Chapter 233
Xiahou Yuan did not make another move.
He stared at Chen Ye for a moment, then suddenly spoke:
"Young man, you're better than me!"
With those words, Xiahou Yuan turned and walked away.
He was thoroughly impressed by Chen Ye's strength and didn't feel it was appropriate to try and recruit him.
A warrior of such caliber was a rare find, and someone only Cao Cao would have the authority to recruit.
Seeing Xiahou Yuan leave so decisively, Chen Ye was momentarily surprised.
He had thought that Xiahou Yuan might challenge him to a weapons match instead!
After all, generals like Xiahou Yuan were not known for their unarmed combat skills. Their true prowess lay in their mastery of battlefield tactics and their ability to lead troops in battle. With weapons in hand and mounted on horseback, they could unleash their full potential.
…
When the surrounding soldiers saw Xiahou Yuan voluntarily concede, they were all shocked.
In their eyes, Xiahou Yuan still had the strength to continue fighting.
But only Xiahou Yuan knew that he and Luo Xiu were on completely different levels in both strength and speed. No matter how much experience he had in battle, the gap between them in these two areas was simply too great for him to win.
"Wow, Shura is just too amazing!"
"Impressive, really impressive—he actually made General Xiahou surrender!"
"Damn, just based on his basic attributes, Shura could probably reach B-level strength, right?"
Amid the Reincarnators' discussions, Xiahou Yuan returned to the watchtower.
As soon as he arrived, Xiahou Dun hurriedly asked, "Miaocai, why did you give up so quickly?"
Xiahou Dun was Xiahou Yuan's cousin. Both were from Qiao County in Pei State, and being relatives, they were naturally very close within Cao's army.
Xiahou Yuan shook his head and said, "Brother, that kid is a freak of nature, with immense strength and an astonishing physique. Even the legendary Flying General would struggle against him!"
Upon hearing Xiahou Yuan's words, the surrounding generals were stunned.
The Flying General.
That was Lü Bu's nickname.
And Lü Bu was undoubtedly the mightiest warrior of the Three Kingdoms era.
For Xiahou Yuan to say that even Lü Bu couldn't match Chen Ye was an astonishingly high praise.
Immediately, a few generals expressed their disbelief.
"Miaocai, don't speak nonsense!"
"A mere nobody from the countryside, how could he possibly compare to the Flying General?"
It wasn't surprising that these generals were skeptical. Lü Bu was universally recognized as the foremost warrior, and even as his opponents, they had to acknowledge Lü Bu's prowess.
There's an old saying: "In literature, there is no first place, but in martial arts, there is no second!"
Warriors are inherently proud.
They had barely gotten over Lü Bu's death, and now Xiahou Yuan was saying that someone might be even stronger than Lü Bu. How could they accept that?
Xiahou Yuan gave a cold smile. "That kid is right there on the platform. If you don't believe me, you're welcome to go test him yourself."
At this, a few of the generals fell silent.
Though Xiahou Yuan wasn't as formidable as Xiahou Dun, he was still a first-rate general, and his skills were beyond question.
If even Xiahou Yuan admitted he wasn't a match for this person, what chance would they have if they went up?
With so many people watching, they didn't want to risk embarrassing themselves.
However, there were still some highly confident generals who refused to back down.
"I don't believe it! I'll go see for myself!"
The speaker was a towering, burly man.
As soon as the other generals saw who it was, they quickly made way…
…
"You have gained 1 Prestige Point. Current Prestige: 3656/1000."
"You have gained 1 Prestige Point. Current Prestige: 3657/1000."
"You have gained 1 Prestige Point. Current Prestige: 3658/1000."
…
…
Xiahou Yuan's surrender had earned Chen Ye another wave of prestige.
Chen Ye stood on the platform for a long time, and no one dared to challenge him.
Just when Chen Ye thought it was over, he suddenly felt the ground begin to shake.
Shortly after, an enormous, burly man walked onto the platform.
This man stood over eight feet tall, with a waist circumference ten times that, a fierce appearance, and eyes like copper bells—he exuded an aura of overwhelming power!
With every step he took, the ground seemed to tremble.
In terms of height, Chen Ye wasn't much shorter than the man.
But in terms of build, Chen Ye was significantly smaller…
This man was simply too massive; he looked to weigh at least over 400 pounds.
"I am Xu Chu. Hey, kid, I hear you're pretty strong. Let's see how strong."
Xu Chu's voice was as deep and resonant as a lion's roar.
Hearing the man's introduction, Chen Ye's eyes lit up.
Xu Chu, also known by his courtesy name Zhongkang, was nicknamed "Tiger Marquis"!
He also had another nickname, "Tiger Fool," a title earned through his incredible bravery and strength.
When it came to the mightiest warriors of the Three Kingdoms, Lü Bu was the undisputed number one!
However, when it came to sheer physical strength, few could compare to Xu Chu.
