The second mention of Chen Shi was in 221–222 during the Battle of Xiaoting, which was fought between Liu Bei and his ally-turned-rival, Sun Quan, the founding emperor of the Eastern Wu state. Liu Bei, then already the emperor of the Shu Han state, had amassed an army to attack Sun Quan and seize back Jing Province, which Sun Quan captured from him in 219. In the initial stages of the battle, Liu Bei ordered Chen Shi and Wu Ban to lead the Shu navy and station at Yiling (; southeast of present-day Yichang, Hubei) in between the east and west banks of the Yangtze River.