After three months of practice, Chen Xi had come to understand the peculiarities of this world and the marvelous uses of spiritual power. He realized that strength in spiritual power didn't mean one could achieve anything and everything. In fact, based on Chen Xi's current understanding from history, aside from better defense, strong spiritual power didn't possess much in the way of lethal force, even if it resonated with the heavens and the earth.
If you think you can strike down your enemies with lightning, better forget about it. That's impossible. Though combat power is generally lackluster, the enhancement of thought processing cannot be denied. The stronger the spiritual power, the faster the thinking speed and the more agile the mind becomes. Problems that would normally take an hour to solve could now be understood in just ten minutes—a significant difference.
If the existence of Qi allowed martial artists to massively increase their combat power, then the existence of spiritual power could be said to significantly elevate the thinking of sages. It's difficult to judge whether wisdom or strength is more important, but these two different development paths decide the future direction each person takes.
Of course, there are those who attempt to cultivate both Qi and spiritual power simultaneously, strengthening their martial force while improving their thinking. However, most who try this path find only death awaits them. It cannot be denied that there are indeed individuals who manage to cultivate both and achieve something, but reaching the pinnacle is extremely difficult. At least according to the historical knowledge Chen Xi currently possesses, there is no such person.
Having understood this, Chen Xi decisively gave up on cultivating his body. Qi and the like—he had cultivated it before but only to a very minimal degree. However, due to his inherited family teachings, the cultivation technique was quite good.
Now that Chen Xi had recovered, relying on that bit of Qi to throw large rocks was still possible. That is to say, if he trained hard and fought on the battlefield a few times, becoming a Centurion was likely within reach, but advancing further seemed unlikely.
As for reaching the level where one could walk on air like Xiang Yu, don't even think about it. That's definitely beyond human capacity. Judging by the descriptions in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, at most twenty-four military generals could achieve that, and as for the likes of Lyu Bu, Chen Xi felt it was incredibly cool, like a human missile!
Since the previous Chen Xi practiced both, that means he had cultivated a bit of spiritual power too. But similar to Qi, it was very weak—probably even struggling to defend against a bow and arrow of an untrained child.
Luckily, the fusion of the two personalities might have stimulated Chen Xi's brain, leading to a continuous increase in his spiritual power over the past three months. This was somewhat a point of pride for Chen Xi because, based on his current level of spiritual power, using those secret techniques and Taoist arts, he was already capable of creating fog and rain, and defending against arrows. According to the standards mentioned earlier, he could be considered quite accomplished.
As Chen Xi puts it, his thinking had become as broad as that of a neurotic. His thinking ability had grown significantly, and his learning capability kept increasing. If he had this memory and speed of thought earlier in life, he would have made his way to the Chinese Academy of Sciences long ago. He could feel himself evolving.
"Snap!" Chen Xi tossed the letter onto the desk; he had finally finished reading all the books in his home. He had memorized the important ones and had a general impression of the less important ones. His spiritual power's growth had also slowed down. Now, he could be said to be a true person of the Eastern Han.
"Young Master, aren't you going to practice your spiritual power?" Chen Lan asked as she looked at Chen Xi sitting idly under a tree.
"There's nothing left to practice," Chen Xi said with a wry smile. He had only recently learned that once one's spiritual power reached his level, there were no more guidelines to follow—it all boiled down to personal enlightenment. Perhaps one would undergo a transformation in an instant, or perhaps nothing would change for a lifetime. Even if a transformation did occur, it would only make the spiritual power purer, less susceptible to distractions, and easier to use.
"Nothing left to practice?" Chen Lan asked, puzzled. She did not understand what he meant.
"The wind is picking up, let's head back. It's going to rain," Chen Xi said, not bothering to explain, and changed the subject. It was raining again, and he had fully mastered this so-called secret technique. With his modern understanding of how rain forms, the spell worked better than described in the books—it was easier to perform, affected a wider area, and used less energy.
"The wind is picking up?" Chen Lan looked up at the sun. Before she could argue, the weather turned overcast.
Chen Xi smiled and drew his only maid back to their quarters. His work for the entire morning was this rainfall, which covered dozens of miles and likely would last a long time and be quite heavy. He guessed no one would suspect this was the result of a spell, as he had merely acted as a catalyst in the whole process.
"The rain is so heavy!" Chen Lan exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, it's a heavy rain," Chen Xi reflected, content that he had wholly mastered the few spells recorded in the books. As for formation techniques, he hadn't understood the principle yet, and he didn't possess any divine techniques.
Chen Xi was quite envious of secret techniques, after all, in this world, Zhang Jiao created formidable Yellow Turban Strongmen from tens of thousands of unorganized, undisciplined Yellow Turbans just by using Yellow Turban Secret Techniques. The ultimate reason they lost was Zhang Jiao's death; otherwise, the outcome might have been different.
From what Chen Xi had learned, Zhang Jiao possessed a secret technique that could greatly stimulate a person's combat power, and he could buff several thousand people at a time. Then, thousands of fearless Yellow Turban Warriors would be enough to rout the so-called elite forces of the Great Han Dynasty, showing how terrifying this move could be. As a trump card, this technique could turn the tide when needed.
As for formations, Chen Xi wasn't very familiar with them since nobody had mentioned anyone using a grand formation to best superior enemy forces. However, he had read about them, and a real formation could reverse the tide of a battle. Having never seen one, all Chen Xi could do was wait for his own experience with them.
As for whether he would meet someone willing to teach him, Chen Xi couldn't be sure. In this era, many things were only passed on to direct disciples; smaller households could only rely on luck since it wasn't easy for others to come up with those techniques. Nevertheless, for Chen Xi at that moment, those techniques were a distant concern as he had something else to await—a certain event!
The Yellow Turban Rebellion had ended, and next would be Dong Zhuo entering Luoyang, followed by the Eighteen Feudal Lords' campaign against Dong Zhuo. But before that, there was the Proclamation against Dong Zhuo—a matter of whether it was Cao Cao who led it after attempting to assassinate Dong Zhuo or it was a false imperial order by Cao Cao. There's a big difference between the two versions.
Though both are false imperial orders, the implications vary greatly, almost determining many subsequent events.