Chapter 31: Ultimate Techniques and Their Drawbacks

... “Not bad. Not bad at all. Since perfecting my martial arts, you are the first people to make me bleed. For giving me proof that this world still contains those capable of harming me, I will let you witness my true strength!”

The aura around Lu Bu erupted without end. During the brief span in which he spoke, it solidified into a layer of golden-red armor shimmering with flowing radiance. The tiger-and-leopard cloud patterns upon it were clear to the eye, as though Lu Bu had truly donned a suit of armor.

Anyone who was not a fool could tell from this scene that Lu Bu had absolutely not been fighting at full strength before. As they watched him stride through the air, someone among the soldiers at Hulao Pass shouted, “General, mighty!”

A chorus of cheers immediately rose and fell in waves. Lu Bu’s very existence, just as the coalition had anticipated, raised the morale of Dong Zhuo’s army to a terrifying degree.

A trace of worry appeared unmistakably on Liu Bei’s face. He had always believed that his second and third brothers were strong enough to roam the world unhindered. But now, anyone who was not blind could see that the world was vast indeed.

At least for the moment, Lu Bu was recklessly unleashing his strength, suppressing every warrior beneath heaven with power so overwhelming that all they could do was look up to him.

With his extraordinarily powerful attacks, Lu Bu kept Guan Yu and Zhang Fei firmly on the defensive. Guan Yu had also figured out what had happened: his previous strike had not been lacking in power. It simply had not landed. Somehow, Lu Bu had deflected the slash, and the blood on his body had been forced out when he knocked aside Guan Yu’s fatal blow.

Once he understood this, Guan Yu’s confidence returned. Lu Bu was not unimaginably strong. He was indeed incredibly powerful, but he had not yet reached the point where he could treat the two of them as if they were nothing.

Confidence was a good thing, but Guan Yu had clearly misjudged one matter. Lu Bu had not used any technique or trick to throw his attack off course. He had simply smashed aside Guan Yu’s full-powered strike with brute force. Guan Yu’s strongest attack had not yet reached the level that could force Lu Bu to evade.

The Fang Tian Halberd swept up and down in a blur. At a glance, the three men seemed surrounded by countless halberd shadows. From time to time, a streak of azure or black radiance flashed through the chaos. It was obvious that even fighting two against one, the young Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were still no match for Lu Bu at his peak.

Powerful and flamboyant, Lu Bu had completely seized control of the battle through his superior strength.

While desperately resisting Lu Bu’s attacks, Guan Yu cursed inwardly. He had already made up his mind: unless he could kill his opponent with a single blow, he would never again use the ultimate technique he had developed himself. Against experts in particular, once that move was used, failing to kill the enemy meant certain death for him.

Lu Bu alternated between light and heavy sword techniques. He could guarantee that the black-faced Zhang Yide had suffered internal injuries, while the red-faced Guan Yu, wielding his great saber, was hardly any better off.

Zhang Fei swore that, should he ever get the chance, he would absolutely learn the art of alternating light and heavy sword techniques. Several times in succession, he had thought Lu Bu intended to meet him head-on and had thrown himself into a desperate clash, only for his weapon to smash against the Fang Tian Halberd.

Yet Lu Bu’s halberd seemed weightless. Borrowing Zhang Fei’s own force, it instantly swung toward his second brother at incredible speed. The visibly thickened air and the explosive crack that followed made it clear to Zhang Fei that the blow would deal devastating damage.

Guan Yu was already cursing inwardly. His flushed red face made it impossible for Lu Bu to read his thoughts, but Guan Yu truly could not endure it any longer. He had taken one of Lu Bu’s super-heavy strikes, and when the Green Dragon Crescent Blade had nearly been knocked from his hands, he realized that he had to keep his eyes wide open.

If he took another blow head-on, he would certainly suffer serious injuries.

The longer Lu Bu fought, the more relaxed he became. The technique of shifting between light and heavy attacks, which he had won in a wager against an old man, was finally beginning to feel natural. He could even bring out subtle variations in it now.

