Or perhaps she should worry about Yu Juanjuan’s zen-like, lazy, and trouble-averse personality.

And Bai Chen’s underlying preoccupation with developing his family rather than focusing on his own personal growth.

After watching Bai Chen and Yu Juanjuan for a long moment, You Weiwei wiped her peach-juice-covered hands.

She tossed another peach from the fruit bowl to Yu Juanjuan.

"You two both have to attend the party tonight. We’re heading back first thing tomorrow morning."

"Juanjuan, the party tonight is being recorded, so control yourself a little."

"It’s one thing to finish all the food at your own table, but don’t go snatching food from other people’s tables."

Even though she saw Yu Juanjuan, now contentedly munching on the peach, nod her head obediently, You Weiwei was still worried and turned to instruct Bai Chen.

"Bai Chen, keep an eye on Juanjuan."

Meanwhile, Zhong Yi and Zheng Yufeng had returned to the Evolution Shop.

When Zhong Ling saw Zhong Yi, she rushed up to him.

"Young Master, Uncle Huai just called. He said he found a buyer for the low-end merchandise in the shop."

"Iron Arm has already loaded the merchandise into a Storage Pouch, and someone will be here shortly to complete the transaction."

At this, Zhong Ling’s expression suddenly grew serious. She rarely spoke to Zhong Yi with such a look.

"Young Master, you told me before that I could decide for myself which direction my Lifebound Guardian Beast should develop in."

"I’ve made up my mind now. I want my Lifebound Guardian Beast to develop its utility as much as possible, rather than focusing on combat."

Zhong Ling had given this a great deal of thought before saying it to Zhong Yi.

In fact, before participating in the Soul Awakening Ceremony, Zhong Ling had no idea what a Celestial Destiny Seeker was.

She had never even heard the term before.

When she first learned that Zhong Yi had become a Celestial Destiny Seeker, Zhong Ling had been overjoyed for him.

But ever since entering the Horned Demon Secret Realm, Zhong Ling, who was always by his side, could clearly feel the gap between them.

This gap only widened as Hong Ji continuously devoured Horned Demons.

Zhong Ling didn’t say anything at the time, but her heart was already filled with pressure.

She was terrified that the gap between her and Zhong Yi would become too great, and she would no longer be fit to stay on the team.

For as long as she could remember, Zhong Ling had worked as a clerk in the Evolution Shop.

As a Servant, her life revolved around Zhong Yi.

The thought that she might be separated from Zhong Yi, unable to remain on his team, felt like her very soul was being torn from her body.

This feeling intensified after Zhong Yi brought back Shen Xuan, who was also a Celestial Destiny Seeker.

In their current three-person team, no matter how she looked at it, she was the one holding everyone back.

After much deliberation, Zhong Ling felt that instead of focusing on combat, developing her Lifebound Guardian Beast’s utility was the only way she could continue to comfortably remain on the team.

Otherwise, if the gap became too wide, even if Zhong Yi was willing to let her stay on the team, she herself wouldn’t want to remain and drag him down!

Zhong Ling knew that Guardian Beast Masters formed six-person teams for the express purpose of exploring special Secret Realms that only a maximum of six people could enter.

The weakest person on the team would inevitably transfer that pressure onto their teammates.

Seeing how serious the expression on Zhong Ling’s face was, Zhong Yi had a good idea of what was on her mind.

Zhong Yi was very much in favor of her choice.

"Xiaolingdang, your Soul Vein Mother Butterfly is still at the Mortal Beast Tier. Since we still need to explore a First Level Secret Realm, its Tier can’t advance to the Extraordinary Tier yet."

"However, you should have already noticed that even though their Tier didn’t increase, there was a world of difference in their combat power after your no-Quality Shattered Blade Butterflies evolved into Bronze Quality Blade Butterflies."

"Once your Soul Vein Mother Butterfly advances to the Extraordinary Tier, its soul capacity will be enough for you to control over fifty Blade Butterflies."

"You’re right, there’s no need for you to focus on improving your offense. Enhancing the Wangyu Butterfly’s utility is indeed more useful for you than improving its single-target or group-attack abilities."

At this, Zhong Yi’s tone also grew a bit more serious.

"Xiaolingdang, even though you aren’t a Celestial Destiny Seeker, your Beastmaster Talent gives you the opportunity to become incredibly powerful."

