Liu Bei's Gift

Tong Yuan began to doubt his own life.

Is this how one harmonizes the five elements? Aren't the fire and water completely crushing the metal, earth, and wood?

Furthermore, given this posture, are Qi Fei's internal organs even okay?

"Cough."

Just then, Qi Fei, who was being watched by everyone, suddenly spat out a mouthful of black smoke.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong with this method of breaking through?"

Chen Xi asked with a look of suspicion on his face.

It wasn't just him; the others couldn't help but show confusion as well.

"I... wait, let me step out for a moment."

Qi Fei covered his mouth, pushed the door open, and hurried out into the courtyard.

Following that, he tilted his head toward the sky.

BOOM—

A torrent of multicolored internal energy erupted from Qi Fei's mouth, much like the legendary breath of a dragon.

As the internal energies of different attributes were expelled, they collided with one another, triggering intense explosions that allowed Qi Fei's energy breath to further expand its coverage.

Almost every resident of Fenggao, the seat of Mount Tai Commandery, witnessed this magnificent sight.

Thinking back, the last time a similar situation occurred was during that inexplicable rift in the sky.

After that sky rift, the authorities had issued everyone three days' worth of steamed bun vouchers as compensation for the disturbance.

—The steamed bun voucher was a settlement currency used by Chen Xi for his work-for-relief program; these vouchers could be used at official steamed bun shops to exchange for buns and the like.

Of course, one could choose to settle in copper coins, but copper coins did not enjoy discounts at the official steamed bun shops.

The people of Mount Tai, who hadn't even had enough to eat, naturally chose the more cost-effective steamed bun vouchers.

In this way, the monetary pressure across the entire Mount Tai Commandery was successfully reduced.

Chen Xi was able to spend as much money as possible on purchasing grain from other wealthy commanderies, preparing for the subsequent annexation of the Yellow Turbans in Qing Province.

All in all, considering the steamed bun vouchers issued previously, the emotions of the residents of Fenggao were, for the time being, relatively stable.

They even began to discuss whether they would continue to receive steamed bun vouchers like last time.

There was no helping it; the previous situation in Mount Tai, where bandits were everywhere, had tormented the common people so miserably that they dared not have any higher aspirations.

Even Chen Xi, who had activated his internal affairs cheat, could not solve this quickly.

All he could do was try his best to make the people prosperous and then rely on time to erase these scars.

"It's actually quite pretty."

Chen Xi, who was looking up in the courtyard, remarked.

He hadn't expected to see a fireworks show after transmigrating; Zihong always managed to bring some unexpected surprises.

"Decided. I'll have Zijing arrange for some people to distribute more steamed bun vouchers later."

Anyway, the summer harvest was mostly in, so this bit of grain could just be treated as holiday consumption.

"You..."

Lu Su, who had his workload increased for no reason, wanted to say something but held back.

Forget it, since there were newcomers joining, adding to the workload was fine.

Just then, Qi Fei's internal energy was finally exhausted, and the fireworks show came to an end.

"That was close."

Qi Fei coughed twice and spat out the last bit of black smoke.

He had almost suffered a social death.

It seemed this method of harmonizing the five elements really didn't suit him; in the future, he would be better off using the breakthrough method of Zhang Xiu.

Zhang Xiu, the Spear King of the North, was one of Tong Yuan's disciples.

His method of reaching the Boundary Breaker realm involved absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence through water and fire internal energies, then forcibly fusing the two powers to manifest an internal energy avatar controlled by his spirit, before finally re-absorbing that avatar.

The advantage was that it was extremely simple; the disadvantage was that it was easy to lose control of the internal energy, leading to an explosion.

However, the power of this explosion was quite astonishing.

Tong Yuan, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong... and even some experts from Rome had suffered losses from this move.

Even Lu Bu, the world's number one, had been given a Mediterranean-style haircut by Zhang Xiu.

One must know that apart from Zhang Xiu, no other warrior had been able to achieve such a feat.

This was enough to show the power of this move.

More importantly, the explosion from Zhang Xiu's method released internal energy from the entire body at once, avoiding the awkward situation Qi Fei had just experienced, which was caused by the energy circulating within his internal organs.

Qi Fei thought to himself while refining the Heaven and Earth Essence to soothe his shattered internal organs.

"Before your next attempt, try your best to raise your metal, wood, and earth Internal Qi to the same level as your water and fire Internal Qi."

Tong Yuan, who was watching from the sidelines, suggested.

"Rest assured, I just had a new idea and have already abandoned this method of breakthrough."

With the catalysis of the God Boundary Breaker's idealistic will, Qi Fei's recovery ability was pushed to the limit.

