Volume 1, Chapter 22 – The Seven-Colored Illusory Butterfly Empress

The Illusory Flower Sea lay on the eastern side of the Tianjue Mountain Range.

This place was shrouded all year round in seven-colored rosy light and faint mist. The air was filled with a sweet, cloying, intoxicating floral fragrance.

Flowers of strange colors and bizarre shapes grew everywhere.

Some were shaped like human faces. Some resembled bells. When they swayed in the breeze, it was as if whispers were lingering by one’s ears.

If ordinary living beings stepped into this place, it would take only a few moments for them to fall into an inescapable illusion, eventually becoming nourishment for the sea of flowers.

Deep within the flower sea, a giant tree a hundred zhang tall stood silently.

Beneath the tree, a giant colored butterfly more than ten zhang long was sleeping quietly with its magnificent wings folded.

The base color of its wings was a deep dark blue, covered with layer upon layer of complex patterns that seemed to be woven from starlight and rainbow radiance.

Merely looking at it was enough to make one’s mind waver and one’s vision swim in fascination.

It was the Seven-Colored Illusory Butterfly Empress, the true ruler of this flower sea.

However, at this moment, this Butterfly Empress, who should have been immersed in beautiful dreams, had a pair of elegant, slender antennae that trembled almost imperceptibly.

Immediately afterward, it slowly opened its eyes.

What kind of eyes were they?

They seemed to contain all the colors in the world, so profound that they were like entrances leading to countless dream realms.

“They have come…”

An ethereal, gentle female voice, carrying a trace of laziness and vigilance, echoed directly through the core of the flower sea.

A layer of dreamlike colored light rose from its enormous body. As the light flowed, the body of the giant butterfly rippled and blurred like water.

Colored light gathered and condensed, finally forming the figure of a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in seven-colored rainbow garments.

She stood barefoot beneath the giant tree, her figure graceful, her skin whiter than snow. Her long multicolored hair fell to her ankles like a flowing river of stars.

At the center of her brow, a tiny butterfly-shaped mark, as if alive, was emitting a faint glow.

Her beauty was filled with an inhuman allure and ethereal grace.

It was as though she had gathered the spiritual elegance of heaven and earth and all the beauty of dreams into one body, yet she also carried a majesty that made people dare not profane her.

The Butterfly Empress lifted her head slightly. Those eyes that contained countless colors seemed to pierce through the layers of flower sea and mist, looking toward the western sky.

She could clearly “see” three figures coming toward the Illusory Flower Sea.

The woman at the front had silver hair like snow, and her aura was fathomless. It made a warning tremor rise from the depths of the Butterfly Empress’s soul.

As for the two following closely behind her, their auras were ones she could not be more familiar with: Mo Lin and Fushan!

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Judging from their respectful manner as they followed, they had clearly already submitted.

“Two spineless fellows…”

The Butterfly Empress parted her red lips slightly. Her voice was still ethereal, but now carried a trace of disdain.

Yet she herself knew clearly that beneath that disdain, there was even more apprehension.

Someone capable of making those two fellows bow their heads so obediently had methods and strength that were absolutely terrifying beyond imagination.

“Fight? Flee? Or… negotiate?”

The Butterfly Empress’s eyes shifted as countless thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant.

Fight?

There was probably no chance of victory at all.

The other party could easily subdue Mo Lin and Fushan. Her strength far surpassed the Butterfly Empress’s own.

Flee?

The Illusory Flower Sea was the foundation she had managed for thousands of years. If she left this place, her strength would be greatly reduced. Where could she flee to?

Moreover, since the other party had come to her door, they might well have prepared sufficient measures.

It seemed… only the path of “negotiation” remained.

While the Butterfly Empress’s thoughts raced, Gu Han had already brought Mo Lin and Fushan to the edge of the Illusory Flower Sea.

Before them was a boundless, dazzling sea of flowers, breathtakingly beautiful yet also giving off a deadly danger.

“Palace Master, this is the Illusory Flower Sea.”

Mo Lin spoke respectfully, a trace of solemnity in his gaze as he looked at the flower sea.

“The Seven-Colored Illusory Butterfly Empress is skilled in illusions and mental attacks. Her true body is hidden in the deepest part of the flower sea, and ordinary methods make it difficult to find her.”

Fushan scratched his head and said in a muffled voice,

“This gaudy place makes me dizzy just looking at it.”

Gu Han nodded slightly, her calm gaze sweeping across the dreamlike land before her.

Her Immortal Ascension divine sense spread out silently, like the most precise probe.

The natural illusion formations and mental interference within the flower sea were like thin mist beneath sunlight before her divine sense, easily pierced through and unraveled.

She “saw” the giant tree deep within the flower sea, and she also “saw” the woman beneath the tree who had already taken human form and was waiting in full readiness.

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“Seven-Colored Illusory Butterfly Empress…”

Gu Han softly spoke the name, and a faint curve appeared at the corners of her lips.

“She at least understands the situation better than those two.”

She did not choose to force her way in violently. Instead, she gently took a step forward.

As she stepped out, an intangible, formless Dao resonance quietly spread outward with her as its center.

There was no earth-shaking momentum, nor any rosy light that dispersed the mist.

But the instant that Dao resonance brushed past, the entire Illusory Flower Sea seemed to “freeze” for a moment.

Those strange flowers, which had been swaying gracefully and emitting a bewitching aura, all stopped moving at once.

The sweet, cloying floral fragrance permeating the air seemed to be purified, becoming fresh and natural.

The layers upon layers of natural illusion formations, which were like a maze, rippled outward in circles like a water surface struck by a stone. Then, they dissolved like ice and snow.

This was not destruction, nor confrontation, but a higher-level “smoothing” and “ordering.”

