Chapter Twelve: The Deal

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Tao Ji was aboard the ship, muttering about the black cat. “Pan Yun is so harsh to it; I wonder if she might abandon it to save herself.” After all, a little girl carrying a black cat was quite conspicuous and easier to inquire about. If it were him, he might very well leave the cat behind to escape pursuers.

Whenever Tao Ji thought about the black cat wandering the world, suffering hunger and cold with a lame leg, perhaps someday meeting its old friend all dirty and tangled, he felt a pang of sorrow.

Xuan Miao glanced at him. “Third Senior Brother, don’t focus solely on alchemy; you should study some divination arts as well.”

“Pan Yun won’t abandon that cat. Though I don’t know the reason, their fates are intertwined. The bond between her and the cat runs deeper than that between her and her father, Pan Hong.”

Tao Ji said, “Then once we reach Kaifeng, can’t we just ask around about a little girl carrying a cat to find her?”

Xuan Miao replied, “If she hides the cat, it won’t be so easy. Just be thorough and mainly inquire about a child around seven or eight years old, traveling alone.”

Children of that age, once dressed up, could be indistinguishable in gender, so even that detail couldn’t be certain.

However, when they asked around at Zhuxian Town, no record existed of any seven or eight-year-old traveling alone at the dock.

Someone was asked twice and grew irritated, snapping, “Who would dare let a child that young travel alone by boat from Daming Prefecture to Kaifeng? Aren’t they afraid of water spirits catching them as substitutes in death?”

Tao Ji stood there looking innocent, turning to glance at Xuan Miao.

Xuan Miao frowned, then turned away. “Let’s eat first. We’ll search again after we’re full.”

They found a stall and sat down. Xuan Miao took out a handful of copper coins, selecting the cleanest three, shaking them in her palm, casting six times in a row, then laid out the divination.

Tao Ji whispered, “Junior Sister, didn’t you say it’s not good to divine the same matter repeatedly?”

Xuan Miao said, “When there’s no other way, of course we must.”

She studied the hexagrams with a furrowed brow. The sign was peculiar—showing danger but no ill omen. After pondering, she decided to redo the reading.

She kept it simple, asking only, “Where is Pan Yun now?”

The results came out, and Xuan Miao said, “After we eat, we’ll head north. The sign indicates Pan Yun is to our north.”

Tao Ji asked, “Could she have already gone north from Kaifeng? If so, traveling by land would be faster to catch up.”

Though Xuan Miao sensed something was off, she couldn’t pinpoint it and had to agree. “Heading toward Datong won’t be wrong. Her ultimate goal is to find Pan Hong and his son in Datong.”

After their meal, Xuan Miao and Tao Ji rented horses at the carriage and horse shop.

Indeed, to pursue her, they finally splurged on renting mounts.

Each on horseback, they rode north along the official road, scanning the people to the north. They stopped only at dusk.

By the fire, Tao Ji added wood, incredulous. “She’s nowhere on this route. Could she have rented carriages like them? But I thought she had no money. Or are we mistaken?”

Xuan Miao cast divinations again, then tucked away the coins, speaking gravely, “She’s still north of us.”

Tao Ji hesitated to speak.

Xuan Miao snorted, “I can’t have erred. She definitely went south by water before.”

Then how could she have reached north of them so quickly?

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Tao Ji’s eyes widened. “Could it be some arcane art? Shrinking distance to inches, traveling thousands of miles swiftly?”

Growing more excited, Tao Ji exclaimed, “It’s possible! Junior Sister, she can hide in plum trees. You don’t know these secret techniques. Unfortunately, she’s been so fierce all along, it’s hard to ask about such mysteries.”

Xuan Miao pondered, considering the possibility.

No matter what, she was fired up by this challenge, clenching her fist. “I must catch her.”

By the flickering firelight, Pan Yun completed a small internal cycle, pressing spiritual energy into her dantian to transform it into her power. The excess dispersed throughout her limbs and body, nourishing every part.

The fatigue of recent days vanished. She stretched her arms and legs, feeling refreshed. “For eight years, I’ve never felt this healthy.”

The black cat lying on the leaves remained silent.

Pan Yu glanced down at it, sitting cross-legged opposite the cat, choosing to speak face-to-face. “Since we officially met, we’ve never had the space or time for a serious talk. Now that no outsiders are here, for our future, don’t you think we should be open and honest?”

The black cat raised its front, sitting like her with its rear, though its hind legs were trapped by branches, splayed awkwardly, making it look less dignified. It meowed deeply, “Alright, let’s talk.”

Suddenly, a beautifully embroidered spring blade appeared in Pan Yun’s hand. The cat startled, flipping over with a startled “gurgle,” angry “meow” escaping it before Pan Yun crossed the blade over her knees.

“See? I don’t need you to retrieve things from the Three Jade Spirit Realm.”

