NOVPUBLet us not speak of the great battle between Sunx Ce and Taishi Ci for now, another aspect of the war was that Zhuge Liang had easily suppressed Pang Tong’s harassing attacks, but precisely because he had suppressed Pang Tong, Zhuge Liang felt that something wasn’t quite right.
After all, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong knew each other too well; he was acutely aware that Pang Tong’s abilities were no less than his own, which was why Zhuge Liang found it unbelievable that he could suppress Pang Tong so easily.
Although Zhou Yu had weakened various aspects of Zhuge Liang’s intelligence, and Pang Tong had boosted his own, Pang Tong was, after all, dividing his attention, and the fact that he could hold on to this extent was already a blessing from heaven.
Indeed, if we were to translate their current levels into data, Zhuge Liang, whose intelligence had been unknowingly diminished by Zhou Yu, still hovered around the edge of ninety, while Pang Tong, despite having boosted his intelligence, had still not broken a hundred and was not yet capable of dominating Zhuge Liang single-handedly. However, Pang Tong had never thought of defeating Zhuge Liang in a direct confrontation; compared to the overall outcome of the war, Pang Tong didn’t think his personal victory or defeat was all that important, after all, he had fought Zhuge Liang countless times before.
"Kongming, you seem troubled, is there something you’re uncertain about?" Without Zhou Yu’s interference, Chen Xi finally had time to step in.
Zhou Yu’s Legion Talent’s boost to morale had Chen Xi and Gan Yi noticeably stunned, especially since in this era where morale was paramount, the surge in morale from Zhou Yu’s Legion Talent nearly overwhelmed Gan Ning’s navy.
Nonetheless, Chen Xi didn’t lose heart; after all, Zhou Yu’s Legion Talent, no matter how you looked at it, was peculiar. According to Zhao Yun, it was impossible to bear the highly unified will of a legion without Inner Qi Manifestation, and Chen Xi would not believe that Zhou Yu was not only a top Sage but also a top expert!
Holding onto this belief, Chen Xi didn’t stop the erosion of his spiritual power. With a massive infusion of spiritual power, Chen Xi began to erode Zhou Yu’s Legion Talent, and it didn’t take long for him to understand the essence of Zhou Yu’s Army’s Legion Talent.
Although he couldn’t find a solution right away, he learned that Zhou Yu’s Legion Talent was actually using some unknown method to lead others’ spiritual wills with his own, boosting his own side’s morale—and this information was enough for Chen Xi to cause chaos.
Normally, such a thing would be very difficult to achieve, or else there wouldn’t be only a handful of people who could infuse their will into their troops without achieving Inner Qi Separation. As for Zhou Yu’s method, which didn’t revolve around his own will as the center, it was truly unparalleled!
Unfortunately, Chen Xi’s Spiritual Talent already had an innate affinity with the spiritual will of others. And by guiding others’ spiritual will with his vast spiritual capacity, it wasn’t long before a pale white glow emanated from Chen Xi at the center, sweeping directly through the entire Liu Bei’s Army.
If Zhou Yu was using the resonance of his Talent of the Zither to stimulate the resonance in the beliefs of all the soldiers, forming a power similar to a Legion Talent, then Chen Xi was forcibly connecting similar aspects of everyone’s spiritual will through a massive amount of spiritual power and then fusing them together.
As both sides stimulated their own wills, the previously fragmented Liu Bei’s Army took the opportunity during the retreat to surround several exposed points of attack from Sunx Ce’s Army, and the situation on the battlefield once again became less clear than before.
"Pang Shiyuan has a contingency, but I do not know where his plan lies!" Zhuge Liang said with some hesitation.
"Then we force them out!" Chen Xi dispelled a bunch of fog and, staring at Sun Ce’s Army in the distance, turned to ask Gan Yi, "Can we use fire ships now? If possible, to push them back, our large ships are always not agile enough."
Gan Yi stared at the place where Cheng Pu and his men were in a melee, hesitated for a moment, "Strategist, please have your man draw away the enemy commander who is directing the battle; otherwise, it might be difficult to be effective."
Speaking of Cheng Pu and Huang Gai, both were skilled commanders in naval battles. Unfortunately, Sun Ce was too impulsive and charged straight in, and Cheng Pu and his men, due to Sun Ce’s status, followed him, and now they could only act as charging naval generals. Instead, it allowed Ling Cao to take command of the ships. However, it must be said that Ling Cao’s command was not bad; at least Gan Yi was already subtly falling into a disadvantageous position.
You must know this was a melee involving hundreds of ships. Although they were all small craft, the fact that Ling Cao was able to put Gan Ning’s navy on the back foot in such a short time proved that Ling Cao was not just playing around.
"It’s up to you now, their strength is not weak!" Chen Xi turned to say to Guan Hai, "But rest assured, no one knows you’re his."
"Leave it to me. He’s weaker than me, with a nebulous breath. I fear he’s just broken through recently!" Guan Hai said with a cold smile. Admittedly, Guan Hai’s accumulation was not very substantial, but because his initial resolve was the notion of sacrificing life, his spiritual will was extremely solid. Therefore, his inner qi was exceptionally pure, not inferior to that of Guan Yu, a top expert, although he lacked in quantity.
After speaking, Guan Hai leaped down from the flagship, heading straight for Ling Cao’s battleship. He avoided areas dense with cloud qi, shouldering through the exploding cloud qi and charged forward, "Ling Cao, dare you fight me?" The moment Guan Hai leaped onto the battleship, his roar echoed over the river surface.
"Ziheng, command is yours! The fight isn’t breaking out here; I’ll take care of him!" Ling Cao handed the military command to Lyu Fan, then directly rushed towards the river surface and with a step, leaped towards the north. For the current Sun Ce, every battleship was a precious asset that couldn’t be wasted.
[Hmph, wantonly consuming inner qi to leap over here, I want to see how much inner qi you have to burn!] As Ling Cao flew, he glanced back at Guan Hai, who was following behind him, and thought with continuous sneers. He had realized that the other party’s inner qi was not much more than his own, as they had both newly broken through.
"Chen Zichuan seems very important to Liu Xuande, huh? Merely for a journey, he brings enough forces to start a war," Zhou Yu, who had also heard the resounding roar over the river, couldn’t help but reveal a smile.
Zhou Yu knew that Chen Xi would inevitably lure Ling Cao away. After all, for someone who had long dwelt in the north, there couldn’t be many generals capable of naval warfare, let alone those skilled at it. Therefore, luring away the opponent’s naval commander was the best choice. However, in comparison to Ling Cao’s command of naval battles, Lyu Fan’s naval command might be even better.
"Hmph, you are one to talk!" Pang Tong complained with displeasure, "Zhuge Kongming must have doubts about me now. I’m very well acquainted with him, so he must be guessing what my backup plan is. Although I am confident that having no exposure to naval warfare, he will never think of the ground under his feet. But you can never be too careful. That guy always has some unexpected moves."
"Let’s try the fire ships first. I think I’ve figured out what Xingba is planning to do. That guy truly has the audacity matched with meticulous insight!" Chen Xi said with a big laugh as he looked at the dozens of small vessels launched from below his supply ship. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
