Chapter 279 Innocence
Miao Zhen laughed, "It seems that Fourth Uncle also thinks that Junior Uncle is not wrong."

She paused and said, "Seemingly contradictory opinions do not necessarily need to be distinguished as right or wrong. Different facts lead to different responses, and different rights and wrongs."

There was a flash of confusion in Xuanmiao's eyes, "But the rules of heaven are fixed, otherwise it is ambiguous and cannot be confirmed."

Miao Zhen: "Fourth Uncle, Grand Master Uncle said that the Tao is to follow nature, and nature is invisible. Since it is invisible, it is not fixed."

She said softly: "The fixed laws are not the laws of nature. They are the rules that people take for granted and set for the world."

"The lower level is the national law; the middle level is the moral standards set by humans; and the higher level is what Uncle Master believes is the law of heaven that you have discovered."

Xuanmiao looked at her in surprise.

Miao Zhen said: "Young Master, you have a righteous and kind heart. What's wrong with following their wishes? Fourth Master, you attach too much importance to the laws of heaven and earth, and have lost your original intention."

Mysterious meditation.

Miao Zhen stopped talking, she looked up at the starry sky and murmured: "Stars are the most regular, but occasionally there are comets that are not in the rules. Are these comets not in the rules of the universe?"

"I think it does exist, but we have not yet discovered or summarized it. The existing rules are just a summary of our limited knowledge."

Xuanmiao was silent for a long time before saying, "Miaozhen, you can study with your master. Your master uncle and I can't teach you much, and the academy can teach you even less."

Miao Zhen shook her head and said, "The Great Dao is important, but so are magic and martial arts. My junior master said that in order to pursue the Great Dao, one must first fill one's stomach."

Xuanmiao: "...what else did she say?"

"She also said that when we practice, our body and soul should be united. In fact, we should cultivate our body before and above cultivating our soul. So, when we practice, we can't lack food and drink, we can't lack medicine, and we can't lack money. Of course, we can't lack physical training, so we have to practice martial arts as well."

Xuanmiao: "She just said that cultivation is to cultivate the spirit..."

Miao Zhen was used to it. "From what I know about Junior Master, she said that it is most sincere when the body and spirit are united."

I see. So you were just fooling me, right?
Xuan Miao raised his hand and rubbed his forehead.

Miao Zhen said, "Fourth Uncle, don't worry. Third Uncle has already given you some noodles. At worst, we can go back to Sanqing Mountain to find Master Uncle and let him watch them. They won't dare to do anything naughty in front of Master Uncle."

Xuanmiao: "No, I'm not worried about them now."

After being tricked by Pan Yun like that, she didn't even get the item, but directly handed over the technique to her. Such a rare technique was sold for two bottles of pills and twenty taels of silver...

Xuanmiao now feels a little guilty when facing them.

As soon as Xuanmiao entered the temple, the fox and the ghost huddled together and looked at her with fear.

Obviously, they all felt that Xuan Miao was not easy to mess with and they did not dare to provoke her.

Xuanmiao glanced at them and said nothing.

Tao Ji just picked up the noodles and said quickly, "Junior sister, come and eat the noodles."

Pan Yun was pondering over the new skills she had acquired. After hearing this, she looked up and said, "Brother, I am also your junior sister."

Tao Ji ignored her.

Pan Yun turned around and looked for Red Fox, "You mean, you can still practice this method by leaving your soul?"

The three-tailed fox nodded honestly and said, "Yes, this will make the soul consciousness more and more solid and powerful. This set of exercises is for refining the soul consciousness. It is the exercise used by our red fox clan to open up wisdom. When I practice it to perfection, I will become an extremely smart fox."

Xuan Miao paused for a moment and looked at her. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "Then you must not have practiced this set of skills very well."

The red fox's eyes widened, "How did you know?"

She frowned and looked at her suspiciously, "Could it be that you were able to detect my soul during the fight just now?"

Xiaohong also stared at Xuanmiao.

Miao He on the side hesitated to speak, and finally whispered: "Maybe it's because you are not very smart yet..."

Pan Yun gave Miao He an approving look and immediately changed the subject, "Okay, okay, these are not important. What's important is, as a living being with a body, how do you get your soul out of your body?"

Hongyan: "I'll come out if I want to."

Pan Yun touched his chin and said, "That's true, because I came out when I wanted to, but Miao Zhen Miao He seems to be unable to leave the soul."

Hongyan glared, "Do they also want to practice this set of skills? Didn't I only sell the skills to you?"

Pan Yun: "...Really? But you taught the technique in front of the three of us."

Hongyan: ...

Pan Yun said quietly, "Besides, since I bought the technique, it's my business how I use it."

The stunned Hongyan reacted immediately and said, "That won't work. If you spread it all over the world, wouldn't everyone know my family's ancestral skills?"

She looked at Pan Yun, then at Miao Zhen and Miao He, and gritted her teeth and said, "Only the three of you are allowed to learn. No one else is allowed to learn. Otherwise, I will not sell this set of skills to you."

Pan Yun: "If you don't want to sell it, you have to return the pills and the money to me."

Hongyan: "I'll return it if you want."

Fortunately, Xiao Hong still had some brains, and quickly pulled Hong Yan to her side and whispered, "No, we've already told them the techniques, can you still let them forget it?"

Hongyan, "I have a spell that can erase their memories."

