novelHeroes: Zhang Liao, Sun Ce, Taishi Ci, Xun Yu
| ← Ch.524 | Ch.526 → |
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The arrival of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei didn't end the Transcendent-level sacrificial ritual.
Dragon City lost quite a few Transcendent heroes in the battle earlier, and so did the Mermen.
Together with the offerings that they obtained from the battle against Old Demon Black Mountain, Dragon City could summon nearly 20 Transcendent heroes this time!
Right now, Ji Ye could, to some extent, use the power of providence of the entire Dragon City to activate his Fusion talent. Therefore, he had fused all the offerings until they were Superior or Perfect.
Because of that, after Guan Yu and Zhang Fei arrived, more poems were chanted on the altar.
["He subdues dragons and wrestles with wind and thunder with his bare hands. He's dauntless and can kill tigers and leopards. His name is so intimidating that it can stop children from crying at night..."]
On the north side of the altar, the Black Wind Crystal dropped by Zhang Yan turned into a black tornado that covered the battlefield. At the center of the battlefield were 2, 000 elite Black Mountain Yellow Turban soldiers.
At the center of their array was a black flag that had "Zhang" written on it.
On the side of the Soul of Civilization, there was also a flag that read "Zhang", but it was surrounded by 800 people only.
Zhang vs Zhang, and 2, 000 vs 800.
Despite the difference in the number of soldiers, the side with fewer people ended up crushing their opponents.
The hero warrior that could "stop babies from crying at night" was around 40 years old. He held a Yellow Dragon Glaive and wore a purple-golden armor with tiger heads at the shoulders. The square-faced hero had quite an imposing appearance.
"Zhang Liao of Yanmen is here to take the challenge!"
[Zhang Liao]
[Level: Transcendent Rank-2]
[Rarity: Quasi Boss]
[Description: Being one of the 64 generals worshiped in the Tang Martial Temple, he was a great warrior and strategist. He once attacked Sun Quan's 100, 000-men army with 800 people. His fame was intimidating enough to stop babies from crying at night!]
"You don't scare me!"
On the east side of the altar, someone replied in a cold voice.
The speaker was a man in his early 20s. He was stalwart and over 1. 85m tall. He wore fiery red armor and held the "Dragon Fish Spear" dropped by the Dragon Fish that had destroyed the navy camp of Dragon City. He gave off the air of the ruler of a great force.
"Bofu!"
In the management team of Dragon City, Zhou Yu, who was surrounded by sparkles rising from the Holy Fire Feather Fan in his hand, was pleasantly surprised to see the man. His face lit up.
"Sister-in-law!" said Xiao Qiao.
Zhou Yu then walked toward the man with Xiao Qiao to welcome him.
Sun Ce, courtesy name Bofu, was nicknamed the "Young Lord of South Yangtze River".
He was an outstanding warrior and strategist. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the warlords were competing against each other. He pacified the three counties at a tremendous speed and was the youngest of the masters to complete the war to take over the area to the south of Yangtze River, laying the foundation of the entire Wu Kingdom.
At the same time, he was also Da Qiao's husband and brother-in-law of Zhou Yu.
"Holy crap. Who do you think will win? Zhang Liao or Sun Ce?"
"I really can't say. They're about equally outstanding in their martial prowess, and if Sun Ce hadn't died so young, Zhang Liao probably wouldn't be able to keep Hefei safe."
"That's true. Sun Ce occupied all three counties to the south of the Yangtze River with a little over 1, 000 soldiers he had borrowed. That was almost as amazing as Xiang Yu, who had crossed the river with 8, 000 soldiers and conquered half the country."
"I remember that Sun Ce had already taken Hefei, but then he died, and the Wu Kingdom lost the city. As a result, Sun Quan spent his life trying to take Hefei back. I think Sun Ce heard Zhang Liao's poem when he arrived and wanted to save his brother's face!"
Many players looked excited.
This was the first time that two heroes "competed" with each other during the summons.
Moreover, both were famous warriors of the Three Kingdoms era.
But they couldn't break into a fight now.
For one, Dragon City was the most important Human settlement in the Land of Inheritance, and the heroes were all summoned here to compete against alien races. They shouldn't hold onto their old grudges.
For another, a voice chanting a poem in the south of the altar after Sun Ce arrived.
["His name is heard far and wide, and his army is the most intimidating. He paid a debt of gratitude in Beihai and demonstrated his loyalty to Shenting. He's Taishi Ci of Donglai!"]
Immediately after that, a handsome young general with long arms and bright eyes appeared. He was about 1. 75m tall and wore red armor. He passed the summoning test by killing a hundred-meter-long red Transcendent sea beast with the Wind Thunder Bow in his hand.
"Ziyi is here, too!"
Both Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were pleasantly surprised.
