Chapter 288: Planning the Revenge (Make-up Update 6)

Wang Feiyin sewed as he spoke, "Your Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, and Fourth Senior Sister all know how to sew and make their own clothes. You can't fall behind them, understand?"

Pan Yun: "I'll try my best, but I don't think falling a little short matters."

Wang Feiyin snipped the thread and took the chance to flick her on the head. "Starting next year, you'll cut and make your own Dao robes. I'm never sewing for you lot again."

Pan Yun rubbed her smooth little head and said, "That's fine too. Long Hushan Academy issues Dao robes. Although they have the Long Hushan mark on them, they really do look nice — better-looking than our Mount Sanqing ones."

Wang Feiyin looked at her in silence.

Pan Yun met his gaze without a shred of fear.

Wang Feiyin: "Look at you, spreading your wings at last. Breaking through to the First Marquis Realm really does change a person. Surely you're not planning to spend your whole life studying at Long Hushan?"

Pan Yun: "That's not possible. I'll graduate in at most a year, and after I graduate I can earn money. Once I'm earning money, I can buy Dao robes. If I can't find any to buy, I can still spend money to hire someone to make them."

Wang Feiyin: "Do you have some kind of grudge against sewing clothes? You'd rather spend money than lift a finger yourself."

Pan Yun: "No grudge, but I feel my time is precious — no need to waste it on this sort of thing."

Wang Feiyin merely smiled faintly, placed the finished hat on her head, and said, "I order you to sew a pair of socks yourself before dawn tomorrow, and at the same time think about this: are you truly afraid of heights, or only pretending to be? If it's real, why can you fly high with your lightfoot technique? If it's fake, why can't you stand in a high place?"

Pan Yun: …

What Wang Feiyin had made was a Zhuangzi kerchief. He had no jade to inlay for her, so he embroidered three bamboo stalks in the center to keep the hat sitting straight on her head.

The size was just right, and he had even padded it with a layer of cotton, so wearing it felt warm and cozy — but no amount of warmth could warm Pan Yun's heart.

The sun was already nearly setting now; it wouldn't be long before dark, and she'd have to stay up through the night to make the socks.

Though she didn't agree with the "homework" Wang Feiyin had assigned, Pan Yun still obediently went back to sew socks.

She rummaged through every chest and cabinet but couldn't find fabric suitable for socks, so in the end she went to Wang Cong to get a piece of cloth.

Wang Cong even helped her cut the pattern and design it for her. "Little Martial Uncle, just sew it like this, like this, and a pair of socks is done. It's winter now, so you can make them a bit longer."

Seeing her truly at a loss, Xiao Hong said softly, "I just remembered — I think I can sew things too. How about I make them for you?"

Pan Yun shook her head. "That won't do. If it were just socks, I'd let you do it, but this is homework."

How could homework be left to someone else?

Pan Yun took the two cut pieces of cloth back to her room, threaded her needle, and began sewing carefully.

She wanted to speed up, but the moment she did, the stitches grew large. She didn't even need to put them on — one tug and the socks felt like they were about to fall apart.

Pan Yun could only tighten her stitches, sewing as finely and densely as she could to make them sturdier.

Since she was making them anyway, she might as well do them well.

Sigh — and she still had to think about the fear-of-heights thing. Isn't that already a foregone conclusion?

The kind of thing everyone knows in their heart is enough — why must it be said out loud?

And she still had to dig for the deeper reason.

What reason could there possibly be?

Fear of heights was a problem she'd had in her past life, carried over from her past life, innate — what kind of cause could it have?

As for why she could fly high with lightfoot technique, of course that was because she wasn't afraid of the height of flying. She even dared to ride airplanes — how could she fear the modest height of lightfoot technique?

Her fear of standing in high places was because high places have no railings; you could fall at any moment.

Who knows whether a high place is stable or not, slippery or not?

Pan Yun paused mid-thought, her hands slowing, and frowned. Wait, that's not right — so, is it that she feels no sense of security about "some place," and therefore fears it?

Pan Yun thought for a very, very long time. By the time she came back to herself, the room was already pitch black.

