Tower. Dungeon.

Bubai looked at the black masses of scorpions scrambling and climbing over one another in the tank.

“I should clean them out before the inspection.”

Flipping his palms upwards, Bubai summoned a pair of chopsticks in one hand and a small wooden box in another.

Sliding open the lid, Bubai’s chopsticks darted back and forth, quickly snatching up scorpions and stuffing them one by one into the small wooden box.

Once the small box became somewhat cramped, Bubai snapped the lid shut and set it down.

Bubai then summoned another box from his storage space, repeating the familiar process.

After seeing about a quarter of the scorpions had been taken away, Bubai finally closed the tank's lid.

Next, Bubai opened the connection to his storage space.

A subtle ripple appeared in the air, and the chopsticks vanished with a small pop, seamlessly sucked back into storage with zero issues.

However, from his other hand, Bubai felt resistance—like pulling on a boulder embedded in the earth.

The box containing the scorpions stubbornly sat on his palms, not budging an inch in the face of the suction force.

“Still can’t.” Bubai let out a resigned sigh, “Guess I’ll have to return to pick these boxes up tomorrow.”

After setting down the small box next to the other, Bubai grabbed the cloth on the ground to cover the tanks and boxes, returning his little pets to the darkness.

Bubai gave his hands a quick dust-off and stood up, turning to see the busty An Jali leaning against the wall of the prison cell.

She was slowly running her fingers through her own long, flowing black hair, eventually letting her fingers trace down her bombshell figure while throwing him a suggestive look, as if to tell her king, “I know exactly what you want.”

Oh, what does he want? Of course it’s… to cultivate and get stronger! Obviously!

So, it was time for his daily memory orb harvest.

A grin spread across Bubai’s lips, walking over and pressing the wheat-skinned woman against the wall.

The benefit of a doll built to serve – always ready for what came next…

The wonderful part of his doll was that she didn’t feel much different from a human. Though she was indeed closer to a machine, she was actually warm.

Oddly, his unofficial wife was almost the exact opposite—closer to human, but her skin was always cold, like a winter's breeze...

Bubai felt his worldview being flipped sideways.

Why was Xiao Lan so cold? He'd wondered about it countless times, but she never offered a clear explanation even after all their intense crash courses.

Hmm… Perhaps coldness was just part of her nature, something that ran in her veins?

Well, since she was so cold, he had always been doing his best to warm her up.

In exchange, she gave him crash courses, teaching him whatever she could from her available skill set… which was... exactly what they were doing right now.

“It's about- harmony. Not- brute- force."

“I know. I’m learning. So, bear with me, Xiao Lan.”

With one hand holding onto her waist for support and his other hand holding up her thigh, Bubai was shaking his waist nonstop, all while planting his feet firmly against the walls, working to maintain his stability.

On the other hand, Xiao Lan demonstrated the reason why she got the role as his teacher.

Balancing effortlessly on one foot, her foot did not slip a single time even under the relentless ravaging!

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Ahem. Seriously. What’s going on?

Well… If anyone else had been in the bedroom, they would actually see the studious duo standing sideways on the curved wall of the circular chamber!

Needless to say, the teacher was definitely not doing anything unsuitable for children with her student.

They were simply training in the so-called wall walking with Qi.

By applying Qi to their feet in a controlled manner, cultivators could mimic the abilities of a gecko, allowing them to stick to vertical surfaces, almost like how it was done in a certain ninja anime!

The technique they were practicing was known as Cloud Ascending Steps, a lightness footwork technique that allowed cultivators to walk—or even run—on tall walls as if they were traversing flat ground.

Although this technique lacked the flair of other lightness techniques that allowed cultivators to cross over vast distances with a single step or soar through the air, the Cloud Ascending Steps was still immensely practical, especially once mastered to the novice realm or above.

It’s just that, like many advanced footwork skills, this technique requires a strong control of Qi, something typically achievable by foundation establishment cultivators.

Of course, though it wasn’t common for Qi-refinement realm cultivators to learn and use this technique, it wasn’t impossible.

If he uses it, it might attract some unwarranted attention, but at most, he would pass as a genius with talent in Qi control, which fits the bill when it came to his formation skills.

This meant this technique was something he could use in the upcoming competition to give himself an edge.