He was already able to move normally by this point.

"You have other ideas? I wonder if I might be able to witness them when the time comes?"

Tong Yuan could not help but marvel at Qi Fei in his heart.

He was truly worthy of being the first warrior in the world to break through the boundary; his insights into the martial path were indeed extraordinary.

To be able to comprehend a breakthrough method suitable for himself from his own harmonization of the five elements so quickly.

Remarkable.

"If you are willing."

After a moment of hesitation, Qi Fei decisively agreed.

Since Tong Yuan was going to be blown up anyway, what difference did it make whether he was blown up by him or by Zhang Xiu?

"I want to go too."

Student Ma Chao also chimed in.

"Then I'll send you all invitations when the time comes."

Since he was already prepared to blow up Tong Yuan, Qi Fei naturally wouldn't refuse others from joining.

A crowd would only make the explosion more satisfying.

If it weren't for the fact that it would be inappropriate for him to extend the invitation himself, he would have even wanted to invite the founder of this technique, Zhang Xiu, to be blown into the sky together.

"I won't be going."

Lu Su said with a hint of exhaustion brought on by forced overtime.

Chen Xi was the person responsible for formulating policies and planning the direction, while he was the one who implemented Chen Xi's plans into reality.

The workload was so immense that if this hadn't involved Qi Fei's Mental Talent, he wouldn't even have had the time to come over and watch.

"Then I won't go either; I'll accompany Zijing to work."

Chen Xi followed up.

But this was a lie.

He simply felt that if he spent too much time with this group of warriors, he would be dragged into practicing martial arts and wouldn't be able to slack off.

When Lu Su heard Chen Xi's words, a flash of emotion crossed his eyes, but it vanished the next instant.

Even if Chen Xi stayed in the government office, he would just be lying on his desk slacking off; it wasn't worth being moved at all.

Since the two heads of the civil officials had said so, Jian Yong, Mi Zhu, and the others naturally followed suit and declined.

After all, unlike the warriors, they were quite busy right now.

"Fine then."

Qi Fei felt that heaven was helping him.

He had just been thinking that if the civil officials also came along, he would have to control the power carefully so as not to blow them away.

He hadn't expected Zijing to lend a helping hand.

Now, he only needed to find a time when Liu Bei was receiving newcomers to invite only the warriors to watch.

When the time came, he would blast them all into the sky with maximum firepower.

Hehehe—

Qi Fei chuckled wickedly in the depths of his heart while following the others back to the house.

Afterward, he let Liu Bei and the many civil officials experience the feeling of a God Boundary Breaker.

As a veteran of Qi Solidification, Liu Bei took this opportunity to break through directly to Internal Qi Separation.

As for the civil officials, they only gained a bit of Internal Qi within their bodies to ensure their physical health.

Of course, as a gesture of gratitude for Lu Su's help, Qi Fei casually helped him treat an unspeakable ailment.

The kidneys belong to the water element and are related to reproductive essence.

His medical knowledge from his past life, his previous practical experience with the Qi Boundary Breaker, and a tiny bit of insight into the laws of the water element.

Allowed Qi Fei to call himself a master of andrology in a certain sense.

"Thank you, Zihong."

Lu Su was almost moved to tears, bowing to Qi Fei again and again.

"It's nothing, just a small favor."

Qi Fei helped Lu Su up.

Thinking about it, he likely wouldn't be pressured by his family into divorcing his legal wife this time.

The others watched the two of them with some confusion.

Although they didn't know what riddle the two were speaking in, seeing Lu Su like this, it was clearly no small matter, so they could only remain silent.

With Lu Su's business concluded, it was time to take the new recruits to their posts.

However, Liu Bei called out to everyone at this moment.

"As Yunchang said, Zihong is humble; he helped us break through yet refuses to take credit, but we cannot overlook it."

Liu Bei set the tone first.

With Liu Bei taking the lead, the others naturally chimed in one after another.

In reality, even without this opening, they would have done so anyway.

Having benefited from someone else, any normal person would think about how to repay that kindness.

Instead of acting like that certain television series claiming to be official history, where they ate someone's grain and fodder while still finding ways to badmouth them behind their backs.

"?"

Qi Fei looked at the crowd with some confusion.

Judging by this posture, it seemed they wanted to bestow some kind of reward upon him.

But the problem was, in terms of official rank, he was currently a Commandant, on the same level as Second Master and the others; anything higher would be outside the scope of the commandery level.

In terms of wealth, the currently penniless Mount Tai couldn't scrape together any money.

What could they possibly bestow upon him?

Could it be that they were going to petition the Dong Zhuo court to grant him the title of General?

