Promise!

Chapter 153, Opening the Meridians

After Zhuang Jin broke through the Twelve Meridians, perfected the Black Fiend Palm, and mastered the Swift Wind Step, he spent the next few days, between cultivation, with some tender moments with Chen Yun. On the first day of the ninth month, he sent Chen Yun and the others back to the headquarters, secretly saying, "It will take at least two months, or at most four months, for us to reunite." Then he returned to the southern part of the city.

Back in Fengdu Street, Fengzihao District, at noon that day, Sun Mingbi actually came to see him in person with gifts. As soon as they met, he smiled warmly and said, "Governor Zhuang, you're finally back! I've missed you so much!"

“Zhuang Zhenshou, you don’t know, when you were injured and retreated to the rear to recuperate, the General Affairs Department hired a Twelve Merit Warrior to fill in for you with two thousand battle merits a month. He’s the kind of old man I told you about before, the kind who’s in his seventies… Oh my, with such seniority and connections, you can’t say anything to him, you can’t control him, and you’re afraid something might happen to him… It’s made me suffer a lot!”

Zhuang Jin could imagine the awkwardness of the other person as she listened, so she invited them in and offered them tea.

"By the way, when Zhuang Town Chief returned this time, after Zhao Bin and Huang Tianjun died, those two positions were held by his trusted confidants brought by that old man. Now he has taken them with him. This time, I have arranged two town chiefs of the ninth level for Zhuang Town Chief."

Sun Mingbi introduced them, saying, "These two are named Lü Yiheng and Mei Yong. I personally selected them; they come from respectable backgrounds, are willing to take on responsibilities, and are straightforward in character..."

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Lord Sun." Zhuang Jin said, his eyes slightly narrowed. He knew how shrewd this man was. Just like when they first met at the South City General Headquarters, he was only willing to do things that were beneficial but costless. When he suggested replacing one or two of Jiu Jing's subordinates, the other party just played dumb... Why is he being so nice to him now?

'Even if it's compensation, it shouldn't go this far. Perhaps... there's something else they want?'

He chuckled inwardly. Now that he had broken through the twelve meridians and perfected the Black Fiend Palm and the Swift Wind Step, this person's strength was probably inferior to his. He had plenty of confidence to maneuver. If there were any unreasonable requests, he would simply 'take the sugar coating and fire the cannonball back'.

"It's nothing, it's nothing."

Sun Mingbi waved his hand and began to flatter, "When Zhuang Zhen was guarding the Ten Classics, he was able to hold his own against the stewards of the Eleven Classics of the Medicine King Gang, and even killed two Nine Classics leaders right under their noses... This shows his fighting talent... Such a feat has been promoted as a model for the past two months..."

Zhuang Jin was not swayed by the flattery. He remained clear-headed, simply smiling faintly and declining the offer humbly, waiting for the man to reveal his true intentions.

Sun Mingbi showered Zhuang Jin with praise, then stared at his expression. Seeing that Zhuang Jin remained calm and showed no sign of pride, Sun Mingbi sighed inwardly and finally cut to the chase, stating his purpose: "What does Commander Zhuang think of Fu Honggang, the leader of the Medicine King Gang on the other side? Do you have any ideas on how to make a significant contribution?"

Zhuang Jin instantly understood the meaning and gave the other party a deep look: "Lord Sun, do you intend to take action against this person?"

This is no small matter!

You should know that when he was thinking of returning to reap the rewards of his war, he was only targeting the seventh to ninth level leaders of the Medicine King Gang, or the eleventh or tenth level deacons. He never thought of Fu Honggang.

On the one hand, they are both at the Qi Condensation Realm, and their battle achievements are not too disparate; on the other hand, Fu Honggang is the commander of the front-line battle in the south of the city. Putting aside the difficulty of killing him and the cost, even if we could kill him, it would be too conspicuous. The Medicine King Gang is the face and reputation of the Medicine King Gang in the south of the city. If you kill him, it would be like slapping the Medicine King Gang in the face. After the slap, you would throw him on the ground and stomp on him!
Such a thing may seem glamorous, but it doesn't offer many benefits. Given Zhuang Jin's character of 'valuing practical benefits over empty fame,' he naturally wouldn't do it.

"I am only eleven years old now, so... I am powerless to help." Zhuang Jin sighed, looking helpless.

"Of course not now, but when Zhuang Zhenshou breaks through the Twelve Meridians Realm... I have a lot of confidence in Zhuang Zhenshou. I think the bottleneck from the Eleventh to the Twelfth Meridian Realm will not be difficult for Zhuang Zhenshou. The breakthrough will be a matter of two or three months."

As Sun Mingbi continued, he added, "Prefect Zhuang was injured before, and the one who planned this operation that night was Fu Honggang... Doesn't Prefect Zhuang want revenge?"

"Of course we want to kill this person as soon as possible, but this matter is too complicated, so we must be careful!"

Zhuang Jin naturally wanted to repay the past for such a thing, but there was a major premise: it couldn't affect him...

He knew one thing well: the most important thing now was to stay put, avoid recklessness, and steadily complete the accumulation of the twelve meridians realm to break through to the meridian-opening realm. Only then would the world be wide open. Compared to that, everything else was trivial and could be put aside for now.

Seeing that Zhuang Jin remained unmoved, stubbornly refusing to act until he saw results, Sun Mingbi sighed inwardly, thinking, "This Zhuang Jin... he really doesn't seem like an eighteen or nineteen-year-old lad; he's more like a seasoned old fox in his forties or fifties!"