So now, Bubai was pushing himself to master it, making sure the battle-like intensity of their crash course won’t affect his concentration on running the technique.

Ahem. This was in fact a very, very good training method.

After all, though what he was doing seemed like all fun and pleasures, the difficulty was actually immense!

All that shaking really made it tough to stay balanced. The cold, hard distractions was also taxing on his concentration.

Thanks to these cold, hard facts, Bubai actually felt his footing almost slip a couple of times!

Fortunately, despite all odds, his mastery of the technique was actually skyrocketing like his instincts.

Of course, his progress was largely due to his enhanced cognitive functions and physique, buffs that were easy to underestimate, but invaluable in practice.

Without these enhancements, it would have been impossible for Bubai to absorb and apply all the techniques his secretary had covered during their crash courses in such a short span of weeks.

His golden finger was really almighty.

Though it didn’t directly help him master new techniques, with the edge its buffs gave him, hard work and a guide was all it took to achieve remarkable results!

And after all his hard work with his virtuous tutor, Bubai’s experience bar was already full to the brim. So, it was finally time pay his cultivation secretary her lesson fee!

With messy strands of violet hair falling over her cold, expressionless face, Xiao Lan’s glassy blue eyes stared back at him, her gaze as detached and distant as ever.

But as if feeling the arrival of their training session’s ending, the iceberg beauty took the initiative, her purplish lips edging closer and closer to his…

Ah, it was the same old and stale tactic again, one that seemed almost mechanical in its execution.

Yet, it worked like a charm every time.

Honestly, Xiao Lan’s beauty wasn't of the dazzling, entrancing sort like that of WeiWei or Shu Ling, but there was something about her—an odd mix of aloofness and practicality—that made her the perfect fit for him, resulting in a strong fulfillment every time he unloaded his stress.

It was a strange feeling, but Bubai didn’t dwell on it for long. He simply let the stress of the day drain away, finding satisfaction in the moment...

Staring into Xiao Lan’s eyes, Bubai’s smile was soft, the kind that only appeared when he was completely at ease.

He reached out to brush aside the stray strands of violet hair messily draping sideways over her face, only to see it fall back into place after gravity took hold of it.

Oh, they were still standing sideways on the wall...

So, Bubai bent down slightly, his arms sweeping up her other leg, effortlessly lifting her and tightly carrying her like a princess.

With her head resting against his shoulder, Bubai calmly descended the wall, leaping off on the last step to avoid slipping.

Landing lightly on the ground without a hint of imbalance, their eyes stayed locked as he carried her across the room to the bed, where he gently set her down to rest, ensuring she was comfortable before tucking a blanket snugly over her.

With a tender smile, Bubai brushed away the stray locks of violet hair and leaned down, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Rising back up, he quietly soothed her, "Xiao Lan, you've worked hard. Rest. I'll be staying here to cultivate for a while."

Xiao Lan nodded in response, murmuring in a soft and distant voice, "Wake me when you're about to go...”

Seeing Bubai nod in assurance, Xiao Lan’s eyelids grew heavy, instinctively snuggling into the blanket and drifting into sleep.

Wearing a peaceful smile on his face, Bubai plopped down next to her in lotus position and activated his Qi auto-collector, ready to start his cultivation routine.

Entering his mysterious space, Bubai took a glance at the emerald pool below before shifting his attention to the green leaf where luminescent droplets of green dew were condensing.

Bubai then switched his focus over to the red leaf. “It’s about time I start preparing…”

With a simple thought, Bubai caught one of the green dew droplets just when it fell from the green leaf, breaking it down into fine strands of green Qi.

These threads of glowing emerald silk were then directed toward the red leaf and transferred into his memory space.

Switching his consciousness over to the memory space, Bubai continued to guide the strands forward while allowing a part of his consciousness to explore deeper into the inner cosmos, where WeiWei’s solar system resided.

Here, Bubai found a vast collection of vivid orbs that really brought back memories, both good and bad.

Regardless of their moral principles, Bubai knew this was the best batch of memories to be used as weapons.

"If even I, with all my advantages, find it hard to resist, then imagine the effect on others..."

Bubai couldn't help but let out a low, wicked cackle at the thought, bringing his strands of Qi over to extract copies of the best-quality orbs he personally handpicked...