Chapter 129: The World Butterfly

Wei Yuning came to the riverbank not to look for a Qi concentration point, but to sense this strange black river.

Yesterday he noticed something odd: the Black Water River seemed to contain a special substance whose scent was very similar to the demon bead that Master Chengxin had given him, but because the concentration differed greatly, Wei Yuning could not be sure whether the two were the same smell.

Approaching the riverbank and entering a ethereal state, strands of coolness drifted out of the river into Wei Yuning's plant-domain space. Though no plants were visible in the space, the plant essence there was unusually dense, and any outsider entering the area could smell a refreshing fragrance of vegetation.

As the coolness continued to seep in, the nature of the space seemed to change.

His yang divine body merged continuously with the coolness, yin and yang balanced, and all things were reborn.

Within the dense plant-essence space, a new sprout appeared.

"Wood Spirit?!" Wei Yuning opened his eyes and exclaimed in disbelief.

The floating plant before him was only fingertip-sized, shaped like a pine tree; its appearance differed from Meixuan's plum‑tree Wood Spirit, yet its aura unmistakably confirmed it as a Wood Spirit.

He placed this pine, which was purely a magical construct yet physically real, onto the deep pool within his internal Spiritual Liquid Ocean; the external pine instantly grew towering, most of its trunk sinking into the deep pool, leaving only a canopy, and aside from color it was almost identical to the golden giant pine beside it, as if they were two oviparous sisters.

When the Wood Spirit fully linked with the Spiritual Liquid Ocean, a sudden deeper insight into the wood element arose, and Wei Yuning's face showed delight.

"Late Heart‑Moving Stage!"

The Spiritual Liquid Ocean dried up again to the bottom, but its quality rose a level.

Tranquil! An unparalleled inner tranquility!

Wei Yuning felt as if he were in an endless primeval forest, all silent yet teeming with life. The tranquility harbored hidden immense power and a perception of all states!

At that moment, the long‑dormant Pseudo‑World Butterfly visualization opened its eyes again. She had been perched on the canopy of the Golden Ancient Pine, motionless, and Wei Yuning had thought she was dead.

The two once again met eye to eye within their spiritual consciousness. This time, Wei Yuning still felt his blood and qi surging, but the explosive sensation from that day did not appear, and he actually managed to endure.

Quickly, the World Butterfly turned its gaze to the Wood Spirit beside it, then without hesitation fluttered its wings and settled on the Wood Spirit's canopy.

"Um… elder sister!" Wei Yuning hurried to greet her. In truth he didn't really want to, as the World Butterfly was capricious; it was best to ignore her, but since they had already met eyes, he felt obliged to greet, lest her heart‑eye become angry at his disregard!

"Anything?" the World Butterfly asked.

"Nothing!" Wei Yuning replied.

"You're ill!" the World Butterfly said.

"…… " Wei Yuning was speechless, feeling deeply aggrieved. One after another, everything associated with the butterfly turned out abnormal.

That Monarch Butterfly girl Bao Xiang, since entering the Beast Ring, has never emerged; judging by this trend, she seems to intend to sleep until she reaches adulthood.

The World Butterfly does even less; it merely absorbs his Qi each day, and aside from giving him a spiritual‑consciousness technique to transmute star power, it does nothing else, yet acts as his master. The crucial technique is essentially a chicken‑rib; without the Golden Ancient Pine supplying a true‑self consciousness, star power would be like the moon in water.

"This tree is fine; it will be mine from now on!" the World Butterfly transmitted a spiritual consciousness; though the tone was flat, the threatening intent was unmistakable.

The Wood Spirit, a rare treasure among the Earth‑talent gems, can directly boost a realm—a super‑treasure—so it vanished like that. Wei Yuning could not utter any refusal, lest he be sentenced to serve in a dream‑world black room.

Sensing Wei Yuning's emotions, the World Butterfly's deep gray eyes suddenly shifted, the mist within them swirling rapidly.

"Here, take this!" a gray, rustic‑styled wide ring appeared within the spiritual consciousness.

"This is a Life Space Ring, three zhang in size inside; it was separated from my original space, consider it compensation for you giving me this tree!" the World Butterfly said.

"Thank you, elder sister, grateful, elder sister you are the most beautiful, the kindest!" Overwhelmed, Wei Yuning hadn't expected the World Butterfly to suddenly present such a grand gift.

It can store a living being's spatial matter; regardless of size, such items cannot be forged, even by immortal artificers, because this special space is a micro‑version of the life world, which only arises under extremely rare natural conditions—truly a matter of chance, not procurement.

"Hmph!" the World Butterfly haughtily perched back on the Wood Spirit's canopy and continued sleeping.

Wei Yuning returned to reality; the Life Space Ring flashed briefly, then hid beneath his finger's skin and vanished.

This ring is not an ordinary space ring; it resembles a spiritual‑consciousness artifact, a semi‑living entity that merges directly with Wei Yuning's body—outsiders cannot use it, nor even see it.

Returning to the palace to regroup, after breakfast Prince Xi led everyone aboard a flying spirit boat toward the camp outside the city.

The capital of the Qingwolf Nation, Sanhe City, lies upstream of the Black Water River, only five hundred li from the Xi Nation; on warhorses, it can be reached in a day and a night.

However, this time, following Hongzhi's strategy, the march speed was reduced to give the opponent more preparation time. Thus, of Xi Nation's five thousand cavalry, only a thousand light cavalry were dispatched, and thirty thousand infantry.

At the same time, the infantry's gear was unusual: besides light armor and shields, each soldier carried only a dagger, no bows or arrows. Conversely, they brought many non‑combat items—cloth bags, ropes, iron shovels, wooden crates, rain‑covers, etc. Most astonishing was the number of carts, as many as a thousand.

These versatile four‑wheel carts, pullable by manpower or beasts, are the most down‑to‑earth transport vehicles Wei Yuning has seen since arriving in this world.

The carts were originally meant for hauling ore. Their chassis stands a full 1.5 meters high, allowing them to clear most terrain obstacles, and they feature a hand‑pull brake system to prevent the cart from carelessly rushing down steep slopes.

On the cart's flatbed sits a massive side‑opening box compartment, one zhang wide, one and a half zhang long, seven feet high, capable of holding large cargo or serving as a night‑time shelter.

The army had long been ready; once Wei Yuning and his party arrived, the whole formation began to move slowly.

The troops advanced along the river valley that runs right beside the Black Water River.

The rainy season had not yet arrived, and the flat river valley was a naturally excellent road.

The core of the formation was the rows of carts.