NOVPUBAt this point, Liu Biao doesn’t even have the capability to focus on recapturing Jingzhou. Internally, there’s dissatisfaction from the Cai Family due to the several reductions of the navy because of a lack of funds, and externally, the Wu Creek Barbarians sporadically raiding, leaving him without the means to even counterattack.
To borrow a phrase, "You can’t make bricks without straw" or "Poverty brings grief to the married couple"—essentially, without funds, Liu Biao and Cao Cao, despite having extraordinary talents in their ranks, are unable to utilize them fully.
In such a situation, Liu Biao could only pretend he saw nothing when he received Cao Cao’s proclamation. Offending Cao Cao, the only person he could arguably call an ally, was not something Liu Biao would foolishly entertain.
Liu Zhang of Yizhou, having recently succeeded the throne and lacking the ability of his father Liu Yan, watched helplessly as Zhang Lu carved out Hanzhong for himself, with minor conflicts every three days and major ones every five days. Wanting only to live peacefully on his own small plot of land, Liu Zhang completely ignored the proclamation.
Liu Zhang didn’t know that as he was ignoring Cao Cao, there were a few Civil Officials beneath him who, after reading Cao Cao’s proclamation, sighed with deep admiration.
In this era, for a ruler to dare admit his own mistakes was exceedingly rare, let alone someone like Cao Cao who not only acknowledged his errors but also vowed to act according to the nine virtues of the Feudal Lords. It was no wonder these Civil Officials, disappointed with Liu Zhang, took an interest in Cao Cao, a man who fit the era’s image of a hero.
The warriors of Yongzhou and Liangzhou, however, wanted to protest, but with all the renowned Feudal Lords remaining silent, their street-cursing tactics would only make them an object of ridicule.
Fortunately for Ma Teng and the Qiang People at this moment, having enough to eat was more important than anything else. After ascertaining that there was no need to insult Cao Cao, they decided to continue digging the Zhengguo Canal. They had already completed the main canal, and what remained was the construction of the Six Auxiliary Canals. They had previously enjoyed collecting grain, but now Ma Teng and Hann Sui were contemplating how to squeeze out more food from Li Jue.
Li Jue was now forcing a ferocious smile at Liu Xie. He still remembered what Zhong Yao had said. Previously, without grain, he had no choice but to exploit the Emperor and his officials, but now, with ample food supplies, Li Jue thought it appropriate to ease his relationship with the Little Emperor. As for Cao Cao’s proclamation, without anyone pointing it out, Li Jue had yet to think of such a sophisticated strategy.
As for Chen Gong, who was the first to receive the proclamation, his expression was indescribable, filled with a sense of resigned melancholy, as well as the resurgence of the heroism and magnificence he had felt when he first met Cao Cao. Unfortunately, once he took that step, there was no turning back.
Chen Gong, looking at the nine virtues of the Feudal Lords listed in the proclamation, knew that it was Cao Cao’s hint, a reminder of what had once been. But compared to then, everything had now lost its meaning. He knew Cao Cao was a man who could issue such a proclamation and would surely have accepted him, but it was too late for him to turn back.
There are those known as Noted Scholars, and for one in this era, beyond possessing talent above the ordinary, it is essential to have integrity. Chen Gong was precisely one of them. From the moment he took that step, he never considered the possibility of return. Even if Cao Cao admitted his wrongs, even if he forgave him, even if Cao Cao truly matched the ideal he strived for.
The integrity of a Noted Scholar prevented Chen Gong from letting go of his only pride. Perhaps Cao Cao could truly reach the height of Chen Gong’s ideals, perhaps Cao Cao genuinely didn’t mind Chen Gong’s betrayal, and maybe Cao Cao would even humbly invite him back. But a missed opportunity meant there was no longer a chance, a case of simple misfortune.
Many things are predestined by that first step, and despite all efforts to salvage them by either party, only a tragedy remains.
"Without fate, there is no connection, and I won’t force it. Let’s wait for news from Liu Xuande and Yuan Benchu," Chen Gong said with a calm expression, casually tossing the proclamation onto the desk without taking any action harmful to Cao Cao. It was as if he hadn’t received the intelligence at all.
In this manner, amidst the silent acquiescence of all the Feudal Lords, Cao Mengde faced only mild criticism. Many were more interested in waiting to see Cao Cao’s future conduct, the display of the Ultimate Virtue expected of a Feudal Lord.
In Chenliu, Xun Yu found this situation rather peculiar, bafflingly so as it simply passed over without much ado.
However, Xun Yu did not wish to delve too deeply into the matter at this time. His most pressing task was to accumulate Spiritual Capacity.
Whether as a King’s Adviser or an overseer, Xun Yu’s spiritual talent was indubitable. Essentially, besides the minor enhancement his talent provided to his own Civil and Military officers, what was more important was the ability to extract spiritual power from his subordinates for potent augmentation or to influence the weather.
Regrettably, in comparison to Chen Xi’s method of adjusting through reserve of the Free Spirit Power emanated by the populace, Xun Yu’s approach to weather manipulation was brute force—relying solely on the spiritual power extracted from his Civil and Military officials to directly alter celestial phenomena. In practice, anyone with sufficient Spiritual Capacity could accomplish this.
Honestly speaking, Xun Yu’s method was the same as Chen Xi’s large-scale environmental shifts without the aid of spiritual talent—it was highly exhaustible in terms of spiritual power. Thus, Xun Yu was unable to sustain long-term changes to the weather patterns of an entire province.
Similarly, had it not been for his fundamental spiritual talent, Chen Xi too could only maintain atmospheric conditions for one-third of the year, a duration more than tenfold that of Xun Yu’s forced shifts.
In truth, if Xun Yu was able to draw on the spiritual power of the countless Civil and Military officers under his command from Mount Tai, his extraction rate would be comparable to Chen Xi’s, who sourced his Spiritual Capacity from the Free Spirit Energy distributed by the masses—a method entirely different from Xun Yu’s forceful appropriations. 𝚗ov𝚙𝚞𝚋.c𝚘m
And yet, Chen Xi could control the weather for ten times longer than Xun Yu. The underlying reason was that Chen Xi could attach the surplus Spirit Energy next to his own spiritual talent, both protecting it and holding it in reserve for emergencies, whereas Xun Yu’s talent lacked this capability.
Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai never even considered the possibility of successfully replicating Chen Xi’s spiritual talent. After the singular opportunity to copy it had passed, anyone who sought to replicate Chen Xi’s spiritual talent, even if they breached the Spiritual Protection Layer, would be unable to copy or erase that talent’s ability to regulate weather phenomena—in essence, the imitation would lack substance.
As a rule, the conditions were incredibly strict; breaking through the Spiritual Protection Layer alone was enough to leave everyone speechless. Chen Xi’s layer of Spiritual Protection was genuinely composed of Spiritual Capacity — it could only be penetrated by the same measure.
Given the circumstances of that time, even if Xun Yu were to marshal the bulk of Cao Cao’s spiritual power for an attack, he would have been intercepted upon detection. But such a palpable amount of spiritual energy—how could it possibly go unnoticed? In the end, if it came down to a battle of attrition, Xun Yu was destined to lose. Thus, theoretically, there was no one who could penetrate Chen Xi’s Spiritual Protection ... (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly passes, and your support will be my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)
