Chapter 510

Don't be fooled by the small front entrance and narrow alley—the back courtyard had an extra wall built, cutting off one and a half courtyards, yet the remaining two and a half courtyards were still quite spacious.

There were plenty of Three Pure Ones ancestors to be venerated, and plenty of official rooms as well.

When Pan Yun and the others entered, the Daoist Priests had already begun registering names in their ledgers.

Xue Jingxuan directly led them into a small room on the side.

Inside, it was bustling—a middle-aged Daoist Priest was washing his sleeves in a wooden basin while cursing loudly, his clothes filthy.

Pan Yun's gaze swept over him; she sensed a faint fluctuation of Yuan energy and knew he was a cultivated Daoist Priest.

The middle-aged Daoist Priest heard footsteps and looked up; seeing Xue Jingxuan leading a group of Daoist Priests in, he frowned: "Xue Jingxuan, why are you bringing so many people here?"

Xue Jingxuan: "Dao Ji, these are here to register for the exam…"

"Go away, go away, have them line up," the middle-aged Daoist Priest said with righteous indignation: "Our Daoji Office is fair and strict—we show no favoritism!"

Xue Jingxuan finished his sentence: "They were escorted by the Brocade Guard."

Dao Ji nearly bit his tongue; he shot Xue Jingxuan a silent glare, then turned back with a forced smile, clasping his fists: "So you're colleagues of the Brocade Guard? May I ask which masters you follow and where your sect halls are?"

Pan Yun smiled warmly and returned the gesture: "I am Daoist Pan Yun, disciple of the Three Pure Ones Temple on Mount Sanqing."

Dao Ji's eyes widened as he studied her closely: "Are you Wang Feiyin's disciple?"

Pan Yun replied: "Senior brother."

Dao Ji's demeanor grew more solemn, his smile more genuine; still holding his damp sleeve, he bowed deeply and clasped his fists: "So you're Sister Pan! Xue Jingxuan, quickly bring the forms for their registration."

The forms had already been given to her, but ink and brush were still needed for recording.

Xue Jingxuan went to fetch ink and brush; Dao Ji hurried to change out of his wet clothes. As he passed, he stole a quick glance at An Chen and the others, sensed the aura of killing intent on them, and quietly lowered his head, walking off swiftly.

As he passed, Pan Yun caught a faint sour-milk odor drifting from him.

Seeing her stare at Dao Ji, Xue Jingxuan explained: "That child was pressed too hard and cried violently—he vomited all over Dao Ji."

Pan Yun nodded and pulled out her official registry to register.

Although her identity had been exposed, her registry remained unchanged: Pan Yun of Mount Sanqing.

Unless something unexpected happens, it will never change.

Pan Yun had no intention of leaving Mount Sanqing to return to the Pan family.

After registering, Pan Yun stepped aside, letting Seeing Miao Zhen step forward.

Seeing Miao Zhen, Miao He, and Tao Yan Bai each registered in turn, paid their fees, and received their examination permits.

They could take the exam the day after tomorrow.

Pan Yun glanced at the permit in her hand and found it oddly intriguing.

It detailed her place of origin, age, and appearance; most cleverly, it bore runes along the edges.

She studied them closely and asked Xue Jingxuan uncertainly: "Are these runes for detecting energy signatures?"

Xue Jingxuan smiled faintly: "Just a precaution."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "Pretty advanced—not worse than ours…"

Xue Jingxuan immediately asked: "These runes were invented by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, decreed by the Upper Dao—do your Three Pure Ones Temple have similar talismans?"

Pan Yun snapped back to attention: "Oh, I've seen talismans with similar functions before—I can draw them too. If your Daoji Office ever lacks talisman artists, feel free to ask me."

Xue Jingxuan fell instantly silent: "Oh, we have sufficient personnel—for now, no shortage."

The Daoji Office had ample staff.

After registering, Xue Jingxuan, out of respect for the Brocade Guard, revealed a bit of inside information: "Not only does the Daoji Office have enough staff, but there are many Daoist Priests across the land—so this year, the number of approved slots has been reduced again."

Pan Yun immediately asked: "How many slots this year?"

Xue Jingxuan smiled at her, his gaze deep: "Five."

Pan Yun looked at the long queue: "Only five people total from Guangxin Prefecture?"

Xue Jingxuan nodded, following her gaze: "Yesterday's registration numbers were even higher than today's."

So they must fight their way through three times this many applicants—only the top five stand a chance of being selected.

As Pan Yun walked out, thinking, she suddenly remembered: "You're treating us so well—do you need the Brocade Guard to help with something?"

Xue Jingxuan smiled at her—and just as she expected him to make a request, he said: "As long as your Brocade Guard masters don't cause us trouble, that's enough."

