Spsh. Spsh. Spsh.

  Ah… what a familiar sound. What sound is it? The symphony of nature of course.

  The surface of the pool unduted like a living canvas... each ripple charging the surge of energy that invigorated this cultivation world's version of a humanoid android.

  Now, some may wonder how the heck is charging is done in water? After all, electricity and water normally doesn’t go well together.

  Well… ever heard of generating electricity with love?

  If this came as a shocker… yeah, children, don’t try this at home.

  Jokes aside, there certainly ain’t any matters unsuitable for children happening here. Ahem. Ahem.

  But even if there were… Bubai couldn’t bother to care what any audience coming across the scene would think.

  After all, he was very busy at the moment… very, very busy. Oh, wondering what he is busy with?

  Well…

  “Almost there…”

  Grunting in a steady but strained voice, Bubai’s hand, forming the basic control incantation seal, beckoned at the deeper ends of the pool.

  A breath ter, an ornate dagger broke through the surface of the pool and zipped through the air toward him!

  As, like an aircraft out of fuel, the flying dagger drifted lower and lower, soon cutting a line across the rippling water.

  After a few more quick pumps, the dagger was drained.

  Just when the dagger dipped its head to debate whether to take another plunge into the pool…

  Bubai’s hand shot out and caught it.

  Flipping it up for inspection, Bubai felt both satisfaction and disappointment.

  "Works perfectly fine when thrown out, but it’s like dying horse when returning."

  An Jali looked up from her position, her formerly busy mouth finally free to speak.

  "That is... the Flying Thunder God my king told Jali to clean?"

  What Flying Thunder God? Ahem. She was actually talking about the very flying magic weapon he got from Long Batian!

  Since it became ownerless, refining it for his own use goes without saying!

  Accompanying this change of ownership was naturally a new name.

  As for why the name might sound familiar to some, erhm…

  Merlin swears on the fourth ninja vilge leader’s name: it’s just pure coincidence! Really! Ahem.

  “Yes, that’s it…”

  Bubai looked past the objective on hand, using his dagger to pat the cheeks of his naughty servant now kneeling on the pool’s steps.

  “Enough, Jali.”

  The disobedient An Jali’s upturned hazel eyes amorously provoked him, “Mm… my king, don’t tell Jali that… it’s broken?”

  “Of course not.” That was all the confirmation she needed.

  Bubai calmly watched the dagger get sheathed.

  He gotta say… the training programs of Gemstone Paradise were really extensive, and he can never get bored of it.

  But tools are tools, and there are always some deficiencies. Just like the dagger in his hand…

  Bubai ran his finger along the bde of the dagger, leaving a paper-thin cut that disappeared as fast as the blood licked up by the dagger.

  "Blood absorption metal that doesn’t distinguish between foe or the owner. It really fits the demonic sect theme…”

  “Regardless, as they say, evil or not, it depends on the user. Plus, this blood absorption property is very useful. At least I don’t have to worry about rusting from blood. This dagger is also the sharpest weapon on hand...”

  “But sharpness is retive. The most useful is the flight capability that has been preserved. As... the propulsion is downgraded by a level. That's not the worst part…”

  “The critical issue is the magic weapon’s damaged battery. It’s like a leaking sieve and can’t store Qi for long-term use. So, I need to recharge it every time right before I put it to use.”

  "Mm. That’s… inconvenient..." An Jali targeted the tip of her concern. "Jali is sure my king has figured out why this is happening?"

  Indeed he has.

  Bubai’s divine sense seeped into the hilt of the dagger, locking onto the core where he left his spiritual imprint…

  Here, there were yers of runes, many unfamiliar even with his knowledge bank.

  But recognizing them or not mattered little.

  It was pin to see that some parts of the rune circuits had suffered damage.

  Why? Due to his brute force attempt to purge Long Batian’s spiritual brand in the midst of their battle.

  “A damaged core. I’ll have to consult with at least an adept craftsman if I want to return it to its former glory. Until then, the use cases are limited.”

  Clued in to the matter, An Jali tilted her head back and forth, muffling out a response befitting her wisdom.

  “Mm... a tool that can’t serve my king as long as Jali can.”

  "Exactly." Bubai looked down at the best tool he crossed fate with thus far.

  “Fortunately, your battery wasn’t built into your main control core. If your battery leaked while being used like the dagger… Well, running dry after flying for only one or two rounds is no fun."

  “Mm. Mmph…”

  Seeing his other magic tool fervently nodding in agreement, Bubai sighed and sent the powered-out dagger back to his storage space.

  "It’s a pity such a good magic weapon was ruined… But the situation called for it."