Pan Yun lit the oil lamp, glanced at the socks in her hands — long since sewn crooked, with stitches gaping wide — and fell into thought.

The next day, Pan Yun took the finished socks to Wang Feiyin to report in. "Eldest Senior Brother, I'll learn to sew my own clothes, make my own shoes, my own socks and hats."

Wang Feiyin was pleased. He nodded and said, "Very good. Just be careful not to prick your hand. But even if you do, don't worry — your Third Senior Brother has medicine. Just remember: don't cry."

Pan Yun: "…All right."

Wang Feiyin smiled and waved his hand. "Off you go. After breakfast, head down the mountain to do your temple-keeper duties."

Pan Yun: "…Eldest Senior Brother, actually, practicing calligraphy also lets me calm my mind and think."

"That wastes too much ink, brush, and paper."

"Using mending to calm the mind also wastes a lot of cloth."

Wang Feiyin: "Not at all. Sanqing Abbey has plenty of rags — take those to practice on first. When you can sew proper stitches with your eyes closed, then it'll be plenty soon enough to start making clothes."

Pan Yun: "…I finally understand why our Mount Sanqing Dao robes are so ugly."

So this is how they were all born?

Wang Feiyin: "As long as they're wearable, what's the point of being so particular?"

Pan Yun left in low spirits. She went back to her room to grab her stall-keeping tools, and saw Master Xuanmiao sitting in the courtyard, sunbathing while poking away at making a shoe sole.

Pan Yun couldn't help but pause. She looked at the expressionless Master Xuanmiao and called out, "Fourth Senior Sister?"

Master Xuanmiao didn't react.

Pan Yun tiptoed closer and called softly, "Fourth Senior Sister?"

Master Xuanmiao lifted an eyelid to look at her. "If you have something to say, say it."

Pan Yun let out a breath. "You startled me — I thought you were deep in thought." Master Xuanmiao: "I am deep in thought."

Pan Yun: "…Thinking about what?"

Master Xuanmiao: "Next year I'm going to the grasslands. You lot had best be careful. Although you've reached the First Marquis Realm, if those top-tier experts in the jianghu go all-out against you, you may not necessarily beat them."

"And beyond top-tier experts, there are super-tier experts. They may have already entered the Dao through martial arts and reached the First Marquis Realm, or have half a foot already inside. You are no match for them."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow. "What about those seniors at Long Hushan? I've seen plenty of senior brothers who've broken through to the First Marquis Realm — Senior Brother Cheng Lingzi, for instance. The Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu should have experts at the Second Marquis, even the Third Marquis Realm, right?"

Master Xuanmiao: "Are you planning to overturn the heavens?"

She said, "The seniors at the Second Marquis and Third Marquis Realms in the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu generally won't make a move. Keep a tighter rein on yourself."

Pan Yun nodded — so there really were Third Marquis Realm experts in the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu.

She just didn't know whether there was anyone above the Third Marquis.

The Fourth Marquis is also called True Person; one can refine the body into Qi, Qi wraps the body in light, and life and death are at one's own command.

That is equivalent to half-immortality; in her previous life, Pan Yun's lifelong pursuit was the Fourth Marquis.

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She felt that as long as she could break through to the Fourth Marquis, her whole life would be complete — she could live freely and easily for a very, very long time, and could remain bright through day and night.

In other words, she could be the same day and night, no sleep and no death, playing around for twenty-four hours a day.

And in this life, her lifelong pursuit is the Fifth Marquis. The Fifth Marquis is also called Divine Person; one refines Qi into spirit, transformation and movement are at will, one can move mountains and drain seas, and can even shatter the void.

As for how to shatter it, no one knows yet — anyway, that's what the scientists say, and so the ancient books have passed it down.

She felt that once she reached that stage she would know, and by then she could go home and take a look.

Mm, and she could shuttle back and forth between the two worlds, and along the way explore a few other times and spaces.

Just thinking about it lifts the heart and opens the spirit.

Seeing Pan Yun drift off, Master Xuanmiao frowned, jabbed the long needle with a sharp *cha* into the thick insole, and asked, "Everything I told you — have you remembered it all?"

