Chapter 12: A Special Greenleaf Butterfly

A breeder only needed to sell spirit beasts.

A Beast Tamer, however, had far more to consider.

Obtaining a spirit beast with a high-grade bloodline did indeed mean obtaining a ticket to becoming a powerhouse. But before becoming a powerhouse, one first had to support oneself and feed one's spirit beasts.

For spirit beasts, raising, training, and using them were usually combined into one. In the early stages, they would hunt some First-Rank demon beasts. In the wild, there were also medicinal herbs and other resources that could supplement the nutrition of young spirit beasts.

Once they advanced, they would go challenge Second-Rank ones, and so on.

Naturally, breeding centers also sold spirit beasts together with care manuals.

The Silver Butterfly belonged to the mental type, and its senses were extremely keen, so it needed a quiet environment in which to rest. It fed on the petals of Mistflowers, each petal costing anywhere from several hundred to over a thousand.

The Azure Jade Butterfly needed to dwell among plants and had certain requirements for the concentration of wood spiritual energy. It fed on the sap of wood-attribute plants, and that could usually be handled for only a few hundred.

The Poison Powder Butterfly also possessed a mindforce attribute, so its environment needed to combine the needs of both types, and it also had to feed on the pollen of poisonous flowers.

Ordinary breeding centers would generally sell these as supporting packages. Wang Mu only gave away three days' worth. After that, the buyer had to purchase them personally.

The plants Wang Mu had bought back then were all growing well. Wherever Qingling stood, there was no need to worry about herbs. They would grow by themselves.

No one could resist Madam Blossom's charm, unless they were a pure pragmatist. Wang Mu had chosen the Greenwood Treant back then precisely for the sake of "environment."

...

When Wang Mu woke the next morning, Qingling had already moved outside and taken root there. The three little mushrooms had followed it as well. There was no soil on the ground, so Qingling used mindforce to sweep it aside for them.

After breakfast, Wang Mu had only intended to perform his usual inspection of the Greenleaf Caterpillars that were undergoing transformation. Yet he truly did discover something unexpected.

The Water Mist Butterfly that had consumed the essence of the Mist Ancient Tree had begun to cocoon and evolve, while those Greenleaf Caterpillars that had consumed the essence were already showing special changes during their first molt stage. Water mist had begun to gather around them.

Wang Mu reflected on himself. He felt that he had been too small-minded because of the way he had been thinking before. He now had his own breeding center and ample funds, so why should he still be using only the most ordinary materials? This was not some room inside a building, where one had to worry about accidents.

Elemental Jades and Spiritual Essence were both quite good. The latter was also expensive, but both were too conventional, too stable.

That was not to say stability was bad. But breeders and Beast Tamers had always been the same. Their path of advancement was one of exploration and risk. He ought to be bolder.

And the materials from demon beasts were perfectly suited to that. Even if something went wrong, it would still be bearable.

The materials of ordinary demon beasts were usually not very expensive, so long as they did not reach the Fifth Rank. The issue was not price, but that ordinary breeders generally could not be bothered to gather them personally. It was too troublesome. So they would post such needs as tasks, and let Beast Tamers collect them through the exchange of money and points.

Money was easy to understand. As for points, those were borrowed from the Association's system and could be used to exchange for various privileges at breeding centers. Generally, breeding centers would establish different levels of VIP status. When they occasionally bred a rare spirit beast, they would notify those qualified to participate in an auction.

Do not think auctions were how breeders made money. In reality, Beast Tamers had to thank them for being given the chance to spend that money.

Breeders did not lack money.

Through auctions, they were cultivating relationships.

Wang Mu thought to himself that he could start doing the same now. Back when he had been an outsider, he had seen everything only dimly and had even thought breeding centers were full of needless pomp. Now that he had entered the system, he found that directly copying ready-made answers truly felt wonderful.

Without another word, after tending to the spirit beasts, he went to download a template and had the intelligent robots apply it directly. Although the previous customers had all left their contact information, Wang Mu still retained a little restraint. He did not send out a notification. It would not be too late for them to see it during later follow-up visits.

