Refining the Butterfree

"With my mortal grade talent, the amount of my spiritual sea in the core is only 21%. The speed of Spirit using up spiritual essence is so much faster than my own recovery rate. If I want to refine a Spirit I would need to borrow external help, which means I need to waste spiritual stones."

"The weaker the Spirit's will, the smaller the resistance, the easier it becomes for me to refine it. However any living creature will always have the will to live. To refine the Moonfang Spirit, I would at least require fifteen spirit stones, at the most I'd need 13 pieces."

"Right now to refine the Butterfree, I would need at least 36 pieces, at the most I would need 50 pieces." Although the Butterfree was also a Rank one Spirit like the Moonfang Spirit, but it was definitely much useful especially in the cultivation journey. Thus, the difficulty of the refinement process also increased.

A Spirit Master had the power to transcend mortals, becoming a man above men, but in this process, the price that was to be paid was also very high.

The first difficult problem was financial resources. A Spirit Master needs spirit stones to cultivate, battles also required spirit stones and refining a Spirit also needs spirit stones. Trading was also not an exception.

Without spirit stones, how could progression in cultivation be possible?

This point was a difficult position that, being an ordinary mortal who watched from the sidelines, the inn worker would not understand.

Just as Di Lan started refining the Butterfree, the buttery fragrance moved straight to his nose then into the spirit core, subliming into the orange spiritual sea. The spiritual sea surged and rippled for a moment, quickly absorbing the spirit essence of the Butterfree. A gleam of pure and refined spiritual essence was produced.

The other spiritual essence had a rich orange luster. It was more condensed than the original color of the gaseous orange spiritual essence. According to the books that Di Lan has read, this was the spiritual essence that a Rank one middle stage Spirit Master could produce.

Aware of this gleam of rich spiritual essence in his orange sea, Di Lan revealed a satisfied smile. "Right now my cultivation base is on the verge of breaking through to Rank one middle stage. After the Butterfree's spirit essence is refined, I will be able to have Rank one middle stage spiritual essence. The profundity of this benefit is truly magnificent."

But very soon, he took back his smile. "However right now, I have yet to fully refine the Butterfree. It is only when I completely refine and turn it into my vital Spirit, then I will be able to freely use it and later on with maximum efficiency, refine my spiritual essence."

Thinking up to this point, he no longer hesitated and began to draw out a jet of orange spritual essence from his spiritual sea. The spiritual essence tightly wrapped around the Butterfree, bringing it into the air before Di Lan, and started to invade its body.

The Butterfree woke up immediately as it felt its life at danger. It began to struggle violently, using its own power to drive out Di Lan's primeval essence.

"This Butterfree has a really strong will." Di Lan's complexion turned pale as he felt the consumption rate of his spiritual essence go beyond triple of what the Moonfang Spirit had consumed.

"No matter what, I have to refine this Butterfree Spirit." His two eyes flashed with a firm light as he continued pouring spiritual essence into the Spirit.

In the room, the candles on the table quietly burned, shining a bright light in the middle of the room while the far corners of the walls were dark. The candlelight radiated on Di Lan's face but he had already closed his eyes, gathering all his focus onto the Butterfree.

A continuous jet of orange coloured spiritual essence that resembled a jet of mist emitted out from Di Lan's whole body, then it gathered together and firmly wrapped around the Butterfree Spirit. The Spirit hovered in the air, its distance less than a feet away from Di Lan's face. It struggled with all its might in the midst of the orange spiritual essence.

Time passed away quietly.

As the candles burned, the light became smaller and grew dimmer. The gibous moon outside the window had slowly gone down, and then a new day arrived.

The morning light squeezed through the narrow cracks in the window and shone into the room. It was like the window had a light edges.

Di Lan opened his eyes and looked at the Butterfree in front of him. The vein patterns of the Spirit's silver wings had turned into a shade of orange. This was the result of Di Lan's effort after half a night. However, it was clear that this volume of the orange colour was only a 3% of the Spirit's body.

Di Lan's face looked deathly. This Butterfree's will was way too tenacious and its resistance was incredibly strong; simply put, this was beyond a Rank one Spirit's boundary.

