First Meeting

Just as Coiling Dragon Qi Fei finished dealing with the three maids at home,

over in the God Three World, Qi Fei was also about to get started.

"Phew..."

Qi Fei let out a long breath and set down the brush in his hand.

"I've finally settled on a general direction."

He looked at the newly written bamboo slips in his hands, his face full of satisfaction.

Although he'd said during their earlier chat that he was going to the protagonist's side so he could slack off, that didn't mean he could do absolutely nothing.

Fortunately, in this world, there was a simple way to cultivate mental power in addition to normal practice.

That was to use your brain.

Whether studying or working, any activity that required thought could genuinely increase mental power.

So after thinking it over, Qi Fei decided to start with a weakness in Liu Bei's forces.

Namely, how to train soldiers with suitable talents.

Thus, he took to studying military strategy as a pastime during his daily cultivation.

In the God Three World, military strategy wasn't just about setting up camp, marching, and commanding troops in battle.

It was also a unique path to transcendence.

The armies of this world had two powerful tools that ensured soldiers wouldn't be mowed down by generals capable of moving mountains and filling seas.

The first was Cloud Qi, and the second was Elite Talent.

Cloud Qi was something like a layer of clouds that formed in the sky when a regular army assembled.

It could be used as energy for one's own side, and it could also suppress the strength of enemy generals and soldiers.

At the same time, its suppressive power continued to grow with the size of the army.

In the later stages of the novel, the Cloud Qi formed on battlefields where nearly a million elite soldiers clashed could suppress Lu Bu—who could vaporize a mountain with a single halberd strike—down to the level of a Super Soldier.

Elite Talent was somewhat like a strategist's Mental Talent.

Through prolonged, unified training, the soldiers' wills became more closely linked.

Then, their collective will manifested a special ability by drawing on Heaven and Earth Essence.

That was Elite Talent.

The most important aspects of military strategy in the God Three World were the formation of Cloud Qi and the targeted training of Elite Talents.

The former was easy enough. The Qi Clan and Chen Clan shared the same ancestors, so they had all the relevant knowledge.

The latter was more troublesome.

Because the authorities had suppressed it, the related material in military texts was badly fragmented, leaving one to figure it out alone.

As for how to figure it out, the Han Dynasty had its own method.

The Eastern Han had passed down two special units for generations: the Danyang Soldiers and the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry.

Even when the country ran short of money, it did its best to maintain these two forces.

The Danyang Soldiers' talent was called Cooperation. It allowed the soldiers to temporarily share strength and vision.

This talent was essentially the result of their organizational skills reaching a higher level.

And organization was the key to forming any army.

As for the Wolf Cavalry, their talent was specially created by General Wei Qing. It was called Decathlon.

Put simply, General Wei had forcibly crammed basic talents such as speed, defense, and strength into a single talent.

It was the pinnacle of talent construction.

So the Han Dynasty's Military School tradition was to start by working with the Danyang Soldiers, then move on to the Wolf Cavalry.

If you could figure out the Danyang Soldiers, you'd basically have learned the fundamentals.

If you could understand the Wolf Cavalry, it meant you knew how to build Elite Talents for soldiers yourself.

After that, you just had to take apart two units left behind by your predecessors and cobble together your own personal guard. Then you'd pretty much be ready to graduate.

If you could master the Wolf Cavalry...

Well, you'd even learn how to build an Imperial Guard.

At that point, you'd be a great master of the Military School. It'd be time to find a battlefield with hundreds of thousands of troops and put your knowledge to the test.

And what if you couldn't figure it out?

Then your predecessors could only regretfully tell you that everyone had gone through the same process. If you couldn't do it, you simply weren't suited to this path.

You'd be better off sticking to being a fierce general who charged into enemy lines.

Incidentally, there was a reason the Han Dynasty's Military School passed down its teachings this way.

Aside from emperors worrying that their subordinates would rebel, the Han Dynasty's military strategists also had to consider the current state of the world.

The Heaven and Earth Essence in this world was constantly increasing, and military strategies from the past weren't necessarily suited to the present.

So they passed down only the fundamentals and left everything else to be figured out independently.

Whatever you managed to figure out would be best suited to the times.

But the result of this approach was that

among the several active warlord factions, apart from Ju Yi under Yuan Shao, not one could train soldiers to suit the situation.

Everyone just gathered soldiers together and used whatever they managed to train.

Even Yu Jin, who would later become Liu Bei's commander of the army, only knew the barest basics at present.

So Qi Fei wanted to start there.

After all, he'd read the original novel and had some understanding of the nature of Elite Talents.

And in this era, recruiting retired Danyang Soldiers wasn't difficult.

In fact, some of the Qi Clan's guards had originally come from the Danyang Soldiers.

Their nature made them one of the most suitable types of troops for serving as guards.

Their exceptional organizational skills guaranteed the Danyang Soldiers' basic combat strength, while their Cooperation talent ensured their potential.

