[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming":3,"chapter-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-45":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Unorthodox Sword of Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2337250,4570,"Chapter 45: Master","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-45",45,"\u003Cp>Wang Feiyin halted his steps, turned to glare at her, “Who in their right mind would use such a precious virtue stone as a formation base? Do you plan to carve a celestial formation?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Virtue stones are things only deities who receive offerings and incense possess, and even then, only if the deity willingly bestows them—Wang Feiyin would stake his own head on it: across the entire realm, only Pan Yun currently holds this honor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun’s eyes brightened slightly; she asked first, “Does such a thing as a celestial formation even exist in this world?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Feiyin: “No.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun gave him a reproachful look and said, “Big Brother, since you’re family, I’ll tell you—I want to carve a formation that will biubiu display how much virtue I’ve accumulated, so I can clearly know exactly how much virtue each action earns me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Feiyin’s eyes grew cloudy. “So pragmatic… how could the mountain god have given you the virtue stone?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He frowned at her. “Little sister, this won’t do. You’re too pragmatic—you’ll lose your true heart.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun’s eyes filled with tears as she pleaded, “Big Brother, I want to live on the mountain like you, cultivate in peace, deaf to the world below, focused only on becoming a celestial immortal—but my father and brother still suffer at the frontier. I have no choice; I must save them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Feiyin’s heart softened. “So you’re carving this formation and accumulating virtue to save your father and brother?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun nodded. “Though I still don’t know exactly how to use it, I know one thing: becoming stronger, even stronger, is never wrong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Feiyin sighed again, then reached out and took her hand, whispering softly into her ear, “Little sister, remember—even deities have pragmatic hearts. Be cautious. Don’t lose your true heart.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun knew he was whispering to guard against their master, the Mountain God—he’d warned her this way for the third time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun appreciated his concern and nodded to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Wang Feiyin speak aloud, openly advising her: “The virtue stone is known only to you and me. Don’t tell anyone. An innocent man is guilty merely for possessing a treasure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun nodded eagerly, whispering, “Big Brother, don’t you want the virtue stone? It’s quite large—I could give you a piece?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Feiyin glanced at her. “This thing is useless to me. I cannot accept it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Feiyin sighed again, tapping her head. “When I first came to pay homage, I climbed the mountain myself, just like you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun’s thoughts shifted; she gave a knowing “Oh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No—Big Brother was far more impressive than her; he didn’t just force his way into becoming a disciple, he also forced their master to accept several other disciples.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So… was that why he’d been punished, and now kept warning her that accepting divine gifts demanded a price?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun hugged the virtue stone to her chest, deciding she’d speak with her master that night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun hid the virtue stone in her robes and brought it back to the Daoist temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Miao He and the others were delighted to see her returned unharmed; Miao He immediately clung to her arm. “Little Auntie, you’re staying in the temple now, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun glanced at her hand, then nodded. “For now—I’ll remain here and cultivate with you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked around. “Has Fourth Sister not emerged from seclusion yet?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xuan Miao had entered seclusion yesterday afternoon—she hadn’t eaten or drunk for a full day?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Miao He said, “Fourth Auntie usually stays in seclusion for about seven days. She’s already mastered grain Grain Bigu; unlike us, we’re still young—skip one meal and we’re starving. Little Auntie, are you hungry? I’ll go cook you something.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Miao He realized she loved Little Auntie more and more—she’d liked her yesterday, but today even more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Miao Zhen, usually stoic, smiled faintly as she watched Pan Yun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Miao He pulled the dazed Tao Yanbai along. “Hurry up, hurry up—I and Little Auntie both want your noodles.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tao Yanbai snapped out of it. “You’re the one who wants them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun and Miao Zhen exchanged glances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun: “I want to go back to my room.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Miao Zhen immediately stepped aside, bowing her head. “Little Auntie, please.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Pan Yun left, Miao Zhen frowned. Just now, she’d felt serene, as if gazing upon a high mountain or a spring—her spirit uplifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tao Yanbai was whispering to Miao He. “I don’t know why, but when I looked at Little Auntie just now, it felt like… like looking at my own mother…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Miao He gasped softly. “I thought Little Auntie smelled sweet and felt soft—like the braised pork I once ate…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she realized she was hungry and needed to eat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun ran back to her room, shut the door, then remembered the black cat was still outside—she quickly opened it again to let it in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Xiao entered calmly, leapt lightly onto the table, sat back, and stared at her with large, glassy eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun pulled out the virtue stone for it to see. “What do you think? Could this serve as the foundation for a new formation?