“What is Senior Xu going to do?” someone sharp-eyed asked in surprise when he caught sight of Xu Zifeng’s figure.
Another person had a flash of insight and immediately called out, “Senior Xu must have found a weakness! Let’s follow him quickly. We’ll surely be able to break out of this predicament!”
The crowd immediately erupted into a clamor. They fought the butterflies with even greater force, and whenever the slightest opening appeared, they followed Xu Zifeng’s retreating figure deeper into the cavern. The gray butterflies actually followed after them as well, until the vast procession of cultivators and the great cloud of butterflies all surged inward together.
It seemed the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterflies truly were guarding something inside the cavern. They no longer lingered to fight the other cultivators, and before long they had all flown away. The remaining cultivators, fortunate enough to escape, naturally hurried after them. Old He, however, was finally freed from the gray butterflies’ harassment. He stopped, turned around, and returned to Xu Ziqing’s side.
Seeing that Xu Ziqing was not the only person beneath the smoking pipe, Old He frowned slightly. “Boy, who’s this?”
Before Xu Ziqing could answer, Wei Qing cupped his hands and said, “This junior is Wei Qing, fifth son of the Wei family. Greetings, Senior.” He knew that this slovenly old man’s cultivation surpassed his own by several layers and that the man did not seem particularly fond of him, so rather than remain and make himself unwelcome, he took his leave and departed.
Only then did Xu Ziqing explain, “Young Master Wei once saved this junior’s life. He met with danger just now, so this junior could not simply stand by and watch.”
Old He’s expression eased somewhat. He had always known that Xu Ziqing was rather softhearted, but that very quality also showed the uprightness of his character. Although there were plenty of ungrateful people among cultivators, the direct line of the Wei family was well brought up, so there was no need to be overly concerned. “Very well, then. Come farther inside with me.”
Xu Ziqing was delighted that Old He did not blame him and immediately replied, “Yes.”
The two quickly sped deeper into the cavern. The stone passage was extremely long, winding and twisting as it went, and very narrow. The farther they traveled, the more butterfly corpses littered the ground, along with traces left by various techniques. Many piles of dry bones were heaped along both sides as well, presumably the remains of people killed by the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterflies in years past. The sight stirred compassion in Xu Ziqing. How pitiful these cultivators were. They had spent years seeking the path to immortality, only to meet calamity and die untimely deaths.
Before long, the passage gradually widened and suddenly opened out. Yet the space ahead was blanketed with gray butterflies, so dense they seemed to cover heaven and earth, an extraordinary sight. The cultivators had gathered there and were still locked in fierce battle with the swarm.
But Xu Ziqing’s attention was not on those bedraggled cultivators. It was on Xu Zifeng, the Foundation Establishment cultivator confronting something ahead.
This cavern was even larger than the one outside, but waves of heat rolled through it, steaming the cultivators until they grew dizzy and nearly fainted. The offspring butterflies also seemed to have gained some advantage from the environment. Their momentum swelled, and they bit with particular ferocity.
The layout of the cavern was unusual as well. The outer portion resembled a potbellied bottle, its stone walls and hollows all rounded, with countless butterfly silhouettes clinging to every nook and corner. Farther inside stood an enormous stone platform, and atop it was a stone altar filled with soil. A plant grew from that soil, emerald-green from root to leaf, translucent as jade and shining brilliantly.
A single fruit grew on the plant, as large as a fist and so heavy that it bent the stem beneath its weight. A fierce fiery aura radiated from it, accompanied by a penetrating hot fragrance, so scorching it seemed capable of melting a person!
Even from so far away, Xu Ziqing could sense the dense spiritual energy emanating from the plant. It was fire-attributed and of exceptional quality, and judging from its appearance, the fruit was just about to ripen.
Xu Ziqing recognized it as well. This was a “Scarlet Flame Fruit,” which had the ability to purify spiritual roots.
But what did “purify” mean?
One had to understand that the people of this world were as countless as the sands of the Ganges, yet fewer than one in a hundred possessed spiritual roots. Among those born with spiritual roots, four- and five-element mixed spiritual roots were by far the most common, followed by three spiritual roots, dual spiritual roots… The better the aptitude, the rarer it became. As for a single spiritual root, the sort of talent that could be called heaven-bestowed genius, one might not appear even once in a thousand years.
