The alchemist's opening move: I'll paint a pie in the sky for Qin Shi Huang.

It is still the same small courtyard left behind by Zhang Liang.

A spring breeze blows, and the newly sprouted tender leaves tremble slightly on the branches.

Meng Xuande strode into the courtyard, stopped a few steps behind Zou Yun, and bowed.

"Master, the luggage has been packed and Tianxing has been loaded onto the carriage. He will return to Xianyang with it."

"Um."

Zou Yun gazed at the dappled light and shadow in the courtyard and nodded slightly.

After a moment, he turned around and his gaze fell on Meng Xuande.

"My lord, I entrust the affairs of overseeing the Eastern Commandery Commandant and commanding the thousand cavalrymen here to you."

"only!"

Meng Xuande clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

After Zou Yun finished speaking, he turned and left the courtyard.

As their figures crossed paths, feeling the backs of the two figures receding into the distance, Meng Xuande's lips trembled for a moment before he finally couldn't help but speak.

"Great Master!"

He turned around abruptly and bowed deeply to Zou Yun's back.

May your journey be without misfortune!

Zou Yun paused, but didn't turn around. He simply waved his hand casually to indicate that he had heard. A simple gesture spoke volumes at that moment.

Inside the courtyard, the spring sunshine is just right, and new buds are beginning to sprout!

Meng Xuande straightened up and stared blankly at the departing figure.

How could he not know that Zou Yun had asked him to stay here not only to protect the local people, but also to protect himself?

Zou Yun's trip to Xianyang meant facing the wrathful emperor alone.

If everything goes smoothly, then there is boundless freedom and boundless possibilities.

But if there is even the slightest mistake...

"I'm afraid that when the time comes, I will be the first to wield the butcher's knife against those commoners." Meng Xuande remained silent.

a long time......

A long, drawn-out sigh then gently dissipated in the courtyard.

Outside the courtyard, Feng Zhixue had been waiting for a long time.

Upon seeing Zou Yun emerge, he immediately went to greet him, "Grand Master, everything is ready."

"Um."

Zou Yun nodded, his gaze fixed on the west.

"Let's go to Xianyang!!!"

"only!"

The hundred armored soldiers who had been standing at attention all around responded in unison.

The sound was like thunder, suddenly erupting and startling the birds on the branches into scattering and fleeing.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, a mixture of awe, worry, and curiosity, Zou Yun and his entourage set off on their journey back to Xianyang.

"Great Master, please be safe and sound."

Amidst the crowd, Old Man Li silently prayed in his heart.

Meanwhile, in Xianyang, at Zhangtai Palace!

"Your Majesty, we've found it! The Grand Master... we've found it!"

Zhao Gao practically ran all the way to the foot of the steps, eager to deliver this momentous news.

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng's hand, which was holding the pen, suddenly froze.

In the candlelight, he slowly raised his increasingly aged face.

In those deep-set eyes, a sharp gaze suddenly focused like a knife, piercing through the dim light and striking Zhao Gao below the steps.

In an instant, only the flickering candlelight remained inside the Zhangtai Palace.

-----------------

That night, Zou Yun and his group stayed overnight in the simple pavilion.

With the noise subsiding, he finally had time to reflect on the gains and losses of this period.

With a slight thought, a panel emitting a faint light quietly appeared in his field of vision.

Name: Zou Yun

Cultivation Points: 17

[Supernatural Abilities: Ascension through Disintegration, Frost Condensation (Taoist Seed), Sword Techniques, Earth-Splitting Technique, Fire Play Technique, Concealment Technique]

"Tsk, it really is like going back to square one."

Zou Yun looked at his cultivation points, which had originally accumulated to 5017 but now only had 17 left, and complained.

However, the supernatural abilities and techniques employed this time are considerably more diverse than before.

His gaze shifted to the newly acquired supernatural powers.

[Fire Play Technique: With a thought, one can conjure a tiny flame out of thin air and manipulate it at will.]