It was as though a supreme ruler had gently wiped away the excessive strokes on a canvas that interfered with one’s sight.

It allowed this stretch of heaven and earth to return to its most original, clearest appearance.

Deep within the flower sea, the Butterfly Empress’s delicate body suddenly trembled!

For the first time, unbelievable shock appeared in those eyes of hers that contained myriad colors!

Her mind was connected to the flower sea, so she could clearly sense that the home-field advantage she had cultivated for thousands of years,

those natural illusion formations and mental fields that she had been so proud of, which were enough to trap and kill opponents of the same level,

had, in the moment the other party took one step, lost all their wonder like spring snow melting away!

This was not a violent breaking of formations. This was… suppression and erasure at the level of rules!

The other party’s strength had already reached a realm that she could not imagine or understand!

The gap was too vast!

So vast that even her last trace of wishful thinking about relying on her terrain advantage to maneuver was completely shattered.

Gu Han’s voice rang clearly and peacefully through the now “clear” sky above the flower sea.

“I am Gu Han, master of Yaochi Immortal Palace. Seven-Colored Illusory Butterfly Empress, are you willing to show yourself for a meeting?”

The Butterfly Empress took a deep breath. Emotions shifted across her beautiful face, and in the end, they settled into a calmness that resembled acceptance of fate.

She knew that the other party had already “seen” her and had also given her the chance to appear with “dignity.”

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Seven-colored radiance flashed, and the Butterfly Empress’s figure appeared in the air above the flower sea, facing Gu Han from a distance.

She stood barefoot in the void. Her seven-colored rainbow garments and long hair moved without wind, and her beauty was breathtaking.

Only the innate allure and laziness between her brows had already been replaced by solemnity and awe.

The Butterfly Empress inclined her body slightly, her voice ethereal and pleasant.

“May I ask what guidance the Palace Master has for coming to this small flower sea of mine?”

Her posture was neither servile nor overbearing. She preserved the dignity of a demon king who ruled a region, while also clearly expressing respect toward the strong.

A trace of appreciation flashed through Gu Han’s eyes.

This Butterfly Empress was indeed smarter than the Ape King and understood better than the Jiao King how to deal with the strong.

“There is no guidance to speak of.”

Gu Han got straight to the point, her gaze falling on the Butterfly Empress.

“I see that you possess extraordinary talent and profound mastery of illusion arts, and I have come to cherish talent.”

“Are you willing to enter my Immortal Palace and take the position of Protector Elder?”

The Butterfly Empress gave a bitter smile inwardly.

Could she say she was unwilling?

The strength and methods the other party had displayed made it impossible for her to even form the thought of fleeing.

Refuse?

The other party probably would not give her the chance to refuse.

Besides… Yaochi Immortal Palace?

It was a sect she had never heard of before, but with such a terrifying Palace Master, its foundation and prospects were far beyond imagination.

Joining such a sect seemed… not necessarily to be a bad thing?

As her thoughts turned over and over, the Butterfly Empress raised those dreamlike eyes and looked at Gu Han.

“If I enter the Immortal Palace, what rules must I follow? And what can I obtain?”

She asked directly, which also showed her shrewdness.

Before absolute power, there was very little room for bargaining, but at the very least, responsibilities, authority, and benefits had to be made clear.

Gu Han smiled faintly. This Butterfly Empress was indeed quick-witted.

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“The Immortal Palace naturally has its rules. They will be explained to you shortly.”

“As for what you can obtain…”

Light flashed at Gu Han’s fingertip, and a transparent crystal shaped like a butterfly appeared, emitting a hazy seven-colored glow.

“This is a Dream-Illusion Crystal. It will greatly benefit your cultivation. Consider it a greeting gift.”

This Dream-Illusion Crystal was an exchange item that the System had temporarily recommended earlier based on the Butterfly Empress’s attributes. It had cost 500 Master Dao Points.

To beings of the mental and illusion arts paths, it was a supreme treasure.

The Butterfly Empress’s gaze was instantly locked onto that crystal!

She could clearly sense the power within the crystal, power that matched her to an incomparable degree!

It was a treasure she had dreamed of, one that could allow her path of illusion arts to rise to a higher level!

The final trace of hesitation vanished like smoke before this crystal.

The Butterfly Empress accepted the drifting Dream-Illusion Crystal with both hands. Feeling the surging power within it, a genuine smile appeared on her stunningly beautiful face, and she bowed gracefully once more.

“Diewu is willing to enter Yaochi Immortal Palace and obey the Palace Master’s orders!”

Gu Han nodded. She likewise flicked out a streak of spiritual light, sending the information about the Immortal Palace into Diewu’s sea of consciousness.

“Since you have entered the Immortal Palace, we are fellow members of the same sect.”

“From now on, you will be an elder of my Yaochi Immortal Palace, responsible for the sect’s formations, illusion defenses, and the mental-state tempering of disciples.”

“Yes, Palace Master.”

Diewu answered respectfully and carefully put away the Dream-Illusion Crystal.

At this point, the three great demon kings of the Tianjue Mountain Range had all entered under the command of Yaochi Immortal Palace!

Gu Han was in quite a pleasant mood.

These three each had their own strengths and considerable potential. With some cultivation, they would become the future backbone of Yaochi Immortal Palace.

“Let’s go. Follow me back to the palace.”

Gu Han lightly swept her sleeve, preparing to take the three of them back to Yaochi Immortal Palace.

However, at the instant she turned around, the corner of her eye seemed to casually sweep over a seemingly ordinary mountain wall somewhere at the edge of the flower sea.

Her gaze paused there for a moment, and a faint glimmer quietly flashed in the depths of her eyes.

Immediately afterward, as if she had discovered nothing at all, she took the three great demon kings with her, stepped forward, and her figure vanished from sight.