"And the continued investment of resources will ensure the Quality of the Butterfly Guardian Beasts your Soul Vein Mother Butterfly contracts."

"Your impact on the battlefield won’t necessarily be any less than that of a Celestial Destiny Seeker with an S-rank potential Talent."

"Actually, Brother Zhao and I have already discussed how to best develop your Lifebound Guardian Beast, the Wangyu Butterfly."

"If you choose to have the Wangyu Butterfly focus more on utility, then using a Rebirth Mushroom to guide its development is an excellent start."

"As it happens, Brother Zhao brought back two Rebirth Mushrooms when he returned yesterday."

"We have some time right now, so let’s see what kind of Exclusive Traits the Wangyu Butterfly will gain when we use a Rebirth Mushroom to improve its Quality."

It was Zhong Yi who had suggested using the Rebirth Mushroom to improve the Wangyu Butterfly’s Quality.

Zhao Kai had originally wanted to use Soul Wave Grass to enhance the Wangyu Butterfly’s control over the soul, further developing the strengths of an Undead Element Guardian Beast that already excelled at soul manipulation.

By combining the soul with Death Qi, the Wangyu Butterfly could have obtained some control-related Skills.

While control is certainly a support Ability on the battlefield, in terms of overall utility, it’s only a minor function.

Zhong Yi’s proposal to use the Rebirth Mushroom to enhance the Wangyu Butterfly had opened up a whole new avenue of thought for Zhao Kai.

The Rebirth Mushroom was a Soul Element fungal Guardian Beast with extremely potent hallucinogenic properties.

The Rebirth Mushroom wasn’t particularly rare in the wild, especially in areas where many creatures had died.

A normal person who ate a Rebirth Mushroom would age rapidly over a few months.

Their bodies would become like funnels, constantly leaking vitality.

However, a dying person who ate a Rebirth Mushroom would enter a state of terminal lucidity for a period of time.

Memories they couldn’t recall in life would come flooding back into their minds.

Zhong Ling didn’t understand the first thing about enhancing Guardian Beasts, nor had she ever studied the relevant subjects.

However, Zhong Ling knew one thing for certain: she couldn’t go wrong by listening to Zhong Yi.

In the Horned Demon Secret Realm, because the Soul-Controlling Flower had needed to absorb Life and Soul Energy while Hong Ji had needed to devour flesh and bone, the Wangyu Butterfly had been left with virtually no opportunity to be deployed.

Now that it had reached the Tenth Level of the Mortal Beast Level, the Wangyu Butterfly had grown to the size of two hands put together.

The purple spots on its black body had become even more vibrant.

As its wings fluttered, it looked as if two purple eyes were calmly gazing forward.

Zhong Yi hadn’t had much Flowing Soul Soil on hand before, but now the Soul-Controlling Flower had a large quantity of Demon Remains.

It could continuously extract Life and Soul Energy from the Demon Remains, and he now had enough Flowing Soul Soil to fill a 500-milliliter glass bottle.

And strengthening a Mortal Beast Tier Guardian Beast with Flowing Soul Soil only required a few drops.

Zhong Yi took out the vibrantly colored Rebirth Mushroom, placed it on the table, and said to Zhong Ling,

"Xiaolingdang, have your Wangyu Butterfly absorb as many of the Rebirth Mushroom’s spores as possible."

As he spoke, Zhong Yi had the Soul-Controlling Flower parasitizing his soul extend a tendril.

He smeared the Flowing Soul Soil—which was as black as ink, seemingly absorbing all light—onto the cap of the Rebirth Mushroom.

The Flowing Soul Soil acted as if it had a life of its own and was not absorbed by the Rebirth Mushroom.

Instead, after the Wangyu Butterfly absorbed enough of the Rebirth Mushroom’s spores, the soil flowed to the butterfly’s proboscis and entered its body.

In that instant, a massive amount of Death Qi surged out from the Wangyu Butterfly’s body, completely enveloping it in a dense cloud.

But soon, a flap of its wings dispersed the cloud of Death Qi. The Wangyu Butterfly’s original four wings then closed together in pairs.

Its four wings fused into two, and this new pair of wings began to rapidly expand.

Soon, they grew from the size of two hands put together to the size of a washbasin.

The color of the wings was no longer a simple black and purple; it now displayed the same intensely psychedelic and vibrant colors seen on the cap of the Rebirth Mushroom.