Mythical Three Kingdoms

If ordinary pearls and jade were used this way, it would at most be called tacky, but the things Gan Ning gave were all genuine treasures. So lately, Zhao Yun, who’s really short on cash, was just waiting to get married and collect a bunch of gifts to bulk up a bit.

Thinking about it, Zhao Yun realized that he hadn’t seen that wild fool for a couple of years, and he hadn’t seen much of Taishi Ci either. These two filthy rich guys! Zhao Yun was still counting on their gift money; with them, at least he could get a good haul.

The result was that Chen Xi’s answer left Zhao Yun very disappointed, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to take advantage of Gan Ning and Taishi Ci this time. They had their own affairs to attend to, and who knew when they’d return.

”Speaking of which, there have been so many weddings lately—like you, Third Brother, Zijing, and Xiaozhi,” Chen Xi said, thinking out loud about how many of their own people were getting married recently.

”Zichuan, Zichuan, I’m here to give you the invitation!” Just as Chen Xi was saying this, Zhang Fei’s booming voice came from outside, sounding as if the dust from the beams was shaken loose. ”Ah, Zilong, you’re here too, remember to come by then.”

”Oh, Third Brother, you’ve finally tied the knot, huh? Didn’t Xiahou Miao cause you any trouble?” Chen Xi said with a smile, it was obvious Zhang Fei was in a particularly good mood.

”Why would I be afraid of him? If he weren’t my brother-in-law, I would’ve already beaten him up,” Zhang Fei said, shaking his fan-like hand with an expression of defiance.

”By the way, Zilong, when are you getting married? There are so many weddings lately, let’s not pick the same day,” Zhang Fei hollered.

”True, if we do, there really could be trouble,” Chen Xi smiled and said, as people of this era were very concerned with face.

The two calculated the time, and it was clear that the dates were chosen by the fortune-teller they consulted through Liu Yan, so they couldn’t possibly overlap. Even Liu Yan couldn’t conjure such ludicrous scenarios.

”Make sure you all come, your Third Brother is getting married. Make sure you show up to support me. Who knows, maybe Xiahou Miao will come himself. If something happens, remember to have your brother’s back,” Zhang Fei was quite proud, yet a bit cautious of Xiahou Yuan starting something, so he patted Zhao Yun’s shoulder.

”You know, on that day, I can’t make a move,” Zhang Fei said in a deep voice.

”Leave it to me then,” Zhao Yun was completely unfazed, Xiahou Miao was no cause for worry, even if the Xiahou brothers teamed up, he had nothing to fear.

Zhang Fei indeed regarded Zhao Yun and Chen Xi as brothers, or he wouldn’t have said such things. It was apparent Zhang Fei was ready for a brawl at the wedding.

”Come on now, Xiahou Miao isn’t an idiot. Since he’s given you his daughter, even if he doesn’t like you, for the sake of his daughter’s future, he won’t turn hostile at your wedding,” Chen Xi looked at Zhang Fei exasperatedly, this is a wedding, not a brawl.

Zhang Fei laughed awkwardly, as half the reason for Xiahou Yuan’s troublemaking was Zhang Fei’s own provocation. Of course, Xiahou Yuan’s relentless attitude was also an issue.

”I’ve heard you’ve been stirring up trouble again lately,” Chen Xi changed the subject, poking Zhang Fei and saying, ”Someone came to complain to me.”

”It’s that Wen Ze jerk again, isn’t it? I just picked a few thousand men from him. Is it really worth causing such a fuss?” Zhang Fei was defiant, he’d been going around picking people lately, looking for veterans with the same elite talent as his own troops.

Such things were just wishful thinking back then; after all, elite soldiers were limited and required careful selection, which naturally wasn’t feasible. But now, with a pull of 200,000 various elite soldiers from different regions, Zhang Fei was motivated.

Zhang Fei’s elite troops were considered top-notch one-talent elites, with very reliable combat power, though not large in number. Their talent type was berserk, which triggered the inner and outer Inner Qi into a berserk state, making their combat power extremely reliable.

Coupled with Zhang Fei’s innate Legion Talent, their combat power was fierce even challenging Military Spirit Legions in chaotic battles. However, Zhang Fei’s Legion Talent inherently had a major drawback: the combat strength was frighteningly strong, but the wear and tear on the soldiers was no joke.

However, Zhang Fei had pretty much determined by now that the dual-talent super elite could withstand his Legion Talent. Although there’s an impact, relying on the Legion’s shared burden, the dual-talent elite could withstand it.

With this, Zhang Fei got an idea; he could raise his 500 trusted aides to 3,000 men, then train these 3,000 to become dual talent.

The latter was wishful thinking, but expanding to 3,000 was something Zhang Fei could do. In the past, trying to find 3,000 soldiers with the same elite talent was nonsense. Now, though it’s difficult, it’s not unreasonable. So Zhang Fei circled Yu Jin’s camp every day, secretly picking elite soldiers.

After all, Zhang Fei’s trusted aides and the like were cut down considerably due to Chen Xi’s military service back then. Now, Zhang Fei’s task is to identify those people again and train them, along with the Tuntian Soldiers they trained.

