If Xiao Bai took Master Yuhu's anesthetic, the Modifier would dismantle it into spiritual power and a medicinal power format etched onto the dantian outer wall.
But if he took someone else's anesthetic, Xiao Bai would truly fall unconscious.
The instant Xiao Bai inhaled the anesthetic and lost consciousness, an icy mechanical voice cleaved into his mind!
Ding—Detected that the host has entered an abnormal state of unconsciousness. The Modifier has forcibly awakened the host's subconscious, retaining only audiovisual perception driven by divine sense.
Well, damn—Xiao Bai had worried for nothing!
It had to be said that after turning dark, this Modifier had instead become more human. It even knew how to care for its host.
"The obsidian spirit test begins."
Blue runes flickered across the obsidian bed.
The spirit test had begun.
The Female Daoist Doctor read the projected test results.
"Confirming spiritual vein identity: Dao companion of the Pill Elder of Hundred Herbs Peak, Snow Flame Sect, Xiao Bai."
"Confirming bone-vein age: twenty-seven years and seven months."
"Confirming spiritual root cultivation: Early Qi Refining Realm."
"Estimating spiritual root talent: Balanced Five Elements."
"Estimating..."
The old Daoist doctor frowned.
"Why is it an estimate?"
"Activate the formation analysis."
The spell seals along the Internal Examination Room's inner walls activated and combined into a Five Elements Analysis Formation, shining upon Xiao Bai's lower body.
The Female Daoist Doctor continued reading the analysis results.
"Confirmed: the spiritual root is Balanced Five Elements."
"Confirmed: the race is Pure Human. There are no traces of demonic power or demonic qi within the body."
"Confirmed: he has never cultivated demonic arts or a Demonic Cultivation Technique."
"Confirmed: he has had only one Dual Cultivation partner."
It could test even that?
Xiao Bai was dumbfounded.
But upon further thought, it made sense. Although Master Yuhu's spiritual power and demonic power had been dismantled and absorbed by the Modifier, aside from exchanging spiritual power, they had also exchanged bodily fluids, which could leave indelible marks upon each other's bodies.
In his previous life, he had heard that hospitals could even tell how many times you had been pregnant and how many types of sperm were in your body.
This was the Cultivation World, after all. Wasn't an analysis formation far more advanced than ultrasounds and CT scans?
It was perfectly reasonable.
Both rounds of testing showed—Xiao Bai was absolutely clean.
Seeing this result, the old Daoist doctor found himself in a difficult position.
Under normal circumstances, this would mean there was nothing wrong with the subject. There was no need to continue with dissection and examination.
But Sect Overseer Lord apparently did not see it that way...
The three waited for the decision from the neighboring Surveillance Room.
Inside the Surveillance Room.
Even Supervisor Xuan felt they might have misunderstood Xiao Bai.
"He does not look like an experiment subject connected to demon-monsters... Could we have misunderstood Master Yuhu?"
Qi Shan sneered and shook his head, unable to accept that his worldview had been overturned by a Laborer Disciple.
"I absolutely do not believe that someone with Balanced Five Elements could reach Qi Refining in the Tian Yuan Era—cut open his dantian and inspect it carefully!"
His command was transmitted into the Internal Examination Room through the formation.
But for something so clearly against the rules, a mere order was not enough. At the very least, he had to sign an Indemnity Document for the Daoist doctors under the authority of the Sect Overseer.
The three Daoist doctors fell silent, none daring to move.
Seeing this, Supervisor Xuan advised Qi Shan:
"Once his dantian is cut open, it will be nearly impossible for his cultivation to recover. One careless mistake could even endanger his life. It would be difficult to answer to the Snow Flame Sect."
Qi Shan decided to walk the road all the way to the black.
"If anything goes wrong, inject demonic qi into his dantian afterward and say that he absorbed prison demonic qi at the Connecting Heaven Well... As for the rest, leave it to heaven's will."
Supervisor Xuan still felt it was too risky.
"This matter could create a rift between the Dao Supervision Palace and the Snow Flame Sect. This subordinate believes the matter is of great importance. Should we notify Dao Supervision Envoy Lord?"
