Volume 1, Chapter 502 – First Meeting

Boom!

Layer upon layer of yellow sand was blasted open into an enormous hollow. Hurricanes howled wildly, and no one knew how many Yellow Turban strongmen were smashed on the spot into pools of bloody pulp.

The heavily armored figure resembled an invincible demonic god. The pair of blood-red halberds in his hands lit up the four wilds, splashing boundless bloodlight. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he alone had bored through the formation stretching ten thousand li. Beneath his feet lay a road of slaughter paved with flesh, blood, and bones.

Hummm…

From the depths of the great formation, dazzling golden light surged upward. A dharma manifestation clad in golden battle armor appeared, with four faces upon its head. The four-colored laws of wind, thunder, water, and fire unfurled with its eight outstretched arms, each hand gripping divine weapons and precious blades, its appearance solemn and majestic.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

In an instant, the aura of the dharma manifestation changed sharply. Murderous qi billowed into the heavens, and law power like a vast ocean condensed into sword auras and palm seals that came crashing down like meteors!

Roar!

From within the god-of-slaughter battle armor on the heavily armored man came a high, resonant dragon’s cry that seemed real yet unreal. It was a divine sound stirred up by blood and qi coursing too violently through his body. His frame suddenly swelled by another circle. He leapt up, his thick forearm rising, great tendons pulled taut, and the blood-red halberd shot out like one of Great Yi’s sun-shooting divine arrows loosed from the string!

Rip!

Black cracks spread across the sky. The blood-red halberd shattered countless sword auras and palm seals, then in an instant pierced the golden dharma manifestation’s throat. It traced a brilliant streak through the high heavens and severed the manifestation’s head.

Such a ferocious style of battle made Guan Yinping’s expression change in the distance. Even Shi Lan was secretly alarmed by the strength of the man in heavy armor. An ordinary eighth-order expert would never survive even a single exchange with him. The strength of one man surpassed a million mighty troops.

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Bang!

The dharma manifestation shattered inch by inch. The formation, which had only just shown signs of gathering again, collapsed once more. Heavy cavalry came charging over mountains and plains, formed into an army formation, and smashed into layers upon layers of formations, rampaging straight through them. The yellow-brown dust filling the sky took on a wash of blood.

The fighting lasted for less than half a quarter of an hour before the Yellow Turban troops began to retreat. Countless wisps of black smoke spread from within their formations, filled with dense deathly yin baleful qi. It blotted out the sun high in the sky and dulled the five senses. Even with Shi Lan’s current cultivation plus Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight, she could still see less than ten li in any direction.

This deathly yin baleful qi gave Shi Lan a sense of familiarity. It was just like the Yellow Springs passage opened in the Lingyang Realm when Kong Chan had purified that statue.

This aura came from beneath the Yellow Springs.

She had heard before that Zhang Jiao possessed an evil art that let him fight with ghost soldiers. Judging by this, it was no groundless rumor.

Just as Shi Lan focused herself and kept her guard up, a war chariot drawn by six divine steeds wreathed in bloodflame slowly came to a halt beside her group. Beneath the chariot stood more than a thousand heavy cavalry guarding it.

Seated upon it was a man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. His face was fair as jade, his eyes long and narrow as blades, and his thin lower lip lent him a somewhat cold and unfeeling look.

What first drew Shi Lan’s attention, however, was the general driving the chariot. He stood eight chi tall, with a long saber on his back, broad shoulders and a thick waist, and a resolute face. His blood and qi was not concealed in the slightest, blazing out in all directions. Even the deathly yin baleful qi filling the surroundings was forced away and driven far into the distance.

A martial general of this level was no weaker than the man who had just charged alone into the formation. For the man inside the chariot to command two such peerless figures, he was certainly no ordinary person. Combined with the bloodstained “Cao” battle banners, Shi Lan had already formed a guess.

“Who are you people? State your names!”

The chariot-driving general looked toward Shi Lan and the others, his tigerish eyes widening. Even as he spoke, his hand had already fallen onto the hilt of his saber, killing intent overflowing.

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“Zhongkang, do not be rude!”

