A heavy rain had washed away the city's dust and haze. A few emerald-green sparrows chirped on a lifelike tree made of colored glass.
In Starlight City of the Xin Xia Federation, a Guardian Beast Shop operated at the South Cross Street Intersection, where the Upper City District met the Lower City District.
An unconscious youth lay on a reed mat, his hands clasped together on his chest as if in prayer.
Through his white shirt, at least half of the youth's body could be seen to have turned a purplish-black.
A butterfly the size of a millstone, with a pair of jade-green wings covered in intricate white patterns, was periodically inserting its long, slender proboscis into the youth's body.
Each time the butterfly inserted its proboscis into the youth's body, an aura of fresh yet slightly bitter Energy would erupt from it.
The man directing the strange butterfly frowned and said.
"Bitten by a Ghost Shadow Thorn Spider, and you waited this long for treatment?"
"Your shop raises and sells Ghost Shadow Thorn Spiders. Don't you know their venom affects the nerves and brain?"
"Your young master's life is saved. Once my Poison-removing Green Butterfly draws out all the venom, he should wake up after a few hours of quiet rest."
"However, I can't guarantee his mind will still be clear."
The old man and the young girl standing to the side wore expressions of both terror and worry.
The two exchanged a glance. The terror on the old man's face subsided, but the worry remained.
The young girl felt a wave of relief and couldn't help but burst into tears.
The man directing the jade-green butterfly stroked its antennae, then took out a handkerchief and wiped the youth's blood from the Butterfly Guardian Beast's proboscis before speaking.
"When I get back, I'll have to use up one of my medical service quotas for the year."
"He's just had the venom removed. He'll need plenty of nourishment to recover after he wakes up."
After speaking, a ripple of Energy flared, and the jade-green butterfly vanished from before the man. An inconspicuous butterfly-shaped marking appeared on his left arm.
After the man left, the old man took a towel soaked in warm water and carefully wiped the filth from around the youth's wound.
"The young master may have some mental difficulties, but he shouldn't be so foolish as to stick his hand in to feed a Gray Worm to the Ghost Shadow Thorn Spider."
The young girl, who had stopped sobbing by now, picked up the Six-Fold Communication Device that had fallen on the floor. The device's screen lit up.
On it were written the words: "Don't panic if bitten by a Ghost Shadow Thorn Spider. Drink lots of hot water and Isatis root tea, then clean the wound. Find a cool, ventilated spot in the shade and lie down to prevent the corpse from stinking. If conditions permit, it's best to place a reed mat underneath you."
Seeing the content on the screen, the girl grit her teeth. No wonder the young master had placed a reed mat under himself in a room already cooled by an Ice Crystal Flower.
'Damn it all. Who knows which unscrupulous netizen posted this message? It nearly got the young master killed.'
The more the girl thought about it, the angrier she became. Then, as if remembering something, she sighed softly. Her clear eyes turned to the pale, white-faced youth on the bed, his own eyes shut tight.
'If only the young master hadn't hit his head in that accident!'
At that moment, Zhong Yi was in an extremely lucid state, able to perceive his surroundings with perfect clarity.
Not only could he hear the conversation between the old man and the young girl, but he could also see his own body lying on the bed from a god's-eye view.
'Zhong Yi never thought something like transmigration would actually happen to him.'
'Moreover, Zhong Yi felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with the world he had crossed into. The name Ghost Shadow Thorn Spider seemed to ring a bell.'
'Ghost Shadow Thorn Spider: A basic Insect Element Guardian Beast. Un-evolved individuals are mostly Mortal Beasts and possess a potent dual-type neurotoxin and hemotoxin.'
'Timid and sensitive by nature. When provoked, it doesn't warn by flicking its hairs, but instead neurotically stings and bites its target.'
This data surfaced directly in Zhong Yi's mind.
Zhong Yi surveyed his surroundings. On a stone table sat a pot of Ice Crystal Flowers, their petals a silver-blue with serrated edges.
Three squirrels with light-brown, long tails were sweeping the floor incessantly, their tails moving like feather dusters.
The ratio of their tails to their bodies was an astonishing nine to one.
Data related to the Cleaning Mouse likewise appeared in Zhong Yi's mind.
Zhong Yi was all too familiar with these creatures, because he was the one who had created them before he transmigrated.
Before transmigrating, Zhong Yi had been a game designer who independently designed a Guardian Beast-type game.
The game was centered on raising pets, and Zhong Yi had single-handedly created the entire game's background settings and all the internal pet data.
However, after outsourcing the game's publication, its development did not go as hoped. In less than two years, it had basically lost all of its players.
This was mainly because the game had too many pay-to-win systems, and the pressure to spend money was astonishingly high.
Furthermore, the pet-raising process was overly tedious, and few players could stick with it for long. Nevertheless, the game still brought Zhong Yi a considerable income.
Before the servers were shut down, Zhong Yi took control of an account and beat the game with only one percent of his health remaining. In the final Secret Realm, he obtained a seed that glowed with a faint, bluish-purple light.
The seed baffled Zhong Yi; he didn't remember designing anything like it for the game.
The instant Zhong Yi placed the seed into his game account's inventory, time froze.
The moment Zhong Yi came to his senses, he was certain he had transmigrated into the game world he designed.
Before Zhong Yi could even process his emotions, he felt a sharp pain pierce his soul.
If Zhong Yi's soul were soil, then the bluish-purple seed had already taken root within it. Glimmering tendrils were constantly extending from it, embedding themselves and merging with his soul.
A translucent stem also broke through the seed coat, growing continuously upward.
During this process, Zhong Yi felt the Energy in his soul being frantically drained by the sprouting seed.
Just as Zhong Yi felt himself growing weaker and weaker, his soul on the verge of dissipating at any moment, a torrential surge of Energy was channeled back into his soul through the seed.
In that instant, an alluring, bluish-purple flower with tentacle-like petals bloomed gracefully upon Zhong Yi's soul.
A feeling of ineffable, grand, and profound shock arose in Zhong Yi's heart.
Zhong Yi could clearly feel the blooming, alluring flower conveying an emotion of extreme intimacy toward him.
It was like a three- or four-year-old child in kindergarten, waiting to be picked up, finally seeing their mother.
This was a closeness born of pure instinct, engraved into his very DNA and marrow.
A name surfaced naturally in Zhong Yi's mind: Soul-Controlling Flower!
At the same time, Zhong Yi suddenly discovered a figure clad in interwoven gold and green outer robes, its entire body shrouded beneath the cloth. It was currently ensnared by the roots of the bluish-purple, alluring flower.
This figure, which radiated a magnificent aura filled with sanctity and nature, now looked as pitiful as an old master knocked to the ground by a single punch, unable to even struggle.