Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 1476 - 1422: The Target Is Zhou Yu! (Part 2)

"Monarch Talent, is it?" Guan Yu coldly looked at Sun Ce and asked in return. Being able to resist the constraints of spiritual will with Monarch Talent, Guan Yu didn’t consider it a problem. However, it made killing Sun Ce much more difficult.

Zhou Yu looked incredulously at Guan Yu and Sun Ce. He suddenly realized that this battle couldn’t continue any longer. Guan Yu at full strength and the current young Sun Ce weren’t on the same level at all. The great spear that Sun Ce had nurtured to perfection was difficult even for him to damage, yet Guan Yu broke it with a single strike.

"Bofu, catch the blade!" Zhou Yu shouted and threw over the Sunx Family’s ancient heirloom, the Ancient Ingots Knife. If an ordinary long spear could be destroyed, then what about this blade that had been nurtured to the extreme over many years?

Although Guan Yu’s strike hadn’t injured Sun Ce, it shattered the momentum of Sun Ce and his army. Seeing this scene, the school sabre bearers roared and began their charge, greatly boosting morale.

After catching the blade, Sun Ce gripped it with both hands. As the Sun family heirloom, Sun Ce had used the Ancient Ingots Knife quite a bit, but after beheading Huang Zu and Liu Biao with it, Sun Ce returned to his preferred great spear.

Now, however, reality taught Sun Ce a lesson: as a military general, having a good weapon was crucial. In the past, he was the one destroying enemy weapons. This time, the enemy destroyed his.

Guan Yu coldly watched this unfold. Even if he had struck Sun Ce’s Ancient Ingots Knife, he couldn’t immediately kill Sun Ce; thus, he might as well generously allow Sun Ce to get the weapon. However, even retrieving the Ancient Ingots Knife held no significance!

"Sun Bofu, your weapon is merely an external item; it is not a part of you," Guan Yu spoke as Sun Ce looked at him, face full of battle intent, clutching the Ancient Ingots Knife again. "Your weapon is not an extension of your limbs!"

Whether Sun Ce understood or not, Guan Yu suddenly burst forth with force, slashing towards Sun Ce. Sun Ce intently watched Guan Yu’s every move and, when Guan Yu took action, naturally swung the Ancient Ingots Knife towards the chest of Guan Yu’s Curly-Haired Red Hare.

In an instant, Guan Yu’s eyes turned cold. Speaking suddenly had occured because seeing the Ancient Ingots Knife reminded him of Sunx Jian and he acknowledged Sun Ce as a remarkable person. But now, as Sun Ce lifted the blade towards the underbelly of Guan Yu’s prize steed, anger flared in Guan Yu from nostalgia triggered by objects.

"Clang!" The Green Dragon Crescent Blade cleaved against the Ancient Ingots Knife. The synergy of human and horse power sent Sun Ce, with his innate divine strength, flying backward. Furthermore, Guan Yu struck another blow. Though Sun Ce successfully blocked it again, he was still forced back dozens of steps.

"How is this possible!" In the moonlight, Sun Ce looked incredulously at the two notches on the blade edge of the Ancient Ingots Knife, while Guan Yu’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade still shimmered with a faint azure glow.

At this moment, Sun Ce couldn’t help but ponder Guan Yu’s earlier words, but it was a pity that Guan Yu gave him no time for reflection, as the Red Hare dashed forth to slash at Sun Ce once more.

So-called nurturing was merely the process of Heaven and Earth Essence influencing the material to develop attributes conducive to human use, while the material’s limit determined the limit of its nurturing.

Of course, that is under normal circumstances. The appearance of a spirit signifies an abnormal situation; a spirit, to put it bluntly, is the extension of the will from its owner.

This intense will can cause nurturing to surpass the material’s limits. Simply put, even with a wooden sword, if you can endow it with a spirit, unexpected outcomes can be achieved!

This is also why Guan Yu’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade could sever Sun Ce’s weapon and break down Wen Chou’s arms. The invincible will Guan Yu bestowed to the Green Dragon Crescent Blade materialized in the sword spirit, thus surpassing the material’s limitations.

The same goes for Lyu Bu; his Sky Piercer was endowed with an equally invincible will. A spirit means transcending material limits; their impressive results manifest as attributes of perceptual limits rather than material limits.

