Mythical Three Kingdoms

If I update more every day, I wonder if I’ll get more votes...

The army had been on the march for over half a month now. If it hadn’t been for the infantry slowing us down, we would have reached Mount Tai by now. Chen Xi had already exhausted all his wild thoughts during the journey, leaving him with nothing but loneliness.

”Lord Xuande, we’ve only made it to Chenliu so far. At this pace, it’ll be another half month before we reach the administrative center of Mount Tai Commandery,” Chen Xi said, lying on his horse’s back without any concern for his own decorum. After all, Liu Bei already knew he was lazy.

”Yes, in another twelve or thirteen days we should reach Fenggao. By then, I will appoint Zichuan as Magistrate, and I hope Zichuan will not decline,” Liu Bei said with a smile, appreciating Chen Xi’s capabilities, especially since he had heard a saying that those who are insightful in strategy are not too bad at political strategy, and vice versa. In his eyes, Chen Xi was precisely someone who understood strategy, and his political strategy shouldn’t be too bad. As for an evaluation, Liu Bei had not conducted one.

”Even if you didn’t mention it, Lord Xuande, I would have set my sights on the position. After all, compared to military strategizing and planning, I am more confident about how to make money and how to enrich the people under my governance,” Chen Xi said, with no intention of putting the offer off. He wasn’t used to the kind of behavior where people pretend to reluctantly accept at the end, when in fact they’re overjoyed on the inside.

”Zichuan, you are even more adept at political strategy?” Liu Bei was surprised, then overjoyed. In his eyes, Chen Xi belonged to the type who always aims for accuracy. To say his political strategy is stronger than his planning wasn’t a joke; at least it wouldn’t be inferior. And he had seen Chen Xi’s planning, terrifying as it was!

”I guess so. At least it comes more naturally to me than planning and military strategy,” Chen Xi sighed, explaining that his planning relied a lot on historical inertia and forcibly connecting the dots based on the personalities of certain individuals. Frankly, he had never dabbled in these matters before, only read about them in books. As for political strategy, to put it simply, it was about making the civilians prosperous, which he at least had some ideas about, much better than the armchair strategizing on paper.

”That’s excellent,” Liu Bei said, not adding much else, but the look of joy on his face made it clear that he was in a very good mood.

”Lord Xuande, let’s head to Yingchuan. With your current reputation, you might be able to recruit one or two of the individuals I had mentioned to you,” Chen Xi said after a period of silence, changing the subject. The idea of a dream team once again flashed through his mind. No matter how feasible it was, having the chance to chase a dream was always good.

”Yingchuan?” Liu Bei glanced at Chen Xi, then looked back at the long procession of marching troops, feeling a surge of ambition rise within him, ”Let’s go. We’ll take a detour through Yuzhou. We can take advantage of Yuan Shu along the way. After all, I did help him mediate with Sunx Wentai. It shouldn’t be too much to ask for some supplies from him, right?”

”Not too much at all. Once we get to Yuzhou, even if we can’t attract those talented individuals from Yingchuan, we can head to Qiaoo State, Qiaoo County. There’s one of the top generals of our time there, and I reckon even our third brother wouldn’t be able to beat him right now,” Chen Xi said with a smile, noticing Zhang Fei eavesdropping and speaking in a conspiratorial tone.

”What? Zichuan, who are you saying I can’t beat?” Zhang Fei’s booming voice cut off Liu Bei’s speech.

Chen Xi examined Zhang Fei up and down for a long time, and then sighed deeply, ”You really can’t beat him. Just looking at third brother’s stature alone, you’re quite different, not to mention the strength gap. Ah~”

Chen Xi was teasing Zhang Fei. As for how Xu Chu looked, he had no idea; anyway, historical records described him as ”over eight feet tall, with a waistline measuring around ten spans, a majestic appearance, and unmatched bravery and strength.” Looking over at Zhang Fei, who was also robust, with a body full of muscular knots, and who recently underwent a second growth spurt, his arms now nearly as thick as Zhao Yun’s legs, it was clear he was a brave warrior. Yet, even he still fell short of someone with a ten-span waistline.

