Master

Wang Fei Yin paused, turning to glare at her. "What kind of decent person would use such a precious merit stone as a formation stone? Are you trying to carve an immortal formation?"

Merit stones were things only deities who received offerings and incense could possess, and they had to be willingly gifted by the deity to be useful. Wang Fei Yin could guarantee with his head on his shoulders that, currently, Pan Yun was the only one in the entire world who had this honor.

Pan Yun's eyes lit up. She first asked, "Are there really formations called immortal formations in this world?"

Wang Fei Yin: "No."

Pan Yun gave him a chiding look and said, "Senior Brother, you're one of us, so I'll tell you. I want to carve a formation that displays a 'biubiu' count of how much merit I've earned. This way, I can clearly know what actions earn me how much merit."

Wang Fei Yin's eyes were filled with confusion. "Such utilitarianism... The mountain god actually gave you merit stones?"

He frowned and looked at Pan Yun. "Junior Sister, this won't do. You're too utilitarian; I fear you'll lose your original heart."

Pan Yun's eyes welled up with tears, and she said earnestly, "Senior Brother, I wish I could be like you, living on the mountain to focus on cultivation, ignoring the world below, and aiming to become a celestial being. But my father and brother are still suffering at the border. I have no choice; I must save them."

Wang Fei Yin's heart softened. "So you're carving this formation and cultivating merit to save your father and brother?"

Pan Yun nodded. "Although I don't know exactly how to use it yet, I know that becoming stronger, even stronger, can't be wrong."

Wang Fei Yin sighed. After thinking for a moment, he reached out and took her hand, whispering into her ear, "Junior Sister, you must remember, even gods have utilitarian hearts. I beg you to be cautious and not lose your original heart."

Pan Yun knew he was whispering to her to guard against their Master, the great Mountain God. This was already the third time he had told her to be careful.

Pan Yun appreciated Wang Fei Yin's concern and nodded at him.

Wang Fei Yin then openly continued his advice, "Regarding the merit stones, only you and I know about them. Don't tell anyone else. Possession of wealth invites trouble."

Pan Yun nodded repeatedly and asked in a small voice, "Senior Brother, don't you want merit stones? I think this one is quite large. How about I give you some?"

Wang Fei Yin glanced at her and said, "This thing is useless to me, and I can't afford it."

Wang Fei Yin sighed again and tapped her head. "When I became a disciple, I, like you, came up the mountain myself to become a disciple."

Pan Yun's mind raced, and she let out a meaningful "Oh." Senior Brother, like her, had forcefully become a disciple.

No, Senior Brother was much more impressive than her. He not only forcefully became a disciple himself, but he also forcefully took in several disciples for their Master.

So, was Senior Brother being punished for this? Was that why he kept reminding her that taking benefits from a god required paying a price?

Pan Yun hugged the merit stone in her arms and decided to have a good talk with their Master that night.

Pan Yun hid the merit stone in her embrace and brought it back to the Taoist temple.

Miao He and the others were very happy to see her return safely. Miao He directly hugged her arm. "Junior Martial Aunt, you're not leaving the Taoist temple, are you?"

Pan Yun glanced at her hand and nodded. "For now, yes. I'm staying here to cultivate with you all."

She looked around and asked, "Has Fourth Senior Sister come out of seclusion yet?"

Xuan Miao had gone into seclusion yesterday afternoon. It had been a whole day, and she hadn't eaten or drunk anything?

Miao He said, "Fourth Martial Aunt usually stays in seclusion for about seven days. She's been able to go without eating for a while now, unlike us. We're still young and get hungry if we miss a meal. Junior Martial Aunt, are you hungry? I'll go to the kitchen and make something for you."

Miao He realized she really liked Junior Martial Aunt. She had liked her yesterday too, but even more today.

Even Miao Zhen, who was usually reserved, looked at Pan Yun with a rare smile.

Pan Yun nodded.

Miao He then pulled the dazed Tao Yanbai to help. "Quick, quick! Junior Martial Aunt and I both want to eat the noodles you make."

Tao Yanbai snapped back to attention. "You want to eat them, don't you?"

Pan Yun and Miao Zhen were left exchanging bewildered glances.

Pan Yun: "I want to go back to my room."

Miao Zhen immediately stepped aside, lowering her head. "Martial Aunt, please."

After Pan Yun left, Miao Zhen couldn't help but frown. Just now, she had felt refreshed, as if seeing high mountains and flowing springs, her heart filled with joy and contentment.

Tao Yanbai was also whispering to Miao He. "I don't know why, but when I looked at Junior Martial Aunt just now, it was like looking at... my own mother..."

Miao He gasped. "Ah," she whispered. "Junior Martial Aunt smelled so good and felt so soft, like the braised pork I used to eat..."

That's why she felt hungry and needed to eat something.

Pan Yun hurried back to her room and closed the door. She then remembered she had left the black cat outside and quickly opened the door to let it in.

