There is a time to embrace, but they never forget to embrace the time.

  To the naked eye, the crime scene appeared clean, but the task of cleaning was far from being that easy.

  It’s an understatement to cim the scene is squeaky clean just after some simple scrubbing.

  Let’s not speak about the mysterious means of cultivators. Just frame the matter at a more mundane scale: mortals.

  With the right tools, even mortals can unearth the microscopic traces, such as the minuscule blood and essence that seeped into the surfaces or the fingerprints left behind!

  In any world, it's these minute details that usually lead to the downfall of the most cunning criminals.

  So, while they still had time, they knew it was best to be thorough, lest they regret...

  Singling out another seemingly jet-bck patch on the bed, Bubai circled it with his finger, “Xiao Lan, right here.”

  At his command, a few ethereal swords of water sheared through the air, crashing into the spot he indicated!

  Psh! A yer of bck dust was scraped off the obsidian-like surface, leaving behind a puddle of water—colored bck by the jade powder and faintly tainted with some almost unnoticeable traces of red.

  Before the dust could settle, Bubai patted the fluid, vacuuming it into a ceramic jar sitting in the new junk corner of his storage space.

  Like a river that never halts its flow, his divine sense inspected the spot once more…

  In the view appearing in his mind, the crystalline structure of the bck jade was now purged of any lingering traces of blood.

  Good grief, another spot accounted for.

  Bubai looked over at Xiao Lan, who had already condensed yet another array of small water bdes.

  While these spell bdes hovered around her, Bubai sensed the insidious seed of pleasure constantly leeching off the Qi she was circuting to cast the spell.

  Honestly, this was a very concerning situation.

  With that parasitic in her, Bubai would much prefer she not use her Qi at all and handle all the rigorous cleaning himself.

  As… the nature of this task demanded her participation. Why?

  Well, this will have to delve into their respective specialization.

  In a straight head-on confrontation, his special abilities together granted him combat power that rivals, or even surpasses, hers.

  But if he took out everything else and only compared their sheer force…

  Let’s just say the sharpness of his attacks paled in comparison to Xiao Lan’s.

  Sword Qi was renowned for its unparalleled sharpness, and this wasn't merely a boastful cim.

  Don’t think shaving off some dust from the bck jade is easy.

  Ordinary weapons, like his daggers, couldn't even leave a scratch on the bck jade!

  Though magic weapons, like Long Batian's dagger, could work, but even the inherent sharpness of magic weapons at this level were inferior to her Sword Qi!

  When Bubai tried to put the dagger to work, he still had to rely on his own brute strength to leave a mark, and it still wasn’t as clean as the damage done by Xiao Lan’s sword Qi.

  To top it off...

  Based on their calcutions, if he were to rely solely on this magic weapon to carve out every trace of blood from the bck jade block, it would take days of grinding and scraping, if not more…

  If that were the case, he might as well just get rid of the bed altogether.

  After all, he could probably smash the whole bck jade block with his fists faster than he could meticulously scrape off microscopic stains!

  As... such a drastic measure would inevitably lead to questions about the bed's disappearance and repercussions of damaging the elder's property.

  If he had a way to ditch this sect and the possible repercussions, he really didn’t mind taking a souvenir, like his bed, along…

  But since he was still here to stay, compensation wasn’t something he could shrug off.

  Though his wealth surpassed the average inner disciples, it might not even be enough to compensate for this massive block of bck jade.

  Otherwise, he wouldn’t be stuck performing this tedious clean-up of the crime scene.

  Instead, he could simply toss everything into his storage, pat his booty, and leave a legend of a godly thief.

  As. As. He was obviously tied down, for one reason or another.

  This left the next best alternative: washing the bed with Xiao Lan’s Sword Qi.

  Even if, by some chance, the chipped and chiseled nature on the bck jade came to light, they could be passed off as training damage.

  Compared to rge chunks of the jade bed going . due to one reason or another, this was a more pusible excuse.

  It was a cultivation chamber, after all. Nobody can bme him for training in it.

  The magnanimous Elder Ma probably won’t be so stingy to fault him for leaving some minor scratches, right?

  Bubai’s divine sense combed the smoothed-out “scratches” left on the bed and floor. Well, this was the best they could do.

  After double-checking a few more times and find no more significantly noteworthy traces, Bubai gave Xiao Lan the signal. "That should be the st of it.”

  As soon as Xiao Lan got the cue, the floating water swords colpsed, spshing down onto the ground...

