Chapter 45: Master

Wang Feiyin's steps paused, and he turned his head to glare at her. "What decent person would use such a precious Merit Stone as an array stone? Are you trying to carve it into an Immortal-Ascension Array?"

A Merit Stone was something only deities who received offerings and incense possessed, and it was only useful if the deity willingly gifted it. Wang Feiyin could guarantee with his own head that, under heaven, currently only Pan Yun had this honor.

Pan Yun's eyes lit up, and she first asked, "There really is an array like the Immortal-Ascension Array in this world?"

Wang Feiyin: "No."

Pan Yun gave him a reproachful look and said, "Senior Brother, you're one of us, so I'll tell you—I want to carve an array that goes biubiu and displays how much merit I've accumulated, so I can clearly know how much merit I earn from doing what."

Wang Feiyin's eyes went blank. "So mercenary... and the Mountain God just gave you the Merit Stone?"

He furrowed his brow and looked at Pan Yun. "Junior Sister, you can't be like this. Being too mercenary—you might lose your original heart."

Pan Yun's eyes welled with hot tears as she said eagerly, "Senior Brother, I also wish I could be like you, living on the mountain and cultivating in专注, hearing nothing of the world below, with one heart set on becoming a celestial immortal. But my father and brothers are still suffering at the border. I have no choice—I must save them."

Wang Feiyin's heart softened. "So you carved the array, and cultivating merit is to save your father and brothers?"

Pan Yun nodded. "Although I still don't know exactly how to use it, I know that being a little stronger, and even stronger, can't be wrong."

Wang Feiyin sighed, thought for a moment, and still reached out to take her hand, whispering into her ear, "Junior Sister, remember this—even gods have mercenary hearts. I urge you to be cautious and not lose your original heart."

Pan Yun knew that what he was guarding against with this whispered message was their Master, the great Mountain God. This was already the third time he had told her to be more cautious.

Pan Yun accepted Wang Feiyin's kindness and nodded at him.

Only then did Wang Feiyin openly use his mouth to instruct other things. "The matter of the Merit Stone is known only to you and me. Don't tell anyone else. The commoner is innocent; possessing jade brings guilt."

Pan Yun nodded repeatedly and asked in a small voice, "Senior Brother, don't you want the Merit Stone? I think it's quite a big piece—how about I share a little with you?"

Wang Feiyin glanced at her and said, "This thing is useless to me, and I can't afford to take it."

Wang Feiyin sighed again, knocked on her head, and said, "Back when we took Master as our teacher, I was just like you—I went up the mountain myself to apprentice."

Pan Yun's thoughts turned, and she let out a meaningful "Oh." Senior Brother was just like her—both had forced their way into apprenticeship.

No, that's not right. Senior Brother was far more impressive than her. Not only did he force his way into apprenticeship, he also forcibly took in several disciples on behalf of Master, the old man.

So, did Senior Brother receive some punishment because of this, which is why he keeps reminding her that taking a god's gifts requires paying a price?

Pan Yun hugged the Merit Stone in her arms and decided to have a proper talk with Master, the old man, tonight.

Pan Yun hid the Merit Stone in her bosom and brought it back to the Daoist temple.

Miao He and the others were happy to see her brought back safe and sound again. Miao He directly hugged her arm. "Little Xiao Shishu, you'll just live in the Daoist temple and not leave, right?"

Pan Yun glanced at her hand and then nodded. "For now, yes. I need to stay here and cultivate the Dao with you all."

She looked around and asked, "Fourth Senior Sister hasn't come out of seclusion yet?"

Master Xuanmiao began closed-door cultivation yesterday afternoon. It's already been a whole day—neither eating nor drinking?

Miao He said, "Fourth Xiao Shishu's closed-door cultivation usually lasts about seven days. She can already go without food for a period of time. Unlike us, we're still young—one meal missed and we're starving. Little Xiao Shishu, are you hungry? I'll go to the kitchen and make you something to eat."

Miao He realized she really liked Little Xiao Shishu. She liked her yesterday too, but today she liked her even more.

Even Seeing Miao Zhen beside them rarely smiled as she looked at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun nodded.

Miao He then pulled the dazed Tao Yan Bai to help. "Quick, quick, both Little Xiao Shishu and I want to eat your noodles."

Tao Yan Bai came back to his senses. "It's you who want to eat, right?"

That left Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen looking at each other.

Pan Yun: "I want to go back to my room."

Seeing Miao Zhen immediately stepped aside, lowered her head, and said, "Please, Xiao Shishu."

After Pan Yun left, Seeing Miao Zhen couldn't help frowning. Just now she had felt utterly refreshed and delighted, as if seeing a high mountain or spring water, her heart joyful and her spirit pleased.

Tao Yan Bai was also whispering with Miao He. "I don't know why, but just now when I looked at Little Xiao Shishu, it was like looking at, looking at my own mother..."

Miao He let out an "Eek!" and whispered, "I just felt that Little Xiao Shishu smelled so good, so soft, like the braised pork I once ate..."

So she felt she was hungry and needed to eat something.

Pan Yun ran back to her room. Only after closing the door did she remember leaving the black cat outside, so she quickly opened the door again to let it in.

