Mythical Three Kingdoms

Zhang He and Gao Lan broke through toward the west after covering the rear, successfully escaping Liu Bei’s encirclement thanks to their combined efforts as two great martial artists.

It can also be said that the two managed to escape because Liu Bei and others were not targeting these Inner Qi Manifestation experts, as they were difficult to kill. The significance of defeating Yuan Shao outweighed the defeat of these experts, allowing the two to escape.

After breaking out from the battlefield, the two gathered nearly a thousand routed soldiers with their prestige. Without daring to linger, they decided to head towards Ye City, feeling the need to swiftly convey Yanzhou’s defeat to the rear, so they could prepare and avoid Liu Bei exploiting the opportunity.

Of course, the two also had other concerns, but they genuinely couldn’t anticipate Yuan Shao being shot, an almost inconceivable event. Although the situation wasn’t promising, Yuan Shao had already broken through the encirclement with their rear guard.

Thus, Zhang He and Gao Lan rushed towards Ye City, unaware that by this time, the highest leader of Ye City had already changed to Cui Jun, who was now under Guo Jia’s influence and received orders to act accordingly.

Cui Jun had earned considerable trust from Yuan Shao. Naturally, when Jiangh Yiqu left Ye City, they entrusted the control of rear military power to Cui Jun.

After Jiangh Yiqu left Ye City, Cui Jun quickly gained full control of the city and, under the pretense of defending against Liu Bei, quickly established a perfect defensive system.

As the core of this system, Ye City had enhanced its troop advantage. Upon completing these tasks, even those who doubted Cui Jun’s abilities among Yuan Shao’s subordinates were won over.

No one suspected Cui Jun of being an insider, as his actions significantly strengthened the defense of Wei Commandery. The only potential weakness was Ye City, but with their people defending it, taking it urgently was impossible. If it couldn’t be taken quickly, it couldn’t be taken at all!

In this context, Zhang He and Gao Lan returned to Ye City. Upon learning about the events in Yanzhou, the entire city entered a state of high alert. With Zhang He and Gao Lan overseeing Ye City, Cui Yan’s plans couldn’t unfold, leaving him to quietly await the right moment.

However, shortly after Zhang He and Gao Lan arrived, Liu Bei’s army reached Ye City. By this time, Cui Yan had already received news of Yuan Shao’s death and Yuan Tan’s retreat north, meaning Ye City had no reinforcements.

Cui Jun did not share this information with anyone else. Although Liu Bei’s army had reached Ye City, their numbers were not large. With Zhang He and Gao Lan overseeing, and tens of thousands of mighty troops inside, capturing the city would be highly difficult.

While contemplating how to handle the situation, Cui Jun received a message from Guo Jia himself, delivered by a falcon, advising him not to reveal himself. Instead, he was instructed to mobilize the city’s defense forces, strengthen city defense, and was given a formation diagram that greatly enhanced the use of Cloud Qi.

With the help of this diagram, Cui Jun constructed an astonishing Cloud Qi Formation in Ye City. The moment the dense Cloud Qi appeared, it filled all the city’s guard generals with immense joy.

In short, the more people understood Cui Jun, the more they trusted him. This feeling was shared by all Ye City’s guard generals. With two extraordinary Superior Military Generals leading, Ye City was well-supplied with elite troops and provisions. Unaware that they were isolated, with Yuan Shao dead, all felt no pressure holding out for a year or two.

Everything that followed completely overturned all senses. To describe it, one could only say that a Celestial God descended; mere mortals were no match. Guan Yu shattered what might have been one of the world’s top five city walls of Ye City with a single slash, allowing Liu Bei’s army to rush in, while Yuan Shao’s forces fled before they could react.

Zhang He and Gao Lan were swept away as they fled. The instant Ye City’s walls were shattered left a profound shadow in their hearts. Unless they could surpass this shadow, they would never advance further in their lifetimes!

This was Ye City, with walls tens of feet high, home to tens of thousands of elite soldiers and three hundred thousand civilians, not the small town of Leling with walls barely ten feet tall and devoid of commanding officers.

”In the end, they chose this course of action,” Chen Xi said helplessly, watching Liu Bei’s army pour through the large breach in Ye City’s walls.

The formation diagram Guo Jia sent was meant for this moment. That grand formation indeed inspired the Cloud Qi of everyone within the city, but there was a section where the Cloud Qi seemed thick but was actually extremely thin; this was the weakness left behind. Sometimes, they needed a myth!

With just a single slash of Clear Radiance, the Cloud Qi was parted, followed by the shattering of the world’s stronghold walls, a power reminiscent of a Celestial God’s descent, sufficient to collapse Yuan Shao’s entire army.

In the so-called era of cold weapons, morale always trumped quantity and quality. In that moment of confidence, Yuan Shao’s army crumbled under that single strike, while mundane human warfare became a joke once the gods personally entered the battle.

This was the feeling for Yuan Shao’s army: when that towering mountain of blades effortlessly tore apart Ye City’s walls, they despaired. Even though Liu Bei’s army’s actual combat power was less than half, they easily toppled forces several times their size.

One can see how humans are truly creatures of emotion. After Guan Yu’s single slash, every soldier looked at him with extreme fervor. Even though they lost more than half of their strength, they erupted with combat power more terrifying than at their peak.

This fervor even seemed to evolve Guan Yu’s Legion Talent. As it extended to its extreme, a deeper glow surrounded Guan Yu, putting every School Sabre Bearer into a frenzy.

Similarly, after this slash, Guan Yu’s aura was nearly extinguished to almost zero. But according to Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong, Guan Yu now resembled a volcano covered with volcanic ash, continuously accumulating the force for another eruption. Indeed, Guan Yu successfully embarked on his own path after this slash.

”Wasn’t this all agreed upon? Anyway, this opportunity only comes once. As long as there’s Cloud Qi Protection, it’s basically impossible, so it’s better to create a god under our control,” Guo Jia said with a smile.

”This battle will surely shock the world,” Jia Xu said with awe. ”However, with this battle as an example, our army’s morale will always remain at an extremely high level. As for General Guan, he will likely have many insights.”

”Isn’t this to elevate our army’s morale? Otherwise, why bother smashing Ye City,” Lub Su said, rolling his eyes. ”I mean we won’t repair the walls now, let’s just leave it as is.” (. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)