Chapter 443: Chapter 443: Di Tian Travels the Continent with the Divine Butterfly and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion — Da Ming and Er Ming’s Patchwork Garment (Side Story)

Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.

The morning mist had yet to disperse.

Di Tian stood by the shore of the Lake of Life, his hands clasped behind his back.

He watched the Divine Butterfly and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion chase fireflies, a mix of mild headache and quiet warmth flickering in his dark-gold dragon eyes.

"The Lord has instructed me to take you out to see this world," he said.

"When you have grown through experience, you may then ascend to the Divine Realm."

"Let us depart today."

The Divine Butterfly fluttered around Di Tian.

"Big Brother Di Tian, are humans really that frightening?"

"Then why is Brother Zhexian so kind?!"

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion rolled about in the lake.

"Let’s go already! I can’t wait!"

The first stop was naturally Heaven Dou City.

To avoid their trio being too conspicuous,

Di Tian took on the appearance of a black-robed scholar. The Divine Butterfly folded her wings and hid among his hair, while the Three-Eyed Golden Lion transformed into a small golden-eyed kitten.

Even so—

As Di Tian walked along the bluestone streets, he still drew countless curious glances.

"Sugar paintings! Flying sugar paintings!" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion suddenly stood upright, staring fixedly at the molten sugar dancing in the old craftsman’s hands.

Di Tian frowned, about to stop him—

when the Divine Butterfly had already deftly snatched four phoenix-shaped sugar paintings.

"Eat, eat, hurry!"

She tucked away the prettiest one into a soul tool, saving it for Brother Zhexian.

She handed the other two to Di Tian and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion,

while keeping the smallest one for herself.

"I heard human cubs all love these."

Di Tian held the sugar painting.

Amid the vendor’s horrified gaze, he tossed over a gold soul coin.

He bit into the hardened sugar awkwardly, but as the sweetness spread, his expression drifted for a moment. When was the last time I tasted such sweetness?

...

When they arrived in Heaven Dou City,

the city was in the midst of massive construction.

The reason was known to all...

This was the homeland of the Creation God. Pilgrims arrived daily in endless streams, and the old city walls could no longer bear the strain. Expansion was inevitable.

Interestingly enough—

Da Ming and Er Ming had somehow heard of this and traveled great distances to offer their help.

The first few days were utter chaos.

Seeing craftsmen struggling to carry materials, Er Ming enthusiastically rushed over—only to knock down three houses with a sweep of his long tail as he turned around.

When he tried to prop the houses back up,

his huge hands instead pressed the support beams straight into the ground.

In the end, it was Da Ming who summoned long vines to barely bind the collapsed wooden houses back together.

On another day—

The builders lacked stone for the walls.

Da Ming burrowed underground and hauled up an entire mountain of granite.

Unfortunately, the rock carried frigid underground spring water, and the newly built city wall instantly froze solid with icicles.

Er Ming panicked and breathed out hot air to melt the ice, blowing half a street’s worth of roof tiles straight into the sky.

What delighted the Divine Butterfly and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion the most was—

Er Ming later insisted on learning how craftsmen polished bluestone pavement.

The result was an entire street polished to a mirror shine. Old shopkeepers stepping out with walking sticks would immediately slide several yards away.

It later became a popular new game for children to imitate.

After staying in Heaven Dou City for more than a month,

Di Tian finally dragged away the Divine Butterfly and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, both of whom kept looking back every step of the way.

Several months later—

They reached the far northern lands.

Amid a raging blizzard,

Di Tian suddenly halted.

From deep within the snowfields came the cries of young beasts. Among the vast white expanse, the collapsed outline of an ice den could faintly be seen.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion said:

"It’s Spirit Beast cubs crying—their mother’s been buried by an avalanche!"

The Divine Butterfly spread her wings, about to fly over, but Di Tian stopped her.

His dragon eyes pierced through the wind and snow,

and he saw faint signs of life beneath the ice.

"Let’s observe first."

A dozen breaths later—

More than ten human Spirit Masters arrived, braving the storm.

They dug through the ice with their bare hands, dragging out the leopard mother who still clung to a thread of life.

That night, they rested inside an ice cave.

