Zhou Tai crossed the water and pulled the disheveled Zhou Yu and Pang Tong from the river. He deflected a barrage of arrows from Gan Ning's troops with his inner energy and, with great effort, flew towards a nearby warship.
"Gan Xingba, do you dare face me in a duel!" Zhou Tai shouted as he flew.
"Thud!" Zhou Tai managed to protect Zhou Yu and the shivering Pang Tong from vital hits, but a cyan-colored arrow still cut a deep wound across his chest and abdomen.
"Are you out of your mind? I'm the admiral of the navy, and you want me to duel with a water bandit? That's beneath me! All troops, charge towards the direction of that voice!" Gan Ning laughed heartily. Being a rogue at heart, he always chose whatever benefited him the most. As a scion of a noble family who had once turned to piracy, there was nothing he wouldn't do!
"Gan Xingba, just wait—one day, I'll make you pay!" Zhou Tai, furious, shouted as he set Zhou Yu and the freezing Pang Tong down. Even though they were in retreat, Zhou Tai wasn't going to lose face.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Didn't you say that last time? You've got no hope! All troops, charge! Where Zhou Tai is, Zhou Gongjin must be nearby too!" Gan Ning taunted mercilessly.
Zhou Tai was stunned, but Zhou Yu simply sighed. "We've lost this battle. According to our earlier plan, retreat towards Shouchun. Chen Zichuan's immense spiritual power remains a problem. Breaking through this cold fog is impossible with him present, and that means there's no way to counter the changing weather."
"Don't even mention him. My spiritual talent doesn't work on him," Pang Tong said with a bitter smile. "I can't draw any power from him to enhance my abilities."
"My spiritual talent works, but with the weather against us, we're at a huge disadvantage. Competing in spiritual strength against him is futile," Zhou Yu said, shaking his head as he walked back to the cabin.
"The area he controls may only be around ten miles, but within that range, he can manipulate the weather so effectively that even two or three of us combined couldn't change it. It's like defying the heavens," Pang Tong said with a gloomy expression. He realized that Chen Zichuan's spiritual power was terrifyingly vast.
Pang Tong also knew that if he could boost his abilities to the level of several Zhuge Liangs, he might stand a chance against Chen Zichuan in a short-term fight. After all, Pang Tong had noticed that Chen Zichuan's spiritual power had a limit, not due to a lack of energy, but because of the natural constraints of a living being.
"His spiritual power seems to be stored up for short bursts. I might be able to compete with him for a moment, but he can maintain his peak for much longer than I can. There's no way to counter that," Zhou Yu said with resignation. Both he and Pang Tong could unleash their peak power momentarily, but Chen Zichuan could sustain his indefinitely.
Although they lost this battle, Zhou Yu had gained valuable insights into Liu Bei's navy. Their combat prowess was between second and first class, though still not at the highest level. After all, Zhou Yu had only brought water bandits, not his elite troops. His main goal had been to gauge their strength.
But what troubled Zhou Yu more than Liu Bei's navy was Chen Zichuan's spiritual talent. The ability to manipulate the weather so easily made it nearly impossible to counter.
"There's no good solution. When we face him again, we'll have to abandon any hope of controlling the weather. As for that ice ability..." Pang Tong looked at Zhou Yu. "Do you think that's a spiritual talent?"
"It must be. The fact that our spiritual power can protect us means it's a spiritual talent," Zhou Yu confirmed.
"I have a feeling that this isn't Kongming's spiritual talent," Pang Tong said uncertainly. "Though it's powerful, it's not what I expected from him. Based on my understanding of Kongming, this doesn't seem like his ability."
"I'm not sure," Zhou Yu replied. "Maybe someone has two talents. It's not that uncommon."
Zhou Yu's casual remark hit Pang Tong like a blow. Who said it wasn't common? Not everyone was like Zhou Yu, but given Zhou Yu's precedent, Pang Tong couldn't completely dismiss the possibility that Chen Zichuan or Zhuge Liang might have dual talents.
"Liu Bei's large ships and Gan Ning's bold strategy are impressive. If Gan Xingba continues to lead the navy, his boldness could either win great victories or lead to crushing defeats. But his courage and resourcefulness make him someone who can often find a way out of desperate situations," Zhou Yu remarked, shaking his head. "He's indeed a fine general."
"Just like this time, we thought he couldn't locate our main forces in the fog, but he still managed to surprise us. We must have fallen into their trap from the start—an example of luring the enemy into a trap," Pang Tong said, shaking his head.
"It seems Xingba did well!" Chen Xi said with a smile. "Soon, we'll need to start clearing the fog. It's bitterly cold. By the way, why do I feel like this ability is similar to Zijing's? I can manipulate the weather, but this unnatural power seems unique to him, though not usually this strong."
"I can use the spiritual talents of everyone on our side," Zhuge Liang replied with a smile. "This is indeed Zijing's talent. I suppose he never pushed it to this level. I've just tapped into everyone's talents, and they're really useful. Too bad I can't access yours."
"That explains it," Chen Xi said with a laugh. "No wonder you seemed different earlier. But why did you stop? Even without my talent, the others combined are still very powerful."
"Because it's too strong," Zhuge Liang replied with a wry smile. "But strangely, despite using it for a while, there wasn't any backlash. Although my instincts tell me continuing would have been dangerous, nothing odd happened other than feeling a bit uncomfortable."
Zhuge Liang's excitement was evident as he spoke. If he had known it wouldn't cost him years of his life, he would have activated his talent sooner. In that state, he felt he could have easily dominated Pang Tong and anticipated the enemy's every move.
"Oh, Left Yuanfang mentioned that to me before. He said that all living beings have limits. That's probably yours," Chen Xi said with a nod. Zuo Ci had also warned him not to overuse his spiritual power, explaining that exceeding his limit could harm him. As long as he stayed within his limit, there wouldn't be any problems.
Zhou Yu had anticipated retreating from the start. Though they had gained valuable intelligence, they were now in a dire situation. The small, swift boats of Sun Ce's navy made retreating down the Yangtze River easy with the wind at their backs. As the sound of gongs echoed, the morale of Sun Ce's troops remained low, and they quickly turned their ships to sail downstream.