Mythical Three Kingdoms

”Very good.” Chen Xi said with a smile. He knew Li Yan well; this person had both capability and ambition, but compared to his ambition, he was somewhat overreaching. When Zhuge Liang was still around, Li Yan wanted to divide the Five Commanderies of Sichuan and Shu to establish Bazhou, he was overthinking.

Turning to look at Lyu Meng, Chen Xi was much more satisfied. Although Li Yan was considered a Minister of Guardian, truly saying his abilities were stronger than Lyu Meng’s would be overreaching too. Lyu Meng was one of the Seventy-Two Generals of the Martial Temple, and indeed quite capable.

”This young man has very, very much potential.” Chen Xi said, stroking his chin. ”Why don’t you let me educate him? I can guarantee he will awaken his Spiritual Talent.”

Zhou Yu looked at Chen Xi with displeasure. If Lyu Meng wasn’t worth cultivating, would he keep him by his side? However, hearing Chen Xi’s words still made Zhou Yu happy; after all, Chen Xi’s judgment was always praised by the world.

”I think if you nurture him, you might just ruin him. This guy is suited to tailored education, you know Fa Xiaozhi and Xu Yuanzhi, don’t tell me you don’t.” Chen Xi was stroking his chin, trying to fool Zhou Yu, seeing if he could lure Lyu Meng.

Zhou Yu glanced sidelong at Chen Xi without responding, but how could he not know? Now, Fa Zheng and Xu Shu were indeed quite famous. Especially Fa Zheng, who truly achieved things at a young age, even younger than Zhou Yu, but speaking of achievements, Fa Zheng had a whole pile of them.

”You see, back then, what Xu Yuanzhi charmingly called chivalrous warriors, everyone actually knew what was going on. You also know Fa Xiaozhi’s situation; a few years ago, he was as restless as attention deficit.” Chen Xi spread his hands. ”Then under our tailored education, isn’t he impressive now?”

Zhou Yu was too lazy to respond to Chen Xi, but indeed when thinking about it, it was quite impressive. However, Chen Xi knew well that it wasn’t that his education skills were particularly strong, but that excellent students made his teaching seem capable. Actually, what Guo Jia and Jia Xu taught Fa Zheng might not even match what Fa Zheng learned by himself.

”Hey, hey, hey, don’t be like that! If you let me guide this guy, he might be another Fa Xiaozhi. I have high hopes for him. If you give him to you, you might ruin him. Lyu Ziming, do you want to thrash the competition in every way as Fa Xiaozhi does?” Chen Xi saw Zhou Yu signaling Lyu Meng to go play, so he blocked him lightly, sincerity written all over his smiling eyes.

Of course, Chen Xi knew full well that unless Zhou Yu was out of his mind, he wouldn’t hand Lyu Meng over to him for education. If educated by him, the result surely wouldn’t be Zhou Yu’s person anymore; Chen Xi’s sincerity was purely to annoy Zhou Yu. Fa Xiaozhi, though a specialist, when it came to strategy, Zhou Yu dared not say he’d surely win!

At this moment, each step Lyu Meng took forward was evidently heavy; when Fa Zheng drove under Shouchun City, there was indeed a hint of pretentiousness, but when facing Yuan Shu’s many subordinates, with a word deciding Yuzhou’s borders, ruling north and south of the Huai River, it truly inspired Lyu Meng.

Currently, only three people in the world established their renown before the age of twenty: Chen Zichuan defeating the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou, Zhou Gongjin annihilating Huang Zu along the Yangtze River, and Fa Xiaozhi deciding the border with a word. It’s strange if the younger generation doesn’t yearn for them.

Ultimately, Lyu Meng halted. He was simply too young now, and for him at this moment, life was far less important than ideals. To shine like Fa Zheng, ascending to a nearly unassailable height with youthful vigor, overlooking the world’s heroes.

Chen Xi couldn’t help but smile, ”Zhou Gongjin, you won’t stop him, will you?”

Zhou Yu felt slightly despondent, yet as Lyu Meng slowly turned to look at Zhou Yu, then at Chen Xi, he took a deep breath and shouted, ”Even if you can educate Fa Xiaozhi and Xu Yuanzhi, I, Lyu Meng, firmly believe under General Sun’s command, I will surpass merely following in your footsteps!”

”This is...” Zhou Yu and Chen Xi were speechless, but unlike Chen Xi’s fascinated expression, a clear smile appeared on Zhou Yu’s handsome face.

”Spiritual Talent, huh? Very nice, indeed you have this potential.” Chen Xi said with a smile, ”But Spiritual Talent merely means you have a pass, how far you can go depends on yourself. For General Sun, is it? Hahaha, Gongjin, someone is contending with you for Bofu!”

Zhou Yu looked at Chen Xi indifferently without saying anything. His Spiritual Talent could very easily detect others’ Spiritual Talent and Legion Talent, so he clearly understood that although Lyu Meng had broken through his restraints, his state was unstable.

Zhou Yu had confidence in Lyu Meng’s potential, but having taken Lyu Meng under his wing for two years, he clearly knew Lyu Meng’s foundation was unstable. Initially, Lyu Meng was groomed towards becoming a military general, and in two years’ time, even with Zhou Yu’s personal teaching, Lyu Meng was still not up to the mark.

The essence of Spiritual Talent had various explanations, but Zhou Yu, considering himself, tended to believe it required reaching a certain level of accumulation, gaining self-awareness, and recognizing oneself before one could awaken.

As for Zhou Yu’s own Spiritual Talent Effect, he saw it as the understanding that among the many heroes, they were ordinary people, and he stood out proudly. It was the respect of a sparrow towards a swan, or the inferiority seen by lower beings when encountering higher beings.

Zhou Yu did not believe it was the right time for Lyu Meng to awaken his Spiritual Talent, as he considered Spiritual Talent a result of self-recognition, and he wasn’t optimistic about whether Lyu Meng could clearly see himself.

”You go back and rest, don’t think too much about anything else.” Zhou Yu said to Lyu Meng, who appeared dazed yet somewhat excited and bewildered.

In Zhou Yu’s opinion, Spiritual Talent came from cognition, therefore he wouldn’t be unclear about his own Spiritual Talent and its effects. Instead, Zhou Yu was clear because it was through self-awareness, understanding himself, that he unconsciously gained this strength.

Because it was from thorough understanding and self-perception, from the beginning Zhou Yu’s Spiritual Talent did not possess growth, as Zhou Yu was confident his self-cognition was complete and thorough.

As for other normal people, not even Guo Jia or Jia Xu would have such extreme confidence as Zhou Yu had, so their abilities are more in sync with their growth. With increased familiarity, usage, and comprehension, along with mental maturity in various aspects, their abilities would slowly evolve.

Such synchronized growth leads to a result that’s basically imperceptible, akin to a nose growing larger over the years, continuously enlarging in time, but not visibly noticeable until one day it’s compared to ten years ago, suddenly realizing this point.

For Zhou Yu, he could either continue believing his cognition unwaveringly or suddenly find that past occurrences were unreachable today, leading to redefining himself.

If such a result occurs, either Zhou Yu would experience Rebirth from Fire, or he would fall into permanent despair. As for his Spiritual Talent, it might even be reset under this fundamental cognitive upheaval. Of course, whether it could be reconstructed after collapsing, who could tell?

If it’s indeed destroyed and successfully reconstructed, would it still be the same Spiritual Talent? Who knows? Perhaps it could be entirely washed away, replaced with another Talent, perhaps inheriting the attributes of the prior one, who could definitively say?