"This Spirit was most probably the Demon Monk's vital Spirit. The Demon Monk was a Rank five grandmaster, so this Butterfree was not just previously a Rank Three but originally Rank five, but because it went through all those years without enough food, pretty much full in one moment and starving in the next, so its grade also fell. Right now, it is left at the level of Rank one, yet its will is still as tough as a rock!"

Di Lan had guessed the truth.

This Butterfree Spirit was originally the Demon Monk's vital Spirit. Its original will had been wiped clean and refined to the end; it had accompanied the Demon Monk throughout all his battles, passing through the underground world.

After the Demon Monk died, his strong will etched a mark in the Butterfree. Right now with Di Lan trying to refine the Butterfree, it actually meant fighting against the Demon Monk's will.

This was way more difficult than trying to refine a natural Spirit.

A human's will is generally stronger than a natural Spirit. When facing death, humans were able to produce strength that even they themselves could not imagine. Not to mention that the Demon Monk was a master of the Heretic faction. He came and went by himself, going up and down the underground world. His will was more tenacious than the masters of his level from the Righteous faction.

"To refine this Butterfree in a month is impossible, unless there is a strong master who can use a Rank two or Rank three Gu's breath to pressure this Spirit and suppress the will inside the worm's body to the lowest limit. Under this kind of help then will I be able to do twice as much with half the effort." As he pondered, Di Lan could not help but sigh.

His parents had died while his aunt and uncle were plotting against him. He himself did not have any backing, so where could he possibly find external aid?

If he had a Gold grade talent there might still be a chance, but he was only a mortal grade talent. Everyone in the clan were not optimistic about him, so who would be willing to expend such energy to come and help him?

More crucially, he could not expose the existence of the Butterfree.

There was no Butterfree Spirit in the Mu Yue Village, and Di Lan will not be able to explain about the origins of this Butterfree. If it was exposed, there was a huge possibility that the top brass would find out and link it to the case of the Demon Monk. It was too easy to think of a relationship between the two.

The importance of the vital Spirit was huge. It would greatly influence the future of a Spirit Master's cultivation direction. Although the Butterfree does not have a battle prowess, it will still be the world's best choice for a vital Spirit comparing to the Moonfang Spirit. It was also the best option for Di Lan's aptitude.

Growl…

At this moment, Di Lan's stomach came up with a cry of protest.

After a whole night without sleep and putting full effort into refining the Liquor worm, Di Lan was naturally hungry.

"I guess I'll go and fill my stomach first and think of a way to accumulate primeval stones." Di Lan rubbed his belly and went downstairs. He went to the cafeteria and picked a seat at the corner, ordering a few kinds of breakfast dishes.

Just as he was beginning to eat, his younger sister Mu Di Lang appeared.

"Big brother, why are you staying at the inn, why didn't you go back home and sleep last night?" Her sister was very straightforward, her tone carrying the implication that she was demanding for an explanation.

Faced with his younger sister's question, Di Lan did not speak; he continued eating his breakfast. He knew his younger sister's character – Di Lang was not someone who could keep in her composure.

Sure enough Di Lang saw that her older brother did not even bat an eye at her, as if Di Lan pretended she was just an air. In the next moment, she called out in a tone full of unhappiness, "Big brother, what did you do to Chu Zi Mo? Ever since she came out from your room yesterday, she cried all over the place. When I comforted her, she cried even more."

Di Lan looked up at his younger sister, his eyebrow raised up, full of questioning expression. Di Lang frowned, staring firmly at her older brother, waiting for his reply.

The atmosphere was growing tense.

But Di Lan just looked at her for a second before he lowered his head and continued eating.

The younger sister Di Lang was immediately flustered. Di Lan's attitude was clearly an undisguised contempt towards him. Under shame and frustration, she banged her hand on the table, roaring loudly, "Mu Di Lan, how can you act like this! Chu Zi Mo as a servant girl has served you for so many years; I have seen her gentleness and care towards you. Yes, I know you feel lost, and I can understand your dejected feelings. Yes you're just a mortal grade talent, but it doesn't mean you can vent your anger on others just because of your own misfortune. This isn't fair to her!"

He had barely finished when Di Lan stood up, raising his hand in a flash.

Slap!