Chapter 249: Experiment

"Let me try and see if I can convert the Demon Power." Meng Yifan held a soybean-sized, Second Grade Yin Attribute Demon Core, then began to circulate his Taiji Fist technique, attempting to see if he could absorb the Demon Power within.

Three minutes later, Meng Yifan opened his eyes and shook his head in disappointment; he could feel that the Demon Core was filled with Yin Attribute energy, and he had already used his Spiritual Power to establish a connection with the energy inside the Demon Core.

However, when he wanted to absorb that energy into his body, he encountered an inexplicable obstruction, as if that energy were wrapped in something and simply could not come out.

Meng Yifan was puzzled. He had used Spirit Stones to assist his cultivation before, and all it took was holding them in his hand and circulating his technique to absorb pure Spirit Power from the Spirit Stones, circulate it through his meridians for one cycle, and then imprint it with his own Spiritual Power to refine it into Spirit Power he could use. Why, then, was he unable to use the same method to cultivate with a Demon Core?

Spirit Stones are objects naturally formed in places where Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi is dense; this is a process that goes from Spirit Qi to Spirit Liquid, and finally to Spirit Stone.

Meanwhile, a Demon Core is an energy core condensed within a Demon Beast's own body as it inhales and exhales Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi over many years.

Although both are fundamentally Heaven and Earth Spirit Power, there is an essential difference between them, and their functions are quite different.

This is similar to how diamond and coal are both essentially carbon elements, yet diamond is the hardest substance in nature and can be made into drill bits and cutting blades, while coal has a loose structure, crumbles under pressure, and can only be used for burning.

"Huh! Could it be that this outer membrane of the Demon Core is blocking the flow of Demon Power?" A thought stirred in Meng Yifan's heart. He found a sharp small knife, shaved off the Demon Core's membrane, then sat cross-legged, holding the Demon Core, and circulated his technique, wanting to absorb the energy within the Demon Core.

Another three minutes passed, and Meng Yifan shook his head in disappointment once again. This time he confirmed it: it was not because the membrane outside the Demon Core was blocking the energy, but because the energy inside the Demon Core was tightly linked to the structure of the Demon Core itself, making it an inseparable whole.

It seems the best way to absorb the energy within a Demon Core is through Alchemy.

Another method is to swallow the entire Demon Core directly into the stomach, using the digestive system and one's own Spirit Power together to refine the energy within the Demon Core.

Alchemy is a highly specialized skill; Immortal Cultivators who master Alchemy are also known as Alchemists. High-level Alchemists have high status, and even if their combat power is not strong, they can still receive the respect of other Immortal Cultivators.

Unfortunately, Meng Yifan did not understand Alchemy, let alone how to refine Demon Cores into pills that Immortal Cultivators could use.

Another method is to directly consume the entire Demon Core. Without a doubt, this is a very risky idea. Ordinary people on Earth know that one shouldn't eat things indiscriminately, let alone a Demon Core.

One must know that a Demon Core is the energy core of the Demon Race, filled with chaotic energy; if it were to explode, the power would be even greater than the explosion of a Hand Grenade.

If this were swallowed into the stomach and exploded, the internal organs would all be blown to smithereens. From this, it can be seen that directly swallowing a Demon Core is truly very dangerous.

"Should I find some death row prisoners to test it?" Thinking of this, Meng Yifan had a few death row prisoners brought over.

Inside the Luolong County jail, a batch of heinous criminals were still being held.

After Meng Yifan took charge of Luolong County, he personally interrogated the prisoners in the jail. Some who were wrongly accused were released directly, and some whose crimes were not serious were sent to the Labor Camp to work off their sentences.

There were others whose actions were truly hair-raising and intolerable to both man and god.

Some loved to eat the brains of small children, saying that eating something replenishes that same part; because of him, over a dozen little children died.

There was another guy whose favorite thing to do was to abduct small children, then break their hands and feet, stuff them into large vases, and teach the children in the vases to sing, taking pleasure in this.

Meng Yifan felt his teeth itch with hatred after reading the case files, feeling that executing them directly would be letting these animals off too easily.

He prepared to wait until Luolong County was stable before making the crimes of these people public, letting them face the judgment of the common people, and finally, in accordance with the law, execute them by Lingchi.

Soon, three death row prisoners wearing black hoods were brought into Meng Yifan's secret chamber. The three of them were very representative; in terms of strength, they were an ordinary person, a First Grade Martial Artist, and a Second Grade Martial Artist. Through them, one could compare what kind of reaction would occur after directly swallowing a Demon Core.

When the three death row prisoners saw Meng Yifan, they all trembled with fear. They already knew that Meng Yifan was a ruthless character who killed without blinking, and they did not know how Meng Yifan would deal with them.

Meng Yifan did not waste words with these death row prisoners; he first pried open the mouth of the ordinary death row prisoner and stuffed a Second Grade Demon Core inside.

After five minutes, that ordinary death row prisoner began to have a reaction. He was seen sweating profusely, his whole body turning bright red, restless and uneasy, constantly twisting and wanting to break free from the restraints of the ropes.

Unfortunately, the ropes Meng Yifan used to bind them were made of Third Grade Demon Beast hide mixed with wire, which was very sturdy; even a Second Grade Martial Artist wouldn't be able to break free, let alone this ordinary death row prisoner.

That ordinary death row prisoner struggled more and more violently, his hands and feet rubbed raw and bloody by the ropes. He was still struggling violently, and immediately after, an unbelievable change occurred on his body.

His skin suddenly bulged with goose-egg-sized lumps, and these flesh lumps became more and more numerous, soon covering his entire body from head to toe; the whole person looked as if he had turned into a monster covered in large boils.

"Ah! Help, I'm so uncomfortable." The death row prisoner's voice was hoarse, emitting miserable cries for mercy. The large boils on his body seemed like the pustules on the back of a Toad, and now, as they continued to swell, the tops of the boils began to ooze pus, looking very ferocious and terrifying.

Finally, the stomach of that ordinary death row prisoner was like an inflated balloon, expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then, with a bang, it exploded directly.

"Holy crap!" Meng Yifan was dumbfounded; this was too terrifying.

The other two death row prisoners, seeing their companion's miserable state of death, trembled all over and lost control of their bowels, and if it weren't for the ropes holding them in place, they would surely have collapsed onto the ground.

"That death row prisoner's digestive system must have digested the Demon Core, and then the Demon Power of the Demon Core spread inside his body; that death row prisoner couldn't absorb so much energy, which is why he was blown up."

"The large boils that appeared on his body are very similar to the pustules of a Toad Demon Beast. Could it be that because that Second Grade Demon Core was obtained from a Toad Demon Beast, it means that directly consuming a Demon Core will cause a person's body to mutate and become a half-demon?" Meng Yifan frowned, lost in thought.