Pan Little Black entered with a calm demeanor, gracefully leaped onto the table, sat down, and quietly gazed at her with its pair of glassy eyes.

Pan Yun took out the merit stone and showed it to him. "Look, how about using this as the base for a new formation?"

Pan Little Black had decided to be angry with her before entering the room. However, upon seeing the merit stone offered to him, it couldn't resist. It extended a paw, hugged it, and pressed it beneath itself. The entire cat sprawled on top, stretching comfortably with a lazy yawn. Its feline eyes revealed affection and fondness.

Pan Yun stared at it the whole time. Seeing its reaction, she murmured, "It seems Senior Brother was right. This thing is truly a charmer, no, a universal charmer. Both humans and animals can't help but like it."

Pan Little Black, seeing her using him as an experiment, couldn't muster any anger. It lazily raised its eyes and glanced at her.

This made Pan Yun frown even more tightly.

It seemed the merit stone's influence on her was relatively small, and even smaller on Senior Brother. However, its influence on Pan Little Black, Miao He, and others was significant.

Pan Yun's gaze fell on the black cat. She wondered if this influence was on the Spirit Being or on the black cat itself.

She made up her mind. When using this thing as a formation stone, she would use it minimally. She couldn't use too much. Otherwise, the Three Jade Spirit Realm, being bound to her soul, would mean that whatever it had, she would have. She really didn't want to become a universal charmer.

Just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine. Being stared at like a piece of Tang Monk's flesh was definitely not a pleasant experience.

Pan Yun glanced at the comfortable Pan Little Black, letting it play with the merit stone. She then took out writing materials from her Spirit Realm space to work on formation designs and calculate the minimum merit stone requirement for the set of formations.

During this time, she had thoroughly studied her Senior Brother's formations. He had even given an academic report on them back then.

The only missing piece was a material that could identify merit.

In her past life, materials and formations that could measure spiritual energy were everywhere, used in security checks by air, land, and sea. So, finding materials for her Senior Brother's formation was easy. But merit...

Please forgive her limited knowledge. It seemed only Buddhist cultivators had any connection to merit, and Buddhist cultivators weren't very prominent in her past life.

Pan Gong had indeed grasped her most pressing need. This merit stone was practically tailor-made for her.

She also wondered what He wanted from her.

As soon as night fell, Pan Yun went to bed early. Pan Little Black, unusually, didn't go to its usual spot but squatted by her bedside. One person and one cat waited together for Mountain God Pan Gong's arrival.

Ever since she knew there really was a mountain god, Pan Yun and Pan Little Black had preferred to communicate mentally rather than speak aloud.

She didn't believe the mountain god could be so powerful as to pry into their innermost thoughts, could he?

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

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

Pan Little Black's answer was no.

[It's another dimensional space; it won't affect you or me. Only merit stones on the main body will have an effect.]

Pan Yun didn't believe it, so she tossed the large piece of merit stone into the Spirit Realm space. The stone's influence on them vanished instantly.

Suddenly losing the stone, Pan Little Black almost rolled off the bed: ...

Pan Yun said, [You were correct.] but didn't take the merit stone back out.

Sleepiness gradually crept in. Pan Yun slowly adjusted her breathing and soon entered a semi-conscious state. Pan Little Black suddenly sat up. This time, it finally sensed a gentle breeze passing through the cracks in the window and door, brushing past its fur to caress Pan Yun's hair...

In her dream, Pan Yun saw Pan Gong.

He was still dressed as a military general, holding a sword, his eyes clear and piercing as he looked at her, exuding a chilling aura.

Pan Yun, however, seemed unaffected. She ran forward and saluted, "Disciple greets Master!"

She knelt on the ground decisively, kowtowing three times with a bang. Although it was a dream, the sound was clear and audible.

Mountain God: ...

Pan Yun raised her small face and looked at him expectantly, her expression full of adoration.

The Mountain God said expressionlessly, "Rise."

This was Pan Yun's third night on Mount Sanqing. She had seen Him in her dreams for three consecutive nights, and He had finally deigned to speak.

Pan Yun stood up, bowed respectfully, and said, "Master, your disciple received your welcome gift today. Your disciple likes it very much."

In the dream, she even forced out two tears, wiping her eyes emotionally as she said, "Master, in my life, besides my father and brother, only you have ever given me gifts. What a coincidence, we even share the same surname, Pan. Could we have been family five hundred years ago? No, five thousand years ago?"

Mount Sanqing definitely existed five thousand years ago, but was there a mountain god then?

The Mountain God looked at her expressionlessly. Seeing that she was about to speak again, he interrupted her, "The gift wasn't given for free."

Pan Yun's spirits lifted, and she asked, "What does Master want this disciple to do? Just give the order, and this disciple will spare no effort, whether it's climbing mountains of knives or descending into seas of fire."

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