Chapter 145: Two Salaries

Pan Yun's smile vanished. "Is the academy some kind of Zhou Bapi? Sweep the ground for a month and get only one merit point? Why don't they just rob people outright?"

Pan Yun: "So to exchange this sword art, you'd have to sweep for ninety-nine months? Eight years and three months?"

Miao Zhen: "Little Master, I'm not just good for sweeping. Once I learn skills and earn enough credits, I can take on missions outside the academy to train—that's where you earn more merit points. I won't need eight years."

Pan Yun paced in circles. Why was everything about merit points?

Her spiritual realm's seal required merit points, her luck needed merit points, and now even the academy's exchange for cultivation techniques demanded merit points.

Though the calculation methods differed and the sources weren't the same—one based on human emotional value measured by the Dao, the other on the academy's own rules—

Pan Yun lowered her gaze in thought. The Celestial Master's Mansion governs all local deities, acting as the bridge between state affairs, imperial authority, and divine worship across the land. If they set merit points to encourage Daoists to exterminate demons, defend the righteous, and accumulate virtue, couldn't it be because they'd touched upon the Dao's underlying rules?

Miao Zhen and Miao He exchanged a glance as their little master fell silent. They whispered, "Little Master, is there a problem with merit points?"

"No problem," Pan Yun said. "This is wonderful! I'm overjoyed!"

How could she not be happy?

The academy uses merit points too—that means she now has dual income.

Do one thing, earn double merit points. That's like earning double salary—with no extra work.

Miao Zhen perked up. "Little Master, should we go work for merit points? I've already asked around. Besides sweeping, we can earn merit points cleaning the Grand Shangqing Palace and the Doumu Hall, refilling oil lamps, folding spirit gold ingots, even making talismans."

Pan Yun: "These are all manual labor. If we're going to work, we should do something with real skill."

Miao Zhen: "But these are the only jobs I could find, and they're hard to get—most are already taken by second-year seniors."

Pan Yun: "Who did you ask?"

"Xuan Li."

Pan Yun sighed. "She's got amazing connections."

She said, "Go straight to Brother Zhou. He's a fourth-year and works in the Law Hall—he'll know. I'll go talk to him. You two stay put. Wait until I find out everything, then we'll plan properly."

Miao Zhen and Miao He agreed.

Pan Yun turned to Miao He. "And you? What did he give you?"

"A book of prescriptions. I looked through it—many of these herbs I've never seen on the mountain. Some seem to be new formulas." Miao He spoke eagerly. "There are also handwritten notes. Look here."

Pan Yun glanced at them. The notes were detailed. Even with her mediocre alchemy skills, she could probably brew the medicines following this.

Miao He flipped to the last few pages. "Besides the prescriptions, it also records many herbal processing methods—all things we lack on Mount Sanqing."

There are countless herbs in the world. Though Mount Sanqing has many, climate differences mean it can't hold them all.

Besides common processing methods, Miao He only knew those used for the usual herbs on Mount Sanqing. Others? She couldn't learn them. Tao Ji didn't know them well either.

So this handbook was vital to Miao He. Mastering it meant learning many prescriptions and processing herbs herself—from gathering to brewing, she could handle everything alone.

Honestly, Zhang Liuzhen's gifts were both valuable. Pan Yun guessed Miao He's handbook required at least ninety merit points.

Ninety merit points meant three days' rations for Xiao Qi and the others in Yushan County—for her and her spiritual realm. But for academy students? That's eight years and three months' wages.

At this moment, Pan Yun grew curious about her own gift. What would Zhang Liuzhen give her?

"Go back to your rooms and cultivate. Don't tell anyone about the gifts—someone might grow jealous," she said. "Even though we have Zhang Liuzhen as our patron, it's still better to stay low-key and avoid drawing attention."

Miao He: "I get it. Play the fool to catch the tiger. Big Master said that's how you live long and stay unfrustrated."

Pan Yun: "... our big master's right. Don't learn your master's temperament—he does good deeds, yet people still want to ambush him. I've often thought you should change masters."

Though Miao He spent more time with her big master, she still loved her own. She whispered, "I don't want to change..."

Pan Yun waved them off. "Go back, go back. I'll go find Zhou Wang."

Zhou Wang didn't expect Pan Yun to return within half an hour.