The cat’s anger paused, silent.

“That means the Three Jade Spirit Realm, without its spirit, is like the research lab’s realm from my past life—parts of it have been unsealed and can be used,” Pan Yun explained. “Now, it resides within my dantian palace, unified with my soul. Naturally, aside from the sealed parts, I can use whatever I want.”

Thus, for her, the spirit was more a liability than a benefit. Unless it brought her significant advantage, it was hard to convince her to keep it.

The cat, having followed her all this way, knew reasoning with her was futile. She was ruthless and still resented it for consuming her spiritual energy for eight years. It was unlikely she would let it back into her mind just because of their mutual assistance.

“Long-buried memories were sealed; I don’t remember much,” the cat began. “But I still recall my original purpose.”

It sat up, gazing at the moon, reminiscing. “A human body is just a vessel; the soul is fundamental. The soul is eternal, granting immortality. My creator intended to make me a world capable of containing souls. In my world, these conscious beings can continue and transcend, possessing extraordinary wisdom.”

“In my world, they can achieve immortality!”

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow, surprised by this development.

Her fingers tapped the sheath lightly, musing, “Super AI? No, that’s not right. Eternal life beyond the body—that even super AI can’t achieve.”

The cat sneered. “That’s soul alchemy!”

Pan Yun glanced at it. “Did you and your creator succeed?”

The cat lowered its head. “I don’t know. I was sealed.”

“But I know that what’s unsealed now is just a tiny fraction of me. Space, storage card functions—compared to my other parts, these are trivial.”

Seeing Pan Yun didn’t refute it, the cat spoke more earnestly. “This world differs from the last. The spiritual energy is scant, cultivation is harder, and here, technology is backward. Above us sits an emperor who can arbitrarily decide life and death. Obtaining cultivation resources here is far more difficult than before.”

“But I am your resource!”

Seeing Pan Yun deep in thought, the cat proudly lifted its head. “You don’t know, do you? In the past life, the cultivation method you practiced was flawed—the energy retention rate was very low, always leaking around the body.”

Pan Yun looked at it with disdain. “I know that. Not just me; everyone in the country and the world knows.”

The cat’s grandiose words instantly caught in its throat.

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Pan Yun said, “Otherwise, why do you think the research lab invested so many resources in you, trying to unseal you? To us, you’re like a storage card, akin to an ancient celestial book. Many experts believe you carry cultivation techniques recorded by predecessors.”

Her gaze coldly fixed on it. “Now it seems you really do. More than that, you remember. But you hid inside my dantian palace for years, watching me use an inferior method without warning me. Is it because the energy often dissipated before you could absorb it?”

The cat fell silent.

Pan Yun said, “Fine, I agree not to seal you. Now let’s talk about the terms. Don’t say immature things like splitting the energy I cultivate in half. Right now, you don’t have enough leverage to demand that.”

The cat’s shoulders slumped, looking pitiful. “Then how much do you offer?”

Pan Yun was silent, then after a long pause said, “One-fiftieth. Consider it the cost of renting the Three Jade Spirit Realm.”

The cat’s chest rose and fell. Meeting Pan Yun’s gaze, it relented. This spiritual energy was less a rental fee than the cost of trading cultivation techniques.

After all, it wasn’t currently in its original body; she could still use the Three Jade Spirit Realm.

The cat agreed but muttered, “So little… how long will it take me to unseal myself?”

Pan Yun replied, “Unsealing can’t rely solely on your absorption of spiritual energy. Wait for me to research formations and talismans; then we’ll see if external unsealing is possible.”

The cat said, “Your teachers, those far greater experts, couldn’t do it. How can you be better?”

Pan Yun said, “I have talent. Haven’t you heard the old saying? The waves behind drive those before. I am that wave behind.”

“Enough talk. Hand over the cultivation techniques.”

She needed to cultivate quickly. A nagging unease lingered, as if she had never truly escaped safety, still trapped under the Five Finger Mountain of men.

The cat’s original body lay within her dantian palace. Though it couldn’t read her exact thoughts, it felt a kind of tacit connection, like a shared consciousness.

Indescribable.

So it shared that feeling.

The cat said, “The techniques I know are recorded on my second jade fragment. Over the years, I’ve unsealed a little, but then sealed it again.”

Pan Yun said, “Oh, to prevent me from noticing?”

The cat ignored this. “I’ll unseal it now. You can see for yourself. But before that, I have one more condition.”

Pan Yun gestured for it to speak.

The cat lay down, lifting a hind leg. “Besides giving me spiritual energy as rent, you must guarantee my safety. The safety of the spirit!”

It emphasized, “I’ll keep my promise, never stealing your energy again. You must guarantee not to seal me again or allow others to harm me.”

Pan Yun immediately agreed, “Fine.”