Chapter 2359 2087: The Ultimate State of Courting Death... Self-Destruction

Although Liu Bei's side does not forbid Zhou Yu and the Xiahou Brothers from investigating everywhere, both sides still maintain the necessary caution and do not dare to go deep at will.

So even though Liu Bei has clearly provided a rather relaxed atmosphere, in actual fact Zhou Yu and the others have only probed some superficial things. But even the strength displayed on the surface is already enough to leave Zhou Yu and the Xiahou Brothers utterly shocked.

Armored Soldiers and Elite Soldiers are very different in ancient times. Although some border garrisons that have stood guard for decades and fought without rest have Elite Soldiers whose Basic Combat Power absolutely does not lose to those carefully selected Armored Soldiers, if you want to calculate a country's true elite strength, you must use Armored Soldiers as the measure, because the equipment of Armored Soldiers is an important metric that everyone is forced to reference.

They are all Elite Soldiers, yet there is a considerable difference between wearing armor and not wearing armor. The great increase in defensive power causes the battlefield destructive power of Elite Soldiers to increase just as dramatically.

However, the enormous investment required for Armored Soldiers' armor is something that almost every nation deeply loathes. Even a Unified Dynasty cannot possibly have the number of Armored Soldiers that Zhou Yu and Xiahou Dun are seeing now. More importantly, it is obviously impossible for all of a force's Soldiers to be Armored Soldiers; in any power, Armored Soldiers are always the minority.

Even though Heaven and Earth Essence has revived and Elite Talent effects have greatly increased, when all other conditions are equal, the Combat Power of Armored Soldiers is definitely greater than that of Soldiers without armor.

Likewise, when the two sides' conditions are not equal, without the level of ability of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, most elites who try to rely on Talent to brute-force Armored Soldiers will suffer terribly.

As for the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, to be honest, even the Han Dynasty cannot have too many Dual Talent Xiliang Iron Cavalry. These Elite Troops, strictly speaking, long since surpassed the normal standard.

In contrast, it is the Armored Soldiers that are more telling. From what Zhou Yu now sees, if they can re-equip one hundred thousand elites, then they can probably re-equip even more Soldiers. This is already an extremely terrifying fact.

"Wen Ze, do you want to achieve Inner Qi Manifestation?" Taishi Ci poured Yu Jin a cup of wine and asked with a smile.

"If it's very complicated, or if it has any impact on you, then forget it. I'm usually in the rear directing, and generally I don't need to fight." Yu Jin's hand trembled, but his expression remained calm. He only paused slightly before speaking.

Taishi Ci informed Yu Jin of the situation in Fusang. "That's how it is. I think you've been stuck at Qi Refining to Gang for so many years and have kept striving, so achieving Inner Qi Manifestation shouldn't be difficult. Even though you're in command, having Inner Qi Manifestation strength as a foundation will also make things safer."

"I never said I don't need Inner Qi Manifestation strength. I only said that if it harms you, then I don't need it. But in a good thing like this, why wouldn't I take part?" Yu Jin's eyes lit up as he spoke. With this, he would no longer have the slightest shortcoming.

"By the way, Wen Ze, you've been drilling soldiers under our Lord for many years, so you should know which people have been stuck at this last step since the Yellow Turban Era. I plan to gather all these people and see whether they can break through." Taishi Ci said with a smile when he heard this, informing Yu Jin.

"Leave this matter to me. All Qi Refining to Gang military generals under our Lord's rule have been registered here with me, and there are several dozen who already reached the Qi Refining to Gang Peak during the Yellow Turban Period." Yu Jin recalled that list and spoke with a broad smile.

Back then, Yu Jin had counted almost all of the Qi Refining to Gang military generals under Liu Bei's command, and the Soldiers also liked to come report to Yu Jin. Because once you become Qi Refining to Gang, as long as you put in some effort, promotions come far faster than for ordinary Soldiers.

Although at higher positions there are some requirements for literacy and command ability, even if they know none of that and are just ordinary Qi Refining to Gang illiterates, as long as they are Qi Refining to Gang, after registration their treatment will be somewhat better than that of other Soldiers.

Thus, as long as Soldiers in the various legions still have their wits about them, the first thing they do upon entering Qi Refining to Gang is run over to Yu Jin to register. As a result, Yu Jin has detailed records here.

"How many Qi Refining to Gang do we actually have now?" Taishi Ci asked curiously.

"Within our armies, we have roughly one thousand or so Qi Refining to Gang." Yu Jin thought for a moment and said, "At the Centurion level, quite a few have already reached Qi Refining to Gang. The legion with the most Qi Refining to Gang is General Guan's, with a bit over a hundred Qi Refining to Gang, and by now there may be even more."

"Only this few?" Taishi Ci looked at Yu Jin in confusion and asked. In his view, this number should have been larger.

"This is already a lot. A few years ago, it was even fewer. Of the over one thousand Qi Refining to Gang now, half broke through only in recent years. Against these people, the Qi Refining to Gang from the Yellow Turban Era can fight two or three at once without issue." Yu Jin shook his head, refuting Taishi Ci's words.

"A few years ago under our Lord's rule, counting the Qi Refining to Gang who weren't in the army, we barely had one thousand people. Now under our Lord's rule, we probably already have around two thousand Qi Refining to Gang, and across the whole Central Plains there are estimated to be around three thousand three hundred." Yu Jin said with a touch of emotion.

"Only that many." Taishi Ci said rather helplessly. "In that case, there are probably even fewer at Qi Refining to Gang Peak."

"Mm, as I recall we have under one hundred here on our side." Yu Jin thought for a moment and said, "But in this sort of matter, if one gains it, it is one's good fortune; if one loses it, it is one's fate. To achieve it is best of all; if one cannot, one cannot blame anyone else."