Douluo Continent: The Eye of Truth

Chapter 75 Thousand Shadow Illusionary Butterfly

As Huo Yuhao ventured deeper into the mixed zone under the guidance of Shrek's titled Douluo, he encountered many spirit beasts along the way. However, none of these spirit beasts could provide him with the spirit rings he needed, so he did not provoke them.

Although most soul beasts are hostile to soul masters, with a titled Douluo protecting them, they can easily drive them away without making a big fuss.

After all, most fearless soul beasts die young during their growth process. In most cases, the longer a soul beast lives, the more it cherishes its life, except for certain specific situations that trigger its bestial nature.

When faced with an insurmountable situation, most soul beasts will choose to flee rather than confront the enemy head-on.

Suddenly, Huo Yuhao's Eye of Truth spotted a fleeting wave of mental energy that instantly contracted in size, as if trying to conceal its power. He said, "Found it. There seems to be a mental-attribute soul beast in that direction, and its cultivation level should be quite high."

"It's just that we can't determine its exact age or species, but it should be a solitary type of spirit-attribute soul beast."

Upon hearing this, the titled Douluo nodded, then placed a hand on Huo Yuhao's shoulder, enveloping Huo Yuhao with his soul power, and continued, "Alright, you guide the way. With you, I can easily take down any soul beast around ten thousand years old."

With the arrival of his martial soul, a pair of metallic wings sprouted from the back of this titled Douluo, carrying Huo Yuhao as they nimbly traversed the dense forest.

Just then, the Title Douluo said to Huo Yuhao, "Look, isn't that the soul beast? It looks like a Thousand-Year Light Dust Butterfly, with a cultivation of about four or five thousand years. But could it be a mutation?"

Not far away, a pure white butterfly-like soul beast, its wings fluttering and shimmering with starlight, was flying rapidly into the distance.

At such close range, even this Title Douluo could feel the obvious spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from this butterfly-like soul beast, but Huo Yuhao shook his head.

"It shouldn't be. This isn't its true form. In my mental perception, the mental energy fluctuations emanating from this soul beast are too scattered and weak, appearing strong on the outside but weak on the inside, as if it has no root or source."

"I speculate that the true form of the soul beast I just discovered is a soul beast that the Thousand-Eyed Spirit Butterfly may have transformed into when it advances to the level of ten thousand years of cultivation, named the Thousand-Shadow Illusion Spirit Butterfly."

"This butterfly-shaped soul beast is merely a form it has differentiated and disguised using its mental power, used to confuse the enemy."

"It should be an illusion created by the transformation of the Light Dust Butterfly, but since this illusion is here, the real body of the Thousand Shadow Illusion Butterfly should also be nearby."

Upon hearing this, the titled Douluo nodded: "That's easy. Since it's nearby, it's easy to handle. Since it's a soul beast with ten thousand years of cultivation, I'll hold back a little and just injure it without killing it."

Suddenly, the wings on the back of this titled Douluo enlarged and then emitted a bluish-black metallic luster.

Then, as the spirit rings beneath his feet flickered, illusory feathers with a metallic sheen began to swirl and dance around him and Huo Yuhao.

Before long, tens of thousands of feather blades imbued with soul power and metallic luster formed a storm that continued to expand outward.

Under this expanding spherical metal storm, trees and land in its path were cut and pulverized, swept away completely.

Just as Huo Yuhao said, the 'Light Dust Butterfly' that was still running away disappeared into the air the moment it was hit by the metal wings, like a bubble that had been punctured.

Only a wisp of spiritual energy remained, but no physical form was left behind.

The titled Douluo merely glanced at it before saying, "Hold on tight, don't vomit. Under the suppression of power, the range of my Golden Wing Dance cannot expand; it can only sweep a maximum of 100 meters beyond my main body."

Huo Yuhao nodded, and then, as the titled Douluo led Huo Yuhao through the forest, the grass and trees in their path were all shredded by the Golden Wing Dance. At this moment, the Thousand Shadow Illusionary Spirit Butterfly that Huo Yuhao and the others were looking for finally appeared.

"Huh?" The titled Douluo raised an eyebrow: "A mutated soul beast again, and a ten-thousand-year-old cultivation. I thought your luck was already good enough, but I didn't expect that what you encountered was actually a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast that had completed most of its transformation."