Even without a commander, the Danyang Soldiers could still put up a good fight.

In fact, a commander who wasn't up to the task could end up dragging them down instead.

Like Cao Bao, who had nearly been renamed Cao the Idiot in the original novel.

If he hadn't given foolish orders, Tao Qian's Danyang army could have defeated Boss Cao all by themselves.

All in all, over the past five days, whenever Qi Fei had some free time, he'd studied his own Danyang Soldiers based on what he remembered.

It was only today that he'd managed to work out a rough direction.

"I should be a little better than Yu Jin now."

Qi Fei estimated his own ability.

At the start, Yu Jin had only been a little better than Chen Xi's mindless, desperate training.

He'd needed several years of training Liu Bei's soldiers before he'd figured out the trick.

Qi Fei had spent less time learning to train troops, but he knew the right way to get started and understood where things were headed. On top of that, the talents of three people were combined.

It was only natural that he'd surpassed Yu Jin.

In fact, from Qi Fei's perspective, reaching this level in five days was pretty poor.

Even if each of the three people could only score twenty points, their combined score would still be enough to pass.

In that case, he'd only barely grasped the basics after five days, and that was with some prior foundation.

It seemed his original self hadn't been merely bad at military strategy—he'd been hopeless.

As Qi Fei lamented his own lack of talent, Uncle Qi came in to report some news.

It was the news Qi Fei had been waiting for: Chen Xi had been driven out of his family.

"Master, the major aristocratic families are all watching the Chen Clan and General Liu make fools of themselves. Should we reconsider offering our services?"

Uncle Qi offered his opinion.

"No need, Uncle Qi. How could I miss the chance to make things harder for the Chen Clan?"

Qi Fei laughed.

Reconsider? What nonsense. This was exactly what he'd been waiting for.

"Come on, Uncle Qi. We're going to pay a visit to Liu Xuande right now."

Qi Fei called out.

"Yes."

Uncle Qi was a little exasperated, but he still obeyed Qi Fei's orders.

"Oh, and bring along the new guards we recruited—the smaller group."

"Master, if they have ill intentions, your newly recruited guards won't be of any use."

Uncle Qi tried to talk him out of it.

The other side had an infantry and cavalry force of more than ten thousand. In a real fight, Qi Fei's twenty or so guards would be useless.

"I'm not expecting them to be useful. They're a gift I prepared for him."

Qi Fei waved a hand.

He'd specifically recruited these twenty or so men over the past five days as a gift for Chen Xi.

Luckily, they were in Yingchuan, very close to Luoyang. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to recruit these troops specially trained by Huangfu Song.

"All right."

Uncle Qi immediately went to gather the men and prepare a letter of introduction.

Some time later,

Qi Fei rode in a carriage to Liu Bei's camp outside the city.

"I'm Qi Fei of Yingchuan. Greetings, Lord Xuande."

Qi Fei bowed to Liu Bei, who had come out to welcome him.

"No need for formalities, no need."

Liu Bei immediately pulled Qi Fei upright.

"I've long heard that Yingchuan is home to many talented people. I never expected to meet such a young hero. It's truly the good fortune of a lifetime."

Though he was not as strong as his two sworn brothers, Liu Bei was also an expert at Qi Refining into Steel.

He could naturally see that the young man before him had already reached the same level as he had.

It was truly astonishing.

"Have you come of age?"

Since Qi Fei hadn't given his courtesy name, Liu Bei asked.

"Lord Xuande, you flatter me."

Qi Fei modestly deflected the praise first.

"I'm twelve this year and haven't come of age yet. But before he passed, my father gave me the courtesy name Zihong. You may call me that, Lord Xuande."

Normally, someone who hadn't come of age couldn't be addressed by his courtesy name.

But by this point, Liu Bei couldn't afford to care about such minor details.

A twelve-year-old at the Qi Refining into Steel stage—what did that mean?

A peerless prodigy, without a doubt.

He took a deep breath and made up his mind.

This prodigy would surely belong to Liu Bei. No one else stood a chance.

"Lord Xuande?"

Qi Fei looked at Liu Bei's reaction in confusion.

"Forgive me, Zihong. You're a peerless prodigy, and I was so astonished that I lost myself for a moment. I hope you'll pardon me."

Liu Bei bowed to Qi Fei in apology.

Qi Fei hurried to stop him.

After all, he'd come to offer his services. How could he let his future lord bow to him?

Right, Xu You, who had watched Boss Cao kowtow to him?

"May I ask why you've come, Zihong?"

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Liu Bei asked the question with some trepidation.

It was no wonder he looked so nervous.

During his time in Yingchuan, he'd been turned away by the major aristocratic families more times than he could count. He'd grown rather afraid of it.

"I heard Lord Xuande was recruiting talented people in Yingchuan, so I dared to come and offer my services."

Qi Fei said it plainly.

In an instant, Liu Bei was overcome by indescribable joy. He couldn't help throwing back his head and laughing.