In this manner, Zhang Fei successfully gathered three thousand exceptionally capable, elite soldiers, unified under the Berserk elite talent. However, this is still not enough. Although it’s easier to progress from a unified talent to dual talents, this ”easier” is relative to the difficulty of achieving the task.

So far, Zhang Fei has only completed the initial part. As for how to advance to dual talents, there are people who understand within Liu Bei’s rule, but regardless of the method, it’s not something that can be achieved through simple drilling; dual talents only emerge on the battlefield.

Thus, Zhang Fei’s expanded corps has hardly any use; although they quickly harmonized due to originating from the same source, enabling nearly flawless command, it’s still insufficient.

More importantly, Zhang Fei’s approach sets a bad precedent, and many people are emulating this by scouting from Yu Jin’s ranks, which made Yu Jin, frustrated upon finding out that warnings to scouting military officers were ineffective, promptly report to Chen Xi.

”Pay attention to the impact, and dual talents are not that easy to produce,” Chen Xi said with a slight headache, ”So far, the only ones we can truly say possess dual talents are the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, the White Horse Soldiers, the Elite of Danyang, the White Spear Soldiers, and the Jingling Guard that emerged.”

”Just because they don’t exist now doesn’t mean they won’t in the future, and my corps itself is not inferior to those legions,” Zhang Fei replied, clearly dissatisfied, with a voice that shook Chen Xi’s head.

”Well, that’s not incorrect, but according to our understanding, your trusted aides are not inferior to dual talent elites; they have issues with Decathlon and Legion Talent,” Chen Xi said helplessly, spreading his hands.

Generally speaking, trusted aides are the soldiers most deeply influenced by a general’s legion talent. If there is a section of the legion likely to perfectly reflect the general’s legion talent, it is definitely the trusted aides.

As for the so-called Decathlon, it’s just a joking term, extended from the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. Besides their own elite talent, trusted aides nearly perfectly possess legion talent and have another aspect: excellence in various qualities aligning closely with the chief general’s influence.

Previously, it was mentioned that the Elite Talent has the strongest effect. Normally, the legion talent’s effect enhances with the soldiers’ recognition, until it matches perfectly an elite talent effect equivalent to dual talents.

This is why Guan Yu’s legion talent is considered terrifying. After perfectly bestowing the School Sabre Bearer initially, Guan Yu’s legion talent radiated, now encompassing approximately over ten thousand. Under this condition, Guan Yu will soon be leading a legion equivalent to a dual talent legion.

”To truly reach the level of dual talents, the situation is complicated. Few elite armies can clearly explain how they originated; on our side, perhaps only two or three individuals can say. Yu Wenze specializes in large-scale drilling, if you truly seek to achieve dual talents, avoid scouting from Yu Wenze, you should consult Shuzhi,” Chen Xi advised half-heartedly.

”Uh, Shuzhi?” Zhang Fei asked, puzzled, looking at Chen Xi. ”Is Chen Dao proficient in drilling soldiers?”

”Yes, he’s very proficient in drilling soldiers; presently he’s drilling Zijian,” Chen Xi affirmed solemnly. ”With roughly a thousand Quasi-Military Soul soldiers and about five thousand dual talent White Spear Soldiers, his sparring choice can only be Zijian.”

”Hiss!” Zhang Fei took a sharp breath, ”Do we have a Military Spirit Legion and a dual talent elite legion hidden?”

”Well, not really two. Divine Iron Cavalry, Main Iron Cavalry, and Regular Xiliang Iron Cavalry are the same type of troop, just upgraded versions, it’s the same for Shuzhi. After the Northern Frontier battle, his one talent White Spear Soldiers took that step,” Chen Xi explained, contemplating.

The White Spear Soldiers were trained using Danyang Elite as well, but grew deviated from what should have been normal dual talent effects for Danyang Elite. Although the attribute Cooperation remained, it developed differently. As for the other attribute Back-to-Water, Chen Xi completely couldn’t fathom how it became established.

Normally, Danyang Elite’s Cooperation is shared by everyone as one entity, affecting power, vision, and so on. While White Spear Soldiers’ Cooperation is aligned with the synergy of Heaven and Earth Essence; simply described, White Spear Soldiers’ cooperation is not with people, but with Heaven and Earth Essence.

In simple terms, when White Spear Soldiers fight in Cloud Suppression battlefields, the suppression effect of the clouds will be reduced, and their own enhancements will be strengthened. This talent is broadly possessed by Yu Jin’s Qingzhou Soldiers.

This effect is immensely powerful, especially when both allied and enemy forces number significantly, causing cloud suppression to become intensely severe, to the extent where Inner Qi Manifestation and even Breakthrough Level cannot exert force fully, then the force to counteract cloud suppression exerts devastating amplified impact.

As for Back-to-Water, this attribute seems pointless to Chen Xi. When the enemy army’s momentum surpasses ours, as their momentum waxes, our strength gradually increases. This talent seems irrelevant to Chen Xi, the reason is simple: Chen Xi adheres to King’s Way. The vast majority of battles Chen Xi engages in are victories against fewer forces.

Otherwise, it seems as if the forces are equal or our own are slightly fewer, but in reality, it’s completely a case of leveraging strength to overpower weakness, therefore in Chen Xi’s view, this talent’s ability loses its significance entirely.

```