Lost in the throngs of dedicated practice, nearly a week flew by…

Now, Bubai had successfully familiarized himself with the available formation symbols through drawing them on paper.

After honing his skills on paper, Bubai now finally transitioned to drawing the activation symbol on the formation chips.

Before making attempts the formation plate, he must successfully draw each symbol on the practice chip and ensure he could activate them with his Qi.

Given the high cost of large formation plates, especially for beginners, Bubai, like many others in the formation profession, couldn't afford to waste them.

Thus, he could only resort to the cheaper alternative of formations chips, yet they were still rather pricey...

Nothing was free.

In fact, he wished he could draw runes on other materials – such as the walls or rocks!

If given the choice, he can’t wait to condense runes in thin air because these options were essentially free!

Alas, such a feat remained a fantasy for the time being. The basic formation technique exclusively taught how to draw on Qi-retaining materials.

Well, one step at a time.

Completing the drawing of another invisible symbol on the formation practice chip, Bubai observed with anticipation as a rune miraculously faded into existence on the piece of wood. Finally.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, he set down his formation brush, “Third time’s the charm, am I right?”

Placing his finger on the rune, he channeled a strand of Qi into the wood.

Bubai's eyes lit up as the symbol responded, bathing the chunk in a faint golden glow and bringing a smile to his face. “Easier than I thought.”

Of course, Bubai acknowledged that his success wasn't solely due to his talent but involved a bit of assistance from the mysterious green Qi's buff.

The primary role of his green Qi buff need not be mentioned again, but there were definitely other aspects that also played a crucial role in his achievements.

The nourishment provided by the green Qi had gradually improved Bubai's eyesight. However, it wasn't just an increase in dynamic vision and clarity.

Recently, he had noticed that, under the influence of the green Qi, his eyes had evolved to “physically” see faint traces of Qi as palish, white translucent mist – a contrast to its typically colorless form.

This Qi-visualizing ability became particularly significant in drawing runic symbols, as the brush employed Qi as ink, essentially using an invisible medium.

Hence, the challenge for formation masters lay in the fact that they couldn't see the symbols they were drawing.

Many formation masters relied on Qi-sensing techniques to perceive the traces of Qi as they drew. This required fine control over their Qi - effectively multitasking between infusing Qi and circulating it to activate their technique.

This level of control was beyond the reach of most Qi-refiners. Thus, the learning curve was higher because they typically relied on muscle memory or other innate talents.

Without his golden finger, Bubai might have faced a similar challenge.

But now, his enhanced eyes during the buffed state allowed him to see the Qi of the symbol he was drawing. This ability significantly reduced errors in his drawing!

Now, as long as he remained attentive, it only came down to the accuracy in his recollection of the original symbol.

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Another advantage eased this process further.

Thanks to his golden finger’s ability, preventing his controlled strand of Qi from dissipating, he could deliver the complete strand of energy to the formation brush, significantly extending the pen's lifespan compared to normal Qi-refiners.

Thus, Bubai didn't need to replenish the formation brush with Qi as frequently, enabling him to concentrate on drawing and manage his speed.

Given the brush’s inherent limitations, the engraving pace was of great importance.

Drawing too quickly could result in insufficient Qi at specific locations of the symbol, while drawing too slowly might lead to the dissipation of existing Qi on the wood.

Both scenarios would result in failure.

The symbol would only successfully transform into a rune when drawn correctly with sufficient Qi permeating throughout each stroke.

Only then would a genuine rune manifest and imprint itself onto the material!

As for the origin of this rune, Bubai remained uncertain, speculating that it might be linked to high-level factors such as the mysterious laws governing the world.

Such concepts were obviously beyond his current understanding.

For the time being, achieving success in imprinting the rune was already good enough.

“The first success is the hardest. Now, it’s a matter of practicing to replicate my success and increase my success rate.”

Gathering the wooden pieces into his pouch, Bubai meticulously cleaned up his work table.

Don’t leave a mess, lest Granny Shu prohibits him from practicing formation in the library.

