Mythical Three Kingdoms

Regarding Zhao Yun’s question, Chen Xi also had no particularly good solutions. The more Chen Xi understood Zhao Yun, the clearer he became of Zhao Yun’s strength. Essentially, Zhao Yun’s performance in Inner Qi, skills, and combat abilities was not inferior to Lyu Bu’s—the only difference was in strength, but Zhao Yun was much faster than Lyu Bu.

In other words, if one compared sheer strength, Zhao Yun and Lyu Bu seemed evenly matched. However, Lyu Bu would typically be attacked by two or three top-notch experts like Zhao Yun, and even if he couldn’t win, he wouldn’t be easily defeated. This apparent gap in ability seemed quite significant.

Chen Xi actually made a fairly accurate estimate—when it came down to pure strength and overall qualities, Zhao Yun and Lyu Bu really were evenly matched. Both had consumed the Divine Stone and both recovered exceptionally quickly, but the two men had distinctly different mentalities.

Zhao Yun was classically trained, with a master to lead and educate him well from a young age. He was always a promising student, and Tong Yuan was very satisfied with Zhao Yun’s talent. Yet, he also imparted the unique Huaxia humility to Zhao Yun to prevent him from becoming conceited due to his astonishing talent, ”Yun’er, you must be humble. Remember that there is always someone better out there, and you must be cautious so you won’t be outsmarted by others.”

Lyu Bu, on the other hand, was a self-taught fighter—fight, fight, and fight some more. Starting with brawls from a young age, he fought one-on-one and group fights, from Jiuyuan to the grasslands, and from the grasslands back to Bingzhou, from Bingzhou to Hulao!

Humility? Do I need such a thing? If you can defeat me, then you’ll have the right to educate me!

Humility? I am the invincible one. If you don’t agree, come at me, no matter who you are, I will definitely win. You don’t agree? If you don’t agree, I’ll beat you until you do. You actually don’t acknowledge my invincibility? Today I will make you understand why I’m unbeatable!

Well, people should be humble, and humility is generally right. However, for someone like Lyu Bu, it’s obviously inappropriate. If an ordinary person claimed to be invincible, they would definitely be seen as arrogant and then be crushed. But in Lyu Bu’s case, everyone, no matter how unhappy they might be, had to admit it.

In fact, even now, no matter how much people disliked Lyu Bu, they acknowledged him as the strongest military general of the day. That included top experts like Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Huang Zhong, who all implicitly accepted Lyu Bu’s strength. And Lyu Bu himself acknowledged his own invincibility.

Whether it was arrogance or confidence, Lyu Bu made it clear that his appearance on the battlefield meant he was to be attacked. He accepted the fact that other military generals wouldn’t hesitate to gang up on him, which essentially meant they recognized they were not his match!

It could be said that up to now, the only ones who dared to challenge Lyu Bu single-handedly, apart from some ignorant fools in the remote corners, were probably only Zhang Fei, because Zhang Fei knew no fear. It was simply fight, and if he lost, he would fight again! If he lost, he would be the first to confront Lyu Bu in a duel next time!

That’s also why Zhang Fei could barely keep pace with Lyu Bu—his mindset was different. He wasn’t aiming to withstand a certain number of moves against Lyu Bu, nor did he hope to match Lyu Bu evenly like Zhao Yun did. His goal was to impale Lyu Bu on his Serpent Spear…

Although Zhang Fei’s thought might seem a bit unrealistic, you can’t deny that his strength has grown stronger because of it. After all, the mindset one holds determines the level of strength one can exhibit.

Zhao Yun’s temperament was by no means poor; in fact, it could be said to be excellent!

Unfortunately, compared to Zhao Yun’s actual strength, his temperament only allowed him to harness his own power, not to fully unleash his limits.

Similarly, under absolute brute strength, compared to Lyu Bu’s attitude—which could be described as either self-confidence or arrogance—Zhao Yun fell short by more than just a little bit; after all, he had some issues with how he perceived his own position.

Chen Xi’s response left Zhao Yun stunned, but soon enough he realized where his own problems lay.

It’s a pity that some things can’t be accomplished simply by understanding them; if they could, the world would be rid of many troubles, such as restoring the Han Dynasty, for example.

Zhao Yun lacked Lyu Bu’s domineering presence; Lyu Bu dares to proclaim before all that he is invincible in this world, but Zhao Yun—even if he were truly unrivaled—would never say such a thing. He would humbly tell others, ”Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are about as good as me, I still need to work harder...”

That difference lay in their characters and temperaments. Chen Xi could only inform Zhao Yun, yet had no way to make him stronger than Lyu Bu; that was unrealistic. To defeat Lyu Bu, Zhao Yun could only rely on himself.

The next day, Chen Xi packed his belongings, bid farewell to Liu Bei, said goodbye to Fan Jian and Chen Lan, and set off with Zhao Yun’s corps. When Zhao Yun arrived the day before, the baggage and supplies had already been sent to Yanzhou, with the only thing left being to set out with the army.

On the march, Zhao Yun and Chen Xi did not exchange any more words. Regarding mentality, Chen Xi didn’t have any good solutions, after all, his knowledge of psychology was very superficial, and Zhao Yun wasn’t suited for an arrogant disposition—although in some situations that attitude might actually be better characterized as confidence.

Zhao Yun was also contemplating his gap with Lyu Bu and in the end could only return to the starting point; Lyu Bu’s strength was both internal and external, not just in terms of physical power but also in spirit. This man was essentially a person with an invincible body and an invincible heart—it was just a pity he didn’t possess invincible wisdom.

While Zhao Yun reflected on himself, Chen Xi also pondered his own issues. If Zhao Yun’s attitude somewhat underestimated himself, then reflecting upon his own mentality, Chen Xi realized that he always held an unyielding confidence—an absolute confidence. Knowing others is intelligence, knowing oneself is true wisdom, and Chen Xi carried the wisdom of understanding people, as well as the accumulated wisdom of thousands of years.

”I’m just too confident. But it is this very strong confidence that allows me to drive people like Jia Wenhe; they are all extraordinary talents of this era, brilliant and exceptional. If I can’t make them submit, no one can truly bring out every ounce of their strength. Even if it means walking a tightrope, I must be the leader, only I am confident that the overall situation won’t go wrong!” Chen Xi thought helplessly.

It’s not that Chen Xi looked down on Jia Xu and the others, but rather that he stood atop the long river of time, overlooking the traces of years gone by. As such, no one, whether it was Lub Su or Zhuge Liang, could truly grasp the flowing river of time. Only Chen Xi, though somewhat vague, possessed a far greater accuracy than the rest.

”It seems I must take my place as number one; even if Wen Wu is ’number one’, I must sit down and not allow anyone to contest that. Since the era of brilliant stars will always have one bright moon overshadowing them, let me be that moon. At least I can ensure this moon remains perfect and flawless forever,” Chen Xi muttered to himself, looking at the vast sky with a sharpness, after all, he too was a youth, having his moments of youthful arrogance. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to support it by voting at Qidian ), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)