Celestial Beast Taming

Chapter 453: Chapter 259: War of the Butterflies

This meant He Guoguo was simultaneously controlling multiple Deceit Beasts!

In the Guardian Beast World, there was a combat theory about the optimal composition of a squad.

It wasn’t about how comprehensive a squad’s abilities were, nor was it about how much burst damage they could deal. Instead, the true measure was a squad’s ability to turn a disadvantageous situation into an advantageous one through the cooperation of its members.

Even a meticulously selected six-person squad would find this difficult to achieve.

Yet Sun Ya and He Guoguo had already achieved it, relying on just two Extraordinary Tier, Silver Quality Deceit Beasts.

Because Sun Ya and He Guoguo needed to be so tightly coordinated in battle, they weren’t suited for solo combat.

This meant that when they were on the Virtual Source Network, it was difficult for them to get good results in Ranking Competitions or achieve high rankings in the Secret Realms opened by the Wanyu Gambling Company.

But the pair were the perfect candidates for exploring new worlds!

Later, when Soul Soil purchased newly discovered worlds from the Wanyu Boundary Exploration Company, Sun Ya and He Guoguo would prove their worth during the exploration phase.

The battle was drawing to a close. A small Wolf Insect Squad of just over twenty creatures was no match for Sun Ya and He Guoguo’s coordination.

The entire battle lasted nearly three minutes.

As the Bitter Anger Beast finished off the last few Wolf Insects, Zhong Yi already heard a rustling sound in the distance.

The reason it was so difficult to raise the Wolf Insect Secret Realm’s exploration level to sixty percent and prevent an outbreak was simply because there were too many creatures within it.

The commotion from the battle had attracted the attention of the surrounding Wolf Insects.

It wasn’t just the energy fluctuations; Zhong Yi and the other five members of his group were made of delicious flesh and blood.

And fresh meat was the Wolf Insects’ favorite food.

One glance at the environment was enough to tell how barren the Wolf Insect Secret Realm was.

Normally, the temperature and humidity of the Secret Realm should have been extremely suitable for vegetation to grow.

The reason it was a barren wasteland was that all the plants had long been devoured by the starving Wolf Insects.

During this Secret Realm exploration, Zhong Yi only needed to look after Ren Suxin.

To be blunt, this exploration was simply an opportunity for Sun Ya, He Guoguo, Zhong Ling, and Shen Xuan to familiarize themselves with their own strength.

With the four of them cooperating, they had more than enough power to clear this Second Level Squad Secret Realm.

Seeing nearly a thousand Wolf Insects closing in from all sides, Shen Xuan and Zhong Ling looked at Zhong Yi.

After Zhong Yi nodded, they all summoned their Guardian Beasts.

The Order Beast, the Mother of Ten Thousand Erosions, and a Rhombic Diamond Golem Ghost appeared before Shen Xuan.

Meanwhile, dozens of multicolored butterflies appeared before Zhong Ling, forming a phalanx in the sky.

The Soul Vein Mother Butterfly landed gently on Zhong Ling’s head, its spread wings resembling an exquisite floral hairpiece.

Forty-seven Extraordinary Tier, Silver Quality Blade Butterflies formed the front ranks, while thirteen Blade Princess Butterflies flapped their wings, which shimmered with a cold light. Like blooming steel peonies, they held the formation behind the Blade Butterflies.

The Gale Sky Flash Butterfly and the Cyan Gold Artisan Butterfly danced on either side of Zhong Ling.

Without a single command from Zhong Ling, the Gale Sky Flash Butterfly and the Cyan Gold Artisan Butterfly used their respective skills, Incense Wind Butterfly Dance and Divine Artisan Tempering, to enhance all the Blade Butterflies and Blade Princess Butterflies.

The Reincarnation Nether Butterfly, having only recently obtained its Rule Authority and now wreathed in a soul flame reeking of death, landed on Zhong Ling’s fingertip.

As the Reincarnation Nether Butterfly activated its Rule Authority, Eternal Life of the Fallen Crown, the undead Luminous Beauty Butterfly began to flap its wings freely, high above the phalanx of Blade Butterflies and Blade Princess Butterflies.

At the appearance of the Luminous Beauty Butterfly, the tide of several thousand Wolf Insects froze for an instant.

Even Zhong Ling, its Contractor, was still taken aback by the Luminous Beauty Butterfly’s beauty.

Sun Ya, He Guoguo, and Ren Suxin stared at Zhong Ling, dumbfounded.

The three of them were very close to Zhong Ling and had always thought they knew her well.

Zhong Ling was normally so lively and cheerful, revealing a cute canine tooth whenever she smiled.

Her contracted Substitute Puppet, Big Bell, was in charge of cooking for everyone at Zhongyi Mansion.

All three of them had assumed that Zhong Ling’s strengths didn’t lie in combat.

