The Great Qin: Starting with marrying Jingni, I began my quest for immortality.

"You don't actually think that by keeping him alive, you can get riches and glory from him, do you?"

Yuki-onna wasn't familiar with Egawa, but she considered herself to know men very well.

Men in this world only seek a few things: wealth, glory, power, and beautiful women.

Even though Jiang Chuan was very powerful, it did not affect Xue Nu's view of him as an ordinary man.

Jiang Chuan shook his head and said, "What good is wealth, glory, and immense power? These are things I've already had enough of. I have no interest in these vulgar things anymore."

The Snow Woman couldn't understand what kind of feelings Jiang Chuan had when he said those words.

But this was indeed Jiang Chuan's truest thought. The so-called wealth and glory meant nothing to him. If he had wanted to, he could have chosen to prove his innocence to the King of Han and prove that he was indeed Bai Yifei, the Marquis of Blood Robe. He would still be the Grand General of Han, with immense power.

Jiang Chuan added, "However, I do indeed want to spare Yan Chunjun's life."

"As the younger brother of the King of Yan and a feudal lord of Yan, he held a very high position. It would be a real pity if he died like this. Keeping him alive could be of greater use."

After Jiang Chuan said these words, Gao Jianli and Xue Nu both frowned.

Jiang Chuan noticed the change in their expressions and comforted them, saying, "Don't worry, I know you're afraid that Yan Chunjun's survival will cause you trouble. Since I've decided to spare his life, I've naturally taken that into consideration. Yan Chunjun won't retaliate against you; in fact, you might even become his honored guests."

Gao Jianli and Xue Nu did not understand the meaning of these words.

Jiang Chuan did not offer any further explanation.

Immediately afterwards, he looked at the unconscious Yan Chunjun and began to cast spells.

Chapter 275 Modifying Cognition

The martial arts realms in this world are relatively easy to understand, and are divided into Acquired, Innate, Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, and Celestial Being.

If we combine these martial arts realms with the classical internal alchemy realm classifications, then the process from acquired to innate can be called refining essence into qi. This involves constantly refining one's foundation, transforming oneself from acquired to innate, cultivating innate qi, and communicating with heaven and earth. This is called refining essence into qi. The subsequent innate and grandmaster stages are all stages of refining qi into spirit.

Once the divine sense is nurtured and emerges, the world seen will be completely different, which is the realm of a Grandmaster. This stage is called Refining the Spirit and Returning to Emptiness, which condenses the divine sense. Its ultimate goal is to return to emptiness.

What is emptiness?

Heaven and earth are nothingness.

The purpose of refining the spirit and returning to emptiness is to bring oneself closer to heaven and earth and to become one with them.

Once this process is completed, one reaches the realm of celestial beings.

At that time, one's own realm will be the Refinement of Emptiness and Integration with the Dao.

The so-called "refining the void and uniting with the Dao" is to make one's own spirit merge with heaven and earth, constantly deepening the connection between oneself and heaven and earth, thereby bringing oneself closer to the Dao in the darkness.

What is Tao?

To achieve immortality and become a celestial being at age 27 is to attain enlightenment.

This process is also the lifelong pursuit of many practitioners of Qi cultivation in Taoism and Yin-Yang School.

Unfortunately, throughout history, none of the various schools of thought have been able to reach that level; the strongest among them were merely celestial beings.

Whether or not one can become an immortal is unknown. If it weren't for the ancient legends of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden descending to earth and the Dragon God Gengchen assisting the Yellow Emperor in killing Chiyou, they wouldn't even consider becoming an immortal or a god as something to pursue.

It is precisely because of the rumors that there is a higher level that they constantly pursue this realm.

Jiang Chuan is currently at the Grandmaster level, or in other words, he is in the process of refining his spirit and returning to emptiness.

Upon reaching this realm, what one cultivates is no longer simply internal strength or true qi, but rather the more profound divine sense. This realm possesses the ability to lock souls over a thousand miles. Similarly, because one can circulate divine sense, Jiang Chuan can more perfectly execute the many witchcraft techniques he obtained from the Shu Mountain region.

The Yin-Yang School originated from Taoism, but its greatest achievement came from Mount Shu.

The Shu Mountain has a history spanning thousands of years, and it is unknown how many extremely strange witchcrafts it contains.

Among them, there are quite a few techniques related to soul capture and mind control.

Jiang Chuan used this type of magic on Yan Chun Jun.

Xue Nu and Gao Jianli were puzzled.

That night, they watched as Jiang Chuan casually toyed with Yan Chun Jun, and then waited until Yan Chun Jun woke up. When they saw that Yan Chun Jun had woken up, they immediately became extremely wary.

Because of Jiang Chuan, they did not flee immediately.

At this moment, if Lord Yanchun were to deal with them, it would not be a good thing for them.

