Chapter 54: Non-human Power

Some say this chapter was swallowed by Dianniang. I can read it on my computer, but I noticed that I'm not the only one saying it was swallowed, so I've reposted it. To those who have already read it, please forgive me...

Zhao Yun's motion of wiping his weapon paused, and Guan Yu's motion of stroking his beard also froze, his hand gripping his beard motionless. Hua Xiong felt as if his eyes were about to be blinded by that high-speed flying boulder; this was truly human strength.

From the moment he saw that tiny speck to the moment that speck hit the ground and smashed a small meteorite crater, it was almost instantaneous. If not for his enhanced spiritual power and significantly improved dynamic vision, Chen Xi felt he wouldn't have been able to see it clearly at all.

[This strength is definitely abnormal. That was a stone weighing hundreds of catties, thrown directly above the speed of sound. If this were in my previous world, using a brick to shoot down a plane probably wouldn't even be an issue.] Chen Xi felt his worldview needed reconstruction again. If that had hit directly, only masters at the level of "Internal Qi Leaving the Body" could likely withstand it.

"Boom!" A loud crash rang out, followed by a tremor in the earth. Xu Chu scratched his head; having heard no more shouting from outside, he assumed the opponent was dead. He turned to walk back, carrying his great saber, thinking that in his memory, this single strike should have been enough to drive away that group of mountain bandits.

"Xu Chu, come out and face me!" Zhang Fei was also startled after dodging the boulder. He understood now that Chen Xi wasn't joking; the opponent's strength was absolutely top-tier. Suddenly, his blood boiled. He gripped his serpent spear tightly and licked his lips; only a true expert could stimulate his passion.

"Not dead?" That was Xu Chu's first reaction upon hearing the voice, followed immediately by fury. The fellow who ruined his lunch hadn't been killed by him? He gripped his great saber and jogged out from the main gate of Xu Family Village.

"You thief! State your name! Lord Xu does not strike those without names!" Xu Chu shouted arrogantly. To be honest, he still hadn't quite grasped the situation. As for Liu Bei and his group, who were a short distance behind Zhang Fei, he didn't pay them any mind; he was extremely confident in his own strength.

The voice arrived before the man. When he saw a mass of muscle nearly as large as a wall riding a thin horse toward them, the expressions of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei both turned solemn. He was truly a fierce general.

Chen Xi, however, wasn't focused on Xu Chu's appearance. He knew Xu Chu's strength better than anyone. His attention was entirely on what Xu Chu had said. Hearing Xu Chu's arrogant shouting, he burst into laughter, burying his head in his horse's mane, his body twitching uncontrollably. This sentence likely sent Zhang Fei into a towering rage; even Lu Bu had never been this insolent toward Zhang Fei.

"You're the thief! Zhang Yide of the Yan people is here!" Zhang Fei cursed loudly, then lunged toward Xu Chu with his serpent spear, looking as if he truly wanted to puncture several holes in Xu Chu's body.

"Clang!" The sound of metal clashing rang out. Upon making contact, Xu Chu realized that Zhang Fei was the strongest expert he had ever encountered. He exerted a sudden burst of force to push Zhang Fei back, then licked his lips and tightened his grip on his great saber. The blood rushing in his chest made him ignore his previous anger; he craved a battle, rather than wasting away at home reading those "Book of Han" or "Doctrine of the Mean"—what kind of nonsense was even written in those things!

Every time mountain bandits came, it was Xu Chu's happiest time. He could ride his thin horse with his great saber and drive them away, yet he never used his full strength to slaughter them all. Afterward, he would enter that state of reading "heavenly books" again, and his father would beat him senseless with a stick for not studying. However, for the thick-skinned and tough Xu Chu, his father's stick-based education was no different from being bitten by a mosquito, so his father had stopped bothering him about it.