He could confidently defeat the two men within fifty moves—yes, no more than fifty—if he truly wished to. What made him wary, however, was the sensation that at least two experts at the Internal Energy Release stage were aiming bows at him. The moment he truly tried to kill his opponents, those men would abandon all concern for their dignity and intervene.

“Brother Yun, are you still not going in?” Chen Xi cried. He was no fool. It was obvious that the golden-red light had already squeezed the azure-black light into a shrinking circle and seemed ready to swallow it at any moment. He wanted nothing more than to curse. Lu Bu was simply far too brutal.

“Wait a little longer. General Guan and General Zhang’s strength is constantly rising. This is probably the first time they have encountered a situation like this—the first time they have been suppressed by someone. If they desperately break through their limits, their own strength will grow desperately as well. Before the age of forty is the best time to strive for greatness!”

Zhao Yun gripped his Bright Silver Spear tightly, ready to charge in and provide aid at any moment. He had already seen that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had entered a declining position.

Zhang Fei’s mind had gone completely blank, like the so-called state of egolessness described in certain cultivation arts. Of course, that was only a joke. At present, Zhang Fei was thinking of nothing at all. He simply stared at Lu Bu’s Fang Tian Halberd.

Guan Yu was in slightly better condition. Although his strength had fallen to ninety percent of normal after unleashing that supreme strike, he had initially been barely able to withstand Lu Bu’s attacks. Then, whether Lu Bu had suddenly changed his nature or something else had happened, his attacks were now aimed at Zhang Fei seven times out of ten.

Guan Yu did not know why, but Lu Bu did.

Lu Bu himself nearly wanted to curse. It was true that he was stronger than Guan Yu and Zhang Fei combined, but not by much. Fortunately, Guan Yu had opened with a devastating ultimate move and then entered a weakened state. That was the true reason Lu Bu had been able to suppress both of them so thoroughly.

When experts fought, Guan Yu at ninety percent of his strength could at most serve as a distraction to Lu Bu. Whenever necessary, Zhang Fei even had to take a few blows in his brother’s place.

That gave Lu Bu an opening. The instant Guan Yu recovered his breath, Lu Bu would immediately shatter that momentum, then add two more strikes and force both Zhang Fei and Guan Yu to focus on defense.

A battle that might originally have required several hundred moves to determine a victor had been forcibly compressed by Lu Bu into fifty.

Now, however, Lu Bu could no longer spare much attention for Guan Yu. Zhang Fei’s Serpent Spear was growing heavier and heavier. More importantly, Lu Bu knew perfectly well that this was not some technique resembling the heavy-sword art.

It was simply the brute strength of that black-faced man increasing without end.

At this thought, Lu Bu wanted to curse. He had seen plenty of people break through in the midst of battle, but strength that continued to increase without pause was fundamentally abnormal.

Most importantly, Zhang Fei’s power was becoming more and more unreasonable. Lu Bu fought him head-on while using the heavy-sword technique. At the beginning, he had been able to knock Zhang Fei backward. Now, even while Lu Bu employed the heavy-sword technique, Zhang Fei could strike him back.

Was this truly the strength of a human being?

Lu Bu was already roaring inwardly.

He disdained using tricks to kill Zhang Fei. He had confidence in himself. More importantly, he wanted to know exactly how much strength this barbarian possessed.

He was genuinely curious.

As for Guan Yu, let him recover his breath. Lu Bu had essentially figured out Guan Yu’s limits. Apart from that overwhelmingly powerful strike, there was truly little else to fear. Even if Guan Yu recovered and came back to attack him from both sides, it would not matter.

By then, Lu Bu would already have beaten the black giant until he had little fighting strength left. Turning around to deal with Guan Yu afterward would take no more than fifty or sixty moves.

P.S. I thought I would spend two days mixing it up beneath Hulao Pass, yet the battle still has not ended. So there should probably be another update this afternoon. As for those asking for extra chapters, I can only quietly pass by...