Chapter 20: Faith Beyond Limits

"My Lord..." Memories of the day he first pledged his loyalty to Yuan Shao flashed through Yan Liang's mind. Born into poverty, both he and Wen Chou had never once been looked down upon by Yuan Shao. Seeing their ragged clothes, Yuan Shao, who sought to gather all the heroes of the world under his banner, had unhesitatingly removed his own brocade robe and gifted them his finest steeds.

From that moment on, Yan Liang and Wen Chou had sworn that as long as they lived, they would never allow any harm to come to Yuan Shao.

"I am still alive!" Crimson blood surged from the heavily wounded Yan Liang, and the gashes on his body began to knit together rapidly. Yet, his scarlet eyes were fixed on only two people: his lord, Yuan Shao, and the man who had defeated him, Lu Bu.

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

"Clang!" Lu Bu parried the blow, his horse shifting as he deflected the strike. He looked at Yan Liang, now bathed in blood with eyes like burning embers, and felt a flicker of admiration. His strength was enough to shatter anyone’s confidence, yet this man had actually used the pressure to ascend to a higher realm.

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

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

The moment Lu Bu spoke, Yan Liang’s instincts screamed in terror, but the image of Yuan Shao behind him rendered death meaningless.

"Thud!" Yan Liang’s blood-red blade slammed into Lu Bu’s halberd.

"Not bad power." Lu Bu held the halberd with one hand, exerting force with a backhand motion to knock Yan Liang aside. "Tell me your name. You are worthy of me knowing it."

"Yan Liang of Hebei!" Yan Liang grunted.

Lu Bu switched the halberd from his left hand to his right. A golden-red glow washed over the weapon, and the coiling dragon carved from meteorite iron seemed to come alive, spewing golden-red dragon fire.

On the other side, Yan Liang continued to gather his strength. He realized that if no one came to help within fifteen moves, he might die here. His own death mattered little, but his lord was right behind him.

"Kill!" With a roar, Yan Liang could hold back no longer and struck first. If he allowed Lu Bu’s boundless, ever-growing momentum to continue, he might lose the confidence to even raise his blade.

***

It was a storm of attacks. Yan Liang had only managed five strikes before Lu Bu completely reversed the momentum, unleashing a torrential, overwhelming onslaught upon him.

Without wasting a flicker of energy, Lu Bu channeled every ounce of his inner qi around his body as if by instinct, perfectly suppressing Yan Liang’s counterattacks.

Ten moves, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty. Yan Liang felt Lu Bu’s strikes growing heavier—so heavy that he could no longer afford to think of anything else, forced to hold his ground with everything he had.

Had he realized he had already withstood thirty of Lu Bu’s blows, he might have been shocked, but all he could focus on was one thing: hold on. As long as he stood, no one would touch Yuan Shao.

"How tedious." After forcing Yan Liang back once more, Lu Bu grew bored and brought his left hand to the halberd as well.

"Clang!" A crisp sound rang out as Yan Liang’s blade shattered. Lu Bu reversed the halberd and sliced upward.

Yan Liang fought to pull back, but the tip of the halberd still caught him. In an instant, his battered armor was split in two, and a massive wound tore across his chest and abdomen.

"Brother!" Wen Chou, who had been fighting his way over, felt his heart shatter at the sight. As Yan Liang fell, he heard the faint cry of his brother and a faint smile touched his lips before he slumped to the ground, never to rise again to fight Lu Bu with such reckless abandon.

"Ah!" Wen Chou went completely berserk, chaotic energy erupting from his body. A vein of blood-red light crept into his pure, golden inner qi.

"The bonds of brotherhood?" Lu Bu watched the charging Wen Chou, lost in thought. He had long surpassed the level of simple "externalized inner qi." Unlike others who were still pondering how to break through, he had already devised a complete system on how to push the limits of the body, a method that could allow others to reach that level. He wanted to forge more experts to challenge himself.

If others knew of this ambition, they would call him a madman. But for a man standing at the pinnacle, looking down upon the heroes of the age, this was merely a game—a game to select challengers. He was convinced he would remain the strongest warrior of all.

Wen Chou’s crazed attacks were suppressed by Lu Bu in just five moves. Even with the qualitative leap in strength from reaching the level of externalized qi, a vast chasm still remained between them.

"Where are the Second Brother and Zhang Fei?" After stabilizing his troops, Chen Xi asked his nearby officers with curiosity. With such a massive commotion, why were those two super-warriors nowhere to be seen?

"Second and Third Brothers have gone to support the Alliance Leader, Yuan," Liu Bei said, riding over in his full military regalia. "Many thanks, Zichuan, for steadying the troops."

"Oh, it's nothing. We should hurry and help push back Dong Zhuo’s night-raiding forces; otherwise, if the camp falls into chaos, we’ll be in trouble," Chen Xi said with a shrug.

***

Liu Bei understood Chen Xi’s meaning perfectly. This was the best opportunity to showcase his strength and build alliances with the various warlords. By demonstrating his power, he could show them that he possessed not only some of the world’s greatest generals but also elite troops of the highest caliber.

"Zilong, take half the infantry and protect the strategist! I am going to push back the enemy." Liu Bei turned to the officer beside him, a commander of Gongsun Zan’s White Horse Volunteers.

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

By the moonlight, Chen Xi studied the officer closely: eight feet tall, thick eyebrows and large eyes, a broad face and heavy jaw, radiating an imposing aura. He wore silver-white armor, his left hand rested on his sword, his right held a gleaming silver spear, and he sat atop a white horse.

"Has the strategist heard of me?" Zhao Yun asked, slightly curious.

"Is that steed under you the 'Night-Shining Jade Lion'?" Chen Xi looked curiously at the docile white horse he had petted earlier.

"Indeed," Zhao Yun nodded.

"Oh, right. My safety is in your hands then," Chen Xi said with a smile, thinking that Gongsun Zan likely had no idea such a powerful commander was hidden among his White Horse Volunteers.

"Rest assured, Strategist. Yun will not allow you to come to any harm," Zhao Yun replied solemnly.

"I have more confidence in you than I do in myself," Chen Xi whispered. "Let’s go. To the central camp, and see how our Alliance Leader Yuan is doing. In just a short while, I’ve seen several energy blasts of different colors. By the way, Zilong, what color is your qi?"

"Silver-blue." Zhao Yun smiled, not bothering to hide his strength. Had he not known his duty, he would have joined Guan Yu and Zhang Fei at the central camp to test his mettle against Lu Bu.