Huo Yuhao was also a little surprised. It was only the first day since entering the Star Dou Great Forest. According to his original plan, even with a Title Douluo leading the team, it would take at least a week to make any progress as long as he did not reveal the information about the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm.

Unexpectedly, things went so smoothly. Soul beasts are at their most vulnerable during their transformation.

Moreover, the completion of the transformation does not necessarily mean that the soul beast's cultivation has been elevated; it depends on the specific circumstances.

The transformation of the Thousand-Eyed Spirit Butterfly into the Thousand-Shadow Illusion Spirit Butterfly requires a complete metamorphosis after cocooning.

Generally speaking, out of a hundred Thousand-Eyed Spirit Butterflies that are about to break through ten thousand years of cultivation, only about ten will choose to undergo metamorphosis.

Even if they manage to survive the extremely low success rate of metamorphosis (one in ten), once they emerge from their cocoons, their bodies are incredibly fragile for an hour, except for the time it takes to use their spiritual energy.

Unable to use soul power or fly, even century-old soul beasts, if unaffected by the mental illusion, could be easily killed in this state.

The ability to project spiritual energy to form phantoms signifies that the Thousand Shadows Phantom Butterfly's transformation process has reached its final stage and is already successful; it only needs to wait for the cocoon to emerge.

The newly crowned Title Douluo's Golden Wing Dance, due to its suppressed power and wide-range attack, did hit the Thousand Shadow Illusionary Spirit Butterfly's molted cocoon, causing it to manifest.

However, it was blocked by the mental energy and the resilient cocoon of transformation that it used to protect itself. But in doing so, the mental energy of the Thousand Shadow Illusion Butterfly was also almost completely depleted.

Once the transformation is complete and the cocoon is broken, Huo Yuhao can kill it on his own without the need for a Title Douluo to intervene.

"It seems that the Thousand Shadow Illusion Butterfly will emerge from its cocoon in less than half an hour. Let's wait here for a while."

The titled Douluo put down Huo Yuhao and casually found a clean spot to sit down amidst the surrounding mess.

Although this place had just been swept away by the Golden Wing Dance, it was still inconspicuous compared to the vast Star Dou Great Forest.

It should be noted that this place is the territory of the Thousand Shadow Illusionary Butterfly, and the area affected by the Golden Wing Dance is not large. Only a few plant-type soul beasts were killed or injured. Normally, it would be no problem to rest here.

As they expected, soon, after about forty minutes, the cocoon that had been enveloping the Thousand Shadow Illusion Butterfly began to turn into specks of light and dissipate into the air.

A butterfly-like soul beast, its wings curled up and appearing extremely weak, appeared before Huo Yuhao.

Unlike the Thousand-Eyed Butterfly, whose back wings are decorated with up to 9,999 eye patterns depending on the year.

The Thousand Shadows Phantom Butterfly's back wings are a single color without any patterns, but upon closer inspection, one can see closely connected wavy lines starting from the base of the wings and spreading to the edges of the feathers.

Although its wings were not yet open, specks of scale powder mixed with spiritual energy were already beginning to emanate outwards.

It was meant to be a warning, but due to the previous depletion, the method that the Thousand Shadow Illusionary Butterfly originally intended to deter potential enemies around it after its metamorphosis seemed so ridiculous.

The scales fell to the ground less than half a meter away, losing their luster. The compound eyes of the Thousand Shadow Illusion Butterfly, which should have been radiating spiritual light, were now foggy and appeared particularly dim.

Without saying a word, Huo Yuhao took out a level-three soul tool that Ning Tian had purchased and distributed to everyone at the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, and used it to attack the Thousand Shadow Illusionary Spirit Butterfly in front of him.

The Thousand Shadows Illusionary Butterfly still wanted to resist, but its fragile body could not support the flow of soul power. In the process of metamorphosis, it had already consumed most of its spiritual power in order to create the illusion of the Light Dust Butterfly and protect itself.

Although they managed to form a defense, they couldn't stop Huo Yuhao's repeated attacks.

This thousand-year-old thousand-eyed spirit butterfly, which had gone through countless hardships and finally completed its transformation into the Thousand Shadow Illusion Spirit Butterfly, died the moment it emerged from its cocoon before it could even see the new world.

Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged and began to absorb the ten-thousand-year soul ring produced by the Thousand Shadow Illusionary Spirit Butterfly, which was extremely pale in color but entirely black.

