Opening the gates to the Torrent Society's base at Mount Luo required one saber and one butterfly.
The saber was the long blade Hong Zheng had used to end his life—a saber roughly 1.7 meters long. When Yu Xian had collected the couple's remains into coffins, he had naturally drawn it out.
Now, that saber rested safely in his storage ring.
As for the butterfly, it was precisely the faintly shimmering creature fluttering before his eyes.
This butterfly was not a Gu insect. Rather, it was the ultimate defensive armament forged by the progenitor of the Butterfly Metamorphosis school from their own deceased Gu insect, named the ‘Dream Butterfly’.
Much like Tower City's Eight Treasures Sect, to which Zhong Wuliang belonged, the Butterfly Metamorphosis school followed a strict lineage passed down to only a single successor in each generation.
When Cui Xianzhen had imparted the school's legacy to Yu Xian, she had done so not merely out of gratitude, but with the hope that the Butterfly Metamorphosis school would carry on.
In a sense, Yu Xian was now the sect leader of the Butterfly Metamorphosis school—even if the entire sect consisted of him alone, making him a commander without an army.
Yet by virtue of the Thousand Butterflies Mark, he was the only person left in this world who could command the Dream Butterfly.
He extended his hand. The Dream Butterfly slowly drifted down onto his palm, then dissolved into his skin and vanished without a trace.
"Come out!"
Yu Xian blinked, curiosity piqued, and immediately ordered the Dream Butterfly forth.
In the next instant, the Dream Butterfly emerged from his cheek. With a single thought from him, it circled him once before sinking into his back and melting into his body again.
Yu Xian could feel its presence inside him, yet its precise location was exceedingly hazy—it felt as though it was everywhere in his body, yet at the same time nowhere at all.
He repeatedly commanded the Dream Butterfly to dart in and out of him, spending several minutes just getting the hang of directing where it entered and exited.
As the ultimate defensive armament of the Butterfly Metamorphosis school, the Dream Butterfly's greatest asset was its ability to momentarily daze an enemy whenever they harbored the intent to attack its host. Any thought of striking would first play out in the assailant's mind as a vivid daydream. Only after realizing they were lost in a reverie would they finally snap back to their senses.
For example, if someone saw Yu Xian and decided to stab him to death, the moment before they could actually strike, they would slip into a daydream. Their mind would conjure up a scene of themselves frantically stabbing Yu Xian, only for them to snap back to reality and realize they had been standing frozen the entire time, having never moved an inch.
Of course, the effectiveness of this defense depended entirely on the difference in mental power between the two parties.
If the enemy possessed vastly superior mental power compared to Yu Xian, the Dream Butterfly might only take effect for a hundredth of a second, or they might even be completely immune to it.
Conversely, if Yu Xian's mental power far outstripped his foe's, he could hard-lock them in a daze for over a dozen seconds. If the gap was astronomically wide, the Dream Butterfly could even trap them in an endless loop of daydreams, ensuring they would never wake again.
The reason the Dream Butterfly had been resting on the Phantom Butterfly Gu was largely due to the Torrent Society's relentless crusades against Transcendent criminals. Countless villains harbored deep grudges against the society, which meant that when the Phantom Butterfly Gu assumed Cui Xianzhen's guise, it was prone to being targeted by vengeful enemies.
To protect the Phantom Butterfly Gu, Cui Xianzhen had entrusted the Dream Butterfly to it before departing for Mars. Little could she have imagined back then that she would never return...
Half an hour later.
Yu Xian arrived at Barren Stone City, not far from Mount Luo.
Barren Stone City was constructed entirely from barren stone. Although Yu Xian felt a twinge of revulsion after learning that barren stone was actually the droppings of Barren Stone Gu insects, he had to admit that the city had genuinely sheltered countless ordinary people throughout ancient history.
This had once been the center of the Torrent Society's most vibrant operations, still home to monuments like the Torrent Society Memorial Hall, the Torrent Society Grand Theater, and various other landmarks tied to their legacy.
