Chapter 546: Forced

Pan Yun released the sword hilt.

Pan Xiaohei refused to let her off, warning: "Pan Yun, don't even think about swapping my body like it's an unlimited experimental specimen—I love this body, and I'm never changing it!"

Pan Yun nodded repeatedly, coaxing: "I know, I know, I won't lay a hand on you. Today we won't eat meat—let you first consolidate your cultivation, alright?"

Pan Xiaohei grunted twice, jumped off the bed, then leapt into its nest, perfectly positioned to bask in the moonlight streaming through the high window; it closed its eyes and cultivated.

Pan Yun lowered her head to treat her wound, gazing down in thought, lost in whatever she was pondering.

By the time she finished recording her notes and stowed them in the Spirit Realm space, the moon had risen above the willow branches.

Her gaze pierced through the window lattice to fix on the moon in the sky; she fell silent for a long while before stepping toward the bed, lying down, and pulling the quilt over herself as she closed her eyes.

Pan Yun gave Pan Xiaohei three days; on the third day, she took her sword and sliced a piece of flesh from the inside of her own arm right before Pan Xiaohei's eyes.

The flesh landed neatly on the scale's tray, resting atop a thin, cloud-like sheet of glutinous rice paper.

Pan Xiaohei's pupils trembled; Pan Yun, however, remained expressionless, swiftly wrapping a bandage around the wound to barely stem the bleeding before picking up the scale to weigh it.

Then she pushed the entire glutinous rice paper sheet right under Pan Xiaohei's nose: "Try eating it raw and see the effect."

Pan Xiaohei: "You—you're still planning to cook some?"

Pan Yun glanced at it and said: "Don't you want to know how my flesh performs as a pill ingredient?"

Pan Xiaohei: "... Are all researchers this insane?"

Pan Yun smiled at it: "Don't talk nonsense—it's perfectly normal research. You should be honored to be my experimental partner, since I'm the one giving, and you're the one benefiting."

But Pan Xiaohei ate the benefit with heart-pounding dread.

Pan Yun urged it: "Hurry up, the meat's almost cold."

Pan Xiaohei:... Isn't it already cold to begin with?

Pan Xiaohei had no aversion to eating human flesh—but eating Pan Yun's flesh was another matter.

It paced forward, constantly stealing glances at her expression; seeing her utterly calm and even encouraging, it quickened its steps.

The moment the flesh entered its mouth, Pan Xiaohei's eyelids grew heavy—pā jī—a thud—and it collapsed into a deep sleep.

Pan Yun sprang up in shock, seeing its entire body swelling; she gasped—could this really happen? She'd sliced it thin enough—how could its spiritual energy surge so violently?

Ignoring her unbandaged wound, she saw its body swelling further, raised her hand to gently stroke its head, and instantly entered its body.

Pan Xiaohei was struggling to organize its surging spiritual energy; seeing her appear, its jet-black eyes silently glared at her.

Pan Yun felt a twinge of guilt: "Experiments always bring unexpected outcomes—I'll help you sort out your spiritual energy."

Pan Xiaohei was a spirit; controlling this body's computational power was more than sufficient—the problem was the body's own limitations.

It said: "This body and its cultivation level can't handle it. No amount of sorting from you will help."

Pan Yun frowned slightly: "Let me extract some of the spiritual energy first—then let it flow back after you've stabilized what's inside?"

Pan Xiaohei: "I've already swallowed it—do you expect me to vomit it back up for you? We're living beings, not your lab machines—you can't just stop or siphon us at will."

Pan Yun: "Others certainly couldn't—but perhaps I can. After all, the surging spiritual energy inside you now comes from my flesh and blood."

Pan Xiaohei fell silent.

Pan Yun began to channel—a cluster of spiritual energy was drawn from Pan Xiaohei's body and condensed in her palm.

Hours passed—slowly, the mass of spiritual energy hovering above Pan Xiaohei's head and in Pan Yun's palm shrank as it was absorbed.

