Chapter 647: Obedient

Qin Sang was about to teach it a lesson. This creature was incredibly lazy, only remembered food, not discipline. Regular methods were useless; it would forget them in an instant.

Holding the Demonic Flame Needle in one hand, Qin Sang formed a cage with his true essence in the other, trapping the plump silkworm. The plump silkworm seemed to sense the aura of the Nine Nether Demonic Flame; it suddenly became agitated the moment it emerged from its basket.

Qin Sang deliberately pressed the Demonic Flame Needle closer. The plump silkworm frantically recoiled, attempting to escape Qin Sang's grasp, but it was held fast by the true essence cage. Its tiny, almost imperceptible eyes were filled with terror, and it let out a sharp, hissing cry.

The Nine Nether Demonic Flame was surprisingly effective; the plump silkworm was more terrified than if it had seen a natural predator – it was utterly panic-stricken. Qin Sang ignored its terror, his gaze icy, as the Demonic Flame Needle moved ever closer.

Suddenly, the plump silkworm's entire body stiffened and it became motionless. It had fainted from sheer terror.

"Scared to death? This useless thing would be even more worthless dead. Might as well just burn it." Qin Sang mumbled softly, flicking his finger. A wisp of Nine Nether Demonic Flame swiftly shot towards the plump silkworm.

A sharp shriek erupted as the plump silkworm suddenly sprang up, fleeing for its life. It had only been playing dead. However, confined in the cage and far slower than the Nine Nether Demonic Flame, it was instantly engulfed. The plump silkworm's eyes rolled back; this time, it truly fainted from terror. It was so scared that a puddle formed beneath it, whether from drool or tears, it was hard to tell.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Qin Sang's mouth as he transformed the Nine Nether Demonic Flame into chains, binding the plump silkworm. A short while later, the plump silkworm awoke. Before it could even rejoice, it discovered the demonic flame chains binding it and fainted once more. After several such torments, the plump silkworm finally became numb.

By this point, its gaze towards Qin Sang had completely changed; it looked at him as if he were a great demon, filled with intense dread, trembling pitifully. If its intelligence were high enough, it would likely be regretting having gotten itself into this predicament.

Qin Sang didn't withdraw the Nine Nether Demonic Flame, keeping the silkworm bound by the demonic flame chains. He then produced a berry, squeezed some juice in front of it, and stared at the plump silkworm with an icy gaze. This berry was a spirit fruit, ideal for feeding spirit insects, particularly during their first transformation, as it significantly accelerated their growth. It commanded a high price in the cultivation world. Qin Sang had acquired some from the Five Insect Sect.

Previously, when Qin Sang offered it to the plump silkworm, the creature had completely ignored it. Now, without any prompting, it began to gulp it down, eating with immense relish.

"Eat your fill and get back to sleep!"

Qin Sang felt very pleased to see the tears the plump silkworm shed, seemingly out of gratitude. After eating its fill, the plump silkworm crawled back into its basket by itself, and finally, there was quiet.

After dealing with the plump silkworm, Qin Sang resumed his journey, arriving at the entrance of Butterfly Valley. Although the climate on the Wushen Continent had already turned cold at this time of year, Butterfly Valley remained warm and spring-like, filled with chirping birds and fragrant flowers.

The beautiful scenery here certainly lived up to its reputation. Abundant flowers seemed to carpet the entire valley, several crystal-clear streams meandered through, and bees and butterflies danced gracefully around the blossoms. After appreciating the beautiful scenery, Qin Sang fell into deep thought, observing the thousands of butterflies.

The Heavenly Eye Butterfly was extremely timid; even the slightest disturbance would frighten it, causing it to hide in its nest. What attracted other spirit insects had no effect on the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. Qin Sang didn't enter rashly. He quietly circled the periphery of Butterfly Valley and, as expected, found nothing unusual; every butterfly appeared common.

Even if he were to capture every butterfly in Butterfly Valley, it would be futile; the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's disguise was too perfect to distinguish. Without the Vermilion Fire Gilt, Qin Sang wouldn't have been able to think of an effective method to lure and capture a Heavenly Eye Butterfly.

Fearing that the corpse aura from his refined cadaver might startle the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, Qin Sang decided to act alone. He also dared not enter Butterfly Valley invisibly, unsure if this Heavenly Eye Butterfly had completed its third metamorphosis. If it had already awakened its Heavenly Eye, any stealth technique would be useless in its sight.

Qin Sang found an excellent hiding spot at the edge of Butterfly Valley, from which he could observe most of the valley. He then took out the Vermilion Fire Gilt and scattered it. All that remained was to wait patiently. Butterfly Valley was vast. If a spirit insect's perception was keen and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly was still present, it should quickly detect the aura of the Vermilion Fire Gilt. However, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly was timid and cautious, so there was no telling how long it would take to appear.

Qin Sang huddled in his hiding spot, suppressing his aura and waiting patiently. In the wild, capturing a desired spirit insect was difficult. It was common for rogue cultivators of the Wushen tribe, lacking proper inheritances, to stake out spirit insect nests for years, just waiting for a creature to emerge. They might even waste several years, only to ultimately discover the nest was already empty. Qin Sang, however, benefited from the Vermilion Fire Gilt. Its immense allure for spirit insects allowed him to quickly determine if a creature was present, eliminating six locations in less than a month.

The sun set, the moon rose and then vanished. In the blink of an eye, the night passed. Butterfly Valley was even more enchanting in the dead of night. The countless stars overhead cast their reflections into the streams, appearing like jade ribbons weaving through the valley. Under a faint, ethereal glow, the flowers and butterflies seemed to be holding a grand ball. Throughout the entire night, there was not the slightest anomaly in Butterfly Valley.

Until dawn.

A group of butterflies of various shapes flew over the stream. Their flight paths were erratic: sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes fast, sometimes slow... Sometimes, the group would suddenly disperse, then swiftly re-gather. At such times, some members would depart while new ones joined. When a flower caught their interest, they would flutter around it, forming a small, clustered ball. This sight was very common in Butterfly Valley.

However, as this group of butterflies flew over a patch of grass, Qin Sang suddenly opened his eyes, which gleamed with sharp light. A drop of Vermilion Fire Gilt vanished!

Qin Sang's gaze shifted, fixing on the group of butterflies that had just flown over the grass. His eyesight was excellent; he could clearly see, even without spiritual sense, that this group comprised nearly a hundred butterflies of various species. Their behavior seemed no different from other butterfly groups. Qin Sang examined them one by one, but they all appeared to be the most common butterflies, showing no flaws. He tentatively extended his spiritual sense to encompass the group, but found nothing.

"What formidable cloaking and disguise abilities!" Qin Sang inwardly praised. It was said that once a Heavenly Eye Butterfly concealed itself, even a Core Formation cultivator couldn't see through it. This certainly proved its reputation was well-deserved.

Just as Qin Sang was observing the movements of this butterfly group, Vermilion Fire Gilt at another location was suddenly consumed.

"Is it trying to create a diversion? It endured an entire night, so its intelligence doesn't seem low." Qin Sang chuckled inwardly. Now that he had confirmed the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's presence, he felt relieved.

Qin Sang stopped tracking the butterfly group, focusing instead on the Vermilion Fire Gilt closest to him, poised to act at any moment. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly had spent an entire night confirming there was no danger, finally unable to resist the allure of the Vermilion Fire Gilt. Its movements were swift, devouring the Vermilion Fire Gilt from one spot after another.