The man in the chariot rose to his feet and stopped the fierce general, whose eyes were already gleaming with murderous intent. When he looked at Shi Lan, his gaze brightened slightly.

“My name is Cao Cao, courtesy name Mengde. I am a fourth-rank General Who Conquers the West of the Great Han. I have come here under imperial order to suppress the rebels. How should I address you, miss?”

“So it is General Cao. I have long admired your name. I am Shi Lan, from Youzhou. Those behind me all serve under General Who Conquers the North Liu Xuande. We too have come under imperial order to suppress the rebels.”

Having received exactly the answer she expected, Shi Lan glanced at the general beside him, whose hand still rested on his saber hilt, then cupped her fists in return.

“Miss, have you married?” Cao Cao asked with visible interest.

Shi Lan’s expression stiffened slightly. Subconsciously, she tightened her grip on the reins in her hand. Was asking someone whether they were married some kind of custom in this world? One after another, they were all exactly the same.

“Not yet.”

“You are not so young anymore, miss. You should marry soon.”

Hearing that Shi Lan had not yet married, disappointment flashed through Cao Cao’s eyes without the slightest attempt to hide it. His attitude cooled almost visibly to the naked eye, and he tossed out the remark casually.

Crack!

Beside them, Guan Yinping drew a light breath. Looking at the reins that Shi Lan had crushed apart with her bare hand, a chill rose in her heart. The mount beneath Shi Lan was her own steed, and those reins had been forged from the tendons of a North Sea flood dragon. Even divine weapons could hardly damage them in the slightest.

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The joints of Shi Lan’s fingers whitened faintly, yet not a trace of anger could be seen on her face. In the depths of her pupils, there was only calm.

As they spoke, the black fog around them had already dispersed. The heavily armored man walked slowly to the side of the chariot with the blood-red halberd in hand, then threw down a round, rolling head and said in a deep, muffled voice,

“This should be Zhang Liang, one of the rebel chiefs. He tried to escape by earth burrowing, but I caught up to him in two steps and killed him.”

Cao Cao leapt down from the chariot in a single step. After confirming Zhang Liang’s identity, he could not help but laugh loudly.

“Another great merit. Anyone who dares offend the heavenly majesty of my Great Han deserves to die!”

The Han troops, who had previously suffered a crushing defeat, had snatched back their lives because of Cao Cao’s arrival. They gradually regrouped, and after reforming their army formation, there were still more than three hundred thousand left.

A moment later, a hundred-odd cavalrymen escorted a sturdily built middle-aged man to Cao Cao’s side.

“I am Dong Zhuo, Administrator of Hedong. May I ask if you are General Cao Mengde?”

The middle-aged man’s attitude was very amiable. Clearly, he recognized Cao Cao’s battle banners.

Though an Administrator was a major frontier official, compared with a fourth-rank general he was only of equal standing. Cao Cao did not think much of Dong Zhuo either, and merely gave a casual nod.

“I am indeed Cao. The Administrator has been alarmed.”

“Many thanks to General Cao for lending aid. After we return victorious to court, I will certainly report to His Majesty and make known the merit by which you turned the tide.”

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“It was only my duty.”

After a few perfunctory pleasantries, the heavy cavalry under Cao Cao had finished resting and soon set out once more, vanishing in the blink of an eye among layer upon layer of mountain ranges.

…

…

“If my lord has taken a liking to that woman, I can seize her and present her to you.”

The heavily armored man sat before the chariot and spoke in a deep voice. Beneath the faceplate, all was black, and his expression could not be seen.

“Do you take me, Cao Cao, for some coarse brute who snatches up innocent women by force?”

At that, Cao Cao laughed and cursed lightly.

“If the women willing to climb onto my bed lined up, they could stretch from the south of Luoyang City to the north. I may be lustful, but I am not ruled by lust. What pleasure is there in an unmarried little girl who does not yet understand the exquisite delights of bedchamber?”

At this point, Cao Cao glanced back and said meaningfully,

“That Administrator of Hedong, Dong Zhuo, now he is a true ravenous lecher.”