Pan Yun kept her hand pressed against its head, waiting a long while before withdrawing it.

Carefully, she moved Pan Xiaohei into its nest, then turned to examine the wound on the inside of her arm.

The next day, Pan Yun went out alone.

Miao He automatically made two extra vegetarian buns; only when she picked them up did she realize something was wrong: "Little Master Shu, where's Pan Xiaohei?"

Pan Yun took the buns from her hand: "It's in seclusion cultivating—don't prepare its meal today."

Miao He: "Cats go into seclusion too?"

Pan Yun finished eating the bun, offhandedly: "Write this down—it'll be useful later. Demons cultivate in seclusion too."

Miao He immediately shifted focus, nodding vigorously: "Yes, yes, must write it down!"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Tao Yanbai weren't surprised either, when Pan Xiaohei emerged from seclusion, the three of them circled it, asking: "Three days of seclusion—any progress?"

Pan Xiaohei: "My cultivation surged—I'm no longer an ordinary spirit cat."

Miao Zhen immediately opened her Heavenly Eye to inspect it, puzzled: "Still first stage?"

Pan Xiaohei flicked its paw—swiftly, a branch of the tea tree was cleanly sliced off; it boasted: "There's a difference even within first stage."

Beside it, Pan Yun clapped loudly: "Amazing! Amazing! Definitely need cultivation!"

Pan Xiaohei was thoroughly pleased.

Pan Yun pulled out a vial of pills, offering it with both hands, smiling sweetly: "Little Black, you've got to keep going—this is a pill I made for you. Take one tonight and return to seclusion."

Pan Xiaohei froze solid.

Seeing it not move, Pan Yun tipped the pill out and held it to its mouth, softly: "Come on, eat it~~"

Pan Xiaohei turned its head away: "... What kind of pill is this?"

Pan Yun immediately replied: "It's the new Guiyuan Pill—Miao He made it for you herself!"

Pan Xiaohei panicked, meowing frantically: "... What do you mean 'new Guiyuan Pill'?"

Pan Yun relayed the question.

"It's just a Guiyuan Pill made with a new formula," Miao He said. "Normally Guiyuan Pills need a thousand-year powder, but Little Master Shu substituted something else—and it still worked, so I named it the New Guiyuan Pill."

Miao He urged: "I tested it—it works! Little Black, eat it quick!"

Pan Yun and Pan Xiaohei both whipped their heads toward her, eyes wide: "You ate it?"

Miao He jumped, stammering: "Y-yes... new formulas require testing..."

Pan Yun's heart clenched; she rushed forward, grabbed Miao He's wrist, and took her pulse: "Do you feel any discomfort?"

Miao He shook her head.

Pan Yun: "No abnormalities in the primordial force or internal energy within your body either?"

Miao He shook her head: "No abnormalities."

Pan Yun heaved a long sigh of relief, then in an instant her heart leapt back up: "You... ate one? And it had no effect at all?"

Miao He: "No, it's not like that. When testing a pill, you have to scrape off a layer of powder first, and only try the whole pill if there's a problem. But I tried a layer of powder, and I felt the effect was the same as the Return-to-Origin Pill, even better, so..."

Miao He said uneasily: "Little Xiao Shishu, is there something wrong with this pill?"

Pan Xiaohei, standing off to the side, said in a drawn-out voice: "Whether there's a problem or not, you'll have to wait until this cat who's testing the pill has used it to know~~"

Miao He: "Little Xiao Shishu, what did Pan Xiaohei say?"

Pan Yun guiltily avoided Pan Xiaohei's resentful gaze, smiled at her and said: "It says thank you, it will definitely cultivate diligently."

Pan Xiaohei was so angry it stood up, both paws throwing punches at Pan Yun while wailing: "Shut up! You used me to test the pill, wuwuwu cough cough cough..."

Pan Yun forcibly stuffed the pill into its mouth, then pinched the back of its neck and lifted it up, and said to the three astonished people: "I'm taking it back to cultivate, you all go back to your rooms too."