Tower. Dungeon.
"Alright, let's give this another shot.”
Standing in the dimly lit corridor flanked by rows of prison cells, Bubai quickly went through a series of incantation gestures with his fingers.
His hands then folded together before one extended towards the ground, forming a finger gun.
With a twist reminiscent of igniting an engine, sparks of crackling lightning began spiraling around his fingertips!
Taking a step forward, Bubai raised his arm, the lightning gun aimed straight ahead towards the target at the walkway's end.
As soon as he let the pent-up energy flow- zap!
A bolt of lightning drew a zigzagging path, ricocheting between the bars and illuminating the gloomy, dimly lit prison as it hurtled towards the distant target!
Yet, three-quarters of the way through, the energetic streak spluttered, discharging into a flurry of lingering arcs that danced along the surrounding bars before fading away.
Bubai sighed, lowering his tingling hands, "Still not strong enough.”
Sadly, he was still some ways from the target, let alone trying to hit it.
Honestly, it wasn't a matter of faulty technique mastery.
Though it took a bit of time, Bubai still managed to get the Qi circulation on point and learned the Lightning Crusher technique without a hitch.
In fact, at close range, his execution mirrored Manager Qin's power back on the farm, if not surpassing it.
However, extending the range complicated matters exponentially.
A natural principle governed the technique: the farther the distance, the greater the Qi required to fuel the lightning bolt.
Basically, to cast a stronger bolt, he simply had to charge it with more Qi before releasing it.
Yet, supplying this additional Qi proved to be his stumbling block.
Maintaining the flow while controlling the release... it's like trying to juggle a dozen balls at once, adding more and more balls in the process.
Adding on to this charging phase challenge was the load the meridian networks can bear. When too much energy is built-up…
Well, it's hard to hold it in when it wants to come out, just like- Ahem.
Shaking away the stray thought, Bubai relaxed his tense muscles, "Well, I am just getting started. More practice, and I'll get the hang of it."
But for now, take a break to recuperate some Qi.
Walking along the dungeon’s walkway, Bubai noted the faint smudges of scorch marks on the ground left by his erratic lightning discharges.
"Curious, very curious indeed,” Bubai’s mind was already buzzing with questions. "How does running Qi in a specific manner result in these supernatural phenomena?”
Condensing water from the atmosphere, sure, that's understandable. But molding Qi to summon lightning, fire, wind? Trying to explain it scientifically... it's like trying to grasp at smoke.
"Well, I suppose it’s because my knowledge is too shallow to understand this," Bubai temporarily conceded with a shrug. "Just log it as future experiments."
For now, there were more down-to-earth experiments for him to partake in.
Stepping into his scorpion rearing cell, Bubai flipped his palm face-up, summoning a pair of chopsticks.
Bubai approached the tank teeming with scurrying scorpions, squatting down beside it and opening the lid.
"Alright, my little babies..." Scanning the tank, Bubai grinned, his hand clacking his chopsticks like a connoisseur sounding the drums of liberation. "Who's ready to be the star of today's experiment?"
Of course. He was met with silence.
“Oh, since no one answered, I’ll take it that everyone willingly volunteered! So-”
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Bubai's chopsticks darted down into the tank, plucking out one of the little scorpions that volunteered for tribute.
After shutting the lid, Bubai cradled the captured scorpion in his hands, stroking its belly gently as he fed it a strand of green Qi to sooth its agitation and hunger.
"You'll be today's lucky winner," Bubai murmured softly before rising to his feet.
Exiting the cell, Bubai crossed to the opposite side where the beret treated the display pedestal as its throne.
Arriving beside it, Bubai opened the glass case.
But instead of removing the beret from its case this time, he lowered the clamped scorpion towards it, his pupils glowing with an eerie green hue.
"Now, what will happen if..."
With rapt attention, Bubai watched black mist slithering out from the beret, snaking around the dangling scorpion like a predator smelling its prey before drilling in.
At first, the little scorpion remained calm, but when more strands of mist drilled into its form, it began to writhe in distress, its legs thrashing and stinger lashing out in a frenzied dance of agony.
Ignoring the creature’s struggles, Bubai coldly held it in place, allowing more strands of darkness to bore into the little critter’s flesh.
One strand after another drilled into the prey, its movements growing more erratic with each new strand that pierced its exoskeleton.
Suddenly, with a burst of unexpected strength, the little critter broke free from his chopsticks!
Right after landing on the pedestal, its tiny, quivering form defiantly swished around to hiss at him!
