Chapter 36

Tao Ji was muttering, "So many apricots—need to hide some; Xuanmiao doesn't know restraint, might give herself a stomachache."

Xuanmiao walked at the back, watching Pan Yun, who carried a bamboo basket on her back and walked silently among them.

Come to think of it, she's even younger than Xuanmiao—still a child.

Xuanmiao's heart softened; she reached into Pan Yun's basket and pulled out a cloth sack filled with medicinal herbs.

Pan Yun turned around.

Xuanmiao said without expression, "I'll take it."

Pan Yun glanced at the sack she'd taken, and said nothing.

Neither Tao Ji nor Xuanmiao carried light loads, especially Tao Ji—he'd put almost all the heavy items in his own basket.

Following the winding mountain path upward, they entered the mountains, then emerged again, climbing along the ridge; before they knew it, the sun above was obscured, the sky darkened, and rain seemed imminent.

A wind rose in the mountains, rustling the trees with a whoosh, mist and clouds rising from nowhere, rolling upward with the wind…

Water vapor filled the air; Pan Yun felt refreshed, and her cultivation technique activated involuntarily.

The black cat perched on her shoulder couldn't help lifting its head and mewing toward the valley beside them, "The spiritual energy here is incredibly dense."

Pan Yun felt this trip was finally worth it.

It jumped into her basket, settled down, stretched its limbs comfortably, and muttered, "You should've found a place like this to cultivate long ago. With your past-life memories, if you'd started cultivating here from birth, you'd already be far stronger."

Pan Yun: 【From birth, crawl naked from Jingcheng to Mount Sanqing? Did I attain the Diamond Immortal Body? No food, no water, just open my mouth to the northwest and suck in the wind to survive?】

The black cat fell silent immediately.

After a while, having reviewed everything in her mind, it resumed, "What about when you grew older? Your body was weak; once you could speak, you could've told your parents, used 'becoming a monk to cultivate' as an excuse to leave and cultivate—didn't have to be Mount Sanqing. If there's a place like Mount Sanqing, there must be other blessed lands."

"Maybe there's one in Jingcheng. I think you're just lazy and too attached to your family."

Pan Yun sneered: 【Why should I work so hard? All the spiritual energy I gathered over eight years has been eaten by you—I got nothing. Should I be an orphan? In my past life I was an orphan; now I have both parents alive—do I still have to make myself one?】

The black cat dared not speak again.

Tao Ji suddenly turned around, shrank his neck, and asked, "Why did you sneer?"

Xuanmiao, following behind, stared thoughtfully at Pan Yun and the black cat, then said to Tao Ji, "Keep moving—the mountains grow dark quickly."

"Oh." Tao Ji glanced back at Pan Yun several times; seeing she'd returned to normal, he stopped paying attention.

His steps were light; though carrying a heavy load up the mountain, he seemed to exert no effort at all.

As the three climbed higher, the mist thickened; dewdrops and water beads formed on their hair and skin.

Pan Yun followed closely behind Tao Ji, yet could still see only his hazy silhouette—testimony to the fog's density.

In the haze, Tao Ji suddenly coughed lightly and began to sing: "That—the mountain traveler—"

Pan Yun was startled by his sudden voice; she heard him continue: "Mountains swirl, clouds and mist arise…"

His voice struck the massive rocks beside them, rebounded, climbed upward with the mountain's slope, passed through moss, grass, and pines rooted in the stone, then echoed throughout the valley.

"How many cultivate in this land of mist and cloud? A hundred years of carving mountains, hard to pass on…"

The sound settled upon Pan Yun, lingering around her; her internal spiritual energy surged violently. Not only through her nose and mouth, but every pore—on her hands, neck, skin—opened greedily to absorb the spiritual energy drifting around her.

Tao Ji sang in a calm, harmonious tone: "When merit is complete, spirit reaches far, returning to the true path—"

Spiritual energy flowed gently through her Baihui Palace, left one-fiftieth of its essence there, then sank along the Small Heavenly Cycle into her Upper Dantian. The fatigue from climbing vanished; her slightly accelerated heartbeat calmed. When she came to her senses, she realized she was already halfway up the mountain, near the summit.

She stopped in surprise and looked down.

In the time of one song, had she climbed this far?

Xuanmiao stopped to wait for her, not urging her, letting her slowly comprehend.

Pan Yun had never seen such a technique—one that could silently shorten distance, and… aid cultivation.

She asked the older Pan Xiaohei: 【Is this the technique that shrinks distance into inch?】

Pan Xiaohei said: 【Sort of. Same category.】

Pan Yun was confused: 【Singing?】

This was worlds apart from her understanding of cultivation techniques.

Pan Xiaohei said: "Fool, it's not Tao Ji performing the technique—it's the deity."

Pan Yun widened her eyes, unable to help blurting out: "Deity?"

"Aren't you coming?" Tao Ji, ahead, noticed they'd stopped and turned back. "Hurry up—the Sanqing Temple is just ahead."

Pan Yun tightened her grip on the basket straps and broke into a run to catch up. "Tao-shixiong, sing that song again."

Tao Ji beamed. "Nice, right? I sing it best."

"Beautiful, beautiful—teach me. I want to sing too."

