NOVPUBXi Zhicai’s first sensation upon entering Fenggao City was shock, followed by a sense of its flourishing prosperity. The reason for his shock was that as soon as Xi Zhicai entered Fenggao, he activated his Spiritual Talent, allowing several manifestations of Spiritual Talent to appear within the range covered by his own talent.
"So many Spiritual Talents." Looking as though his gaze could penetrate the barrier of the carriage, Xi Zhicai observed the unclear and indistinct Spiritual Talents swirling high above. He once again felt a sense of helplessness, similar to that felt by Xun You after the latter had activated his talent—a feeling as if, although the existence of that Spiritual Talent was detectable, he was like a tiger without the means to descend from the skies, unable to replicate it.
"If I’m not mistaken, Gong Da should be able to become immune to that disheveled Spiritual Talent that previously messed with me as soon as he activates his own talent." Xi Zhicai silently gazed at the high skies, feeling quite helpless. What concerned him the most was the possibility that the owner of the talent currently circulating above might, just like that despicable Xun You, keep their talent activated for an extended period, preventing Xi Zhicai from doing anything but stare at the Spiritual Talent. Even if he managed to analyze it, he wouldn’t be able to replicate it.
"I hope it’s not that tragic." Xi Zhicai silently prayed. He had initially not wanted to reveal his Spiritual Talent to anyone. After analyzing Xun You’s Spiritual Talent and realizing its usefulness, he couldn’t replicate it despite waiting for three months, never once seeing Xun You discontinue the use of his talent. In the end, he had no choice but to reveal his own Spiritual Talent to Xun You in all honesty.
From that time, Xi Zhicai knew that some peculiar talents were hard to replicate. However, it seemed that as long as it was a talent and he met the conditions, he could replicate it, albeit the conditions might be more stringent. For instance, he could only replicate Xun You’s camouflage talent while Xun You’s talent was activated.
Similarly, Xi Zhicai could sense Chen Xi’s talent, which actually meant he could replicate it too. He only needed to wait for Chen Xi to deactivate his Spiritual Talent and reactivate it, giving Xi Zhicai the opportunity to replicate. It was unfortunate that Chen Xi’s talent was passive, and the only chance for Xi Zhicai to replicate it was during Chen Xi’s awakening, with no possibility thereafter. But because of this, he had narrowly escaped death...
Of course, Xi Zhicai was still considering analyzing the Spiritual Talent above his head; afterward, he would wait for the owner to reactivate it and replicate it then. The analysis was extremely slow for talents that couldn’t be replicated. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
"Forget it, I’ll go visit Liu Bei first. There might still be some fish that slipped the net; I hope to encounter a few aspiring youths like Boda again." Xi Zhicai withdrew his gaze and calmly focused on the area where clusters of Spiritual Talents gathered. However, compared to the clustered area, he paid more attention to those three distinct Spiritual Talents that were clearly not within the range of the altar, belonging to those Sages who hadn’t joined Liu Bei. They were his target.
Xi Zhicai arrived at an inopportune time; he didn’t receive the same treatment as Ju Shou, with just a team of city management escorting him to the post station, informing him that Liu Bei would meet with them after the sacrifices ended. Xi Zhicai had no objections to this.
"Changwen, Boda, I’ll take care of the alliance with Mount Tai." Xi Zhicai, as the leader, said to the two with a smile.
"All right, I also need to pay a visit to Chen Zichuan. Would you like to join me, Boda? After all, you were the one who offered him your family’s jade pendant," Chen Qun said calmly.
"Chen Zichuan wouldn’t be there at this time. I suppose Changwen will just deliver a visiting card and come back. It’s really underhanded of you to insist on dragging me into this," Sima Lang said without reservation.
"Fine, then you stay here. I’ll go meet Chen Zichuan and by the way, I have some matters to explain," Chen Qun said with a light laugh. "People say Mount Tai is prosperous; now that I’m here, I should see for myself how it compares to Nanyang back in the day."
"I suspect that Changwen will be quite surprised," Sima Lang laughed.
Having already toured Fenggao City in the past few days, Sima Lang knew that the matter was no longer about how much more prosperous Fenggao was than Nanyang, but rather how many aspects of Fenggao exceeded Nanyang’s. With his discernment, he was well aware that many aspects of Fenggao had already surpassed Nanyang!
