Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

Su Baichen had originally considered maintaining the flow of true energy to fulfill Qing Mozi's dying wish. It wasn't that he was reluctant to part with that true energy.

But he knew even more clearly that what Qingmozi wanted was to truly experience the process of cultivation...

Then he had a sudden inspiration: perhaps he could use illusion magic to help Qing Mozi fulfill this wish.

So he gently pointed to Qingmozi's dantian...

"Senior brother, can you feel a warm sensation in your dantian, as if a flame is just beginning to rise?"

Qing Mozi nodded repeatedly: "I feel it, I feel it! Is this true qi?"

"Yes, this is true qi. It's still in the process of accumulation. Once it's accumulated enough..."

The next moment, Qing Mozi, trapped in the illusion, felt his dantian growing hotter and hotter, like a burning furnace.

"Now, we are going to begin opening up the microcosmic orbit and laying the foundation for the Dao."

Su Baichen continued speaking.

Meanwhile, Qing Mozi, within the illusion, also felt the true energy in his dantian slowly flowing through his Ren and Du meridians, gradually opening up his long-standing, blocked meridians...

This process is extremely slow, perfectly illustrating the difficulty of spiritual practice.

Even in Qing Mozi's mind, it felt as if several days had passed.

Su Baichen manipulated all of Qing Mozi's senses, giving him the illusion that time was being stretched out and the feeling that he was cultivating.

Under Su Baichen's control, the illusion cultivation experience finally came to an end. The Small Heavenly Circuit was completed, and the light in Qing Mozi's eyes shone brightly to the extreme.

"So that's how it is! I did it! I did it!"

The mere completion of the Small Heavenly Circuit foundation building brought Qingmozi, who had spent his entire life pursuing cultivation without success, immense joy and satisfaction.

Suddenly, he exhaled a long breath and made a deep sound: "Hoh..."

This breath seemed to expel all the air from his lungs, and it also caused his soul to leave his body, flying away into the distance with that breath.

Su Baichen was feeling somewhat melancholy when he suddenly sensed that something was amiss.

That was in his spiritual perception, there was a bit of true energy that had just been born in Qing Mozi's corpse but was quickly dissipating!

That wisp of true energy was originally circulating in the meridians, and had not even returned to the dantian.

It seems to be accompanying Su Baichen's illusion, opening up Qing Mozi's meridians...

"He really succeeded?!"

Su Baichen muttered to himself in surprise.

But he remembered clearly that he had only used illusion magic to simulate the feeling of refining qi...

However, Qing Mozi took it as true, or rather, he was willing to believe it was true...

Su Baichen was deeply moved at that moment, as this was the first time his illusion technique had touched the realm of reality.

Does believing something to be true guarantee it will become true?

Su Baichen suddenly seemed to understand some of the principles.

After a long period of stagnation, the Eight Transformations of Illusory Yin realm finally showed signs of loosening, giving him a glimpse of the possibility of advancing further.

A thought struck him, and suddenly a figure appeared beside him... It was Qing Mozi, who had already passed away!

This Qingmozi was created by Su Baichen's illusion magic, and it looked incredibly lifelike, just like a real person.

"Junior brother, I'll leave this to you."

This "Qing Mozi" smiled kindly at Su Baichen, and then headed towards the main hall in front.

This illusory body stayed in the main hall where Qingmozi usually sat, reciting Taoist scriptures and occasionally receiving worshippers... seemingly no different from usual.

Su Baichen took a deep breath, then tidied up Qing Mozi's body, went to town to buy a coffin, placed the body inside, and buried it in the courtyard.

After the burial, Su Baichen recited the "Changchun Sutra" for him again, as a blessing for his senior brother to begin the next chapter of his journey.

After about ten days, Su Baichen had a sudden thought and received a letter sent by a jade tablet.

This was the first time he had ever received such a flying letter, and he didn't even know how to read it.

