Chapter 20: Belief That Transcends Limits

[Dian Niang is acting up again, I can't even log in...]

【My Lord...】 The scene of when he first joined Yuan Shao flashed through Yan Liang's mind. Born into poverty, he and Wen Chou had not been looked down upon by Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao, who sought to build alliances with the heroes of the world, had looked at their tattered clothes and, without hesitation, removed his own brocade robe and bestowed his finest steed upon them.

At that time, Yan Liang and Wen Chou swore that as long as they lived, they would never allow Yuan Shao to suffer any harm.

【I am still alive!】 A bloody light emanated from the heavily wounded Yan Liang as his physical wounds rapidly repaired themselves. However, with bloodshot eyes, Yan Liang saw only two people: his lord, Yuan Shao, and the man who had defeated him, Lu Bu.

A massive, solid blade of blood-colored light slashed toward Lu Bu.

"Clang!" Lu Bu spurred his horse to shatter the light blade. Looking at the blood-soaked Yan Liang with crimson eyes, he felt a flicker of appreciation. The opponent's strength had been sufficient to crush his confidence, yet he had actually ascended to a higher realm because of it.

"If you want to harm my Lord, you must step over my corpse first!" Madness flashed in Yan Liang's eyes as he mounted his Azure Dragon steed and blocked Lu Bu's path.

"I see, so this is your conviction?" Lu Bu looked at Yuan Shao in the distance. "You have a fine subordinate! But he cannot stop me!"

The moment Lu Bu spoke, Yan Liang's instinct felt terror, but the presence of Yuan Shao behind him made him treat death as nothing.

"Thud!" Yan Liang's blood blade struck heavily against Lu Bu's halberd.

"Impressive strength." Holding the halberd with one hand, Lu Bu used a reverse force to repel Yan Liang. "State your name. You have earned the right to let me know it."

"Yan Liang of Hebei!" Yan Liang said in a muffled voice.

Lu Bu shifted the halberd from his left hand to his right. A gold-red light enveloped the weapon; the coiled dragon forged from meteoric iron seemed to come alive at that moment, erupting with gold-red dragon flames.

On the other side, Yan Liang was also continuously accumulating strength. He understood that if no one came to help within fifteen moves, he might die here. He could die, but his lord was right behind him.

"Kill!" Yan Liang let out a furious roar, finally unable to restrain himself and striking first. If Lu Bu's limitless, growing aura continued, he might lose the confidence to even make a move.

A storm of attacks ensued. Yan Liang only managed to land five strikes before being completely driven back by Lu Bu, whose subsequent assault fell upon him like a torrential rainstorm.

There was no excessive flashiness; Lu Bu instinctively wrapped every shred of his internal qi around his body. Not a single drop of energy was wasted, and not a single ounce of strength was squandered, perfectly suppressing Yan Liang's counterattacks.

Ten moves, fifteen moves, twenty moves, twenty-five moves, thirty moves... Yan Liang felt Lu Bu's attacks growing heavier and heavier, so heavy that he could no longer attend to anything else, able only to endure through sheer willpower.

If he knew he had already blocked thirty of Lu Bu's moves, he would have been shocked, but the only thing he could remember now was to hold the line. Before he fell, no one must be allowed to harm Yuan Shao.

"How boring." After driving Yan Liang back once more, Lu Bu finally felt bored with him. He placed his left hand on the halberd as well.

"Clang!" With a crisp snap, Yan Liang's blade shattered. Lu Bu then reversed the halberd and slashed upward diagonally.

Yan Liang struggled to retreat, but the tip of Lu Bu's halberd still caught him. Instantly, Yan Liang's already broken armor split in two, and a massive wound appeared from his chest to his waist.

"Brother!" Wen Chou, who had rushed over with all his might, felt his eyes nearly burst with grief at the sight. As the falling Yan Liang heard that muffled cry of "Brother," a slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. He slowly collapsed, no longer able to stand up and fight Lu Bu recklessly as before.

"Argh!" Wen Chou went into a complete frenzy. Chaotic aura erupted from his body, and a streak of blood-red light appeared within his originally pure gold internal qi.

"The righteousness of brotherhood?" Lu Bu thought pensively as he watched Wen Chou charge. He was no longer at the simple stage of projecting internal qi outside the body. While others were still contemplating how to break through, he had already organized and planned an entire system on how to break physical limits, allowing more people to achieve the projection of internal qi. He wanted to create more experts to challenge himself.

If others knew of this thought, they would surely call Lu Bu a madman. But for this man, who stood at the peak looking down upon all heroes, this was merely a game—a game of selecting challengers. He firmly believed he would be the strongest warrior.

Wen Chou's frenzied attacks only lasted five moves before being suppressed by Lu Bu. Even though his strength had undergone a qualitative leap due to reaching the level of projecting internal qi, a massive gap still existed between him and Lu Bu.

"Second Master, where are Zhang Fei and the others?" After Chen Xi had stabilized his soldiers, he asked the subordinate general beside him curiously. With such a massive commotion, why weren't those two super-experts visible?

"My second and third brothers went to support Alliance Leader Yuan." Liu Bei rode up, clad in military attire. "Thank you, General Chen, for stabilizing the troops."

"Oh, it's nothing. We should hurry and help drive out Dong Zhuo's night-raid forces; otherwise, it will be trouble if the camp panics," Chen Xi said with a shrug.

Liu Bei understood Chen Xi's meaning perfectly. This was the best opportunity to showcase himself and the best chance to make connections with various lords. He needed to show them his strength; Liu Bei now possessed not only some of the finest generals under heaven but also some of the most elite troops.

"Zilong, I am entrusting half of the infantry to you to protect the Strategist! I will go repel the external enemy," Liu Bei said to the officer beside him—the officer from Gongsun Zan's forces who led the White Horse Volunteers.

"What?" Chen Xi was stunned. "Are you Zhao Zilong of Changshan?"

Under the moonlight, Chen Xi looked closely at the officer beside Liu Bei. He stood eight feet tall with thick eyebrows and large eyes, a broad face and heavy jaw, looking majestic and imposing. He wore silver-white armor, his left hand loosely gripped a precious sword, his right hand held a bright silver spear, and he rode a white horse.

"Has the Strategist heard of me?" Zhao Yun asked with slight curiosity.

"Is that horse beneath you the Night-Shining Jade Lion?" Chen Xi looked curiously at the docile white horse he had once played with.

"It is," Zhao Yun nodded.

"Oh, alright then. I'll rely on you for my safety," Chen Xi said with a smile. He figured that at this time, Gongsun Zan likely didn't even know he had such a powerful officer within his White Horse Volunteers.

"Rest assured, Strategist. Yun will not allow you to suffer even the slightest harm," Zhao Yun said solemnly.

"I have more confidence than you do," Chen Xi whispered. "Come, let's go to the central camp to see how our Alliance Leader Yuan is doing. In just a short while, I've already seen several different colored qi blasts. By the way, Zilong, what color is your qi?"

"Silver-blue." Zhao Yun smiled, not hiding his strength. Had he not known his duty, he would have rushed to the central camp to witness Lu Bu, just like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

(End of Chapter)