Taishi Ci of Donglai was a great archer and where the saying that "a man born into troubled times should use a sword to make his name known" came from.
Although Zhang Liao was as capable as Sun Ce was, Taishi Ci was also Sun Ce's match in a friendly competition. Lü Bu was probably the only one that could fight against Sun Ce and Taishi Ci together.
Based on a post that Ji Ye read on the forum when he went offline, Lü Bu had been summoned to a settlement from Bao City.
"Wenyuan!"
"Wenyuan!"
Cao Cao and Guan Yu called Zhang Liao's name in unison.
It was to show him their support.
"Chancellor Cao! Yunchang!"
Zhang Liao was happy to see them.
Zhang Liao started off as a member of Lü Bu's army. When Lü Bu was defeated and killed in Xiapi, Guan Yu persuaded Cao Cao to spare Zhang Liao's life. Zhang Liao then surrendered and became the head of Cao Cao's Five Outstanding Generals.
Later, Liu Bei fell out with Cao Cao, but the former lost the battle, and Guan Yu was captured. This time, Zhang Liao persuaded Cao Cao and Guan Yu was saved.
During the time when Guan Yu stayed with Cao Cao, he and Zhang Liao became close friends. At the same time, Cao Cao had been trying to "win Yunchang's heart".
One could say that there was a three-way bromance among the three of them.
"Wenyuan, with you here, I'm not lonely anymore!" Cao Cao walked up to Zhang Liao, took his hands, and said loudly.
"Sh*t. Has Cao Cao been alone in Dragon City for so long that he has become desperate?" Mister Bug mumbled. He had been watching the sacrificial ritual in the crowd.
Of course, he was only joking. It was obvious that Cao Cao was trying to win Zhang Liao to his side.
So far, the number of heroes belonging to the three kingdoms was quite balanced.
Of the Shu Kingdom, there were Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu. The Wei Kingdom had Cao Cao, Dian Wei, and Zhang Liao, while the Wu Kingdom had Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, and Taishi Ci.
However, Dian Wei had arrived much earlier and had become Ji Ye's personal guard like Zhao Yun.
Zhou Yu was not only the head of the navy but also the head of the natives in Dragon City.
Because of how the Wei Kingdom usurped the Han dynasty, in Dragon City, where a lot of natives were from the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao's status was rather awkward.
Strictly speaking, Cao Cao didn't have any loyal friends that were from the Wei Kingdom.
Now that a Wei hero had finally arrived, he had to try to cozy up to him.
But to Cao Cao's surprise, after Zhang Liao, another Wei hero arrived.
["A person has to find a place in the world in troubled times, but they won't know where the road will lead them. The world hasn't heard of a talented man for long, but the world doesn't know about Kong Rong..."]
"Who? Kong Rong? The one that smashed the water tank?"
"Don't be so dumb. That's Sima Xiangru!"
"Wasn't he the guy who wrote the Historical Records?"
"How ignorant! That's Sima Qian, the one who was castrated. Kong Rong was the one who gave his pear away! He's one of the Seven Scholars of Jian'an!"
The players discussed among themselves when they heard the poem.
Kong Rong was quite a familiar name.
So, after a few warriors, they had finally summoned a scholar.
Yes, it was indeed a scholar. While the poem was chanted, a figure appeared on the altar.
He wore the blue uniform of a civil official of the Han Dynasty. Despite his blurry face, there was something indescribable about him.
The offering he faced was a Perfect pouch made of colorful strings and merman oil dropped by a Transcendent Merman commander.
The special thing about it was that like Zhang Fei's Black Mountain Armor, this offering could only be suppressed by special heroes.
This was because it gave off a strong fragrance that could make all creatures into a trance-like state, which would cause them to jump into the sea and get devoured by sea monsters.
However, the scholar didn't seem to be affected by the fragrance at all. He walked right to the offering, picked up the pouch with a weeping merman pattern, and hung it on his belt. Just like that, he passed the test.
After that, the battlefield disappeared, and the hero showed his face. He was in his 40s but was still handsome. He reminded one of both clear ice and warm jade. He was kind and majestic at the same time!
The fragrance of the pouch lingered around him, emphasizing his elegance.
If he were a few years younger, the "Handsome Four" (which had already included 10 men) of Dragon City would have to increase its candidate again; otherwise, Master Ji, who was at the bottom of that ranking, would be eliminated from the list.
"Xun Yu is here to serve the Human race!"
The middle-aged civil official spoke. He must have been stunning when he was younger, and now, there was a calmness in his voice that belonged to someone who had seen the vicissitudes of the world.
"Wait. I thought it was going to be Kong Rong."
"Xun Yi? Who's that? A common hero? What book is he from?"
"It's 'Xun Yu', the top civil official of Cao Cao. He's Xun You's uncle and a famous graceful man of this time!"
"Oh, it's him... But I thought his name was 'Gou Huo'..."