Fortunately, it contains a primordial spirit, or divine thought.

[My disciple Bai Chen, there has been a turmoil in the capital; the entire court may be forced to flee south to Linxian.]

A few simple pieces of information stirred up a storm of emotions in Su Baichen.

No, how come there's a problem in the capital?

Linxian refers to Linxian Prefecture, which is the superior administrative unit of Xianyou County.

If the Liang court were to flee south to Linxian, wouldn't Xianyou County become part of the capital region?

Also, how did a problem arise in the capital? Didn't Changchun Palace send people there?

Su Baichen was very puzzled, but he had no source of information and no way of knowing more...

Just as he was hesitating, a group of constables suddenly entered the mysterious temple.

"Master Qingmozi, is Master Baichenzi also present?"

Then Magistrate Guo came again.

This time he didn't bring any gifts and left in a hurry.

The illusory form of Qing Mozi spoke as if it were Qing Mozi himself: "Please come in, County Lady. Junior Brother Bai Chen is waiting in the courtyard."

Magistrate Guo hurriedly went to the backyard of the Taoist temple.

He spotted Su Baichen immediately, while Su Baichen was in the courtyard boiling water and making tea to entertain guests.

"Lord Guo, please take a seat."

The seats made from tree stumps look rather rudimentary.

But Magistrate Guo did not hesitate. After sitting down in front of Su Baichen, he drank two cups of strong tea before he calmed down a little.

"What brings you here, Your Excellency?"

Su Baichen asked the question very directly.

Magistrate Guo looked alarmed, but still took a deep breath and said, "To be honest, Daoist Master, a great plague has recently broken out in the capital. Nearly half of the people are suffering terribly, and even the nobles and princes are living in fear."

Su Baichen was taken aback, then realized that the information he had discovered was probably not timely, and the other party had already made arrangements in the capital of Liang Kingdom.

He suddenly realized that this grain ship passing through the territory of Changchun Palace might have been deliberately arranged.

If he discovers this in advance, the cultivators of Changchun Palace will be able to enter the game in time by heading to the capital, thus disrupting the opponent's plans.

But if the opponent has already completed their plan, and the cultivators from Changchun Palace only enter the trap at this point... then how is that any different from jumping into a trap?

He then came to his senses and said meaningfully, "That was, after all, something that happened in the capital. I wonder what the county magistrate is worried about?"

Magistrate Guo hesitated and said, "I just don't know if the Taoist priest has a solution for that great plague?"

Su Baichen then understood that Magistrate Guo was worried that the plague would spread to Linxian Prefecture and then to Xianyou County.

Human nature.

Su Baichen replied, "My sect already has elders who specialize in this epidemic, and they should be able to prepare an antidote."

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Guo breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good, but I wonder when we'll be able to get the antidote?"

Su Baichen said, "If there is any, I will inform the county magistrate to come and collect it."

Just as Magistrate Guo was about to say a few more words, a yamen runner hurriedly walked over and kept giving Magistrate Guo meaningful glances from a short distance away.

Seeing this, Su Baichen raised his hand and said, "The county magistrate has important business to attend to; please make yourself at home."

Magistrate Guo hurriedly went over, pulled the yamen runner to the corner of the wall, and began to whisper among himself.

However, no matter how softly they whispered, it didn't escape Su Baichen's ears. He clearly heard the yamen runner say, "...People from the capital have arrived, and the clerk is entertaining them... They're from Lord Zhu's family... He's taken a liking to the mines in our county..."

Su Baichen listened to some of the conversation and roughly understood that a steward from the household of a high-ranking official had come to purchase property in Xianyou County.

This is quite common, after all, all the officials of the court are going on a southern hunt, and so many people coming will naturally disrupt the original layout of Linxian Prefecture.

But that has nothing to do with him, as long as those people don't touch Su Family Village.

P.S.: It's Monday, so it's rare to ask for monthly tickets or anything like that, right?