Chapter 48: Diverting the Route to Yuzhou

The main army had been on the march for over half a month. If not for the drag of the infantry, they would have reached Mount Tai by now. Chen Xi had already daydreamed about everything he could possibly imagine along the road, and what remained was merely boredom.

"Lord Xuande, we are only in Chenliu now. Walking at this pace, it will take another half-month to reach the government seat of Mount Tai Commandery, won't it?" Chen Xi slumped over his horse's back, completely abandoning his poise. Anyway, Liu Bei already knew he was lazy.

"Well, in another twelve to three days, we will reach Fenggao. By then, I intend to appoint Zichuan as the Commandery Vice Administrator. I hope Zichuan will not decline." Liu Bei said with a smile. He deeply appreciated Chen Xi's abilities, especially since he once heard a saying: someone who is thoroughly versed in strategic planning will not be too incompetent in state administration, and vice versa. In Liu Bei's eyes, Chen Xi belonged to the category of being thoroughly versed in strategic planning, so his administrative skills naturally wouldn't be poor. As for testing him, Liu Bei hadn't bothered.

"Even if Lord Xuande hadn't mentioned it, I would have had my eye on this position. After all, compared to military tactics and strategic scheming, I am much more confident in how to generate wealth and how to make the people under my governance prosperous." Chen Xi didn't decline at all. He didn't have the habit of pushing things back and forth only to pretend to accept reluctantly in the end while feeling ecstatic inside.

"Zichuan, are you even more well-versed in state administration?" Liu Bei was startled, and then great joy welled up in his heart. In his view, Chen Xi was the type to shoot only when he saw the target. If he said his administrative skills were stronger than his strategic planning, he wasn't joking; at the very least, they wouldn't be weaker. And Chen Xi's strategic plannings were something he had witnessed—they could only be described as terrifying!

"You could say that. At least it's much easier to get a handle on than scheming and military tactics." Chen Xi sighed and said. His schemes relied more heavily on historical inertia and forcefully piecing together the personalities of those individuals. To be honest, he had never truly been in contact with these things before; the most he had ever done was read about them in books. As for state administration, simply put, it was about how to make the people under one's rule prosperous. At least he had some clues about this, which was much better than engaging in armchair strategizing.

"That is wonderful." Liu Bei didn't say much more, offering only those final words, but judging by the joyful expression on his face, his mood was exceptionally good.

"Lord Xuande, let's go to Yingchuan. With your current prestige, you might just be able to recruit one or two of those individuals I mentioned to you previously." After a brief silence, Chen Xi brought up another matter. A dream lineup once again surfaced in his mind; regardless of how high the probability was, having the chance to chase after a dream was a good thing.

"Yingchuan?" Liu Bei glanced at Chen Xi, then looked back at the long, winding marching army, a surge of heroic spirit welling up in his chest. "Let's go. We'll make a detour through Yuzhou and exact some contributions from Yuan Shu along the way. After all, back then I acted as a peacemaker between him and Sun Wentai; it shouldn't be too much to ask for some supplies from him, right!"

"Not too much at all. Once we reach Yuzhou, even if we fail to secure those brilliant talents of Yingchuan, we can head to Qiao County in Qiaojun. There is a top-tier fierce warrior of the present era residing there, whom Third Brother probably still cannot defeat right now." Chen Xi smiled, and noticing Zhang Fei pricking up his ears to eavesdrop, he spoke in a mischievous tone.

"What, Zichuan, who did you say I couldn't defeat?" Zhang Fei's booming voice instantly drowned out Liu Bei's words.

Chen Xi looked Zhang Fei up and down for a long time, then let out a deep sigh and said, "You really can't defeat him. Just looking at Third Brother's physique, you're a notch below him, and in terms of strength, you're also a notch below. Alas~"

Chen Xi was naturally teasing Zhang Fei. What Xu Chu actually looked like, he had no idea; historical records simply described the fellow as "over eight feet tall, with a waist ten spans around, a heroic and imposing appearance, and peerless courage and strength." Looking at Zhang Fei, he was certainly sturdy with a mass of muscles, and recently he even seemed to have undergone a secondary growth spurt, his upper arms rivaling Zhao Yun's legs. He undeniably looked like a warrior, but compared to the description of a waist ten spans around, there was still quite a gap.