Yet the citizens of Barren Stone City likely never imagined that the society's true stronghold was tucked away on Mount Luo just outside the city.
Enclosed within a spatial bubble, Yu Xian flew from Barren Stone City to Mount Luo in the blink of an eye. He circled the entire mountain before finally spotting an entrance along a secluded cliff halfway up the slopes.
The entrance was thoroughly inconspicuous, overgrown with thick vines and weeds, and further concealed by a minor illusion array.
Fortunately, the illusion array was already half-ruined, capable of deceiving only ordinary mortals with negligible mental power at best.
Yu Xian swept aside the tangled vines choking the entrance and proceeded down the passage. Because no one had set foot here in ages, the corridor crawled with small insects. Spotting them, an idea struck Yu Xian; he used spatial bubbles to capture several spiders and centipedes, intending to use them later when cultivating Gu insects.
The corridor bore the Torrent Society's unmistakable architectural style, sloping steadily downward much like the passage on Mars.
However, this path was far shorter than the one on the red planet. Within minutes, the surrounding floor, walls, and ceiling transitioned into polished slabs of barren stone. A few steps further, a towering gate fashioned entirely of barren stone rose before him.
Approaching the entrance, Yu Xian retrieved Hong Zheng's weapon from his storage ring.
This saber was known as the Great Thick Earth Guiyao Heavy Mountain Saber. Its function was remarkably straightforward: its length, size, and weight adjusted according to the energy its wielder provided.
It was not picky, resembling the vast, unyielding earth. It could absorb any form of energy and alter its length, bulk, and heft accordingly.
Yu Xian gripped the Great Thick Earth Guiyao Heavy Mountain Saber and thrust it cleanly into a corresponding slot on the gate. He then summoned the Dream Butterfly, guiding it toward an engraved butterfly emblem on the stone.
With a deep, groaning creak, the gate cracked open a sliver.
Yu Xian stepped forward and pushed the doors open with ease. Each leaf of the double doors weighed roughly four tons; even if an ordinary mortal held the Great Thick Earth Guiyao Heavy Mountain Saber and commanded the Dream Butterfly, they would still never be able to budge the gate.
In fact, let alone mortals, most Transcendents below the Insect rank would find themselves unable to force it open.
As the doors parted, a stale, suffocating odor washed over him. Yu Xian immediately enveloped himself in a spatial bubble and guided it gently across the threshold.
Beyond the gate lay a colossal man-made cavern, immense beyond belief.
Scores of houses were built throughout the cavern. Nearby, one could spot children's slides and swings, while farther in ran a babbling stream and terraced fields carved out by hand.
Regrettably, the place had long since been abandoned. The dwellings were dilapidated, the swing ropes snapped, and the once-fertile fields thoroughly choked with weeds.
Looking at the lingering traces of everyday life, Yu Xian could easily picture the members of the Torrent Society living a tranquil, self-sufficient life here—plowing the fields, weaving cloth, with children laughing and frolicking in the open spaces.
Stepping out of the bubble, he fought back his discomfort and took a deep breath. In an instant, scenes of the cavern's past rapidly formed in his mind. He made his way slowly toward an earthen mound in the cavern's upper-right corner.
A withered peach tree stood there, planted by Hong Zheng and Cui Xianzhen with their own hands; it had been their favorite retreat.
Yu Xian laid the couple to rest beneath the tree, then buried their fallen comrades in the surrounding soil. Once everything was properly arranged, he lit three sticks of incense before each grave.
Bowing deeply once more, he lingered in silence for a moment. Reminded that he still had pressing matters to handle, he finally turned to leave.
Returning to the entrance, he shut the gate securely, drew out the Great Thick Earth Guiyao Heavy Mountain Saber, and recalled the Dream Butterfly into his body. Taking a deep breath, he activated his teleportation, traveling directly back to his aunt's home in Tianjing City.
"Don't move!"
The moment Yu Xian materialized, more than a dozen gleaming blades instantly surrounded him from every angle.
Chapter 138