Morning. Tower Bedchamber.

“For WeiWei, Brother Bubai is above everyone else. As long as WeiWei is here, WeiWei will not let anyone hurt Brother Bubai, no matter the costs…”

Reaching out his arm, Bubai found himself embracing empty air. As he gradually opened his eyes, they were met by the sight of his expansive bed and the cold position next to him, where the warmth of her presence had long faded away.

Pursing his lips slightly, he sat up, his gaze descending upon his own sticky, clammy body and feeling the dull ache in his waist, “Almost a full 24 hours… I really overdid it this time. I didn’t know she could be so crazy.”

Some words he inadvertently heard in his previous world came to mind: Men need to be physically stimulated, but women need to be mentally stimulated.

“Well, as they say, you reap what you sow.” Sighing wearily, Bubai staggered towards the tall mirror that WeiWei had insisted on being brought in during the wee hours of the morning.

He could almost see the vague illusion of WeiWei diligently tidying up and dressing herself in front of the mirror, getting ready to return to her cultivation lessons under the guidance of her master and uncle masters.

“Brother Bubai, WeiWei will be busy from now on and can’t come serve Brother Bubai as often as before. Don’t worry. WeiWei will do her duty well and help Brother Bubai cover up everything. But WeiWei will need Brother Bubai to sacrifice a little...”

Positioned before the mirror, Bubai's gaze occasionally fixated his attention on his unattractive masked face as he meticulously reapplied the skin paste to his body, “In the end, isn’t it all just to convince me to willingly be a furnace for her?”

Although the last 24 hours was fun and pleasurable, Bubai didn’t escape being drained by the demoness. Thankfully, he had upgraded strands of green Qi to sustain himself or he wouldn’t have woken up so easily today, if at all. “Truly, a succubus.”

However, it was a calculated trade-off that Bubai willingly embraced. Consuming some of his green Qi to secure a safety net was definitely a worthwhile transaction.

Moreover, the revelations from WeiWei’s mouth allowed him to glean insights regarding the Sun Furnace Sect, adding a valuable layer of understanding to his current predicament.

And it didn’t take long for the realization to dawn upon him: his situation really doesn’t sound too good at the moment.

Even though he had managed to secure a position as an inner sect disciple by a stroke of luck, Bubai's unique circumstances rendered his status akin to an empty shell.

Unlike other inner sect disciples, he found himself devoid of the customary resource quotas and even some privileges.

For example, while fellow disciples might enjoy allocated abodes, Bubai's residence was a personal gift from the Golden Core old geezer's own pockets, a clear indication of his atypical position within the Inner Sect hierarchy.

Furthermore, given his age, the elders of the sect harbored minimal expectations for him.

In this world, the transition to adulthood occurred at the age of 18, a full eight years after the customary period for testing spiritual roots around the age of ten.

However, it was the age of 14 that served as a critical juncture, distinguishing the gifted disciples from the less fortunate.

Anyone failing to attain mid-stage Qi-refinement by the age of 18, an extra four years of leeway, was deemed a hopeless case by most sects.

In the Sun Furnace Sect, someone of his age and cultivation level would have long been sent to the eunuch encampment. It was solely thanks to the intervention of the Golden Core old geezer that Bubai could still enter into the sect as a disciple.

And WeiWei’s efforts must also be taken into account.

Though the mysterious means by which WeiWei persuaded the elders remained unknown, it resulted in the old geezer also securing certain rights and protections for Bubai, granting him his status of an inner sect disciple in the process.

Regrettably, this protection was only temporary! In fact, even his status as an Inner Sect disciple was at risk!

According to WeiWei, the looming tribulation was the Inner Sect Exchange, scheduled to take place in less than half a year!

Following the Outer Sect Competition, this exchange permitted the top outer sect disciples to challenge their inner sect seniors.

As an enticing incentive, victory granted the outer sect disciple the privilege to replace the defeated inner sect counterpart, thereby enjoying the perks of an inner sect disciple as a Qi-refiner!

Typically, this exchange was viewed as a friendly competition, given the considerable difficulty for a Qi-refiner to triumph over a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, exceptions were always present - those inner sect disciples, who entered through unconventional means or faced setbacks in their cultivation, became prime targets for the outer sect disciples!

Bubai, unfortunately, found himself in this category. While the news had not yet fully circulated now, by the time the Inner Sect Exchange commences, he would definitely become the most popular kid on the block… the wimpy one that gets picked on.

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So, if he fails to significantly improve his strength by then, he might truly face the grim possibility of being relegated to being a mere furnace, perhaps imprisoned until the day his existence could be sacrificed to quell the wrath of a certain protagonist, or even worse…

“No wonder Manager Qiao was so friendly with me. He probably expected I would become one of them soon...”

Bubai certainly was unwilling to succumb to such a fate. In fact, even in the absence of any consequences, Bubai had no intention of give up. It was a world of cultivation, he was a transmigrator… He was simply unwilling to be mediocre!

Having squandered his opportunity in the Cloud Sword Sect due to the interference of his golden finger, Bubai recognized that this second chance was not to be taken lightly - it was a hard-to-come-by chance he must fiercely contend to keep!

This time, armed with the assistance of his awakened golden finger, he was determined to ascend to new heights!

It’s just that he previously thought he had an entire year. So, he had envisioned a leisurely pace, intending to play it safe and take things slowly over the course of a year.

Alas, with the pressing time constraint, he could only alter his approach drastically.

