Taishi Ci has not yet reached the level he was at when he fought Sun Ce, and is still somewhat inferior to Yan Liang today.
"Since you refuse to serve my lord, then die!" Yan Liang pressed his advantage and slashed at Taishi Ci again.
Although he had just defeated Taishi Ci, he also sensed that through this battle, the opponent's martial will had begun to transform, and it would probably not be long before he broke through to the mid-stage of the Celestial Realm.
Rather than keeping Taishi Ci around and letting him break through and become a threat to Yan Liang in the future, it's better to nip the threat in the bud now!
Taishi Ci was preparing to fight back despite his injuries, but Wang Xuan finally made his move. He patted his brow, and a palm-sized barrier flew out from his sea of consciousness.
Chapter 151 The Power of the Spiritual Treasure
This palm-sized mirror is crystal clear and so beautiful that it seems otherworldly, leaving one in awe at first glance.
This is naturally the Kunlun Mirror that Wang Xuan seized from Daoist Xuqing! Now that this spiritual treasure has fallen into Wang Xuan's hands, how could he not refine it for himself?
As Wang Xuan channeled his true energy into the Kunlun Mirror, the mirror shot out a beam of silver light that struck Yan Liang.
"Even a grain of rice can shine?" Yan Liang sneered, appearing extremely disdainful on the surface, but in reality he used all his strength to slash at the light emitted by the Kunlun Mirror.
However, the light seemed to exist without a trace, passing directly through Yan Liang's blade and striking his chest!
The Kunlun Mirror can manipulate the power of space and time. This attack looks right in front of you, but it is actually in a different space. Yan Liang was caught off guard. How could he possibly block this attack?
"Not good!" Yan Liang felt a chill run down his spine. A strong sense of crisis lingered in his mind. He only had time to dodge to the side before he felt a sharp pain in his chest. A fist-sized, penetrating wound was left on his right chest.
The attack was originally intended for his heart, but he dodged it. With his cultivation at the Celestial Realm, a penetrating wound in his chest wouldn't be fatal. As long as his head, heart, and other vital organs weren't damaged, the rest of his body could regenerate and grow back.
Wang Xuan retrieved the Kunlun Mirror and refrained from killing him. His only concern was rescuing Taishi Ci; now was not the time to openly confront Yuan Shao.
If he kills Yan Liang here, Yuan Shao will definitely fight him to the death!
Despite wielding the Kunlun Mirror and possessing cultivation at the early stage of the Celestial Realm, Wang Xuan was no match for the millions of allied lords in front of him.
Yan Liang, holding his sword in one hand and clutching his chest wound with the other, exclaimed in shock and anger, "I never expected you to be the one hiding your true strength! Why are you impersonating the son of Minister Wang? Could you be an assassin sent by Dong Zhuo to infiltrate the allied forces' camp and assassinate the various warlords?"
"Even now, you still want to pin this on me?" Wang Xuan sneered, unable to resist attacking again. The Kunlun Mirror unleashed a dazzling divine light, striking Yan Liang once more.
Compared to the previous attack, Yan Liang was prepared this time and was not completely helpless.
His blood and qi surged, and his true qi, blood qi, and martial will combined to unleash a divine light that impacted the Kunlun Mirror.
"boom!"
A muffled thunderclap seemed to resound in the void. Yan Liang groaned and staggered back more than ten steps, unable to hold back a mouthful of blood. But in the end, it was all due to this attack.
"As expected, with my early-stage Celestial Realm cultivation, activating the Kunlun Mirror makes me three points stronger than an ordinary late-stage Celestial Realm expert, yet I still can't kill a mid-stage Celestial Realm expert in one strike." Wang Xuan put the Kunlun Mirror away again, having a clear understanding of his own strength.
If he were to launch a sneak attack, killing a master of Yan Liang's caliber in one move would be no problem. However, in a head-on confrontation, it would take at least twenty or thirty moves to kill him.
Wang Xuan's attack once again filled Yan Liang with fear, and he exclaimed in utter shock, "How could you be so strong? No, wait, the mirror in your hand is actually a magical treasure!"
The dozen or so Transcendent Realm warriors around him protected Yan Liang, and the military aura in the allied camp surged, instantly sending a portion of its power to Yan Liang, restoring his confidence. His eyes revealed a greedy and burning gaze, wishing he could immediately take Wang Xuan's Kunlun Mirror for himself.
