Chapter 544: Eat Myself

As soon as she returned to Qifeng Courtyard, Pan Yun shut the door and set up an array to isolate her room.

Pan Xiaohei watched her bustle about until evening, when she finally finished, then went as usual to the cafeteria for dinner, bathed and changed clothes, and upon returning to her room immediately activated the array, expending several spirit talismans to do so.

The aura within her room was quietly concealed.

Pan Yun sat cross-legged, first calming her mind and letting her cultivation method complete two minor heavenly circulations, then slowly summoned the Spirit Mirror from her Baihui Palace.

As her physical body emerged, Pan Xiaohei shot up its head at once, eyes gleaming as it stared at her.

Pan Yun opened her eyes and gazed at the Spirit Mirror floating before her.

Three jade petals rotated before her, opening and closing, and whether it was her imagination or not, she felt they were even more lustrous and pure, as if jade nectar flowed within them, translucent to the core.

Pan Yun leaned closer to look, then asked the Spirit: "Pan Xiaohei, come over and see—has your body become more beautiful?"

Pan Xiaohei leapt onto the bed and leaned in to examine it, then said after a moment: "It's definitely more beautiful."

Pan Yun's eyes lit up brightly: "Could it be because of merit?"

Aside from this, they simply could not think of any other reason.

Pan Yun scolded Pan Xiaohei: "Look, if you'd just confessed to me earlier, we wouldn't have wasted eight years. There clearly exists a win-win solution where both of us benefit—you stubbornly chose selfishness, yet even your selfish gains are less than what I gain from our mutual benefit."

Pan Xiaohei: …

Pan Yun shook her head and sighed: "I'll remember this incident and treat it as a lesson."

Pan Xiaohei: "Only you could frame holding a grudge so freshly and elegantly."

"By the way, I'm clearly generous and magnanimous—if I held grudges, could I possibly be your good friend now?"

Pan Xiaohei froze, its dark, glossy eyes fixed on her: "We're friends?"

Pan Yun replied offhandedly: "Of course—we've eaten and lived together for so many years. What else could we be?"

Pan Xiaohei's gaze returned to its physical form, and it said solemnly: "I can feel that when the next seal is broken, the Spirit Mirror will be vastly different."

"Too much time has passed, and I've been sealed for too long—I've forgotten many things. Once another seal is broken, I might recall something, and then I can give you an answer."

Pan Yun glanced at the progress bar and shook her head: "No, there's no time. Last time, we only broke one seal by using Wang Zhen's money to do good deeds. To break the next one, we need a massive amount of merit—it's impossible to reach in a short time. Yet we must resolve the issue of merit manifesting externally within two months."

Pan Yun reached out and took the Spirit Mirror into her hand, examining closely the various arrays upon it.

She fell into thought: "They think I'm delicious because they believe eating me will greatly boost their cultivation. But here's the question—does eating me truly boost cultivation?"

Pan Xiaohei: "Didn't your senior brother already answer that for you?"

"But I doubt it—he's never eaten a human, after all." Pan Yun rolled up her sleeve to inspect her arm, lost in thought: "And when they say 'eat,' do they mean consuming me whole, or would a slice of flesh or a drop of blood suffice? Must it be the whole body?"

Pan Xiaohei found her eyes dark and unsettling, and it involuntarily swallowed: "W-what are you planning to do?"

Pan Yun also swallowed: "I wonder if eating myself would work."

Pan Xiaohei's fur stood on end: "Y-you've suffered qi deviation from overexertion?" But Pan Yun's eyes grew brighter with each thought: "Don't you think my body's design resembles Tang Sanzang's? I may not reach his level—eating me won't grant immortality—but it could still enhance cultivation.

It feels just like a demon's flesh, suitable for medicinal pills—could I cut off my own flesh and refine it into pills?"

Pan Xiaohei: "... Prove it, then let the human race start fighting over you?"

Pan Yun shook her head: "No. I'm seeking the root cause. Don't you find it strange? There are countless people more virtuous than I am—many of them wealthy.

Whether rich or poor, there are good and evil people alike—wealthy good souls build bridges, repair roads, respect elders, care for children, give generously, and distribute porridge to the needy. Their good deeds and accumulated merit must surely exceed mine, yet never has heaven shown any sign, let alone granted them visible merit that makes demons and ghosts drool."

Pan Yun asked Pan Xiaohei: "So—is merit manifesting a good thing or a bad thing?"

Pan Xiaohei was momentarily speechless.

Pan Yun gazed at the Spirit Mirror spinning in her palm, her lips barely curved: "I used to think it was a good thing—on the surface I found it troublesome, but inwardly I was secretly proud."

Pan Xiaohei: … I never thought you were this kind of Pan Yun.

"In my past life, though I was a genius, there were many others just as brilliant—I was exhausted by academic papers, research, and cultivation. My head was nearly bald from stress. For the first time, I felt the weight of everyone's attention."

No error in any word, sentence, or content!

Pan Xiaohei's face twitched with black lines: "Then why didn't you keep indulging in it?"

Pan Yun was heartbroken: "Because when I realized countless unseen eyes were watching me, I woke up—I felt like a premium product on sale at a supermarket opening."

"Like beef priced at 9.9 yuan per box—no matter how noble, it's still just food."

"To them, I'm just a pile of food," Pan Yun said. "Tell me—what's there to be proud or happy about as food?"

Pan Xiaohei burst into laughter, clutching its belly with both paws: "Beef? More like a box of discounted chicken eggs—9.9 yuan!"

"None of this matters now. Set aside what we don't understand and solve the practical problem first."

Pan Yun swiftly drew her sword and placed it beside her: "If the root cause is hard to find, let's first identify every surface cause."

Pan Xiaohei stared at the gleaming blade and recoiled half a step, nearly stumbling off the bed.

"Y-you really plan to cut off your flesh and eat yourself?"

"I always assumed merit resided above the soul—after all, a person's afterlife is influenced by past merit. But if so many demons want to eat me, doesn't that imply my flesh and blood are useful too?" Pan Yun's expression turned serious: "I want to test this."

Pan Xiaohei stammered: "T-test it—and then what?"

Pan Yun raised the Spirit Mirror in her palm: "Then… it'll get interesting. I need to seriously consider whether to refine the spirit to transcend the flesh—or to become a god through the flesh itself."

A flash of insight struck Pan Xiaohei's mind, its eyes instantly sharpening: "You plan to refine the remaining Merit Stones into your own body?"

Pan Yun glanced at it: "Why the rush? We're one being—what's mine is yours."

"Bullshit! My physical form is in your Baihui Palace—you've been so domineering you won't even let me return to it, yet you say we're one being? I believe you? Not a chance!" (End of Chapter)