Now, Bubai was resolved to bolster his strength at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing his moral compass and exploiting others for personal gain! The sole non-negotiable stipulation was the secrecy of his golden finger; beyond that, all was fair game.

With a renewed sense of urgency, Bubai aimed to maximize every moment, even if he is a bit exhausted after the wild games with WeiWei.

So, how will Bubai increase his strength? Of course, cultivation is important.

However, there was one thing of paramount importance that he acknowledged a more immediate necessity: supplementing his knowledge.

In the Cloud Sword Sect, handymen disciples, despite being taught the fundamentals of cultivation and gleaning insights from their seniors, were deprived of any formal education or access to public sources of general knowledge.

While Bubai appeared well-versed in the realm of cultivation, a significant portion of his understanding stemmed from speculations and conclusions drawn by amalgamating fragmentary information from seniors and the abundant knowledge acquired from reading cultivation novels in his previous life.

Unfortunately, this reliance on speculative knowledge posed a risk, as the variations between worlds meant that not everything gleaned from novels necessarily applied to this particular reality. He also couldn’t place his full trust on the words of his seniors because they may not be accurate.

Beyond this, Bubai recognized a considerable gap in his awareness of general information about the world.

Details about various sects, the diverse types of physiques and spiritual roots, the upper realms of cultivation, the myriad beasts, available resources, the treasures and perils of the world, and much more remained largely unknown to him.

While he had made some efforts over the years to temporarily fill these gaps, the knowledge acquired was fragmented and incomplete, necessitating a concerted effort to obtain a more comprehensive understanding from a valid, reputable source.

Though Bubai acknowledged the inherent challenges in acquiring some of these important information, but he was determined to do his utmost whenever he had the opportunity. Otherwise, he might bump into some valuable plant on the side of the road, but overlook it, mistaking it as weed.

Hence the importance of supplementing his understanding with accurate and context-specific information.

Additionally, Bubai recognized a crucial gap in his knowledge that demanded immediate attention if he truly wanted to rise.

His golden finger, endowed with its mysterious Qi-gathering formation, ensured a swift cultivation pace. However, no matter how fast his cultivation speed is… the knowledge he had acquired thus far pertained solely to the Qi-refinement stage.

There was not a single clue regarding the mysteries of the elusive Foundation Establishment stage, and this void was a significant hurdle in his path to ascendancy.

While the innate Qi-gathering prowess of his golden finger might theoretically pave the way for a smooth breakthrough, Bubai didn’t want to rely solely on the untested secrets of his unique cultivation cheat and harbored no intentions of leaving such a critical facet of his cultivation to chance.

He was aware that charging forward blindly could lead to unforeseen consequences, and he deemed it prudent to seek and acquire an understanding of Foundation Establishment before he took the step.

In addition to seeking Foundation Establishment information, Bubai recognized the imperative need to supplement his Qi-refinement martial techniques and expand his repertoire of mystical Qi spells.

Beyond the methods for cultivating Qi, active techniques for both combat and auxiliary purposes were crucial for his growth.

Currently, his arsenal comprised only the Qi-sensing Eye and the Lightning Crusher Technique, a Qi-spell salvaged from Manager Qin's relics. However, the Lightning Crusher spell remained unlearned, primarily due to the mismatch with his spiritual root and the time constraints he faced.

While spells could technically be employed with any Qi, aligning the Qi attribute with the spell's attribute not only facilitated easier learning but also amplified its effectiveness. Conversely, a conflicting Qi attribute could degrade the spell's potency.

The Lightning spell, described as capable of generating a destructive bolt of lightning, had been downgraded in Manager Qin's hands to a mere deadly electric shock to mortals.

Manager Qin, a loose cultivator, had learned it because he didn’t have much of a choice.

As for Bubai… His golden finger granted him cultivation assistance, but it didn’t enlighten his mind or assist him in mastering new spells and techniques. These all required Bubai's personal effort and time to learn from scratch!

Unless circumstances dictated otherwise, Bubai naturally wanted to avoid wasting his time learning unnecessary or incompatible martial skills and mystical arts.

And now, Bubai actually had a choice!

Though he lacked many of the resources allocated to inner sect disciples, his status still gave him an extremely valuable privilege bestowed upon every new inner sect disciple: the opportunity to select one Foundation Establishment or lower method from the sect's available collection, entirely free of charge!

This seemingly generous allowance stemmed from the renewable nature of this valuable ‘resource’, merely involving the duplication of existing texts or the perusal of reusable jade slips.

Naturally, there was still no way for him to touch those rare opportunities to view valuable scriptures or comprehend from those strictly-controlled enlightenment sources.

Still, this was still a rare and valuable opportunity that Bubai cherishes, acquired in part, thanks to the role of WeiWei and the Golden Core Elder Ma.

Normally, a furnace would never be granted such an opportunity, as it posed the risk of upsetting the delicate balance between cultivator and furnace. The budding risk of role reversal was a complication the furnace owners typically sought to avoid.

The mysterious WeiWei… didn’t seem to worry about the boat overturning. So, she didn’t take measures to prevent this.

And maybe, the old geezer's chicken soup on the journey here truly carried some weight, suggesting a genuine hope for Bubai's ascent.

So, Bubai received this one chance to change his fortune.

In Bubai's eyes, this chance felt akin to a power-up buff straight from the hand of an author shaping his destiny. It echoed the common trope in stories where protagonists stumble upon overpowered, hidden techniques, experiencing an abrupt surge in power after practicing them.

Now, it was Bubai's turn to unlock a new level of strength… hopefully.

So, it was time to make his way to the Book Pavilion.