Many players were confused.
"Mr. Xun!"
Unlike ordinary players, Elder Meng and the natives that were from the Han Dynasty greeted Xun Yu with solemn tones.
Xun Yu, courtesy name Wenruo, was a politician and strategist of late Eastern Han and the chief strategist who had rendered outstanding service during Cao Cao's unifying of the north. He was known to have the "great talent to assist a king".
He was as handsome as the legendary Pan An and loved to wear fragrant pouches. Wherever he sat, the fragrant would linger for three days. Because of that, there was the story about the "Fragrant Advisor Xun".
"Wenruo!"
Cao Cao's pupils contracted a little.
Xun Yu was indeed talented enough to assist a king. He was equal to people like Zhang Liang and Xiao He, and even Sima Yi said that he hadn't seen or heard of anyone as talented and wise as Xun Yu for the past century.
In the Three Kingdoms era, Xun Yu's importance to the Wei Kingdom was equivalent to that of Zhuge Liang to the Shu Kingdom and Lu Su to the Wu Kingdom.
However, Xun Yu wasn't as close to Cao Cao as people had imagined.
Strictly speaking, Cao Cao wasn't Xun Yu's boss. The two of them were more like business partners.
While Cao Cao fought on the battlefield, Xun Yu took care of the logistics. Together, they "protected the Han Dynasty".
Yes, that was what they were supposed to be doing.
Xun Yu had always thought of himself as a vassal of the Han Dynasty, not Cao Cao.
Because of that, Xun Yu didn't support Cao Cao's idea of replacing the Han Dynasty with the Wei Kingdom, which led to their falling out. Xun Yu was removed from his important position and stripped of his power. He eventually died in disappointment.
Now that Xun Yu had arrived at Dragon City, Cao Cao felt even more troubled.
Maybe to most ordinary people, Xun Yu wasn't as intelligent as the whimsical Guo Jia or the sharp-tongued Jia Xu, who were both Cao Cao's advisors and were often praised by future generations.
But to the management team of Dragon City, especially to Ji Ye, Xun Yu was much better than the other two.
Because of the "Great Darkness", Dragon City would have to get into battles and expand its territory constantly. A Transcendent hero with management experience was much needed.
The sacrificial ritual continued.
Apart from Transcendent heroes, many troops with Transcendent-level formations had been summoned to Dragon City in whole units.
For instance, when Zhao Yun worked as an assistant in the sacrificial ritual, 300 soldiers of the "White Horse Troop" were summoned. When Cao Cao was the assistant, 500 riders of the Tiger Leopard Cavalry were summoned.
["Wind blows down from high mountains. All grass die, and all trees wither..."]
When Ji Ye hosted the sacrificial ritual himself and used 1, 000 Elite Extraordinary offerings, a poem was even chanted when he summoned one of the ten most formidable armies of ancient time.
It was the Beiwei Division of Yue Fei's army. They had created a Legendary-level formation and defeated a 100, 000-men Jin army with 1, 000 men only. The Jin Kingdom hence concluded that it was easier to move a mountain than to defeat Yue Fei's army.
From the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms era, Eastern and Western Jin, the Tang Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty, more heroes from Transcendent-level literary works were summoned by Rare offerings.
There was Neo, Ye Gucheng, Bai Zhantang, Kurosaki Ichigo, Shetian Qinji, etc. What a scene.
"There are so many powerful heroes. Are they all Superior or Perfect?
"And there are so many special troops. I don't think even Ameagle's top settlement has so many."
"I think Chidragon is on the rise again!"
A group of players stayed together at the back of the crowd with an indescribable look on their faces.
They were both astonished by the arrival of Legendary heroes and troops and worried at the same time.
They were slightly different from ordinary players because they came from neighboring countries.
When players died in the Land of Inheritance, they would be "reincarnated" to more peripheral areas from the center of their countries.
Because Chidragon was big enough, even if one died three or four times, they would still stay in settlements within the country.
But players from smaller countries would be pushed out of their countries after three deaths.
Because the neighboring countries shared a similar historical background as Chidragon, they were familiar with some of the historical figures.
But because of historical reasons, most of these countries had shifted sides and even eliminated Chidragon-related records from their books.
Now that they had witnessed the magnificent sacrificial rituals in Dragon City, they couldn't help but feel intimidated.
"Hey, why the bitter faces?
"Aren't you supposed to be happy to see so many great heroes?"
Mister Bug took off his sunglasses and stared at these people with his red eyes. He looked displeased.
People who still dared to come back to the Land of Inheritance after multiple deaths had to be smarter. Seeing Mister Bug, they immediately put on smiling faces.
"Gosh, is this what a great settlement looks like?"
"I'm so glad that I've finally had the chance to see it!"
"I love it!"
| ← Ch. 524 | Ch. 526 → |