After cleaning, Bubai approached a scroll laid out to dry, a short lore recounting the legend of a scorpion king - a mythical creature of the ancient desert ruins with the power to control all scorpions and other venomous creatures in the sandy expanse.

“According to the legend, eating its heart could cure all poison, even bestowing a physique with immunity to hundreds of poisons...”

Of course, this was a mere legend. Its been a millennia and not a single scorpion king had been spotted.

There was a reason why this scroll was left in non-classified, general information section, as it held limited value.

Why was he back in the general section? Clearly, Granny Shu wouldn't assign him a book from the classified section every time.

His previous assignment was a temptation, serving as a test and reward. It will probably not be a regular occurrence.

Bubai carefully rolled up the dried scroll. Then, with the scroll in hand, Bubai exited the general section room and headed toward the front desk, prepared to submit his work.

...

“Young Bubai is really doing well.”

Handing the scroll to Granny Shu, Bubai witnessed her nod of approval, and without even checking its content, she stored it away in her satchel.

This wasn’t her trust in him. Don’t get fooled by her performance before. A powerful cultivator had never needed to open a mortal scroll to see its content.

Bubai humbly lowered his head, “Junior still has a long way to go.”

“Hum, it’s good to have such a mentality.” Granny Shu nodded approvingly, her eyes closed, a satisfied smile gracing her face.

Bubai saluted before turning and leaving with his package of formation supplies.

Tower.

Upon entering his residence, Bubai found Wei Yi waiting in the corridor, a smile adorning her face as she took the heavy package from his hand. “Welcome home, master.”

Bubai nodded, “Where is Xiao Lan?”

Wei Yi looked towards storage room. Just as he was about to head towards the storage room, Wei Yi stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

Raising a brow, Bubai looked at her, and Wei Yi leaned in, whispering in a soft voice, “Master, mistress is waiting for you upstairs.”

After a moment's pause, Bubai understood the implication.

Oh dang. Now that he thought about it... a month had swiftly passed. Now, the demoness was back for another harvest.

Well, this was not something he could escape from. Time to go meet his fate.

Upstairs.

When Bubai pushed open the bedroom's jade door, his eyes immediately fell upon the slender woman, unelegantly rolling around in his bed. Although her once long, black hair was now tied in a messy high bun, there was no mistaking her identity - it was none other than WeiWei.

Upon hearing Bubai's entrance, WeiWei bounced up from the bed, and with a swish, she swiftly appeared in front of him and leapt into his embrace. She buried herself into his chest, greedily inhaling and sniffing his scent, “Hehehe! Brother Bubai’s scent. WeiWei misses it so much.”

Bubai's arms instinctively enveloped WeiWei's soft form, instinctively taking in the subtle, arousing fragrance she carried.

Holy. She is becoming increasingly more dangerous… but his green Qi defense was activated and ready!

So, Bubai calmly stood there, allowing her to revel in his scent at her own pace. She could delay all she wants, he was in no hurry.

Alas, WeiWei was certainly not going to delay her itinerary.

Peering up from within his embrace, her charming red pupils locked onto Bubai's gaze, her lips forming a slight pout, “Does Brother Bubai miss WeiWei?”

Bubai grinned, lifting one hand to caress WeiWei's soft, red lips with his finger, “Little fox, you know what I miss.”

“Hehehe~” WeiWei giggled with delight, leaning back slightly in his embrace, her hand playfully trailing down as if reaching for something. “WeiWei knows Brother Bubai misses WeiWei, but first… Brother Bubai, guess what surprise WeiWei brought you this time?”

“Surprise?” Bubai arched a brow. What game is this mischievous, little demoness up to this time?

WeiWei's alluring lips curved into a sly smile as she lifted a green cloth pouch and held it up right in front of Bubai's face, “Jajan~”

Bubai’s gaze fixated on the pouch, its embroidered design more vibrant and intricate than his own plain ones. What’s this? A normal pouch? No… Wait, it couldn’t be-

Is this a spatial pouch?!