"No need to worry. I can bear responsibility for such a small matter. Besides, Master Chun Xiao is ultimately one of the Dao Alliance."
Qi Shan's voice grew increasingly cold and piercing.
"When something is abnormal, there must be a demon at work. With the Spiritual Qi Concentration of the Tian Yuan Era, unless one cultivated forbidden arts or fused with demon-monster power, someone with Balanced Five Elements could never possibly reach Qi Refining. The secret behind this boy's Qi Refining must be hidden inside his dantian!"
Xiao Bai's scalp went numb as he listened...
It had to be said, this bastard's argument was logical and well-supported—deeply convincing.
Who could have imagined that he was actually a transmigrator with a Modifier at his side?
Qi Shan was not someone to be underestimated.
Yet likewise, Master Yuhu, who possessed top-tier pharmacological knowledge, had to be even more curious about his secret than Qi Shan.
But when she dissected him, she had not touched his dantian.
She was a Demoness!
So who exactly was the villain?
Perhaps he needed to find a system loophole and fleece a Heavenly Dao Grand Gift Bag...
Seeing that Qi Shan's mind was made up, Supervisor Xuan could only tell the three Daoist doctors:
"I will sign the Indemnity Document. Prepare to begin. Make your preparations as thorough as possible. Whether his cultivation can recover is no longer important; you must preserve his life."
"Yes!"
Xiao Bai could tell that Supervisor Xuan held no low position in the Dao Supervision Palace—like a flowing Sect Overseer, but an ironclad secretary.
Only with Supervisor Xuan backing them did the three Daoist doctors don Ice Silk Gloves, pick up all manner of blades, and sharpen their knives as they eyed the pig and sheep...
Xiao Bai's scalp tingled.
Though he knew he would not die, if his cultivation fell, it would be difficult to regain. It might even trigger some unknown error in the Modifier.
Xiao Bai could not endure that!
He could only try the elder's pill...
Though it had not yet become a true life-or-death crisis, he still decided to activate in advance the Alcohol-Filled Chocolate Medicinal Power Format etched onto the outer dantian wall.
Thus, he contracted the dantian wall, stirred the Sea of Qi vortex, and released spiritual power outward.
The spiritual power activated the Medicinal Seal outside the dantian wall, and the medicinal power spread through his entire body in an instant.
Fine sweat seeped from his skin, evaporating into a heaven-defying, sweet and clear alcohol scent...
Just as the three Daoist doctors were about to cut into Xiao Bai, their hands abruptly stopped.
"Why is there an alcohol scent?"
"Why is he suddenly sweating? Even the formation failed to analyze it..."
"For an instant just now, there seemed to be a spiritual power fluctuation in his dantian."
Not only the Internal Examination Room—even Qi Shan and Supervisor Xuan in the neighboring Surveillance Room smelled the alcohol scent.
One had to know that only audiovisual projections and spiritual pressure could be transmitted next door... odor was not included.
Supervisor Xuan pinched the bridge of his nose, but the smell of alcohol would not disperse.
"What kind of medicinal wine is this, that even the Surveillance Room can smell it?"
Qi Shan sensed that something was amiss and shouted:
"This boy definitely has a problem. Forget it—move, now!"
At the same time.
The eighteenth underground prison level of the Dao Supervision Palace.
Inside a certain cell.
An old man with a crimson face, black floral marks covering his body, and a sword pinning his dantian to the prison wall suddenly caught a whiff of an eerie alcohol scent. He smashed his head against the wall and said:
"Today is a fine day; it is fitting to enter the world."
In the neighboring cell.
A wine jug hung upside down from the vaulted ceiling, its liquor dripping drop by drop into slightly parted red lips.
Part of the wine slid down her throat to fill her belly, while the rest slipped down the corners of her mouth, washed over her long neck, and flowed into the faintly pale snow ravine concealed within her robe.
Suddenly, the falling drops of wine froze in midair.
A woman with disheveled hair, dressed in a filthy hemp robe, twitched her sharp, upright nose in her sleep and raised her tangled lashes, each one like a sword.
"If there is not something interesting enough in this world to call me out, I will not forgive you... Master."
Before you continue