East District. Tower. The entrance rumbled open to a corridor yawning in peace and silence. The door god wasn’t there, nor was the thorny ro

  East District. Tower.

  The entrance rumbled open to a corridor yawning in peace and silence.

  The door god wasn’t there, nor was the thorny rose.

  Passing by the storage room, Bubai peered inside. Empty.

  “Huh? Out so late at night? Did she run away? Or… Mah, whatever.”

  No matter what she went to do, the swallow will eventually return to its new nest.

  Bubai left his doubts behind and up the stairs he went...

  The moonlight-bathed lounge was empty. Continue up...

  The cultivation chamber was right up ahead.

  Bubai pushed open the yellow jade door and his heart eased at the sight of the violet-haired beauty in white meditating on the bed.

  A spirit sword suspended an inch above her lap.

  There, he could sense the streams of Qi washing over the blade and burrowing into the sword’s heart.

  He wasn’t a sword cultivator, so he didn’t know how exactly sword cultivation art works.

  But from what she told him, this ceaseless cycle of refinement was how a sword cultivator resonated with their sword and nurtured the sword embryo used to create the magic weapon.

  This was the process of awakening a spirit sword!

  Once awakened, a spirit sword will become a true companion that can recognize its true master.

  And this was just the beginning.

  When a higher state is achieved, the spirit sword can even have a will of its own, defending and fighting even if its owner becomes nothing more than a puppet!

  Just like that Frost Mourn sword of that ice goddess doll.

  Perhaps her amazing swordplay didn’t solely rely on her instinct alone.

  But to achieve that level wasn’t a short-term feat.

  Back then in the Cloud Sword Sect, he heard stories of senior disciples spending decades to nurture a sword, all for a single moment of greatness.

  Some succeeded, becoming the geniuses that were highly spoken of, but there were more who faded into obscurity.

  Not everything could be changed by sheer effort alone.

  Xiao Lan’s spirit sword was newly acquired and their compatibility didn’t quite hit the mark either.

  Who knows how long it’ll take for things to change.

  A lifetime, perhaps—unless...

  There was a third-party variable giving it a little push, just like what happened this time…

  Bubai glanced at the wardrobe chest that got officially moved in.

  Since they slept together on most days anyways, in practice, not much actually changed.

  But this could count as a formal step forward!

  Well, just one of those official status things.

  Previously, they didn’t touch this topic much.

  At most, a fire gets sparked and everything that happened was wonderful, but... it was all still closer to service mode: obey, cater, obey.

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  Sure, he gave her special treatment, but she was never willing to overstep the bounds of her status and move up.

  Of course, there were valid reasons for that...

  No matter how great he treats her, she’s not the only one.

  Real life wasn’t some harem anime.

  How can a women truly open her heart and virtuously accept a man watering flowers everywhere?

  Can’t blame her for having second thoughts.

  Facing her tactful rejection, Bubai could hardly pick out any faults, especially since he knew that there’s only so much Qi to go around.

  For any cultivator, this was the real off-putter.

  Now… things have changed. But is it for the better or… worse?

  The Qi dispersed and the hovering sword landed back on the sword maiden’s laps as light as a butterfly.

  Xiao Lan’s eyes slowly opened, flashing sharply for the barest fraction of a second.

  But that sharpness was quickly sheathed, leaving behind emotionless eyes that indifferently stared at the approaching man.

  Smiling at his facial paralysis waifu, Bubai gently caressed her cheek that were cold like jade. “My Lan’er awakened the sword in your heart today?”

  “…” A blink. A breath. Then, in her usual detached voice, she replied, “No. Still… practicing.”

  Her gaze then lowered, and she stroked her sword in silence.

  She said nothing more, but Bubai could tell—she was waiting.

  Waiting for his promised explanation.

  There’s no need to keep her waiting.

  Wearily sighing, he casually sat down beside her and gazed up at the canopy overhead.

  “Earlier, I got summoned for a talk over in the Mo Clan…”

  The fingers tracing the sword stilled and she looked over. “...Fine?”

