Pei! This better not be another fill’er. Bubai could already hear the screams crossing through the fourth wall and bashing him.

Well, don’t worry. Bubai must concur, the time has finally come.

Observing his cold-faced secretary addressing the distress of his younger brother with an unflinching demeanor, Bubai couldn't help but release an excited voice. “It’s coming!”

“Umph-”

Oops, not that kind of come. That... was just some info dumping.

Bubai’s surge of excitement was naturally due to another event that was about to come!

It was finally time to explore the mysteries of his Foundation Establishment method!

And the method he chose was… not the body refinement method. After a long deliberation and mental struggle, he finally ruled out this method.

The decision stemmed from the realization that body refinement held significant overlap with the benefits derived from his golden finger.

While he could likely excel in this method with the assistance from his mysterious green Qi, it wouldn't provide him with a distinctive edge beyond what he already possessed.

It wasn’t guarantee that his golden finger would continually enhance his body, but its current effects were already sufficient. Of course, anymore would be a welcoming bonus.

Then, Bubai found himself entangled in a struggle between two choices - one veiled by the undiscovered mysteries it promised, and the other screaming pure irresistible temptations.

While playing with the hot Jia Fei, he had thought countless times how wonderful it would be to plant a seed within her, turning her into his own.

However, in the end, Bubai didn’t surrender to the allure of temptation.

His in-depth discussions with the mother and daughter about life had led him to a realization. These women would likely remain pawns in the hands of others, always subordinate and subject to the whims of more powerful individuals.

Even if he were to enslave a multitude of women within the sect, it wouldn't alter his situation significantly. In a world of cultivation, quantity alone can no longer trump quality when the power level exceeds mortal boundaries.

Perhaps it was possible to harness the power of the weak to combat the strong in the cultivation world, but proper methods were still required, methods that Bubai didn’t have.

So, if Bubai wanted this enslavement method to play an effect, he would have to target the strong women.

Obviously, he did not have the guts to mess with the Law Enforcement Hall. That institution managed to survive for so long and it wasn't solely attributed to the ruthless methods employed by its women.

Plus, even if he dared to, he might not succeed in getting close to those powerful women who evidently held a wary stance toward the unscrupulous methods of the sect’s men.

This enslavement method sounds overpowered, but its essence was still lacking.

Thus, in the end, Bubai settled on choosing the Arboreal Bliss Dreamcatcher Art.

The end.

Clearly, the perfect time to end info dumping in a story.

But, this was reality…

And Xiao Lan clearly still hadn't had enough even after all the information he had dumped.

So, Bubai was naturally ready to proceed further. Even the scars on Xiao Lan’s back failed to dampen his studious mindset.

In fact, Bubai had noticed some of the scars had already started to fade away. Clearly, the effects of his nourishing green Qi had bled through to Xiao Lan after all the times he had nourished her.

But neither of them mentioned this.

Following the diagram in his memory, Bubai circulated a strand of green Qi through the meridians located in his mind. Sensing the refreshing feeling which allowed him to refocus on important matters, Bubai was prepared to dump more info.

Naturally, the technique Bubai was using now was part of the Arboreal Bliss Dreamcatcher Foundation Establishment Art.

The general principle of establishing a foundation resonates across various methods, emphasizing the attainment of control over one's Qi by harmonizing spirit and Qi.

What is spirit? Who knows. The concept of spirit remained elusive and wasn’t clearly explained.

The Foundation Establishment method only delved into the techniques required to guide one's spirit to intertwine with their Qi, transforming their gathered Qi into true Qi – the pivotal objective of Foundation Establishment.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Of course, though the overarching idea remains similar, each Foundation Establishment method differs in the steps taken to achieve this.

In the Arboreal Bliss Dreamcatcher Art, this fusion involves memories, specifically pleasurable ones.

During moments of intense pleasure, following the detailed circulation diagrams outlined in the method, cultivators circulate Qi through a specialized meridian dubbed as the "Pleasure Meridian."

This process infuses the pleasurable memories into the Qi. Then, this memory-imbued Qi would be guided back to the dantian for storage.

This was the core of this method: dream catching! The goal was to “catch” and accumulate memories!

When the accumulation of memory-infused Qi reaches a critical point, these strands would begin to gather together through their mutual attraction, marking a cultivator’s entry into the completion stage of Qi-refinement.

With this, it was finally time for establishing a foundation!

Merge the memory Qi and condense it into a Qi totem within the dantian! By using their memories as a medium, call their spirit and blend it into the totem, establishing a connection!

Finally, use their Qi totem as the medium to radiate their spirit outwards, allowing it permeate the rest of the Qi within the dantian, transforming them into true Qi and achieving Foundation Establishment!

As always, the method sounded deceptively simple, but in reality, it unfolded as a complex and protracted undertaking, fraught with countless dangers detailed in the method.

In the method, numerous pitfalls were highlighted, adding layers of caution to the process.