"With Zihong's assistance, I truly am fortunate."

After he finished laughing, Liu Bei took Qi Fei's hand and said,

"I hope you'll offer me your guidance in the future."

"I'm deeply grateful for Lord Xuande's favor. I, Fei, will do my utmost to assist my lord."

Qi Fei cupped his hands as he spoke.

As if he weren't planning to become one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Slacking.

"Hahaha! Good, good, good."

Liu Bei exclaimed again and again.

Afterward, he tested Qi Fei's knowledge, covering the Five Classics and Six Arts, governance, military strategy, and more.

Liu Bei's intention was to gauge Qi Fei's abilities so he could arrange a suitable teacher for him.

But Qi Fei's fluent answers amazed him so much that Liu Bei couldn't help thinking of Champion Marquis reborn.

As a result, Qi Fei noticed that Liu Bei's gaze grew increasingly fervent.

Qi Fei, who wasn't used to such intense displays of emotion, felt a little restless.

Fortunately, Liu Bei hadn't intended to make things difficult for Qi Fei, and the test ended before long.

That finally freed Qi Fei from it.

Next, Liu Bei gathered several of his current core subordinates and introduced Qi Fei to them.

When they heard Qi Fei's age and level of cultivation,

Guan Yu's eyes flew open. Zhang Fei's eyes widened like copper bells, and even the usually composed Zhao Yun looked Qi Fei up and down.

Clearly, all three had been stunned by his outrageous cultivation speed.

"Zihong, if you ever have questions about martial arts, come to Old Zhang. I'll do everything I can to help you."

Zhang Fei thumped his chest as he promised.

Though it was only the impact of muscle against muscle, it made a metallic sound.

Those rock-solid muscles were truly enviable.

"I may not be much, but I can still offer Zihong a little of my experience."

Guan Yu stroked his beard as he spoke.

"Does Zihong have a master? Perhaps I could introduce you to someone."

Zhao Yun, who seemed very refined, asked eagerly.

With talent like this, his teacher would surely be overjoyed if he saw it.

"Zilong, aren't you taking things a bit too far?"

Zhang Fei glared at Zhao Yun with his big eyes, seemingly berating him with his gaze.

"Forgive me, you two. My teacher is quite interested in instructing the younger generation, so I asked on a whim."

Though Zhao Yun looked apologetic, he had no intention of backing down.

"Zilong, why not hear what Zihong thinks?"

Second Master suddenly spoke up.

In an instant, everyone turned to look at Qi Fei.

"I've already pledged myself to Lord Xuande, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to travel far in search of a teacher."

Qi Fei made an excuse to decline.

For now, his priority was still cultivating his mental power; he couldn't afford to spend too much time on Internal Qi.

Zhao Yun was a little disappointed, but Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were quite pleased.

Guan Yu in particular couldn't hide the smile on his face.

"That's all right, then. I'll write a letter right away and invite my teacher to take a post under Lord Xuande."

Zhao Yun still had no intention of giving up.

He truly didn't want Qi Fei's talent to go to waste in the slightest.

This approach was clearly more acceptable to Second Master and Third Master, and they stopped reproaching Zhao Yun quite so much.

Qi Fei didn't refuse aloud, either.

After all, Tong Yuan was most likely traveling the land right now; he wouldn't receive the letter anytime soon.

While they chatted, on the other side of the tent,

"Zichuan, why haven't you said a word?"

Liu Bei asked Chen Xi.

"Lord Xuande?"

Chen Xi snapped out of his thoughts.

"I was just wondering what I was doing when I was twelve."

He made up an excuse.

"Hahaha, I imagine you were studying hard and training diligently back then, Zichuan."

Liu Bei was entirely sincere.

In his view, Chen Xi, who was both a scholar and a warrior—or so it seemed so far—must have worked hard to get where he was.

"All right, stop thinking about that. Come, meet Zihong."

Liu Bei pulled Chen Xi into the fray.

"Zihong, this is Zichuan, my secretary. He has the talent to govern the world, and I owe much of my progress to him."

Liu Bei introduced him to Qi Fei.

"You're both extraordinary talents. You should get to know each other better."

He didn't want the two of them to fall out in the future.

That would be such a shame.

"I've heard a great deal about you. It's an honor to finally meet you."

Qi Fei meant it.

He'd heard of not only the Chen Xi from the novel, but also the Chen Xi who had been here before the transmigrator took over his body.

Though he wasn't among the very top tier of the Three Kingdoms, he could still be called both a scholar and a warrior.

"Not at all. You flatter me."

Chen Xi was still a little dazed.

He couldn't understand why the butterfly effect had caught up with him so soon after he'd transmigrated.

Seeing that Chen Xi was distracted, Qi Fei decided to tease him.

"The mighty Yangtze flows east, its waters gone."

Qi Fei recited a line of poetry.

Chen Xi faltered, and then his expression changed in an instant.