Tower. Bathhouse.

  Spsh. Spsh. Spsh.

  “Xiao Lan...”

  The mandarin ducks made a final spsh, leaving ripples spreading through the tub…

  Every drop of their hard work’s deposit was absorbed, subtly reinforcing the signal coming from the bond they shared.

  Sliding his palms up onto her waist, Bubai steadied his tip-topsy secretary on the tub side.

  Gazing at her poker face that tried so hard to hide the weariness, Bubai connected his forehead with hers as if to transfer some strength over.

  “Tired?”

  Xiao Lan gave him that “still need to ask” look.

  Right… she hadn't slept since yesterday.

  He was really pushing her limits with these supplementary seeding sessions.

  But a man can’t put his full focus on the war when his own backyard isn’t secured. So...

  “Xiao Lan, I know it’s hard for you, but this is necessary…”

  Easing away, Bubai looked her in the eye.

  “This time, whether out of arrogance, to satisfy his own fetish, or other reasons, that scum didn’t bring you away from the tower, but we can’t count on that happening every time.”

  Bubai brushed aside the few strands of worry from her face and smiled.

  “But with that inside, I’ll know wherever they take you. From now on, even if you get pulled down to the eighteenth yer of the underworld, I’ll find a way to bring you back.”

  A bit exaggerated, but perhaps with enough nourishment to his tribution seed, it might be possible?

  Who knows. But sweet nothings to earn affection points to thaw this beauty’s frozen heart was always a plus.

  Being stuffed full by his sincerity, Xiao Lan accepted it with eyes closing, connecting their foreheads again and whispering, “Sorry... for worrying you...”

  Worry he did, but no longer.

  The tribution seed’s link was the best tracker he had.

  Thus, it was the seed he wants to pnt in all his women the most.

  After all, it’ll be too te to cry if someone is taken away.

  It’s much too easy for others to keep a woman hidden in a rge sect like this one.

  That’s why the outer sect’s business of trafficking fellow disciples’ women was so wild.

  Hence, Bubai had long wanted to install one on Xiao Lan as a preventative measure against kidnapping.

  There was only reason he hadn’t.

  He pnned to conduct a few more intensive experiments.

  It was all to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the tribution seed before the impntation.

  As… pns can’t keep up with the changes.

  Everything came crashing down.

  In the coming storm, there’s a chance she would be taken away by the waves of investigators or by others as a bargaining chip.

  Thus, installing the beacon was not just prudent but a lifeline cast into turbulent waters.

  Of course, just the basic instaltion wasn’t enough. A weak signal was just as good as none.

  His daily green dew nurturing had already elevated the tribution seed to a much stronger base state.

  But it still had plenty of room for improvement.

  Hence, to decrease the probability of this tracker vanishing like mist at dawn…

  “Xiao Lan, there’s still some worries left, so one more time…”

  Devouring her lips before she can protest, Bubai showed her the real need for speed.

  Time was indeed of the essence, after all. Ahem.

  When everything was over...

  Bubai supported his full waifu, showing some concern, “I’ll carry you up?”

  Standing her ground, Xiao Lan shook her head and gave him a sharp look. “I can walk.”

  “Mm... Xiao Lan, thanks for your hard work.”

  Bubai tenderly brushed aside the strands of her damp violet hair and pnted a kiss on her forehead.

  “Go rest. I’ll join you in a few hours after tying up the loose ends down here.”

  Xiao Lan took the hint and slid down to her knees.

  Her hands swept back her damp violet hair into a bun and she tied up the loose ends.

  Merlin’s beard… truly a professional secretary.

  As… his fire was provoked, but he really can’t bear to test her endurance further after all she’s been through today.

  So, after a few more breaths, he offered her his hand.

  Easing away, Xiao Lan took his hand and pulled herself up.

  After indifferently giving his little brother a gnce, she grabbed the white, translucent robe nearby and slipped it on.

  Picking up a wooden basin, she was ready to leave, but was stopped by the arms embracing her waist from behind.

  Bubai rested his head on her shoulder. “Almost forgot something.”

  When she peered over at him, he fshed a cheeky smile, adding a small, coarse pouch into her empty basin.

  The cck of the spirit stones caught her indifferent eyes. “A lot?”

  “Forty. Not counting the stuff to be sold. More than enough.”

  “En.” Xiao Lan didn’t reject, simply turning to give his cheek a peck. “I’ll wait for you upstairs.”

  With that, Bubai released her, watching her go.

  When she disappeared around the corner, Bubai turned to the wooden tub where they enjoyed their mandarin duck bath.

  Grabbing it with both hands, he watched it warp out of existence.

  "That's the st of it."

  Blood, essence, and now even smell and shed skin were all accounted for.

  If anyone still wants to find traces of Long Batian in his tower, it'll be up to the heavens!

  On the down side…

  "After adding the tub, the storage space’s becoming cluttered again..."

  His own spatial storage was unlike this world’s storage pouch spaces that comes in various shapes and typically extended out horizontally.

  Instead, his space expanded uniformly in a fixed cuboid manner, leading to equal dimensions on all sides.