Pan Yun: …

She turned to An Chen: "Look at your rotten reputation."

An Chen: …

Xue Jingxuan immediately lowered his head as if he hadn't heard.

Zhang Ziming smiled pleasantly: "Anything else? If not, shouldn't you head to the apothecary and general store to buy cinnabar? You might need it for tomorrow's exam."

Pan Yun said: "We have cinnabar."

Zhang Ziming replied: "Then return to the inn. Rest up—we need to sit in meditation too; we haven't had a moment of quiet cultivation in a long time."

Pan Yun had no objection; she turned to Seeing Miao Zhen and the others: "Let's go back and rest. Nurture our essence—we have the exam the day after tomorrow."

Back at the inn, Pan Yun went straight to her room and shut the door.

Hong Yan was asleep on her bed; Pan Xiaohei entered and immediately found a corner to curl up in, closing his eyes.

Hong Yan, however, perked up, unable to lie still: "You're all back, yet you won't even talk to me?"

Pan Yun flopped onto the bed, pulled the quilt over her belly, closed her eyes, and yawned: "Don't bother me—I need to sleep. I've got things to do tonight."

Hong Yan froze, her fox head turning toward her curiously: "What are you doing tonight?"

Pan Yun murmured: "Catch a thief."

"You're at this level—why are you still chasing thieves?"

Unfortunately, Pan Yun was already fast asleep and couldn't answer.

Pan Yun hugged the quilt and snored deeply; when the sky outside turned dark and the night grew heavier, she suddenly opened her eyes.

She blinked twice before her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

She lay there for another three breaths, waiting for her body to come fully under her control, then got up.

She slowly rolled her neck, bent down to put on her shoes, and opened her arms toward Pan Xiaohei.

Pan Xiaohei had long been awake; nimbly, it leapt into Pan Yun's arms.

Pan Yun pushed open the window, flipped, and landed on the roof in one move.

Hong Yan's eyes darted, her body reacting faster than her mind—before her eyes had even finished turning, her body had already followed Pan Yun, leaping onto the roof and running after her toward the outskirts of the city. Near the city wall, Pan Yun finally took out her sword, flicked her wrist, and the sword flew out, stopping steadily ahead. She leapt up, stepped onto the flying sword, eyes fixed on what was in front, and wobbled forward through the air.

Hong Yan also leapt up, stepping on right behind her.

Pan Yun's lower back leaned against Hong Yan, and the trembling in her body eased somewhat.

Hong Yan, however, didn't dare move a muscle, wailing, "Don't lean on me! Put in some effort yourself, I'm not a stool ahhhh…"

Pan Yun said in a low, sharp voice, "Shut up. One more peep and I'll throw you down."

Hong Yan called out aggrievedly, "If I'd known, I wouldn't have come."

Pan Yun thought to herself: She had to sneak a trip to Kaifeng to ask the blacksmith whether her flight-type dharma artifact was ready yet—this flying sword was impossible to stand on, far too dangerous.

Pan Yun's target was clear; her speed was neither fast nor slow, yet faster than that of someone who had set out earlier.

After flying for over a shichen, Pan Yun spotted a firelight in a patch of woods, and saw Wang Cong and Hu Jing sitting beside the bonfire.

Pan Yun didn't go disturb them, but stopped directly on a huge tree branch.

No errors in any chapter, any line, any word, any content—read it all here!

She clung to the trunk and sat down, put her sword away, let her limp hands and feet recover a bit, then casually set Pan Xiaohei on a branch and instructed, "Stay here, don't move around, and protect the people below."

Hong Yan was completely baffled: "What did we come here for?"

Pan Yun: "Wait by the stump for a thief."

Hong Yan: "What thief?"

Pan Yun bared her teeth at her in a grin: "A thief who steals people."

Pan Yun clung to the trunk and climbed straight up; when she reached the top, where she could look out over all the treetops, she stopped.

Truly worthy of a tree she'd chosen—truly sturdy.

A genius should pick a genius tree.

Pan Yun carefully shifted and sat down; once her legs hung down, her left hand could firmly grip the trunk, and she felt the branch beneath her was plenty sturdy too, she quietly let out a breath of relief.

Thanks to the trees ahead and the dense branches—as long as she didn't stare straight down, she felt no vertigo at high altitude.

Besides, she wasn't afraid at this height—she had her lightness skill, what was there to fear?

That's right, she wasn't afraid at all.

Pan Yun's calves swung idly back and forth. The person who had set out a few breaths earlier than her, following Wang Cong's trail, hadn't even had time to be glad at finding Wang Cong and Hu Jing before a voice that shouldn't have been here sounded in his ear: "Hi, Zhang Yuanzhu, what a coincidence."