Although he had decided to make changes, this second batch of spirit beasts was still being bred, so there was no need to rush.

After that, he went to the incubation room and hatched another five hundred Greenleaf Butterfly eggs. If he wanted to run experiments, a mere few hundred would never be enough. With the previous batch added in, one thousand was barely sufficient.

The first stage of raising them could not be altered. Greenleaf Caterpillars were exceedingly fragile. If one was not careful, they would simply die. Only after using Sharing and the Fortifying Base Fluid on them could other materials be added.

The second stage, in other words the Greenleaf Caterpillars after completing their first molt, seemed like something he could experiment with. The eggs in this batch were basically all descendants of Commander-rank spirit beasts, which meant they had greater potential and stronger tolerance. Their Adaptability trait would also manifest more fully.

Wang Mu enthusiastically found one cocoon that was certain to evolve into an ordinary Greenleaf Butterfly and tried sharing several low-tier wood spells with it, such as Whiplash, Leaf Blade, and Entangling. Three was already its limit.

He chose another and shared only Leaf Storm with it.

There were subtle differences between individuals. Wang Mu arranged and combined different possibilities, testing every route he could think of. Then he encountered one Greenleaf Caterpillar that could actually endure the sharing of two mid-tier spells during its first molt stage. This made Wang Mu cautiously take it out and prepare to care for it even more meticulously.

At the same time, he stopped feeding it the leaves of ordinary Azure Jade Bamboo and instead directly used Wood Spiritual Essence together with tender shoots from Second-Rank Azure Jade Bamboo. After two days, once the Greenleaf Caterpillar reached its second molt stage, its bloodline rank had directly risen to Elite.

This was only natural. After all, with that many resources piled into it, the cost was already enough to buy two or three Elite-rank Azure Jade Butterflies outright.

But Wang Mu did not mind in the slightest. The demon beast materials that kept being delivered one after another were all fed to the Azure Jade Butterfly.

The evolution of spirit beasts was itself a field of study.

Generally speaking, spirit beasts were most easily induced into mutation or evolution while they were in their juvenile or growth stages. For example, during the process of a Greenleaf Caterpillar becoming a Greenleaf Butterfly, it would molt three times. If one seized the opportunity properly, raising it to Commander rank was not difficult.

Any ordinary Breeder could do that.

What was truly difficult was how to form a stable evolution path and then quantify the materials used.

Once a spirit beast entered adulthood, if it wished to evolve again, it had to wait until just before an advancement. Then, using materials and the force of its breakthrough, it could complete a bloodline elevation.

The Silver Butterflies and Azure Jade Butterflies Wang Mu had first evolved were now basically all at Level 1. They belonged to the insect-type category, and between the First and Third Ranks, there was no real need for accumulation. As long as their energy was sufficient, they could advance.

Because of that, the question of raising their bloodlines would only be considered once they reached the Third Rank.

The same was true for Qingling. As a Commander-rank spirit beast, its bloodline was already high. The first three ranks posed no problem to it. It was only from the Third to the Fourth Rank that Wang Mu would begin giving it advancement materials.

At present, it would most likely evolve into a Greenwood Spirit, though Wang Mu would still try deducing a new form for it.

Time passed little by little.

One spirit butterfly after another broke out of its cocoon.

What surprised Wang Mu was that among this batch of one thousand spirit butterflies, apart from the seven that had died due to mishaps, not a single one had reached Commander rank. That included the one which had borne two mid-tier spells and been fed precious resources.

This damned thing would burn away every last bit of its accumulated foundation the moment it entered the cocoon stage, turning all of it into the underpinnings of its bloodline. Even though it had once possessed every mental-type and wood-type spell, that particular Greenleaf Caterpillar had been "reset" after emerging from the cocoon. It retained only a single spell, Leaf Blade, though it had preserved the Control level of mastery.

Greenleaf Butterfly (Adult): 0

Bloodline: Elite

Talent: Wood (Intermediate, Low Grade)

Innate Spell: Leaf Blade (Control)

Shared Level: 5

It was somewhat different from the other spirit butterflies, but not too different. Its talent had reached the Commander standard, and its Shared Level had risen by two levels. Yet that was because Wang Mu had constantly stayed in contact with it, not because of the materials.

