Chapter 686 - 627: Stepping onto the Peak 36 (4,000 Words)
The Illusion Butterfly is formidable, but incredibly difficult to reproduce. As an advanced magical beast, the gestation itself is challenging, and even if conceived, there are only three or four eggs. Moreover, these eggs can only hatch smoothly if the mother butterfly personally guards and incubates them.
However, Illusion Butterfly eggs often end up outside the protection of the mother due to various accidents. Without the mother’s care, the chances of these eggs hatching are nearly impossible, unless a human cultivator patiently feeds them spiritual energy daily. Even then, the likelihood of success is less than one in a thousand.
Thus, although Illusion Butterfly eggs are precious, their price isn’t high because the chances of successful hatching are extremely low. Therefore, the Illusion Butterfly egg given to Tan Shuangshuang for a spiritual pearl is considered a fair price, given its rarity and the difficulty in obtaining it.
Once an Illusion Butterfly is hatched, however, its value exceeds that of a single spiritual pearl; they must be settled with spirit stones. The price of spirit stones differs from spiritual pearls, with ten thousand spiritual pearls needed to exchange for one low-grade spirit stone. A hatched Illusion Butterfly requires at least five low-grade spirit stones.
Tan Shuangshuang saw Tan Feiyu holding the Illusion Butterfly egg, clearly infatuated with it, and said directly: "If you like this Illusion Butterfly egg, I’ll give it to you. Just remember, if you take it, you hold responsibility. When you return, be sure to check the Book Collection Pavilion for the Complete Guide to Egg-born Magical Beast Incubation, and don’t act recklessly on your own."
Tan Shuangshuang didn’t actually expect Tan Feiyu to hatch the Illusion Butterfly egg but recognized the process required careful manipulation of spiritual power to constantly nurture the egg.
This equates to training in controlling spiritual power, benefiting Tan Feiyu, whose impulsive nature often made controlling spiritual power difficult.
Tan Feiyu decided to hold onto the Illusion Butterfly egg because he typically couldn’t settle into the tedious practice of power control, but now, being interested in the egg, he might persist with it, thereby simultaneously practicing control of spiritual power.
Indeed, Tan Feiyu didn’t think much, joyfully thanked Tan Shuangshuang, and cherished the Illusion Butterfly egg, cautiously cradling it in his palm as if afraid anyone might damage it.
Tan Shuangshuang shook her head, saying, "You don’t need to be so careful. Though the Illusion Butterfly eggs are difficult to incubate, being eggs of advanced magical beasts makes them harder than stones, not so fragile."
Tan Feiyu mumbled sheepishly, chuckled slightly, and said, "I just like it a lot. After all, it’s an Illusion Butterfly, so I can’t help but be cautious."
The siblings were chatting idly when Liang Ziqian suddenly interrupted, holding a small jade token. He addressed Tan Shuangshuang, "Shuangshuang, can you recognize what this jade token is?"
Tan Shuangshuang turned her head and saw Liang Ziqian holding up a small green jade token, offering it to her. Seeing Tan Shuangshuang’s puzzled expression, Liang Ziqian explained, "Just now, my maid Hua Qingcheng bought this jade token but wasn’t sure what it was, so she asked me about it. I have some ideas but wanted to confirm with you to avoid misjudgment."
Hua Qingcheng bought something? Tan Shuangshuang raised her eyebrows and took the jade token, observing it carefully. She said, "This is a secret realm key. Judging by the style, it’s likely recent, not an ancient key passed down. The jade token is engraved with Silver Lotus and the character ’Lei’. Silver Lotus is unique to Yun City, where the largest family is the Lei Family. Therefore, this secret realm key should belong to the Lei Family, though I don’t know why it’s been lost."
After speaking, Tan Shuangshuang handed the jade token back to Liang Ziqian, who nodded in acknowledgement. "Earlier, upon seeing the Silver Lotus and character ’Lei’ on it, I suspected it was Lei Family’s belonging. Coincidentally, I heard some news about Yun City when I visited the Tan Family."
Liang Ziqian continued with deliberation, "It’s said that the eldest young master of the Lei Family in Yun City was put under house arrest by his family because he fell for an ordinary woman without any cultivation talent and lost a crucial heirloom."
"Previously, when the eldest young master was with that woman, he spared no expense, giving her everything, including this secret realm key. Of course, the secret realm key wasn’t intentionally given by the eldest young master of the Lei Family; he had given things to her by the bagful, and the secret realm key was inadvertently included in those storage bags he handed over carelessly."