Ruan Mei

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Ruan Mei (阮梅)
Alias(es)	Ms. Ruan Mei; Teacher Ruan Mei
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Genius Society — 81st member 204
Occupation/Role	Life-science expert; artificial-life researcher; Ji Yuan's teacher and research collaborator
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 42

Background / History

Ruan Mei arrives at the Luofu Starfaring Vessel after an experimental organism causes a fuel leak in her small flying ship. Unable to continue to the next planet, she asks to hitch a ride and offers her remaining pastries to Yanqing and Ji Yuan. 42

Already renowned for cultivating an Emanator, she initially evaluates Ji Yuan as a possible assistant rather than a conventional student. She gives him an introductory life-science text, warning that only exceptional theoretical knowledge and talent would qualify him to learn her methods. 43 44

Ji Yuan creates a flying fernling after studying her material for one night. His alterations to its genetic information match—and in some respects surpass—Ruan Mei's own ideas, shifting her interest from testing a prospective assistant to finding a genuine intellectual equal. 45 She escalates his examination aboard her ship, supplying experimental reports on creating life from inorganic properties and demanding that he develop new organisms independently. 46

After Ji Yuan provides the formula for one of her future achievements, Ruan Mei successfully creates a new life form from it. She formally accepts him as her student, intending to teach him all of her knowledge and eventually take him to Herta Space Station. 47 48

While leaving the Luofu, she receives Ji Yuan's concealed warning that Tingyun is Phantylia in disguise through genetic information encoded in one of his creatures. Intrigued by the method and concerned for her student, Ruan Mei acts on the warning and arranges protective measures for him. 52 69 She later leaves him a white Pomeranian engineered to amplify desires and impair judgment, intending for it to destabilize Phantylia emotionally. 53 54

Ruan Mei returns to work closely with Ji Yuan, remaining at his home and developing biological counters to Phantylia's Suiyang abilities. She recognizes and learns from Ji Yuan's distinct biological fusion technique, while he creates organisms designed against Suiyang under her guidance. 84 85

At Herta Space Station, she continues research into power infusion and Emanator creation. One experiment produces an insect with Aeon-level power, though it self-destructs after twenty-one seconds because its body cannot bear the energy. 138 Her later work with Ji Yuan contributes to the completion of her long-standing experiment and an improved Path Energy Infusion Method capable of safely transferring acquired Path energy into new individuals. 200

Appearance

Ruan Mei is a petite woman with a composed, mature presence and an elegant Eastern aesthetic. Though she usually appears gentle and approachable, observers note an underlying emotional distance beneath her smile. 61

• Long black hair, tied up with a hairpin and decorated with a plum-blossom ornament. 61
• Typically wears a blue, hollowed qipao over black mesh, paired with delicate high heels. 61
• Carries herself with restrained poise and refined manners. 42 61
• Is associated with the scent and imagery of plum blossoms. 83

Personality

Ruan Mei is polite, soft-spoken, and outwardly considerate, offering compensation for Ji Yuan's time and treating visitors with calm courtesy. 43 Her gentleness masks an intensely utilitarian outlook: she regards most ordinary people as comparable to laboratory animals and values individuals primarily when they possess intellectual or experimental significance. 46 83

She is driven by scientific curiosity rather than conventional ethics. Ruan Mei readily proposes creating life to fulfill desires, considers capturing Vidyadhara for immortality research, and treats Firefly first as a test subject rather than a patient. 48 124 133 Her fascination with life, Emanators, Path energy, and even Aeon-level specimens consistently overrides social norms and moral hesitation. 138 157

Ji Yuan is an exception to her usual detachment. She considers him a student, collaborator, assistant, and “perfect creation,” takes personal interest in cultivating his abilities, and becomes fiercely protective when others threaten or obstruct him. 69 102 This attachment develops into possessiveness, particularly in her rivalry with Jingliu. 94 203

Abilities & Skills

Life Science and Artificial-Life Creation

Ruan Mei is a foremost life-science researcher capable of engineering organisms with highly unconventional properties. Her work includes cultivating an Emanator, creating life from inorganic materials, and designing organisms for specialized biological or combat functions. 43 46

• Created pastry-based organisms, metallic life forms, gelatinous cats, and other artificial creatures aboard her ship. 46
• Can analyze and alter genetic information with extraordinary precision. 45 83
• Designs organisms to counter specific targets, including Phantylia's Suiyang abilities. 84 85
• Uses disguised life forms and biological information encoding for covert communication and deception. 52 189