One inherent hazard involved the risk of losing a clear mind, succumbing to the pleasure experienced while gathering pleasurable memories.

Conversely, the opposite threat also existed, where one might become desensitized to pleasure due to the excessive siphoning of these memories.

Furthermore, the quantity of the collected memory Qi held paramount importance. Should it fail to reach a certain concentration, the condensation of the Qi totem would fail.

On the other hand, weaker dantians may not be able to bear the stress of gathering too much.

Additionally, the strength of emotional attachment with the collected memories played a crucial role, determining the success of summoning one's spirit. If the quality wasn’t high enough, establishing the connection will fail.

There were a lot of caveats, each a latent setback during the long-term collection process, which in itself required gruesome effort and time, particularly since the cultivation process was usually restricted to later stages of Qi-refinement.

Normally, the memory collection method could only be employed after reaching Qi-refinement level nine, once the body had become saturated with Qi. Only then could cultivators circulate their Qi in their meridians without loss, gather the memory, and reclaim it into their dantian.

However, Bubai found himself in a unique position to initiate the process earlier! This was thanks to the peculiar connection between the abilities of Foundation Establishment and the secrets of his golden finger!

One such notable ability was his seed’s natural ability to automatically condense wisps of Qi into strands. This phenomenon was actually a part of the kit of all cultivators after they had established their foundations!

His golden finger allowed him to enjoy this benefit earlier, essentially enhancing his cultivation progress!

This wasn’t the only notable specialty.

Right from the beginning, Bubai had recognized his abnormal control over his mysterious green Qi.

Since the advent of his first wisp, he noticed that when he focused his thoughts on controlling his green Qi, it would not dissipate, as if bound together by an unseen force!

Of course, Bubai's control was not as extraordinary as Foundation Establishment cultivators, only limited to keeping his Qi from dispersing with focused concentration.

Plus, he could manage only one strand or wisp at a time. Multitasking resulted in a loss of control over all of them.

Nevertheless, this ability amounted to a kind of cheat in itself. Plus, these circumstances extended to all his green Qi, which meant he had control over all the Qi in his dantian - except the freshly absorbed, non-transformed Qi from the external world.

So, Bubai could circulate a single strand of Qi as if he had the impervious physique, where there would be no leakage in any Qi.

Thus, this unique circumstance afforded Bubai the opportunity to commence the preparatory work for his Foundation Establishment ahead of schedule!

Now, Xiao Lan was actively collaborating with Bubai in testing out this new method. It wasn't their first attempt, but there was no success thus far due to one reason or another.

But, Bubai believed he was gradually getting the hang of it, even though he had yet to comprehend the a lot of the mysteries of the technique, such as how Qi could siphon memories of a specific emotion from his mind.

Well, so long as it worked, it worked. Understanding the underlying concepts could wait until he grew stronger and mastered a vaster knowledge bank.

At present, his focus was on familiarizing himself with the method and acquiring his first strand of memory-infused Qi, with Xiao Lan’s invaluable assistance...

A billion of omitted words later...

Bubai sensed his circulating strand of green Qi being contaminated by some unknown energy, as denoted in the cultivation method notes.

So, he promptly followed up the process, re-establishing his sword connection while regulating his breath to circulate the strand of Qi down another route.

Bubai soon felt the refreshing sensation leave his mind, descending down his body and meeting up with the couple of strands of Qi that had flowed into him from Xiao Lan.

After blending together, the strand of green Qi, now contaminated with a pinkish hue, was directed back towards his dantian.

Maintaining control over the strand, Bubai activated his mysterious formation, forcefully pulling the strand into his mysterious space.

And in this space, he finally released his control over the strand of Qi, allowing it to go free within his ‘dantian’.

However, he was shocked by what happened next!

Like many of the Qi he had absorbed before, this strand of memory Qi was abruptly sucked away, soon gobbled up by the seed at the core of the mysterious space!

Then… there was no more. No purified special green Qi was returned nor were there any reactions from his seed. It was as if the Qi had vanished...

Bubai’s expression stiffened, “No way… Does this mean that this Foundation Establishment method is incompatible with my golden finger? Or is there some hidden danger in the memory Qi so my golden finger got rid of it?”

Regardless, it seemed his Foundation Establishment dreams might end prematurely unless he found a way to retain the strand of memory Qi within his real dantian.

However, Bubai knew this was not possible because all the green Qi he left in there had either been absorbed into his mysterious space or naturally dissipated, nourishing his body.

Exiting his mysterious space, Bubai was still in a daze, confused about what to do next. However, it seemed problems don’t come singly.

Xiao Lan, who had consumed all the information he dumped, finally told him with a cold face, “A portion of my Qi has been plundered.”

Tsk. Clearly, this method was still a dual cultivation method, and he would have to find a suitable partner to cooperate with if he wanted to proceed further.

The problems had finally come.