  The volume that a six by six by six meters box can fit might seem like a whole lot, but with much of it being vertical space left unused…

  Bubai sighed, “I definitely need to implement a better system for this. Can’t keep cramming everything in and hoping it fits.”

  Even now, it was actually rather cramped, especially with a significant area occupied by rger objects such as the wooden tub, the rge bronze vat, and the brazier.

  If he didn’t have a second low-grade storage pouch to temporarily house some items, there wouldn’t even be room for his doll to walk without stepping on the chaotic clutters of items.

  “Eh... I’ll take care of this issue ter.”

  There’s already a space optimization pn in mind, but it’s not a small project that can be done in a day or two.

  Right now, his priorities y elsewhere—matters critical to optimizing his operational effectiveness.

  Closing his eyes, Bubai focused on the new connection with his seed, pinpointing its location in the upstairs bedchamber.

  “Huh… the signal is already so strong right from the outset?”

  This… was certainly different compared to his trial with Wei Yi.

  Could this be due to the extended time that his tribution seeds received watering?

  No. Extra daily dew investment alone shouldn’t be enough to achieve this level.

  “Perhaps it is stronger because…”

  It assimited some fertilizer during its impntation?

  Well, this still needs testing to confirm.

  There were still six tribution seeds left for experimentation. Not too little, but not much either.

  The raw impntation into the maid was a lost cause, but it was certainly not wasted.

  It could be counted as the control group in the grand scheme of this experiment.

  This already let him discern some simirities and divergences.

  So far, both Wei Yi’s and Xiao Lan’s seeds couldn’t be communicated with.

  More accurately, there was indeed a communication link, but it was with the seed itself, not its host.

  The communication ability with his doll could probably be attributed to a uniqueness of the assimited sunstone gem core.

  If he wasn’t wrong, the tribution seed should have the ability to assimite the properties of the carrier it successfully devours!

  It’s like how the sunstone core lets a cultivator control the entire refined doll, and his seed’s integration let him do the same.

  Applying this to the assimited seed of pleasure…

  While the seed is within range, he should be able to communicate with the seed of pleasure at will, commanding it to enter dormancy or vice versa!

  As, whether the other properties of the seed of pleasure had been assimited was yet to be discovered.

  That's mainly because he had no clue about how to trigger its other abilities!

  He really didn’t dare to test beyond a dormancy command.

  What if the seed of pleasure had some self destruction trigger?

  Bubai rubbed his chin, his mind quickly confirming a solution.

  “Guess I still have to find a way to trade for some knowledge of Seed of Pleasure Art...”

  When time is so precious, it’s best to walk the beaten path.

  Broadening his horizons with fragments of the foundation art might also help him develop a way to establish a communication link with Xiao Lan.

  Perhaps they could figure out something simir to the Morse code system he set up with his doll.

  “Just another link we’ll have to work on.” An important link at that.

  Since he can’t always stay cooped up in the tower, it’s best if there was some sort of phone-like communication that could serve as an early warning system.

  That way, he could know when his tower was welcoming visitors rather than reacting only after detecting Xiao Lan was taken away from the tower.

  The minute difference in the emergency response time could be the difference between life or death.

  “But once again, this isn’t something that can be solved overnight.”

  This involved secrets of his seed, and sharing them with Xiao Lan in a way that wouldn’t disclose too much was another challenge.

  After all, Xiao Lan wasn’t like his doll that could just be tucked away in a safe box.

  Speaking of the doll...

  Bubai waded into the pool, descending a few steps.

  Stretching his hand out over the deeper end of the pool, Bubai watched the space before his hands warp…

  Out fell a dripping wet, wheat-skinned beauty in her trademark emerald fishnet outfit that hugged her plump, killer figure like her second skin!

  Spsh! Plunging into the water, the half-submerged woman waded closer and looked at him with her hazel eyes that was almost soaked in green.

  Still, she didn’t forgo her tribal etiquette and presented a rather formal bow, followed by a coquettish greeting that lost all forms of decorum.

  "Ahn~ My king, Jali is almost dying from missing you so much~ Mmph~"

  Of course, he knew she wasn’t actually dying, but it wasn’t far from the truth.

  Since her body was contaminated by the foul smell of the dead, it had left him resisting any form of charging for days.

  Now, after all the full-time grunt work she had been doing within his storage space, her battery was about to die.

  So... it was indeed about time.

  Bubai lifted her long bck hair for a sniff.

  He still smelled some lingering odor despite all the rinsing she had already done in the vat of clean water he moved into his storage space.

  Feeling her eagerness in generating electricity from the charger, Bubai gave her a pat.

  “No shortcuts. Clean first. Then we can talk about recharging."

  Easing away, An Jali licked her wet, plump lips while electrifying him with her upturned eyes. “Why not both?”

  The hot model then snaked upwards, getting rid of the gap between them...

  After her limps wrapped him like an octopus, she breathed into his ears,

  “My king, why don’t we take a swim, and you personally wash Jali… thoroughly?”

  Like a dead weight, her offer hung on him and pulled him forward... deeper into the wet, wet beauty trap.