Chapter 545: Experiment

Pan Yun: "Trying won't hurt—I don't even have to refine the Merit Stone onto myself. This is all under consideration. Don't be so certain."

Pan Xiaohei turned away, presenting his fat rear to her: "Don't ask me. Do whatever you want."

"That won't work. You and I are one. You need to cooperate."

Pan Xiaohei turned his head and glared: "You eat yourself—what am I supposed to cooperate with?"

Pan Yun: "I really want to test it myself, but I just can't bring myself to bite into it. So I want you to try it for me."

Pan Xiaohei widened his eyes: "You want me to eat you?"

Pan Yun placed her hand on his head, stroking gently again and again, smiling faintly as she threatened: "Is there anyone more suitable than you?"

Pan Xiaohei shuddered under her hand—he didn't want to eat her, not even if it meant instant immortality.

But it wasn't up to him. Just like his physical form was held in Pan Yun's grasp, whether he existed or vanished depended solely on her thought.

Pan Xiaohei regretted it again—why had he ever thought she was the youngest, easiest to manipulate in the institute, and chosen her soul for time-space transit?

This woman is ruthless—even toward herself. Who knows how ruthless she'd be toward others?

Pan Yun waved her hand and sealed the Spirit Realm into her dantian, then pulled out a box from within the Spirit Realm's space.

Inside the box was a complete set of measuring instruments.

These were prepared for them by Wang Feiyin.

Mount Sanqing primarily specializes in medicine; alchemy is their main work.

Studying pills requires precise measurements, so whenever they took in a new disciple, Wang Feiyin would descend the mountain and spend heavily to commission a custom set of measuring tools—weighing devices and volume containers.

He gave one piece each holiday. According to Seeing Miao Zhen, if they hadn't suddenly come to Long Hushan Academy, he could've kept giving them one per year for nine years, starting at age three and finishing exactly at age twelve.

Saving on gifts.

Seeing Miao Zhen and the others received several different measuring tools each year; Pan Yun got lucky—Mount Sanqing gathered the full set in one year.

Pan Yun picked up a measuring cup, then paused, thought again, and switched to another.

Pan Xiaohei saw the cup shrink from medium to small, sighed in relief—he truly didn't want to do this.

Those demons didn't know Pan Yun, so they thought she tasted delicious. But to him, she was just a stinking, hard rock.

Even when she occasionally emitted a powerful aroma of deliciousness, briefly confusing him, he still didn't think she'd be easy to eat.

Pan Yun, however, acted decisively—once decided, she stabbed her own wrist with her sword, creating a blood wound.

She stared intently at the measuring cup, afraid too little blood would yield weak effects and make calculations difficult, so she filled it to the maximum mark.

She dared not contaminate the blood, so she turned aside to stop the bleeding, wrapped the gauze around in one swift motion, then tilted her chin toward Pan Xiaohei: "While it's still warm."

Pan Xiaohei: …

"You've been in the institute all these years—you know what data I need, right?" Pan Yun said. "I want your measurements to be precise."

Pan Xiaohei: "What if the blood doesn't work?"

Pan Yun grinned at him: "Then we move to flesh—I've already decided which part of me you'll eat."

If blood and flesh both fail…

A cold glint flashed in Pan Yun's eyes; her awareness settled into her dantian—that must be a soul issue.

To eat her consciousness? Dream on.

Pan Xiaohei always felt her actions weren't merely to solve the Merit Manifestation problem, but he couldn't figure out why—so he obeyed, lowered his head, and drank the blood in the cup in one gulp…

Pan Yun watched his reaction closely.

Surprise flickered across his cat face—he truly could enhance cultivation.

His dark, round eyes met Pan Yun's; the cat was stunned, while her eyes lit up brightly: "So I'm this awesome?"

Pan Yun leaned closer, excitedly asking: "How much did it boost?"

Pan Xiaohei: "... Wait a bit longer."

After fifteen minutes, Pan Xiaohei felt his primordial energy stop increasing, then looked up at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun signaled him to speak quickly.

Pan Xiaohei: "You know I'm a cat now, right?"

"Yes, yes—how much did it increase?"

Pan Xiaohei: "You also know my cultivation is extremely low—just slightly stronger than an ordinary cat, still relying on claws and teeth to fight."

Pan Yun, now calmer, narrowed her eyes: "Just tell me the exact increase. I'm a mature researcher—I'll judge it myself. Are you saying your cultivation shot up dramatically because you're so weak?"

Pan Xiaohei stayed silent.

Pan Yun leaned even closer, whispering: "How much?"

Pan Xiaohei extended his front paw: "Because my cultivation is so low, it increased by about fifty percent."

Before stabbing herself, Pan Yun had assessed the cat's baseline cultivation.

She looked at him with disdain: "Fifty percent? With your pathetic cultivation, that's… the blood's enhancement is pretty average."

Not just average—it was extremely average, because higher cultivation requires exponentially more primordial energy to break through.

Pan Xiaohei had just entered Stage One; to break through, he'd need to accumulate ten thousand times his current primordial energy.

The blood's boost seemed enormous to Pan Xiaohei individually, but in the grand scheme, it was negligible.

Pan Yun placed her hand on Pan Xiaohei's head: "Give me the number."

Pan Xiaohei: …

Pan Yun narrowed her eyes: "If you don't report it, I can measure you again."

Pan Xiaohei growled: "Will you stop measuring me if I report it?"

"If you report it, I won't be so thorough—won't measure every inch of your body."

Furious, Pan Xiaohei still gave the exact number.

Pan Yun was right—he wasn't human, nor a cat—he was a spirit, habitually quantifying everything, his cultivation and primordial energy included.

Pan Yun reached out and stroked its head, letting a wisp of yuan energy sweep through its body, and after estimating that it wasn't lying, she withdrew her hand.

Pan Yun almost instantly calculated in her head the augmenting effect of its blood, precise down to a single drop, and from there extrapolated to the blood in its entire body…

Pan Yun murmured, "Still need to factor in the meat — only then will the data be more precise."

Pan Xiaohei: "There's one more thing…"

Pan Yun looked over.

Pan Xiaohei: "I feel the newly grown yuan energy is a bit strange."

Pan Yun immediately took it seriously: "Strange in what way?"

Pan Xiaohei shook its head: "I can't put it into words."

Pan Yun, lost in thought: "It might be because we haven't eaten the meat yet — the blood has to go together with the meat."

No sooner said than done, she was about to get to work, when Pan Xiaohei immediately stretched out a paw and pressed down her hand, its cat-eyes wide: "Pan Yun, don't push me into cursing you out — my cultivation only just surged by fifty percent, do you want me to burst apart and die?"

Pan Yun frowned: "If too much yuan energy is absorbed at once, you yao will also burst apart and die? Then when they wanted to eat me, how did they determine the dosage?"

Pan Xiaohei: "…When people are blinded by profit they lose their reason, let alone yao? Burst apart and you're dead, that's all. But I'm not them — I'm a spirit, I'm rational!"