Merit

As the earth-shattering wails of mourning began, Pan Yun seemed to sense something and opened her eyes, looking towards the sky.

The black cat, which had recently taken to lounging on the roof beams, suddenly stood up. Its eyes, like glazed glass, seemed to glow as it stared at Pan Yun.

With a meow, it leaped from the beam and straight into Pan Yun's arms.

Once held, it meowed repeatedly, its excited cries filling Pan Yun's ears, "Did you feel it? Did you feel it? The seal has opened!"

Pan Yun hugged it tighter and gritted her teeth in her mind, "[Quiet down, or I'll throw you out!]"

Indeed, because the black cat wouldn't stop meowing, many people were looking at her while they cried. Doctor Zhang and Eunuch Qian looked displeased, and Zhu Youjue was already on the verge of anger.

Pan Yun held the black cat and lifted her eyelids to meet everyone's gaze, saying expressionlessly, "The black cat is spiritual and wards off evil. It says His Highness is here and is very happy."

As soon as she spoke, everyone couldn't help but look around. They saw the void trembling slightly. Those who had met Prince Zhou in their dreams before instinctively huddled together, their cries tinged with a hint of fear.

Prince Zhou, who was standing by listening to the Imperial Decree: ...

Pan Yun frowned, "What are you all afraid of? Prince Zhou was such a good person; even if he's back, he wouldn't scare us."

Hearing this, everyone felt she had a point. They stopped trembling and cried, hitting the ground, "Your Highness, you were such a good person, how could you leave us--"

The crying immediately reached a new crescendo, so loud that even people outside the mansion could hear the earth-shattering wails.

Prince Zhou nodded in satisfaction and, giving Pan Yun some face, floated up and flew towards his coffin.

As he flew over the crowd, a gust of cold wind stirred, which everyone felt.

Seeing that the trees not far away remained motionless, they began to guess.

Little Zhu Tongqie, kneeling beside them, felt the wind brush past him. He curiously looked up, turning his little head. When he saw Prince Zhou sitting on the coffin, his eyes lit up. He tugged at his father, saying, "Grandpa, Grandpa..."

Zhu Zijin looked up and quickly pressed Zhu Tongqie's hand down. He turned to face the coffin and kowtowed repeatedly, "Father, is it really you come back to see us?"

Everyone cried even more sincerely.

Doctor Zhang and Eunuch Qian trembled and bowed repeatedly towards the coffin, only exhaling a breath of relief after they had exited the mourning hall.

They exchanged a glance. Although Prince Zhou was a good person, ... they decided they would come to Kaifeng less often in the future.

Zhu Youjue looked at the coffin with a complicated expression, unsure if he believed it or not.

Tao Ji quietly moved closer to Pan Yun and asked in a low voice, "Is Prince Zhou still here?"

Pan Yun replied with an "Mm."

Tao Ji looked troubled, "Today is the seventh day after his death. If he doesn't leave now, is he going to stay as a ghost?"

Princess Consort and Zhu Zijin also worried about this. After crying for a while, they came to find the three of them, hoping they could perform a ritual to properly send Prince Zhou off. "Ask His Highness for us if he needs anything else; we'll burn it for him."

Actually, no ritual was needed. Prince Zhou was content, and his soul form was already fading. It wouldn't be long before he could go to where he was supposed to go on his own.

But the family had requested it, and they couldn't refuse.

After all, a ritual could indeed help a ghost depart more smoothly and quickly.

Pan Yun and Prince Zhou's gazes met, and she nodded.

However, she didn't move. This was because, from the 26th century, she only knew two spells for sending off ghosts. One was to directly shatter them, causing their souls to dissipate – well, that wasn't suitable for Prince Zhou.

The other was a chant, just one sentence with one hand gesture, very simple and direct, which could allow a ghost to instantly find its way and leave.

In their 26th century, efficiency was paramount.

This era was different.

When Xuan Miao heard the request for a ritual, she immediately asked for several items, including a soul banner, a peach wood sword, incense and candles, a clean bottle, mountain spring water, five types of meat, Prince Zhou's favorite foods, clothing, and so on.

Xuan Miao even wanted to write a eulogy that included summoning the soul, pacifying the soul, and sending off the soul.

Xuan Miao explained to a bewildered Pan Yun as she wrote.

Pan Yun frowned and asked, "When a single chant and hand gesture can accomplish the task, why go through so much trouble?"

After finishing the eulogy, Xuan Miao looked up at Pan Yun and said, "People come into this world clean, and though they cannot leave as clean as they arrived, they should at least leave with clarity. Whether their life was filled with more merit or more sin should be deeply reflected upon under the soul banner.

A ritual to pacify the soul not only comforts the living but also points the way for the deceased, allowing them to know in advance how to pass through the King of Hell's palace."

Pan Yun: "But aren't eulogies always full of good words?"

Xuan Miao said with a half-smile, "Who says eulogies are always full of good words? To conceal a person's lifelong mistakes within a eulogy is a sign of skill. Moreover, the most important part of a ritual is introspection – questioning the soul that has been summoned about its inner self, making it reflect. If you cannot reach its inner self, it means your cultivation is insufficient."

Tao Ji said with deep empathy, "Insufficient cultivation means you can't even get a Taoist priest's ordination certificate."

Soon, Pan Yun witnessed the power of the rituals in this world.

As the soul banner was raised, Prince Zhou's already faint form solidified again. The burned clothes appeared on him, and Prince Zhou looked completely renewed.