"Great, a portable lighter," Zou Yun remarked.

[Concealment Technique: When activated, it generates an invisible thin film of air on the body's surface. If stationary, it is almost undetectable to the naked eye; once moved, it easily produces subtle distortions and flaws.]

Both of these supernatural powers were born only in the presence of a very small number of people.

Therefore, its flaws are quite obvious and need to be repaired using cultivation points.

The concealment technique was alright, perhaps because it was witnessed by Fusu, the crown prince of Qin, so it was relatively acceptable.

The Fire Play Technique... is practically useless right now.

"However, I owe this ability to secretly detonate the explosives and create such a huge noise," Zou Yun thought to himself.

Zou Yun shifted his gaze from the two supernatural abilities to the last one, which showed a new change.

【Frost (Taoist term): Refers to water turning into ice, breath forming frost, freezing rivers and marshes】

The ability to block the rain of arrows was entirely due to this enhanced supernatural power.

Even so, blocking that volley of arrows was already Zou Yun's limit.

If he hadn't acted decisively, using gunpowder to create a thunderous aura, and then combined it with the Earth-Splitting Technique to tear the earth apart.

It seems Zou Yun really has no way to stall the situation until Meng Xuande and the others arrive.

This transformation not only added the words "Tao Seed" to the name of the supernatural power.

More importantly, a mysterious intuition told him so.

Even if the trick of freezing water into ice is broken and exposed, or even if it is reproduced in public, this frost-freezing divine power will not disappear or be annihilated.

"Using the false to cultivate the true..."

These four words struck Zou Yun's mind like a thunderclap.

"False faith is used to cultivate truth, and spiritual attainment is achieved through recitation."

"Use the illusory beliefs of all beings as fuel to ignite the true fire of the Tao within yourself; take the prayers and desires of all spirits as a guide to refine supreme innate supernatural powers."

"Using illusion as a medium, and the aspirations of all beings as a foundation, we eliminate falsehood and preserve truth, moving directly from delusion to the origin of the Great Dao..."

"this!"

"Is this what they call using the false to cultivate the true?"

Zou Yun was deeply shaken and couldn't help but murmur.

He could sense that between his eyebrows, deep in the space between his eyebrows, there seemed to be a seed that was neither existent nor nonexistent, mysterious and profound.

It is not a physical entity, but more like an anchor point for a concept, a prototype of a law.

As his will carefully penetrated deeper into that divine passage seed, in an instant, an unprecedented and profound perception spread out.

Zou Yun felt as if he could "touch" some kind of invisible and intangible trace that existed between heaven and earth, yet it was real and tangible.

They are like the breath of the universe, like the patterns of the Great Dao, drifting in the boundless void.

These marks weren't just present in one small area around him.

It is deeply imprinted on every part of one's flesh and blood, and even fills every grain of dust and every wisp of breeze in this vast world.

This indescribable feeling, if I had to use just one word to describe it...

That is: "The Way".

"The Tao is invisible to the eye, inaudible to the ear, and intangible to the touch. It is formless and without image, nameless and without shape, silent and still, standing alone and unchanging..."

At this moment, the maxims of Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" naturally flowed through Zou Yun's heart.

"Lao Dan... was absolutely right!"

A strange joy and emotion welled up in Zou Yun's heart.

This step forward signifies not only that he has moved beyond simply knowing what his supernatural abilities are, but also that he now understands why they are.

It also means that if one day someone can perceive the world of "enlightenment" that Zou Yun is currently perceiving.

Then he would have the option.

I will try to pass on the laws and insights contained in the Frost Condensation Seed to others.

Perhaps the probability of receiving the teachings is very low, perhaps the difficulty of attaining enlightenment is very high, or perhaps all of this is just Zou Yun's delusion.

but!

Human wisdom is not something that can be achieved overnight.

It is precisely because our ancestors carried on the legacy and forged ahead with unyielding spirit that we have created the prosperity of civilization we enjoy today!