Chapter 1090: Ghost and God

Ma Chao dug out two corpses from beneath the ice and snow in the center of the Xianbei royal court. The broken royal insignia beside the bodies identified them as Xianbei elders. Much like the Qiang people, the elders of the Xianbei were responsible for protecting the royal court and arbitrating between tribes.

"Keep searching, there should be two more," Ma Chao ordered his soldiers with a solemn expression. His troops had become highly disciplined by this point.

"Understood!" Two Qiang guards saluted and, along with two teams, began to carefully search the area.

“These two were Inner Qi Detached level experts,” Ma Chao mused, examining the bodies that bore no external wounds but whose internal organs had been completely shattered into liquid, now frozen in the cold. “Though they hadn’t reached the pinnacle of that realm, they were still formidable. Yet they died in such a strange manner.”

Before arriving, Ma Chao had meticulously studied the strength of the Xianbei royal court. His goal had been to strike at the court when it was left with only the elderly and a small contingent of soldiers, aiming to eliminate the Xianbei elders.

While the Inner Qi Detached realm was indeed powerful, its greatest weakness lay in its susceptibility to the suppression of cloud energy. Once subdued by cloud energy, unless augmented by an army’s Army Soul or negating it with one’s own forces, even a peak Inner Qi Detached expert could only struggle for a few seconds before breaking free.

Of course, during the brief moment when Inner Qi Detached masters merge Heaven’s energy with their own, the suppression from cloud energy isn’t as significant, but that lasts only about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

Ma Chao had planned to ambush the Xianbei elders with his forces, using the cloud energy to suppress them and eliminate them. An Inner Qi Detached master is only truly invincible when in sync with an army.

Even a supreme expert like Lü Bu, when facing an army led by an Inner Qi Detached general, could be in grave danger if hit. Despite the protection of the Army Soul, one direct strike from an opponent could prove fatal.

An Inner Qi Detached general, wielding the combined force of their army through cloud energy, could strike with the force of a mountain-shattering blow—a feat only achievable by the peak of martial prowess through sheer physical strength, but one made effortless with the might of their army behind them.

Ma Chao certainly didn’t want the war against the Xianbei to escalate to the point where the royal court elders personally led troops into battle. The destructive power they could wield with an army far surpassed that of any individual warrior. Thus, his plan had been to kill them preemptively and nip the threat in the bud.

But now, after cautiously charging into the Xianbei royal court, Ma Chao was greeted with an unexpected scene. The royal court had already been razed, and it seemed as though a natural disaster had swept through, erasing everything in its path.

"General, over here!" One of Ma Chao’s soldiers called out from a distance. "We’ve found another Xianbei elder." Ma Chao immediately dashed over.

Upon seeing the corpse with a gaping hole in its chest, Ma Chao shivered. The moment he touched the body, he realized this had been a warrior on par with himself—an Inner Qi Detached expert at the pinnacle of the realm—but killed by a single strike, most likely from hundreds of steps away.

This warrior, once standing at the peak of martial power and gazing down at all of humanity, had been struck down so swiftly. The disbelief frozen on his face told the story, yet it had all ended in an instant.

“Gulp,” Ma Chao, who had reached the apex of the Inner Qi Detached realm and was immune to heat and cold, felt a chill once more.

"General, over here!" Another shout pierced through the wind and snow. Ma Chao immediately rushed over, only to find another body—killed in exactly the same manner as the last: struck down from hundreds of steps away, disbelief etched on its face, and also at the peak of the Inner Qi Detached realm.

"Did the assailant stand here?" Ma Chao returned to the spot where the first two Xianbei elders had been discovered. "In an instant, they killed two Inner Qi Detached elders without resistance, and then the remaining two fled, one to the left and the other to the right..."

Ma Chao felt an overwhelming sense of dread. The thought of how powerful the assailant must have been to make even peak Inner Qi Detached masters, despite their numerical advantage, flee without hesitation was chilling.

“A power that surpasses the realm of Inner Qi Detached, just like how the gap between Inner Qi Detached and Qi Refinement is vast. That kind of overwhelming strength can bring about despair,” Ma Chao thought to himself, struggling to believe it but knowing it was the only explanation that made sense.

“Who could it be? How could such a powerful figure exist? Lü Bu? No, impossible. While he’s strong, he couldn’t possibly make us feel such utter despair.”

Ma Chao’s first thought was of Lü Bu, but he quickly dismissed it. While Lü Bu was indeed powerful, there was no way he could kill masters of this level as easily as slaughtering chickens.

Ma Chao stared at the lightning crackling in his palm. With this power, he felt that he had touched the level of Lü Bu’s strength. Even if he fully mastered this energy, there was no way he could instantly kill a peak Inner Qi Detached master.

“Is it a demon or a god?” Ma Chao muttered. Only a being of supernatural power could explain this scene. No one had managed to flee more than a hundred steps from the royal court, and many had died without even realizing it.

"Let’s go! Leave this place!" Ma Chao shouted, his voice filled with loathing for this eerie and terrifying place. The royal court was gone, and with it, his mission was complete.

In truth, Ma Chao wasn’t wrong—it was indeed a supernatural force at play. As he had speculated, four Inner Qi Detached masters had been instantly killed, causing the remaining two to flee in opposite directions, hoping at least one might survive.

But the outcome was inevitable. At that moment, Lü Bu’s archery was likely the most fearsome in the world, flawlessly replicating the nearly divine archery of Li Guang, the legendary general. Although the power of Lü Bu’s era was greater than that of Li Guang’s, in terms of pure skill, no one could surpass Lü Bu.

It could even be said that, at that moment, Li Guang’s spirit had returned to the world through Lü Bu’s form. The thousand-year-old belief that had been passed down was not just erased by soldiers’ spirits but also preserved in legends that endured for centuries.

In that fleeting moment, as Lü Bu drew his bow, his power merged with Li Guang’s technique in perfect harmony. No one could escape that arrow. With one shot, the enemy’s essence, spirit, and life were completely obliterated.

In truth, Lü Bu had overestimated his own mental strength. Though ancient figures like Li Guang may not have been as powerful as the modern Lü Bu, in terms of mental fortitude, they were every bit as formidable as the top warriors of this era. In fact, had those figures lived in the current era, their strength might have rivaled the greatest warriors of the time.

While Lü Bu’s mental strength was considerable, the thousand-year belief guarding the Great Wall carried the collective will of at least ten spirits as powerful as Guan Yu.

Previous Chapter | | Next Chapter