  Noticing the beads of sweat on her forehead, Bubai hurriedly went to her side, pulling out a handkerchief to dab away the sweat. “Xiao Lan, thanks for your hard work.”

  “En.” Xiao Lan’s face remained paralyzed with indifference like usual, but her gssy, blue eyes stared back at him unblinkingly, as if willing herself to cherish every moment of their time together…

  Finishing it off with a warm smile, Bubai casually tossed the handkerchief into storage and brought his hand to caress for her palish face, “Rest a bit?”

  The emotionless iceberg’s hand melted into his. “Together?”

  A simple invitation loaded with meaning.

  Bubai simply nodded and led her towards the bed.

  Rooting herself by the bedside, Xiao Lan nudged him, insisting he lie down first, a request he happily complied with.

  Laying ft on the subtly uneven surface of the bed, he watched the white lic snuggle on top of him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  Pulling a bnket out of thin air, he draped it on top of her cool body, and his hands naturally found themselves hugging her willowy waist.

  Giving him one st peek, Xiao Lan’s eyelids fluttered shut.

  Gazing upon her serene sleeping visage, Bubai's eyes softened, but his heart hardened while his mind was wondering how much longer this fragile peace could st…

  That seed of pleasure inside her was a parasite sucking away her very life essence. If nothing was done, not only her cultivation base but every part of her will wither away.

  The mysterious nonsense of this cultivation world was finally rearing its ugly head, and his choice to forgo the Seed of Pleasure Art was now coming back to bite him.

  Had he picked that method, perhaps there would have been a way to fight poison with poison!

  Then again, going down this path would’ve given up a lot in exchange.

  Would the earlier exchanges with the fairy be possible without his memory bank? Would his promotion to foundation establishment been so fast?

  Disregarding these unpredictable boons and focusing on something more concrete...

  The Seed of Pleasure Art was namely designed for leeching off the cultivation base of other women, which was redundant—if not utterly incomparable—to the Qi-absorption function of his mysterious space.

  Moreover, the Qi cultivated by this method cked any unique effects, such as the sharpness of sword Qi or the illusory powers of his own memory Qi.

  Of course, these bonuses were secondary, but if one wanted to ascend to the peak, these other conditions must be taken into account!

  Cultivation was a cumutive process, and racking up more bonuses early game helps get the snowball rolling for the te game.

  The better the method, the better the advantage.

  Rarer and more powerful methods conferred greater enhancements, while legends spoke of those that bestowed combat prowess that transcended conventional ranks or even extraordinary, heaven-defying abilities!

  That was something a protagonist probably had, but... sadly, it had nothing to do with him-

  Ahem. Well… his almighty cheat aside, Bubai has to admit… having a dreamy memory bank that could be used as the base for illusory techniques wasn’t bad at all.

  Too bad wet dreams can’t do much against the seed of pleasure except be the fertilizer for its growth.

  Heck, even his mysterious green Qi exacerbates the process, and he really didn’t dare to see if his green dew could assimite the seed of pleasure first or if the seed could outgrow Xiao Lan’s will to live first...

  Unlike his own gluttonous seed, which opted to steadily drain his Qi over eighteen years, the insidious seed of pleasure was not so sustainable in its practice.

  Fast results was its only aim, and anything else could be sacrificed, including the life of the victim.

  The stronger the cultivation base, the longer the victim sts, but this didn’t mean their will and vitality could st just as long.

  Even if it can, it was pure torture.

  If he took too long, all that remains might be just a shell of Xiao Lan, or worse, a sve of pleasure. This wasn’t what he wanted.

  This was why it was better if he can get rid of the seed of pleasure as soon as possible.

  Regrettably, the vow had been made, yet no viable solution surfaced in his mind — or at least none he could use without risks.

  "Maybe, just maybe that would work…"

  But before he could act on that glimmer of hope, there was one final test he needed to complete.

  Bubai’s eyes darkened ominously, and he did his best to kill off his reluctance…

  As if sensing the turbulent storm in his heart, Xiao Lan stirred, cracking open her eyes to search his. “Okay?”

  Bubai returned a sunny smile. “Fine. Rest. Once they’re back, you might not have time to rest...”

  Rumble. Rumble… Speak of the devil.

  The rumbles coming from downstairs can’t be more familiar. It goes without saying who was back.

  Now, it was time to deal with the two troubles: the traitor and the maid.