Then, without warning, the tiny creature actually launched itself off the pedestal, shooting toward him with stinger menacingly primed!
Instinct kicked in. Swish! Bubai’s chopsticks waved through the air and batted the incoming critter towards the ground!
Right before it could land and gain a foothold to launch another assault, a boot came down- Stomp!
A sickening crunch of shells was heard as the experimental subject was crushed like an ant.
Lifting his boot, Bubai's eyes fixated on the grisly aftermath.
A pulpy mess of greenish-blue blood and shattered black shells, with wisps of black mist curling ominously from the wreckage, snaking towards his foot.
Taking a cautious step back to avoid its reach, Bubai warily watched the black mist drift aimlessly in the air around the pulp before eventually dissipating into the atmosphere.
Seeing the results of his experiment, a subtle frown creased Bubai’s brow, "So dangerous?"
On a whim, Bubai decided to absorb the black mist from the beret, thinking there would be no problems. His conjecture was indeed correct.
Thus far, there were no adverse effects on his psyche, and every trace of the black mist was devoured cleanly by his seed.
Therefore, Bubai thought there would be no danger and that it would be another mundane journey of Qi accumulation for his seed, just like before…
Oh boy was he wrong.
If not for this experiment, he would still be oblivious to the magnitude of the black Qi’s danger!
Casting a wary glance towards the beret, Bubai mumbled, “Should I continue to absorb more?”
Honestly, Bubai could vaguely sense his seed's apparent willingness to absorb more. Yet, he was now tainted with some misgivings.
"Well, let’s conduct some more experiments to see how it turns out. There must be other factors at play…”
After all, Old Man Shen didn’t seem to have any trouble despite prolonged exposure to his monocle… or at least, not on the surface.
Returning his gaze to the bloody pulp on the ground, Bubai ruefully lamented, "What a waste. That could have been three spirit stones!"
With a resigned sigh, he squatted down, summoning a sheet of paper to neatly wrap up the remnants before tossing them into his storage space.
After shutting the beret safely back in its glass case, Bubai retraced his steps back to the scorpion rearing cell.
Seating himself at his writing table, Bubai retrieved another sheet of paper from his storage space and picked up his brush.
“Project: Chaos, Experiment Log #1.”
“Due to security concerns, this project was set up to explore the effects of substance CQ, using population code DS…”
“Test Subject Age: 1 Week, 5 days. Upon contact with substance CQ, test subject has shown critical signs of aggression. Additional data is required to verify this effect, preferably over different stages of population DS’s growth…”
“When contaminated by 50% of the source’s CQ, the test subject gained strength greatly exceeding the average standards of population DS, allowing it to break free from standard restraints. Suggestion: Contain with strong wires, nailing limbs to board…”
“This experiment confirmed the hypothesis: substance CQ can interact with the living. Further research required to determine if substance CQ will react to the non-living. To date, besides the source, no other material have been found to be able to retain or elicit a reaction from substance CQ...”
“Variables that require further research: subject size, subject type, duration of exposure to source...
“Further study aim: Retain compromised subject to observe effect duration and dissect to determine physical altercations.”
Setting his brush aside, Bubai blew gently on the ink a few times before placing the new report alongside its predecessors, allowing them to dry.
Standing up, Bubai cast a glance towards the tank teeming with scorpions. Experiment #2?
In the end, Bubai restrained the urge to sacrifice them needlessly, "Not yet. Wait till I get all the proper equipment.”
Turning away, Bubai shifted his focus towards the wheat-skinned beauty engrossed in her craft in a cell by the entrance, her killer figure illuminated by the dim light coming from a lamp.
Hastening his steps, Bubai exited his cell, making his way over. Silently entering her cell, Bubai came to a halt by her table side.
Sensing his presence, An Jali looked up from her work, her smile radiant.
But before she could utter a word, Bubai shushed her with a finger pressed against her plump lips.
The warmth of her soft lips beneath his touch prompted the image of a silver-haired fairy to dance in his mind once more, igniting a fire that he could no longer ignore.
Driven by his primal urge, Bubai seized her wrist, dragging her up towards him and pushing her onto the lab table at the center of the cell.
Staring down at the obedient doll welcoming his embrace in a fishnet dress, the lines between reality and fantasy blurred, and the scene of the silver-haired fairy laying on a table superimposed itself upon her form.
Unable to resist any longer, Bubai surrendered to the tempest of desire that raged within him.
A single thought dominated his mind: It was time to cool off!