Speaking of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Hua Xiong, when these four masters stood together, Zhang Fei looked like a lump of iron, capable of smashing a person to death just with his weight, Guan Yu appeared like a great sword, formidable and potent, with overwhelming force. Hua Xiong was similar to Guan Yu, simply put, a toned-down version of him. As for Zhao Yun, well, as long as Zhao Yun didn’t speak up, everyone would certainly mistake him for a civil official rather than a military general.

”Tell me where he is, what’s his name? I, Old Zhang, want to show him that strength and stature aren’t necessarily connected,” Zhang Fei said as he swung his fist, causing the air to burst with a thunderous sound, and then he flashed his pearly white teeth in a snarling grin.

”We’ll pass through Qiaoo State in a few days, and you’ll see him then. He will show you what brute strength means,” Chen Xi said nonchalantly, turning his head. As he turned, he saw Guan Yu polishing his Green Dragon Crescent Blade with silk cloth, Zhao Yun cleaning his Long Spear, and Hua Xiong breathing on his Great Sword. Was this the preparation for a group training session?

”Actually, there’s also a top general in Chenliu. I reckon that among us, only Brother Yun can be confident of coming away unscathed in a one-on-one fight with him. Too bad the guy has disappeared somewhere right now, sigh,” Chen Xi said with a sense of resignation, truly hoping Dian Wei would pop up and stand in the middle of the road for a robbery, or chase after and wildly thrash a tiger undergoing Inner Qi Separation or something.

Guan Yu had become even more dignified. It was said that he and Zhang Fei were continuously improving recently, most likely because they encountered too many top generals this time. As for Zhao Yun, it was still the same situation before: one couldn’t sense his Qi at all, he seemed utterly weak, yet when he made a move, it was explosively powerful.

Zhang Fei was still obsessing over that fellow named Xu Chu. He had made up his mind to beat him up the moment he laid eyes on him, unreservedly, to make it clear to that guy that his strength was the strongest in the world—a strength even recognized by Lyu Bu.

Okay, as for that matter, Chen Xi couldn’t be bothered to explain anymore. Anyway, he was well aware that if Zhang Fei only compared brute strength with Xu Chu, he might even lose his underwear, as that level of strength was beyond human from any angle.

Of course, even if Zhang Fei fought seriously, using every trick in the book, he still wouldn’t be able to defeat Xu Chu. A tie was the most likely outcome, accounting for more than ninety percent of the chances.

Xu Chu’s brute strength was enough to make nearly everyone he fought feel nauseated, except for Lyu Bu, Zhao Yun, and Dian Wei, of course. Lyu Bu represented the perfect combination of skill, strength, and speed. Zhao Yun embodied the perfect mix of extreme speed and skill, and Dian Wei was the embodiment of ultimate strength and speed.

These three could be said to have ways to counter Xu Chu’s abnormal strength, especially Dian Wei, who was probably the only one capable of beating Xu Chu into nausea purely on the basis of brute force. Xu Chu had only mauled others with his strength before, but when he officially made his appearance in history, he encountered Dian Wei. Matching brute force with brute force, Xu Chu gained no advantage. As for Dian Wei, he probably just felt that he had finally met someone he could compare strength with...

When strength reaches a certain level, many techniques can be disregarded, which is why Xu Chu won many one-on-one fights without losing. As for why he didn’t win, it can only be said that Xu Chu’s speed was just too slow.

A waist ten spans wide certainly sounds impressive, but such a build is deadly to speed. If it weren’t for Xu Chu’s truly strong power, it would be extraordinarily difficult for him to reach the status of a top general. As for Dian Wei, his strength might be just a tad superior to Xu Chu’s, or perhaps nearly the same, yet, thanks to his speed, his overall ability far surpassed that of Xu Chu. That was the difference.