Integration

One sentence made Tao Ji think of his grand-nephew, and he fell silent.

Xuan Miao accepted it the fastest, nodding to Pan Yun, "Junior Sister."

Pan Yun smiled and cupped her fist in greeting, "Fourth Senior Sister."

Then, she grinned and shook her clasped fists at Tao Ji, "Third Senior Brother."

Tao Ji's face turned red, but he still called out, "Fifth Junior Sister."

Since the elders had accepted it, the remaining three juniors had even less say. They stepped forward again to greet Pan Yun.

Miao He was the most disappointed, "I thought I was going to be the Senior Sister."

She had been very happy last night.

Pan Yun, who was the same height as her, reached out and patted her head, "Don't be discouraged. From now on, I, your Junior Martial Uncle, will look out for you. Isn't that happier than being a Senior Sister?"

Miao He asked, "Will Junior Martial Uncle attend classes with us from now on?"

Pan Yun also turned to look at Wang Fei Yin.

After Wang Fei Yin gave a hum, he said, "You are all still young. Learn more things, see what you like, and then choose a specialization in the future. Although you need to specialize in one area, you can't know nothing about others, understand?"

Pan Yun and the others agreed.

"Alright, let's have breakfast. After eating, go to the main hall in front and wait. I'll check your homework later.

Your Third Martial Uncle and the others just returned last night, so you have a day off today. After I check your homework, you can go play. Tomorrow, those who should attend classes will attend classes, and those who should go down the mountain will go down the mountain."

Everyone agreed.

Pan Yun ladled a bowl of porridge and took a steamed bun, sitting with Miao He and Miao Zhen, "Who's going down the mountain?"

"Me," Tao Yanbai chimed in, sitting next to Miao Zhen and sighing, "I really don't like going down the mountain."

Miao He said while eating porridge, "And my Master, he's going down the mountain too. Third Senior Brother, you don't like going down the mountain, but I do. However, Master doesn't even let me go down the mountain."

Pan Yun steered the conversation back, "Why is Third Senior Brother going down the mountain?"

Miao He replied, "To take Third Senior Brother to practice medicine."

Tao Yanbai explained, "I don't have talent for cultivation, and I still have parents and family. The imperial court has issued a decree: if the children of military and civilian families, or even servants, become monks or Daoists, their parents will have to serve the imperial court and farm the land for the people."

Pan Yun, who was like a frog in a well, knew nothing, "Then why are you here?"

"I'm staying in the temple under the guise of learning a craft," Tao Yanbai said energetically, "Even so, I still have to study hard. When I turn twenty, I'll take the ordination test. If I pass, even if my talent is lacking, I can still stay in the Daoist temple to accompany my fellow disciples."

Pan Yun said, "Go for it!"

"Go for it? That's not good, is it? Doesn't that imply the fire is strong and the wick burns too quickly, meaning too much of a good thing?"

Pan Yun, being adaptable, changed her words, "That makes sense. Work hard!"

Tao Yanbai nodded vigorously.

Seeing this, Miao He also wolfed down the steamed bun in her hand, stood up, and said, "I'm going to submit my homework now."

With that, she rushed towards the main hall.

The three of them sat and watched her run away. When she was out of sight, Tao Yanbai asked Miao Zhen, "Did she finish her homework?"

Miao Zhen replied, "She finished it."

"How did it turn out?"

Miao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "It depends on whether First Martial Uncle is in a good mood today."

If he was in a good mood, he might just let it slide.

Tao Yanbai understood and felt relieved. He also stood up and said, "I'm going to submit my homework too."

Compared to Miao He, he probably wouldn't be that miserable, right?

Pan Yun quietly lowered her head to eat. Senior Brother's mood today might be a bit delicate, and he certainly wouldn't be happy.

Wang Fei Yin was indeed not very happy, so he punished Miao He, whose homework was done carelessly, and Tao Yanbai, who, despite his diligence, did not perform well. Only Miao Zhen was praised.

Pan Yun watched for a while before going to explore the Daoist temple. She visited every corner of the temple, including the vegetable patch cultivated along the mountainside behind the temple, and the large vats placed beside the vegetable patch...

She just didn't see a well.

Pan Yun thought about it. This morning, when Wang Fei Yin took her to the mountaintop, they walked down a section, and there was a large, clear pool of water. The water looked good. Did she need to fetch water from there?

Pan Yun returned to the main hall. Miao He and Tao Yanbai had already finished their punishment. They were happy again and invited Pan Yun to share the things Tao Ji had brought back from the mountain.

There were food, clothing, and various medicinal herbs. Tao Ji had also bought two pretty hair ribbons for the two young girls, allowing them to choose freely.

Even the usually steady Miao Zhen couldn't help but smile and called Pan Yun to share the joy.

Pan Yun was also "force-fed" two hair ribbons.

They were all young, with short and sparse hair, so they couldn't use wooden hairpins and used hair ribbons to tie their hair.

Practitioners of Daoism had fewer restrictions and naturally followed their own preferences, so Tao Ji had prepared hair ribbons of various colors for them to choose from as they pleased.

There were also fabrics. Pan Yun learned that their Daoist robes were all made by themselves. "Before, Martial Uncles, Master, and Martial Uncles helped us make them, but now that we've grown up, we need to learn to make them ourselves. Junior Martial Uncle, can you?"

For the first eight years of her life, Pan Yun spent her time either cultivating or taking medicine. If she had had the energy and leisure to walk to the main entrance, her father would have been so happy he'd have wept. Naturally, she hadn't learned any needlework either.

