Mutation

The subterranean cavern resembled a lake of lightning. Below lay the knee-deep water of a subterranean river, and overhead hung a heavy bank of thunderclouds. This was the first time Qin Sang had ever seen such peculiar terrain. Deep underground where sunlight never reached, how could the power of thunder and lightning be nurtured? Qin Sang was completely at a loss. The few stalks of six-petaled butterfly violets grew at the far end of the underground river, rooted in rocky crevices. Aside from that spot, Qin Sang discovered marks of excavation in two other places along the riverbank. Judging from the traces, Qin Sang guessed they had not yielded spirit herbs, but rather some kind of ore. Not only did spirit herbs like the six-petaled butterfly violet grow here, but rare ores were present as well, truly making this a treasured ground. The ore had fallen into the hands of the burly Witch Clan cultivator and had been mined completely clean; as for what ore it had been and what it was worth, there was no longer any way to verify. If immature six-petaled butterfly violets were forcibly harvested, they would wither immediately, leaving almost none of their medicinal efficacy. Judging by the man's conduct, had the six-petaled butterfly violets not possessed this trait, he probably would not have waited for them to mature before digging them all up. Perhaps the formation of the thundercloud was connected to that unknown ore. Standing in the water, Qin Sang glanced up at the thundercloud, then looked down at the Heavenly Eye Butterfly in his palm. After entering this subterranean space, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had awakened on its own and transmitted a yearning thought, eager to come out, with its target being something within the thundercloud. If there was a treasure inside the thundercloud, wouldn't the burly Witch Clan cultivator have taken it long ago? As a Witch Clan cultivator, he undoubtedly possessed a natal insect gu of his own. Could the thundercloud hold an attraction only for the Heavenly Eye Butterfly? Qin Sang did not rashly release the Heavenly Eye Butterfly; instead, he retrieved the fat silkworm. Finding it completely indifferent, his suspicion was confirmed. The thunderous power within the cloud was not as terrifying as in the outside world, and the lightning born from it was extremely slender, yet trying to send spiritual sense into it to investigate remained wishful thinking. After a moment of contemplation, Qin Sang surged his true essence to agitate the thundercloud. For a time, mist and clouds swirled through the cavern while rumbling thunder sounded in waves. Qin Sang soon halted his hand, having caught sight of the thundercloud's core—there was nothing else inside, just a mass of cloud vapor. Finding nothing from his search, Qin Sang had no choice but to release the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. He watched as the Heavenly Eye Butterfly fluttered its wings gleefully, flew up beneath the thundercloud, and began circling there. Before long, it hovered at the very center beneath the thundercloud and began beating its wings rapidly. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly's strength was by no means weak; its fluttering whipped up a gale, churning the thundercloud. Yet unlike Qin Sang's attempt, the gale generated by the butterfly carried a peculiar suction. As the thundercloud roiled, a wisp of milky-white smoke gradually formed in Qin Sang's line of sight. This wisp of smoke was exceedingly fine, drawn into a thread by the pull of the suction, its other end leading straight into the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's proboscis. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly was absorbing this wisp of smoke! Surprise showed on Qin Sang's face. In his eyes, the thundercloud was quite ordinary, formed purely from condensed moisture, yet the Heavenly Eye Butterfly treated it as a delicacy. Qin Sang could clearly sense its joy and satisfaction. "What could be inside the thundercloud...?" Qin Sang fell into thought, cast a glance toward the distant six-petaled butterfly violets, and flashed across the distance toward them. The six-petaled butterfly violets were remarkably graceful and brilliantly colored. There were actually six of them, enough to nurture the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to the peak of its second metamorphosis. In the ancient texts of the Yuling Sect, the description of the six-petaled butterfly violet was very brief, merely stating that it was a spirit flower beloved by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly and could be used to raise it. There was not much description of its specific characteristics or growing environment. "Could it be that the unknown white mist within the thundercloud gave birth to spirit flowers like the six-petaled butterfly violet, and what the Heavenly Eye Butterfly truly craves is actually the white mist?" Qin Sang could only guess blindly. He produced six jade boxes, carefully harvested the six-petaled butterfly violets, and looked around. Seeing there were indeed no other treasures, he returned to the center of the underground river to observe the butterfly's movements. In a short time, the white mist grew thicker, swelling to the width of a chopstick. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly's tiny body was like a bottomless pit, voraciously devouring the white mist with insatiable appetite. Just then, a dense barrage of thunder suddenly rumbled deep within the thundercloud, followed by a flash of lightning bursting inside the white mist. The two actually fused into one! Seeing this, Qin Sang's expression shifted. He was just about to command the butterfly to dodge when, to his shock, the creature showed no fear at all. Instead, it fluttered upward and sucked vigorously, swallowing both the white mist and the lightning into its belly! Qin Sang was dumbfounded. He had not expected this at all and was too late to intervene. He hurriedly flew over, anxiously watching the butterfly's changes. What would be the consequences of swallowing lightning? Even the faintest bolt of lightning represented the most violent power in the world! The Heavenly Eye Butterfly hovered in midair. The white mist cut off, and all grew still as though it had fallen into slumber. Qin Sang was fraught with worry. He reached out to commune with its consciousness. The good news was that its mind remained stable, but its aura was far from steady. Resting upon Qin Sang's hand, shrouded in wisps of white mist, its body was trembling, clearly under the violent shock of the lightning. The butterfly's reckless action had caught Qin Sang off guard, but he certainly could not sit by and do nothing. The only thing he could do was channel all his true essence through their bloodline connection to aid it. As time passed, the trembling of the butterfly gradually lessened, indicating it had weathered the hardest trial. Afterward, its aura finally steadied. Qin Sang let out a quiet sigh of relief and leaned closer to observe, but he found little change after it swallowed the power of lightning. Only the patterns on its wings appeared slightly more dazzling. Unexpectedly, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly beat its wings once more and flew back up, continuing to greedily devour the white mist and lightning. Qin Sang's eyes flickered, but this time he did not intervene, allowing it to do as it pleased. Rising and descending again and again, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly grew increasingly at ease, taking great gulps of the white mist and lightning. Once the final wisp of white mist was swallowed into its belly, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly returned to Qin Sang's palm and lay there, looking somewhat listless. Just then, its wings suddenly began to glow. Between the peculiar patterns, silver light actually swam and flickered. The light grew brighter, and white mist suffused the air, ultimately turning into something resembling a cocoon of lightning that enveloped the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. Encased within this thunder cocoon, the butterfly slipped into a deep slumber. Qin Sang watched the entire process without interfering, though he kept a close, tense eye on its condition. Qin Sang was certain that this slumber was not a standard metamorphosis, but was related to an extremely rare phenomenon recorded by the Witch Clan: spirit insect mutation! Generally speaking, a spirit insect's divine abilities were quite singular. Someone had discovered that given a certain serendipity, spirit insects had a chance to mutate. The probability of such mutation was tiny, yet over the Witch Clan's long history of rearing insects, it was not unheard of. Spirit insect mutations occurred at random and could not be replicated. Qin Sang had never anticipated encountering such an opportunity here.