Chapter 193 The Ceremony of Confession
Time passed quickly as Pan Yun was studying. The September ordination examination officially began, and the academy gave all students a holiday because the teachers had to go down the mountain to supervise the exams.

Pan Yun had the help of Miaozhenmiao and also found the trick to wash clothes. She finished washing clothes quickly using Yuanli. After finishing, she gave herself a day off and went down the mountain with her classmates to join in the fun.

Of course, they couldn't enter the Tianshi Mansion at this time, so they could only wander around the street or jump onto the roof of a nearby house and stand on tiptoe to look inside.

Unfortunately, no one knew what kind of formation was set up inside the Tianshi Mansion, and apart from the occasional flash of colorful magic colors, nothing could be seen.

The ordination examination lasts for three days in total, and the results will be available on the same day after the examination is completed.

Although the Tianshi Mansion claims that it will not control the number of people who can be ordained, as long as the other party's cultivation, ideology and morality meet the standards, they can be ordained.

But Pan Yun thought that this was purely an excuse made by the Tianshi Mansion to the outside world. If they did not control the number of people who were ordained, based on the number of people who could practice Taoism that she had seen now, there would be countless more Taoists in the world.

However, although these Taoists were granted ordination certificates and recognized by industry insiders, they did not have ordination certificates, so they were not recognized by the imperial court and still had to pay taxes and perform military service.

Chen Ziwu was lucky and he passed the exam this time.

Moreover, not only did he have the status of a Taoist priest in the Tianshi Mansion, he also did not have to serve in the imperial court, because, "I am a native of Fengyang, and the Emperor Taizu Gao has granted us the decree that we, the natives of Fengyang, do not have to perform labor service."

Pan Yun: "It's hard for the wealthy families in Jiangnan who migrated to Fengyang. Now they are all ruined, right?"

The proud Chen Ziwu's face instantly turned red, and he was a little angry, "What nonsense are you talking about? They are all fine."

But the expression on his face looked guilty.

Pan Jun didn't care and nodded, "Okay."

Chen Ziwu was silent for a long time, and the pride and guilt on his face disappeared. He said softly: "The local people in Fengyang are also having a hard time. Although there is no more forced labor, for some reason, everyone's life is getting harder and harder. Fengyang has been hit by frequent floods in recent years, and every household has run out of food."

Pan Yun: "Doesn't the imperial court have any food for relief?"

"It's just a drop in the bucket," Chen Ziwu said, "It was only during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao that he still had some feelings for the old times. Now, it's already the fourth generation. He has never even been to Fengyang, so how can he have any feelings for Fengyang?"

Pan Jun nodded thoughtfully, muttering, "So, how much affection does the current emperor have for other royal families whose blood relations are becoming increasingly distant?"

Chen Ziwu's eyes widened. "You, you, you, what did you say?"

Pan Yun glanced at him and said, "What's so surprising? Don't you know why the people of Fengyang are getting poorer and poorer even though they no longer have to work? It's because their taxes, donations, and levies have increased their invisible expenses!"

"Where did all the money go? At least one-third of it went to the royal family," Pan Yun patted his shoulder and said, "The disaster relief will be a drop in the bucket because the treasury is out of money. Why is the treasury out of money? Because there are too many borers, both in the open and in the dark."

"This huge clan bloodline is an obvious borer. Aren't you a cultivator? How come you don't even understand this?"

Pan Jun glanced at the stunned Chen Ziwu, shook his head and left.

It took Chen Ziwu a long time to come back to his senses, and he hurriedly chased after her, "Why are you telling me this?"

"It's nothing. I'm telling you because you're ignorant." Pan Jun waved his hand and said, "I just said the truth casually. What do you think my purpose is? What purpose can you achieve for me?"

Chen Ziwu stopped and was speechless for a long time, because he was just a commoner and could not achieve any goals for Pan Yun.

He watched Pan Yun's small figure walking away. The shadow became longer and longer, and bigger and bigger, finally forming a mountain pressing down on him.

He felt as if he had lived in vain for the past twenty years or so, as he did not see things as clearly as a little girl.

After the ordination examination, those Taoists who passed the examination would stay to receive the ordination.

Most of the Taoists who did not pass also stayed to watch and participate in the ordination ceremony.

If you can’t get it yourself, it’s okay to see others get it. After seeing it, you will be more motivated and will come to participate again next year!

This time, students from the academy can also come to watch the ceremony.

Of course Pan Yun would not miss this exciting opportunity, and she also wanted to take the opportunity to have a big sale and sell off the talismans she had accumulated during this period of time.

During this period, she talked to her seniors who came back to take the exam and learned that they also faced the problem of difficulty in finding jobs and lack of employment after graduation.

Except for a few senior brothers and sisters who can truly feed the whole family and can hide in the deep mountains and forests to concentrate on their cultivation, the other senior brothers and sisters have to support themselves and their families, and have many ties.

In addition to going home to farm and occasionally practicing, they also undertake various rituals, such as catching ghosts, exorcising monsters, fortune-telling, etc., trying to make some money.

It costs money to support a family, and it costs money to buy cultivation resources.

Why do Taoists always call themselves "poor Taoists"?
Because the Taoists who don’t go astray are really poor.

