Big Shot

The spirit of the Nine Phoenix emerged from the sword, circling above the hilt.

The Life Bead activated, its attribute of destruction held in check but ready to strike.

Qi Fei manipulated his unformed Legion Talent with the power of his soul, causing a fierce and savage force to swirl around him.

At this moment, he had pushed his power derived from the Supreme God of Destruction to its absolute limit.

This was the preparation Qi Fei had made to lure that thing out.

The effect was quite obvious; all sorts of chaotic energies surged into Qi Fei's body as if they had gone mad.

Even the Nine Phoenix felt a bit overstuffed.

The only problem was that in this form, Qi Fei resembled a demon god; ordinary enemies would likely turn and run the moment they saw him.

"Zihong, are you sure it will be attracted here, rather than scared away?"

Liu Bei circled around, looking Qi Fei up and down.

This form was powerful and fierce, truly making one unable to help but feel a sense of admiration.

"It won't."

Qi Fei's voice caused the surrounding energies to resonate in agreement, turning his tone into a grand, layered sound with a strange, echoing quality.

"My current attraction to it is enough to make it ignore this danger."

To those things, Qi Fei was currently their direct superior.

When the boss summons you, how could you not come, no matter how dangerous it is?

"However, it would be a bit troublesome if it continues to hide."

"Are you worried about not being able to find it?"

Liu Bei asked.

"That's not it."

In fact, as long as he spent a little more effort checking the soldiers one by one, Qi Fei was confident he could find the person it had parasitized.

The host would have their Essence, Qi, and spirit continuously drained, making it impossible to stay hidden.

What Qi Fei worried about was that if it could refuse the summons, it meant its self-awareness had reached an extraordinary level.

In other words, what was coming might not be the scraps left over from the slaughter by the Lord of Martial Peace, but the portion suppressed by the great Sun Wu.

That portion had once been the great army Sun Wu led, the super-elite force that accompanied the master in destroying Chu.

Having killed from start to finish, these people were forced to transform into those non-human existences.

A significant part of the reason Sun Wu sacrificed himself was for their sake.

Before their transformation, these tens of thousands were elites under a god of war; after their transformation, they had been tempered under the master for who knows how many years.

Qi Fei found it hard to imagine what level of strength those tens of thousands of people would reach.

"However, there is no need to worry now."

Qi Fei cast his gaze outside.

Just a moment ago, a strange aura had suddenly appeared outside the door.

"Is it here?"

Liu Bei drew the remaining blade of his Twin Swords.

"Yes."

Qi Fei tossed the other blade from his waist to Liu Bei.

While that thing was absurd when formed into an army, its individual strength was nothing special.

Liu Bei could easily handle it.

So, if Liu Bei wanted to take the lead, he would let him.

Once captured, he would strip it from the soldier and use soul-searching to examine the traces of its journey.

While disposing of those traces, he would also use this creature to develop a secret technique for searching, ensuring no other fellows followed behind.

"Drawing swords against each other is hardly the way to treat a guest."

A soldier with an unremarkable appearance pushed the door open and entered.

Although it looked no different from a human on the outside, Qi Fei discovered its non-human essence the moment it spoke.

But to think it could hold a normal conversation, and it wasn't even parasitizing a real person—could it be...

"Unwelcome guests deserve such treatment."

Liu Bei said, preparing to strike.

Each of the Twin Swords manifested a beam of internal energy, which inexplicably reminded Qi Fei of a certain black-clad swordsman who pulled light beams.

"Wait, don't strike, I have no malicious intent."

The visitor surrendered immediately.

He could not defeat someone with Internal Qi Separation.

"Lord Xuande, please wait a moment."

Qi Fei stopped Liu Bei, who was just about to make a move.

If this person really was that legendary figure, he truly could not afford to offend him by attacking directly.

"Zihong?"

Liu Bei looked puzzled, but he still listened to Qi Fei and lowered his twin swords.

"Thank you, young friend."

The newcomer let out a sigh of relief.

If he had really let Liu Bei beat him to a pulp, all the hard work he had put into this journey would have been in vain.

"You're welcome. So, who exactly are you?"

Qi Fei asked directly.

If he were truly a legendary figure, he certainly wouldn't hide his name.

"I don't know."

The newcomer answered decisively.

"I have lost part of my memory, including the specific details of who I am."

"Then what is your purpose in coming here?"

Qi Fei was not surprised by this answer.

Before the Marquis of Huaiyin was summoned from the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, these legendary figures had basically not yet recovered their memories.

This was because the Heaven and Earth Essence had not yet risen to a suitable level.

"I just felt that something here was attracting us, so I sent a consciousness over to take a look. I didn't expect to be discovered by you the moment I arrived."

The newcomer said candidly.

