The Deepest Affection in Qin's Time

Yan Ri gritted his teeth: "Can it really help me get a marquisate?"

Lü Buwei looked at Yanri, who was wearing a bronze mask, with deep eyes and said in a calm tone, "You have made military contributions to the Qin state, and your contributions are not small. All you lack is an opportunity and a great achievement."

"At what time?"

Lü Buwei did not hide anything.

"Empress Dowager Xia Ji has been suffering from a long-term illness and is also very old. I'm afraid she doesn't have much time left and won't make it through this winter."

Yan Ri's eyes flashed as he asked, "You're planning to make a move against Chang'an Juncheng?"

Lü Buwei's face turned cold: "I have said enough. If you agree, I will help you become a marquis, reaching the pinnacle of power. If you do not agree..."

Yan Ri frowned, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Alright, I agree!"

"After eliminating the traitor Jing Ni, I will go to Ganquan Palace under an assumed name."

Lü Buwei waved his hand, "Go down."

After Yan Ri left, Old Man Zheng whispered, "Prime Minister Lü, why did you send him to the palace to serve the Empress Dowager?"

Lü Buwei said, "I am over fifty years old and my energy is waning."

"In this war of alliance, I am the commander-in-chief. If we succeed, all will be well. But if we fail, even if we only suffer heavy losses, I will surely be attacked. If someone uses the Empress Dowager as a pretext to make trouble, I am not afraid, but it will still be troublesome."

"Taking advantage of the fact that Yan Ri has something on me, I'll arrange for him to enter the palace under an assumed name and sever my relationship with the Empress Dowager. That would be the best course of action."

Old Master Zheng exclaimed admiringly, "Your Excellency is truly brilliant!"

……

A shady shop in a small town.

Cao Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground.

Jingni, Liwu, Xuenu, and Xiaomengjiang sat cross-legged behind Cao Yuan.

Apart from Xiao Mengjiang, the other three women all looked at Cao Yuan, who had his back to them, with strange expressions.

They knew that Cao Yuan was very good at picking locks, especially Li Wu, who was deeply impressed.

Because she had no idea how many times Cao Yuan had opened her door.

But this doesn't mean they believe Cao Yuan can open the bronze box containing the secrets of the Azure Dragon.

It should be noted that this is a treasure box that has been passed down for at least a thousand years, and countless monarchs have tried to open it to glimpse the legendary secrets of the Azure Dragon.

This even includes the first monarch of the Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou Emperor, and Jiang Ziya (also known as Lü Shang), who assisted King Wu in overthrowing the Shang Dynasty.

All of these attempts, without exception, failed.

So much so that by the time the seven kingdoms were in conflict, few rulers paid any more attention to the bronze box.

They simply viewed the bronze box as a symbol of the royal lineage of the seven kingdoms.

Cao Yuan gently patted the treasure box, feeling the faint phantom of the golden finger within his soul flickering slightly, and smiled faintly.

As long as he absorbs the spirit within this treasure box, he can at least break through to the half-step Grandmaster level.

The only regrettable thing is that the barrier can only last for about two hours. Once the time is up, even if the spirit has not been completely absorbed, the barrier will disappear on its own, and the spirit will dissipate into the world.

If you want to maximize the use of the spiritual energy within the bronze box, you will undoubtedly need to find several people to absorb it together.

According to his estimate, the spiritual energy within the barrier was enough to support hundreds of top-tier experts absorbing it for two hours, with some to spare.

"Click, click, click, click-click-click..."

Under the astonished gazes of Jingni, Xuenu, and Liwu, Cao Yuan opened the treasure box that had been passed down in this world for at least a thousand years, as easily as opening an ordinary box.

"This……"

Li Wu lightly covered her red lips, her beautiful eyes widening as she looked at Cao Yuan in disbelief.

Are you a deity?

Li Wu murmured to herself.

Jingni's beautiful eyes shone brightly, her heart was shaken, and the worries of the past few days were swept away, making her even more convinced of Cao Yuan and no longer worried about Luo Wang.

The Snow Maiden looked at Cao Yuan with a complicated expression.

Sister Yafei once told her a secret: according to legend, whoever can open the bronze treasure box containing the seven constellations of the Azure Dragon will become the new emperor, the new Yellow Emperor.

Could Cao Yuan become the emperor in the future?

The snow woman was momentarily at a loss.

Cao Yuan was neither a member of the royal family nor a feudal lord, so how did he become the emperor?

But if Cao Yuan really becomes the emperor, then she...

"Don't get distracted, focus entirely on your cultivation!"

