Book Pavilion.

Granny Shu scrutinized the pale-faced young man standing before her desk, shaking her head with a dissatisfied expression, “Oh young Bubai, you really don’t look too well. Young man should always do it in moderation.”

Bubai maintained a wry smile as he bowed and saluted, “Disciple Bubai heeds Shu Po Po’s teachings, but junior… has his difficulties. Disciple Bubai hopes Shu Po Po doesn’t blame junior.”

“Ai…” Granny Shu let out a sigh, “This old lady…”

Her gaze shifted into the distance, lost in thought. After a prolonged pause, the old lady closed her eyes, “There is no need to request permission from this old lady for a day off, but this old lady understands your thoughtfulness.”

She languidly waved for Bubai to retreat. “Go. Just remember to work harder and make it up when you come back.”

“Disciple Bubai will definitely fulfill Shu Po Po’s request.” Bubai saluted with a weak smile before making his exit.

East District.

Bubai, his ugly face now devoid of its previous paleness, retrieved his key slip from his tower's slot.

Granny Shu might have assumed he was taking a day off to rest, but...

Walking into the tower, Bubai grinned upon seeing WeiWei already kneeling in the corridor, waiting for his punishment.

Oh, it was just beginning.

The next day.

“Master… it’s already late morning. Wake up…”

Bubai struggled to open his eyes, blinking as he focused on alarm clock number one giving him a wake-up call.

“...”

Thus, to maintain his majesty, he wasted a couple of wisps of Qi to recover…

After the morning routine, Bubai dragged his exhausted body off to work.

“Ugg, I worked too hard on cultivating and probably overdid it.”

Now, every step felt strenuous, and his mind felt sluggish. If it weren't for his green Qi, he might not have even found the motivation to move.

His current condition was definitely worse for wear, but when he recalled his harvest from the past day, it was completely worth it!

“More than one hundred and twenty strands of extremely high-quality memory Qi…”

That was an average of five times per hour for an entire day straight! This was insane!

What was even more insane was the consistent quality of every strand of Qi he harvested!

Every memory Qi harvested from WeiWei was a high-quality strand, many of them easily topping even the high-quality charts.

The harvest quality was completely consistent throughout the entire duration of their cultivation session, regardless if she was employing a repetitive technique or assuming a unique posture!

On the other hand, his intimate interactions with Xiao Lan only yielded a high-quality strand when she stimulated him with her exceptional performances, with the majority of the other harvested strands falling within the medium-quality range.

Moreover, the high-quality strands from Xiao Lan typically ranked at the lower bounds of the high-quality spectrum.

Not only that, unlike the sustained full-day sessions with WeiWei, his cultivation sessions with Xiao Lan were characterized by longer periods of pleasure and build-up rather than quick and frequent releases.

It was clear, at a glance, who brought him the most benefits.

Yet despite this...

Truthfully, he still found the iceberg beauty Xiao Lan more visually and sensually appealing on multiple levels, satisfying him in many other aspects.

Of course, it was always WeiWei who provided him with the most extreme pleasure.

This highlighted how abnormal WeiWei truly was. It’s kinda scary to have such a woman attached to him, but...

“Well, you reap what you sow. I’ve already eaten the benefits. So, there’s not much to complain about. The only regrettable thing is…” Sensing the visible decrease of the Qi density in his mysterious space, Bubai had a wry smile.

This round of cultivation led to a significant depletion in his reservoir of green Qi, plummeting from its near-peak capacity to approximately eighty percent!

It's worth noting that his dantian was at least five times larger than the average cultivator's, highlighting the magnitude of this mere twenty percent consumption.

Needless to say, the lion's share of his green Qi was directed towards maintaining mental clarity and recuperating after being drained by the demoness.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Additionally, more than a quarter of the saturation completed for his body thus far had been drained, necessitating a redo. While the loss wasn't substantial given the early stage of his saturation process, the Qi and time required for recovery was still undeniably hefty.

Nonetheless, it was definitely worth it to trade a significant portion of his amassed Qi to accumulate the essential building blocks for building his foundation.

The fundamental requirement specified in the Arboreal Bliss Dreamcatcher Art mandated just a mere one hundred strands of memory Qi to initiate the condensation of a Qi totem.

Of course, forcing this condensation at such an early stage and the likelihood of success would be... almost nil.

Typically, there should be enough strands to fill at least half of the dantian before the memory Qi naturally begins to coalesce into a Qi totem. Though the quantity of strands may vary from individual to individual, on average it generally took around 1500 strands, more or less.

For a hard-working cultivator dedicated to a 24-hour cultivation regimen, completing this demanding process might only take merely a month or two.

Dual cultivation’s inherent emphasis on speed was apparent, and this was reflected in its insane cultivation pace.

This, of course, assumed an optimal scenario – where a cultivator had ample companions, resources, and stamina.

It was worth noting that ordinary males might struggle with daily releases over an extended period, let alone engaging in rigorous dual cultivation for hours every day.

Until a cultivator promotes to the Foundation Establishment realm and evolves into a new life form, they were still restricted by their mortal bodies.

