NOVPUBThe intelligence organization at Mount Tai was certainly not mediocre; with the abundant expenditure of silver coins, they nearly always had the intelligence in hand as soon as Liu Biao’s troops made a move. Of course, the entire intelligence analysis and processing department relied on the support of Guo Jia, Jia Xu, and Fa Zheng.
However, Jia Xu never showed up for work, and Guo Jia was perpetually drunk, leaving Fa Zheng as the only one doing the work—that was the apparent situation. In reality, both Jia Xu and Guo Jia paid attention to the intelligence, but as long as Fa Zheng’s handling of it did not deviate too much, neither of them would interfere. Thus, the real powerhouse in handling Mount Tai’s intelligence was Fa Zheng.
"Are they trying to feed themselves to the enemy?" Chen Xi couldn’t help but twitch at this news. Wasn’t this troop allocation just serving up heads to Sunx Ce and Zhou Yu, providing them with experience and military exploits, and potentially even gifting Sunx Ce with generals?
Jia Xu did not join the conversation. The intelligence he had gotten from Guo Jia suggested that Zhou Yu’s abilities fluctuated greatly. At his peak, even Guo Jia felt awkward dealing with him, but in his troughs, he barely reached the standard of a quasi-first-class commander-in-chief combined with a quasi-first-class civil official.
Regardless of whether it was his trough or peak form that was difficult for anyone in the world to deal with, Jia Xu felt no pressure in facing Wang Wei and Wen Pin. At most, the difference would lie between complete annihilation and a crushing defeat. Jia Xu was not optimistic about Wang Wei and Wen Pin’s chances, and Chen Xi’s so-called feeding of heads seemed like an appropriate assessment to him.
Of course, that was because Jia Xu did not understand Zhou Yu well. If he had, he might have thought Wang Wei and Wen Pin were simply courting death! Whenever Zhou Yu played with Sunx Ce, he’d bind himself with his own Spiritual Talent. At other times, as long as Zhou Yu remembered to undo the Spiritual Talent he used on himself, his talent would automatically bind his enemies...
It should be noted that Zhou Yu’s talent was subject to tiered assessment based on intelligence and spirit. If one couldn’t pass a certain tier, it would directly diminish the corresponding intelligence quotient of the opponent. To be completely immune, one had to have double the amount of intelligence and spiritual power as Zhou Yu, so toughing it out was out of the question; there was no one in the Three Kingdoms with the intelligence to be immune!
Therefore, even if Jia Xu himself went up against the pinnacle period Zhou Yu, his own intelligence would slightly decline by 5% to 10%. For a sage, such a minimal reduction could already change many things. Now, you might understand why all the civil and military officials on Cao Cao’s side behaved so abnormally during the Battle of Red Cliff…
Afterward, Zhou Yu’s performance during the battle in South Commandery was obviously too exhilarating, making him forget to dispel the Spiritual Talent cast upon his own head. After all, once activated, this Divine Level Talent would be ignored by both friends and foes alike, binding itself on the user after the enemy’s defeat. Therefore, Zhou Yu’s performance was downright despairing; it’s estimated that his full intelligence of one hundred had been diminished to seventy. But then again, with an IQ of seventy, he could joyfully play with Sunx Ce~
Had Jia Xu known of Zhou Yu’s talent, there would have been no need to consider any way out for Wang Wei and Wen Pin. Zhou Yu’s talent was like slicing through low-level characters with ease—a single use of the talent would reduce the opposition to near idiocy.
"It was probably a miscalculation," Liu Ye said, touching the porcelain cup in his hand with a furrowed brow. "Alas, no matter how you look at it, Liu Jingsheng’s move this time is unwise. He is too hasty. Even if he has recovered most of the territory lost earlier, the strength of his forces has still suffered too much damage."
"Perhaps he’s been too self-assured," Fa Zheng said with pride. "Hengheng, Yuan Gonglu’s main forces have gone to Wancheng to fight to the death with Cao Mengde. Liu Jingsheng must have thought there were easy pickings to be had, but it looks like he’s doomed!"
"Doomed may be too strong a word," Lub Su took a cursory look at the intelligence report Fa Zheng had and said, "After all, with Huang Hansheng and Kuai Yidu together, ensuring the army’s invincibility is not particularly difficult. But this Huang Hansheng must be the one Chen Xi previously mentioned who could match Lyu Bu in a fight."
"Hmm, that’s him. Under the leadership of such a Valiant General, the morale of the troops will soar, and a military general of his caliber is likely to awaken his own abilities..." Chen Xi said, tilting his head.
The possibility of military generals awakening talents was information Chen Xi had inadvertently extracted from Zhao Yun. After all, there were only a few instances of Inner Qi Manifestation among military generals over the past four hundred years, so history had not recorded it. When Zhao Yun noticed something strange about the soldiers he commanded after stimulating Cloud Qi and consulted Chen Xi, he grew suspicious.