Just as Huo Yuhao was absorbing the spirit ring, the Shrek Title Douluo who was originally guarding Huo Yuhao frowned, sensing that something was wrong.

"Wait, this aura is... a 100,000-year-old soul beast?" He couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Although he was a titled Douluo from Shrek Academy and not afraid of ordinary 100,000-year-old soul beasts, he still had Huo Yuhao, a quasi-Soul Master who was absorbing soul rings, by his side.

If a fight were to be fought here, the consequences would likely be dire. However, when he left Shrek Academy, Moon had instructed him to retrieve a few level-six soul tools of average quality from the Soul Guidance Department.

After all, one reason was to promote the integration of the Martial Soul System and the Soul Guidance System, and the other was that Xuanzi's repeated mishaps had made Mu En begin to distrust the Title Douluo from Shrek Academy.

Most of the titled Douluo at Shrek Academy were actually nurtured by Xuanzi during their training. Therefore, if they also inherited Xuanzi's legacy, it would be good for them to carry a few soul tools just in case.

After a moment's thought, the Shrek Title Douluo placed several soul tools around Huo Yuhao and charged them with his own soul power.

He also left a note instructing Huo Yuhao to leave immediately and return to Shrek Academy if Huo Yuhao finished absorbing the spirit ring but Huo Yuhao had not yet returned.

"I really don't know if you're lucky or unlucky." After watching the soul-guiding light screens rise up and cover up the fluctuations of Huo Yuhao's aura, the Shrek Title Douluo sighed helplessly.

"I just encountered a perfectly matched spirit attribute soul beast, and then I encountered a 100,000-year-old soul beast in the mixed zone. I hope that by the time I lure that soul beast away, you will be able to absorb it successfully and leave this place on your own."

With a flap of its wings, the titled Douluo left the area and headed towards the powerful aura emanating from the distant soul beast.

At the same time, the aura of cultivation emanating from his body continued to rise, attracting the other party's attention.

Only upon getting closer did the Shrek Academy titled Douluo realize something was wrong: "Damn it, a ferocious beast, what's it doing here?!"

As a level 93 Title Douluo, although he is not afraid of ordinary 100,000-year-old soul beasts, if the enemy is a ferocious beast, even if it is only a weak 200,000-year-old ferocious beast, the difference is still vast.

Even if we wanted to lure them away now, it would probably be a big problem, but at this point, the die is cast and we have no choice but to proceed.

At this moment, the Crimson King, who was originally watching over the Emperor Beast as it fed, also sensed the powerful aura emanating from a Title Douluo not far away.

"Holy crap! At this hour!"

"Could it be because of the auspicious beast?"

"No, we can't let outsiders discover the auspicious beast!"

The Crimson King's three heads roared, and its aura surged as it charged towards the Shrek Academy's Title Douluo.

Although the Three-Eyed Golden Lion sensed the clash between the two powerful auras, it was more embarrassed and annoyed. Because it was focused on the two auras, the ten-thousand-year-old Aurora Ape that it had almost caught had already taken the opportunity to run far away.

"Damn it, what is Uncle Red King doing?!" Grinding its teeth, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion quickly chased after the lunch that flew off its plate.

After all, at this time she did not have enough knowledge about humans in the outside world, nor did she know what humans were. Having grown up being pampered by a group of ferocious beasts, she was even more unaware of the relationship between humans and soul beasts.

In general, unless attacked by humans, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion will not attack humans on its own initiative like ordinary soul beasts.

"Something seems off outside." Huo Yuhao, whose entire attention was focused on absorbing and refining the soul ring, suddenly received a notification from the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm.

"?" Huo Yuhao was a little puzzled, but he didn't take it to heart. After all, normally, unless it was a Limit Douluo or Di Tian, ​​a master who could influence space and was close to the level of a demigod, it would be difficult for such a person to make a move.

Otherwise, given Electrox's current state, even if he could fight back while in control, with the presence of the undead demiplane, he could at least take himself away.

Even if it is a Limit Douluo or Di Tian, ​​in a desperate situation, revealing some information they know can definitely buy time instead of being directly killed by the opponent.

It wasn't until Huo Yuhao finished refining the soul ring and opened his eyes that he saw the golden-haired lion, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, which was sticking to the transparent soul guide shield, looking at him curiously, with a few drops of golden liquid dripping from the corner of its mouth.

(End of this chapter)