Unexpectedly, after Yan Chunjun woke up, he did not show any hostility towards them. On the contrary, Yan Chunjun got up from the ground in a daze, and after seeing Jiang Chuan's appearance clearly, he bowed respectfully to Jiang Chuan, "Sir!"

This unusual behavior greatly surprised Gao Jianli.

He looked at Jiang Chuan and asked softly, "What exactly did you do to him?"

Jiang Chuan explained, "I modified his understanding."

"Change perception?"

Gao Jianli wanted to ask more questions.

Jiang Chuan, however, said to Yan Chunjun first, "The manor was attacked by bandits tonight. Your Majesty must have been frightened. You should go and rest first."

Yan Chunjun nodded blankly.

Then he actually left the place to rest.

As Jiang Chuan watched Yan Chunjun leave, he couldn't help but remind him, "By the way, to avoid causing any unnecessary trouble, Your Majesty should inform the guards in the manor about this matter."

"I am aware of this."

Yan Chunjun responded with a word and then left.

Watching Yan Chunjun leave in a strange way, Gao Jianli's gaze returned to Jiang Chuan's face. "You still haven't told me what exactly this 'modifying cognition' means."

Jiang Chuan explained, "The human brain is actually a very mysterious place, but there are even more mysterious sects in this world. They study the human spirit, soul, consciousness and other fields, and thus create all sorts of strange techniques. With these techniques, they can arbitrarily modify other people's memories and cognition, and thus manipulate them."

"It is true that Lord Yanchun hated you before, but after I altered his memories, he no longer remembers those things. Now, I am a guest in his household, the person he respects the most, and you are friends who came to his household with me."

"As for the guards who died, they died because bandits broke into Yan Chunjun's residence tonight, and they fought bravely to kill them."

Jiang Chuan explained the whole story to Gao Jianli and Xue Nu.

Even though they received a positive answer, the bizarre method still left the two of them feeling bewildered.

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was dawn.

The attack on Yan Chunjun's residence by bandits last night has become a new topic of conversation for many people in Jicheng.

Yan Chunjun quickly quelled the turmoil surrounding these 390 matters.

Jiang Chuan, Gao Jianli, and Xue Nu were also staying at Yan Chun Jun's residence, becoming honored guests.

Seeing Yan Chunjun's extremely respectful manner towards Jiang Chuan, Gao Jianli and Xue Nu were even more shocked.

Their appearance reminded them of hunting dogs that had been trained by hunters.

Yan Chunjun has essentially become Jiang Chuan's dog.

"So, you're just going to manipulate Lord Yanchun like this and stay in Jicheng like this?"

Gao Jianli then asked Jiang Chuan, the one who started all of this.

Being a guest at Lord Yanchun's residence gave him an extremely surreal feeling. He had just regarded Lord Yanchun as an enemy, but how long had it been, and now he had become a guest at Lord Yanchun's residence.

Jiang Chuan shook his head and said, "Of course I won't stay in Jicheng. In the end, I'm just a passerby."

"As for you, would you be interested in staying here and becoming a retainer of Lord Yanchun?"

Jiang Chuan asked Gao Jianli.

Upon hearing this, Gao Jianli instinctively wanted to refuse.

Jiang Chuan saw through his thoughts, but spoke first: "No need to rush to refuse."

"If you could, could you please let me finish speaking first?"

Gao Jianli pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Chapter 276 Two Choices

"We haven't known each other for very long, but I can tell you're a good person."

Jiang Chuan looked at Gao Jianli and began to speak eloquently.

"I know a little about your story. In the past, you were famous in the Yan Kingdom as a musician, but you attracted the covetousness of powerful people. Because you did not want to play the zither for them, you were persecuted by them. After that, you traveled in the border areas of the Yan Kingdom for many years. If you were to help Kuang Xiu take care of Xue Nu, you would not be able to return to this Ji City."

"Although you have hidden yourself in Feixue Pavilion as the musician Xiao Gao, there are still people in Ji City who know you, and there is a possibility that your identity will be exposed."

"Of course, you might say that you have already offended Lord Yanchun and are planning to attack Jicheng."

"But are you really willing to accept this?"

"Like a deserter, running away everywhere?"

He looked at Gao Jianli, his gaze suddenly turning sharp.

As Jiang Chuan recounted his story with such familiarity, Gao Jianli frowned and asked, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

“What I want to say is that staying in Lord Yanchun’s residence and becoming his retainer might help you change the Yan Kingdom.” Jiang Chuan revealed his true thoughts. “You have been persecuted by the powerful and influential people of Yan, yet you have never left Yan. This shows how deeply you love this country.”

"However, this country has many unpleasant aspects: the greed of the powerful, the incompetence of the generals, and the incompetence of the ruler. These are the reasons why the country is weak. If these drawbacks can be corrected, it may not be impossible to restore the hegemony of the time of King Zhao of Yan."

Jiang Chuan gradually shifted the conversation from Gao Jianli's past to the affairs of the Yan state.