Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

How close can it be?

Gou An pressed for more information out of curiosity.

Hongyue covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "Then we'll have to see how many questions you can answer!"

After hearing this, Gou An straightened his collar, sat up straight, and said, "Then please give me a question, young lady!"

"Listen carefully!" Hongyue stood up and sat down at the table opposite Gou An: "Ask, the Seven Immortal Cultivators accidentally discovered a magical artifact, a spirit bottle, in a secret realm!"

"The bottle automatically produces a spiritual spring every day that is perfectly suited for cultivation!"

"So the seven of them decided to divide the time equally among themselves for cultivation!"

At first, everyone was able to divide it equally, but as time went on, many people began to complain!

Some complained that they didn't get enough, while others complained about why they always got the most!

At this point, Hongyue's lips curled up slightly as she rested her chin on her hand and looked at Gou An.

After a moment, he continued, "But no matter how they discussed how to divide the spoils, they always ended up arguing and even fighting each other."

"They tried four different methods, none of which worked!"

"Firstly, a person of upright character was chosen to receive a share of the spiritual spring. However, as time went on, the person in charge secretly poured the largest and most concentrated portion for himself, causing resentment among the other six."

"Secondly, the seven people take turns distributing the spring water each day. On their turn, they take as much as they can, while on the other six days they can only get a meager amount of spiritual energy. Everyone is only concerned with their own interests."

"Thirdly, a branch spring was set up to monitor and restrain the two groups of cultivators. However, the two sides argued and fought all day long. By the time a result was reached, most of the spiritual energy of the spring had dissipated, and neither side gained much benefit."

"Fourth, the order is determined by the level of cultivation. The stronger cultivators take the rich and moist spiritual liquid first, while the weaker cultivators can only get the scraps year after year. Their resentment is hard to dispel as time goes by."

"One bottle of spiritual spring water, to be shared among seven people each day, with a fixed total amount, no more and no less."

"I asked Fellow Daoist Gou, what kind of long-term, stable distribution rules should be established so that no one is disadvantaged and disputes never arise again?"

After speaking, Hongyue quietly gazed at Gou An, waiting for his reply.

Gou An frowned slightly after hearing this, feeling as if he had heard a similar question somewhere before.

"I wonder what this spiritual spring tastes like!" Gou An suddenly asked.

Hongyue was taken aback, then said bluntly, "Colorless and odorless!"

"What are the cultivation levels of the Seven Immortal Cultivators?" Gou An asked again.

Hongyue frowned. "Does this have anything to do with the answer?"

"Of course!" Gou An smiled awkwardly.

It's okay, I just can't think of the answer right now and need to spend more time thinking about it.

Otherwise, if neither of you speaks after the other person asks the question, it can be a bit awkward.

"The Seven Immortal Cultivators are all at the Golden Core stage; some are human, some are demon!" Hongyue stated frankly.

"Oh?" Gou An suddenly asked curiously, "Can demons also condense golden cores?"

Although Hongyue was puzzled, she still answered earnestly, "Of course!"

"The cultivation process for demons involves three stages!"

"The first stage is the beast stage, which requires slowly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to condense a demon core within the body, thus becoming a demon beast!"

"The second stage is the demon beast stage, which has nine ranks! After breaking through to the peak of the ninth rank, one reaches the transformation realm!"

"Although many demonic beasts can master the Transformation Technique before reaching the Transformation Realm, it is still a world of difference compared to the true Transformation Realm."

"The other stage is the third stage, which is the Transformation Realm I just mentioned!"

"Upon breaking through to the ninth rank of perfection, the demon core within the body will be cultivated into a demon core, equivalent to the early stage of the Golden Core realm in human cultivation!"

"Then you can slowly refine the demon core into a golden core! At that point, it will be no different from a human cultivating a golden core!"

After explaining for a long time, Hongyue suddenly asked, "My answer is finished. What about yours, fellow Daoist?"

"I naturally have the answer too!" Gou An smiled slightly. "Actually, the correct answer is quite simple: it's a rotating spring system over there!"

Upon hearing this, Hongyue shook her head: "I already said that the seven of us take turns distributing the spring water each day. On our turn, we take as much as we can, and on the other six days, we only get a meager share of spiritual energy. Everyone is only thinking about their own interests."

Gou An simply waved his hand and said, "I haven't finished yet. While the problem you mentioned might arise with the alternating splitting of springs, but..."

"But what?" Hongyue couldn't help but ask.

"But what if the person dividing the spring has to choose last?" Gou An laughed. "If a bottle of spiritual spring water is divided into seven bowls, and the person dividing the spring can only choose last, how will they divide it?"

Hongyue's eyes lit up immediately: "The person who divides the spring knows that if the seven portions of spiritual liquid are of uneven concentration, the worst and smallest portion will ultimately be left to him."

"So, in order not to suffer a loss, his only safe choice was to divide the seven portions into seven portions with the same concentration."

"If others choose freely, each portion of spiritual energy will be almost identical, so naturally no one will feel dissatisfied, and the dispute will be completely resolved."

Gou An suddenly clapped his hands and said, "That's right!"

"Fellow Daoist Gou is indeed quick-witted!" Hongyue slowly stood up and moved from the seat opposite to Gou An's side.

Then he picked up the wine pot on the table, filled a cup for Gou An, and personally fed it to his lips with his slender jade hands.

Gou An opened his mouth and drank it down in one gulp, feeling completely refreshed.

"Excellent wine!" he couldn't help but exclaim.

Hongyue suddenly leaned close to Gou An's ear and whispered, "Two questions will allow me to sit next to you, fellow Daoist. If you answer one more question, I will be sitting on your lap next time."

When Gou An heard Hong Yue's alluring, soft voice, and felt her breath caress his neck, his whole body went numb.

"Please give me a question, young lady!" Gou An tried to appear calm.

"Alright!" Hongyue straightened up and said, "I obtained eight bottles of body-tempering spirit water that look exactly the same in the secret realm."

"However, it contains a bottle of deadly poison; just a single drop can take a life, regardless of cultivation level!"

"I happen to have three ordinary slaves on hand who I can use to test the poison. The poison is extremely potent and will only take effect and cause death after twelve hours."

Hongyue paused again at this point, put her hand on Gou An's shoulder, and moved a little closer before asking a question.

"Then here's the problem... We can only prepare one dose of the medicine for Fan Nu to drink. We can't split it into batches or test it at different times."

"Once the twelve hours are up, based solely on the life-or-death status of the three mortal servants, we must find that bottle of poison!"

"May I ask Fellow Daoist Gou, how should we prepare and distribute the spiritual water to detect which bottle contains the deadly poison in one go?"

Gou An's mind went blank upon hearing this.

Nobody told me that I had to take an exam even after becoming a monster?

I happened to have seen similar problems in my previous life, but this problem seems to be solvable only by mathematical thinking.

Seeing the worried look on Gou An's face, Hong Yue's lips curled into a smug smile, and she couldn't help but ask, "Fellow Daoist, do you know how to solve this problem?"

"Bring me paper and pen!" Gou An suddenly waved his hand.

This kind of question is a bit difficult to solve by just thinking about it.

With pen and paper, things become clearer.

Hongyue didn't understand, but she did as she was told.

She reached out and touched the ring, and out of thin air produced a piece of paper and pen, which she placed on the table.

"Please!" Hongyue extended her hand.