Chapter 8: The Divine Trial to Defeat the Evil Dragon

Year Nine.

Under Liu Jun's guidance, the entire Monarch Butterfly population began to develop its own butterfly-script. They relocated to a ring-shaped valley and established a new homeland in a colossal tree, which they named Cangwu Wood.

They learned to carve characters into stone slabs. They learned to construct double-layered, insulated tree hollows. They learned to light campfires in hearths and store food in bamboo tubes. As omnivores, they even followed Liu Jun’s instructions to build small fishponds, farm adorable insects, and cultivate tiny flower fields.

They progressed slowly through reproduction and warfare, with the flying butterflies beginning to weave through the jungles and meadows to launch campaigns against small animals.

"Telekinesis!"
"Wind Blast!"

The aging Liu Jun had retired to the background, sitting quietly on a flower, watching their expeditions. Having surpassed the average lifespan of his species, he now faced the prospect of death. It was only thanks to being a Second-Tier, Eighth-Level Psychokinetic Monarch Butterfly that he had lived this long.

Liu Jun fell into contemplation: "Ultimately, this is just a dream... However, if I were to cast vast amounts of matter into the bacterial broth, perhaps this world could transition from illusion to reality."

An irrepressible ambition surged within him, though it was quickly defeated by the crushing weight of reality. "Alas, I simply cannot achieve that for now."

Out of curiosity regarding the Saint’s brain within the broth, he began guiding the Amber Monarch Butterfly to become the greatest Sage-King the population had ever known. Under Liu Jun’s command, they continued to construct various facilities: tree stumps for drying grain, hollows for storage, underground insect pastures, aquatic farms, and water wells. The entire valley was conquered and transformed into a kingdom. The Amber Monarch was held in ever-greater respect and love.

Within the population, six butterflies emerged with First-Tier wind-based psychokinetic abilities. They established egg chambers for unified breeding, began training hatched green caterpillars to till the land, practiced psychokinesis, and built cocoon houses. They even learned to weave rope and craft clothing from discarded silk cocoons. Though their bodies were frail, their psychokinetic power was like the wind, more dexterous than any hand.

Yet, butterflies were ultimately the weakest of flying insects, and their growing population attracted more terrifying predators.

"Dinosaurs. Delicious."

The Amber Monarch chose to lead a group of subordinates to attack a *Sinraptor* outside the valley. Their psychokinesis was utterly insufficient to penetrate the dinosaur's thick hide, and they suffered heavy casualties.

That day, in the tree hollow, the Amber Monarch sought out Liu Jun. "Prophet, I want to defeat the *Sinraptor*."

Liu Jun was in the midst of mental cultivation. He had ignored the Amber Monarch for some time. In his eyes, this beautiful fairy tale was nearing its final chapter, and he felt it best to leave it be.

Every film eventually reaches its credits. Every book eventually finds its end. One day, the Amber Monarch would wake from its own dream, look at the empty bacterial broth, and discover the truth: the world was fake. It was merely a mushroom, dreaming that it was a butterfly living in the Jurassic era.

At that moment... that would be the time for him, the great villain, to cackle and refine this timid, naive little mushroom into nothingness.

Yet, looking into the creature's incredibly pure eyes, Liu Jun was reminded of that first winter—the shy, soft, fragile little life, its voice intermittent and pitiful, weeping like a small butterfly.

Staring into those same eyes now, Liu Jun felt an inexplicable softening of heart. He wanted to continue this fairy tale, so he began to tell a story of a hero slaying a dragon:

"How shall we defeat the evil dragon?"

"In the distant ocean, there exists the mysterious Umbrella of the Sun, a treasure left behind by the Great God who created all things. Bestowed upon a brave hero, it can pierce the dragon's eyes."

"On the endless mountains, there is the Left Ear left by the Ancient Gods. It can listen to the passing of all things. Whoever possesses it gains the power to hear all sounds, sealing the dragon's hearing."

