As Chen Xi left Fan Liang, he began to carefully contemplate the recent events. A spiritual talent capable of sealing everyone else's abilities must belong to a top-level strategist. As for generals, from what Chen Xi had gathered, their talents mostly affected their own armies, quite different from the varied offensive and defensive auxiliary talents that strategists possessed.
Chen Xi, somewhat lost in thought, followed a team of city guards. As he turned a corner, two young scholars, one tall and one short, passed by him without either side noticing.
He started thinking about the possibility that the culprit might be one of the still-unknown young talents.
Chen Xi shrugged off the thought.
Chen Xi then began to suspect Chen Qun. After all, from what he had learned, the range of that talent clearly extended beyond the city of Fenggao. Even Zhao Yun, who was outside the city, had sensed it...
Chen Xi's thoughts wandered,
This realization frustrated him. If the culprit wasn't in Fenggao, how could they conduct a search?
Chen Xi cleared his mind and began thinking of who might have such a talent. After all, compared to others, Chen Xi had some insight into the unknown individuals of this era who had yet to make a name for themselves, as history had already proven their abilities.
As he pondered this, Chen Xi's gaze sharpened. Chen Gong's abilities were difficult to assess. After all, he was a figure who single-handedly outmaneuvered Cao Cao's team of strategists, making his historical performance quite different from the low-profile and reserved persona described in current intelligence reports. This suggested that Chen Gong might be pretending to be dead.
Chen Xi then added his distant relative from 500 years ago to the list of suspects.
He also considered the future Wu Kingdom, which boasted four generals and three generations of civil officials, all top-notch talents. However, aside from Zhou Yu and Lu Su, the other two generals were unlikely candidates.
Much like Xu Shu, Lu Meng started off unfocused in his youth but later underwent a rapid transformation. In terms of talent, he might not match Xu Shu's apparent abnormality, but his diligence likely surpassed Xu Shu's.
Because of this, both Lu Meng and Xu Shu would likely awaken their talents after reaching maturity. It was impossible for them to have developed their talents at such a young age, so Chen Xi excluded Lu Meng from consideration. Naturally, Lu Xun, who wasn't even ten years old, also didn't factor in, despite his later prominence.
Chen Xi's thoughts then turned to Jingxiang and suddenly recalled someone whom Zhuge Liang had once ranked alongside Pang Tong. However, this person was known to be even more arrogant than Pang Tong.
Chen Xi frowned at the thought.
After surveying the map in his mind, Chen Xi realized that after ruling out those who hadn't yet matured, as well as figures like Cui Zhouping, Hua Xin, Zhong Yao, and the strategists who hadn't yet joined Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, there weren't many people left who fit the profile. Besides those currently with Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, there were figures like Liao Li, Sima Lang, Chen Gong, Hu Zhao, and Dong Zhao who might be involved.
Chen Xi considered Cao Cao's team and felt overwhelmed. Although Cao Cao's generals might not be able to rival Liu Bei's in raw strength, they could at least hold their own. Meanwhile, in terms of strategists, Cao Cao's side seemed to have the upper hand.
Cao Cao had over a hundred well-known strategists, with nine top-tier ones, including Sima Yi. Even though three had been poached, he still had six left. The strength of Wei was no joke!
Chen Xi estimated that Cao's and Xiahou's families had a good number of second- and third-tier generals, as well as some capable leaders. In terms of military tactics, they might only have a slight edge over Cao Cao's forces.
However, after comparing Liu Bei's and Cao Cao's resources, Chen Xi felt reassured. Lu Su had been right— as long as Chen Xi was still around, even if everyone's talents were sealed, they still had the foundation to continue the fight!
With this realization, Chen Xi regained his confidence. Indeed, sealing everyone's talents was terrifying, but so what? Even without talents, wars aren't won solely through spiritual abilities. He acknowledged that his opponent had an advantage, but in the end, it was pure strength, well-trained soldiers, and ample supplies that would decide the outcome, not petty tricks!
A smile crossed Chen Xi's lips as he figured out his next steps. If they could find the culprit, great; if not, it didn't really matter. He realized that he and the people of Mount Tai had been overthinking the situation. When strategy falls short, they could simply crush their enemies with the overwhelming force of a well-prepared army!