The effect of the Scarlet Flame Fruit was precisely to discard the dross and preserve the essence.
Suppose, for example, that a cultivator who had not yet truly begun cultivation possessed dual earth-and-fire spiritual roots. After consuming a Scarlet Flame Fruit, the earth spiritual root could be stripped away, leaving only the fire spiritual root. In an instant, that person’s aptitude would rise from ordinary genius to peerless genius! Someone with three spiritual roots would likewise lose one and be left with two… Thus, anyone who ate the fruit would immediately rise an entire grade in aptitude, making the immortal path smoother. It could truly be called a divine treasure!
There was only one limitation: for the fruit to have this miraculous effect, the cultivator who consumed it had to be someone who had not yet established a spiritual source. But that hardly mattered. If one of these cultivation families obtained the fruit, they could take it home and choose a child with multiple spiritual roots that included fire. Never mind producing an heir with dual spiritual roots, even creating one with a single spiritual root might not be impossible!
Faced with such an enormous temptation, how could anyone not flock toward it?
Sure enough, after smelling the Scarlet Flame Fruit’s heated fragrance, many of the cultivators revealed greedy expressions.
Yet a wondrous fruit born of heaven and earth would naturally have a spiritual creature protecting it. Since the Scarlet Flame Fruit grew within the nest of the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterflies, it could rightly be said to belong to them.
Some might wonder: the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterflies governed illusions, while the Scarlet Flame Fruit was something cultivators used, so why would they cling to it so desperately, even allowing so many of their descendants to die for it?
That reasoning, however, was mistaken.
The Seven-Colored Illusion Butterflies were demon beasts capable of creating illusions, but their own attribute was still fire. The scale powder shed from their bodies was corrosive, and the poison it carried was a heat toxin.
If the mother butterfly consumed the Scarlet Flame Fruit, it would indeed gain no benefit from the fruit’s ability to purify spiritual roots, but its cultivation would increase tremendously, perhaps even allowing it to advance an entire rank.
Thus, the enormous creature facing Xu Zifeng was the mother of the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterflies. Its wings spanned five or six chi, its antennae could extend and retract, its wings were sharp and venomous, and a poisonous hook grew from its tail. Ordinarily it was quite docile and relied entirely on its offspring butterflies for protection.
Elio’s Notes: Chi (尺), cun (寸), and li (厘) are traditional Chinese units of length. Their absolute values varied by period. In the decimal relationship used here, ten li make one fen, ten fen make one cun, and ten cun make one chi. The li here is 厘, a tiny length unit, not the much larger distance unit 里.
But this mother butterfly was clearly extremely agitated.
Its two long antennae swayed up and down in a peculiar rhythm, slicing through the air with repeated cracks like long whips and carrying an intimidating force. Behind it, the tail hook curved upward, its tip pitch-black. Each beat of its two wings released waves of sweet fragrance, clearly carrying terrifying poison.
The mother butterfly hovered in front of the stone platform, completely shielding the Scarlet Flame Fruit behind it. Its two compound eyes stared unblinkingly at Xu Zifeng, filled with a cold, bloody killing intent.
Xu Zifeng did not underestimate the mother butterfly either. He held his long sword aloft, and white light roughly one chi long flickered from its tip, a sign that his sword qi had condensed into visible form.
Without warning, the mother butterfly’s tail hook jerked upward and suddenly extended. Like a snapping whip, it tore through the air and stabbed straight toward the crown of Xu Zifeng’s head. If it struck, his skull would surely burst apart!
Xu Zifeng’s figure merely swayed, and somehow he evaded the poisonous hook. He reversed his grip and raised his sword, his sword qi colliding directly with the hook. Sizzle! In an instant, the sword qi shortened by one li, while the poisonous hook was knocked backward. The mother butterfly opened its mouth and released an invisible sound wave that seemed almost tangible. Xu Zifeng struck again with his long sword, and after several sharp clang-clang blows, the sound wave could not touch him in the slightest.
The mother butterfly grew even fiercer. Seeing its tail hook damaged, it lunged downward, intending to shear off Xu Zifeng’s head with its wings. Xu Zifeng twisted aside, his long sword whirling with the roar of wind and thunder.
Just then, someone suddenly cried out, “Look at the mother butterfly’s abdomen!”
