Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 617 - 584: Preparing for Another Battle

This was why Zhao Yun could detect the aura of the Divine Stone Core; after all, a fragment of the Divine Stone Core was sealed within Zhao Yun’s Inner Qi Core. But speaking of which, Zhao Yun figured that Lyu Bu must have accidentally swallowed the Divine Stone Core. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to be so powerful.

Zhao Yun knew his own circumstances well. In his previous six reworkings, the first three attempts at Inner Qi Manifestation had not reached perfection, causing the Qi stored within to collapse, necessitating direct reworking.

It was not until the fourth and fifth attempts, when he achieved perfection in Inner Qi Manifestation, that he couldn’t resist the pressure from the core and had to rework again. His sixth reworking took place after the great battle under Hulao Pass, where he had many insights, and then he achieved the Ultimate Inner Qi Manifestation on Mount Tai before he reworked.

During his sixth reworking, his strength was undeniably at the pinnacle of the world. But when facing Lyu Bu, Zhao Yun could only say one thing—Lyu Bu was a monster, a real monster!

At the same level of Ultimate Inner Qi Manifestation, Zhao Yun estimated that Lyu Bu could single-handedly take on three people without any problem. Such strength was utterly abnormal, and Zhao Yun even doubted whether he could defeat Lyu Bu himself if he truly harnessed that power, for that guy was truly at a monstrous level!

With his current strength, and based on Zhao Yun’s estimation, reaching his seventh Inner Qi Manifestation perfection, his power would be somewhat stronger than the typical Ultimate Inner Qi Manifestation. But facing Lyu Bu, Zhao Yun could only guarantee his own safe retreat!

Zhao Yun estimated that if he could complete nine reworkings and perfectly master his power, his strength might be equivalent to three or four individuals at the Pinnacle External Internal Qi Level. But facing Lyu Bu coupled with the Red Hare Horse, Zhao Yun felt the pressure was immense.

Every military general has their own obsession with being the top warrior under the heavens, and Zhao Yun also wanted to attempt to claim that title. However, for all the warriors in the world, if they couldn’t take that place themselves, they would likely accept that only Lyu Bu had the power that all martial artists recognized. Even Ma Chao, hailing from the remote lands of Xiliang, knew how terrifying Lyu Bu was!

[But since I have another chance to face Lyu Bu, I will give it a try. It’s been a while, and if I can reach the pinnacle of Ultimate Inner Qi Separation in my seventh reworking, that would represent my new peak!] Zhao Yun took a deep breath. The existence of Lyu Bu gave all military generals a direction to strive towards, and similarly, defeating Lyu Bu was a delusion shared by them all—and indeed a delusion.

Zhao Yun led the Curly Hair Red Hare away and put it in the stable with his Night Illuminating Jade Lion. He patted both horses, signaling them to get along, then poured a full trough of choice feed before turning and walking away.

When Zhao Yun was present, both the Night Illuminating Jade Lion and Curly Hair Red Hare refrained from throwing tantrums out of respect for Zhao Yun. As soon as Zhao Yun left, however, the two horses immediately became obstinate. Both were Horse Kings and found each other repelling, wondering when another horse had ever dared to eat their choice feed by their side.

"Boom!" A loud noise echoed. Zhao Yun pulled at his ear and looked back towards the rear camp, only to see a white light shooting out from the stable, followed by a red light with fiery red Qi flaming on its body, chasing after the first. Both horses almost turned into streaks of light, disappearing on the horizon at great speed. Then, swirling around, they returned just as quickly.

"Go ahead and fight it out. You’ve become like pigs, cooped up in the stable all day, eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating, barely moving. It might do you some good to get your pride challenged by another prized steed." Zhao Yun watched the two high-spirited horses that had turned into streaks of light racing crazily in the sky and muttered carelessly to himself. His Night Illuminating Jade Lion, though a prized horse too, was clearly not fond of activity; a bit of provocation from Curly Hair Red Hare might be a good thing.

Zhao Yun had handed over the military affairs to Chen Dao and then led three thousand White Horse Soldiers, along with over two thousand infantrymen, towards Mount Tai. This time around, the Night Illuminating Jade Lion seemed much more spirited. After all, it constantly had the Curly-Haired Red Hare eyeing it with an intense gaze, seriously threatening its position as the lead.

"General Zhao, are you sure this is alright?" Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping followed Zhao Yun back to Mount Tai, and they couldn’t help but worry when they saw the Curly-Haired Red Hare and the Night Illuminating Jade Lion occasionally returning with injuries.

"These are minor wounds. For a steed capable of Inner Qi Manifestation, such injuries will recover in a day. However, only this kind of constant challenge can make a treasured horse even more refined," Zhao Yun shook his head. He had been closely watching the two horses, but it seemed that there were not many actual fights between them, more often they were just racing each other.

In the region around Yanzhou Linyi, Sun Qian had already sent many engineering personnel for on-site surveys, and the Fan Family had also dispatched a few individuals to follow. For a major project like this, it was indispensable to consider feng shui, and naturally, professional feng shui masters from the Fan Family went along to check whether the location was suitable for building a city and such.

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As opposed to Liu Bei’s side, which was already prepared for a counterattack, another strategist dispute had arisen on Yuan Shao’s side, but unlike previous times, the normally wise and martial Yuan Shao was unsure of which side to take.

Time rewound to when Juo Yi was defeated, all of Yann Liang’s soldiers were annihilated, Zhang He suffered a defeat to the north, and Tian Feng and Xun Shen barely managed to hold off Lu Bu.

On that day, after Juo Yi and Yann Liang had regrouped with Zhang He, Tian Feng, and others and gathered the routed troops, they realized they had no strength left to fight. With no other choice, they retreated to Wei Commandery and then a number of them returned to Ye City to confess their failure to Yuan Shao.

Just as Chen Gong had predicted, Yuan Shao did not seek to blame anyone for the defeat. Instead, he consoled them, asserting that with a family and enterprise as large as his, the loss against Lu Bu was but a few soldiers, and they could simply be retrained. Although he felt considerable pain over the loss of the Vanguard, he had an ample supply of money, grain, and people, lacking nothing.

Of course, after Yuan Shao had fully understood the situation, he coveted the Vanguard Camp under Lu Bu, Lu Bu himself, as well as Lu Bu’s strategist, Chen Gong, and others.

Precisely because of his intense desire, Yuan Shao planned to recruit Lu Bu and his men, but the problem now was, how exactly should he go about doing it—through battle or direct negotiation? And more importantly, how should Lu Bu be dealt with.

Regarding the latter question, Yuan Shao made a decision without hesitation. Lu Bu had been a benefactor to the Yuan Family, so if Lu Bu was willing to serve him, then Yuan Shao was willing to accept him, and Yuan Shao believed that his own magnanimity was enough to win Lu Bu over.

As for how to recruit them, Yuan Shao’s strategists began with differing opinions, but as the discussion continued, ultimately they made the same choice as Liu Bei’s side. Negotiations were necessary, but they also needed to fight to subdue the opposition first, only then could they continue discussing and proposing better terms!

The matter concerning Lu Bu was thus brushed aside, but what caused Yuan Shao a headache was the intelligence report from Xuu You concerning Li You, revealing that Liu Bei had moved Zhao Yun from Xuzhou, and there was a high likelihood of appointing Zhang Fei as the Xiapi Prefect. More importantly, there was no replenishment of troops in Xuzhou, meaning Xuzhou was left with only one army corps! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your vote of recommendation or monthly pass. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)