Lineage's young women couldn't help gazing at him with springtime longing in their beautiful eyes, their shimmering looks brimming with feeling.
Unfortunately, he wasn't interested even in a peerless beauty like their young tribe chief. Ordinary beauties like them had even less hope...
Before you continue