"Just here to take a look? No other purpose?"

Qi Fei was now basically certain that the newcomer was the legendary Sun Wu.

"Us" definitely referred to more than one, and among that group of Gods and Devils, Sun Wu was the only one capable of moving freely.

"None."

Sun Wu continued to speak honestly.

"Did you expose yourself on the way? Did you possess any living person?"

Qi Fei asked two more questions.

A legendary figure certainly wouldn't do such a thing, but it was hard to say for someone who hadn't yet recovered his memories.

"No. Although my memory has not fully recovered, I know that such an existence is not meant to be known by the world."

Sun Wu looked at his own hands.

The remaining fragments of his memory told him that he had been forced to become like this precisely to prevent such things from harming the human world.

"That's good then."

Qi Fei immediately felt a sense of relief.

He didn't have to deal with the traces left along the way; that was great.

"You just believe me like that?"

Sun Wu, on the contrary, looked at Qi Fei with a sense of disbelief.

Had this person never been deceived before?

"If you can manage to deceive me, then I'll accept it."

Qi Fei said casually.

How desperate for death would one have to be to lie in front of a God Boundary Breaker?

Besides, if you were talking about that little rascal, the Marquis of Huaiyin, lying might be possible. After all, that guy had lied before just to dance on the grave of Liu Bang.

But to say that the venerable Sun Wu would lie? That was complete nonsense.

"You have confidence; I like that."

As an elder, Sun Wu liked such vibrant young people.

Moreover, for some reason, apart from the power Qi Fei possessed, there was an inexplicable sense of familiarity about him.

This made him feel a sudden urge to offer some guidance.

"However, young man, your strength doesn't seem to match your confidence."

Sun Wu provoked him intentionally.

"Zihong's strength is currently the best in the world; I suggest you retract that statement."

Liu Bei's expression turned cold.

Is my child so impressive that you can just critique him as you please?

"Haha, apologies, I didn't express myself clearly."

Sun Wu chuckled twice.

"I wasn't talking about individual martial prowess, but about commanding troops; your command ability is simply too poor."

Based on the level of skill he had just witnessed, one could steamroll the opposition even without using their brain.

"In that case, are you proficient in military strategy?"

Qi Fei's eyes lit up.

He had originally intended to bring Huangfu Song over to serve as a teacher, but it seemed he might be able to receive direct guidance from a God of War?

"It's passable; there are quite a few scenes of leading armies in my fragmented memories."

Sun Wu said modestly.

"Then why don't you have a go with Zihong?"

Liu Bei took the initiative to suggest.

He wanted to see exactly how this guy, who spoke such big words, intended to defeat Qi Fei.

"Very well, wargaming or live combat?"

Sun Wu agreed immediately.

"I once heard that a certain Immortal possesses a secret technique called Dream of the Yellow Millet, which can create a world within a dream. I wonder if you can manifest it?"

Qi Fei chose between A or B.

Mainly because wargaming was time-consuming, and live combat was prone to injuring soldiers.

Therefore, he decided to ask if there was a dream-entry technique available.

In the novels, the Marquis of Huaiyin had used this secret technique to develop a simulated battlefield for training the younger generation.

Lord of Martial Peace Bai Qi later even used a "moe-ified" version of this technique to run gambling dens and win money from little girls.

Liu Bei, Chen Xi, Zhuge Liang, Jia Xu... the private savings of the wives of almost everyone who remained in Chang'an had been cleaned out by Bai Qi.

But that was a different story altogether.

"Wait, I think I might have acquired a copy."

Sun Wu sifted through his own memories.

It seemed he had once stripped a similar skill from some Immortal Yinghuo.

"Then I shall trouble you."

The corners of Qi Fei's mouth twitched.

This wouldn't be something else swiped from Yinghuo, would it?

The account of Immortal Yinghuo seemed to be something set up by the big shots of the past specifically to fish out these unlucky kids from the Military School.

Bai Qi had been active as Yinghuo for a period of time.

However, not long after Bai Qi crawled out of his coffin, a new Yinghuo climbed out; that one seemed to be Wu Zi, one of the Four Sages.

Of course, because of a report by Lord Shang, Wu Zi had no choice but to continue acting as Yinghuo.

In reality, if Zhang Liang and the others hadn't fished out the Marquis of Huaiyin, Qi Fei suspected the Marquis would have ended up on the Yinghuo account too.

"Got it, don't resist."

As he spoke, Sun Wu activated the ability on the two of them.

Liu Bei had been somewhat guarded, but seeing Qi Fei accept it calmly, he didn't resist the pull either.

The next moment, the two of them found themselves in an incomparably vast world.

The only thing was, aside from the land beneath the three of them, the rest of this world was nothing but void.

"This world probably can't withstand your full potential."