In his youth, Xu Chu once exchanged a cow for grain with bandits during a time of famine. After the cow had been handed over, it ran back, and Xu Chu dragged it by the tail for a hundred steps. The bandits were so shocked they didn't dare take the cow and fled. From then on, Xu Chu's name was feared throughout the regions of Huai, Ru, Chen, and Liang!
Later, he followed Cao Cao and protected him countless times.
He once fought Zhao Yun for thirty rounds in Rangshan, with neither gaining the upper hand!
During the Battle of Weinan, one of the Five Tiger Generals, Ma Chao, had planned to ambush Cao Cao but abandoned the idea when he learned Xu Chu was there.
The reason Xu Chu's achievements weren't as illustrious was that after joining Cao Cao, he mainly served as his bodyguard and rarely led troops into battle, so his battle record was limited.
While Xu Chu's martial skills might not have been extraordinary, his strength was absolutely top-notch.
Even Zhang Fei, renowned for his might, couldn't quite match Xu Chu in terms of raw power.
Looking at Xu Chu, Chen Ye smiled.
Xu Chu was a clever man. He knew his strength was in his great physical power and that his weakness was a slight lack of speed, so he proposed a test of strength.
"How would you like to compete, General?" Chen Ye asked.
Xu Chu chuckled, "How about we wrestle?"
Wrestling is essentially a test of raw physical strength.
When the crowd heard this, they couldn't help but secretly curse Xu Chu for being shameless!
Such a competition was blatantly unfair to Chen Ye.
In a wrestling match, besides strength, body size also played a crucial role.
With Xu Chu's massive size, he had an overwhelming advantage in wrestling.
"Damn, that fat guy is so shameless!"
"With everyone watching, how can he even suggest such a thing?"
"Wrestling? Why not a footrace instead?"
"Just for his audacity, I gotta respect him!"
"Shura, don't fall for it!"
The Reincarnators were buzzing with discussion.
It wasn't just them; even the soldiers around them felt this challenge was too much.
Even the generals on the watchtower, hearing Xu Chu's booming voice, couldn't bear to watch.
"Zhongkang, this is beneath you!"
"Even if you win, it wouldn't be honorable!"
Because Xu Chu was one of Cao Cao's most trusted generals, the other generals were careful with their words and refrained from directly calling him out as shameless.
Of course, another reason was that everyone knew Xu Chu was a headstrong person. Except for Cao Cao, he didn't care what others thought of him.
On the platform.
To everyone's surprise, Chen Ye actually agreed…
"As the General wishes, we'll wrestle!"
Hearing this, the crowd was taken aback.
No one expected this man named Luo Xiu to accept the wrestling challenge.
Though he didn't look particularly muscular, he dared to wrestle with a giant like Xu Chu?
Everyone unanimously thought that Chen Ye was being overly confident!
It seemed Xiahou Yuan's surrender had made him too self-assured.
But only Chen Ye knew what he was doing.
Wrestling with Xu Chu was indeed unwise.
But!!
If he won, the prestige (and the bragging rights) would be off the charts.
For that, Chen Ye was willing to take the risk!
"Hahaha! Good lad, you've got guts!"
Xu Chu laughed heartily, then slowly crouched down into a sumo stance and said, "Come on!"
Crack! Crack!
Chen Ye clenched his fists, assuming a forward-leaning stance as he slowly approached Xu Chu.
"Hah!"
Suddenly, Xu Chu let out a loud shout and charged at Chen Ye with increased speed.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With each step, the ground trembled, and he advanced with his hands outstretched, resembling a charging locomotive.
In the next moment.
Xu Chu and Chen Ye's hands collided with great force.
"Boom!"
A loud crash echoed.
The force was so intense that the stone slabs beneath Chen Ye's feet shattered.
Everyone felt as though the platform itself might be torn apart by these two monsters…
But what was even more surprising was that Chen Ye had stopped Xu Chu
's charge!!
Without budging an inch!
On the watchtower, the generals were astonished.
They had been skeptical of Xiahou Yuan's assessment, but now it seemed this Luo Xiu truly did rival Lü Bu in strength…
Cao Cao watched Chen Ye on the platform, a gleam of excitement in his eyes, his face breaking into a pleased smile.
This young man was truly a peerless general of his time!
And even better, he was under Cao Cao's command!
If not for the need to maintain his dignity as a leader, Cao Cao would have shouted, "Heaven is truly on my side!" right then and there.
"Well done!"
On the platform!
Xu Chu bellowed, grabbing Chen Ye's shoulders, trying to muster the strength to throw him off the platform.
But despite Xu Chu's face turning red with effort, he couldn't move Chen Ye at all…
Chen Ye, meanwhile, remained calm, his eyes showing a hint of admiration for Xu Chu.
This guy's strength was indeed impressive.
Chen Ye estimated that with the system's enhancement, Xu Chu's strength attribute was around 250 points.
That was already terrifying!
However, it still fell short of Chen Ye's 403 points of strength.
So Xu Chu simply couldn't overpower Chen Ye.
"General Xu, I apologize in advance!"
As soon as Chen Ye finished speaking, he suddenly launched his counterattack.
…