Morning. Manager Qin’s Residence.

Once again, the demoness reminded him of his predicament; he was nothing more than an ant in her palm.

Even when he rushed at her with his full raging strength, hoping he would ‘explode’ akin to a protagonist, she had easily knocked him unconscious.

Unable to defeat her through sheer strength, he sought solace in tormenting her with his ultimate weapon - cooking. This, he believed, was the only way to regain some semblance of control over his emotions.

Regardless of any grudge she might hold, Bubai was indifferent. After all, how much worse could it get? He was already isolated and alone.

First Ah Niu, then Old Liu, the closest two neighbors besides him, the only ones he got along with on the farm. Now, even the little beggar.

The demoness had systematically removed anyone with even the slightest connection to him, ensuring that she was the sole possessor of his existence.

At first, Bubai thought it was punishment, but after sorting through his knowledge and the crazy woman’s reactions to his gentleness, he knew the truth.

It was a psychological tactic, a lunatic’s twisted form of control, stripping away everyone from his life until she became his sole dependency. Subsequently, she will nurture this dependency, fostering a psychological bond until he was steeped in learned helplessness.

Stockholm syndrome at its finest. Bubai never expected to find himself being ensnared by it in another world.

But Bubai wasn’t one to give in. No one can cut off his road to immortality.

With his golden finger, working covertly to shield him from external influences and safeguard his sanity, Bubai remained steadfast in his belief that the day of reckoning would come as long as he lives.

He could bend and stretch for the moment, but one day, he will turn everything upside down! And everyone in his black book, even this demoness, will be played in the palm of his hands!

Did this crazy alluring fox want to drown him in the pleasure of cooking? Oh, he will, but he will always ensure he resurfaced at the last moment, leaving her begging for more.

Unless she managed to deplete the last wisp of Qi from his mysterious space, it would be impossible for her to win this culinary competition.

He could tell… Even with the secrets surrounding this demoness, her mysterious powers couldn't uncover any clues about his secret space.

She might detect his peculiarities, observe his transfers in and out of the spatial storage, and even sense the wisps of green qi in his dantian, but these were the extents of her capabilities.

His mysterious space seemed to exist in another dimension, beyond her sensory reach. This confirmed, yet again, that his golden finger was no ordinary boon.

However, there was still a long path ahead. Who knows if there is any powerful heaven-defying cultivator that could locate his space with their mysterious methods.

So, Bubai will always learn to be more cautious.

The euphoria from obtaining a golden finger had made him too lax, and he had already inadvertently revealed too much to this demoness. This is a lesson - a mistake he must learn from to alter his future path.

Lucky for him, WeiWei wasn’t an existence who could lock the coordinates of his secret space. As long as she remained unable to lock onto his mysterious space, he was still in absolute control.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Thus, he alone decided how many wisp of Qi to preserve, making it a mere pipe dream for this vixen to even dream of depleting his mysterious green qi.

Basically, he could fire his gun during target practice all he wants.

How good does this feel? So good that if his life was a story, it would be full of fill’er chapters, where he would repetitively fill her up for the word count.

As for whether she truly derived any happiness from his cooking, it didn’t matter. One-sided transactions like this were commonplace in this world, where the shadows beneath such exchanges were even more ominous.

Bubai had learned of this darkness when he found out about Hei Hua Lou, a brothel in Ling City. There, beautiful mortal women and handsome men were refined into flesh puppets, destined to eternally serve customers until they deteriorated from overuse.

As for WeiWei, she wasn’t receiving his love... but unquestionably what she needed to cultivate, already surpassing many of the mortals of this world. This in itself was the world’s favor.

Not everyone can be the world’s destined child or the fortunate beauties rubbing the luck of the protagonist. For most denizens of a world, not falling into the gutter and being stuck there until death was already considered fortunate.

One may wonder: Why is there so much darkness in the territory of an orthodox sect like the Cloud Sword Sect?

Well, think about it. How can the light be recognized if there is no darkness for the light to shine through. There will be no place for disciples to be righteous if the world was only filled with sunshine and daisies… they need that stupid fat rat for a buttery story.

Well, that was probably the general idea, ey? Works like a charm, especially when there are ready-made excuses.

For other sects and clans, Bubai wasn’t sure about the ‘true’ reason. However, the universally propagated reason within the Cloud Sword Sect was... the Sun Furnace Sect.

The universal truth: it is always easier to shift the blame when there is a scapegoat. Go figure.

The world may be brimming with darkness, but bathing in the light is everyone’s aspiration, and Bubai didn’t mind wading in the darkness to get there.

After all, the journey to greatness often began with the courage to face the darkest nights.

...

Resisting the temptation to indulge in further games with the seductress, Bubai ordered with a composed expression, "How many times was that? Go prepare the spirit rice."

WeiWei blinked playfully, "No more?"

Bubai gently patted her enchanting face, "I need to show my face, so others don’t grow suspicious. After all, I’m just a chore boy. Staying here all morning is explainable, but not all afternoon. Even if the explanations pass, I need to work on our fields and you still need to ensure the harvest from the fields. We can exploit the workers, but we can’t avoid paying taxes."

Most worlds were the same: Not paying taxes would lead to scarier consequences than all the crimes of murder, adultery, etc. etc. combined… unless one had a large enough fist to keep the tax collectors away.

Well, Bubai certainly didn’t. He was unsure if WeiWei had it, but even if she did, she might not want to reveal it at this early stage of the game.

Displaying some disappointment right on cue, WeiWei nodded, seemingly helpless, "Hmm. As Brother Bubai wishes."

Stretching her lithe body like a cat, she cast another mischievous, seductive glance at Bubai. Seeing no reaction, she pouted, finally picked up her white robe, lazily slipping it onto herself before heading out.

With the glutton gone, Bubai sighed in relief, “Son of a witch, is it me or is both her face and body growing to be more and more enchanting? In the future, she may become an irresistible beauty kingdoms will fall for.”

But it matters not how beautiful she grows up to be. She was just a passerby on his journey towards his true goal.

Sitting upright in a meditation posture, he began running the basic Qi-refining technique to help draw out the Qi in the undigested spirit rice from the breakfast he had earlier. As for the rice itself, he can continue to digest it later through his workload.

Work. Eat. Digest. A vicious cycle, with every step critical.

Eat to work, work to digest, digest to eat more.

For Bubai, cooking for WeiWei was just a part of working, an intensive workout that helped digest the spirit rice faster. And all of this was just to pursue his unchanging goal - cultivation.

His primary goal had always been cultivation, the only means to salvage his situation, and he will need to become much, much stronger...

His current role was a chef, but even if he has to bow down and be a dog for resources, he will. Why? Because he had tasted the heavenly dew, and it was hard to go back.

With all the spirit rice he had consumed in recent days, exceeding even the average yearly portions he consumed within the Cloud Sword Sect, Bubai tasted the speed of cultivating with abundant resources for the first time.

This let Bubai really realize the disparity between cultivators with background and those without. It was simply a world of difference!

Just with his foot barely dipping into this pool of inequality, reaching Qi-refining level four was no longer a mere fantasy; it was a reachable goal on the horizon!

Mid-stage Qi-refining- just wait, Grandpa Fang would soon get to play the real game of true cultivators!