Wang Xuan didn't even glance at him last year. Instead, he looked down at the military camp below, where dozens of figures were flying over.
These people all possess cultivation levels above the Transcendent Realm, and there are even quite a few experts at the Celestial Realm, making it a gathering of powerful individuals.
Although the battle between Taishi Ci and Yan Liang was brief, it caused quite a stir, attracting the attention of all the warlords.
"Brother Yunchang, Brother Yide, it's been over a year since we last met. How have you been?" Wang Xuan greeted the two nine-foot-tall men first. These two were Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, with whom Wang Xuan had spent some time.
It had only been a little over a year since they parted ways, but Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's auras had become even stronger. The energy contained within them made Wang Xuan feel a sense of dread, as if he were seeing Lu Bu from back then.
"These two must have broken through to the late stage of the Celestial Realm!" Wang Xuan thought with a chill, but his eyes became even more affectionate. With these two fierce generals here, who would dare to touch Wang Xuan in the slightest?
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei naturally recognized Wang Xuan as well, and they were already stunned into silence.
When they parted more than a year ago, Wang Xuan had just broken through to the Innate Realm. Now, only a short time has passed, and he has already broken through to the early stage of the Celestial Realm. Even if he were cheating, it wouldn't be this outrageous, right?
"So it's Brother Wang! It's been over a year since we last met. I've missed you dearly. Why don't you come with me to the military camp for a while?" It was Liu Bei who broke the silence. Don't let his unremarkable martial arts fool you; that's only in comparison to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. In fact, his cultivation had reached the early stage of the Transcendent Realm, allowing him to fly with his bare hands, making him a second-rate general.
Liu Bei brought Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with him this time because he wanted to bring Wang Xuan into his camp and make a big deal out of Wang Xuan's identity.
After all, the status of the son of the Grand Minister of the current dynasty is extraordinary. In the main world, he would be considered a top-tier playboy. For Liu Bei, who started from scratch, the benefits of winning over Wang Xuan are astonishing, allowing him to avoid decades of struggle.
Wang Xuan smiled at Liu Bei, but did not reply immediately. Instead, he looked at another person beside him and said, "Brother Mengde, it's been years. Don't you recognize your old friend?"
Indeed, Cao Cao also arrived here under the protection of several generals.
Logically speaking, given Cao Cao's status, there was absolutely no need for him to risk coming here, yet he did anyway, which clearly shows that he was also after Wang Xuan!
Cao Cao was different from Liu Bei, who started from scratch. Liu Bei wanted to leverage the political influence of Wang Xuan's father, Wang Yun, while Cao Cao was purely interested in the martial prowess of Wang Xuan and Taishi Ci and wanted to bring them under his command.
"Brother Wang, it's been so many years! I've missed you terribly!" Cao Cao immediately tried to appeal to Wang Xuan's emotions, reminiscing about their past friendship.
As top playboys of the Han Empire, Wang Xuan naturally knew Cao Cao, and he even knew the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.
Especially Cao Cao. When Wang Yun tricked Cao Cao into assassinating Dong Zhuo, Wang Xuan's original self was watching the whole thing and even personally handed Cao Cao a Seven-Star Sword...
"What a tragic fate," Wang Xuan thought to himself, and walked to Cao Cao's side without hesitation.
It's safer to follow Cao Cao. Although Liu Bei is quite capable, his forces are no match for Yuan Shao's. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are brave, but Yuan Shao also has the Four Pillars of Hebei, the Yuan Clan's Halberdiers, and the Vanguard Battalion. If a real battle breaks out, Liu Bei simply cannot protect Wang Xuan.
Liu Bei watched helplessly as Wang Xuan and Cao Cao got together, feeling as if half his heart had shattered...
Chapter 152 Good Brothers, Loyal to Each Other
Seeing Wang Xuan and Cao Cao hanging out together, Liu Bei looked resentful but didn't say anything.
But at this moment, someone couldn't hold back any longer. Yan Liang jumped out, pointed at Wang Xuan, and shouted, "Gentlemen, this man has trespassed into our allied camp. He must have ulterior motives. I think we should arrest him first!"