As Xuan Miao performed the steps and chanted the incantations, Pan Yun felt a wondrous aura. She was momentarily dazed, and when she came to her senses, Prince Zhou was bathed in a golden light...

Pan Yun couldn't help but hold her breath. She felt the attraction of that golden light, or rather, the attraction it had for the Spirit Realm within her Mud Pill Palace.

What is this?

"[This is the Golden Light of Merit!]" The black cat in her arms was completely still, its voice in her mind hushed.

"[The opening of the seal must be related to this. Pan Yun, absorb it!]"

Pan Yun didn't move, only gazing intently at Prince Zhou bathed in his Golden Light of Merit.

The old man and the young girl stared at each other across the distance. Prince Zhou smiled faintly, his form gradually fading. As the last wisp of his soul vanished, a ray of golden light flew from him towards Pan Yun...

This was Prince Zhou's voluntary gift to Pan Yun. Although he didn't know what use it would be, the black cat's covetous gaze suggested it was something good.

He had spent the last seven days very happily. To be able to fulfill his wish even after death, he had no regrets in this life, and he was content.

Alone, he had nothing to give this child, so he would give her something that she and the black cat had been eyeing.

As Prince Zhou gradually dissipated, in the eyes of everyone in the Prince's Mansion, Xuan Miao had just walked around the mourning hall and chanted an incantation. The clouds in the sky slowly parted, and the sunlight that had been obscured suddenly poured down, brightening the entire sky.

The white clouds took on color under the sunlight. The clouds drifted, hovering not far above the Prince's Mansion, as if they could move, swirling and unfurling in place.

And as Xuan Miao stopped walking and finished her hand seals, a ray of sunlight shone directly on Pan Yun's face, making it impossible to look away.

Even though it was just a ray of sunlight, Zhu Zijin inexplicably felt it was his father's will as he departed. Thus, he gave a plate of silver not only to Xuan Miao, who was performing the rites, but also to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun, with a look of shame, reached out and accepted it, her movements swift and decisive.

In just two months, this was the third plate of silver she had received, and she felt truly embarrassed.

Pan Yun carried the money back to her room. Once the door was closed, she immediately put down the tray and sat cross-legged on the bed.

The black cat paced anxiously nearby, pleading, "Let me in! Once I stabilize the seal I've broken, I'll come out. I promise I won't cheat."

Pan Yun looked at it with open eyes, calmly.

The black cat knew she was suspicious. It held up its paws, as if wanting to lay its heart bare for her to see. "Really, we've cooperated for so long, and I'm already used to being in a cat's body. I absolutely won't lie to you. I just need to go in and stabilize the seal I've broken. Otherwise, it keeps vibrating, and you're uncomfortable too, right?"

Pan Yun reached out and gently stroked its little head, saying softly, "Of course I believe you. Don't you remember? We have a contract. Besides, I'm not afraid of you rebelling. At worst, I'll just seal you again."

The black cat stiffened. Yes, they had a contract, and while Pan Yun dared to take this risk, it did not. Now, the black cat wasn't doubting itself, but Pan Yun. She was fierce and possessive; could it be that she wanted to lure the enemy into a trap, only to seal it the moment it entered?

Pan Yun withdrew her hand, adjusted her breathing, and focused. "[Come in]," she sent.

The black cat gritted its teeth and made up its mind.

A spiritual light flew out from the black cat's body and shot into Pan Yun's forehead with a whoosh.

Returning to its own spiritual body, the Spirit Being let out a comfortable sigh before it immediately plunged in to examine the part where the seal had been broken.

Pan Yun's divine sense was also in her Mud Pill Palace, and she too was searching for the reason it had broken the seal.

However, in her Mud Pill Palace, the most conspicuous things at the moment, besides the Spirit Realm, were a mass of golden clouds floating there.

Pan Yun recognized it at a glance as the good thing Prince Zhou had given her. She had felt very comfortable then, and now, as her divine sense touched the golden clouds, not only did her soul grow stronger, but her entire body felt exceptionally comfortable.

The Spirit Being floated out of the Spirit Realm, its eyes filled with longing. However, within Pan Yun's Mud Pill Palace, it dared not act rashly.

"It's merit, your own merit that opened the seal," the Spirit Being said. "Didn't you notice? The destinies of those dying people in Prince Zhou's Mansion have all changed. Zhu Tongqie, Prince Zhou's six wives, and the servants around Prince Zhou have all been granted a new lease on life. Even Zhu Zijin's destiny has changed. Heaven is rewarding you with merit."

Pan Yun: "So merit was the key to opening the seal. All the resources your country poured into you in the previous life were wasted, along with my eight years of spiritual energy."

The Spirit Being pretended not to hear the latter half of her sentence and continued, "Merit is indeed more useful than spiritual energy. I was only sealed once, and I don't have experience with unsealing. If only I had known..."

It could have awakened in its previous life. It believed Pan Yun's country would have been very willing to place it on various good people to absorb merit together.

Pan Yun mused, "What was inside the seal you broke?"

The Spirit Being glanced at it and replied, "Seven chapters of the Thirteen Techniques of Daoist True Qi, and the introductory text for practicing talismans."

Pan Yun's spirits lifted. What was most lacking in the 26th century?

It was complete cultivation techniques! And talismans. Many talismans in later generations were based on existing research, but detailed aspects like brushstrokes and energy circulation were almost non-existent, relying entirely on current research, learning, and development.

Ancient methods, any complete ancient inheritance discovered, would be a matter of national shock.

Now she had an entire volume?

And cultivation techniques.

Today's ten lucky numbers are still those ending in 5, screenshot as proof.