NOVPUBChen Xi felt quite frustrated about Xi Zhicai, who was still laid up at the post house. Even though Hua Tuo had assured them that Xi Zhicai would not die, Chen Xi was always displeased to see him suspended between life and death like this every day. They were not afraid of clashing with Cao Cao, but if the war broke out because Xi Zhicai died at Mount Tai, things would become utterly indefensible. The ignominy of wantonly killing an envoy would be a tragedy.
"Brother Zhicai, please rest more and don’t overexert yourself," Chen Xi said to Xi Zhicai, flanked by Guo Jia, offering those empty, nutritive words.
Xi Zhicai waved his hand dismissively, not bothering to engage with the two. He was no fool; after experiencing mishaps back-to-back, he had guessed that his Spiritual Talent might not be as he previously thought and that there might be distinctions between enemy and ally within it.
Perhaps the Spiritual Talent of the enemy might be quite weak, but all they could do was deduce its nature. If it were to be actually used, the depletion of energy would be significantly greater than that of same-level ally and friend’s Spiritual Talent he had used before.
This became clear to him when he used Zhuge Liang’s talent and blood gushed from his mouth. The twelve or thirteen-year-old Zhuge Liang couldn’t possibly have more Spiritual Capacity than him. Since he was capable of awakening it, it meant he could use it, which also meant that even with side effects, it wouldn’t directly result in death.
The moment Xi Zhicai triggered Zhuge Liang’s talent, all of Cao Cao’s subordinates’ Spiritual Talents and military generals’ abilities surged forth, and just in that instant, Xi Zhicai’s life was at its brink.
Spiritual Talent is the culmination of intelligence and spirit, a product of instinct. Hence, it is against nature for such a destructive Spiritual Talent to emerge, one that could cause appalling harm to oneself—this doesn’t align with normal conditions.
It was this very replication of Xi Zhicai’s life-threatening moment that made him fully realize that his Spiritual Talent was not all-powerful. Naturally, Xi Zhicai also understood that the trouble caused the last time by that person’s talent was not just due to the other’s talent but also attributed to issues with his own Spiritual Talent.
"Zhicai, it seems you’ll need to stay with us at Mount Tai for the New Year," Guo Jia taunted with a mix of scorn and banter, "Seeing you half-dead lying there brightens my mood. I always feel like any moment now you’ll just die!" For Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia was the sort of friend who insults you, but of course, it was all talk. If Xi Zhicai indeed died, Guo Jia too would be heartbroken, given they were buddies from the same hometown.
Xi Zhicai glared fiercely at Guo Jia. The last thing he wanted now was to be jinxed by Guo Jia’s unbridled mouth, out of fear that any careless word might seal his fate, turning a possible recovery into certain death.
Each time he contemplated this, Xi Zhicai felt a chill. He had not perished under the unknown person’s Spiritual Talent, nor under Zhuge Liang’s, and he had not died from his own reckless actions. Just when he had stopped courting death, if Guo Jia’s cursed words nailed his coffin shut, that would indeed be tragic.
"Guo Fengxiao, just you wait. Sooner or later, I’ll make you pay!" Xi Zhicai detested having Guo Jia blathering like a bad omen beside him. His current condition was one of being half-dead, and if Guo Jia’s cursed words were added to that, he would soon be reduced to ashes—this he couldn’t tolerate. Meng De’s great project was unfinished; how could he possibly die!
"So you can talk, playing dead, are you?" Guo Jia cried out indignantly, "I thought you were dying, and here you are speaking! I came all this way out of genuine concern to see you, and you can’t even get up to greet me."
"The less I see of you, the better," Xi Zhicai said exasperatedly. "Just seeing you jump around in front of me sets me on edge. Changwen, get this bloody crow’s mouth out of here!"
Chen Qun entered with a wry smile, and dragged Guo Jia, who was rolling up his sleeves ready for a one-on-one fight with Xi Zhicai, out of the room, leaving only Chen Xi and Xi Zhicai inside.
"Brother Zhicai, why be so serious? Although Fengxiao says he wished you were dead, you must understand his true feelings to some extent," Chen Xi said helplessly. In his eyes, Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai were just like a pair of awkward brothers.
When Xi Zhicai was unconscious, Guo Jia would come to visit everyday with something for him, but as soon as Xi Zhicai woke up, Guo Jia would mock and ridicule him every day. One time, he even angered Xi Zhicai to the point of fainting. That must have been some deep grudge.
"That guy has the curse of the crow’s mouth," Xi Zhicai said helplessly while lying in bed. What he feared the most now was the unintended activation of Guo Jia’s curse of the crow’s mouth.
"…" Chen Xi looked at Xi Zhicai speechlessly, and after a long while, he sighed, "So awkward."
Since recovering, Xi Zhicai hadn’t done anything to court death. After all, he now understood that even if he could analyze the Spiritual Talent of everyone from Mount Tai, he wouldn’t be able to use it unless he logged in. Analyzing without going online, unless it was a Spiritual Talent of the same essence, would take months to yield any result. This left Xi Zhicai truly helpless.
Nevertheless, Xi Zhicai held onto the thought that analyzing even one would be worthwhile. After lying in bed for over a month, focusing only on analyzing Spiritual Talent and stubbornly refusing to go online, he finally had a result—the Chen Zichuan standing in front of him.
When he initially analyzed Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent, Xi Zhicai would already be dead if he could have replicated it because he couldn’t have resisted the temptation to experiment with such a classic Talent at his fingertips.
This was why Xi Zhicai gave Chen Xi such a complicated look; it was the finest Spiritual Talent he had ever seen, making even Xun Yu’s Talent pale in comparison.
[The more the subjects under his governance recognize Chen Xi, the more Free Spirit Energy Chen Xi can mobilize, the more significantly he can alter the Celestial Phenomenon, and the longer the duration. Excess energy beyond the maximum change limit of the Celestial Phenomenon would linger around Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent. Should the subjects disapprove, Chen Xi can only mobilize the basic Free Spirit Energy, and his own Spiritual Capacity consumption will increase significantly, scaling with the size of his governance.]
Thinking of this terrifying Spiritual Talent, Xi Zhicai knew there were only three ways to defeat Liu Bei—either Chen Xi falls from power, Liu Bei becomes incompetent and his governance falls into chaos, or they overcome Liu Bei with overwhelming force. The first two possibilities were virtually nonexistent, and considering Liu Bei’s current power, bolstered by Chen Xi’s augmentation under the Celestial Phenomenon, Xi Zhicai couldn’t help but sigh at the tremendous difficulty.
Fortunately for him, Chen Xi’s Talent wasn’t just limited to the first aspect; because of the existence of the second part, Xi Zhicai could fearlessly continue to plan for Cao Cao’s grand ambition to conquer. After all, there was the issue of occupying territory; one wrong move could be enough to put Chen Xi into an endless slumber, thereby triggering a vicious cycle, potentially leading to an eternal sleep.
Just as Chen Xi was considering making up an excuse to leave, a messenger hurried in, "Strategist, the Lord summons you!"
"What’s the situation?" Chen Xi was stunned and asked involuntarily before realizing. Wasn’t this a perfect chance to get out? He then bowed to Xi Zhicai, "Brother Zhicai, please rest well. Lord Xuande has summoned me, so I will take my leave now." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to support it by voting or buying monthly passes on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
