NOVPUBUnfortunately, Xun You’s Spiritual Talent caught Xun Yu off guard and directly pierced through the impenetrable Spiritual Protection Layer. Then, Xi Zhicai stuck his own Spiritual Talent onto Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent, but it did not replicate as others had expected.
When it came to understanding Spiritual Talents, nobody knew better than Xi Zhicai. Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent simply lacked the ability to replicate, so what Xi Zhicai did was actually to transform his pure mental essence into that of Chen Xi’s, after which Chen Xi, having overindulged, threw up a small piece.
Okay, the above metaphor is unreliable. A more accurate description would be that it was as if Chen Xi had consumed a highly nourishing ginseng without realizing it, but then had a nosebleed because his body couldn’t handle the excessive nourishment.
However, due to the special nature of the Spiritual Talent, having a nosebleed resulted in shedding a piece of Spiritual Talent, and this piece was what Xun Yu considered to be an incomplete Spiritual Talent, or what Jia Xu thought of as a mini Spiritual Talent artificially created. Okay, these were just assumptions. Nevertheless, since they lacked reference, both also made mistaken reactions based on their judgments.
Naturally, Xi Zhicai, who lost his mental essence, was gone for good, while Chen Xi spat out a small piece due to the imbalance. Of course, this small piece had the same aura and essence as Chen Xi, and its functionality was also intact. This was the real reason behind Chen Xi’s fuss about the Jade Bi Disc being a split from himself; his feelings were not wrong after all.
If looked at from this perspective, Xi Zhicai was successful, but the reality was that the split piece did not have the ability to serve Cao Cao’s side. Since it was like the larger piece, it was still Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent and was just flung out. Whatever it was required to do before, it could still perform the same functions now.
So, in this regard, Xi Zhicai was indeed a good person, effectively delivering experience to Chen Xi, epitomizing the idiom of going a long distance to bring experience, although his plan ended up in failure.
However, what’s interesting now is that the piece of Spiritual Talent that Chen Xi split off was struck into Xun Yu’s enormous Spiritual Capacity.
Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent inherently possessed the ability to absorb Free Spirit Energy. Compared to randomly absorbing Free Spirit Energy, the way Xun Yu provided it was far more efficient and effortless, naturally using his Spiritual Capacity to forge a Spiritual Protection Layer around the mini Spiritual Talent.
In practical terms, using the Spiritual Capacity drawn from Xun Yu that was originally designated for Cao Cao’s Civil and Military Officials to construct the stronghold of the mini Spiritual Talent, it was essentially squatting right next to the Spiritual Protection Layer of Chen Xi’s main Spiritual Talent.
Blocked by the double Spiritual Protection Layers, Chen Xi could still sense the smaller piece, but the feeling became much blurrier.
Moreover, given his Spiritual Talent covered a large area, the darkness under the light became a reality for him. He never thought that by merely opening a gap in the Spiritual Protection Layer, he could nearly fully absorb the free spiritual essence and fuse the two parts of his Spiritual Talent into one.
But to come back to the point, although the Spiritual Talent hasn’t merged and therefore Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent hasn’t grown significantly, the operating mechanism behind the large and small parts of Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent still exists...
That is, the smaller Spiritual Talent piece can also manipulate the Qi to govern the Celestial Phenomena under Liu Bei’s domain. However, the consumption is from its outer layer of Spiritual Protection—the Spiritual Capacity collected by Xun Yu...
However, all of this had no impact on Xun Yu at present. He was still in awe of Xi Zhicai’s boldness, for it was indeed due to Xi Zhicai’s last scheme that he had completely escaped the biggest drawback of his Spiritual Talent.
It seemed that if Xun Yu activated the enhancement of his Spiritual Talent on his officials, their Spirit Energy would be massively extracted. However, compared to the ability to store Spirit Energy for unexpected needs, this issue was just a trifle, nothing more than a light drizzle. Of course, this was only because Xun Yu was unaware of the true nature of this Spiritual Talent and did not realize that a substantial amount of his own Spirit Energy had actually been consumed. Otherwise, Xun Yu would have been livid.
For Xun Yu, the good days under Cao Cao’s command were just around the corner, and his motivation was stronger than ever. Every day, punctually, he would extract and store Spirit Energy into the Spiritual Talent crafted by Xi Zhicai.
Although Xun Yu estimated that Xi Zhicai’s crafted Spiritual Talent did not have Chen Xi’s Celestial Phenomenon mechanism, for Xun Yu, the ability to store Spirit Energy was enough. Changing Heavens would simply mean greater consumption!
As long as he had enough Spirit Energy, everything else was inconsequential to Xun Yu. Moreover, with such a substantial reserve of Spirit Energy, there would be no need to extract it from his civil and military officials during Changing Heavens, sparing the civil and military officials from looking like they were half-asleep every day. The future seemed so bright!
In the Mount Tai area, Chen Xi had also gone home to rest, for his current state was not suitable for work. Ever since he swallowed a large chunk of Spirit Essence, Chen Xi had entered a frantic digestion phase, his entire being too lively in Spirit, not fitting with his former calm demeanor, becoming irritably restless.
"Phew, I’ve finally tricked that guy into going back," Jia Xu wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered to himself. If Chen Xi found out about that news, Jia Xu did not even dare to think about what might happen; he would probably insist on Cao Cao’s immediate demise.
"Wen He, how is Zichuan really?" Li You, who had come out for a cup of tea, looked at Jia Xu standing alone in the courtyard and spoke discontentedly, knowing full well that neither needed to pretend when it was just the two of them. They knew each other too well.
Jia Xu smiled and recounted the whole affair to Li You, clearly indicating which parts were his own speculation. Li You listened with repeated surprise and delight and also supported Jia Xu’s decision to keep the matter secret.
"Wen Ru, are we really going to let Cao Mengde enter Guanzhong so freely?" Jia Xu frowned and said, "Guanzhong has already completed the Zhengguo Canal you mentioned. If Cao Cao then recruits the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, he’ll really go from hen to drake. We all anticipated this, given that Cao Cao is indeed a remarkable man."
"Let him enter Guanzhong. We are powerless to stop him. We can try, but if we can’t, so be it. Zhiran and the others are doing very well. By doing so, even if Cao Cao enters Guanzhong, he can’t kill Zhiran and the others. This is an amulet, and our greatest card," Li You said with a smile, "I have confidence in them."
"Since that’s the case, I won’t say anything more," Jia Xu nodded in agreement.
Due to his status, Li You held an inherent prestige for Li Jue, Guo Si, and the Xiliang Iron Cavalry. Considering the current situation, it was unlikely that Cao Cao would dispose of Li Jue and others who commanded respect among the Qiang-Han. Even if they were defeated, they could not be killed; they could only be awarded high office and maintained generously. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry would naturally harbor certain hopes.
Therefore, if Li You wanted to persuade the Xiliang Iron Cavalry to defect, it would truly be a matter of just a few words, with hardly anyone able to obstruct him. Should Li You decide to reveal his identity for this cause, no one could stop him. To put it plainly, he was one of the spiritual symbols of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry. Well, since Dong Zhuo’s death, should he appear alive, he would certainly be the sole remaining spiritual symbol. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