Wang Xuan glanced at Yan Liang and shook his head inwardly. Yan Liang was brave, but his ability to read people was not very good.
Now that Cao Cao is clearly going to stand up for Wang Xuan, Yan Liang has taken the initiative to step forward. Isn't this clearly giving Cao Cao an opportunity to win over Wang Xuan?
As expected, no sooner had Yan Liang finished speaking than Cao Cao angrily shouted, "Yan Liang, how dare you! This man is the son of the Grand Minister of Works of our Great Han Empire! How dare you attack the Grand Minister's son in broad daylight? Are you trying to join forces with the traitor Dong Zhuo?!"
"Wang Xuan and I, Cao Mengde, are sworn brothers. Anyone who tries to make things difficult for him is an enemy of me, Cao Mengde!" Cao Cao's words were powerful and inspiring, deeply moving the large group of fierce generals present.
Yan Liang opened his mouth, the words of rebuttal were on the tip of his tongue, but he forcibly swallowed them back.
He wasn't entirely stupid; he knew that his position was merely that of a general under Yuan Shao, and that if he clashed with a powerful warlord like Cao Cao, he would ultimately be the one to suffer.
Don't expect Yuan Shao to stand up for him. Right now, the warlords are united in their campaign against Dong Zhuo. Although there are some minor disputes, they won't break ties completely. After all, if the campaign against Dong Zhuo fails, and Dong Zhuo seeks revenge later, all of them will be finished.
The conflict was thus resolved, and Yan Liang returned to his camp dejectedly, while the other experts also returned to their respective camps.
Wang Xuan, accompanied by Taishi Ci, followed Cao Cao to Cao Cao's military camp.
As the initiator of the coalition, Cao Cao's reputation had spread throughout the land, and many powerful figures had come to join him. His forces were now teeming with talent.
Cao Cao summoned his generals and introduced them to Wang Xuan. Leaving aside the other generals, Cao Cao's four cousins were exceptionally remarkable.
Cao Hong and Cao Ren both reached the perfect Transcendent Realm, while Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan reached the early stage of Celestial Being, which was no less than Hua Xiong, who had previously given the allied forces of the warlords a lot of trouble!
"Cao Cao isn't a good guy either. He clearly has these two great generals under his command, but he's been holding back and refusing to use his full strength. Otherwise, how could so many people have died at Hua Xiong's hands?" Wang Xuan was speechless. Cao Cao had clearly been using Hua Xiong to weaken other warlords. Boss Cao was indeed quite cunning.
Cao Cao, of course, had no idea what Wang Xuan was thinking. He looked at Wang Xuan with anticipation and said sincerely, "Brother Wang, now the traitor Dong Zhuo is in power, arbitrarily deposing and installing emperors, and treating His Majesty as a plaything! Our two families have received the Emperor's favor for generations, and it is only right that we eliminate Dong Zhuo and restore the Han Dynasty!"
Wang Xuan quickly nodded in agreement.
Both the Cao and Wang families are beneficiaries of the Han Dynasty system. Moreover, they are different from the Yuan family. The Yuan family has held high office for four generations, and its disciples are all over the world. If the Han Empire were to fall, their power would not be greatly affected. On the contrary, they might even have a chance to replace the Han Dynasty!
Cao Cao's grandfather, Cao Teng, was a powerful eunuch, and the Cao family was extremely dependent on imperial power. If the Han Empire were to collapse, the Cao family's power would be significantly weakened. Both for public and private reasons, Cao Cao genuinely hoped to revive the Han Dynasty at this time.
Wang Xuan was in a similar situation. His adoptive father was the Grand Minister of Works, a powerful figure in the court second only to Dong Zhuo. However, the Wang family had little influence in the provinces, and once the Han Dynasty fell, the Wang family would likely be relegated to a second-rate aristocratic family.
Cao Cao believed that he and Wang Xuan shared the same goal, but little did he know that Wang Xuan was completely unconcerned about the situation in the main world.
Wang Xuan has already made the Xuan Tian World his lair. The world is too complicated, and it's not the right time to get involved.
"Brother Wang, I wish to revive the Han Dynasty, but I lack the strength. Would you be willing to lend me a hand?" Cao Cao spoke rather subtly, but his meaning was clearly that he wanted to recruit Wang Xuan.
