Chapter 547

When Pan Xiaohei woke again, it was three days later. Pan Yun recorded the data and pondered: "So the alchemical pill effect is still better—definitely requires scientific ratios."

Pan Xiaohei: …

It scanned her body with its gaze, puzzled: "Where did you cut this time?"

There wasn't a single new wound on her.

Pan Yun extended her ten fingers, blew gently, and said: "Thousand-Year Powder is ground from turtle shells; the turtle must be at least fifty years old at minimum. This shell is mine too—though I haven't lived that long, my cultivation is high."

Pan Xiaohei: …

It suppressed the urge to vomit, turned away silently, presenting its increasingly fat rear end to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun didn't mind; two days later, she shoved another pill into its mouth.

This time Pan Xiaohei showed no reaction at all. It pondered, slightly surprised: "This pill isn't like a Guiyuan Pill—it's more like a tonic. I don't feel my primordial energy restored, just my blood and qi replenished."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow slightly and pulled out her notebook to write it down.

Pan Xiaohei trembled, hopped over, and asked: "Pan Yun, what's the name of this pill you're feeding me?"

Pan Yun: "New-New Guiyuan Pill."

Pan Xiaohei's paws trembled: "What ingredient did you swap out?"

Pan Yun patted its head reassuringly: "Don't worry—it's still Thousand-Year Powder, just swapped for Seeing Miao Zhen's shell."

Pan Xiaohei relaxed slightly: Good, good—not anything weird. Nails are already something I've eaten once; eating them again isn't a big deal.

As the thought flashed through its mind, Pan Xiaohei suddenly realized how far it had retreated—and screamed: "Pan Yun, you're PUA'ing me!"

The voice pierced the door with sharp clarity.

Outside, Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He were startled. Without thinking, they kicked the door open and rushed in: "Little Master, there's an assassin!"

Pan Yun turned, holding Pan Xiaohei, and waved the black cat: "You mean this one?"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He stared wide-eyed: "But… but that was a human voice…"

Pan Yun lifted Pan Xiaohei higher and smiled: "Try making another sound?"

Pan Xiaohei itself was startled, momentarily stunned—only after Pan Yun tapped its head twice did it angrily lift its head.

Looking up at the two at the door, it suddenly felt nervous, stammering: "Meow~ I, I can… ah, I can speak human language?"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He's eyes lit up, their eyelids lifted, their entire faces glowing: "Xiaohei can talk!!!"

Pan Yun casually tossed Pan Xiaohei into their arms: "What's so special about Xiaohei speaking? It's always been smart, deeply attuned to humans—just lacked cultivation. Now that its cultivation has surged, the cartilage blocking its throat has dissolved—it naturally speaks."

For plants and animals, bodily transformation is merely the first and easiest step toward human speech;

their real hurdle lies in awakening intelligence.

Only when spiritual intelligence reaches a certain level can they speak human language; only after reaching that same level can they transform into human form.

But Pan Xiaohei is a spirit-soul inhabiting a black cat—it's a realm spirit, so its spiritual intelligence is unquestionable.

It couldn't speak before solely due to cultivation limits.

Now that its cultivation has risen, it can speak immediately.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He hugged Pan Xiaohei excitedly, played with it awhile, then asked: "Little Master, can Xiaohei come to class with us?"

Pan Yun waved her hand: "Go ahead. Study hard—saves you tuition."

Free of charge? That sounded great.

But Pan Xiaohei had another worry: "Won't they kick me out too?"

"No," Pan Yun said. "You're not a demon cat—you're a spirit cat."

Pan Xiaohei: "Oh, so now I'm a spirit cat again."

Miao He sighed: "Little Master, Xiaohei's voice sounds just like Master's."

Pan Yun nodded: "Exactly. Makes your fists clench—any second you want to punch someone."

Although Pan Xiaohei could now speak, it didn't want to speak in front of outsiders.

So the moment the courtyard gate opened, it clamped its mouth shut.

Zhang Weiliang stepped in, paused, and swallowed hard: "Why are you all staring at me?"

Pan Yun, the three, and the cat all looked away, ignoring him.

Zhang Weiliang exhaled quietly and hurried back to his room.

The pressure in this courtyard was too great—he planned to move out next year and train outside all year.

After all, fifth-year students primarily train through field expeditions.

Just as Zhang Weiliang was about to close the door, he paused, then stuck his head out: "Pan Yun, your disciple got detention again at Ten Hua Courtyard."

Pan Yun waved at him: "Got it."

Ten Hua Courtyard mainly teaches students offensive arts—in other words, Wu Gong and offensive spells.

Unlike Dao Medicine, Talismans, Pharmacology, or Spellcraft—which are electives—Ten Hua Courtyard is mandatory for first- and second-year students.

Every student entering the palace must master two Wu Gong techniques and five offensive spells within two years.

If they fail, they must retake the course. One year's failure extends to the next, until they pass all assessments.

Tao Yanbai showed great talent in Dao Medicine. After sensing spiritual energy and successfully guiding it into his body for the first time, his cultivation speed skyrocketed—his affinity with spiritual energy was even envied by Pan Yun.

Logically, if he had talent for internal cultivation, he should also have talent for external cultivation—like Wu Gong and spells.

But Tao Yanbai didn't.

He cultivated internal energy—his primordial energy surged upward; once converted, aided by internal cultivation techniques, his internal force skyrocketed even faster.

But when learning spells, his two fingers twisted like knots—he couldn't form fast, complete hand seals no matter what.

Oh, forming hand seals wasn't just about accuracy—you had to channel internal force simultaneously to activate the seal's effect.

Tao Yanbai could manage his hands or his internal force, but never both: focus on the hands, and the internal force faltered; focus on the internal force, and the hand seal failed.

The former was dangerous—internal force could go astray; one misstep meant internal injury;

The latter is four-star dangerous, because internal force surges with no outlet — the mild case is internal injury, the severe case is qi deviation.

Tao Yanbai was only learning one Earth-Tunneling Art, and he vomited blood three times.

Pan Yun had already picked out for him the technique with the simplest hand seals and internal cultivation method. She no longer expected him to finish learning all six Earth-Tunneling Arts from the Academy and the Spirit Realm — if he could master just one, she would be content.

Pan Yun let out a sigh.

Seeing Miao Zhen let out a sigh.

Miao He also let out a sigh.

Pan Xiaohei looked left, looked right, and sighed along with them.

Pan Yun rose: "I'll go call him back. When he practices spells, someone still has to stand guard for him."

Don't sneak off and practice in hiding, and end up vomiting all your blood out without anyone knowing.

Tao Yanbai wasn't alone — someone had been kept after class with him.

That person was called Qu Le.

At this moment, the two of them stood face to face, both drenched in sweat, forming hand seals at each other.

The senior disciple of the Ten Flowers Court stood above, watching on his master's behalf. Seeing their hand seals warp again as they formed them, he immediately stepped forward to correct them.

He sighed at Qu Le, then let out a great sigh at Tao Yanbai: "Junior Brother Tao, if Qu Le can't learn it, so be it — he has no talent to begin with. But you… why on earth can't you learn it either?"