Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang: First Meeting

Short story

The great river flows east, its waves sweeping away all the heroes of the ages. West of the old ramparts, people say, was the Red Cliffs of Zhou Yu, from the Three Kingdoms. Jagged rocks pierce the sky, and raging waves crash against the shore, churning up heaps of snow. The land is picturesque, and so many heroes once graced its shores.

Zhuge Liang was not yet thirty, yet he stood eight feet tall, with a handsome bearing and a refined air. He stood outside the great hall, looking at the many heroes of Jiangdong. Zhou Yu had not returned the day before, and Zhuge Liang had debated the scholars of Jiangdong. He had thought their strategists, though numerous, were all mediocre, with no one who could match him. Now that he had met Zhou Yu, he realized that Jiangdong had its heroes too.

Zhou Yu was renowned far and wide. He knew there were many strategists in this age, especially those who thought highly of themselves. Unfortunately, most were merely seeking fame. They had read a few books by the sages and learned to write ornate prose, then thought themselves great scholars of their time, when they were empty-headed fools. Bravery without strategy could not make a general; strategy without courage was even more useless. Zhuge Liang was young, not yet thirty, yet he had an otherworldly bearing, courage, and wisdom. It was a pity that he had already pledged himself to Liu Bei. Otherwise, Zhou Yu would surely have invited him to Jiangdong.

A guide to reading this story:

1. I know these two may not have had much of a relationship in history. This story's Battle of Red Cliffs draws partly on history and partly on Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

2. It mainly focuses on Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang. The other characters receive little attention.

3. The characters differ from their portrayal in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and are closer to the historical record. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang are both magnanimous men with the whole world in their hearts.

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A feel-good power-up story with a strong female lead. Updated daily. Please add it to your favorites.

In the future, people will no longer be able to choose their own jobs. The most powerful System will assign them work based on their spiritual power test results.

Graduates of every major and educational background must take the annual spiritual power test.

Their majors and grades will correspond to their combat ratings.

The System will assign jobs according to each person's assessed rank.

Yan Yu is thrown into the elimination round from the start, but she is no pushover. She can carry the whole team.

She starts with a bag and has to scavenge for all her gear.

Taking on monsters, solving puzzles, and competing are all easy for her.

Her love interest seems to have cheat abilities, leveling up through sheer luck all the way.

A career-focused, leveling-up female lead X a tactical advisor with a dog-head avatar

She wants to prove that she is not useless, and that success is about more than competing for profit.

The first instance puts her through the wringer, spurring her on. She gradually grows stronger after the revival round.

What secrets are hidden behind the supposedly fair spiritual power test?

Instance 1: The Cave of Life and Death (preliminaries)

Instance 2: Abandoned Chemical Plant (revival round)

Instance 3: Snow Mountain Operation

Instance 4: Crossing the Rift

Instance 5: Volcano Expedition

Interlude: The Sailboat Hotel

Instance 6: Night Voyage Across the Barren Sea

The romance develops slowly at first, and there are many hints. Nothing to worry about.

Scene:

The four of them were each in a different state of mind.

Yan Yu: Oh, he knows! These people are all talk. Not one of them can fight.

Cheng Ci: I'm giving you a chance! How could I let anything happen to you while I'm here?

Shen Chen: Anyone can go. What matters is taking the enemy down in one move.

Tang Jiutang: What do your big shots' love-and-hate entanglements have to do with me?

Theme: Kindred spirits.