Emanator and Path-Energy Research

Ruan Mei has successfully cultivated an Emanator and dedicates major research efforts to reproducing or improving on that achievement. 43 138

• Investigates how to infuse immense Path or Aeon-level power into living vessels. 138
• Developed the basis for a Path Energy Infusion Method; Ji Yuan later receives an improved version after helping complete her long-standing experiment. 200
• Considers the creation of a life form capable of bearing Emanator-level power an exceptionally difficult but attainable scientific objective. 138 139
• Her own direct combat power is below Emanator level, making her more dependent on preparation, organisms, laboratories, and experimental measures in open conflict. 189

Biological Analysis and Medicine

Ruan Mei performs rapid, invasive analysis of living organisms, illnesses, and biological materials.

• Diagnosed the progression of Firefly's Entropy Loss Syndrome by observing the fission and proliferation of her cells. 127
• Developed a forceful vitality infusion that visibly improved Firefly's condition, though it risked limiting future biological treatments. 124
• Examines rare materials such as Searing Wind fragments, Fragmentum Monsters, Stellarons, and immortal corpses for experimental use. 123 152
• Can identify structural flaws in Ji Yuan's creations and guide their improvement. 83 84

Poisons and Battlefield Countermeasures

Ruan Mei can weaponize experimental agents and engineered organisms against hostile forces.

• Used experimental agents to incapacitate Anti-Matter Legion attackers during the defense of a city. 169
• Released a scent that weakened Cloud Knights and rendered opposing Abundance Followers unconscious. 227
• Claims that any creature released from her dissection table—including an Emanator—can be poisoned through sufficiently thorough analysis. 157
• Maintains dangerous laboratory defenses; an intruding Topaz was forced to retreat after encountering harmful experimental drugs. 189

Scientific Mentorship

Ruan Mei is an exacting teacher who assesses talent through direct experimentation rather than simple instruction.

• Tests prospective students with advanced texts, experimental reports, and independent design assignments. 44 46
• Recognized Ji Yuan's life-science aptitude after he mastered introductory material in one night and supplied a formula that advanced her stalled research. 45 47
• Learns from Ji Yuan in return, adapting his unconventional fusion technique for her own use. 84

Equipment / Items

• Small flying ship — Rudimentary spacecraft containing artificial organisms, experimental materials, and research reports; its fuel leak strands Ruan Mei at the Luofu. 42 46
• Experimental organisms — Includes artificial creatures made from organic, metallic, gelatinous, and pastry-based materials. 46
• White Pomeranian — Gifted to Ji Yuan; amplifies desires and compromises judgment, intended to influence Phantylia. 53 54
• Experimental agents and biological toxins — Used for laboratory security and large-scale battlefield incapacitation. 169 189 227
• Pastries — Frequently makes and offers pastries, including those used to ease tension with Suyi. 42 117

Relationships

• Ji Yuan — Her student, research collaborator, and eventual intimate partner. Ruan Mei values him as someone who can stand beside her in life sciences, protects his interests, and calls him her “most perfect creation.” 47 69 204
• Herta — Fellow Genius Society member and scientific peer. They collaborate through Herta Space Station and the Simulated Universe, though their pride and contrasting temperaments make their interactions tense. 47 142
• Jingliu — Ji Yuan's other teacher and Ruan Mei's rival. Both compete for influence over Ji Yuan, and Ruan Mei once attempts to remove Jingliu as an obstacle to his studies with invisible creatures. 94 137
• Phantylia — A dangerous subject and adversary. Ruan Mei helps Ji Yuan counter her through engineered organisms and attempts to manipulate her emotions with the white Pomeranian. 54 85 107
• Firefly — Research subject and patient with Entropy Loss Syndrome. Ruan Mei approaches her condition scientifically, collaborating with Ji Yuan to study and seek a cure. 124 127
• Suyi — Ji Yuan and Sushang's mother. Ruan Mei eases their awkward first meeting by offering Suyi homemade pastries. 117

Notable Quotes

“Ji Yuan is my most valued research collaborator, student, assistant... and my most perfect creation.” 69

“My student, what's wrong with doing whatever he wants?” 102

“Only my genes are qualified to combine with Ji Yuan's, so isn't it natural to have a child together?” 143