Xu Chu swung his great saber, completely ignoring Zhang Fei's attacks. He couldn't catch up to Zhang Fei's speed, so he didn't bother chasing him. Since the serpent spear was so long, if he hit the shaft, the spear would deflect. Xu Chu had an innate, intense confidence in his own strength; if he couldn't figure something out, he would just smash it hard, and then everything would become clear.

Zhang Fei was becoming frustrated. Although Xu Chu hadn't landed any effective hits on him yet, that abnormal brute force caused a burning sensation in Zhang Fei's hands every time they clashed. Zhang Fei remembered that he himself was the "King of Strength," possessing a massive power that even Lu Bu found startling, yet now he was being suppressed by a brute.

Once again, Xu Chu couldn't distinguish Zhang Fei's attacks, so his great saber erupted with a powerful black light once more, smashing violently toward Zhang Fei.

[This brute!] Zhang Fei was enraged. He took a deep breath, his muscles swelling. He pivoted the tip of his spear and thrust fiercely at Xu Chu's great saber. He finally understood: this brute had no technique and was quite slow, but his power was too immense. To win, he had to suppress the opponent's strength with a single blow and then defeat him before he could react.

Zhang Fei executed the "Heavy Sword Technique" as explained by Zhao Yun. In that instant, there was a loud crack, and the serpent spear seemed to become several times heavier as it struck the tip of Xu Chu's saber. His goal was to knock Xu Chu's great saber away.

Well, Zhang Fei's Heavy Sword Technique was only half-baked—slow and lacking power—but it held up because Xu Chu was even slower, and Zhang Fei's own strength was sufficient.

Zhang Fei's long-awaited strike finally collided with the tip of Xu Chu's saber. As the weight hit his hands, Xu Chu realized something was wrong; the massive strength in his arms gripped his saber tightly, and he took the full brunt of Zhang Fei's Heavy Sword Technique.

The two passed each other. When they turned their horses around again, Zhang Fei clearly saw mist rising from Xu Chu's body. He stared with wide, bull-like eyes. That moment of massive recoil had nearly knocked the serpent spear from Zhang Fei's hands; half-baked techniques were dangerous!

"Again!" Xu Chu shouted excitedly. He felt as if he were burning. For the first time in many years, he had this feeling. The approaching danger brought a sense of heartfelt comfort; this sensation stimulated his brain and his body, causing the latent power within him to surge forth continuously!

[I should be walking upon the battlefield, not nesting at home reading books. Slaying enemy generals in battle is what I am meant to do. Studying hard is not for someone like me!] For the first time, Xu Chu conceived a thought completely different from the ideology his father had constantly instilled in him.

Zhang Fei realized he absolutely could not continue to compete with Xu Chu in terms of strength. This brute's physique truly represented his power; being one and a half times his width actually brought one and a half times his strength. Fortunately, he wasn't fast; otherwise, there would be no need to fight—even without any technique, no one could defeat him. Such strength was enough to ignore most techniques.

Just as Zhang Fei prepared to change his style and use speed to suppress Xu Chu, Xu Chu's swinging great saber simply shattered. Only half of it remained; the rest had turned into fragments that flew out the moment he swung it.

Zhang Fei was stunned, and Xu Chu was stunned as well.

A gust of wind blew, kicking up dust. Xu Chu reacted, "Hey, you! Wait a moment. I'll go change my blade, eat some lunch, and then we fight again!"

"I'll wait for you. Fighting you has made me hungry too," Zhang Fei said with a wave of his hand, indicating he had no habit of bullying someone without a weapon.

Xu Chu rode his horse into Xu Family Village, and Zhang Fei returned to Liu Bei's group.

"How do you feel, Third Brother? Are your hands numb? I saw you going head-to-head with him earlier. Was it thrilling?" Chen Xi asked teasingly.

"That black brute is quite formidable, but your Third Brother will definitely win," Zhang Fei promised, patting his chest.

Chen Xi rolled his eyes and looked at Liu Bei, only to see Liu Bei looking toward Xu Family Village with a look of joy. He had an extraordinary fondness for fierce generals, and a brute like Xu Chu met all his preferences.

(End of Chapter)