NOVPUBWhen the cold wave swept over, Sun Ce, who was engaged in a mid-air brawl with Taishi Ci, was affected first and stiffened for an instant. As a result, he was pierced through with an arrow by Taishi Ci. However, Taishi Ci didn’t fare any better. The next moment, when he stiffened, Sun Ce’s explosive roar caused him to become dizzy and his nose to bleed.
On the other hand, when the cold wave struck, Ling Cao nearly got killed by Guann Hai. One reason was that Ling Cao had underestimated Guan Hai, thinking the latter had overexerted his Inner Qi. The second reason was Guan Hai pretended to be exhausted, seizing the chance to deliver a fierce attack to Ling Cao.
If not for Ling Cao desperately dodging the spear attack, Guan Hai would have definitely speared through Ling Cao’s head. But even though Ling Cao had been lucky, his neck was slashed by the spear, causing blood to spurt out violently.
When the bronze gong sounded, Sun Ce and Taishi Ci, who also didn’t understand what was going on, had fought from the sky to the water, and then from the water to the ground. Sun Ce, who previously had difficulty even flying, had been beaten to the point of understanding how to battle in the air. It seemed this was truly his fated enemy—their strength grew as they fought!
"Boom!" Spear tip against halberd tip, Taishi Ci and Sun Ce collided in mid-air, golden light from both shimmering erratically. They flew backwards, crashing onto the river surface and sliding nearly a hundred meters before leaping up almost simultaneously.
"Taishi Ci, today’s battle will be postponed for another day. Next time, I will definitely slay you!" Sun Ce said, breathing with slight annoyance upon hearing the gong.
Sun Ce was still too young, with excellent talent but his strength had not reached its peak, and his Inner Qi was not yet profound. Although he improved quickly in the battle with Taishi Ci, he also sustained quite a few injuries.
"I’ll kill you right now!" Taishi Ci said angrily, his Inner Qi bursting forth. After all, Taishi Ci had noticed Sun Ce’s abnormally fast progress, and considering the opponent’s age, he couldn’t help but feel wary.
"I’m done playing with you!" Sun Ce laughed loudly. He was no masochist—continuing the fight would not only be non-life-threatening but undeniably painful. He immediately leaped towards where Ling Cao’s breath was emanating from. no𝚟𝚙u𝚋.c𝚘m
"Clang!" With one spear thrust, Sun Ce fended off Guann Hai who was battling Ling Cao and grabbed hold of Ling Cao, suddenly releasing all of his Inner Qi, he flew away over the river surface at an unbelievable speed.
"Hum!" Taishi Ci fired an arrow in Sun Ce’s direction, but did not harbor any hope of hitting him, knowing Sun Ce had already suffered a few times from his arrows and would surely heighten his defense.
"Oh~" A scream sounded from the sky. Taishi Ci nonchalantly released another arrow that hit Sun Ce once more. Indeed, some people improved quickly but did not grow wiser.
"Are you alright?" Taishi Ci landed and looked at Guann Hai, unsure how to address him.
"If Sun Bofu hadn’t come, I would have killed him," Guann Hai said discontentedly, glancing at Taishi Ci. "He seems not much weaker than you."
"I fear that aside from a prolonged battle, I simply couldn’t beat him," Taishi Ci said with a wry smile. "Let’s go. There’s no use in chasing them. If they are set on fleeing, it will be hard for us to catch them and easy to be countered."
"Let’s go find General Gan first. He’s in that direction!" Guann Hai said and chased in the direction he was pointing.
Elsewhere, Chen Xi and Zhuge Liang had already started to clear away the cold mist. Previously, the mist was needed to conceal their sneak attack, but now that they had secured a decisive victory, they needed to capitalize on it and pursue their advantage.
"..." Zhuge Liang and Chen Xi looked at each other after clearing away the cold fog.
"Small boats do have their advantages," Chen Xi couldn’t help but say, "They’re much faster than our larger ships with the wind and current in their favor. Never mind, let’s have someone take care of the wounded from both sides and Gan Yi tally the battle losses. We need to hurry and rendezvous with Xingba. We can’t afford to delay any longer on the Yangtze River."
"Our navy doesn’t seem to be very strong…" Zhuge Liang muttered quietly.
"Of course it’s not strong. It would be a wonder if a navy could be shipshape within two years. Besides, a lot of time has been spent on building and changing ships; we really haven’t had much time for proper training. The Yangtze River bandits, once mobilized by Zhou Yu, do not have weak combat power. For our navy to be at this level now, I’m already satisfied. In any case, it’s still a long way before we take Eastern Wu," Chen Xi nodded and said, for Gan Ning’s Navy was after all just reformed from the water pirates…
"Ah, there are problems with the ships, the crew, and the navy itself," Zhuge Liang sighed deeply, "reality always seems to fall short of what one has imagined. You suddenly realize there are so many things you haven’t done."
"Looks like I’ll have to write a plan again. First, let’s solidify our hold on Qingzhou and Xuzhou. We have essentially prepared for a northern expedition. Let’s hope that no natural disasters occur," Chen Xi sighed. "I’m not sure how far Zijing has gotten with the Qingzhou Academy plan. There’s so much to do when we return!"
"I always feel you have the intention to achieve great undertakings that would last a hundred generations in just one lifetime," Zhuge Liang said with a wry smile.
"If it’s possible to achieve great undertakings that would last a hundred generations in one lifetime, why not do it? Besides, it’s not as if it’s exhausting the people and ruining the finances. Wait until we have taken over Jizhou, and I’ll show you what is called a ’great undertaking that lasts a hundred generations,’" Chen Xi’s face revealed a hint of proud satisfaction.
To turn the land of the barbarians into the granary of the world, a canal must be there. And to prevent potential splits from the north, south, east, and west, the same canal is indispensable. Emperor Yang of Sui might have been a tyrant, but he was not a foolish ruler.
"A great undertaking that lasts a hundred generations?" The twitching of Zhuge Liang’s eyelids suggested that Chen Xi’s ambition was no casual jest.
"Yes, but it’s quite bothersome. I estimate that even if the world were at peace, it would still take ten to twenty years to complete. Let’s take our time," Chen Xi sighed and said, "Of course, if all the aristocratic families and merchants lend a hand, it might be just manageable. If all five Great Merchants invest, it should suffice for about ten percent. I always feel like they are very wealthy."
Listening to what Chen Xi had said, Zhuge Liang felt a chill all over. Only Chen Xi would dare to undertake such a grand project; no one else would even consider the thought.
"You’re not actually serious, are you?" Zhuge Liang’s eyelids twitched wildly. He couldn’t detect a hint of jest on Chen Xi’s face and guessed the man truly harbored such an ambitious plan. To drain every last penny from the Five Great Merchants just for ten percent... what kind of colossal project was this? Are you certain it won’t exhaust the people and ruin the finances?
"I’ve had this plan for a long time, and there are even crazier ones to follow. This is merely a preliminary plan, which hasn’t yet been put on the agenda. I’m just telling you to not focus on the present too much – there will be plenty of things to do in the future. It’s difficult to conquer a land, but building this nation poses an even greater challenge," said Chen Xi nonchalantly. In times of chaos, there are many refugees; millions, to be precise. Employing them in lieu of relief aid to complete the infrastructure, and then we can move on to the waterway construction.
"..." All of a sudden, Zhuge Liang felt a tremendous distance between himself and Chen Xi. The other’s governance skills were indeed extraordinary!
"There are many benefits?" After thinking it over, Zhuge Liang couldn’t help but ask.
(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)