  This could be counted among the inevitable sunk costs of the Long Batian mini boss event, and it was just a fragment of the total price paid.

  Then there was the aftermath...

  Subduing Xiao Hong had its own cost, namely the high-grade dantian sealing talisman and the Soft Bones Fragrance.

  This talisman and drug were rare commodities on the market, worth nearly ten spirit stones combined.

  But they count be said to be a cheap sacrifice for subduing a foundation realm cultivator.

  Make no mistake—it was no simple feat to take Xiao Hong down and put her under his control.

  To successfully seal a dantian with the talisman required spping it onto the navel at basically point-bnk range and keeping it there throughout the entire sealing process.

  If Xiao Hong had kept her distance from the outset, applying the seal would have been nearly impossible without a full game of tag.

  This time, he only managed to get the jump on her thanks to her pse in vigince.

  She was likely underestimating him after the weak doormat act he showed weeks prior—when he was summoned to meet Elder Ma Pei after their return from the secret realm.

  Well, what can he say. Acting almost always pays off.

  Now, another act came to an end, and it certainly paid off to his doll...

  Bubai couldn’t help but look up at the ceiling and grunted out his st orders, "After this, dry yourself and get ready to work."

  “Mmph… Yes… mmph king…”

  Once his divine sense captured the st of the generated electricity being transferred into the battery, Bubai opened the link and sent the big beauty away.

  The divine sense security perimeter then shrunk back in.

  Looking down at the stilling pool of water, a satisfied “hooo” escaped his lips and he waded deeper into the water to give his little charger a wash.

  Getting out of the pool… a few rounds of Qi combed away all the water still sticking to the surface of his body, sending all droplets spraying out onto the floor.

  Simply a handy lifeskill simir to the basic dust removal technique, but for all things liquid.

  After drying off, Bubai quickly slipped on his usual robe and headed off to the dungeons.

  Same routine and schematics…

  Soon, Bubai was greeted by the familiar prison cells.

  But this time, it wasn’t for conducting the daily experiments or training.

  He was here to pack up some of the items he had temporarily taken out!

  "It really doesn’t matter if I leave some of these crates and items here, but…"

  Though they weren’t incriminating per se, some could definitely raise eyebrows once they come under scrutiny.

  Many of the boxes housed supplies he had gathered for adventuring once he managed to escape this cage.

  In other words: desert survival supplies.

  A lot could pass off as essential supplies for daily living, but it wasn’t hard for any old timer to connect the dots.

  Since his spatial storage now had ample space, it was best not to leave any room for doubt, lest it invites more trouble.

  Of course, this inevitably meant cramming more into his already crowded storage space.

  Fortunately, the central area had recently been cleared and scrubbed clean.

  Now, boxes could be stacked within this squishy, temporary refuge.

  Thanks to the power of convenient spatial storage, packing didn’t take long.

  Soon, only a few boxes were left sitting in the prison’s storage cells.

  “Well, leave those as a smokescreen.”

  Dusting off his hand, Bubai turned to leave.

  It wasn’t long before he was already climbing the spiral stairs up to his cultivation chamber.

  Rounding the corner, Bubai peered into the lounge and caught a glimpse of the darkening winter skies outside the tall floor-to-ceiling window.

  Continuing up, Bubai checked the hourgss and timetable in his storage space…

  "Calcuting the time, it should already be te noon..."

  "By now, the servants responsible for tending to the life mps should all be done with their daily duties. Whatever important news should have already reached the hands of the elders."

  Since no mad Golden Core cultivator personally came out to py search and destroy in the sect, the first branch in this dangerous trial could be considered a pass.

  The backup pn for the other possibility was essentially scrapped, but that’s good news.

  In fact, Bubai already guessed this would be the case.

  After all, did anyone really think the elders had nothing better to do than to personally py detective for each and every one of their many disciples?

  Disciples also have rankings - from the true disciples to formal and finally named disciples.

  Unless it’s a disciple personally raised by an elder from a young age or a heaven-defying genius, most disciples taken in by elders would be formal or in name only.

  Long Batian belonged to this peripheral css and shouldn’t be too close to Elder Mo.

  If a disciple doesn’t hold enough weight in the elder’s heart…

  Even if the elder is among the first to know of the disciple’s death, the investigation would still be delegated to others – either his own cn members or the Law Enforcement Hall.

  This gave Bubai much more room to py with...

  Now, the weather’s in his favor, and it was just a matter of adhering to the rest of the pn.

  Pushing open the jade door leading into the chamber where the sleeping beauty waited, Bubai smiled.

  Ah… the night is still young, and there is much to be done.