The little one's illusion experiment was both a success and a failure.
It spent a full two to three minutes continuously spreading hypnotic spiritual energy over the Blade Armor Crab and setting up the dreamscape, only to achieve a shaky, unstable illusion that lasted a mere ten-plus seconds. According to the little one, it used some small techniques learned from that Illusion Stone to deepen the suggestions repeatedly, but in the end, the Blade Armor Crab still broke free from the illusion.
However, despite its large size and fierce demeanor, the Blade Armor Crab was actually very fragile and timid at heart. Even after breaking free, it remained trapped in fear, unable to pull itself together. It wasn't seriously injured—it simply scared itself unconscious.
First issue: insufficient lethality.
Second issue: constructing the illusion takes time.
If facing a spirit like the Scyther Mantis, the Dream Butterfly would need to focus most of its energy on dodging, leaving no room to build an illusion.
"Real combat really exposes a lot of problems," Su Hao mused.
He also thought of some simple countermeasures.
For instance, reducing the complexity of the illusion, using it only for basic visual interference.
"Could try environments of extreme brightness or extreme darkness... suddenly plunging into such conditions could briefly disorient a spirit... though powerful spirits have keen perception and don't rely solely on eyesight in battle."
"An enhanced version could develop illusions that disrupt the opponent's five senses—like sudden ground collapse, gravity reversal, disoriented directions, and so on."
"Once the illusion art is perfected, then attempt full-reality illusions, step by step."
The little one seemed thoughtful.
Su Hao told it to first specialize in one or two illusion templates.
Like in game development, finish modeling a key scene first, then reuse it repeatedly, tweaking it slightly to create several different scenes.
The Dream-Building technique couldn't be pre-stored.
But once a certain illusion scene was practiced to familiarity, later constructions wouldn't require much effort—just some size adjustments based on the target.
That way, it could maintain the illusion while multitasking, using other techniques.
"Guno guno~" The little one nodded in understanding.
As expected of Su Hao, with his own... three, no, half of two smarts.
"By the way..." Su Hao was still a bit curious. "What illusion did you cast on that Blade Armor Crab just now?"
"Guno guno~!"
The Dream Butterfly recalled, its expression like a food critic reviewing a feast.
Even the Little Fire Crow listening nearby started craving.
Su Hao fell silent.
So it was steamed hairy crab, stir-fried swimming crab, spicy little crab, chili-steamed crab, crab in thick sauce, iron-pot braised crab, ginger-scallion stir-fried crab...
And a Blade Armor Crab that huge.
He really did crave it.
"Tonight, I'll take you all for a crab feast."
"Guno~! (Plan successful!)"
...
A month later,
Still in Magic City, at the White Elephant Battle Club, in the official battle zone.
"Guno!"
The Dream Butterfly's eyes widened.
Across from it, an evolved form of the Golden Armor Spirit, the Golden Armor Strongman, met the Dream Butterfly's gaze and felt a shroud of black mist envelop it. In an instant, it grew drowsy, and its vision plunged into total darkness.
The ground beneath its feet turned into an abyss, and it kept falling endlessly.
Panicked, it struggled within the illusion.
But the next moment,
In reality, a continuously accumulating energy ball slammed into its face. The Golden Armor Strongman barely broke free from the illusion, dazed and disoriented, and before it could react, it was buried under a barrage of energy balls.
Boom, boom, boom, boom~!
"Golden Armor Strongman is unable to battle. Dream Butterfly wins."
The Little Fire Crow, now a size larger, held a cup of milk tea, ready to present it to the boss.
Su Hao, while the little one hadn't yet left the stage, took the milk tea and sipped it, signaling the dazed Little Fire Crow to get another cup.
"With Nightmare Eye mastered, the Dream Butterfly's combat ability has jumped significantly."
"The Little Fire Crow has also broken through to the entry level, and most of the holiday training is done. Only one thing left—arrange an evolution for the Little Fire Crow, then I can head back to school."
Over the month, he hadn't stayed in Magic City the whole time but had traveled through several cities.
For example, in White Cloud City, there was a senior master-level trainer with two illusion-type spirits. That master ran a training class for mental strength, and Su Hao took the Dream Butterfly to learn a bit, but unfortunately, the instructor was only the master's disciple.
He also participated in a small-scale competition, using the newly entry-level Little Fire Crow to win the championship.
Now, he was back in Magic City.
Because near Magic City, he could find the most suitable venue for the Little Fire Crow's evolution.
A place... an active volcano in the New World, which had just erupted not long ago.
Not the Storm City entrance, but another location, called Red Rock Town's entrance.
The entrance was in a mountain dozens of kilometers away.
If measured by Earth's scale, the distance between the two entrances wasn't far.
But in the New World...
One was a cold storm environment, the other a scorching volcanic one, separated by a vast distance...
"If it weren't for a few outposts in the New World that can connect to each other, it'd be hard to believe it's one world—not countless worlds."
Su Hao bought a ticket, submitted an application, and stepped into the New World for the third time.
Here, the sun blazed, and waves of heat rolled in, making him quickly take off his jacket.
"Are you sure you want to head to the volcanic cluster area? Since you're not yet an elite-level spirit master, leaving the city requires an elite-level escort. You can also hire a spirit master guaranteed by the Spirit Master Alliance and our Magic City Guild..."
A staff member, just an ordinary person, explained.
They had all undergone special training. Such non-spirit masters weren't uncommon in New World towns.
Real spirit masters were assigned to more critical posts.
Su Hao looked over.
The available elite-level hires weren't many, just over a dozen.
He remembered being targeted by spirit hunters, so he hired a stronger spirit master.
—Huang Tianhu, with two elite-level spirits, his ace being a wind-type Winged Tiger.
The Winged Tiger wasn't a final evolution, but it was already no weaker than many two-stage evolutions. Its final form, the Crimson Qilin, had both wind and fire attributes—a spirit with a very high evolution threshold and immense power.
Su Hao recalled a heavenly-rank trainer whose ace was a Crimson Qilin.
"I'll go with him."
Huang Tianhu's hiring price matched his strength.
But the Little Fire Crow's evolution would take at most half a day. He hired him for the minimum one day, costing not much more than hiring Zhu Mingda—though, of course, his expenses at Sigh Valley a month ago had been waived.
Su Hao waited about half an hour before the spirit master Huang Tianhu arrived.
Behind him followed a majestic Winged Tiger—a White-Striped Tiger King with wings sprouting from its back.
And another elite-level spirit, a Stone Golem.
Both were flying spirits.
That was exactly why Su Hao chose him.
Huang Tianhu saw his client and said, "The volcanic belt isn't close. If there's no issue, let's set off now."