Speaking of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Hua Xiong, when these four experts stood together, Zhang Fei looked like a lump of iron capable of crushing someone to death with sheer brute force; Guan Yu resembled a massive broadsword, mighty, powerful, and weighty; Hua Xiong was similar to Guan Yu, essentially a downgraded version of Guan Yu; and as for Zhao Yun—well, unless Zhao Yun spoke up, anyone would mistake him for a civil official.

"Tell me where he is and what he's called! I, old Zhang, want to make him understand that strength and physique do not necessarily correlate." Zhang Fei brandished his fist, causing the air to snap with sonic booms, and then bared his white teeth in a grinning snarl.

"You'll get to see him in a few days when we pass through Qiaojun. He will make you understand what true brute force is," Chen Xi turned his head and said casually. By the time he turned his head, he noticed that Guan Yu was already using a silk cloth to wipe his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, Zhao Yun was polishing his long spear, and Hua Xiong was breathing upon his own broadsword. Did this mean everyone intended to spar?

"Actually, there is also an expert right here in Chenliu. I reckon that in a one-on-one fight, Brother Yun is the only one among us who has the certainty of retreating unscathed. It's a pity that fellow has no idea where he's burrowed himself away right now. Alas~" Chen Xi said helplessly. He truly hoped Dian Wei would leap out from the middle of the road to rob them, or go on a rampage beating up an internal-energy-release-stage tiger or something.

Guan Yu had grown even more majestic. Word had it that he and Zhang Fei had been continuously improving recently, likely because they had encountered too many experts this time around. As for Zhao Yun, he remained as he always was, his presence entirely imperceptible. He seemed as weak as could be, but the moment he struck, his power was explosive.

Zhang Fei was still dwelling on the fellow named Xu Chu. He had made up his mind that the very first moment he laid eyes on that fellow, regardless of anything else, he would rush up and give him a sound beating to make him realize that his own strength was the strongest in the world—a strength even Lü Bu had acknowledged.

Well, as for this aspect, Chen Xi couldn't be bothered to explain anymore. He was clear on one point: if Zhang Fei really tried to compete with Xu Chu in pure brute force alone, he might end up losing even his underpants. From any angle, that level of strength did not belong to a human.

Of course, even if Zhang Fei went all out and used every technique at his disposal, he still wouldn't win; the probability of a draw was well over ninety percent.

Xu Chu's brute force was enough to make almost everyone who fought him feel disgusted, excluding Lü Bu, Zhao Yun, and Dian Wei, of course. Lü Bu represented the perfect combination of technique, strength, and speed; Zhao Yun represented the perfect combination of extreme speed and technique; while Dian Wei represented the perfect combination of extreme strength and speed.

These three could all be said to have ways to suppress Xu Chu's abnormal strength. Dian Wei, in particular, was presumably the only one who could use brute force to make Xu Chu feel disgusted. Up until then, it had always been Xu Chu using his own strength to disgust others, but when he officially made his debut in history, he ran into Dian Wei. Trading blows of brute force head-on, Xu Chu gained no advantage whatsoever. As for Dian Wei, he probably just felt that he had finally encountered someone who could match him in a test of strength...

When strength reached a certain extreme, many techniques could be ignored. This was also why Xu Chu had dueled many people without ever losing. As for why he never won, one could only say that Xu Chu's speed was simply too slow.

A waist ten spans around sounded impressive indeed, but such a build was fatal for speed. Had Xu Chu's strength not been genuinely formidable, it would have been exceptionally difficult for him to make a name for himself as a top-tier warrior. As for Dian Wei, his strength might have been only slightly greater than Xu Chu's, or essentially equal, but because of his speed, his overall combat effectiveness far outstripped Xu Chu's. That was the difference.