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| ← Ch.404 | Ch.406 → |
Chapter 405
Chapter 405 - Guan Yu's Potential Threat
Guan Yu took over 5, 000 cataphracts and 15, 000 Xiliang riders from Li Ru, merging with his 10, 000 infantries. He returned to Luoyang, reporting their victory to Yuan Shu.
When Yuan Shu heard that Cao Cao retreated, he bestowed Guan Yu with a title, Great General of Hongnong, and gave him 5, 000 gold nuggets as a reward.
Still, the threat of the coalition had not been cleared yet. Liu Biao was attacking Wan Commandery while Zhang He was glaring at them from the north.
Yuan Shu gave Guan Yu an imperial decree, "Great general, you will take all of your men to support Ji Ling to the north. I want Zhang He's head!"
Guan Yu glanced around, checking all officers in the throne room. Upon seeing no military officer in here, he came up with a scheme.
"Your majesty, my men are injured and exhausted from the recent battle. I hope you can allow us to rest for a few days and allow me to conscript more troops from the garrison forces. Since Cao Cao won't attack us any time soon, it was unnecessary to keep many garrison soldiers in the city. Let me take them to battle, so they can contribute something to you."
Yuan Shu laughed, "Good idea! Take those useless men to the frontline. They have been eating my gold and my food for nothing. Let's get them to work!"
"Thank you, your majesty!"
Han Yin, who was currently Yuan Shu's advisor, stepped forward to stop his lord.
"Your majesty, we need those soldiers to protect us! We may have repelled Cao Cao, but it might be a temporary retreat. We need a force to protect the capital!"
Yuan Shu waved his hands, "Don't bother. I don't think they will have the guts to come here again. Didn't you hear the report? Cao Cao Army has been crippled after this fight."
"True."
Han Yin was still hesitant. Sending garrison soldiers away would make Luoyang vulnerable to any raider, which was a reckless move.
He glared at Guan Yu in frustration.
"General, you'd better be sure that no one can attack Luoyang while we are undefended. If anything happens here, you will be held responsible for this action."
Guan Yu bowed while he hid his faint smile, "Of course."
.
A week after the battle, Guan Yu departed from Luoyang. He took 10, 000 militias from the city, leaving the city defense empty.
However, he did not regroup with Ji Ling. Guan Yu took everyone and headed west, returning to Hongnong to regroup with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei.
Many commanders tried to resist against Guan Yu's order, but they were all killed. Moreover, all copied cataphracts and Xiliang warriors did not have their own thought, so they did not make a fuss.
In the end, only Liu Bei's loyalists maintained the positions of commanders. All Yuan Shu's men were eliminated from Guan Yu's ranks.
Two days later, the news of Guan Yu's betrayal reached Yuan Shu's ears. Every Zhong Dynasty's retainer was fumed into a rage.
"BLASPHEMY! HOW DARE HE BETRAY US!?"
Yuan Shu's face reddened in anger. He pointed at Han Yin's face and scolded him, "Why didn't you tell me that he is untrustworthy!? Who allowed him to join my army!?"
Han Yin was horrified, "Your majesty! Please calm your anger. This servant didn't know..."
"TELL JI LING TO STOP GUARDING THE SOUTHERN RIVER BANKS! HAVE HIM CHASE AFTER THAT BASTARD GUAN!"
"Y-Yes, your majesty."
.
Two days later, Ji Ling got the message from Yuan Shu, which made him frown.
He looked at Zhang He's navy forces, which still remained silent across the river.
"Tsk! Retreat."
Ji Ling gathered his men and returned to Luoyang, planning to resupply before chasing after Guan Yu.
Yuan Shu and Ji Ling were not the only ones who heard this development. Cao Cao also got his spy's reports. Moreover, Cao Xiu had returned to his side and confirmed that Guan Yu was not their enemy.
Cao Cao mulled over it with interest, "He said that he owed me something, so he released you to return my favor?"
Cao Xiu nodded, "Yes, uncle. Did you, by chance, save his life or some sort in the past?"
The warlord laughed, "Well, in a way, I helped him for a favor in the past. To think that he has that memory, too. That's interesting."
"Memory?" Cao Xiu and others were confused.
"Never mind that. Also, you said that he has that four white wings?"
"Yes. I can confirm this since I met him personally."
"That's even better! I think Guan Yu is one of the immortals now, and it proves many things."
Cao Cao had always questioned if he or his subordinates could acquire a similar power as Tong. Now that Guan Yu had demonstrated that the dream was not impossible. Cao Cao revised his next move.
"We'll be working with Liu Bei and Guan Yu! All units, we'll rush to Luoyang ASAP!"
With that order, all Cao Cao's remaining 25, 000 men rushed to Luoyang.
.
Zhang He had been observing the situation for many days. When he received Liu Bei's secret message that they wanted to cooperate, Zhang He relayed the matter to Tong via clan chat.