Wang Mu began to think.

"First, its species. It actually reverted to the original Greenleaf Butterfly. That means its Adaptability trait must have been triggered, right?"

...

Over the course of that month, all kinds of spirit grasses and spirit flowers had grown throughout the ecological zone of the breeding center. Thirty Redleaf Mulberry Trees had formed a grove in one corner, and naturally hatched Greenleaf Caterpillars had gathered there.

The Blueleaf Mistflowers were growing among the Azure Jade Bamboo grove. Two pairs had survived, and they were now on the verge of blooming.

Qingling no longer remained only in the garden by the living quarters. It had shifted into Rooted Form and now stood at the very center of the ecological zone. A faint white mist spread around it. That was spiritual energy in vaporized form.

Around it, one red mushroom and two blue mushrooms were buried in the grass. They remained just as still. That was a common failing of plant-type spirit beasts. Under ordinary circumstances, their desire to fight was not strong.

The Serpent Vines had also settled nearby. They had borne some Heartfruit, which the spirit butterflies with mental attributes would eat. At the same time, they also preyed upon Greenleaf Caterpillars.

At present, the park had already formed a simple ecological chain.

The contract terms had begun to take effect, and points had started flowing into Wang Mu's account. But this time, he did not rush to buy new spirit beasts. Instead, he focused on studying that Greenleaf Butterfly.

At first, there had been nothing special about it immediately after it emerged from the cocoon. But a few days later, Wang Mu saw large numbers of female spirit butterflies courting it, and at once he realized that it was absolutely not ordinary.

Before a spirit beast developed obvious intelligence, instinct would dominate it. This Greenleaf Butterfly could not compare with the Azure Jade Butterflies or the Silver Butterflies at all, yet it was the most sought after. That alone was enough to prove that it was special.

Wang Mu continued his observations.

On the first day, after mating, the Greenleaf Butterfly began laying eggs in the bamboo grove on the second. Then, the male Azure Jade Butterfly directly died.

In this lineage, it was normal for individuals to find a mate immediately after emerging from the cocoon and never seek a second one afterward. But there had never been a case where one died immediately after mating.

When Wang Mu placed it into the laboratory instruments for analysis, he found that the dead Azure Jade Butterfly had exhausted its lifespan. In other words, its source had been completely depleted.

Wang Mu frowned and went back outside to continue watching the Greenleaf Butterfly. It had already become extremely weak. It had only laid three eggs, each still the size of a rapeseed, green in color, with nothing outwardly unusual about them.

But what happened next startled Wang Mu.

The various spirit butterflies Wang Mu had bred in the past all flew over from every part of the ecological zone without prior agreement. They drove away the Serpent Vines and took up guard within the bamboo grove. Only then did the Greenleaf Butterfly seem to relax, and it too died soon after.

Wang Mu's gaze fell upon the three eggs on the bamboo leaf.

These were the offspring produced through the lives of two Elite-rank spirit beasts. For a lineage that normally laid at least hundreds of eggs at a time, that number was far too small.

Recalling the materials used during the breeding of that spirit butterfly, Wang Mu already had his answer.

"Ever since the Greenleaf Butterfly's trait was first discovered, even Breeding Masters have researched it. They used materials far more precious than mine, yet none of it produced results."

"The only truly special material I gave this Greenleaf Butterfly was a spell—and not just any spell, but Leaf Blade at the Control level."

What was Control?

A thought stirred in Wang Mu's mind. A willow-leaf-shaped blade was poised in his hand, ready to fly at any moment.

Leaf Blade had not always been like this.

Before reaching the Proficient level, the spell could only be formed and then immediately released. What it tested was the timing of its launch.

Only after reaching the Mastery level could one accelerate its release, while also continuously pouring spiritual power into the Leaf Blade to keep it suspended in one's hand. Even then, it could only be maintained for a single second.

But after reaching the Control level, Wang Mu could even condense multiple Leaf Blades and preserve them for a short while.

Control-level spells had a unique effect on the evolution of spirit beasts.