Clean, tidy, and prosperous—this is the confidence that underpinned Liu Bei’s bold declaration to promote education. If every city could be as flourishing as Fenggao City, supporting education would not be difficult. But is that possible? Just as there is only one Chen Zichuan in the world, there is also only one Fenggao City. Opportunity, capability, and luck are all indispensable. In Sima Lang’s view, Fenggao is already a miracle that can happen once but cannot be replicated.
Since it is a miracle, it means it cannot be duplicated—and that also means Liu Bei has no way of truly universalizing education. Many other things were also fated to be so.
After resting for a while, Xi Zhicai, accompanied by Dian Wei, went to invite that top civil official, who clearly wasn’t from Liu Bei’s faction, to see where he came from. If he were a free agent, they would certainly snatch him up, deception and all. If he were already committed, they would see if he could be swayed to join them. From the beginning, Xi Zhicai harbored the thought of recruiting talents in Qingzhou.
"I have seen Gong Yu." As soon as Xi Zhicai saw Ju Shou, his first instinct was to turn around and leave, feeling that time should not be wasted on Ju Shou. However, before he could make a swift exit, Ju Shou called out to him, leaving him no choice but to turn back reluctantly and offer a courteous greeting.
"Zhicai, it’s been a long time," Ju Shou said with a smile as he poured a cup of wine for Xi Zhicai and glanced at the muscular man behind him, armed with a hand halberd and wielding two Great Halberds, his eyes narrowing, "I presume this must be General Dian, who fought against Lyu Bu in Wancheng without defeat. Worthy of the title ’the Ancient Elai’. Come, I toast to the general." Saying this, Ju Shou stood up, lifted a bowl of wine, and handed it to Dian Wei.
Dian Wei laughed heartily, passing both Great Halberds to his left hand and taking the bowl with his right, drinking it all in one gulp. Setting the bowl down, he scratched his head and said, "What does ’undefeated’ mean? That Lyu Bu was too fierce; once he took to the air, I couldn’t touch him at all." Dian Wei spoke without any reservations.
Ju Shou frowned slightly. Dealing with someone as blunt as Dian Wei was easy and from his words, Ju Shou discerned that it wasn’t that Dian Wei couldn’t defeat Lyu Bu, but rather that he couldn’t reach him when he flew.
"Haha, truly befitting of General Dian," Ju Shou exclaimed. He had witnessed Lyu Bu’s bravery—fighters like Yann Liang and Wen Chou couldn’t last fifty moves against Lyu Bu, and yet this man managed to remain undefeated.
"What has Gong Yu gained from his visit?" Xi Zhicai asked with a smile, inviting Dian Wei to sit down as well. He paid no mind to Ju Shou’s ulterior motives.
"The prosperity of Mount Tai is no less than that of Nanyang; this Liu Xuande will certainly be an adversary to my lord. However, as of now, his forces are not fully developed, and my lord has not yet consolidated the north, hence, he cannot afford to look southwards—otherwise, he would not let Liu Xuande grow powerful," Ju Shou spoke candidly, "Moreover, without control over Mount Tai, which is the gateway to Xuzhou, there will be a lack of surplus grain."
Xi Zhicai silently drank his wine, knowing all too well that Ju Shou was talking about his lord, Cao Cao. In the Central Plains, only Cao Cao had thoroughly ended conflicts in all four directions, and even Liu Bei had not ceased the endless expansion in Qingzhou.
Yuan Shu was busy moving his administrative center to Shouchun and also had to deal with Liu Biao’s counterattacks. He should consider himself lucky that Cao Cao was not attacking him.
Liu Bei’s campaign to expand Qingzhou had never truly ended because of his steady and solid approach. Many of the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou were still working on infrastructure projects during the winter. Come next spring, Liu Bei would undoubtedly launch a major offensive into Qingzhou and would thereafter have to invest more resources into its recovery. The elderly and frail Tao Qian of Xuzhou lacked the strength to intervene in the affairs of the world.
Neither Northern Yuan Shao nor Gongsun Zan would cease hostilities until one of them was defeated. In Yongzhou, Guo Si and Li Que wouldn’t dare extend their reach toward the Central Plains even if they were braver and could only stir minor troubles around Xiliang. With Cao Cao having secured stability in the Central Plains, choosing a direction for development had become a necessity. Taking Mount Tai to completely control Yanzhou and annexing Xuzhou could be said to be the best option without Liu Bei. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
