As the ship continued sailing forward at its leisurely pace, Fang Bubai soon found himself dragged through the air at a height slightly above the ship, where the air currents roughly pounded against his strong body.

Despite the turbulence, he forced himself to squint his eyes and managed to get a brief bird’s eye view of the majestic ship's deck from above.

On the deck, what instantly drew Bubai’s attention was the old man with a headful of messy grey curls. Dressed in a black robe, he was lounging around the central area of the deck.

Surrounding him were a bunch of beauties dressed in fancy, colorful robes, many of which were revealing and made of see-through silk.

Before Bubai could observe further, he felt himself being pulled towards the deck, passing through an invisible wind barrier, and soon found himself crashing towards the deck. Right before impact, a force seemed to hold him upright, and he hovered slightly above the deck.

Moments later, he glided across it until he arrived before the lounging old man in a black robe.

Stroking his beard, the old man scanned Bubai up and down, gently waving his hand and causing Bubai’s frozen body to slowly rotate in the air.

"Huh… mid-grade, wood-attribute. Not completely hopeless, and… Oh? An Acquired Unsullied body! Barely losing out to you lassie’s Innate Charming Spirit Bones. Not bad at all. He will definitely make a good furnace for you, lassie. No wonder you insisted I pick up this young man."

Huh? He had an Acquired physique?! How come he didn’t know?

Beyond spiritual roots, denizens of this world could be born with unique or special physiques. Each of these physiques bore mysterious effects, ranging from inborn strength and enhanced cultivation at the lower end to the formidable ones that bestowed mythical abilities like cultivation devouring and transformation.

Anyone born with an awakened physique was hailed as a genius, and most of the heaven-defying prodigies at least boasted such innate physiques.

Of course, there were also those born with dormant physiques, and it was every cultivators’ dream to be one of these unawakeners. After all, awakening a physique was akin to a step to the heavens… assuming their physiques wasn’t plundered before their strength grew.

Well, most didn’t have to worry about their physiques being targeted. After all, not all physiques were deemed worthy enough to be stolen.

Physiques were ranked starting from Mortal, Acquired, Innate, and King. Though some special Innate and King physiques may gander attention from certain cultivation forces, the rest usually don’t draw too much covetousness.

In an orthodox sect like the Cloud Sword Sect, even awakening an Innate physique was a ticket to the inner disciple court, and having the super rare King physique was a guaranteed to become a core disciple!

When Bubai first learned about these physiques from the annual examiner at the Cloud Sword Sect, excitement surged within him… until it was confirmed that he didn't possess one. Even eight years didn’t change that fact.

But now... this old man claimed he had one?

Where did his physique suddenly pop out from? And who has this innate physique that is even better than his?

As if losing interest, with a casual wave of the old man’s hand, Bubai felt the intangible force wrapping him vanish, and his body dropped down onto his knees.

Finally getting the chance to look around, after a glimpse, he quickly bowed his head, trying to hide the horror and recognition in his eyes.

This old man, wasn’t he the Golden Core old devil Ma Pei fighting in Ling City the day before? As for the one he was talking to...

"Hehe… thank you, master, for indulging in WeiWei’s request."

Hearing WeiWei’s familiar voice echoing on the deck, Bubai couldn’t help but roar internally. Why is she here?!

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Holy heck, she is the one, isn’t she?! She is the reason he ended up in this situation! God dang it, why can’t this demoness just let him go free?

What kind of dumpster plot is this?! If his life was a story, all the readers should stop reading due to this infuriating nonsense!

"Excellent. Excellent. So, how will little WeiWei express her gratitude to this old man for indulging her?" Ma Pei's voice carried a gleeful tone.

"Hmm. Of course, WeiWei will..."

Recognizing the familiar sound from ahead, Bubai discreetly glanced up to witness WeiWei conveying her gratefulness to the elderly man on the recliner.

Merlin’s beard- his eyes!

Bubai couldn't shake off the slight discomfort gnawing at him. Well, gotta say that sucks. What man could find joy in such a situation?

Thankfully, his lack of romantic entanglements with WeiWei spared him from additional anguish.

Since realizing he existed in a world of immortal cultivation, Bubai had guarded his heart, keeping it closed tightly, well aware that without strength, notions of love were nothing but smokes and mirrors.

Want to experience a carefree love in another world? Well first, it demanded sufficient strength, enough to deter all future rivals.