Sun Wu scrutinized Qi Fei.

He had noticed this little guy's strength before, but seeing it now, it was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

Are children these days all this powerful?

"It's fine, we're just comparing troop command, after all."

Qi Fei had anticipated this.

In the original novel, Dream of the Yellow Millet required the help of Lu Bu to allow Guan Yu to display his full strength.

Although the current Qi Fei was a bit weaker than Guan Yu was at that time, he was still at the God-Breaking realm, at least.

It was perfectly normal for the dreamscape to be unable to withstand it.

"This is my oversight. As compensation, you may have an extra ten thousand troops."

Sun Wu said with an apologetic expression.

"By saying that, are you implying you want to bring out an army and fight me directly?"

Qi Fei could not help but ask.

"Is that not allowed?"

Sun Wu asked.

"I am more skilled at training troops; this method of competition wouldn't allow me to fully display my capabilities."

Qi Fei said tactfully.

He was joking; if he really let Sun Wu bring out his army, he feared he wouldn't even be able to withstand the first wave.

"Then what do you suggest?"

Sun Wu asked directly for Qi Fei's thoughts.

Since he had already restricted Qi Fei's personal combat strength, if he didn't even let him use his greatest specialty, what would be the point of the competition?

"First, I would like to know if your dreamscape can simulate the current environment, as well as the formation process of various talents?"

As Qi Fei spoke, he displayed his Mental Talent and his unformed Legion Talent to Sun Wu.

After adjusting the dreamscape, Sun Wu replied, "That should be roughly fine."

"In that case, how about this: twenty cities each, ten thousand people per city, no soldiers or generals, just ordinary civilians. The one who captures all the opponent's cities or renders the opponent unable to resist wins. How does that sound?"

Qi Fei reduced the starting conditions to the absolute minimum without hesitation.

He wanted to see what he could achieve starting from nothing as he was now.

"That is acceptable. What about the map?"

Sun Wu asked again.

"We can each set it as we see fit."

Qi Fei said casually.

In a competition like this, there was no need to worry about the other party playing tricks with the map.

"Very well, then I shall trouble you to act as the referee."

Sun Wu said to Liu Bei.

As he spoke, the ground beneath their feet expanded rapidly, and the authority to adjust the map was handed over to Qi Fei.

"No problem."

Liu Bei nodded.

Seeing Liu Bei agree, Sun Wu also granted Liu Bei full observation authority over the map.

"Lord Xuande, I shall take my leave."

Qi Fei requested to be excused by Liu Bei.

"Zihong, please do not be too hard on yourself."

Liu Bei had intended to wish Qi Fei victory, but the words changed once they reached his lips.

"Do not worry, Lord Xuande."

Qi Fei said.

He was just going to play a highly realistic real-time strategy game.

Afterward, Qi Fei and Sun Wu each went to adjust their respective maps.

Aside from adding a few coal and iron mines for himself, along with a river for hydraulic forging, Qi Fei did not create any special terrain.

Soon, the twenty cities and the surrounding terrain were generated, and Qi Fei submitted the map to Liu Bei.

On the other side, Sun Wu had also finished his map design early.

The competition officially began.

"First, let's start with a city-wide screening."

Qi Fei arrived at the first city and immediately activated his Mental Talent.

He shared his mental energy realm and internal Qi realm with all the citizens in the city simultaneously, then observed the growth rate of their internal Qi and mental energy.

This was a discovery Qi Fei had made.

By sharing the same realm with different individuals and observing the growth rate of the power within them, he could determine which area they had more aptitude for.

It was just that he hadn't had the chance to use this trick at Mount Tai yet.

Using it for the first time against the God of War was not bad at all.

While waiting for the aptitude screening, Qi Fei began to arrange the production issues for the entire city.

Although he was not as good as Chen Xi, he was, after all, a modern person who had gone through the Nine-Year Compulsory Education, so he understood the basics of what he needed to know.

Moreover, the people in the dream world could execute tasks exactly according to Qi Fei's orders, which significantly reduced the difficulty of management.

"Soviet-style mass production, let's get the steel furnaces going, let's get the hydraulic lathes running..."

Qi Fei quickly made arrangements for the commoners under his command.

At the same time, the corresponding production orders were transmitted to the other nineteen cities.

Once the production system was mostly prepared, Qi Fei basically confirmed the aptitude status of everyone in the city.

Qi Fei took away the 1,500 people with the best talent for Internal Qi Separation, as well as the ten with the best Essence aptitude.

In addition to sharing the realm of Internal Qi Separation, these 1,500 people also had a trace of Qi Fei's mental energy within them.

With the help of this trace of mental energy, these people had already unified while Qi Fei was on his way to the other cities, initially possessing combat capabilities.

Liu Bei watched in constant amazement.