Mythical Three Kingdoms

On the first day of the lunar month, ancestral rituals, offering incense, visiting temples, making vows. Chen Xi lived a life similar to the past, except this time, the object of his vow was quite mystical.

No longer the clay sculptures or wooden carvings of before, but the Xuanyuan Divine Cauldron. As for its effectiveness, the difference was evident. The cauldron directly granted Chen Xi a Nine-Tailed White Fox upon worship, so effective that Chen Xi wanted to throw the fox back into the Xuanyuan Cauldron.

"Congratulations, Wen Ru, you actually manifested the image of an Ancient Sage." Chen Xi patted Li You's shoulder to change the subject, thinking it's better for Li You to attract attention than himself.

"Hehe…" Li You scoffed a couple of times, he didn't believe Chen Xi wouldn't understand the cause and effect here — it was completely a self-inflicted trap.

Although Li You was clear that there indeed were a series of reasons, manifesting the sage's image was because he left a backdoor when casting the fake cauldron.

Li You's fate within Liu Bei's faction was undoubtedly the highest aside from Liu Bei and Chen Xi, after all, he had already broken through the deadly crisis, and more importantly, he was in a position of power at that time.

No need to say that with Dong Zhuo dead, Li Ru would simply perish — considering how Li Jue and Guo Si pushed Lyu Bu out of Chang'an, one would know how much power Li Ru had back then, breaking through the deadly crisis, Li Ru took away a massive amount of fate.

Back then, Li Ru was equivalent to the power Dong Zhuo wielded, similar to how Chen Xi is to Liu Bei now, hence Li Ru shared a lot of fate, though it wasn't apparent to most, Li You often had the power of heaven and earth on his side after escaping disaster.

"Sigh, calm yourself, just think, I'm worse off than you!" Chen Xi said with a gloomy expression, though he hadn't seen the complete size of the Nine-Tailed Fox, from others' descriptions, he knew what he saw back then — that mass of white fluff was the fox's tail.

"Haha." Li You rewarded Chen Xi with two words, everyone knew Chen Xi often slacked off, even Liu Bei didn't mind much — it only exposed how much he skimped. Liu Bei wouldn't assign Chen Xi too much work; Chen Xi was the one allocating tasks to others.

"Actually, you have Wen He and Fengxiao accompanying you." Chen Xi patted Li You's shoulder to comfort him. Although Li You was a civil official, like Zhao Yun, he was an outsider and often needed to sit next to Liu Bei, frequently meeting generals.

Jia Xu and Guo Jia exchanged glances and sighed deeply. What is all this? Turning around, they simultaneously beckoned Fa Zheng, who came over without a second thought.

[How many times does Xiaoo Zhi have to suffer losses before realizing not to get too close to these two guys?] Chen Xi rolled his eyes, Jia Xu and Guo Jia, after discovering Fa Zheng was very useful and smart, started focusing on cultivating him, often asking for his help.

"I'll assign you a relatively easy military duty. Tomorrow, go to the barracks outside the city to visit the soldiers on my behalf." Liu Bei said to Chen Xi and Li You, both trusted and efficient individuals he relied on heavily.

"Going to visit troops on the second day, city east or city west?" Chen Xi pondered and immediately understood why he was chosen. The military camps around Ye City were split into east and west areas, and Ye City was a major city — Liu Bei's way of visiting troops couldn't be completed in one day.

"City east, the Xiliang Soldiers in the city west are left for you two to comfort. I've been there before; fierce brave men all, one-on-one they are only slightly better than Elite Soldiers of Mount Tai, but in groups of ten, Mount Tai finds it hard to win. If it's over a thousand…" Liu Bei spoke cautiously.

Before seeing the Xiliang Soldiers, Liu Bei always believed the Elite Soldiers of Mount Tai were the strongest infantry, but after visiting the troops, he completely changed his mind.

Though the Elite Soldiers of Mount Tai are taller on average than most soldiers and well-trained, possessing great strength, they are slightly inferior compared to the Xiliang Soldiers, whose soldiers seem superior in almost every aspect.

Especially when Xiliang Soldiers are given horses, saddles, and stirrups, with a few days of training, they can be converted into cavalry, whereas Elite Soldiers of Mount Tai remain infantry riding horses...

"Oh, that's very normal." Chen Xi rolled his eyes and said, "Mount Tai Soldiers matching the Xiliang Headquarters would be the real oddity."

Saying this, Chen Xi began counting on his fingers, "Xiliang Soldiers have fought with Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, White Horse Soldiers, Elite Troops of Danyang, Eastern Wu Warriors, and can survive this long — what remains unmatched in the realm."

"If they're really fighting desperately, they haven't fought with Xiliang Iron Cavalry." Li You suddenly interjected, catching Chen Xi off guard.

Chen Xi gave Li You a dissatisfied look, "Some of them even began serving during the Qiang Rebellion years ago; their experience alone surpasses our Mount Tai Soldiers."

Mount Tai Soldiers are considered quite experienced in battle among the soldiers of the realm, but compared to Xiliang Soldiers, they fall deeply short. Among Xiliang Soldiers are truly veteran soldiers, those who have fought and survived over a hundred battles...

Though generals might face death on the battlefield, low-ranking soldiers naturally cannot escape this fate, but one thing is certain: winning increases survival odds more than losing, and in a Xiliang Army, with so many veteran soldiers, the cause is simple — avoid losing...

Liangzhou Soldiers have recorded few losses and many victories, accumulating a staggering number of veteran warriors. Though the experience gap is very small when surviving more than fifty battles, there is still a difference.

"In any case, take care of Xiliang Soldiers well, I'm considering merging them." Liu Bei looked at Chen Xi and Li You, essentially telling them to nominate someone, as he was uncertain.

The reason is simple; this group of Liangzhou Soldiers was brought back by Hua Xiong from Yongzhou, healed and with incredible combat effectiveness. Splitting them would waste fighting capacity, while merging under one leader requires careful selection.

"We'll go observe tomorrow." Chen Xi yawned, not wanting to reject this duty, adding in his heart, [And carefully inspect those three to four thousand soldiers; after all, they've fought for the nation for such a long time.]

"Merging them?" Li You was a bit perplexed; the more Xiliang Army members merged, the stronger, indeed beneficial, but wholly merging gives sole command, thus exceeding twenty thousand troops.

This differs from deploying with temporary military command and retrieving upon return; this grants almost permanent command and authority of the main force! (to be continued. If you enjoy this work, please go to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly votes; your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)