Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 616 - 583: The Strength of Zhao Yun

Zhao Yun looked at the elephant and the lion; they were indeed formidable animals, but their levels of Inner Qi were only at Qi Refining to Gang, which wasn’t overly surprising. After all, he had killed several Qi Refining to Gang crocodiles in the Yangtze River before, but the sight of the Curly-Haired Red Hare in front of him made him take things much more seriously.

"Hissss~" The Curly-Haired Red Hare snorted at Zhao Yun and involuntarily shook its hooves twice. Animals’ instincts were far more sensitive compared to humans, and the Red Hare realized the moment it saw Zhao Yun that the man before it was extremely dangerous, and so it immediately stopped its lazy munching of food.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a treasured horse," Zhao Yun said with wonder. However, more than the Curly-Haired Red Hare itself, he was interested in that small object hanging under its neck, looking like a jade bead.

He reached out and patted the neck of the Curly-Haired Red Hare, a horse capable of Inner Qi Manifestation. This was the fourth such horse he knew of able to achieve Inner Qi Manifestation Rank, and in terms of the level of Inner Qi, this one was even more formidable than his Night Illuminating Jade Lion, second only to the Red Hare ridden by Lyu Bu. As for the treasured horse given to his senior brother by his master, it was probably on the same level as his Night Illuminating Jade Lion, though its potential for growth surely couldn’t compare with that of his lion.

The Curly-Haired Red Hare didn’t reject Zhao Yun outright—more accurately, it was wary of him. Compared to the spirituality of the Night Illuminating Jade Lion and the Red Hare, the Curly-Haired Red Hare was clearly still awakening, its intelligence significantly lower. Nonetheless, it was precisely because of this lesser intelligence that Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping were able to bring it back.

"General’s divine might is overwhelming indeed. On our journey, this horse accepted food and shelter from me but would let no one touch it. One servant seized an opportunity to jump on its back and ended up getting thrown half to death," Su Shuang said hurriedly as he congratulated Zhao Yun, sensing that Zhao Yun was very likely to subdue the horse.

"It is indeed a fine horse," Zhao Yun nodded, but alas, he already had a more suitable mount in the Night Illuminating Jade Lion, even though it wasn’t as powerful as the Curly-Haired Red Hare.

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"Then we shall present it to the general. We have no use for such a valuable horse. I believe that only by galloping across the battlefield is its true purpose fulfilled," Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping unhesitatingly offered the horse to Zhao Yun.

"Indeed, it’s a fine horse and there might be only three horses in the world that could surpass it. But I have no need for it; the Night Illuminating Jade Lion has been with me for a long time, and we have a tacit understanding. This horse could be given to another general," Zhao Yun shook his head, his eyes fixed on the jade bead between its neck, feeling an additional kind of power emanating from it—the residue of the Divine Stone Core’s power.

"The general jests. We wouldn’t be able to take this horse back easily anyway; if it wants to leave, we couldn’t stop it, and if it wants to stay, we have no say. We couldn’t bear to see such a treasured horse run away; it would be better for the general to take care of it, and if there is a suitable general later on, you could bestow it upon them," Su Shuang said with a wry smile, the horse proving to be a real source of trouble for them both.

Zhao Yun thought it over and realized that the situation was precisely as Su Shuang had described. He nodded, agreeing to take care of the horse for Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping.

Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping exchanged a glance, feeling much relieved. The elephant and the lion were nothing to worry about. After all, they were creatures tamed by King Mulu, commanded by the Southern Barbarian People, suitable to be taken back to watch over the home and serve as protectors. But this horse was a very different problem—despite being acquired in exchange, it was entirely uncontrollable, free to come and go as it pleased.

According to the estimates of Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping, the main reason the horse might not want to leave was that they had been feeding it well throughout the journey. On the boat trip over, the Curly-Haired Red Hare, which had been lean before, put on a lot of weight, and its fur had become much glossier than when it was in the Southern Barbarians’ land.

