Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

After the main matters were settled at the dinner table, Zhou Ji did not stay any longer. He wiped his mouth and got up to leave.

Judging from this, it seems that staying for this meal is just for show.

Undeniably, this was an attempt to appease the prefect.

After all, it's only natural that the Prefect was uneasy about the death of a young master from the Prime Minister's residence in Linxian.

As Zhou Ji left, the demonic cultivator who had been guarding outside the government office also departed.

This is clearly to protect Zhou Ji!

"You stay at the government office and gather information. I'll follow the evil spirit and see if we can find anything."

Having received instructions, Su Baichen settled down with peace of mind.

Then he saw the prefect go to his study and call a capable subordinate to go with him.

Su Baichen was somewhat concerned about what would happen to the lavish banquet, but he still went over to take a look first...

He then saw the prefect hand the paper listing the many high-quality mines in Linxian Prefecture to his subordinate.

"Go, use every method you can think of to get the land deeds for these mines."

The subordinate was startled: "Master, this is no small matter. These gentry have been showering you with gifts on a regular basis."

The prefect said, "Therefore, this is not for me, but for the Prime Minister's residence!"

"Explain things to them clearly, so they won't complain about me."

"As for whether the Prime Minister's residence will remember their kindness, that depends on their fate."

The subordinate understood the prefect's meaning, took the list, bowed, and took his leave.

Su Baichen then understood why there was that mine list in the study.

He guessed that these mines were originally targeted by Zhou Cong, who was planning to seize them by trickery and force.

However, he died "unfortunately" before he could do anything.

He thought about it for a moment and didn't do anything unnecessary.

Although Wang Fugui was the father of his good friend Wang Xingyuan, they were still the richest family in the world, so losing one or two mines wouldn't be a big deal.

It's better to mess with these local tyrants and gentry than to mess with ordinary people.

Seeing that there was nothing else to pay attention to, he returned to his secluded room to continue meditating and cultivating his qi.

He wanted to open up some hidden meridians as soon as possible, and only after all the hidden meridians were opened could he begin to try the Qi Sea Transfer Furnace.

……

Zhou Ji returned to the Zhou residence in silence, then suddenly asked in a deep voice, "What exactly happened? How did my good-for-nothing brother die?"

A broad figure appeared before him.

This was a short, stocky man, who looked to be less than 1.6 meters tall, but was round and chubby like a ball.

But he didn't have the usual honest and simple look of a fat man; his face was full of fierce and menacing features, making him look like someone you wouldn't want to mess with.

"He was accidentally killed by my unlucky disciple, but I have already punished him."

Zhou Ji's expression froze slightly, then he asked, "Master Evil Ghost, how did you punish him?"

This short, stocky man is a malevolent spirit.

He said calmly, "Since he couldn't distinguish the Second Young Master's condition and accidentally killed him, I'll gouge out one of his eyes so he'll remember this lesson."

"Give him back one eyeball so that he can contribute in the struggle against Changchun Palace."

Ultimately, they are people of the demonic path, and they speak of gouging out people's eyes with utter nonchalance.

At the same time, in the mouth of this evil spirit, his disciple seemed to be nothing more than cannon fodder in the struggle against Changchun Palace.

Zhou Ji found this attitude unacceptable.

However, their indifference to life did indeed chill him to the bone, preventing them from directly questioning them. Instead, they changed the subject, saying, "But why did I hear that a sorcerer from Changchun Palace first placed a curse on Zhou Cong?"

The evil spirit replied, "So what if it is?"

Zhou Ji had a bit of a headache, but he still found a way to continue speaking: "If that's the case, then the evil Taoist priest of Changchun Palace committed the evil first, and your disciple just made a mistake because he was not careful for a moment."

The evil spirit curled its lips into a wicked grin: "If that's the case, then this debt should be settled with Changchun Palace."

Zhou Ji immediately nodded and said, "That's right, but those evil Taoists from Changchun Palace come and go without a trace. Even if I wanted to deal with them, it would be very difficult to find their whereabouts."

The evil spirit scoffed, "Isn't this simple?"

"Those hypocrites are the most intolerant of any imperfection. As long as you step forward and say that you want to collect one hundred boys and girls to offer to the Holy One, and actually send people to collect them among the people, those hypocrites will naturally come looking for you."

"I'll also have more people lying in ambush then, and things will be done."

Even though Zhou Ji was cold-hearted and only acted out of self-interest, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable after hearing this.

He felt that compared to these evil spirits and fiends, he was still too kind... Indeed, there was a reason why these people were called demons.

"Then it's settled."

The two sides quickly reached an agreement.

Even if the other party is actually the enemy who killed his brother, as long as it is beneficial to the Zhou family and as long as there is no open conflict, the cooperation can continue.

……

Su Baichen is exploring the secrets of his hidden meridians.

He discovered that the most important thing in opening the hidden meridians was not how to open the gate, but how to accurately locate the position and direction of the hidden meridians.

This actually requires a long period of exploration and experimentation, but it also has ancient traditions...

He discovered that when he entered the illusion within the Soul-Suppressing Sword, he could perfectly perceive the condition of the body he was possessing at that time.

Previously, he had not intended to explore the hidden veins, but now he entered that illusionary space with the intention of trying it out using the bodies of his ancestors.

As his perception progressed, he unexpectedly discovered that his ancestor's physical body was naturally blessed with unobstructed hidden meridians!

This may also explain why our ancient ancestors were able to possess such powerful physical strength, enabling them to fight and survive against those terrifying ancient creatures on the primordial land.

However, the first time Su Baichen possessed the body of an ancestor, only seven hidden meridians were activated. After familiarizing himself with the location of these seven hidden meridians, Su Baichen possessed the body of another ancestor.

After becoming the current master of the Soul-Suppressing Sword, he no longer needs to change his body after dying in the Illusionary Battlefield.

He can switch at will as needed, and as long as it is the ancestral soul within this Soul-Suppressing Sword, it is willing to reveal all its secrets to this successor.

Then Su Baichen discovered something.

That is, different people will open different hidden meridians, and will also show different talents accordingly.

Just like our ancestors who ran exceptionally fast, the hidden meridians that were activated in their bodies were located in their legs.

Those with exceptional endurance often have unobstructed hidden meridians in the heart, lungs, and kidneys.

Those with exceptional skills in both hands possess unobstructed hidden meridians in their hands.

Even the head may have hidden pulses; such people are often exceptionally intelligent and have naturally stronger mental strength.

Su Baichen switched between more than two hundred ancestral bodies and finally managed to gather the approximate locations of all twenty-eight hidden meridians.

Why is it "approximately" the location?

He discovered that the same hidden meridians could have different pathways in different people.

These subtle differences cannot be ignored; Su Baichen still needs to continue to refine his path.

As for what's happening outside...

He wasn't worried at all. After all, Master Xuanding was one of the top experts in Changchun Palace. He only needed to deliver information and complete his mission. He believed that the elders of Changchun Palace could handle things outside.

However, just as he was about to continue his cultivation, the spiritual communication copper finger suddenly began to vibrate.

"Bai Chen, we've been ambushed! Go get reinforcements immediately!"

This thought filled Su Baichen's mind with exclamation marks.

Seniors, give it your all!