After Cao Yuan gave a low shout, an invisible and formless barrier suddenly appeared inside the bronze treasure box, covering the entire guest room.

The next instant, the barrier was filled with an incredibly dense spiritual energy.

"This is……"

Jing Ni was the first to notice the anomaly.

When a cultivator breaks through to the half-step Grandmaster level, their soul undergoes a transformation, enabling them to clearly perceive the wandering spirits between heaven and earth, thereby refining themselves, raising their realm, and rapidly increasing their internal strength.

But the spiritual energy between heaven and earth is too scarce.

This is why there are so few grandmasters in the seven kingdoms nowadays; even if they reach a certain level, it is often difficult for them to break through.

It can be said that in this era, any expert who can cultivate to the first-class level can break through to the Grandmaster level as long as they have enough spiritual nourishment!

While Cao Yuan and the women were diligently absorbing spiritual energy to cultivate, the starry sky above the nine heavens underwent another subtle change.

Among the seven constellations of the Azure Dragon, the "Tail Constellation," which had remained unchanged since time immemorial, suddenly shone brightly before gradually dimming. The vast amount of spiritual energy contained within it began to slowly spread throughout the entire void.

The State of Chu, Goddess Peak.

The moon goddess, kneeling on the astrological altar, gazed intently at the boundless starry sky with slightly narrowed eyes.

"The tail of the dragon refers to the tail star. The conjunction of the sun and moon is called Chen, and the sun is at the tail, so the tail star is hidden and cannot be seen."

The Moon Goddess murmured, "On the morning of Bing, the dragon's tail is hidden in the sun... The tail of the Azure Dragon's seven constellations is bright, and the constellations have changed again..."

At that moment, the Moon Goddess's aura suddenly intensified, and she stepped into the peak of the half-step Grandmaster realm.

But this did not make her happy, because she knew very well that her senior sister would become stronger in this upheaval.

……

The sky was just before dawn.

On the hilltop behind the Confucian Xiaoshengxianzhuang, Xunzi, under a tree, slowly opened his eyes from meditation.

Han Fei knelt before Xunzi, with a sword box in front of him. Inside the box was a broken sword that he had brought to Xiaoshengxianzhuang from the Han King's palace years ago. It was Shen Buhai's sword, the Reverse Scale Sword.

The sword suddenly became unusual in the dead of night, making him want to leave Qi and return to Han.

"Teacher, I have a question I would like to ask you."

"You said."

Is there an invisible force in the world that controls human destiny in the dark?

Xunzi glanced at the eastern horizon, at the location of the Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions, and he could vaguely sense that the world seemed to have changed again.

He pondered for a moment when faced with Han Fei's question.

"Have."

"Then what kind of power is it?"

Confucius and Mencius spoke of benevolence, while Cao Yuan spoke of principle. Whether it is benevolence or principle, you must seek the answer yourself. There is no fixed answer, and this power is not unique.

"It seems that I need to return to my homeland."

"So you've come to say goodbye?"

"Yes, perhaps I should set off."

"it is good."

"I will remember my teacher's kindness in imparting knowledge and resolving my doubts for the rest of my life."

"Then, let's set off, Han Fei."

Xunzi spoke with a touch of sadness, for Han Fei ultimately chose his motherland.

Is it for benevolence, righteousness, reason, or law...?

He could no longer see through this disciple.

……

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

The barrier disappeared, and Cao Yuan opened his eyes, a powerful aura emanating from him.

In just two hours, he crossed the peak of first-class, the half-step grandmaster, and reached the peak of half-step grandmaster.

It was much better than he had expected; he had thought that breaking through to the half-step Grandmaster level would be quite good.

It is likely because he recently absorbed the power of the Eight Linglong, which greatly increased his spiritual power.

If it weren't for the fact that his current level of understanding is somewhat lacking, and he hasn't fully grasped the second level of the Sage King's Heart Method—the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge.

Otherwise, if he were given just a cup of tea's worth of time to cultivate, he might be able to directly enter the Grandmaster realm.

Cao Yuan glanced around at the women who were still meditating and cultivating, sensing that a large amount of spiritual energy within the barrier was dissipating into the world, and felt a deep sense of regret.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any treasures to absorb spirits, and even the bronze box used to seal spirits couldn't be used to seal spirits again.

"choke"

Jingni opened her eyes, sparks flew in the air, her gaze was piercing, but her voice was like a sword being drawn from its sheath.

Cao Yuan glanced at Jing Ni and felt a prickling sensation on his back, as if a sword tip was pressing against his spine.

"You... broke through?"

Jingni nodded slightly, her beautiful eyes filled with surprise, her cool and pretty face beaming with joy, her heart pounding.