She had always considered herself an introverted homebody. Truly, she was suited for a life where she was waited on hand and foot, solely focused on cultivation and oblivious to the outside world.

In her past life, she was forced by life and studies to be outgoing. Not only did she have to study and conduct research, but she also occasionally had to hunt monsters and ghosts. Compared to that, staying at home and drawing talismans to earn extra money felt like a very happy life.

And in this life, if her father hadn't suddenly been exiled, she could have relied on him and her brother to live the life she had only dreamed of in her previous one.

Her second brother had already promised her that if she couldn't get married, he would support her. If he couldn't pass the imperial examinations, he would take her back to their hometown in Changzhou Prefecture. At the time, she had decided she wouldn't get married when she grew up.

Although Pan Yun didn't want to live such a useless life, she had made plans. Once she achieved some success in her cultivation, she could return to her old ways, drawing talismans to sell in her spare time. The money she earned would be enough to support herself. This way, she could rely on her father and brother to focus on her cultivation. Perhaps by the time they grew old, she might even achieve enlightenment and find a way back to another world?

Pan Yun clutched the fabric stuffed into her arms, her eyes welling up with tears. All her past experiences had turned into a pipe dream, and her life had to be planned anew.

Seeing that she was about to cry, Miao He quickly asked, "Junior Sister Pan Yun, what's wrong?"

Miao Zhen nudged her, "Call her Martial Uncle."

Pan Yun shook her head, indicating she didn't mind, and said, "I'm touched. In all my life, this is the first time I've received fabric as a gift from someone else."

Upon hearing this, Miao He immediately said, "Martial Uncle, you'll receive gifts often from now on. My Master brings us gifts whenever he returns from the mountains, and so does Senior Brother. Senior Brother brings the most. I really miss Senior Brother."

Miao Zhen also nodded and whispered, "I miss Senior Brother too."

Pan Yun suppressed her longing for her father and brother, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and asked curiously, "Where is Senior Nephew now?"

Miao He sighed and shook her head, "I don't know. Senior Brother went into business, and he travels to different places every day. I don't know where he is now."

"When does Senior Nephew usually return?"

Miao He: "It's not fixed. Sometimes, if business is good, he returns in September or October. Sometimes, if business is bad, he won't be back until the New Year."

She sounded so pitiful.

But Miao He and Miao Zhen were accustomed to such separations. They had grown up in this environment and didn't see anything wrong with parting.

They soon became immersed in the joy of distributing gifts. Tao Yanbai brought over a basin of apricots. They ate them while distributing the gifts amongst themselves.

Besides precious medicinal herbs and fabrics, the items Tao Ji brought up the most were candies and pastries.

The three of them stored them in various corners. Pan Yun followed them and learned the locations where food was kept in the temple.

A little in the kitchen cabinets, a little in the rice bin, and a hidden pack of their favorite snacks in each person's room. The rest were opened and offered before the stone tablets of the Three Pure Ones, Immortal Master Ge, and Minister Li.

They lit incense and invited them to partake. However, by noon, several pieces of the pastries on their altars had been eaten, and quite evenly too, with each deity's altar having a piece taken.

Miao He took a piece, bowed, and took a bite. Seeing Pan Yun watching her, she took another piece, bowed, and handed it to Pan Yun, pulling her to sit on a cushion to eat.

"The Patriarchs have eaten, now it's our turn," she said. "Martial Uncle said that if the Patriarchs see us eating happily, they will be happy too. We can eat the offerings after they've been sincerely offered."

Pan Yun also held a pastry and sat beside her, eating. "The Patriarchs are so kind."

Miao He nodded vigorously, "The Patriarchs are truly kind. I like the Patriarchs the most."

The two of them, heads bowed as they nibbled on pastries, didn't notice a faint gleam passing through the eyes of the Three Heavenly Venerates.

Pan Yun successfully integrated into the Sanqing Temple family. It wasn't until the afternoon that she found time to take out the half-volume incomplete manual and ponder the cultivation technique.

Pan Little Black watched with her. As a Spirit Being with vast knowledge of techniques, it could better judge the quality of a cultivation method than Pan Yun.

With just one glance, it said, "Congratulations."

Pan Yun: "It's a pity there's only half of it."

Pan Little Black stated confidently, "I definitely have the complete record."

Pan Yun's spirit lifted, "Where is it? Find it!"

"That part hasn't been unsealed yet. Wait for me to unseal more."

Pan Yun: ...

Seeing her disbelief, Pan Little Black quickly added, "Really, I have recorded a massive number of cultivation techniques. Don't you consider where I came from and why I was originally created? Once my seal is broken, let alone just the latter half of a cultivation technique, you can have even more profound techniques."

Pan Yun lowered her gaze and pondered. After a moment, she said, "Alright, I'll trust you. We'll try to practice the formation tonight."

Pan Little Black happily did a somersault on the spot, true to its black cat nature.

Pan Yun spread out the manual and began to cultivate.

Human memory can be corrected quickly, but bodily memory is difficult.

The biggest challenge in switching to Kun Yuan Gong is modifying bodily memory.

The two sets of techniques are too similar, or rather, they originate from the same technique, with only minor differences. Now, she had to erase the ingrained memories her body already held.

It was like doing step aerobics. For the first eight years, she lifted her hands when stepping onto the platform. Now, she had to lift her hands when stepping off. Bodily memory is hard to change, but Pan Yun believed she could do it.

The lucky numbers for today and tomorrow are those ending in 3. Screenshot as proof, add "Sword Going Against the Grain Great Ming" to find Mo Yan and exchange for her immense affection.