A heart-stopping pressure emanated outwards from the flames. At the same time, the fire surged, spreading to a radius of ten meters. Qin Shilei quickly pulled Zhang Xiaoli back over ten meters. At this moment, the Illusionary Sound Butterfly King also recovered from its stunned state. Covered in flames, it spread its wings, intending to leave the inferno and find a place to extinguish itself. However, after only making the motion of spreading its wings, the Illusionary Sound Butterfly King became motionless again, as if paralyzed, continuing to burn within the flames.
"Is An Qian okay?" Zhang Xiaoli asked worriedly.
"She seems to be undergoing a phoenix rebirth right now. She should be fine," Qin Shilei said uncertainly. Looking at An Qian's state, he instantly recalled the fixed rebirth attribute on her. Perhaps intimidated by the pressure emanating from the flames, all the pink and red Illusionary Sound Butterflies kept their distance.
After the flames burned for half an hour, the pressure intensified again, giving Qin Shilei a sense of overwhelming power. The flames then rapidly contracted inwards, revealing An Qian enveloped in fire. Through the flames, they could see An Qian’s fair skin and alluring figure, even more radiant than before her rebirth. She scanned her surroundings, but seeing no sign of Qin Shilei and Zhang Xiaoli, she exclaimed in surprise, "Shilei, Xiaoli, where are you?"
Qin Shilei then remembered that the Stealth Formation in his hand was still active. He quickly retrieved it into his Qiankun Ring before replying, "We're here." Seeing Qin Shilei ahead, she immediately flew towards him with joy.
"An Qian, can you put out the flames on your body first? Otherwise, if you burn your husband away, you'll be a widow." Qin Shilei looked at the flame-covered An Qian, unsure whether to hug her or not.
"Ah!" An Qian only then realized a layer of flames was burning around her. She quickly controlled her vital energy to extinguish the flames and turned to put on a set of equipment.
"Roar!"
At that moment, the surrounding Illusionary Sound Butterflies roared and charged towards Qin Shilei and the others again.
"Annoying things, die!" An Qian, disturbed by the butterflies, her pretty face turned cold, and she unleashed her Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix technique again. As the fiery red giant birds appeared, Qin Shilei immediately noticed the difference in the technique, which was at least ten times more powerful than when An Qian had used it before. The phoenix phantom let out a high-pitched cry and charged towards the Illusionary Sound Butterflies with the momentum of sweeping away a million troops. In an instant, the surrounding Illusionary Sound Butterflies were reduced to ashes, leaving behind only treasure chests and crystal cores. Within the blink of an eye, not a single Illusionary Sound Butterfly could be seen within a hundred-meter radius. Even those further away turned and fled into the distance.
"Honey, I thought I was going to die just now." An Qian turned and hugged Qin Shilei tightly, her eyes filled with the relief of surviving a near-death experience. Qin Shilei also hugged her back tightly. Remembering An Qian's pained expression as her vital blood was drained before his eyes, and how she was almost reduced to a desiccated corpse, Qin Shilei felt a surge of fear.
Since learning he was ranked first on the leaderboard, while not being ecstatic, he had been a little complacent, feeling less urgency. Qin Shilei had even thought that with the towering walls of Hope City protecting them, and with him and those around him far surpassing the cultivation levels of others on Blue Star, they would surely be able to live well. However, less than half a day after exploring this alien world, they had encountered insects of the Golden tier. This Golden tier Illusionary Sound Butterfly King was definitely not the highest combat power in this world.
Qin Shilei then thought of Andre. The mere projection of an Abyss Lord had almost killed him. His true form must be terrifyingly strong. Although these powerful beings, for various reasons, had not yet invaded Blue Star, they would eventually enter it. The thought filled Qin Shilei with an urgent sense of crisis. He reached out and pulled Zhang Xiaoli into his embrace as well, saying in a deep voice, "I must become stronger. I absolutely will not let you be harmed."
An Qian suddenly said playfully, "Shilei, let me protect you now. I'm a top-tier expert of Golden Star One now!"
"Golden Star One?" Qin Shilei and Zhang Xiaoli asked in surprise.
"Yes, the moment I woke up, I found myself inexplicably promoted to Golden Star One," An Qian said with some confusion.
Qin Shilei thought for a moment and guessed, "Perhaps when you were undergoing your rebirth, you also burned that Golden tier Illusionary Sound Butterfly King. Its immense vitality transformed into energy that allowed you to advance."
An Qian nodded, "What you said makes sense. And the rebirth played a huge role too. After rebirth, my control over flames has increased countless times, allowing me to successfully advance."
Because of this, the Illusionary Sound Butterflies did not drop treasure chests after their death. Qin Shilei had also played a significant role. If not for his divine ability that stunned the Illusionary Sound Butterflies, they would have certainly escaped An Qian the moment she began her rebirth, and might have even interfered with her rebirth.
"An Qian, how strong are you now? Can you defeat that Illusionary Sound Butterfly King from earlier?" Zhang Xiaoli asked curiously.
"I don't know," An Qian replied. "But now, even if I use Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix five times, I won't be too exhausted to move." She paused and then asked, "Shilei, should we continue exploring this world or go back?"
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment and said, "Let's first return to the valley where we first arrived. We'll see if we can find the leader of that group of insects and capture it to help us guard the spatial rift." This was their original plan. For this purpose, they had even prepared several Contract Scrolls.
An Qian agreed, "Okay. This time, we can fly back directly because my vital energy recovery rate is now sufficient to support the consumption of Phoenix Wings."
The three of them collected the spoils from the ground and flew back along the original path towards the valley where the beetles were. About an hour later, they finally returned to a small hill near the valley. Qin Shilei had already taken out the Stealth Formation again, enveloping all three of them. Qin Shilei took out his binoculars and carefully observed the beetles in the valley, hoping to find their leader.
Zhang Xiaoli suddenly pointed to a cave in the valley and said, "A giant golden beetle crawled out of that cave over there. Could it be their leader?" Qin Shilei turned his head to look. It was a colossal beetle, similar to a scythe beetle but immense. It was five to six meters tall, entirely golden yellow, and shone brilliantly in the sunlight.
Name: Golden Armored Beetle.
Description: Leader of the Scythe Beetles and Silver Beetles. Strength: Golden tier five stars. Its shell is incredibly hard, and it can perform Golden Wheel Slash. It can also imbue itself with an energy shield.