"Within a remote cave lies a deep, dark pool containing the Dark Bacterial Carpet, which can mutate life and change one’s species."

The three types of talent-mushrooms still floated in the broth. Since the Amber Monarch could absorb a [Low Intelligence] talent-mushroom, it could naturally absorb a second one.

"That's wonderful!" The Amber Monarch was overjoyed.

Watching it depart, Liu Jun remained calm. "Consider this a small experiment."

At the beginning, Liu Jun had only viewed the First-Tier intelligence-brain he threw into the broth as a get-rich-quick project. He would teach it, help it reach the Second and Third Tiers, and sell it as a prototype for a fortune.

Although selling this brain might cause complications—what would outside corporations think if they saw a brain fossil from the Jurassic era? "We have discovered another Third-Tier ancient Saint-Butterfly. By tracing its pre-mortem memories, we found that a butterfly civilization of slash-and-burn agriculture once existed a billion years ago in the Jurassic! And it was the Emperor of that era, guided by a mysterious prophet."

That was one issue. Furthermore, emotionally, after raising it for so long, he felt a certain reluctance.

Liu Jun let out a long sigh. Being a villain really wasn't a job for a human. He knew full well that abandoning his conscience would be more profitable, just like how the city of Rehe herded students like them into human resources. And he was only refining a mushroom, not a person...

But it was a struggle.

Besides, the creature’s true form was a talent-mushroom. If he didn't redeem this [Low Intelligence] talent, he couldn't extract it, nor could he sell it. But if he did redeem it... the [Low Intelligence] trait would manifest in him. Wouldn't that be a negative debuff? Would he become a second foolish butterfly?

Nothing seemed to work. Money was hard to earn, and the situation was a mess. After much consideration, the turn of events left Liu Jun speechless.

"We shall see. Since I won't extract this talent-mushroom, let's see if it can absorb a second one."

Leaving the test behind, Liu Jun departed. After all, the version of him in this story was far too old; occasional hibernation had become quite frequent and wouldn't attract suspicion.

Once Liu Jun left the world, the foolish Amber Monarch followed the Prophet's guidance and left the valley alone. It trekked over mountains and through waters, crossing plains and overcoming various crises, until it finally beheld a miraculous scene deep within a forest.

A round-headed mushroom, shimmering with faint, firefly-like light, stood like an eternal Umbrella of Radiance, casting ripples of soft light beneath it. The Amber Monarch walked under the umbrella and looked up.

*Whoosh!*

It saw a dazzling golden brilliance, filled with dreamlike colors; the massive, glowing canopy seemed to shroud the entire world.

"This is the power of light." It seemed to hear a mysterious voice whispering—a voice gentle and profound, yet it was its own voice, echoing from a distant, higher, and more real world in the sky.

When it carefully brought this Umbrella of Radiance back, the sky above the Ancient Cangwu Tree was illuminated.

*Whoosh—*

Countless colorful butterflies took to the wind, appearing as soft, flowing rainbows.

"King! Is that the power of the gods?" A group of butterflies gathered around, their wings fluttering, their eyes shining with awe.

"Did you pass the god's trial?"
"It is light! Light! Light!"

Amidst the chorus of exclamations, the butterfly flock stood dazed, their simple minds stunned by this sacred and powerful mystery. Upon the Cangwu tree, butterflies rose with the light, transforming into dancing colorful flames that arranged themselves in the air, forming a miniature rainbow bridge.

The Amber Monarch stepped onto the butterfly-bridge and ascended to the treetop. Below, a naive and simple butterfly historian brandished a carving knife, recording these vivid murals and inscribing them with beautiful, complex butterfly-script:

[Butterfly Era, Year 20: The God's Trial. The King overcame hardships to find the glowing giant mushroom. It does not taste good.]

How future generations would translate this mysterious line of Butterfly-Era text, no one would ever know.