Someone immediately looked over while continuing to fend off the offspring butterflies. Sure enough, the mother butterfly’s rear abdomen was trembling, as though something were about to force its way out!
Old He was startled as well. “The mother butterfly is laying eggs!”
Xu Ziqing asked, “Steward He, is something wrong?”
Old He drew a deep breath. “Mother butterflies are usually docile, but they become violently aggressive while laying eggs. Now that this one has found a Scarlet Flame Fruit, it must intend to lay its eggs on the fruit. Once the offspring hatch, they’ll feed on the Scarlet Flame Fruit and will surely become extraordinarily powerful. If someone tries to snatch the fruit from it now, how could it possibly tolerate that?”
After hearing this, Xu Ziqing also grew quite worried.
The mother butterfly’s poison was extremely potent. Even someone of Xu Ziqing’s meager cultivation could see that the sword qi on Xu Zifeng’s long sword was gradually being corroded away, shortening bit by bit. If this continued much longer and the sword qi was completely eaten away, the sword-shaped magical artifact itself probably would not last much longer either!
If Xu Ziqing could see this, how could the others fail to notice?
Although Xu Zifeng’s movements were still fairly fluid, everyone could see that his sword qi was growing shorter. If he fell here, the people remaining would have even less chance of gaining any advantage against the mother butterfly.
Meng Wanqin was the first to leave the clansmen under her protection. Her red silk ribbons danced wildly, sweeping out an open space. Then the silk suddenly lengthened like a rope-whip, shooting straight past Xu Zifeng’s side and striking toward one of the mother butterfly’s compound eyes!
The mother butterfly was occupied with Xu Zifeng and was caught by the painful blow. Its wings beat violently, and Xu Zifeng was struck as well, a mouthful of stifled blood rising in his chest.
Being forced back actually worked in Xu Zifeng’s favor. Most of his sword qi had already been damaged, so this gave him a chance to recover briefly instead of remaining locked with the mother butterfly. Meng Wanqin, however, had injured one of its compound eyes and was trapped by the enraged creature, unable to break free.
She whipped the red silk around herself, sending out streams of spiritual power, while shouting, “Fellow Daoist Tian, hurry and help me!”
Tian Tao naturally disliked being ordered around by this woman, but he also understood that this was no time for an argument. Seeing Xu Zifeng gathering sword qi anew, he leaped into the fight and drew a magical artifact shimmering with spiritual light. It looked neither quite like a mace nor quite like a saber and was very strange. Yet it was clearly powerful. The moment he joined the battle, Meng Wanqin gained room to maneuver. One attacked from a distance and the other fought at close quarters, firmly hemming the mother butterfly within their range.
Xu Zifeng condensed another stream of sword qi. This time he seemed to have steeled himself, forcing the sword qi to a length of two cun. It flickered in and out, carrying a terrifying sword momentum. Surrounded by the three cultivators, the mother butterfly finally showed a trace of fear. Though still furious, its movements became much more restrained, even somewhat timid.
This was the strength of a mother: for the sake of her offspring she could kill with madness, yet when her own life came under threat, those same unborn offspring could also bring her back to her senses.
The mother butterfly might have grown afraid, but none of the three Foundation Establishment cultivators were softhearted. Seeing it weaken, the three pressed their advantage and attacked together. Meng Wanqin’s red silk bound the mother butterfly’s wings, Tian Tao drove his strange weapon into its vital core, and Xu Zifeng’s sword qi severed its head.
Pitifully, the mother butterfly’s fierce devotion as a mother could not save it from losing its life in an instant.
The moment the mother butterfly died, all the offspring butterflies dropped from the air, dying suddenly where they fell. The deadly peril of only moments before vanished in the blink of an eye.
The cultivators were still staring blankly when all three Foundation Establishment cultivators moved at once, rushing toward the stone platform.
Xu Zifeng stepped onto his long sword. Sword qi burst from it, making him the fastest of the three. He snatched the Scarlet Flame Fruit and placed it into his storage pouch, then wheeled sharply and dodged the furious attacks launched by the other two Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The other two had been a step too slow and lost their chance. Meng Wanqin stamped her foot in fury, while Tian Tao’s gaze turned dark. He swept his eyes around, a fierce gleam flashing over his body, and in the next instant appeared among the gathered Xu clansmen. In his hand, he was gripping someone by the throat.