Chapter Forty-Three: The Balance Has Shifted a Little Too Far—Part Two

"The fifth balanced individual is the Master of War, Chiyou. Command: 99, Might: 110, Intelligence: 86, Politics: 94, Charisma: 82. His implanted identity is an orphan encountered by Zhang Jiao in the deep mountains, currently fifteen years old. Deeply enamored by his innate talent, Zhang Jiao took him in as his final closed-door disciple, treated him like his own flesh and blood, and nurtured him as his successor. His equipped weapons are the Tiger Soul Blade and the mount is the Iron-Eating Beast."

"Ding! Due to his age, Chiyou has not yet reached his prime. His current five dimensions are: Command: 88, Might: 106, Intelligence: 80, Politics: 86, Charisma: 80."

Although this was not his first time seeing Chiyou's stats, Li Xiang still couldn't help but marvel at them.

Chiyou truly lived up to being a formidable figure capable of contending with the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan. Aside from intelligence and charisma, his five dimensions possessed virtually no flaws, not to mention his heaven-defying might, while even his command attribute was on the verge of reaching a hundred.

Furthermore, although Chiyou's intelligence was slightly on the lower side, that was only relative to the renowned tacticians in history. If anyone were conceited enough to think Chiyou lacked intelligence and plotted against him, Chiyou's first-rate intelligence was definitely not something to be taken lightly.

Moreover, the emergence of the Master of War, Chiyou, also meant that Xing Tian finally had a peerless rival; the days when Xing Tian was invincible in might throughout the world had come to an end.

Yet, no matter how formidable this Master of War, Chiyou, might be, Li Xiang trusted Xing Tian as always. The God of War, Xing Tian, should not be inferior to anyone.

"The sixth balanced individual is the Military God of the Chu State, Xiang Yan. Command: 97, Might: 95, Intelligence: 89, Politics: 78. His implanted identity is a descendant of the Xiang clan of the Chu State. After the failure of Xiang Yu during the Chu-Han Contention, to evade the pursuit of the new dynasty, he changed his name and lived in seclusion in the old lands of Jing-Chu. Never forgetting the humiliation of his ancestors, he constantly prepared to rise with the momentum and restore the former Chu when the Han Dynasty weakened. He brings along six individuals: Xiang Liang, Xiang Bo, Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Sheng, Xiang Tuo, and Xiang Yin."

Perhaps in the past, Li Xiang would have considered Xiang Yan a trouble, but with Genghis Khan Temüjin and the First Emperor Ying Zheng having been successively balanced into the world, Li Xiang felt nothing more than indifference toward an opponent like Xiang Yan. Dealing with this Xiang Yan with his current lineup might not be effortless, but it would certainly be a breeze.

However, Li Xiang was still quite puzzled as to why Xiang Yu did not emerge alongside Xiang Yan. Without Xiang Yu, the deterrent force of the Xiang clan would be vastly diminished. Without Xiang Yu, as the future chaotic era began, such a Xiang clan would not even qualify to participate in that game called the world. Surely Xiang Yu wouldn't be balanced separately, would he?

Indeed, bad news travels fast. Speak of the devil, and Xiang Yu truly arrived, even faster than Cao Cao.

"The seventh balanced individual:
The Overlord of Western Chu, Xiang Yu. Command: 98, Might: 110, Intelligence: 86, Politics: 78, Charisma: 99. His implanted identity is the grandson of Xiang Yan and the young master of the Xiang clan. Despite being only fifteen years old, he has already displayed heaven-defying valor, comparable to the original Overlord of Western Chu. Xiang Yu is regarded as the hope of the Xiang clan, and to inspire him, Xiang Yan had his name changed to Yu, hoping that Xiang Yu could lead the Xiang clan to a resurgence. He brings along seven individuals: Yu Ji, Fan Zeng, Long Ju, Ji Bu, Ying Bu, Zhongli Mei, and Yu Ziqi. He is equipped with the Heavenly Dragon Halberd, the Wuzhui Steed, and the Azure Sea Flood Dragon Armor."

