Monday.
Mystic Dream Butterfly waved goodbye to Su Hao and then zipped into the study in a flash. She turned on the computer, deftly logged into her hidden video app, signed into her account, entered the backend, and linked her ID card.
This ID card was essentially an all-in-one pass. It could store money, be used at bank branches, and even swipe for buses and the subway. She was thrilled. Finally, she could withdraw her little stash of cash, coo!
With a "ding," after evolving, Mystic Dream Butterfly's nimble little hands swiftly transferred the over three hundred yuan in her account into her ID card. I've earned my first spiritual life money~!
Little Fire Crow stood on the back of the chair, glanced at the account balance, and after a few whys popped into its tiny head, couldn't help asking: "Caw? Caw caw?" Wouldn't it be better to just act cute and ask Su Hao for pocket money, caw? Earning just over three hundred in months is way too little, caw. Three meals of jade powder a day cost more than that, caw.
Mystic Dream Butterfly shot a glance at this dumb crow and snorted. The pocket money Su Hao gave was plenty, but it wasn't real. The little money she earned herself was small, but it was genuine. She recalled back when she was still a baby, every time Su Hao would use pocket money as bait to lure her into training traps. The total pocket money added up to a lot, but where did it all go? It was all spent on herself. Exactly. Mystic Dream Butterfly (?_?). She looked at her little stash and felt a wave of relief.
But Little Fire Crow wasn't wrong—over three hundred yuan was way too little! Not even enough to buy a phone, coo! "Coo coo~" She widened her eyes and flipped through the dozens of videos she'd recorded. Clicks: ordinary. Comments: ordinary. Income: super ordinary.
Mystic Dream Butterfly scrolled to the spirit section, and what met her eyes were a dizzying array of videos, all related to spirits. There were cute ones, cute ones, cute ones, and others. She typed in "Silkworm Baby" and a bunch of videos popped up. The ones with high popularity were all about makeup and dressing up, looking flashy and seductive silkworm babies. Hmph, cheap thrills! "Coo coo coo!" Being outdone by these flashy, cheap tricks made the little one furious!
Suddenly, she lost all interest in making more videos. Even if she was now Mystic Dream Butterfly and different, she didn't want to anymore! This batch of viewers was too tacky, coo! Mystic Dream Butterfly decided to find another way to make money. She turned her head to Little Fire Crow, "Coo?" Any ideas for quick cash? Then she turned back. Pointless question.
She opened the web and suddenly spotted a trending term: "Silkworm Baby New Form ↑." "Coo?" Mystic Dream Butterfly clicked on it. "Shock! The Third Evolution Path of Silkworm Baby Is Actually..." "Oh my god! The One Who Discovered the New Form Is That Person!" "A High School Student Actually Did That!" ... "Elegant and Beautiful Spirit—Mystic Dream Butterfly!" The little one finally found a news piece that pleased her. It had a remotely taken photo of Mystic Dream Butterfly. That was her. So pretty indeed. The silly netizens thought so too.
Little Red Cat and Moritaro: "Ahhhh, I'm freaking out, so cute and adorable!!" Man Dreaming of Becoming a King: "Silkworm Baby actually has a third form, I can't hold back as a looks fan! I must get one!" Cult Follower of the Cute God: "Is that really liking it? You're just coveting Mystic Dream Butterfly's illusion ability, you're cheap!" Illusion Attribute Driver: "I'm just coveting its illusion ability, I'm honest! I'm proud!" Miao Miao's Fairy Snail: "It's predictable that Silkworm Baby's value is about to skyrocket, hehehehe~"
Mystic Dream Butterfly had only been around for a short time, but she was already hyped up by a wave of prophets and analysts. Some well-known spirit trainers also judged that Mystic Dream Butterfly's final evolved form would have the illusion attribute. That was rarer than attributes like fire, wind, or lightning, further boosting Silkworm Baby's value. Just think about the "Wood Mind" attribute Puppet on Strings and the price of its initial form, Wooden Doll, and you'd know.
When Su Hao passed by Ancheng Spirit House, he heard that Silkworm Baby spirits had been bought out, even with repeated price hikes. He could only sigh. People sure were fast. "But Mystic Dream Butterfly's evolution conditions aren't easy—just the mental strength requirement alone would stump most spirit masters." Who knew if, when he announced the evolution requirements, some spirit masters who had contracted Silkworm Babies would be wailing in despair? By then, Silkworm Baby's price might drop a bit. But getting one for 180,000 like he did? Impossible. More like 800,000.
"Speaking of which, the silly netizens are all talking about Mystic Dream Butterfly. What about me? Me?" Su Hao had worried that his fame might attract attention from certain organizations, which didn't fit his low-key development strategy. But now it seemed he was too invisible? Even the shock-value editors couldn't grab the silly netizens' attention.
Over the next few days, Su Hao uploaded several articles one by one, finally compiling them into one titled "On the Conditions for Mystic Dream Butterfly's Evolution..." and posted it in the spirit evolution category. "Reviewed within an hour again. Sure enough, my excellence caught the editor-in-chief's eye." "As expected of me." "Once this paper goes public, it shouldn't take more than ten days or half a month for a second Mystic Dream Butterfly to appear." For example, Master Chen Ping, with the resources and team under him, could easily find a suitable Silkworm Baby and pile on resources to meet the conditions without regard for cost. Once the experiment succeeded and proved his theory feasible, the reward would be his.
The day after he posted the paper, the Spirit Master Daily published a news piece titled "High School Student Discovers New Silkworm Baby Form," along with the evolution conditions. Many spirit masters who had just contracted Silkworm Babies were left dumbfounded. "Mental strength comparable to an entry-level spirit?" "Teach the Silkworm Baby an illusion-type move?" Emmmmm... Countless spirit masters lamented, "As expected, illusion-type spirits are only for the rich to play with."
At the same time, Su Hao received a contact from the Spirit Master Guild. A TV show wanted to interview him. "'Spirit Light' show...?" Su Hao initially wanted to refuse, since it didn't fit his usual low-key style. But... "What? A bottle of Wood Essence Liquid?" "Is the 'Spirit Light' show that loaded!" "Fine, it's just going on TV anyway. I couldn't stay low-key forever." Su Hao had to give in to the temptation.
The next day, he brought Mystic Dream Butterfly to the Spirit Master Guild building, where the interview was arranged. As for Little Fire Crow? Ahem, the interview was for Mystic Dream Butterfly, and Little Fire Crow couldn't be on camera, so Su Hao left it at home.