Chapter Forty-Five: Master~

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Wang Feiyin halted and turned to glare at her. “Who in their right mind would use something as precious as a merit stone as the foundation stone for a formation? Are you planning to carve an Immortal Ascension Formation?”

Merit stones were things possessed only by gods who enjoyed worship and offerings of incense. Even then, they were useful only if the god willingly gave them away. Wang Feiyin could swear on his own head that, at present, Pan Yun was the only person in all the world to possess such an honor.

Pan Yun’s eyes lit up. Her first question was, “There’s actually an Immortal Ascension Formation in this world?”

Wang Feiyin said, “No.”

Pan Yun gave him an accusing look. “Senior Brother, you’re one of us, so I’ll tell you. I want to carve a formation that will display the amount of merit I’ve accumulated, rapidly and clearly, so I’ll know exactly how much merit I can gain from each thing I do.”

Wang Feiyin stared at her blankly. “So utilitarian… and the mountain god still gave you a merit stone?”

He frowned at Pan Yun. “Junior Sister, this won’t do. You’re being far too calculating. I’m afraid you’ll lose sight of your original purpose.”

Pan Yun’s eyes filled with tears as she pleaded, “Senior Brother, I want to be like you too—to live on the mountain and devote myself to cultivation, to shut my ears to the affairs below and focus on becoming an immortal in Heaven. But my father and brothers are still suffering at the frontier. I have no choice. I have to save them.”

Wang Feiyin’s heart softened. “So you’re cultivating merit and carving this formation to save your father and brothers?”

Pan Yun nodded. “Although I still don’t know exactly how I’ll use it, I do know that becoming a little stronger—then stronger still—can never be wrong.”

Wang Feiyin sighed. After thinking for a moment, he took her hand and whispered into her ear, “Junior Sister, remember this: even gods may harbor utilitarian desires. Be exceedingly cautious. Never lose sight of your original purpose.”

Pan Yun knew that he was whispering because he was guarding against their master, the great mountain god. This was already the third time he had urged her to be more careful.

Grateful for his concern, Pan Yun nodded at him.

Only then did Wang Feiyin openly remind her of something else. “The matter of the merit stone is known only to you and me. Don’t tell anyone else. A common man is innocent, but the possession of a treasure makes him guilty.”

Pan Yun nodded repeatedly, then asked in a small voice, “Senior Brother, don’t you want the merit stone? It’s quite a large piece. Otherwise, I could give you some.”

Wang Feiyin cast her a sidelong glance. “It’s useless to me, and I couldn’t accept it even if I wanted to.”

He sighed again and tapped her on the head. “When I became a disciple back then, I went up the mountain to seek a master on my own, just as you did.”

Pan Yun’s thoughts shifted, and she gave a meaningful little “Oh.” So Senior Brother, like her, had forced his way into becoming a disciple.

No—that was wrong. Senior Brother was far more impressive than she was. Not only had he forced his way into becoming a disciple, he had also forcibly accepted several disciples on behalf of their elderly master.

Could it be that he had suffered some punishment for this, and that was why he kept reminding her that accepting a god’s favor came at a price?

Clutching the merit stone to her chest, Pan Yun decided that she would have a proper talk with their master that night.

She hid the merit stone in her robes and carried it back to the Taoist temple.

Miaohe and the others were delighted to see her return unharmed. Miaohe immediately hugged her arm. “Little Martial Uncle, you’re going to stay at the temple and not leave again, right?”

Pan Yun glanced at her hand, then nodded. “For now, yes. I’ll stay here and cultivate the Way with all of you.”

She looked around. “Fourth Senior Sister still hasn’t emerged from seclusion?”

Xuanmiao had entered seclusion yesterday afternoon, and a full day had already passed. Was she not eating or drinking?

Miaohe explained, “Fourth Martial Aunt usually stays in seclusion for about seven days. She’s already been able to abstain from food for some time. We’re different—we’re still young, and we get terribly hungry if we miss even one meal. Are you hungry, Little Martial Uncle? I’ll go to the kitchen and make you something to eat.”

Miaohe discovered that she liked her Little Martial Uncle very much. She had liked her yesterday, but today she liked her even more.

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Even Miaozhen, who rarely smiled, was looking at Pan Yun with an unusual smile.

Pan Yun nodded.

Miaohe dragged the dazed Tao Yanbo along to help her. “Hurry, hurry! Little Martial Uncle and I both want to eat the noodles you make.”

Tao Yanbo came back to himself. “You’re the one who wants to eat, aren’t you?”

That left Pan Yun and Miaozhen staring at each other.

Pan Yun said, “I want to return to my room.”

Miaozhen immediately stepped aside and lowered her head. “Please, Martial Aunt.”

After Pan Yun left, Miaozhen could not help frowning. Just now, she had felt utterly refreshed and delighted, as though she had seen lofty mountains and clear springs.

Tao Yanbo was whispering to Miaohe as well. “I don’t know why, but when I looked at Little Martial Aunt just now, it was as though I were looking at my own mother…”

Miaohe let out a soft cry of surprise and whispered, “I thought Little Martial Aunt smelled so good and felt so soft—like the braised pork I once ate…”

That was why she felt hungry and needed to eat something.

Pan Yun hurried back to her room. Only after closing the door did she remember that she had left the black cat outside. She quickly opened the door again and let it in.