"Awakening abilities? Come to think of it, now that you mention it, I recall some intelligence I collected," Fa Zheng pondered and then said, "Leading cavalry, Lyu Bu enhances the strength of each soldier by about ten percent. That is to say, with a group army, Lyu Bu could conduct a pitched battle on even terms!"
Suddenly, everyone stared in astonishment at Fa Zheng. Such an amazing effect—to increase the quality of each individual cavalry soldier by ten percent was truly terrifying, and the effect was even applicable to the entire army!
"Combining our existing abilities, I suspect that military generals capable of Inner Qi Manifestation also possess their own spiritual talents," said Fa Zheng, his eyes glinting with a flicker of brightness. Instantly, everyone present understood that Fa Zheng had begun to awaken his own spiritual talent. Unlike Kuai Yue’s sudden awakening, Fa Zheng’s spiritual talent was being unlocked bit by bit. A talent born in this manner might not be as powerful as one emerging from a crisis, but its advantage lies in having no side effects.
"Do we have other examples?" Chen Xi compared what Zhao Yun had said and deeply suspected whether all military generals capable of Inner Qi Manifestation would awaken some special abilities. If that was the case, then gathering intelligence on this aspect would be of great importance.
"Yes, Xiahou Miaocai, under Cao Cao’s command, led his troops to Wancheng within three days and did not lose combat power. Their march was twenty percent faster than our forced march, and considering they didn’t lose combat power after three continuous days, I suspect they could normally march fifty percent faster than us!" Fa Zheng informed everyone present of a piece of data that could be considered astonishing.
"Under Zilong’s command, his troops are immune to all ambushes. The entire army exhibits an eerie calmness. In situations of danger and encirclement, his subordinates still maintain their normal combat courage," Chen Xi continued, noticing that Strategist Jia was looking at Fa Zheng with an inquisitive gaze.
"If it happened once, it could be considered a coincidence; if it happened twice, it should arouse suspicion; by the third time, there must be a pattern," Chen Xi said calmly, addressing the group.
"We need to understand the conditions for stimulating a military general’s own abilities, and, Xiaoo Zhi, your spiritual talent wouldn’t happen to be analyzing people, would it?" Jia Xu turned his head to ask.
"I don’t know," Fa Zheng shook his head, saying that he had only recently awakened his spiritual talent and had not yet thoroughly researched it. Moreover, his spiritual talent had not fully awakened yet. "What about yours, Strategist Jia?"
"Analysis of situations," Jia Xu stated expressionlessly. He wasn’t exactly lying; his ability was indeed to analyze situations, followed by automatically performing logical deductions. He simply omitted the latter part.
Fa Zheng turned his head to look at the others. Lub Su hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Cold, or more precisely, ignoring the weakening effect of Cloud Qi, usable without relying on any external factors. It varies with the strength of the opponent, but from what I’ve tried, it seems to affect normal soldiers, and it can influence tens of thousands of them..."
It’s typical of a good-hearted person not to speak at all, or to explain very clearly without any concealment.
"That’s frightening. How about you?" Fa Zheng asked Liu Ye.
"Spiritual immersion…" Liu Ye said with a sad face, "and I can’t control it…"
"What kind of talent is that?" asked Fa Zheng, driven by curiosity. After all, with the diversity within the forest of talents, there were those understood at face value and others unseen before. Now fully curious about both friend and foe’s spiritual talents, he felt that these talents could sometimes reverse situations without any issue.
"It means once you start thinking about a problem, you get drawn into the perspective or role that you’re considering, and it doesn’t end," Liu Ye explained with sadness. In truth, he didn’t want to think that much; it was just that once he started, he would find himself trapped in such a situation, a force beyond his control...
"If that’s the case, I understand. What about your talent, Zichuan?" asked Fa Zheng, his curiosity piqued. We’ve all disclosed our spiritual talents; if you don’t share, it really seems a bit antisocial.
"Actually, it’s hard to define. I haven’t figured out what my spiritual talent is, although it’s certainly there and is definitely passive. But I’m not sure about my spiritual talent," Chen Xi replied with a shrug.
"Tell us about it. Perhaps we can help you analyze it," said Fa Zheng, eager to try. Soon after discovering he had awakened his spiritual talent, Fa Zheng had wanted to coax out what Guo Jia’s talent was. However, Guo Jia had fobbed him off with an "it’s hard to explain." This time, Fa Zheng didn’t want to be brushed off like before.
"The last and this year have been extraordinarily good, with favorable weather for crops. I don’t know why, but under Lord Xuande’s rule, there have never been any disasters. Yet no sooner had we left Mount Tai than Yanzhou experienced droughts and floods. How strange!" Chen Xi’s seemingly random comment prompted deep thought among those present. Upon reflection, they realized it was indeed odd—the weather had been too favorable. It was really as if the weather was working in perfect harmony.
(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes, monthly votes; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
