Three Kingdoms, Myth

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After three months of training, Chen Xi had a good grasp of the peculiarities of this world. He also understood the wonders of mental power. It's not that having strong mental power would make one invincible. From what Chen Xi gathered from history, strong mental power mainly offered good defense, but its offensive capabilities, even when in harmony with the world, were not significant.

If you wanted to strike down your opponent with lightning, forget about it; it's impossible. Although mental power didn't contribute much to combat strength, it undeniably enhanced cognitive abilities. The stronger the mental power, the faster and sharper the mind became. What originally took an hour to understand could now be grasped in ten minutes, a significant difference.

If Qi significantly boosted a warrior's combat abilities, then mental power drastically enhanced a scholar's thinking. It's hard to determine which is more important, intelligence or strength, but these two different development paths dictated each individual's future direction.

Of course, some people attempted to cultivate both Qi and mental power, aiming to enhance their combat abilities and cognitive skills simultaneously. However, such attempts usually ended in failure. Although there were indeed people who successfully cultivated both and achieved remarkable results, reaching the pinnacle was extremely difficult. At least, based on Chen Xi's understanding of history, there were no such examples.

After understanding this, Chen Xi decisively abandoned his physical cultivation. The previous Chen Xi had cultivated a bit of Qi, but it was minimal. However, thanks to his family's teachings, the techniques were still quite good.

Now that Chen Xi had recovered, he could still throw large stones with his limited Qi. This meant that with some effort and battlefield experience, he might become a centurion, but anything beyond that seemed unlikely.

As for reaching Xiang Yu's level of walking in the air, he didn't even consider it. That was definitely beyond human capability. Based on the descriptions in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," perhaps only twenty-four individuals could reach such heights. The thought of Lü Bu, for example, was exhilarating to Chen Xi; he was like a human missile!

The previous Chen Xi had also cultivated some mental power, but it was as weak as his Qi. Defending against a child's arrow would have been challenging.

Fortunately, the fusion of their two minds seemed to have stimulated Chen Xi's brain, leading to a steady increase in his mental power over the past three months. This was something Chen Xi took pride in. With his current level of mental power, he could now perform some secret techniques and Taoist arts, like creating fog or rain, and even defend against arrows. This level was considered entry-level mastery.

According to Chen Xi, his current mental state was akin to a person with broad thoughts and enhanced cognitive abilities. His learning speed had also increased significantly. If he had had this memory and thinking speed back then, he would have easily joined the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Chen Xi felt he had evolved.

"Bang!" Chen Xi threw the bamboo slip on the desk. He had finally read all the books in his house, memorizing the important ones and getting a general impression of the less important ones. His mental power growth had also slowed down, making him a genuine Eastern Han person.

"Young master, aren't you going to practice your mental power?" Chen Lan asked as she looked at Chen Xi, who was sitting idly under a tree.

"I have nothing more to practice." Chen Xi smiled bitterly. He recently learned that at his current level, there were no more textbooks to follow. What remained was personal insight, which might result in a sudden transformation or might never happen. Even if a transformation occurred, it would only make the mental power purer, less susceptible to distractions, and easier to use.

"Nothing more to practice?" Chen Lan asked, confused by the concept.

"The wind is picking up; let's go back. It's going to rain." Chen Xi changed the subject. It was going to rain again. He had mastered this so-called secret technique, and with his knowledge of rain formation from later generations, he could perform it more easily, over a larger area, and with less effort than the books described.

"Wind is picking up?" Chen Lan looked up at the sun. Before she could argue, the sky darkened.

Chen Xi smiled and led his only maid back to the house. His morning's work had culminated in this rain, covering tens of miles. With sufficient water vapor in the sky, it would rain for a long time and heavily. No one would guess it was a man-made spell since Chen Xi merely acted as a catalyst.

"What a heavy rain!" Chen Lan exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, quite a heavy rain." Chen Xi sighed. He had fully mastered the few spells recorded in the books. As for formations, he still couldn't understand their principles. As for the so-called secret techniques, he had none.

Chen Xi was quite envious of secret techniques. In this world, Zhang Jiao had relied on the Yellow Turban secret techniques to turn tens of thousands of unorganized Yellow Turbans into invincible Yellow Turban Warriors. The only reason he lost in the end was because Zhang Jiao died. Otherwise, the outcome would have been uncertain.

According to what Chen Xi learned, Zhang Jiao had a secret technique that could greatly boost a person's combat power, buffing thousands at once. Thousands of fearless Yellow Turban Warriors were enough to turn the Han Dynasty's elite into dogs, showing the terror of this technique. As a trump card, it was an unbeatable weapon in critical moments.

Chen Xi didn't know much about formations. He had never heard of anyone using a large formation to turn the tide of battle. However, he had read that a truly powerful formation could reverse the course of a battle. He would have to wait until he encountered one to learn more.

As for finding someone willing to teach him, Chen Xi wasn't sure. In this era, many things were only taught to inner disciples. Outsiders could only rely on luck. Since summarizing these techniques wasn't easy, it was natural that they wouldn't be freely shared. But for now, these concerns were too distant for Chen Xi. He was waiting for one thing to happen.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion had passed. Next would be Dong Zhuo's entry into Luoyang, followed by the coalition of eighteen warlords against Dong Zhuo. Before that, however, there was one significant event: the declaration against Dong Zhuo. Whether this declaration was brought out by Cao Cao after attempting to assassinate Dong Zhuo or was a forged edict carried significant implications.

Although both were forged edicts, the differences were substantial and could determine many future events.