The mother leopard brought over a thousand-year Snow Lotus as a gift.

Curled beside the leopard cubs, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion suddenly spoke softly:

"Humans aren’t all bad."

Di Tian remained silent.

A bloom of dragon flame condensed at his fingertips,

driving away the chill that filled the cave.

Their third stop was the border of Star Luo.

That day, while resting at a roadside teahouse, they suddenly heard panicked horses screaming.

A carriage filled with children had lost control and plunged off a cliff. The driver lay collapsed on the ground, covered in blood.

A flash of golden light—

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion revealed his true form and leapt into the abyss, auspicious energy lifting the carriage frame.

At the same time, the Divine Butterfly spread her wings, countless golden threads winding around the cliff face.

Di Tian stood calmly at the edge of the cliff, discreetly pressing his dragon might upon the terrified horses.

After the children were rescued,

a little girl with twin braids stood on tiptoe and placed a wreath of wildflowers on the Three-Eyed Golden Lion’s head.

"Thank you, big kitty."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion stiffened, golden light flickering wildly in his vertical pupils.

That night, he stared at his reflection in the stream for half the night and asked the Divine Butterfly:

"Divine Butterfly... do I really look like a cat?"

The Divine Butterfly also wore a flower wreath.

She burst into laughter.

"Of course you do!"

"The Golden Lion is the cutest kitty of all!"

...

A year later.

On their return journey,

Di Tian encountered Bibi Dong, who was clearing a battlefield.

The former Pope now wore plain hemp clothes, reducing the bodies of fallen, corrupted Spirit Masters to drifting ash.

Seeing Di Tian’s group, she smiled and bowed politely.

"Bibi Dong greets the honored ones of Star Dou."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion bared his teeth warily, and the Divine Butterfly snorted coldly and flapped her wings—but both were stopped by Di Tian.

He stared silently at the glazed bottle at Bibi Dong’s waist, now nearly filled.

Bibi Dong dropped a single grain of sand into the bottle and waved farewell.

As dusk gathered,

the Divine Butterfly whispered,

"This bad woman... she seems different from before."

Di Tian recalled the receding plain-clothed figure, complex emotions flashing through his dragon eyes.

He remembered what Li Zhexian had once said to him:

"Hatred will eventually fade, but redemption has no end."

On the night they returned to the Lake of Life, the stars were perfectly aligned.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion hopped about by the lakeshore, piling up items collected along the journey:

a shell wind chime from Vast Sea City, ice crystals from the far north, pressed wildflowers gifted by children, and more.

The Divine Butterfly danced beneath the moon.

Between her wings flowed all the colors of mountains and rivers she had passed.

"Brother Di Tian,"

she asked lightly,

"Why is it that humans can both harm Spirit Beasts and save Spirit Beasts?"

Di Tian scooped up a handful of lake water and watched starlight stream through his fingers. A sudden understanding dawned on him, and he murmured:

"Just as moonlight shines upon mountains and rivers, it also shines into ravines."

"Good and evil have always coexisted—this is the true human world."

"So the Lord had already arranged everything."

At that moment, as dawn’s first light began to glow—

cheering roars suddenly echoed from the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest.

They drew closer and closer,

startling birds into flight.

The voices became unmistakable—it was Da Ming and Er Ming, returning from helping build the new city.

"Cloaks!"

"We’ve got new cloaks!"

Two towering figures burst through the morning mist, racing toward the Lake of Life.

Draped across their backs were brilliant, multicolored cloaks—the "Hundred-Family Clothes" lovingly sewn by the people of Heaven Dou in gratitude for their hard work.

Aprons from housewives, scholars’ blue robes, children’s belly wraps, officials’ linings—countless scraps of cloth were stitched together overnight by skillful hands, weaving the city’s thanks into two one-of-a-kind cloaks.

Boom!

Boom!

Da Ming and Er Ming landed heavily by the Lake of Life, sending ripples across its surface.

Er Ming beat his chest excitedly and let out a thunderous roar.

"Now—"

The Hundred-Family Clothes Li Zhexian had once spoken of snapped loudly in the wind, golden light blazing in his eyes.

"I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!"