Chapter 923: Preparation

"No, I already told you I don't lie," Pan Yun said, "I'm really just inviting a very, very, very senior to a meal."

Two round little heads poked out again: "Xiao Shishu, our dining hall's cooking really is quite good."

"Go, go, go!" the old Daoist Priest waved his hand, but in the end he agreed.

Pan Yun told them to make plenty of meat.

"A cultivator of the Dao should never be picky about food? Meat should be eaten in moderation."

Pan Yun: "This senior hasn't eaten anything in many years, he just loves meat."

Because Pan Yun had given too much money, the dining hall made all kinds of meat—some rough, some refined.

By nightfall, the entire Academy was thick with the smell of meat.

The students locked in the classroom smelled that meat fragrance and began to look forward to lunch.

They had also received word that the situation was settled, that the Senior Disciple was to inherit the position of True Person of the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu.

"Are they going to release us?"

"The whole palace smells of meat—could it be a celebration?"

"So high-profile? Has he gotten a bit carried away? The Senior Disciple doesn't seem like that kind of person, does he?"

"What do you mean, carried away? The Senior Disciple inheriting the True Person position is a happy occasion, why shouldn't we celebrate?"

"But with both the national mourning and the family mourning, how can the Senior Disciple act like this?"

"The late Emperor passed away three full months ago. Great Ancestor Emperor Gao didn't want the national mourning period to be too long and affect the common people's livelihood, so he only required three months of mourning—it's long past."

"What about the family mourning? The three-year mourning period must still be observed, right? Besides, since the Senior Disciple is to be a True Person, he holds an official rank and a title—he's no commoner, so he only observes three months."

Zhang Ziwang heard the students arguing from outside the door. With a dark expression he pushed the door open and barked, "What's all this noise?"

The crowd immediately fell silent.

While the struggle for power raged below the mountain, things up on the mountain were hardly peaceful either. On the night it all happened, they had followed orders and held their array points, channeling internal energy and elemental force into them, tossing out a few talismans every now and then.

The people of Xitang had taken advantage of the moment they were pinned down to storm the Academy, trying to take control of the whole place. In the end it was Lin Jing who killed five men in a row to slow the assault, then joined forces with Zhang Ziming to drive them out through the palace gates, and finally they urgently activated the Academy's protective array—no one allowed out, no one allowed in.

From that day on, they held the array for two more days. Just when they were nearly exhausted to death, the martial uncle who had been guarding Reflection Cliff all this time came down the mountain and ordered them back to their classes to rest and await orders.

But the moment they stepped into the classroom, the door slammed shut with a bang, and from then on, they ate, drank, and lived their every need inside that classroom.

Honestly, if they hadn't been Daoists with experience in closed-door cultivation, they would have gone mad these past few days.

Zhang Ziwang swept his dark gaze over them and said in a low voice, "The Academy is returning to normal. You are students—your main task is to study. The rest has nothing to do with you. Don't let me catch you spreading wild rumors, or the Hall of Punishment will deal with you!"

The students silently lowered their heads.

Zhang Ziwang said, "The lockdown is now lifted. I'll give you half a day to tidy yourselves up. Evening lessons proceed as usual tonight, classes resume as usual tomorrow. Without orders, no one may leave the Academy."

At these words, the students couldn't help cheering.

Even if they couldn't leave the Academy, being able to return to the dormitory was still wonderful.

Right now they just wanted to bathe, brush their teeth, change clothes, and sleep beautifully!

Zhang Ziwang's expression softened considerably as he turned and left.

The moment he was gone, the students burst out of the classroom and sprinted toward their dormitories!

Students from the other colleges had also received the notice from Zhang Yuanzhu and were running out of the school along with them.

By now, Pan Yun had nearly climbed to the top of Reflection Cliff. Hearing the earth-shaking din, she couldn't help turning her head to look down—and saw students pouring out of the classrooms, then scattering toward every corner of the Academy.

It was like a flower bursting suddenly into bloom, stretching out tendril after tendril of petals, and finally opening into the most brilliant blossom.

Pan Yun stood silently watching.

Bored, Cheng Lingzi found everything interesting. He had clearly heard Pan Yun's footsteps, but when he saw she wasn't coming up for a long while, he walked out of his hut and stood at the top of the cliff looking down.

He watched the free-spirited students for a while, just as she did. Seeing her still motionless, he asked, "Isn't it full of life?"

Pan Yun glanced up at him, then turned back to continue watching the noisy, excited students: "Reflection Cliff… the fierce beast sealed below is clearly that powerful, yet you didn't wake the Zhang family's Laozu Sect ancestor from closed-door cultivation ahead of time, and instead kept the students—who should have been on winter break—here. Is it because human vitality can reinforce the array?"

Cheng Lingzi gazed at her steadily for a moment, then sighed, "You really are an array-formation prodigy. Yes, that's exactly right."

"Mortal men are fragile. In the past, demons, monsters, ghosts, and cultivators alike looked down on mortals, never knowing that mortal energy, mortal will, can slay demons—and of course, can slay cultivators too."

Pan Yun hitched up her robe and kept climbing: "Sigh, all this talk about mortals and cultivators—don't all cultivators start out as mortals?"

Cheng Lingzi didn't argue. Once she drew near, he couldn't help sniffing, then leaned closer and sniffed hard again.

Pan Yun dodged backward, frowning: "What are you doing?"

"You smell so good?"

Pan Yun immediately broke into a smile: "Of course. To show respect, I bathed and changed clothes before coming up."

"That's the smell of braised meat. Did you bring braised meat?"

Pan Yun's smile faltered slightly, her face going blank: "The senior guarding the dining hall said we cultivators shouldn't eat too much meat, that our diet should be balanced…"

"Enough nonsense. I've been gnawing on steamed buns for three days, my mouth is about to go so bland a bird would fly out of it. I'm at least your martial brother—you come up the mountain and don't bring a little gift?"

Someone as thorough as Pan Yun had of course prepared his share, but what she wanted was to give it herself, not for him to ask for it.

Pan Yun sighed, resignedly took a food box out of her spirit realm and handed it to him: "This was prepared for you, Martial Brother, in the first place."

"Mm, Junior Martial Sister Pan understands human courtesy far better than Junior Martial Sister Li."

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Now that he had food, Cheng Lingzi stopped meddling in the affairs between her and her martial sisters. He casually tossed a token backward.

Master Xuanmiao, who had been standing silently at the edge of the cliff, reached out and caught it.

Cheng Lingzi went into his own hut on his own: "I'll give you half a shichen. Be careful—if it swallows you, I'm not coming down to save you."

He added another warning: "Don't make a ruckus. The two Weilaozu Sect ancestors haven't gone into closed-door cultivation yet. If it really gets brought before the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu's hall, even if you have the family head's secret order, I won't acknowledge it."

Master Xuanmiao nodded: "If anything happens, I'll bear it alone."

Cheng Lingzi then slammed his wooden door shut with a snap.

Pan Yun hurried over: "Senior Martial Sister, how do we get down?"

"Fly down."

"But—doesn't this place suppress Yuan Power?"

"It suppresses Yuan Power, not internal force. Besides, was your lightness skill learned for nothing?" So saying, without waiting for Pan Yun to react, he shoved her straight off the cliff.

Pan Yun screamed at the top of her lungs, her body at a ninety-degree angle to the cliff face, her feet drumming down like a spinning top, and just as she was about to free-fall, she channeled her lightness skill and—hanging by a thread—finally put to use the internal force she'd dissolved when climbing up the mountain.