Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1796: Chapter 1671: Father and Son, Both Strong (Part 2)

As long as Guan Yu is willing, he can instantly harness his power and directly enter another posture, shattering the ultimate inner energy barrier with divine force, rendering him able to slash any being under the heavens. Of course, whether his body can withstand it is another matter entirely.

This is also why Guan Yu’s strength was not as fearsome when he withdrew from that previous state. As for the time he fought Sun Ce, Guan Yu truly didn’t intend to kill him. He said he wanted to take down Sun Ce, but there was always a thought of capturing him alive.

After all, when looking at the world map, Sun Ce, who was just over twenty, appeared to Guan Yu as a genius, a true treasure of the Han Empire.

Incidentally, after Guan Yu gazed upon the world, understood the significance of the Empire, and fully stabilized his breakthrough posture, he actually regretted slashing Yann Liang.

At the moment of divine breakthrough, the intense vibration of the Legion Talent revealed too much to Guan Yu. The talent stemmed from soldiers’ recognition of their chief general, who, with their will as the core, created special effects attached to the talent.

And at the instant of Guan Yu’s divine penetration break, the vibration of the Legion Talent made it clear to him that even if one lacked Legion Talent before, reaching this level could forcibly create Legion Talent.

Because at this level, at the moment of breakthrough, one can almost clearly feel the will of oneself and that of the soldiers; the powerful will produced at that moment, strong enough to forcibly birth talent with special effects.

Regarding soldiers’ recognition, frankly, any powerful general has high recognition from his troops, and a general who can break through the ultimate inner energy level is undoubtedly among the strongest in the world, and the recognition from troops is certainly not a problem.

In other words, as long as one can break through the ultimate inner energy barrier, Heaven will make up for the shortcomings. But then again, when martial force breaks a certain threshold, even with mediocre leadership, one can still create miracles like Xiang Yu, following the path of brave warfare.

For such mighty figures, leadership is actually not important. They only need to lead their soldiers by example, elevating morale and increasing combat power to defeat most enemies.

Thus, Guan Yu instantly realized that the Yann Liang he had taken down was not only a top general with the potential to break through the ultimate inner energy barrier but also a super valiant general with his intrinsic straightforward combat-type Legion Talent.

As for whether Yann Liang could break through, Guan Yu had no doubt at all. Yann Liang back then was incredibly strong, his will like Guan Yu’s, capable of executing any move beyond its limits, a sign of a god stepping toward a higher level.

If that battle had ended with Yann Liang surviving, he would certainly have breakthrough like himself, Guan Yu had no doubt of this. Frankly, after so many fights, besides the ascended Lyu Bu, the most challenging was Yann Liang.

Even encountering Yann Liang now for another battle, Guan Yu couldn’t guarantee he could instantly defeat Yann Liang. His clearest feeling at that time was that he and Yann Liang were practically nemeses. In the same battle, when he exerted beyond limits to suppress the opponent, the opponent would also achieve transcendent performance.

Unfortunately, Yann Liang eventually died under his blade, with glowing eyes that were breathable, which was Guan Yu’s essence. That was the power obtained after battling Yann Liang several times and finally almost breaking through the inner energy barrier.

As for Yann Liang, Guan Yu later knew, despite shouldering the Heavenly Cauldron, Yann Liang had not encountered any immortals, or rather, the immortals he faced were all slain by Lyu Bu, and the only difference between him and Yann Liang was that one encounter.

Guan Yu believed if Yann Liang had also encountered immortals that time, he might have ascended to the ultimate inner energy height like himself. Unfortunately, fate plays tricks, and maybe only one of them could ascend to this realm.

But Guan Yu was not one to dwell on the past; Yann Liang was already dead, and he had to look forward, understanding the empire and the world, and thus decided to preserve the essence of the Central Plains.

Otherwise, during the Huai River battle, if Guan Yu had directly entered his breakthrough posture, even with Sun Ce’s great fortune, he might only face a dead end amid such absolute power.