They fed it meticulously prepared meals with eggs at regular intervals, and even greens at scheduled times in the evening—compared to the grass diet it had in the Southern Barbarians’ land, it was in a totally different league—no wonder it filled out so quickly.

Feeding the horse along the way was not a significant expense for Su Shuang, but the prospect of this treasured horse running away after being well-fed or being taken by someone else—Su Shuang certainly couldn’t accept that!

Thus, Su Shuang and his companion decided to use the Curly-Haired Red Hare to gain goodwill with the civil officials and military generals under Liu Bei’s command. After all, Liu Bei himself would definitely refuse the gift, but such a fine horse should naturally be given to a valiant general. After careful consideration, they resolutely traveled to Xuzhou to find Zhao Yun.

Handsome and elegant, approachable, excelling in martial arts, and of good character, Zhao Zilong possessed all these advantages. Moreover, Su Shuang and his companion believed that even if Zhao Yun had no use for it, he would surely mention them when gifting the horse to someone else, ensuring they would not suffer a loss!

"I’m genuinely grateful to you both," Zhao Yun said with a cupped fist salute. He patted the Curly-Haired Red Hare’s mane and ran his hand through it a couple of times. The Curly-Haired Red Hare, perceiving the situation, sensibly shook its head and leaned towards Zhao Yun. Although it wasn’t as clever as the Night Illuminating Jade Lion, it was already endowed with intelligence and at least knew which people not to provoke.

"Report, general, a letter from Mount Tai." Just as Zhao Yun was soothing the precious horse, a messenger soldier rushed over and handed him a letter.

Petting the Curly-Haired Red Hare’s neck, the animal took the hint and moved aside, continuing to nip at the fine fodder from Su Shuang’s supply team.

"It looks like we will both need to return to Mount Tai together," Zhao Yun said with a smile after reading the letter. Chen Xi’s letter had already made the current situation clear.

[Lyu Bu has actually become this terrifying.] Zhao Yun thought silently. [It seems all conditions might have reached their limits. This guy is really too powerful. I haven’t even reached the seventh Inner Qi Manifestation Perfection, and each time it’s slower than the last. When could I possibly achieve the ninth?]

Zhao Yun felt that he had really been foolish back in his younger days. Because of physical reasons, he cultivated Flexible Internal Qi. Later, before leaving the mountain, during his master’s impartation, he impulsively used his master’s Rigidity Inner Qi to break through his own Flexible Internal Qi. As a result, the Flexible Internal Qi collapsed entirely, and then imploded, compressing all the Inner Qi infused by his master into an Inner Qi Core.

It was a life and death experience for Zhao Yun. If not for Tong Yuan giving him a fragment of the Divine Stone Core that he had obtained by accident to swallow, using the power of the Divine Stone Core to cast an Inner Qi Core for Zhao Yun, he would have surely met his demise.

This was also the reason why Zhao Yun’s two types of Inner Qi merged indistinguishably, as well as why, though he cultivated Flexible Internal Qi, it possessed all the effects of Rigidity Inner Qi.

In short, the current situation was that Zhao Yun’s Inner Qi could switch between rigidity and flexibility. However, the price was that each time his Inner Qi cultivation reached Inner Qi Manifestation Perfection, it collapsed back to the core, and he had to cultivate again from scratch.

Fortunately, each time it fell back to the Early Stage of Inner Qi Manifestation and then recovered to its peak, his strength also continuously grew.

According to Tong Yuan’s estimate, if Zhao Yun could one day use the purified Inner Qi from that core, his strength would take an enormous leap.

Of course, Tong Yuan estimated that if Zhao Yun were to use that force, he could only shatter the Inner Qi Core with the power of the Divine Stone Core and then possess the strength almost equal to ten Ultimate Inner Qi Manifestation martial generals. Alas, after using it, he would surely die~ (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)