  He nodded. “After a little... beating, the last matter got resolved. But… there’s some compromises in exchange. That thorny flower is just a part of it.”

  A pause. A breath to let that fact to sink in, then...

  “I won’t talk about all the other harsh conditions set by them, but there’s something you should know.”

  “I tried my best to stay low-key before. I really did. But in order to protect our three acres of land, I must step into the limelight.”

  “From now on, there will be lots of greedy watching me and... many will want to plant their eyes by my side. Xiao Lan…”

  He finally looked at her fully, replacing any lightheartedness with solemnness.

  “...Can you handle it?

  The two stared at each other, and an eternity seemed to pass in silence.

  That face stayed as cold and emotionless as before, but firmness slowly birthed in the depths of her glassy blue eyes.

  “Can.”

  A single word. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet, that answer was all he needed to break the ice.

  His hand reached out to wrap her cold hand, rubbing it to give it warmth. “Xiao Lan, it’ll be hard on you.”

  She didn’t flinch. Didn’t withdraw. Only met his affection with the same serenity she always carried.

  “…Fine.”

  Bubai faintly smiled, not mocking, not teasing—just warm. “Then... please take care of me from now on.”

  “En.”

  The matter was set in stone. A breath later, the lady-in-charge immediately tested his stance. “Her, how?”

  Bubai put away his smile.

  “She is arranged by that old geezer, but due to the last event, we’re all basically on the same boat—at least on the surface. But if push comes to shove…”

  His eyes sharpened dangerously. “Just do what you must.”

  His waifu studied him for a moment before lightly nodding. “En. Know.”

  Passing her check, Bubai’s smile returned, light and unburdened.

  “Good. I’ll leave everything to you. There’s not much time left. I should recover to my optimal state for tomorrow.”

  Xiao Lan tilted her head slightly. “I’ll watch the door?”

  Bubai nodded. “The other places are fine. Just don’t let her barge in here unannounced. Some matters... it’s best she doesn’t see.”

  “En.”

  Xiao Lan sheathed her sword, then scooted off the bed and marched off to her post without a second glance back.

  Click. The jade door shut off the world outside and Bubai was left to his own device.

  Bubai glanced already the round chamber, sensing the thin Qi in air.

  “Well... less porridge to go around, but hey, it shouldn’t matter. Sucking the free Qi gathered in here won’t be enough for me to begin with.”

  On normal days, it was all about accumulation.

  Breathing whatever Qi his tower gathered was good enough.

  But with the battle ahead and the deficit in his main dantian, there was only one path left to take...

  A spirit stone appeared in each of his hands and a low laugh bubbled up from his throat.

  “Haha. With enough resources, even a waste can transform from trash to god. Do I have resources? Oh yes, baby!”

  Over a hundred spirit stones!

  Coupled with the three spirit beans sponsored by that dead water boy, Wu Xiaowei, there should be no problem recovering to full status in a few hours, maybe even less!

  “I worked hard to accumulate these funds from all my sponsors. Now, it’s a good time to put these donations to good use…”

  His golden finger’s mysterious Qi-absorption formation activated in full force.

  A vortex twisted the air around him and the shell of the crystalline spirit stones started peeling off, dissolving into streams of pure Qi…

  Not a single wisp or strand escaped.

  All got funneled into his pores, racing to his external dantian, then appearing in his nearly sixty-percent-filled mysterious dantian space…

  Here, the two-leafed sprouting seed refined the influx of Qi into his oh-so-precious sustenance.

  But when the first drop of dew condensed on the green leaf, Bubai almost immediately noticed something wrong.

  Before the newborn dew could merge into the pool of green submerging the leaf, his consciousness fished the drop out from the pond to get a better look.

  He thought he saw it wrong at first, but now… it was clear.

  Swimming at the core of the translucent green droplet… was a barely-visible crimson speck!

  “Huh? What’s going on? Why… why is there a trace of impurity mixed into the core of this dew?!”