As a result, the memory Qi gathering phase for an average cultivator employing this dual cultivation method could extend up to four years!

Comparatively, other dual cultivation methods most likely had similar time spans.

However, don’t think this cultivation pace was slow.

Despite the seemingly protracted time span, dual cultivation methods were already considerably faster than orthodox methods, which might take years or even decades to accumulate the foundation for a breakthrough!

This explained the rarity of young Foundation Establishment cultivators below the age of 30, who were often regarded as exceptional geniuses.

Of course, geniuses also had differences, and sometimes, it wasn't just about the swiftness of their breakthroughs but also on the foundation itself.

After all, individuals with larger dantians might indeed require more time, but their foundation would definitely be much stronger after their breakthrough, potentially having combat prowess exceeding even their seniors.

This was Bubai’s case. His vast dantian meant that he required approximately 7500 strands of memory Qi to reach the halfway stability point crucial for a breakthrough.

From the mortal twins, he collects an average of approximately fifteens strands per day before they become exhausted. His green Qi could keep himself in tip top shape, but the twins’ capacity became his daily bottleneck.

Thus, at this pace, it would take more than a year for him to accumulate the necessary quantity of memory Qi… By that time, his fate might be one that even dogs wouldn’t want.

Of course, this will only be the case if he solely relied on low-quality strands.

According to the Arboreal Bliss Dreamcatcher Art, each medium and high-quality strand of memory Qi not only enhanced the success rate of the foundation establishment process but also accelerated the congregation of his memory Qi into a Qi totem!

This was why some practitioners managed to successfully build their foundations without amassing an extensive number of memory Qi strands.

So, despite his special circumstances, he still had a glimmer of hope!

Unfortunately, thanks to the all-consuming nature of his seed, he wasn’t able to directly see his hope building up.

But he could still roughly estimate his own success with his own calculations.

Distinguishing memory Qi quality based on contamination levels, low-quality strands were classified as those with less than ten percent pink wisps, medium-quality with ten to fifty percent, and high-quality encompassing anything beyond that threshold.

Considering WeiWei's top-quality memory Qi, where each strand was nearly entirely shrouded in pink mist, he valued each of her strands as equivalent to around ten low-quality strands or possibly more!

Doing the math, the outcome of his harvest translated to an impressive sixteen percent of the minimum requirement – the amount needed to attain halfway stability!

This was… a lot! It was a substantial achievement, especially when he took into account the size of his special dantian.

When factoring in the memory Qi obtained from the mortal twins and Xiao Lan over the past month, constituting approximately six percent of his overall progress...

An ordinary cultivator of his dual cultivation method might have already found themselves on the verge of establishing a foundation after such an abundant harvest!

Alas, his expansive dantian demanded more. Despite his progress, he still had a considerable distance in the journey ahead.

But he believed his unwavering efforts will eventually pay off because he certainly worked “harder” than others.

Thanks to the vigorous assistance of his green Qi, to others, he could be considered a hardworking dual cultivation genius… Ahem.

Well, he still prefers working smart over just solely working hard.

So, WeiWei's monthly visits were crucial to his success. Xiao Lan's biweekly assistance held equal importance.

Moreover, accumulating contribution points became essential to acquire complementary techniques that could have a chance of enhancing his cultivation pace.

Hence, mastering formations became a priority, not only for reaping contribution points but also for unlocking a source of income.

This, in turn, would contribute to accumulating wealth, allowing him to eventually adopt a more lavish cultivation lifestyle, just like many of the other inner disciples who consumed spirit rice daily.

Such a regimen would bolster his Qi reserves, providing excess green Qi that could be utilized to nourish his body.

Bubai has not forgotten his true situation.

Even if, by chance, he acquired enough memory Qi, he still had to face the cold hard reality: he was still a mid-stage Qi-refiner – a long way from establishing his foundation!

He still needed an exorbitant amount of Qi to nourish his meridians! He also needed to saturate his real dantian!

Even after weeks of cultivation, the upper limits of his mysterious green Qi's nourishing capabilities still remained unknown!

So, to preserve his real dantian's ability to absorb green Qi wisps for mental cleansing, Bubai temporarily reduced the saturation of his real dantian.

Now, he circulated his Qi to nourish his other meridians, essentially adopting a more balanced approach, aiming to reduce the risks during his insane cultivation sessions with WeiWei…

Stepping out from the Book Pavilion, Bubai cast his gaze upward, admiring the serene moon, “Aish, so much to do, so little time.”

WeiWei’s visit marks the passage of another month just like the rising moon signified the end to another day.

While these held almost negligible significance in the latent long lifespans of other cultivators, for Bubai, it marked one more step toward his impending doom.

Despite his lack of urgency and steady progress, he has never forgotten that he was racing against time, doing his best to escape from the dangers that pursued him, akin to a vengeful ghost haunting his every move.

The upcoming Inner Sect Exchange served as one of these spectral threats, yet it wasn't the sole apparition chasing him.

There was also a demoness with a spiking cultivation, and...

Bubai still hasn’t forgotten about the biggest ticking time bomb of them all… the rising protagonist.

Time was ticking.