Pan Yun came back to herself, immediately nodded, and assured, "Don't worry, Senior Sister — we've always been well-behaved, we won't cause trouble."

Master Xuanmiao gave a cold snort.

Pan Yun quickly asked, "What are you going to the grasslands for?"

Master Xuanmiao's face grew even colder. "Screaming Emperor Yingzong is on the grasslands. That old thing that intercepted us is from Screaming Emperor Yingzong. Those demon cultivators flying in the sky were most likely summoned by him — if not for their help, Screaming Emperor Yingzong wouldn't have arrived so quickly."

"But your breakthrough was accidental; you even hid it from Long Hushan, so how could they have known in advance? Clearly, you were only targeted after the thundercloud appeared."

"The information must have come from Five Grains Sect, but Five Grains Sect's sect location is still unknown to this day. To investigate Five Grains Sect, we must make a trip to Screaming Emperor Yingzong."

Pan Yun murmured, "Five Grains Sect? That person all in black?"

"He's called Yin Feng, quite famous in the jianghu. His Wu Gong cultivation should be at the upper layer of the Fifth," Master Xuanmiao glanced at her and said. "If he ate you, he really might be able to break through to the First Marquis and formally enter the Dao."

Pan Yun's mouth fell open. "Just — just eat me raw? No Star-Absorbing Art or some cultivation method to absorb my Yuan power?"

Master Xuanmiao's face went black. "Where did you ever hear about that kind of evil art?"

"I know it's evil, but it doesn't eat human flesh to break through, does it?"

"You think anyone's flesh will do? It's because you're about to break through to the First Marquis — your meridians, bones, and blood all contain Yuan power, and you carry great merit — that it's even possible."

"Of course, if he ate you after you broke through to the First Marquis, the effect would be even better."

Pan Yun: "……So Senior Sister is going to the grasslands to avenge me?"

Master Xuanmiao swept a glance at her and said contemptuously, "No."

"I said it already — if they don't leave, I will destroy them," she said. "Those little grunts who ran off, forget it, I can't be bothered to settle scores with them. But that chicken Screaming Emperor Yingzong — I'm definitely going to kill it."

"That monkey Five Grains Sect — don't let me catch them. The moment I know where they are, I absolutely won't let them off either!" Master Xuanmiao said with a cold face. "Do you think my Master Xuanmiao and Mount Sanqing are easy to provoke?"

Pan Yun's eyes went starry. "Senior Sister, you're so amazing! How about I go to the grasslands with you? We'll go through Datong."

Master Xuanmiao looked at her coldly. "You register your talisman first. If you're really that free, next year go sign up for the ordination certificate exam."

"The capital exam is held once every three years. You have at most three chances. If you fail all three, just wait for a spanking," Master Xuanmiao said. "If you're unlucky and the imperial court postpones the exam, the odds of getting caned are even higher."

Pan Yun was brimming with confidence in herself, lifted her chin, and said, "I'm already at the First Marquis — how could some little ordination exam trip me up? Fine, I'll go. Senior Sister, you and Third Senior Brother go first next year. Once you find Screaming Emperor Yingzong's lair, we'll come and join up with you."

"They've offended our entire Mount Sanqing. A big matter like revenge can't all be piled on you two — we'll go with you!"

Master Xuanmiao: "You just want to go to Datong to see your father and brother, don't you?"

Pan Yun gave her an ingratiating smile. "Can I, Senior Sister? I've already learned a top-notch disguise art now, no one will recognize me. And next year I'll be ten — two years have already passed, hardly anyone has seen me in the past few years, no one will know it's me."

Master Xuanmiao lowered her eyes and thought.

Pan Yun felt there was hope, immediately grabbed her hand and acted coquettishly. "Senior Sister~"

Master Xuanmiao's brows knit hard, and she barked, "Don't use that face to imitate Miaohe!"

Pan Yun herself gave a shudder, instantly let go of Master Xuanmiao's hand, and returned to normal. "Senior Sister, just say yes or no, will you?"

Good night

(End of this chapter)