He was puzzled. "Little Sister Pan, why aren't you back taking medicine and healing? Healing should be your top priority." Pan Yun paused, remembering her persona, pressed her chest, and coughed lightly. "I plan to take it at night when it's quiet—it'll help me enter meditation better."

Zhou Wang: "That works. The entire academy has denser spiritual energy at night, especially just before dawn—fewer people use it then, so cultivation yields double results. Fengqi Courtyard's energy is second only to Fanxi Courtyard. You'd do better to sleep early, wake after midnight, take your medicine, and heal. The effect might be better."

He added, "I stayed in Fanxi Courtyard for a few days. Big Brother told me to meditate after Chou hour—he does the same."

Pan Yun: So this was an open secret.

Pan Yun asked quietly, "Why not tell the students this secret? Let them rise to meditate?"

Zhou Wang: "Of course, to make them sleep well and keep their spirits strong."

He said, "For us, cultivation matters, but learning knowledge matters more. Everyone in the academy has at most five years. Not all Daoists, like your Sanqing Temple, have a complete lineage with full methods for techniques, talismans, and alchemy."

"Many temples lack even complete methods—some are fragmented. Many Daoist teachings are half-understood. So they must learn here."

"If we revealed this, students would think the academy values cultivation over study, rush to meditate, and slack off in daytime classes. Better to leave it as is—those who care will eventually discover it themselves and choose whether to prioritize cultivation or study. Those who don't discover it? They clearly need sleep. No destiny for them."

Pan Yun: "Oh, fate, huh~~"

"It's all about destiny," Zhou Wang studied her expression and whispered, "You don't seem surprised. Have you already figured it out?"

!. ead

Pan Yun grinned. "I'm just a thoughtful one."

Zhou Wang laughed. "No wonder your cultivation is so high—you put out that fire on me in one go. You could already cultivate yuan energy back then?"

Pan Yun: "It was my master's gift."

She wouldn't tell anyone she was born with a Dao Body. Never mind the question—blame it all on her mountain god master.

Zhou Wang was both envious and curious. "Little Sister Pan, did you really meet the mountain god?"

"Of course. I have the divine seal." After the temple fair, Pan Yun had learned how to activate the mountain god seal on her wrist. Seeing Zhou Wang's curiosity, she activated it, letting him see.

Zhou Wang marveled. "So this is the mountain god seal... How did you become the mountain god's disciple?"

Pan Yun sat on the steps and spun a tale—of course, the version agreed upon by the Sanqing Mountain elders. "... suffered terribly—like drowning in bitter broth. Every day, I was hungry, cold, couldn't sleep well, never knew when my master would beat me to death."

"Being a servant is hard, but you don't look like a slave," Zhou Wang hesitated, then whispered. "You look more like a master. Your aura isn't just any master's."

Pan Yun's face turned solemn. "Everyone is the master of their own spirit. I was sold, but what was sold was only my labor—not my dignity or spirit."

Zhou Wang stared, stunned. After a long pause, he sighed. "Little Sister, you're so young and already have this insight. No wonder the mountain god took you as a disciple."

What was he doing at nine?

Oh—he was pretending to be a wandering hero, sword in hand, roaming the land, righting wrongs, aiming to become martial arts overlord, then sacrificing himself for the martial world.

In the end, he beat every kid in the village with that sword. His father, unable to control him, sent him to his master, hoping he'd learn some seriousness and integrity.

Pan Yun: "Ah, nothing special. I just suffered too much as a child, endured too much—so I gained more insight."

Zhou Wang: "... nd then?"

"Then? My fourth sister and third brother spotted me—thin, suffering, alone—in the vast crowd. They saw my potential at once and decided to take me to cultivate."

Pan Yun's eyes welled with tears. "I felt an instant connection with them. The moment we met, thunder met fire. Just one look, and I knew—we must have met in a past life. Otherwise, how could our emotions surge so violently?"

Zhou Wang listened intently. "And then?"

"Then I returned to Mount Sanqing with them. The moment I stepped onto the mountain, radiant light blazed from base to peak—I reached the summit in less than fifteen minutes. I was an eight-year-old child with zero cultivation! When I reached the top, my master—the mountain god—appeared immediately and declared I was the long-awaited final disciple."

Pan Yun waved her hand. "You know the rest—I easily became his disciple and began cultivating with my master and senior siblings."

(End of Chapter)