Zhang Ziming, who was standing in midair on the tip of a tree, stiffly turned his neck to look over.

He saw Pan Yun sitting at about the same height as him, her legs swinging back and forth as she greeted him.

Because the branches of the tree she sat on were dense, they hid most of her figure, so he hadn't spotted her at first.

Zhang Ziming's face instantly went pitch-black: "How are you here?"

Pan Yun beamed: "I missed my grand-disciple, couldn't set my mind at ease, so I came to check on him. I never expected to run into Zhang Yuanzhu here."

Pan Yun asked, "What about you, Zhang Yuanzhu? Why have you come here?"

Zhang Ziming looked at her with deep, dark eyes, and only after a moment said, "I've come to verify something."

Pan Yun smiled: "What thing?"

Zhang Ziming looked down at Hu Jing, who was sitting around the bonfire, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly: "I want to know the true face beneath this ancient hero's disguise—whether he is the Hu Jing that the court and the jianghu have been searching for everywhere and cannot find."

"Originally I only had a fifty-percent suspicion, but now that you've come, it's become eighty percent. Now I only need to catch the man and wipe the makeup off his face to know who he is."

Pan Yun tilted her head and looked at him, smiling as she asked, "Zhang Yuanzhu, you're that confident you can beat me?"

Zhang Ziming stared fixedly at her; battle intent rose. A sword suddenly appeared in his hand with a swish, and his eyes seemed to burn with a ball of fire: "How would I know without trying?"

He also wanted to have a fight with Pan Yun.

They all said she was strong—even lightning had struck her two extra times. He wanted to see just how strong she was.

Pan Yun saw this, and battle intent rose in her too—she also wanted to find someone to have a good fight.

Her Second Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Sister couldn't beat her, and her Eldest Senior Brother didn't like fighting; finding someone of similar cultivation to spar with was just too hard.

Pan Yun stood up from the branch, reached out her hand, and a sword appeared in it; her gaze at Zhang Ziming was bright and intent: "Then let's try."

Pan Yun gripped her sword, turned, and flew off.

Zhang Ziming glanced back at the people on the ground, then turned and followed.

After the two had flown some distance, they stopped, both stepping on tree branches and quietly watching each other.

Pan Yun spoke first: "Let's agree first—no holding grudges after the fight, don't you go making things hard for me afterward."

Zhang Ziming: "This courtyard master is open and aboveboard—how could I be that sort of petty person?"

"Good, watch my sword!" The instant Pan Yun's words fell, she charged forward with her sword.

Zhang Ziming, his face alight with excitement, met her head-on. They clashed in midair, and with a bang their swords slammed together. Zhang Ziming felt his qi and blood surge, his Hukou throb with pain, and the sword in his hand nearly got knocked flying.

Zhang Ziming instinctively felt something was off: "No, this isn't First Marquis…"

Pan Yun was already hacking and thrusting at him with clang after clang, nearly flicking his sword away in one strike.

"A fight's a fight—what's there to talk about cultivation ranks for?"

Zhang Ziming gritted his teeth, used one move that advanced as retreat, and when she pulled back to dodge the sword, he retreated rapidly.

He tossed his sword up, crossed his hands, and rapidly formed hand seals. "Since that's the case, then I won't hold back."

He couldn't win a sword contest, so he'd compete in spells instead.

Zhang Ziming silently chanted an incantation: "Binding Art, go!"

The surrounding trees grew as if they had gone mad, shooting up in an instant, then all leaning toward Pan Yun at once, their branches whipping toward her to entangle her.

Pan Yun stepped onto a branch, and her ankle was the first to be snared.

Pan Yun glanced down, formed a hand seal with one hand, and cried, "Fire, break!"

A ball of fire rose from beneath her feet, and the branches coiling around her ankle scattered in an instant; the next moment, Pan Yun shot out from the cluster of whipping branches like a cannonball, her flying sword streaking through the air straight at Zhang Ziming.

Before the flying sword could reach him, a mass of water mist appeared before Zhang Ziming; the water swallowed the longsword like a soft body, stopping it just as the tip nearly touched the tip of Zhang Ziming's nose, then slowly squeezing it outward bit by bit as the water ball pulsed.

Pan Yun was blocked, but her eyes grew brighter and brighter; she too began using spells to attack Zhang Ziming, only to find she was far from his match.

Often, the moment her spell attack arrived, he had already set up his defense.

Better to use the sword.

Her sword strikes were fast and vicious, her lightness skill was superb, and with her yuan force flowing ceaselessly, she was far above Zhang Ziming; combined with a few spells, the one now flustered and scrambling was Zhang Ziming. (End of chapter)