Mythical Three Kingdoms

”Retreat!” After a moment’s hesitation, Lyu Bu saw that the remaining nine Wolf Cavalry were all injured and hesitated no longer, immediately ordering a retreat. He had come for revenge, not to deliver his head on a platter. The image of Li Jin was etched clearly in Lyu Bu’s mind; it counted as his greatest failure. Losing in a one-on-one fight and even getting threatened by the enemy.

After Lyu Bu left with the Wolf Cavalry and their corpses, Li Jin flew to a warhorse, signaled something to Li Dian, who then quickly ordered the Li Family to clean up the battlefield and leave the dangerous area at full speed.

”Cousin, are you all right?” After traveling some distance, Li Dian rode over to ask.

”Do I look like someone who’s all right?” While speaking, Li Jin spat out a clot of blood-stained sputum, and his longsword instantly turned to dust, as he fell off his horse, face up.

”Cousin...” Li Dian cried out in panic, immediately ordering his men to carry Li Jin onto the cart and calling for a doctor to treat him. Fortunately for Li Jin, who practiced Inner Qi Manifestation and was tough as a cockroach, he quickly recovered as long as he was still breathing.

”Mano Cheng, make haste to Chenliu, and don’t mind my injuries; at most I’ll be back to normal in half a year. What you need to do is ensure the Li Family’s survival.” Li Jin said with a twisted smile, his last strike having detonated all his power—a move that cost heavily to both him and the enemy, but it meant nothing if Lyu Bu hadn’t been wounded.

”Brother, are you really okay?” Li Dian asked with immense concern. After the death of his father and older brother, this once low-profile cousin had become his sole support. Discovering his cousin’s boldness in confronting and pushing back Lyu Bu made Li Dian regard him as his biggest pillar.

”Inner Qi Separation will recover on its own as long as one can still breathe; so, I won’t die. An injury that takes half a year to heal is actually quite abnormal for me,” Li Jin said, waving his hand.

”Let’s hurry up and go. If that bastard Lyu Bu catches up again, I won’t be able to handle it this time. I can only help you one more time at most. Fortunately, injuring Lyu Bu doesn’t carry a significant consequence.” Li Jin spoke with an earnestness that Li Dian didn’t dismiss as nonsense like before.

Once Li Dian was sure that Li Jin was really fine, he immediately ordered to abandon their property and hasten to Chenliu. With the ferocious battle behind them, the previously discordant voices within the Li Family also disappeared.

Quickly, on their way, Li Dian’s group joined with another noble family, which also clearly had been through a tough fight but fared somewhat better than Li Dian’s side.

”Old Master Cai, how are you?” Li Dian enquired, seeing Cai Yang with a large gash on his chest. What they encountered on the road was the retreating group of the Qin Family, famous from the tale where Qin Qi gets chopped down by Guan Yu in three strikes, accompanied by Cai Yang.

Cai Yang, famed as the forefather of swordsmanship, wasn’t all talk; his case was much like that of Huang Zhong. However, luck was less on Cai Yang’s side, at least Huang Zhong had Zhang Zhongjing in the same city and could rely on Inner Qi to raise Huang Xu. Cai Yang’s son had passed away despite being sustained by his Inner Qi, so naturally, Cai Yang devoted all his paternal love to his nephew, Qin Qi.

The Qin Family had initially planned to head north to seek refuge with Yuan Shao, but unexpectedly ran into Zhang Liao along the way. After a fierce battle with Zhang Liao, Cai Yang emerged victorious, but Zhang Liao retreated unscathed. Reflecting upon it, Cai Yang realized continuing north would possibly lead to an encounter with Zhang Liao’s forces, so he decided to head west instead.

”Fine, let’s head west,” he thought. As they proceeded, they rammed straight into Lyu Bu, who had been tricked by Li Jin and was currently in a raging fury. Upon encountering a fleeing family’s team, Lyu Bu didn’t hesitate to start slashing away. Cai Yang barely understood what was happening before the fight broke out.

Luckily, Cai Yang was quite formidable himself. Lyu Bu, having sustained some injuries, didn’t suffer much of a disadvantage in their battle. But the Qin Family, lacking the elite private soldiers of the Li Family, found themselves severely outmatched by nine Wolf Cavalry members endowed with Legion Talent. After Qin Qi was injured, Cai Yang flew into a complete rage. Even at the risk of receiving a halberd strike from Lyu Bu, he managed to land a solid blow on him.

In any case, Lyu Bu was out of luck this time, suffering another minor injury. The frenzied Cai Yang nearly unleashed a level of strength on par with Guan Yu, furiously hacking away at Lyu Bu.

Even someone as slow as Lyu Bu could see that this old man was a tough nut to crack. He was nothing like that other fellow who relied on arcane techniques and forbidden arts. Fighting to the death with this tough old man would lead to serious injuries even if he managed to kill him, a completely different concept from the one with Li Jin. After hesitating for a moment and killing a few of the Qin Family members, he pushed back Cai Yang and retreated with the nine men he had left.

After encountering Lyu Bu, Cai Yang finally realized that the era was no longer the same as when he had dominated the world twenty years ago. He had only been out of the game for a decade or so, and yet such monstrous military generals had emerged.

Cai Yang could sense that Lyu Bu had indeed been injured, but astonishingly, Lyu Bu still managed to overpower him in combat. He was truly a beast, and what was more monstrous was that someone had actually managed to wound this beast.

This reignited Cai Yang’s interest in this unfamiliar era, lost in his grief after his son’s death. The habit of a Martial Artist is to continually climb to new peaks.

After encountering Lyu Bu, Cai Yang couldn’t help but recall what his nephew had said about the unmatched strength of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei—statements he had once dismissed as naive boasting.

Now he realized that times had changed. It wasn’t just a handful of individuals capable of Inner Qi Manifestation that could stand toe-to-toe with Lyu Bu. Cai Yang, whose Precious Sword had not dulled with age, became intensely curious about Guan Yu, who wielded the sword as deftly as he had during his peak—the strongest swordsman of the past two decades!

After fending off Lyu Bu, Cai Yang immediately took the Qin Family with him at full speed toward Chenliu. He had no desire to encounter another monster like Lyu Bu. If it weren’t for the burden of protecting the Qin Family, he wouldn’t have feared the fight, but guarding them while battling a master like Lyu Bu was beyond anyone’s capability.

Although Cai Yang understood the art of drilling soldiers, he had been submerged in past sorrow and had not trained any of the Qin Family’s private soldiers. This encounter with Lyu Bu revealed that most of the Qin Family’s soldiers were reluctant to advance; some even deserted upon hearing Lyu Bu’s name.

With no further hesitation, Cai Yang single-handedly escorted the Qin Family’s Direct Lineage to Chenliu, only to run into Li Dian’s forces soon after. Unlike Cai Yang, who couldn’t sense Li Jin’s weakened Qi, Li Jin’s monstrous sensory abilities detected Cai Yang when he came within ten miles.

Li Dian promptly readied his troops to confront Cai Yang. Li Jin, despite his injuries, faced Cai Yang head-on. Once the two sides met, each assumed the other belonged to Lyu Bu’s forces. They reined in their horses, anxious at heart.

Fortunately, Li Dian, already feeling guilty and keen of sight, quickly spotted the differences and asked for clarification, thus avoiding a violent clash. Otherwise, Li Jin might have been ready for his coffin today.(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian ) to vote for it with your recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)