However, only two in the world have successfully endowed their weapons with a spirit: one is Lyu Bu, the other is Guan Yu. In fact, Yann Liang almost achieved this, but he switched to a different weapon known as the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Blade. Unfortunately, he died before reaching the spirit state, leaving a third divine weapon unfulfilled.

Looking just at these three, it’s clear that for a spirit to emerge, one must tread the Divine Path deeply enough and have pure enough spiritual will, pure to the point of bestowing will upon lifeless objects.

This may also speak to Heaven’s unique attribute bestowed on the weakest of the Essence, Qi, and Spirit paths. Yet even among these three paths, only two have achieved this breakthrough, a missed chance by one who unfortunately was cut down.

When Sun Ce was sent flying, Zhou Yu’s pupils shrank to pinholes. He clearly saw the notches on the Ancient Ingots Knife. Not to mention another weapon nurtured to its extreme, to be so easily destroyed, could the weapon in Guan Yu’s hand be an Ancient Divine Weapon?

"Bofu, retract your Monarch Talent. Apply it only to yourself and leave the rest to me!" Seeing this, Zhou Yu immediately shouted at Sun Ce. Losing Sun Ce would render everything meaningless.

Sun Ce took a deep breath; Zhou Yu’s words carried very special implications. But Zhou Yu had never let him down in dire situations, so without hesitation, he retracted the Legion Talent. He unleashed his Inner Qi, soaring towards the sky and soon flew beyond the thin Cloud Qi cover.

Guan Yu snorted coldly. With the Curly-Haired Red Hare beneath him, he exploded with Inner Qi and pursued the golden streak of Sun Ce. Instantly, the Legion Talent applied to the school sabre bearers gradually faded. However, the Central Army Soldiers of Sunx Ce’s Army saw their spirits reignite as a radiance poured over all with the resounding zither sound.

Sun Ce’s defeat by Guan Yu had caused morale to wane, but Zhou Yu’s relentless thirst for victory rekindled it. As one side waned and the other surged, the school sabre bearers who once suppressed Sun Ce’s Central Army began facing hardship again.

Fortunately, Guo Jia and Guan Yu had planned for this. The school sabre bearers under Guan Yu’s command engaged in fighting retreats, avoiding the chaos Zhou Yu anticipated.

"Quite troublesome; after all, my Legion Talent is counterfeit, with only the effect of a morale surge, without changing the inherent capabilities. Now that Bofu has left the battlefield and Guan Yu is in pursuit, Guo Jia’s target must be me." Zhou Yu expressed some frustration with the school sabre bearers retreating in the midst of chaos.

"Pei Yuanshao is here!" As Zhou Yu pondered Guo Jia’s next move, a sudden commotion erupted on the wing of the Central Camp. With a loud shout, Pei Yuanshao led a division through the wing of the Central Camp, shifting the balance where Zhou Yu had been maintaining the upper hand.

Aided by reinforcements, the previously hesitant school sabre bearers, wary of being lured into a trap, charged without concern, led by Guan Yu’s personal guard squad leader like tigers pouncing downhill, advancing on the Central Camp. As Zhou Yu foresaw, Guo Jia’s target was indeed him.

"But if this is all, you’ve underestimated me." Zhou Yu thought with slight confusion. At that time, the flames on the Huai River continued to burn. "Surely their target isn’t Dong Xi; moreover, as long as the Navy on the Huai River remains calm, it’s much safer than the main camp."

Zhou Yu, contemplating while mobilizing forces, held off Pei Yuanshao’s attack with a defensive formation and commenced full counterattacks against the school sabre bearers. He was genuinely curious about Guo Jia’s strategy, as he had yet to be disappointed when situations seemed unfavorable. "Could it be Gan Ning?" Zhou Yu pondered but quickly dismissed the notion, as if it were Gan Ning involved, Li Yan would have informed him. Using the availability of reinforcements, initially cautious and restrained, now Sunx Ce’s arm was emboldened, fearing being lured into a trap. However, with Zhou Cang’s arrival causing chaos on the battlefield as foreseen by Zhou Yu, it was apparent that Guo Jia’s target was indeed Zhou Yu.

"Bofu, rescind your Monarch Talent, only strengthen yourself, let me handle everything else!" Zhou Yu instructed Lyu Meng, pressing his forehead, sensing that things weren’t so simple.