He was helpless; he couldn't force people to do this, otherwise he would offend them and they wouldn't put in the effort, which would only make things worse.

'Looks like we're going to have to pay a hefty price this time.'

Sun Mingbi decided to use his last bargaining chip: "Thirty thousand battle merits! I heard that Commander Zhuang has already used up most of his battle merits to buy meat from a fully refined beast. I can offer thirty thousand battle merits, and Commander Zhuang can specify whether to buy beast meat or something else and transfer it to him..."

Military merits cannot be directly traded, but they can be exchanged for goods and handed over privately. This is actually exploiting a loophole, which the Shen family turns a blind eye to and tacitly approves of.

'Now that seems more sincere!' Zhuang Jin thought to himself, seriously considering the matter. 'At my current level, I can protect myself in the southern part of the city, but earning merit is like fishing. Having the strength is one thing, but you also need to consider the environment, the fishing conditions, the changing situation, and finding the right opportunity. How much you catch is uncertain…'

'With these 30,000 battle merits, I won't need to plan anymore. My stifled supply of meat from a fully refined beast can be replenished immediately. In this way, I can complete the accumulation of the Twelve Meridians Realm in at most two months... In that case, taking on a short-term job wouldn't be out of the question.'

However, there is one thing that needs to be clarified beforehand. Zhuang Jin asked, "The total merit gained from killing Fu Honggang is less than 30,000, right? May I ask what Lord Sun is seeking?"

“Zhuang Town Commander is indeed cautious. Well, there’s no point in hiding it.”

Sun Mingbi explained, "Zhuang Zhenshou also knows that the Meridian-Clearing Pill can only help break through the bottleneck of the seventh to twelfth meridians. At most, it can help people break through the twelve meridians realm. It is useless for the higher realm of Meridian Opening."

"Has Zhuang Zhenshou ever heard of the Meridian Opening Pill? One Meridian Opening Pill can help open one of the eight extraordinary meridians except for the Ren and Du meridians."

"In other words, as long as one has a Meridian Opening Pill, a martial artist with twelve meridians has a chance to break through to the next level of Meridian Opening!"

As he spoke, a fiery glint appeared in his eyes.

"A Meridian Opening Pill?!"

Zhuang Jin nodded slightly, recalling the Meridian Opening Pill that Shen Xuchen had mentioned in casual conversation. The main and auxiliary ingredients in the pill require extremely harsh growing conditions, and the probability of encountering them in the wild is extremely low. They also require at least forty years to grow. Therefore, they can only be cultivated with Qingyuan Liquid. Cultivating such rare medicinal materials consumes a huge amount of Qingyuan Liquid and is very costly.

It's fair to say that the Shen family feels an immense financial strain every time they refine a Meridian Opening Pill.

“Yes, I have inside information. Once things are settled in the east of the city, the Meridian Opening Pill will be launched,” Sun Mingbi said.

Zhuang Jin immediately understood: 'The main ingredient for the Meridian Opening Pill requires 40 years of cultivation time, which is a 16-month cultivation cycle (one day equals one month). Calculating the time, it should have been ready for release in February of this year, but it's already October, and it still hasn't been… So it's because of what happened in the east of the city.'

The biggest beneficiaries of the introduction of the Meridian Opening Pill are naturally the Qi Condensation Twelve Meridians martial artists and the Meridian Opening Realm martial artists... Many of these veteran experts of the Shen family have intricate connections with the East City. In order to better resolve the issues in the East City, the release of the pill was postponed.

"Back to this matter, as the chief garrison commander of the southern part of the city, as long as I can take down Fu Honggang, the chief of the southern part of the city... such merit, combined with my connections above, will allow me to obtain a Meridian Opening Pill."

"I see."

Zhuang Jin finally understood that without connections or influence, even if he killed Fu Honggang, he would only gain military merit and perhaps some other rewards, which would be like a chicken bone—meaningless. Sun Mingbi, on the other hand, was different. With such merit and the connections and background behind him, he could eventually obtain a Meridian Opening Pill.

He understood this, and after some thought, he felt that this was something he could do: 'I'm just an assistant; in the end, it's Sun Mingbi who will take the lead in dealing with Fu Honggang. I won't be the one to draw hatred first; with the other party taking the brunt... Besides, taking the money first and doing the work later means I can wait until I've accumulated enough points to reach the Twelve Meridians Realm before taking action. After that, I can break through to the Meridian Opening Realm...'

"Since Lord Sun has spoken so frankly, I cannot refuse. So let's do as Lord Sun says. When the time comes to take action, I will do my best!"

"Good, Commander Zhuang is right." Upon hearing this, Sun Mingbi knew that Zhuang Jin had agreed, and immediately clapped his hands and laughed.

He had done his research and knew that Zhuang Jin's reputation was reliable. Although this was a huge financial loss and he had to pay in advance, as long as things went smoothly... it was all worth it!
……

Sun Mingbi's calculations were excellent, but will things really develop as he hoped, as he wished?

Chengnan was the main battleground for the war effort along the southern line of Shenjiacheng.

'Almost there! Almost there! I can feel that my Vajra Tiger Subduing Step martial art will soon be perfected.'

Fu Honggang's eyes flashed with a fierce light: 'When the time comes, whether it's Sun Mingbi or Zhuang Jin... we'll settle accounts with them all!'

……

(End of this chapter)