So back then, it wasn’t wrong for Guan Yu to hold back; an empire isn’t sustained just by a few masters, even one as skilled as Guan Yu could be besieged by any empire.

Sun Ce was clearly somewhat awkward at this moment. He was an enthusiastic and cheerful person, but meeting someone as cold, non-verbal, and overwhelmingly powerful as Guan Yu made it hard for Sun Ce to approach him, fearing Guan Yu might have taboos.

”General Guan, I recently encountered Young General Guan, and I observe he is not inferior to Bofu,” Zhou Yu suddenly spoke, ”Indeed, a tiger father has no dog son.”

With eyes originally closed, Guan Yu suddenly opened them, glanced at Zhou Yu, and asked, ”Ping’er broke through the inner energy barrier?”

”General Guan hasn’t known yet?” Zhou Yu replied with a smile.

”Indeed, I didn’t know.” By now, Guan Yu had returned to a calm demeanor, speaking smoothly without fluctuation, yet Zhou Yu somehow perceived Guan Yu’s gratification.

”Perhaps he wants to give you a surprise, General Guan.” Zhou Yu made a slightly uncertain expression as he spoke, though he was quite clear actually, merely going along.

”Maybe.” Guan Yu uttered two words, then fell silent.

Zhou Yu felt a bit awkward; he’d never encountered someone so hard to interact with. Your son has already manifested inner energy, yet you aren’t delighted about it; this is indeed a rare dual powerhouse case, uncommon anywhere else.

Guo Jia covered his mouth with a folding fan to stifle a laugh; this was Guan Yu’s nature, not knowing how to converse with those he wasn’t very familiar with, but Guo Jia clearly sensed Guan Yu’s joy.

Though Guan Yu appeared unconcerned about Guan Ping, in truth, Guo Jia, having worked with Guan Yu for several years, deeply understood how much Guan Yu cared about Guan Ping.

However, Guan Yu simultaneously felt he hadn’t cared for Guan Ping enough, letting him endure hardship in childhood, believing he should compensate him. Yet, on the other hand, he thought his son should undergo trials.

This completely conflicting thinking led Guan Ping to have an extremely privileged material life while enduring Guan Yu’s harsh training.

What was worse was that Guan Yu’s stringent training hadn’t brought about startling changes in Guan Ping. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, he had reached the peak of Qi Refining to Gang, but couldn’t break through, causing Guan Yu’s disappointment and leading him to doubt if he was too impatient.

Guan Yu himself couldn’t express feelings well, always with a stern face toward Guan Ping, making Guan Ping wary of getting close to him, increasing the rift between them despite Guo Jia’s attempts to highlight these issues; the communication between Guan Yu and Guan Ping remained a mess.

On one hand, Guan Yu believed Guan Ping had inherited his lineage and should likewise become an outstanding general. On the other hand, there was the sixteen years of guilt regarding the Hu Clan and Guan Ping. These mixed emotions made Guan Yu feel both guilty and dissatisfied when facing Guan Ping.

Unfortunately, Guan Ping couldn’t meet Guan Yu’s demands, and his fifteen or sixteen-year-old aptitude at the peak of Qi Refining to Gang, in Guan Yu’s view, was gradually wasted, frustrating Guan Yu’s expectations bit by bit until he eventually gave up.

That was why Guan Yu later didn’t take Guan Ping when moving south to Yuzhou. His son whom he’d always watched couldn’t meet the standards, and Guan Yu felt depressed and opted to ignore it instead.

Yet unexpectedly, his son broke through the inner energy barrier after leaving his side, gratifying Guan Yu with his son’s ability to grow independently while simultaneously making him question his teaching level; his long instruction hadn’t led to breakthrough, but setting him free did.

This made Guan Yu somewhat heartbroken, but still, his son’s breakthrough was undeniably good news.

Guo Jia easily noticed Guan Yu’s complex feelings despite his unchanged expression, but didn’t comment; Guan Ping’s breakthrough was undoubtedly beneficial in every aspect.