Unfortunately, Tong sent an iron fist order, "Kill Liu Bei and his sworn brothers whenever you have the chance. Ignore all façade, politic, or formality."
It shocked everyone that Tong had a secret grudge against Liu Bei even though they hardly met or quarreled against the others.
Through the peaceful years, Liu Bei's name had spread in Hongnong because of his character. As a kind and virtuous character, he won the heart of Hongnong's peasants, minor officers, and even the governor Yuan Yin.
Obviously, Xun You, Xun Yu, Ju Shou, and many officers disagreed with Tong's order since Liu Bei's influence had brainwashed Hongnong Commandery's civilians recently. They might suffer a backlash from the townsmen had they offended Liu Bei without a good reason.
However, the next intelligence report changed their mind.
Guan Yu had four angel wings!
Zhang He sweated when he heard that a potential enemy had grown so many wings in a short period. Even Medusa and Friday were shocked.
Tong: "Oh, boy. Do I have to go there myself and fight him myself?"
Li Feihong: "How many wings do you have, Tong?"
Tong: "Four, almost five. I need a bit of push to get there."
Li Feihong: "I have 3 souls now. Should I teleport to Ye and pick you up?"
Tong: "I have another idea. How many lifespans do you have?"
Li Feihong: "Almost 12mil. Why? Need some for your skills?"
Tong and all otherworlders had not received a quest from Lilim anymore. As a consequence, they had to acquire their upkeep lifespans by harvesting lifespans with their power. Currently, only Li Feihong, Lu Bu, Zhang He, Xu Huang, and Zhang Liao could gather life forces and contribute to the clan asset. As for Tong, Dong Bai, and Diaochan, they had to obtain lifespans through draining dead bodies.
Tong: "Put 10 into the clan."
Li Feihong: "We'll lose five million as Lilim's tax, you know."
Tong: "It doesn't matter. Five million is enough to get 50 of our officers a right to grow wings. We can't wait anymore. I'm going to upgrade all of our generals into either angels or demons."
Li Feihong was decisive. He transferred his hard-earned lifespans to the clan without batting an eye. Ten million lifespans were reduced to five million in the clan asset.
Tong bought cultivation manuals for all of his great generals right away.
Also
Tong: "Friday, Medusa, how many wings do you guys have now?"
Dong Bai and Diaochan had bought their demonic cultivation manual and the right to cultivate from Lilim long ago. It cost them a million to get their power back, and they had to rebuild their strength from scratch.
However, as demonesses who had once obtained four wings and eight wings, recultivating Soul of Sins was easy for them.
Dong Bai: "Only 2 wings, boohoo!"
Diaochan: "Four."
Dong Bai: "Meddy is unfair! How did you grow wings so fast!?"
Diaochan: "I once had eight wings, so it was a simple task for me. Just concentrate on the trait that you are good at, and you'll get it back in no time. I'm close to getting the fifth and the sixth soon."
Dong Bai: "Waaaa! Not fair!"
Tong: "Well, good. For now, I'll make an announcement to all of our officers. We'll select their cultivation choice by their personality and their achievements."
As Guan Yu's growing in power threat was looming in the corner, Tong sacrificed Li Feihong's back-up lifespans to accelerate their general's growth.
Now, Tong wanted everyone to become immortals.
.
Because of Guan Yu's threat, Zhang He and Ghost Legion were recalled to Henei, so he and his subordinates could take their time to cultivate their new power.
Zhang He already had three virtuous souls, which he had started cultivating since the day Tong had distributed his skills to his subordinates. Unfortunately, the gap between the four-winged angel and three-winged was too vast, so Tong did not want to take risks sending Zhang He to face Guan Yu.
The Ghost Legion's great general was vexed as well. He blamed himself for now meeting Tong's standard, which resulted in his retreat.
'I'm not strong enough. I need to get stronger!'
All Zhang He's subordinates were the same when they received the blessing from Lilim. When they heard that Tong and Li Feihong sacrificed their assets to bestow them the cultivation manual, their motivation grew, as well as their faith toward Tong's Han Dynasty.
Han Hao, Gao Lan, and Qu Yi chose the difficult path of demonic cultivation as they wished to become like Tong one day.
Generals under the Demonic Legion, Zhang Xiu and Zhang Ji, also chose the demonic path since they had tutors with many black wings.
As for the rest, everyone chose the angel path since it was easier to cultivate.
As for those with exceptional talents, such as Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci, they got two angel wings right away on the first day he got the manual.
Unfortunately, the next generation had not received their cultivation manual yet, as Tong found it that they had not proven themselves.
Sima Yi, Wei Yan, and Liu Xie retreated along with Zhang He in frustration. They thought that their chance had come, but Tong ruined it because of his cowardice.
None of them was aware of the immortal power behind the scene.
| ← Ch. 404 | Ch. 406 → |