"Ding! Currently limited by his age, Xiang Yu has not yet reached his prime. His current five dimensions are: Command: 90, Might: 105, Intelligence: 75, Politics: 69, Charisma: 90."

Humph, only after seeing Xiang Yu's emergence did Li Xiang slightly regard the Xiang clan with importance, but it was merely a slight regard. Compared to treating Genghis Khan and Qin Shi Huang like facing a formidable enemy, the difference was as vast as heaven and earth.

Was this because Xiang Yu was not strong? No, Xiang Yu was naturally very strong. The valor of Yu was unparalleled through the ages. His base might, which reached the absolute ceiling, was the best proof of this. Furthermore, his command ability was also formidable; the Battle of Julu was inherently a rare military legend.

Yet, strong as Xiang Yu was, in certain aspects he could be said to be incomparably weak. He was far too conceited. He was so conceited that he cast aside divine talents like Chen Ping and Han Xin as if they were worn-out shoes, and he was so conceited that he possessed a divine strategist like Fan Zeng yet was unable to utilize him.

Perhaps Xiang Yu's might was supreme in the world, but he was far from qualified to be a monarch. If Xiang Yu chose the path of contending for the deer in the world, his only outcome would be failure, regardless of whether it was in his past life or the present one.

Besides, the current era was not the era at the end of the Qin Dynasty where Xiang Yu was invincible in might throughout the world. Not to mention the unrevealed Li Si, Li Yuanba, and the Thirteenth Taibao Li Cunxiao, just looking at the already emerged God of War Xing Tian and Master of War Chiyou, which one of them was inferior to him, the Overlord Xiang Yu?

"Ding! The balancing is now complete, with a total of seven individuals balanced. Congratulations to the host for obtaining a randomized summoning card as compensation for the balancing process. The host currently has 176 remaining summoning points, one peerless talent summoning card, one randomized summoning card, and one historical beauty summoning card. Does the host wish to initiate a summoning?"

Li Xiang had originally planned to summon a few more at once, but the emergence of so many formidable enemies this time left him still reeling. Therefore, he temporarily shelved the idea of continuing to summon; good food is never late anyway.

"Forget it, system. No summoning for now. You may withdraw first."

"Bzz, bzz, bzz-bzz, bzz-bzz-bzz..."

Before Li Xiang could wait for the system's response, it suddenly emitted a strange sound. Li Xiang thought the system had malfunctioned and instantly panicked. This system was his reliance for contending for supremacy in the world; otherwise, Li Xiang himself would not have had the confidence to defeat all those formidable enemies at this stage.

"System, system, are you alright? System, system...?"

However, the system never responded and continued to emit that buzzing sound incessantly.

Time slowly passed amidst Li Xiang's chaotic thoughts. Unawares, the sun had already set, and the system finally gave a response.

"Ding, Host, I have one good news and one bad news to tell you. Which one would the host like to hear first?"

Abruptly hearing the system's voice, Li Xiang finally let go of the heart that had been hanging in his throat. As for any bad news, in Li Xiang's mind, it didn't amount to much. What bad news could possibly be worse than the system malfunctioning?

"System, tell me the good news first," Li Xiang said with a relaxed expression.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining one exclusive martial arts gift bag and one exclusive equipment gift bag. Does the host wish to open them?"

This truly was good news. With these two gift bags, it seemed his might was about to usher in a period of rapid growth. Although he cared more about the other dimensions, might was also very important, and he had never planned to neglect it.

"System, you've finally done a good deed. Hurry up and open these two gift bags!" Li Xiang said excitedly.

"Ding! The exclusive martial arts gift bag has been opened. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Heaven-Breaking Spear Technique, the Imperial Dao Swordsmanship, and the Sun-Shooting Archery Technique."

"Ding! The exclusive equipment gift bag has been opened. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Overlord Moon Heaven-Breaking Spear, the Chixiao Sword, the Universe Wuji Bow, the Dragon-Tiger Roaring Heaven Armor, and the treasured steed Saluzi."