Chapter 968: The Three Misconceptions of Internal Energy Manifestation

As Ma Chao thought about never having crossed blades with Zhao Yun, he felt conflicted. He even considered turning back to find Zhao Yun, as he was someone who had faced Lü Bu in a one-on-one battle on the battlefield, retreating unscathed without even a scratch—an extraordinary expert.

"Marquis Wen isn’t such a bad person. He just has moments where his mind doesn’t quite turn quickly enough. My martial skills were guided by him, so if you survived, he definitely held back," Sun Ce estimated Ma Chao’s strength and spoke.

"Yeah..." Ma Chao deflated, realizing that Lü Bu had held back so much, nearly to the point of drowning him, and yet he had almost been killed. From start to finish, Lü Bu had only been serious for one final move.

"But you look to be about the same age as me. We still have another twenty years. By then, maybe we’ll be stronger than Marquis Wen," Sun Ce laughed, trying to encourage him.

"So, you think you’re strong?" Ma Chao asked. His perception of strength wasn’t great, and he couldn’t gauge others’ abilities until he actually fought them. This was normal for him, as he didn’t spend time learning these miscellaneous skills. In Ma Chao’s mind, as long as he was strong, being able to see through others’ strength didn’t matter.

"Let’s try and see. I’m interested in your strength as well," Sun Ce replied with a smile, extending his hand. His ability to gauge strength was just as limited, much like Ma Chao, but at least Sun Ce could recognize if someone had achieved Internal Energy Manifestation.

"Alright, let’s test it!" Ma Chao laughed loudly, extending his hand to grip Sun Ce’s, wearing a confident smile as if victory was already his.

Not being able to defeat Lü Bu was due to age, losing to Dian Wei was a matter of accumulated experience, losing to Guan Yu was due to lack of momentum, and losing to Zhang Fei was due to a lack of raw strength. Overall, Ma Chao believed his losses were just because of his age. In his mind, he was already standing at the peak for someone his age.

The moment their hands met, both Ma Chao and Sun Ce gradually applied more force. Ma Chao was startled as he looked at Sun Ce. "I’m going to use more strength now."

"Don’t hold back," Sun Ce smiled confidently as golden internal energy burst from him. Even his eyes turned a radiant gold, and he stared at Ma Chao with the pride of a king. "Give me your best shot. Show me what you’ve got!"

Feeling the pain in his hand, Ma Chao’s face broke into a wild grin.

"Bring it on!" Ma Chao roared as his body erupted with golden energy, but soon after, blue and white electric sparks began crackling over his golden aura.

"Ha!" Sun Ce unleashed his full power, the same strength that had brought down Yu Ji and marked his ascension to the pinnacle of Internal Energy Manifestation. For the first time, Sun Ce was unleashing his complete strength.

"Ha!" Arrogant as ever, Ma Chao also realized in that instant that he had met a worthy opponent. Electric sparks danced wildly around him, but they still couldn’t suppress Sun Ce’s power.

Suddenly, Sun Ce stopped his power surge, and Ma Chao followed suit. But unlike Sun Ce, who was smiling, Ma Chao’s expression clearly showed frustration.

"Why did you stop?" Ma Chao glared at Sun Ce, demanding an answer.

"You haven’t fully recovered yet, so you’re not a match for me right now. Let’s have a proper fight when you’ve healed. If I win now, it wouldn’t be fair," Sun Ce replied, his eyes still burning with pride as he looked at Ma Chao.

"Fine, once I’m fully recovered, we’ll have a real fight!" Ma Chao said coldly, locking eyes with Sun Ce. His opponent wasn’t much older than him, but the power Sun Ce had unleashed just now had suppressed him.

"So, General Ma, please focus on recovering. If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask, and we’ll do our best to accommodate," Zhou Yu said with a smile. Although Ma Chao couldn’t be recruited, he could still be used as a tool for making a statement against both Cao Cao and Ma Teng from a distance.

After Sun Ce and Zhou Yu left, Ma Chao stared at his hands. His internal energy had dropped significantly, to about half of what it was before.

Slowly, he extended his hands, and after summoning his internal energy, the previously pure golden energy crackled with blue and white electricity.

"The power of lightning, huh?" Ma Chao said bitterly. He had lost half of his internal energy, and all he had gained was this ability. His internal energy level had dropped from the peak of Internal Energy Manifestation to barely entering the realm.

Fortunately, he had retained all other aspects of his peak-level abilities. Now, Ma Chao was like a top-tier warrior with insufficient internal energy. For some reason, though, his internal energy could only recover to half its original level, and even after thoroughly examining his body, Ma Chao couldn’t find anything wrong.

According to the old sayings, an expert at the level of Internal Energy Manifestation could recover fully as long as they weren’t dead. Once they woke up, all negative effects would disappear, and such experts could even rival Xiang Yu. But now, though Ma Chao couldn’t prove the third saying, the first two had already been disproven.

"Has Yo Ping not woken up yet?" Sun Ce asked, frowning, as he stood beside the still-unconscious Zhou Tai. By now, Zhou Tai’s body had fully recovered, but he still hadn’t woken up.

"No, Doctor Zhang has already examined him. All of his bodily functions have fully recovered, but he remains unconscious. The doctor used special techniques to check thoroughly, and there are no physical problems. We just can’t say when he will wake up," Zhou Yu explained, his voice tinged with concern, as he harbored some unsettling thoughts.

"Yo Ping will recover," Sun Ce said with determination, pausing for a moment before speaking with certainty.

In truth, a few days ago, when Zhou Tai still hadn’t woken up, Sun Ce’s instincts had already told him that Zhou Tai might never wake again. However, Sun Ce found it hard to accept that intuition, and so he asked about Zhou Tai’s condition daily, only to be met with the same disappointing answer each time.

On the other hand, Zhang Zhongjing had already figured out Zhou Tai’s condition but had yet to speak up. With his medical skills, how could he not understand Zhou Tai’s current situation? Although Zhou Tai’s body had fully recovered, what about his soul? Or rather, his spirit? Could the Divine Stone restore one’s spirit as well as their body?

Zhou Tai had burned everything—his internal energy, spirit, and body—to unleash that incredible power. Even if the Divine Stone had restored his body, without his spirit, death was inevitable. The only reason Zhou Tai hadn’t died yet was that his body had been restored, and his spirit hadn’t fully dissipated.

Zhou Yu’s music had indeed reignited Zhou Tai’s will to survive, and his spirit had momentarily surpassed the limits of his body. He had also gained the life force from the Divine Stone, but most of his spirit had already burned away. Though his body remained strong, without his spirit to control it, he could only remain unconscious.

"Alas, it seems that General Zhou may be like this for the rest of his life," Zhang Zhongjing said helplessly. It wasn’t that his medical skills weren’t good enough—it was simply that Zhou Tai’s condition, with damage to his spirit rather than his body, was beyond the reach of current medical knowledge. Even Hua Tuo himself would be powerless, as the spirit remained the final frontier in medicine.

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