But now, gazing at the swarm of butterflies dancing around Zhong Ling, their eyes were filled with nothing but shock.

Sun Ya and He Guoguo had always been quite confident in their own strength.

This was especially true now, having just received Zhong Yi’s approval.

But facing a swarm like this, they would probably be minced to a pulp in minutes by the cold light flashing from the wings of the Blade Butterflies and Blade Princess Butterflies.

Before her Lifebound Guardian Beast, the Nirvana Phoenix Peony, completed its Fifth Nirvana, Ren Suxin herself couldn’t even be considered a Guardian Beast Master.

But she still had a clear understanding of what constituted a genius.

However, the power Zhong Ling was displaying now completely shattered Ren Suxin’s understanding.

’How could one person contract dozens of Guardian Beasts?’

’And there were over a dozen Blade Princess Butterflies among them!’

The resources required to evolve even one Shattered Blade Butterfly into a Blade Princess Butterfly at the Extraordinary Tier represented the full, dedicated investment of a Five-finger Peak Creator, or perhaps even a Six-finger Creator.

Zhong Yi was clearly sparing no expense to support Zhong Ling.

With such an immense investment of resources, if Zhong Ling were merely a first-rate genius, she would be unworthy of the support Zhong Yi had poured into her.

But the current Zhong Ling was leagues ahead of those so-called first-rate geniuses.

Ren Suxin had logged into the Virtual Source Network and knew that every world had powerful geniuses.

Ren Suxin felt that with Zhong Ling’s power, she wouldn’t be at a disadvantage even when competing against the prodigies of the same Tier from other worlds.

Shen Xuan had probably fought against Zhong Ling more than anyone else.

Right now, Zhong Ling had two new Butterfly Guardian Beasts that Shen Xuan had never seen before.

One of the new Butterfly Guardian Beasts, like the Gale Sky Flash Butterfly, had just used a Support Type ability on the swarm.

Both the Reincarnation Nether Butterfly and the pearl-like butterfly creature high in the sky carried the aura of Rule Authority.

It was obvious that Zhong Ling’s Reincarnation Nether Butterfly had become a genuine Order Beast!

Watching the thousand-odd Wolf Insects draw near, Zhong Ling pointed forward.

Sixty whooshes tore through the air!

If the Wolf Insects were flowers, then the sixty Blade Butterflies and Blade Princess Butterflies were butterflies flitting among them.

Each pass through the swarm sent a foul-smelling, yellow-green spray of insect blood into the air.

The slaughter of the Wolf Insect Swarm by the Blade Butterflies and Blade Princess Butterflies was a magnificent visual feast.

After being enhanced by the Cyan Gold Artisan Butterfly’s Divine Artisan Tempering skill, the butterflies’ wings became even sharper. Combined with their innate Armor-Piercing ability and the inertia of their high-speed flight, they could easily slice the heads off the Wolf Insects.

Whenever a Blade Butterfly or Blade Princess Butterfly was struck by a Wolf Insect, it would use the basic skill, Broken Blade, to split into even more butterflies.

The battle was over in less than two minutes.

Zhong Ling had dealt with the tide of a thousand Wolf Insects even faster than Sun Ya and He Guoguo had dealt with a single small squad.

Zhong Ling now had the same overwhelming presence as Zhong Yi when he explored the Horned Demon Secret Realm with Hong Ji.

Zhong Ling didn’t feel the slightest bit of pride in her own strength.

She knew perfectly well that her current strength wasn’t the result of her own efforts.

It was all thanks to Zhong Yi’s unconditional support!

The exceptional Butterfly Guardian Beasts Zhong Yi had found for her, the fruit that had allowed her Reincarnation Nether Butterfly to obtain its Rule Authority... even if Zhong Ling didn’t know their exact prices, she knew in her heart they must have been astronomically expensive.

Zhong Ling had the Reincarnation Nether Butterfly cast Death Speech Passage, resurrecting the Elite Wolf Insect units from the pile of corpses.

Over forty undead Wolf Insects swayed unsteadily to their feet.

They stood neatly like hounds below the newly re-formed ranks of the Blade Butterflies and Blade Princess Butterflies.

Zhong Ling had used the Gale Sky Flash Butterfly’s basic skill, Gale Wind Profound Shield, and its Exclusive Trait, Butterfly Seal Replacement, to save her Blade Butterflies from danger several times.

And she had achieved this result without even using the undead Luminous Beauty Butterfly or the Reincarnation Nether Butterfly.

’With Zhong Ling’s current strength,’ Zhong Yi mused, ’she wouldn’t necessarily lose if she met Jin Zhan on the Soul Fighting Platform. As long as Jin Zhan was afflicted by the Reincarnation Nether Butterfly’s Death Omen, her Blade Butterflies and Blade Princess Butterflies would be able to break through his defenses.’