Pan Little Black entered with a grave air, lightly leaped onto the table, sat down, and stared at her in silence with a pair of glass-bright eyes.

Pan Yun took out the merit stone and showed it to the cat. “What do you think of using this as the foundation for the new formation?”

Before entering the room, Pan Little Black had already decided to be angry with her. But when the merit stone was placed before its eyes, it could not resist. It reached out its paws, embraced the stone, pinned it beneath its body, and sprawled over it, stretching lazily in comfort. Affection and delight shone from its feline eyes.

Pan Yun watched it intently. Seeing this reaction, she murmured, “It seems Senior Brother was right. This thing really is irresistible to everyone. No—not just people. Everything. Humans and animals alike can’t help loving it.”

Pan Little Black realized that she was using it as an experiment, yet it could not bring itself to feel angry at all. It merely raised its eyes and gave her a languid glance.

Pan Yun’s brows drew together even more tightly.

It seemed that the merit stone’s influence on her was relatively slight, and even slighter on Senior Brother. But its effect on Pan Little Black, Miaohe, and the others was immense.

Pan Yun’s gaze fell on the black cat. She simply did not know whether the influence was affecting the spirit of the realm or the black cat itself.

She made up her mind that when she used the stone as a formation foundation, she would use as little of it as possible. She could not use too much. The Three-Jade Spirit Realm was bound to her soul, and whatever it possessed would count as something she possessed as well. She had no desire to truly become irresistible to all things.

The mere thought sent a chill through her entire body. Being watched like a piece of Tang Monk’s flesh was hardly a pleasant experience.

Pan Yun glanced at the comfortable Pan Little Black and let it play with the merit stone. She herself took out brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from the Spirit Realm to design the formation and calculate the minimum amount of merit stone it required.

During this period, she had already thoroughly studied her senior brother’s formation. He had even presented an academic report on it back then.

The only thing missing was a material capable of identifying merit.

In her previous life, materials and formations capable of measuring spiritual energy could be found everywhere. Safety inspections on land, at sea, and in the air all required them. That was why her senior brother had had no trouble finding the materials for this formation.

But merit…

She hoped she could be forgiven for her limited knowledge. As far as she knew, only Buddhist cultivators had any connection with merit, and in her previous life, Buddhist cultivators had never been particularly prominent.

Lord Pan had seized upon the most urgent need in her life. This merit stone was practically made for her.

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She also wanted to know what He hoped to obtain from her.

As soon as night fell, Pan Yun lay down early. Pan Little Black rarely abandoned its own nest to sleep, but tonight it crouched beside her bed. Human and cat waited together for the arrival of Lord Pan, the mountain god.

Ever since learning that the mountain god truly existed, Pan Yun and the cat had preferred communicating in their minds rather than speaking aloud.

She refused to believe that the mountain god could be so powerful as to peer into their thoughts.

Lying in bed, Pan Yun was actively discussing with the black cat where to store the remaining merit stone and how to use it.

Would placing it in the Spirit Realm affect her and Pan Little Black?

The answer the cat gave was no.

That was another dimension, it explained, and could not affect either of them. Only a merit stone in the physical world could exert influence.

Pan Yun did not believe it, so she tossed the enormous piece of merit stone into the Spirit Realm. The stone’s influence over them vanished at once.

Pan Little Black nearly rolled off the bed when the stone abruptly disappeared.

Pan Yun said in her mind, “You were right.”

But she did not take the merit stone back out.

Drowsiness gradually overtook her. Pan Yun slowly regulated her breathing and soon drifted into a state between sleep and wakefulness.

Pan Little Black suddenly straightened. This time, it finally sensed a cool breeze slipping through the cracks in the window and door, passing over it before brushing against Pan Yun’s hair…

Pan Yun saw Lord Pan in her dream.

He was still dressed as a military commander, a precious sword in hand. His clear, cold eyes rested on her, filling the air with an icy chill.

Yet Pan Yun seemed entirely unaffected. She trotted forward and bowed. “Your disciple pays respects to Master!”

She dropped neatly to her knees and knocked her head against the ground three times. Though it was only a dream, the sound rang out clearly.

The mountain god was speechless.

Pan Yun raised her small face and gazed at him eagerly, her expression full of adoration.

The mountain god said expressionlessly, “Rise.”

This was Pan Yun’s third night at Three Pure Ones Mountain, and for three nights in a row she had seen Him in her dreams. At last, He was willing to speak.

Pan Yun rose and stood with her body slightly bent, her respect almost excessive. “Master, your disciple received the welcoming gift you sent today. I like it very much.”

Even in her dream, she managed to squeeze out two tears. Wiping at her eyes, she said, “Master, in all my life, aside from my father and brothers, you’re the only one who has ever given me anything. And what a coincidence—we both bear the surname Pan. Could it be that we were family five hundred years ago? No—five thousand years ago?”

Three Pure Ones Mountain must certainly have existed five thousand years ago. But had there been a mountain god then?

The mountain god stared at her without expression. When He saw that she was about to continue, He cut her off. “I did not give you that thing for nothing.”

Pan Yun’s spirits rose. “What would you have your disciple do, Master? Just give the order. Whether it means climbing a mountain of blades or crossing a sea of fire, your disciple will not hesitate.”