Unfortunately, Xun You's mental talent allowed Xun Yu to execute an unexpected move, directly piercing through the impenetrable mental defense layer. This enabled Xi Zhicai to attach his mental talent to Chen Xi's, but instead of triggering a replication like others thought, something different happened.
When it comes to understanding mental talents, no one was more knowledgeable than Xi Zhicai. He knew that Chen Xi's mental talent wasn't something that could be replicated. So, Xi Zhicai's approach was actually to transform his pure mental essence into Chen Xi's mental essence. However, because Chen Xi couldn't handle the overwhelming amount, he ended up expelling a small part of it.
Alright, that analogy might not be entirely accurate. A more accurate explanation would be that Chen Xi ingested an exceptionally potent ginseng root, unknowingly, and due to being unable to handle it, he ended up with a nosebleed.
But because of the uniqueness of mental talents, this "nosebleed" resulted in the expulsion of a small portion of his mental talent. This small portion is what Xun Yu considered a "fragmented" mental talent or what Jia Xu referred to as a "manufactured" smaller mental talent. They both misunderstood, though, as they had no proper references and based their conclusions on their own judgments.
Naturally, with his mental essence depleted, Xi Zhicai met his end. Meanwhile, Chen Xi, having expelled a small portion due to the overload, now had a piece that shared the same aura, essence, and functionality as his original mental talent. This was why Chen Xi insisted that the small piece of jade was something he had split off himself. His intuition wasn't wrong.
In a way, Xi Zhicai succeeded, but the reality was that this fragmented piece couldn't serve Cao Cao as intended. Since it was essentially the same as the larger piece, this smaller portion was still Chen Xi's mental talent, just expelled. Whatever its previous capabilities were, they remained the same now.
So, if viewed from this angle, Xi Zhicai was actually a good person, delivering a valuable experience to Chen Xi from afar. A "deliverer of experience" indeed, though his scheme ultimately failed.
What makes things interesting now is that the small piece of Chen Xi's mental talent has become enveloped in Xun Yu's vast mental energy.
Chen Xi's mental talent naturally absorbs free-floating mental energy. Compared to collecting energy himself, Xun Yu's method of providing it was more efficient. So naturally, Xun Yu's mental energy was used to create a protective layer around the small mental talent.
In practical terms, Xun Yu was using the mental energy drawn from Cao Cao's civil and military officials to fortify the small mental talent, which was essentially still nestled right beside Chen Xi's main mental talent's protective layer.
With the two layers of protection between them, Chen Xi could still sense the smaller piece, but it had become much more obscure.
Moreover, Chen Xi's own mental talent covered such a large area that it had effectively turned into a "blind spot" for him. He hadn't even considered that if he simply opened a small gap in his mental defense, he could merge the two parts, now that the smaller piece had nearly fully absorbed the mental essence.
That said, even though the two mental talents hadn't fully merged, Chen Xi's mental talent hadn't seen a significant increase in power yet. However, the mechanisms for both the larger and smaller mental talents were still operational...
In other words, the smaller mental talent could still draw on mental energy to regulate the weather in Liu Bei's territories. But it was using up the protective layer around it, which consisted of the mental energy Xun Yu had gathered...
Yet none of this had any real impact on Xun Yu at the moment. He was still in awe of Xi Zhicai's daring plan. After all, it was because of Xi Zhicai's final scheme that Xun Yu was able to overcome the greatest flaw in his mental talent.
Although there was now the issue of Xun Yu's mental talent drawing excessive amounts of mental energy from his subordinates whenever he activated it, the ability to store mental energy for future use more than made up for that. These minor drawbacks were insignificant in comparison. Of course, all this was based on Xun Yu not knowing the true nature of the mental talent he was now supporting, nor that much of his gathered mental energy was being drained. Otherwise, he would be furious.
For Xun Yu, better days were on the horizon for Cao Cao's forces, and he was filled with enthusiasm. Every day, he diligently extracted mental energy and stored it in the mental talent that Xi Zhicai had supposedly created.
Even though Xun Yu estimated that this mental talent didn't possess Chen Xi's ability to regulate weather, being able to store mental energy was more than enough for him. Changing the weather just meant using more energy!
As long as there was enough mental energy, everything else was trivial for Xun Yu. And with all this stored energy, he wouldn't need to draw on his subordinates' mental energy during times of weather manipulation, sparing them from looking perpetually exhausted. The future looked bright indeed!
Over in Taishan, Chen Xi had taken a break to rest. Given his current state, he wasn't fit for work. Ever since absorbing that large chunk of mental essence, he had entered a hyperactive phase of digestion, leaving him irritable and restless, far from his usual calm demeanor.
"Phew, finally managed to convince him to go back," Jia Xu muttered to himself, wiping the sweat from his brow. He dreaded to think what would happen if Chen Xi found out the truth. He'd probably demand that they utterly destroy Cao Cao.
"Jia Xu, what's really going on with Chen Xi?" Li You asked with some dissatisfaction as he approached Jia Xu in the courtyard for tea. When they were alone, neither of them felt the need to pretend, as they knew each other too well.
Jia Xu smiled and recounted the entire situation to Li You, making it clear that some parts were his own speculations. Li You, listening with growing delight, agreed that keeping this matter hidden was the best course of action.
"Li Ru, are we really going to let Cao Mengde enter the pass?" Jia Xu frowned. "Now that the Zhengguo Canal you proposed has been completed in Guanzhong, if Cao Cao also gains the Xiliang cavalry, he truly will become an unstoppable force. We've all predicted it—Cao Cao is a remarkable talent."
"Let him enter the pass. We are already stretched thin. If we can stop him, we will; if not, then so be it. Wang Yun and the others have done an excellent job. With this, even if Cao Cao enters Guanzhong, he won't be able to eliminate them. This is their safeguard, and our greatest advantage," Li You replied with a smile. "I have faith in them."
"Since that's the case, I won't say more," Jia Xu nodded.
Li You's status carried a natural reverence among the Xiliang cavalry and Li Jue and Guo Si's forces. Given the current situation, Cao Cao would find it difficult to remove Li Jue and the others, who commanded the loyalty of both the Qiang and Han people. Even if they were defeated, Cao Cao couldn't kill them; he'd have no choice but to offer them high-ranking positions and generous rewards. The Xiliang cavalry would still have a reason to hope.
In this way, if Li You chose to persuade the Xiliang cavalry to surrender, it would only take a word. Few could stand in his way. If Li You were willing to reveal his identity, no one could stop him. After all, he was one of the spiritual symbols of the Xiliang cavalry. Since Dong Zhuo's death, if he appeared alive, he would undoubtedly become their only spiritual symbol.