Pan Xiao Hei walked in with a serious air, leaped lightly onto the table, sat down on its hindquarters, and gazed at her quietly with a pair of glass-like big eyes.

Pan Yun took out the Merit Stone to show it. "Look, how about using this as the base for the new array?"

Before entering the room, Pan Xiao Hei had made up its mind to be angry with her. But upon seeing the Merit Stone held out before its eyes, it couldn't help itself—it stretched out its paws to hug it, pressed it under its body, lay its whole cat body on top, comfortably stretched out in a lazy stretch, and its cat eyes revealed attachment and fondness. Pan Yun had been staring at it the whole time. Seeing it like this, she couldn't help muttering, "Looks like Senior Brother was right. This thing really is a universal charmer—no, a universal beguiler of all things. Whether human or animal, no one can help loving it."

Pan Xiao Hei saw her using it as a test on herself, and couldn't work up even a shred of anger. It lifted its eyelids and gave her a lazy glance.

This made Pan Yun frown even more deeply.

From this, it seemed the Merit Stone's influence on her was relatively small, even smaller on Senior Brother, but very great on Pan Xiao Hei, Miao He, and the others.

Pan Yun's gaze fell on the black cat, unsure whether this influence on it was directed at the realm spirit or at the black cat itself.

She made up her mind—when using this thing as an array stone, she must use it in the smallest amount possible, not too much. Otherwise, since the Three-Jade Spirit Realm is bound to her soul, whatever it has, she has too. She truly didn't want to become a universal charmer.

Just thinking about it gave her chills all over. Being stared at like Tang Sengrou was not a pleasant experience.

Pan Yun glanced at the comfortable Pan Xiao Hei, let it play with the Merit Stone, and took out brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from the spirit realm space to design the array structure and calculate the minimum Merit Stone content required for this set of arrays.

During this period, she had thoroughly figured out Senior Brother's set of arrays. Back in the day, he had given an academic report on it.

The only thing missing was a material that could identify merit.

! 。Read

In her previous life, materials and arrays that could measure spiritual energy were everywhere—land, sea, and air security checks all required them, so the materials for Senior Brother's array were easy to find. But merit...

Please forgive her limited knowledge. It seemed only Buddhist cultivators had any connection to merit, and in her previous life, Buddhist cultivators were not prominent.

Pan Gong had indeed seized her most pressing lifeline. This Merit Stone was practically tailor-made for her.

She also wanted to know what He wanted from her.

Once night fell, Pan Yun lay down early. Pan Xiao Hei, for once, didn't go lie in its nest, but squatted by her bed. One person and one cat waited together for the arrival of the Mountain God, Pan Gong.

Since learning that the Mountain God truly existed, Pan Yun and it had preferred to communicate in their minds rather than speak aloud.

She refused to believe the Mountain God was so powerful that He could still spy on their inner thoughts.

Pan Yun lay in bed, actively communicating with the black cat in her mind, deciding where to put the leftover Merit Stone and how to use it.

Would placing it in the Spirit Realm space affect her and Pan Xiaohei?

Pan Xiaohei's reply was that it would not.

【That is a space of another dimension; it cannot affect you or me. Only Merit Stones attached to the physical body exert influence.】

Pan Yun did not believe it, so she tossed the large Merit Stone into the Spirit Realm space—the stone's influence on them vanished instantly.

Pan Xiaohei, suddenly deprived of the stone and nearly rolling off the bed: …

Pan Yun said: 【You were right.】 But she did not retrieve the Merit Stone.

Sleepiness gradually washed over her; Pan Yun slowly adjusted her breathing and soon entered a half-dreaming state. Pan Xiaohei suddenly sat up—this time, it finally sensed a gentle breeze seeping through the window crack and door gap, passing over it to brush against Pan Yun's hair…

In her dream, Pan Yun saw Pan Gong.

He still wore the attire of a military general, holding a precious sword, his eyes clear and piercing, filling her with a chill.

Yet Pan Yun, seemingly unaffected, ran forward and bowed deeply. "Disciple pays homage to Master!"

She knelt cleanly to the ground and banged three loud kowtows—though in a dream, the sound was still clearly audible.

The Mountain God: …

Pan Yun lifted her small face, gazing at him with wide, yearning eyes, full of adoration.

The Mountain God, expressionless, said: "Rise."

This was the third night since Pan Yun arrived at Mount Sanqing; for three consecutive nights she had seen Him in dreams, and now He finally spoke.

Pan Yun rose and stood with a deep bow, utterly respectful. "Master, your disciple has received the gift you gave as a token of meeting—I love it dearly."

In the dream, she forced out two tears, wiping her eyes with feeling: "Master, in all my life, besides my father and brothers, only you have ever given me gifts. And it's so strange—we both share the surname Pan. Could it be that five hundred years ago, no, five thousand years ago, we were one family?"

There had certainly been Mount Sanqing five thousand years ago—but was there a Mountain God then?

The Mountain God stared at her expressionlessly; seeing she was about to speak again, he cut her off: "The gift was not given freely."

Pan Yun perked up instantly. "What does Master wish me to do? Give any order—I will climb mountains of blades and walk through seas of fire without hesitation."

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(End of Chapter)