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before entering, Pan Xiao had resolved to be angry with her—but seeing the virtue stone offered before it, it couldn’t resist. It reached out a paw, clutched the stone, pressed it beneath its body, stretched out fully in a luxurious yawn, its eyes brimming with affection. Pan Yun watched it closely, murmuring, “Big Brother was right—this thing truly is a universal magnet. Not just for people, but for all living things—they can’t help but love it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing her use it as a test, Pan Xiao found it couldn’t muster even a trace of anger. It lifted its gaze lazily toward her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made Pan Yun’s frown deepen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed the virtue stone’s influence on her was mild, on Big Brother even less—but on Pan Xiao, Miao He, and others, it was strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun’s gaze settled on the black cat. Was this influence affecting the spirit of the realm, or the cat itself?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She decided: when using this as a formation base, she must use it minimally—never too much. If the Three Jade Spirit Realm was bound to her soul, then whatever it possessed was hers. She didn’t want to truly become a universal magnet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just imagining it made her shudder—being stared at as if she were Tang Monk’s flesh was no pleasant experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun glanced at the contented Pan Xiao, handed the virtue stone over to it, then took out brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from the spirit realm to design the formation and calculate the minimum virtue stone required.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this time, she’d fully studied Big Brother’s formation—he’d once presented it academically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only missing piece was a material capable of detecting virtue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!.read\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her past life, materials and formations to measure spiritual energy were everywhere—used in land, sea, and air security checks—so Big Brother could easily find materials for this formation. But virtue…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forgive her limited knowledge—only Buddhist cultivators had any connection to virtue, and in her past life, Buddhist cultivators were obscure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Pan had grasped her most urgent need—this virtue stone was clearly made for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She also wanted to know: what did He want from her?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As night fell, Pan Yun went to bed early. Pan Xiao, unusually, didn’t go to its nest but sat beside her bed, waiting with her for the Mountain God.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since learning the mountain god truly existed, Pan Yun and it preferred communicating mentally rather than speaking aloud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t believe the mountain god was so powerful he could spy on their inner thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lying in bed, Pan Yun was mentally active with the black cat, discussing where to store the remaining virtue stone and how to use it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would storing it in the spirit realm affect her or Pan Xiao?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Xiao’s answer: no.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【That’s another dimensional space—it cannot affect us. Only the virtue stone on the physical body exerts influence.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun didn’t believe it. She tossed the large virtue stone into the spirit realm—their connection to it vanished instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Xiao, nearly rolling off the bed from the sudden loss: …\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun said: 【You’re right.】 But she didn’t retrieve the virtue stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sleepiness crept over her. Pan Yun slowly adjusted her breathing, soon entering a half-dream state. Pan Xiao suddenly sat upright—this time, it finally sensed a gentle breeze slipping through the window and door cracks, passing over it, brushing Pan Yun’s hair…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her dream, Pan Yun saw Master Pan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still dressed as a military general, sword in hand, his eyes clear and piercing, sending a chill through her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Pan Yun, seemingly unaffected, ran forward and bowed deeply. “Disciple pays homage to Master!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knelt firmly to the ground and banged three loud kowtows. Even in the dream, the sound was clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mountain God: …\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun lifted her face, gazing up at him with adoring eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mountain God’s expression remained blank. “Rise.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the third night since Pan Yun arrived at Mount Sanqing. For three nights straight, she’d met Him in dreams—and now, finally, He spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun rose and stood with deep respect. “Master, today I received your gift. I love it very much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the dream, she forced out two tears, wiping her eyes. “Master, in all my life, besides my father and brother, only you have ever given me gifts. And we both share the surname Pan—could it be we were family five hundred years ago? No—five thousand years ago?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mount Sanqing certainly existed five thousand years ago—but was there a mountain god then?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mountain God stared at her blankly. Seeing she was about to speak again, he cut her off: “I didn’t give you this gift for free.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun perked up. “What does Master wish me to do? Command me—I’ll climb mountains of blades, walk through seas of fire without hesitation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today’s and tomorrow’s lucky numbers end in 6 (for readers tracking progress). Screenshot as proof. Join the “Jian Zou Pian Feng Da Ming” group to claim your prize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1695,"2026-06-20T22:03:57.478Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b78a2d8204f3f88fe5da917e591931d820ecb3b15c4ad1e357642ebaf1f8d250","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-46","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-44",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-cover.jpg"]