Xuanmiao followed silently behind. The path ahead widened, enough for two to walk side by side with room to spare. Pan Yun squeezed beside Tao Ji; he nudged her inward and walked along the mountain's edge. "You like singing? When we return to the temple, I'll teach you."

"Can't you teach me while we walk?" Pan Yun said. "Walking only uses your legs, not your mouth."

Tao Ji: "I'm afraid you won't remember."

"I have a good memory."

This was the first time Pan Yun had treated him so well; Tao Ji didn't want to keep refusing her, so he nodded. "Fine. I'll start from the first line."

Xuanmiao followed silently behind them, listening as Tao Ji repeated the song over and over. She turned her head toward the valley, utterly still.

Pan Yun learned it twice, sang it once herself—nothing changed. Her spiritual energy didn't increase. Her heart ached like a cat's claw. "Tao-shixiong, why when you sing this song do I feel something mysterious, like my cultivation doubles?"

Tao Ji laughed heartily, paused, bowed respectfully to all four directions, then said: "Because the Mountain Deity likes it."

Pan Yun: "Mountain Deity?"

"Yes, the Mountain Deity. Come on—the temple's here."

Pan Yun looked up and saw a flat area slightly ahead; through the thick mist, a building faintly emerged. As they drew closer, she recognized it: a temple built of stone.

!. Read

The temple had two stories; incense still smoldered halfway in the altar before it. She was about to ask more about the Mountain Deity when a figure burst out of the temple like a cannonball, racing straight toward Tao Ji.

Tao Ji extended his finger to press against her forehead, stopping her in her tracks and scolding, "What are you running from?"

Pan Yun recognized her at once—it must be Miaohé, for she was truly round and plump, her face still chubby with baby fat, her body sturdy, her large eyes shining brightly as she stared at them, her expression full of longing: "Master, did you bring me something tasty?"

Tao Ji sighed in resignation. "I did. First, greet your master's younger brother."

Miaohé immediately stood straight, her small face serious as she bowed to Xuanmiao: "Master's younger brother."

Xuanmiao nodded and asked, "Where is your senior master?"

"He's behind!" Miaohé spotted Pan Yun standing beside them, her eyes brimming with curiosity. "Master, who is this?"

Tao Ji hesitated, unsure how to introduce Pan Yun. He had made her call him "younger uncle" all along, but becoming a disciple required mutual consent.

Neither his junior sister nor she herself seemed particularly willing.

So… "This is a new little sister who just arrived at the monastery. She's even younger than you. You must take good care of her."

Miaohé nodded eagerly. "Of course! Of course!"

She rushed forward and seized Pan Yun's hand. "Little sister, you'll stay with me. Come on, let me carry your things."

She immediately began enthusiastically unloading the basket, and as she turned aside, her eyes met those of the black cat inside.

She fell utterly silent, mouth slightly open, then slowly, softly, whispered, "Waa—," released the basket, and cautiously reached out to embrace the black cat.

"Meow—" Pan Xiaohei leapt straight down to the ground, stretched his body, then strolled confidently toward the monastery.

Miaohé bolted after him. "Cat—!"

Tao Ji moved to stop her—that cat was Pan Yun's treasure; on the journey, he and Xuanmiao were the only ones allowed to hold it.

But Pan Yun didn't care. She grabbed Tao Ji's arm and asked, "Tao senior brother, is the mountain god you mentioned a real mountain god?"

"Of course he's real," Tao Ji was puzzled. "We're right in the mountains—what else would dare pretend to be a mountain god?"

"No…," Pan Yun's face flushed red. After pausing to choose her words carefully, she asked, "Does a god truly exist in this world?"

Tao Ji: "... You're cultivating the Dao. Why are you asking whether gods exist? If there were no gods, how could your talismans be drawn or activated?"

"That's just condensing spiritual energy…"

"No," Tao Ji said solemnly. "It's invoking divine power.

Whether talisman or scripture, their efficacy comes only from invoking divine power. Qi is merely form without spirit—what use is your so-called condensed spiritual energy if it lacks the spirit?"

He turned to Xuanmiao, standing beside him. "Junior sister, you're the best at talismans and scriptures. This child has gone astray—you must guide her."

Xuanmiao had already noticed this, which was why she had advised Pan Yun not to practice at Zhou Wangfu, and to wait until they returned to Sanqing Monastery.

She didn't understand Pan Yun's cultivation method at all, and hoped her senior brother could resolve the issue.

"There's plenty of time. Let's go find our senior brother first."

Their senior brother sat on a stone in the back courtyard, holding a basin, gazing at the sea of clouds while eating.

Seeing Tao Ji and Xuanmiao arrive with a child, he waved happily. "You're back? Is this the child from the Pan family?"

He scrutinized Pan Yun, his smile fading. "Huh?" His expression grew serious. "How is it that such a young child has such cultivation?"

Tao Ji said, "Senior brother, she's impressive—she can hide within plum trees, knows array techniques, but we don't know who taught her cultivation. It feels strange, like she's trained on the wrong path."

He chuckled, stroking his beard. "I think her disposition is quite good. Even if her method has flaws, she won't stray too far."

Pan Yun immediately warmed to him and bowed directly: "Master."

Today's lucky number is any number ending in 1, screenshot as proof, deadline before the next chapter update.

(End of Chapter)