Xiao Hong: "...Will they wipe you out? Can you beat them?" Hong Yan was silent.

Pan Yun waited until they finished discussing before smiling at them and saying, "Don't worry, I will not pass on this top-secret technique to anyone else, and I will not let your ancestral technique become ubiquitous on the streets."

He couldn't win the fight, and the things had been given away. Hongyan had no bargaining chips left, so he had to listen to her.

Pan Yun stopped asking Hongyan for her cultivation experience, for fear that she would remember more unequal conditions and feel even worse.

She stood up, straightened the statue of the God of Land, lit three new incense sticks, and silently recited a passage from the Tao Te Ching to him.

After admitting their mistakes, atonement and rewarding their gratitude, Pan Yun and his companions set out for Sanqing Mountain together the next day.

Although winter is cold, the sun is very bright, and Xiaohong is not suitable for traveling in the sun.

But Pan Yun and his men were fully equipped.

She took out a big umbrella from the space, opened it quickly, and cast a shadow on Xiaohong.

Xiao Hong looked up blankly. "An oil-paper umbrella painted black? Who would make an umbrella like this?"

"Longhu Mountain, all the talisman shops in Longhu Mountain have such umbrellas," Pan Yun said, "and they are also on the list of must-haves for traveling and studying in our academy. They can not only block the sun and rain, but also be used as weapons. They can also help pick up bones. They are essential items for catching monsters and ghosts and doing good deeds."

Xiao Hong opened her mouth wide, and Hong Yan said disdainfully: "An umbrella can be used as a weapon?"

"Sure, you see."

Pan Jun turned his hand, and three sharp knives flashing with cold light shot out from the top of the umbrella with a click. With another turn, three sharp knives appeared inside the umbrella and almost stabbed Xiaohong's head.

Of course, she was a ghost now and couldn't be stabbed, but she was still frightened.

She felt a chill down her spine and asked loudly, "Who is so perverted as to make an umbrella like this?"

Pan Yun said happily: "I don't know, the senior brothers and sisters in the academy all use it, so we bought three too. How is it? Are you scared?"

Xuanmiao: "Why did you buy the lowest quality one? A high quality umbrella should have runes drawn on it and can be used as a magic weapon. That's a great weapon for catching ghosts."

Pan Yun: "It's too expensive. An umbrella like that costs twenty taels of silver, which is enough to buy a horse. Anyway, I'm good at drawing talismans, so I can draw it myself later."

Miaozhen and Miaohe thought so too and nodded together.

Xuanmiao paused and asked, "How much is this umbrella now?"

Pan Yun: "It's selling for 9 taels on the market, but we bargained it down to 8 taels, mainly because the mechanism and the knife are expensive."

Xuanmiao nodded slightly.

Tao Ji then said proudly: "This umbrella was invented by Fourth Junior Sister."

Pan Yun and the other two: ...

Xiaohong:......

Xiaohong shrank her neck and remained silent.

Hongyan looked at this and that, and felt that the current atmosphere was a bit strange. She simply ignored it, climbed over Pan Yun's legs, and lay motionless at the rear of the car.

You can get some sunshine here, it's warm and comfortable.

After a short silence, Pan Yun finally remembered, "Since Fourth Senior Sister invented it, why are the academy and the Zhang family selling it? Senior Nephew has to purchase from the Zhang family before he can sell it."

Xuanmiao said: "I made it when I was twelve years old, and I handed it over to my family and the academy at that time. This business has been run by my family and the academy ever since."

Pan Yun: "Do you have a patent?"

Xuanmiao glanced at her. Although the word was new, she still understood it. Without her explanation, she said, "No, but outsiders cannot break the mechanism in the umbrella. As long as someone dares to dismantle it, the mechanism will be damaged instantly and cannot be restored. That's why no one has been able to replicate it."

She paused and said, "Since Cong'er is interested in this, I will draw the blueprint for him later."

She glanced at the umbrella in Pan Yun's hand and said, "If I hadn't seen it today, I would have forgotten that I made this umbrella. In addition to this umbrella, I have invented many magical instruments over the years."

Pan Yun's eyes sparkled as she said loudly, "Senior Sister, Cong'er said he's interested in all of them."

Xuan Miao raised the corner of his mouth slightly, glanced at her and said, "Is he interested, or are you interested?"

Pan Jun waved his hand and said, "He must be interested. I'm only interested in money."

Xuan Miao snorted and laughed, "I'll draw the blueprints when I get back, and you can pick the ones you like and do them. If you don't want to spend money, you can do it yourself in the future, and you don't have to pay others for it."

Pan Yun: "Fourth Senior Sister, you still think too little. What's the point of doing it ourselves? If we want to do it, we have to make it bigger and stronger. We can just leave it to our own store."

Xuanmiao shook his head and said, "You think too simply. Cong'er has martial artists under his command, but no Taoists. To refine these magic tools, people who understand spells and talismans are needed."

"The Tianshi Mansion was able to accomplish this because they had the support of the Zhang family disciples and the academy behind them."

Pan Yun pointed at the umbrella in his hand and asked, "Does this basic model also require spells and talismans?"

Xuanmiao seemed to be thinking about something. "No, I just need to know the mechanism..."

Pan Jun's lips curled up slightly, "That's enough."

My dear nephew, I have prepared a surprise for you!
　good night

　　(End of this chapter)