An hour passed quickly. Once everyone's mental talents had returned, they couldn't help but calm down. Seeing the relieved expressions on each other's faces, they all burst into laughter. It turned out the suppression was only temporary.
"It seems our opponent isn't as strong as we feared," Chen Xi said, noticing that everyone had shuddered briefly as their talents returned. In the grand scheme of a major battle, an hour wouldn't make much difference if the plan was already in motion.
"Not necessarily, Zichuan. How can we be sure the opponent isn't trying to mislead us?" Jia Xu countered with a smile. But despite his cautious words, his expression indicated that he didn't truly believe the situation was that dire. His usual prudent mindset simply led him to consider all possibilities.
"Alright, Ziyang, Wenhe, this task falls to you," Chen Xi said, clapping his hands to gather everyone's attention. "As for your current duties, leave them to Wenru and Xiaozhi. Let's find this troublemaker first—either we bring them in, or…" A flash of ruthlessness appeared in Chen Xi's eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Liu Ye said with a smile, though his usually gentle gaze held a glint of killing intent. To Liu Ye, allowing such a dangerous individual into their ranks would be like placing his own life in someone else's hands. If the person ever betrayed them, they could suppress everyone's talents and leave them defenseless—an unacceptable risk.
Liu Ye and Jia Xu exchanged glances, both understanding the other's thoughts. They smiled slightly, feeling a growing sense of camaraderie. After all, nothing bonds people like conspiring together for a shared goal.
Jia Xu shared Liu Ye's concerns. As someone who preferred not to put himself in danger, he wouldn't allow someone capable of rendering him helpless to join their ranks without a way to counter them. Trusting his safety to another person was not in Jia Xu's nature.
"The city patrol is at your disposal. Just don't venture too far," Chen Xi told Liu Ye. "I'll have the necessary paperwork prepared for you shortly."
Having finished his arrangements, Chen Xi quickly slipped away while Lu Su wasn't paying attention. Ever since a group of battle-hardened veterans, led by a hundred-man commander, had formed the city patrol unit—wearing armor, carrying large swords, and armed with crossbows—the security and living conditions in Fenggao had greatly improved.
These soldiers, each of whom had survived dozens of battles without serious injury, were easily recognizable by the blood-red clouds of qi that seemed to hover above their heads as they patrolled the streets. These elite troops, strictly enforcing the rules, discouraged anyone from causing trouble—doing so would be tantamount to courting death.
These veterans, who had killed so many that they had forgotten how to farm, exuded an aura of lethal intent. Just a glare from them was enough to make others back away. Their mere presence on the streets gave Man Chong a great sense of satisfaction—who would dare argue with the law when faced with such intimidating enforcers?
Meanwhile, Xi Zhicai patiently waited for the ten-day cooldown period to end, ready to switch back to the talent he had previously captured, in order to determine its exact nature. After all, the talent had erased his stored Xun Yu's abilities, so Xi Zhicai knew it had to be a deletion-type talent. However, to fully understand its properties, he needed to activate it and test it himself.
Xi Zhicai didn't sense any particularly dangerous aura from this talent—just a feeling of mild rejection, similar to that of Xun Yu's and others' talents. It wasn't like Guo Jia's talent, which had felt like a death sentence if used.
When the time came, Xi Zhicai immediately switched to Sima Yi's mental talent. Instantly, Xun Yu's stored talent was erased. Then, in the next moment, Xi Zhicai's own talent, which housed Sima Yi's ability, began to self-delete.
Within just three seconds, Sima Yi's talent, along with Xun Yu's, disappeared. Moreover, Xi Zhicai's own talent was consuming his mental energy as it continued to erase itself. It was as if his talent was simultaneously generating and deleting itself…
Xi Zhicai's face twitched. After using his talent for so many years, this was the first time he'd encountered such a situation. He could understand why Guo Jia's talent was unusable, but this talent had erased itself right after being activated, leaving him with nothing—and even erased the talents he'd stored. Thankfully, Xun Yu was still alive; otherwise, the loss would have been severe…
Xi Zhicai was baffled.
Closing his eyes, Xi Zhicai quietly analyzed the situation. After a long moment, he opened his eyes with a wry smile.
In simple terms, Xi Zhicai's talent functioned like a system's copy function, while Sima Yi's talent acted like a delete function. For Xi Zhicai, there was no risk of Sima Yi deleting him. However, if Xi Zhicai copied Sima Yi's talent, it would be akin to copying a blank slate—blank data that, once pasted, would delete itself. Poor Xi Zhicai had inadvertently deleted his stored content.
Similarly, Zhuge Liang's talent could be seen as a paste function, capable of applying anything. In theory, as long as he pasted quickly enough, the delete function wouldn't have time to activate. In practice, if Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi were both at full strength, it would be a race between mental energies—could Zhuge Liang activate his talent faster than Sima Yi could erase it? If Zhuge Liang's activation speed exceeded Sima Yi's deletion speed, he could theoretically override Sima Yi's talent.
Unfortunately, Zhuge Liang's paste ability was incomplete due to prematurely awakening his talent. He couldn't even manage what Xi Zhicai had done—erase his own active mental talent while still being able to use his copy function.
Similarly, if Xi Zhicai's copy ability had been strong enough to withstand the erasure effect of Sima Yi's talent, he could have continued to use it.
Xi Zhicai chuckled bitterly. He now understood that his inability to activate this mental talent was a problem with his own abilities.
Xi Zhicai's talent was resilient, but it still couldn't withstand the self-destructive program he had inadvertently created. A stick of incense later, Xi Zhicai suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, and a faint flush of red appeared on his face.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a severe bout of vertigo hit him, and Xi Zhicai's vision darkened as he collapsed in the direction of where Chen Qun was seated.