Wang Xuan smiled broadly and immediately patted his chest, saying, "Brother Mengde and I have been friends for many years. Of the dozen or so warlords in Guandong, you are the only one who is truly my brother. If I don't help you, who else will I help?"
"Good brother!" Cao Cao seemed extremely excited as he toasted Wang Xuan with a full cup of wine, little did anyone know that Cao Cao was cursing inwardly at the same time.
How could he not tell that Wang Xuan had no intention of joining his ranks? If Wang Xuan intended to join him, he should be bowing down and calling him "Lord" right now, instead of constantly referring to him as "brother."
"That Wang Xuan is slippery, just like his father Wang Yun, both cunning and treacherous!" Cao Cao cursed inwardly, then subtly turned to look at the other side, where Taishi Ci was drinking heartily with the Xiahou brothers, and the group seemed to have hit it off immediately.
"Since Wang Xuan refuses to be my subordinate, then don't blame me, Cao Mengde, for being disloyal. This fierce general under him has thick eyebrows and big eyes; he looks like a forthright man. We should be able to win him over." Boss Cao was already quite adept at poaching talent from Wang Xuan. He had previously poached Li Dian and Yue Jin from Wang Xuan's ranks, and now he had set his sights on Taishi Ci.
Wang Xuan didn't notice at first, but when Cao Cao looked at Taishi Ci several times in a row, he finally realized that Cao Cao was trying to poach him again. This was truly unbearable!
"Brother Mengde, to be honest, I also have a rather good relationship with Liu Bei, Liu Xuande. We've had a small get-together, and I should probably go and pay Liu Xuande a visit soon." Wang Xuan immediately got up to take his leave.
In any case, he had already used Cao Cao as a shield to block any possible trouble from Yan Liang and even Yuan Shao. Whether he stayed with Cao Cao or Liu Bei was no longer a big difference.
Cao Cao's eyelids twitched. He had already offended Yuan Shao today for Wang Xuan's sake, so how could he let Wang Xuan leave just like that?
It's not impossible for you to leave, but you have to leave your best generals behind first—of course, Boss Cao only muttered this to himself and didn't say it out loud.
These two "good brothers" looked at each other and surprisingly felt a sense of kinship.
Just as Wang Xuan was about to use his silver tongue to persuade Cao Cao, a deafening drumbeat suddenly sounded outside.
This is the war drum in the Allied Forces' camp. It is only sounded when there is an enemy attack. Its sound can be heard for miles around, allowing millions of Allied troops to prepare in advance so that they are not caught off guard.
"Not good! The Xiliang army has launched another attack! All soldiers, quickly follow me out to meet them in battle!" Cao Cao's expression changed, and he directly called out to the group of fierce generals below.
Wang Xuan followed Cao Cao out, and he couldn't help but say with some curiosity, "Now that all the warlords in the land have gathered to jointly attack Dong Zhuo of Xiliang, their military strength is much stronger than that of the Xiliang army. Why don't they use Hulao Pass to resist the enemy, but instead dare to take the initiative to come out of the pass to attack?"
"It's all because of Lü Bu!" Cao Cao couldn't help but exclaim. "Lü Bu is truly a reincarnation of a tyrant. He single-handedly contends with the heroes of Guandong. In just a few months, dozens of masters have been killed by him under his halberd!"
At this time, Lü Bu had not yet killed his second adoptive father, Dong Zhuo, and his reputation was not too bad. Cao Cao admired him greatly and wished he could recruit him into his ranks.
Chapter 153 The Battle of Hulao Pass is in Full Swing
"Lu Bu is that fierce?" Wang Xuan was greatly surprised upon hearing this. He knew that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had already broken through to the late stage of the Celestial Realm, and in theory, they were not much worse than Lu Bu.
Cao Cao seemed to see the doubt in Wang Xuan's mind and explained, "Now that Lü Bu has broken through to the perfect realm of the Celestial Being, and with the Old Immortal of Nanhua no longer appearing, he is among the world's top experts!"
Look to the heavens! It seems that not only Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have broken through, but even Lü Bu has.
Wang Xuan originally thought that with his early-stage Celestial Realm cultivation and the Kunlun Mirror, a spiritual treasure, he could travel the world freely. Now it seems he was overthinking it.