Just as Qi Fei was wondering, Liu Bei spoke up.

"This blade is one of my Twin Swords. I gift it to Zihong today; from now on, seeing this sword is like seeing me. I ask you all to bear witness."

As he spoke, Liu Bei took out one of the Twin Swords and walked over to Qi Fei.

"A gentleman wears a sword to manifest his virtue. The Nine Phoenix Sword is inconvenient to carry, so I hope Zihong will not refuse this blade."

Liu Bei presented the sword with both hands.

Qi Fei had worn a sword before; at this point in the Han Dynasty, a sword was considered a basic accessory for daily attire.

But after the birth of the Nine Phoenix Sword, because he felt other swords didn't feel right, and given that the Nine Phoenix Sword itself wasn't a size that could be easily carried around, Qi Fei had simply stopped bothering.

Liu Bei had noticed this.

He had once tried to have swords forged, selecting ones he felt were decent to invite Qi Fei to admire together.

But regarding those swords, Qi Fei had always remained indifferent.

Thus, Liu Bei had never found a good solution.

Until today.

Liu Bei had suddenly discovered the solution.

Since Qi Fei didn't carry a sword because the feel wasn't right, then he shouldn't approach it from a practical standpoint.

"I am a newcomer with only minor achievements; I truly dare not accept such a grand gift. I ask Lord Xuande to take it back."

Qi Fei bowed and exchanged pleasantries with Liu Bei.

"Zihong has helped me greatly, and I truly have no way to repay you. I could only prepare this meager gift; please do not decline."

Liu Bei knelt before Qi Fei, holding the sword above his eyebrows with both hands.

If Qi Fei were to refuse again, it would be a bit ungrateful.

"In that case, I shall unworthily accept Lord Xuande's great kindness."

Qi Fei bowed again and received the precious sword with both hands.

To be honest, he was still a bit surprised.

Although he could tell from the earlier tone that Liu Bei wanted to reward him, Qi Fei hadn't expected Liu Bei to gift him one of the Twin Swords.

And he had even explicitly stated that seeing this sword was like seeing him, Liu Bei.

This meant that now that Qi Fei held this item, it wouldn't be excessive for Second Master or Third Master to salute him.

--Of course, no one would do such a thing unless absolutely necessary.

Not to mention what this sword represented in terms of troop mobilization and authority.

Liu Bei really did trust him.

Qi Fei couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion in his heart.

While feeling emotional, Qi Fei noticed that this situation seemed likely to become a historical anecdote.

Thus, he immediately thought of a question.

"Lord Xuande has gifted his own sword to me; if you are left without a handy weapon, it would be my fault."

Qi Fei said as much.

He was certain that Chen Xi, Lu Su, and the others would surely come up with a brilliant response, which would then be passed down as a classic.

Liu Bei, however, burst into loud laughter at this moment.

"With Zihong and my generals by my side, what need have I for blades?"

He was truly overjoyed to see Qi Fei willing to accept the sword, and thus the words slipped out.

Qi Fei had not expected Liu Bei himself to respond; he was stunned for a moment before he, too, began to laugh.

The people present also offered their congratulations to the two, and for a time, the scene was quite lively.

"How about I gird the sword for Zihong myself?"

After the laughter died down, Liu Bei spoke again.

"Fei has already received such great favor; how could I dare to trouble Lord Xuande further?"

Qi Fei politely declined.

Mainly, he was not quite used to having a grown man touch his belt.

"Zihong, there is no need for such formality."

Liu Bei assumed Qi Fei was merely being modest, so he took the precious sword directly and bowed to fasten it onto Qi Fei.

Qi Fei had no choice but to helplessly accept it.

Afterward, everyone congratulated Qi Fei once more before dispersing.

Qi Fei left with Cai Yang; he needed to treat Cai Quan once again and simultaneously share the realm of Qi Solidification with him, allowing him to slowly recover his health.

Second Master went straight home to prepare a gift, intending to send it to Qi Fei later.

Third Master, Hua Xiong, and Xu Chu all did the same.

Lu Su not only went home to prepare a gift himself but also wrote a letter to his family back home, asking them to send some things over.

Although his family could not be considered incredibly wealthy, they were, after all, a family capable of raising someone with a Mental Talent, so their collection of books and the like was still quite extensive.

Mi Zhu did not know what to give, so he simply had his people find the family's collection and sent a cartload of it to Qi Fei.

Jian Yong rummaged through his home for some ancient texts, packed them into a chest, and sent them over to Qi Fei.

Zhao Yun, meanwhile, mysteriously pulled his master aside, though it was unclear what exactly he intended to do.