Talismans can be used whether performing rituals, catching ghosts or exorcising demons, and are even often used in fortune-telling.

Since people come to you to tell their fortunes, they must have something to ask for, be it for safety, wealth, marriage or offspring.

No matter which one it is, there is a corresponding talisman. Moreover, according to several senior brothers and sisters who fought fiercely with her, these talismans are divided into different levels.

The same amulet, if drawn like Xuanmiao's, is worth twenty taels or more, while those drawn by them are worth as much as four or five taels, or as little as one or two hundred coins, depending on the other party's family financial situation.

Yes, Taoist priests are a very flexible profession. They can assess the price of a talisman based on the other party's property.

There have been cases where they were given away for free.

Some of this is for customers' expenses, and some is for their own use.

The talismans they use themselves are the best talismans. After all, the time they need to use the talismans is mostly when it comes to saving their lives.

When catching ghosts and monsters, the most commonly used talismans are thunder talismans and speed talismans.

The former is used to chop them, and the latter is used to escape.

After learning this, Pan Yun drew the thunder talismans and speed talismans the most. She had tried and found that her talismans were no less good than Xuanmiao's.

How many Taoists came to watch the ordination ceremony?
There are several thousand people. If only a hundred of them buy talismans from her...

Pan Yun laughed out loud.

Miao Zhen Miao He shuddered and looked at her with surprise and fear, "Little Master, what evil plan are you planning again?"

Pan Jun tried hard to put away the smile on her face, "What bad ideas? My ideas are all good ideas."

Miaozhenmiaohe looked incredulous.

Pan Yun took out two talismans and gave them to them. "After the ordination ceremony is over, you two can try out the two talismans for me. I want to sell them."

Miao Zhen and Miao He each took one, but did not object. They just asked, "Where can we try it out? Isn't it inappropriate to sell talismans in public in the Tianshi Mansion?"

Pan Yun lowered his eyes and thought for a while before saying, "Then sell it secretly."

The ceremony of bestowing the ordination certificate is to pray to heaven and warn the gods in the upper realms that whoever "abandons his emotions, stops committing wrongdoings, cuts off the roots of evil, develops the Tao, and transforms from an ordinary person into a saint, from the beginning to the end, he must first take the ordination certificate and then ascend to the truth". From then on, they can be considered to have entered the heavenly court and can have a Taoist position or a divine post.

Originally, Pan Yun also had to be ordained before he could accept the position of temple priest.

There are three ways to be ordained. Like this time, taking an exam and then being ordained is the way most Taoists get ordained.
The second type is like Zhang Liuzhen and his people, who are passed down through blood ties and are destined to receive the ordination at birth;

The third type is a rare status like Pan Yun, who can be directly granted the ordination and appointed as a priest because he is recognized by the gods.

In fact, in the earlier times, the Tianshi Mansion did not have that much power, and the ordination ceremony was only performed for the Taoist priests of Longhu Mountain.

But later the imperial court let Tianshi Mansion be in charge of Taoist affairs, and the ordination ceremony was first expanded to the entire Zhengyi Dao, and later gradually expanded to Taoists of other factions.

Of course, even now, there are still many people who privately disagree with the Tianshi Mansion and the ceremony of bestowing the ordination certificate.

Pan Jun felt that Wang Feiyin was one of them, otherwise, he would not have written a letter to the Tianshi Mansion at the beginning. Even though the Tianshi Mansion did not reply, he was not anxious at all.

It was as if it didn’t matter whether the Tianshi Temple recognized her or not, or whether she was given the ordination certificate or not, because in the end she became a temple priest anyway.

If Zhang Zifang had not gone to Sanqing Mountain on behalf of the Zhang family to make threats, she would have practiced Taoism quietly in Sanqing Mountain for the next few years and would not have come to Longhu Mountain.

If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. Wang Feiyin treated the ceremony of ordination in a normal way, and Pan Yun also treated the ceremony indifferently.

However, when she saw Zhang Ziwang and others wearing grand Five Dragons Holding Tai Chi robes and solemn faces, she couldn't help but become serious and looked up attentively.

The clouds in the sky gradually changed. In everyone's sight, the white clouds floating in the sky gradually faded, and then turned into colors, like a very light ribbon extending from everyone's head.

This is a good sign, indicating that God recognizes these Taoists.

Pan Jun couldn't help but get excited and murmured, "It's really touching..."

Miaozhen and Miaohe were also very excited, and they covered their chests and said, "When we finish our studies, we will definitely be ordained."

Pan Yun nodded slightly.

Although she was ordained by Longhu Mountain, which sounds inferior to them, but who cares? She is a priest recognized by the gods, and that cloud is so beautiful.

Pan Yun's five orifices of the mind were activated, and he could clearly see that when the ritual was over and the clouds faded, they were not blown away by the wind, but turned into streams of invisible air and fell on the Taoist priest who was sitting cross-legged below and was giving the ordination.

Each Taoist priest was shrouded in a stream of energy, and she saw it being quickly absorbed. Not only did their cultivation levels increase slightly, but there seemed to be an additional layer of relationship between them and the heaven and earth, as if they had signed some kind of contract.

A little lighter than when she was first appointed as a temple priest, but certainly not to be ignored.

(End of this chapter)