Mythical Three Kingdoms

”Let’s go, Mano Cheng. I will take you away from Shanyang and follow Lord Cao. Although you have made mistakes, you dare to admit them, which is a sign of a wise ruler. I have nothing more to teach you,” said Li Jin to his cousin.

After a lengthy period of reflection, Li Dian had come to terms with the deaths of his father and older brother. Of course, the hatred hadn’t disappeared—it was just deeply buried and never showed on the surface.

”Alright, we’ll go to Lord Cao now,” Li Dian nodded and said.

Li Dian was not aware of the current situation in Yanzhou. Although he knew that Lyu Bu had taken control of it, the Li Family was not a major aristocratic clan, and the deaths of Li Dian’s father and brother had severed ties with Cao Cao.

Chen Gong did not bother with such a family, allowing Li Jin to continue living in Shanyang Commandery with Li Dian. Li Jin was sensible enough not to seek trouble with Lyu Bu, whose strength was even greater than he had imagined.

”Sigh, you should read more military books,” Li Jin sighed, expressing some frustration towards Li Dian. Even though Li Dian’s intellect was exceptional, he had reached the peak of Qi Refining to Gang through great effort but was unable to achieve Inner Qi Manifestation, a barrier that halted countless others.

”Thank you for your guidance over the past year,” Li Dian said to Li Jin with a deep bow. He still did not fully understand the extent of his cousin’s strength.

”You don’t have to thank me. Our Li Family of Shanyang needs a representative, and that cannot be me. So, I have done my best to teach you. It’s just a pity that I don’t have the astonishing abilities of Tong Yuan to elevate you to Inner Qi Manifestation,” Li Jin remarked with a sigh. His power had its limits.

”Having come this far is already a great fortune for Mano Cheng. How could I dare to wish for more?” Li Dian was content and not overly dissatisfied.

”Sigh, although your command troops are strong, avenging your father and brother by killing Zhao Yun will still be incredibly difficult. I have taught you all I can,” said Li Jin with a helpless expression. He was troubled.

In Li Jin’s view, although Li Dian’s military strategy was quite good and being an Army Commander posed no great challenge, it was unfortunate that their opponents were becoming stronger. In this past year, Zhao Yun’s strength had been steadily rising, and this growth encompassed all aspects of leadership and martial force. Although slow, Zhao Yun’s capabilities were consistently improving.

Truthfully, after Li Qian and Li Zheng died, Li Jin used special techniques to observe the strengths of both the civil and military under Liu Bei’s Army. He paid particular attention to those at the Inner Qi Manifestation Level.

Compared to Guan Yu, who increased in strength with every battle, and Zhang Fei, whose power surged greatly after each defeat, Zhao Yun’s growth was quite peculiar. It was almost a straight-line increase, as if Zhao Yun’s strength was steadily improving even when he was merely eating and sleeping.

Li Jin hadn’t reacted to this at first, but he later surmised that a Divine Stone might exist within Zhao Yun’s body, slowly enhancing his strength.

Speaking of this brings up Zhang Fei, who, in Li Jin’s view, was an abnormal existence. It appeared that Zhang Fei’s strength improved like someone cultivating, yet according to the Spells Li Jin used, the improvements were not very significant. On the other hand, Zhang Fei’s power would significantly increase after a major fight.

For example, not long ago in the battle between Zhang Fei and Lyu Bu, someone of Li Jin’s level was already able to clearly feel the essence of that battle. Based on the information gathered afterward, it seemed that Zhang Fei’s strength had improved more after his defeat than with three years of training.

According to Li Jin’s estimation, given this situation, once Zhang Fei fully absorbed this growth, he was likely able to leave a battle against Lyu Bu unscathed.

Li Jin also understood that as Zhang Fei’s strength increased, it became more difficult to defeat him, and his rate of improvement would slow down. It could even be said that after at most three major battles, Zhang Fei could fight Lyu Bu to a standstill. But after that, it might be very hard for Zhang Fei to progress further. Of the next three battles, one should be a full retreat after defeat, one would likely be a narrow loss, and the third might be hard to determine a victor.

While Li Jin had doubts about his own speculation, the facts did not deviate too much from it.

Below Hulao Pass, the gap between Zhang Fei and Lyu Bu was significant. At their next encounter, Zhang Fei could already discern Lyu Bu’s weaknesses, but Lyu Bu’s abnormal strength was hard to withstand. As for the third major battle that should have occurred during the fight for Xuzhou, it was blown away by Chen Xi, the proverbial butterfly effect.

It should be noted that in that battle, even though Zhang Fei could not defeat Lyu Bu in over a hundred exchanges, he managed to retreat with his whole body intact. Lyu Bu did not dare to chase after him desperately because by then, Zhang Fei had the capital to fight to the death.

Later, during the battle for Xuzhou, Zhang Fei already possessed the combat power to duel Lyu Bu one-on-one. Although he could still not win, with the morale of the large army behind him, he could already suppress Lyu Bu. This meant that by that time, the gap between Zhang Fei’s strength and Lyu Bu’s was barely discernible.

However, the problem was that in either this life or the previous one, Zhang Fei never had the chance to fight Lyu Bu in a final, fair battle. In the previous life, Lyu Bu died after their fourth encounter, and in this life, after their second encounter, Lyu Bu was destined to return north to Bingzhou, and the opportunity for a decisive battle was likely gone forever.

Of course, this refers to a theoretical situation. After all, in his previous life, Lyu Bu never let go of his obsession until death, meaning the peak of his strength was the same as when he fought Zhang Fei for the second time. Eventually, people like Ma Chao would grow to have combat power comparable to Lyu Bu’s at the time of his second encounter with Zhang Fei.

But by then, Lyu Bu’s era had already passed, and having that level of strength was no longer unique as during Dong Zhuo’s time when Lyu Bu stood unchallenged. By that time, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Xuu Chu—any one of them could potentially face the Lyu Bu of Hulao Pass, and the outcome would be uncertain.

The combat power of the deceased is forever limited to that one moment, while the living hold the hope of surpassing it. It’s that simple. Unfortunately, in this life, Lyu Bu lived a little longer and shattered his fixation, possessing a more stable mind to harness his strength, and his level had undergone a change.

That’s precisely why Li Jin did not seek trouble with Lyu Bu—it was entirely because he couldn’t afford to provoke him. Despite having Inner Qi Manifestation Rank strength and not-so-weak Taoist Arts, facing Lyu Bu, Li Jin estimated he could be carried away after merely fifty moves.

”Let’s go, Mano Cheng,” Li Jin called out to Li Dian. He did not tell Li Dian that Shanyang Commandery was currently being taken over by Liu Bei’s Army, and the person coming to take over was Zhao Yun. Additionally, Zhao Yun could kill him even faster than Lyu Bu since, when it came to sheer killing power, Zhao Yun had an even more significant advantage than Lyu Bu.

”All right, cousin, shall we go directly to Sili, or do we visit Counselor Xun in Chenliu first?” Li Dian asked as he stepped out of the house. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian ) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)