Otherwise, what seemed like a lovely relationship would eventually become the heaviest and cruelest burden for the lovers involved.

In the world of cultivation, even the saintess of a sect could end up as a furnace for demonic cultivators, let alone other vulnerable, weaker women. WeiWei was no exception.

Bubai couldn't fault her for compromising her dignity and cozying up to the old man. The chance to cling to the thigh of a Golden Core cultivator was too rare to pass up.

Perhaps for other golden core cultivators, such an opportunity might never arise.

Yet, with this particular lusty old man, the opportunity was clear to even those lacking a discerning eye, evident in the bevy of beautiful women surrounding him.

Rolling his eyes to survey the assortment, there were both young and mature women, light-skinned and tanned, boasting a variety of enchanting faces from coquettish to composed. Different hairstyles and colors added to the diversity, as if the old man had brought along a miniature harem.

Returning his gaze to WeiWei, Bubai noted her acceptance of the old man’s words of wisdom. Woah, the old man was so fast.

WeiWei looked up, opening her mouth to speak, “WeiWei thanks master for his grace.”

A lecherous grin spread across Ma Pei's face as he ran his fingers along her lips. “Good, it seems this old man can have fun discussing cultivation with you.”

“Yes, as master wishes.” WeiWei responded with a charming smile, elegantly standing up before heading up onto the podium, ready to discuss the orbit theory with the wise old man.

“Ohoh-” Ma Pei leaked a surprised grunt, clearly intrigued by the theory.

Yet, he soon redirected his attention to the frozen Bubai. “Well, young man, are you feeling unhappy? Unwilling? Utter despair because your little girlfriend is being used by this old man?”

Bubai dully stared at the old man. Uh… not really.

Ma Pei didn’t wait for his answer, gazing into the skies as if lost in reminiscence. “Excellent. That is exactly how you should be feeling. I understand what you are feeling right now very much. When I was young and weak, my master also tempered me in this way.”

Bubai’s lips twitched. He really didn’t need to know.

Ma Pei turned back to Bubai, a smile appearing on his wrinkly face, “Yes, young man. I see myself in you. Although your face is a bit ugly, but that is not a problem for cultivators like us. As long as our strength is strong enough, we can snatch any beautiful women we want, and force ourselves on her even if she refuses. That is the way of heaven, that is the way of our Sun Furnace Sect!”

That… is very wrong on many levels, but Bubai didn’t refute, lest he drew the old man’s ire.

Rising to his feet, Ma Pei turned to face Bubai. “And you, young man, will soon start at the bottom as the furnace of my new named disciple. But, one day, I believe you will turn things around and climb all the way up just like this old man! There are plenty of examples of furnaces and masters exchanging positions in history! Young man, this old man is optimistic about you! Hahaha!”

Bubai’s expression didn’t change, but he sneered inside. Painting a cake with empty words, who couldn’t?

Following his words, Ma Pei didn’t care about Bubai’s response and started to walk away with WeiWei.

After a couple of steps, he turned around, a sly grin playing on his lips. "Ohoh. Almost forgot."

With those words, the invisible binding force that had held Bubai captive released its grip, causing him to crumple to his knees after the period of stasis. As he looked up, Ma Pei's gaze shifted to the assembly of ladies.

"Xiao Lan, come out." Ma Pei commanded, his voice dripping with unhappiness.

With the command, a tall, aloof woman emerged from the cluster of ladies. Her glossy violet hair was artfully styled in a half-bun with braids, and she wore a silky white robe that accentuated her graceful, slender figure.

"This time, the old man suffered a loss because of you. Since your master is no more, from this moment onward, guard this young man's side. Carry out your duties diligently, and keep a watchful eye over him. This old man trusts that a former inner disciple of the Cloud Sword Sect like yourself can handle this task effortlessly, right?"

The slightly curled bangs framing her emotionless face swayed slightly as Xiao Lan lowered her head. "Yes, grand master."

"Good." Ma Pei nodded approvingly, quickening his pace as he headed into the cabin area of the ship, clearly urgent.

As Ma Pei vanished from view, Xiao Lan shot a cold glance at the impassive Bubai, commanding, "Come with me."

She then led the way forward, heading purposefully toward the cabin. Bubai's gaze swept over the group of beautiful ladies engaged in soft discussions before he followed in Xiao Lan's footsteps.

Sigh. What crazy trouble did he end up in this time? Is there even a chance to escape?