Chapter 84: Testing the Results

  Zhoa Yun also urged his war horse, but his horse was not very fast. With a single hand holding the spear, he gazed intently at Liu Xuan. From the moment Liu Xuan mounted his horse with his spear, Zhao Yun could see that his horsemanship had improved greatly, but still lacked a bit of flair, and his movements were not smooth enough.

  Liu Xuan seemed to be riding his horse like flying, that's because he had a precious horse. If it were an ordinary warhorse, his ability to control the horse would be greatly weakened.

  There is still a moment when he rushes out, four gun flowers can be spit out, and four gun flowers can be spit out within three months. It's not easy, but it's still far from the path of high martial arts, and he needs to make long-term efforts to accumulate and thin out.

  Compared with three months ago, Liu Jiong's progress is already very great, amazing, equivalent to the results of ordinary people practicing for one or two years.

  Zhao Yun secretly praised in his heart, of course, Liu Jiao was still far from being his opponent. He let out a loud shout, "Come and attack!"

  Liu Junding thrust his spear swiftly, the sharp tip of the spear shining brightly in the sunlight, like a flash of lightning cutting through the dark night sky, aiming straight for Zhao Yun's chest. "Watch out!" Liu Junding couldn't help but shout loudly.

  Although Liu Xuan used the Wind and Thunder Change, which seemed slow but was actually fast, the gun tip had reached Zhao Yun's face in the blink of an eye, but in Zhao Yun's eyes, Liu Xuan's move was still not worth mentioning.

  Zhao Yun was just hesitating, whether to give Liu Xuan an encouragement or a warning, the hesitation only flashed in Zhao Yun's mind for a moment, and he made up his mind. He couldn't give him a false impression, Liu Xuan had to understand his true martial arts skills.

  Zhoa Yun calmly and unhurriedly raised his spear to meet the outside attack. "Dang!" A loud crash, Liu Xuan's long spear was knocked open, Zhao Yun shook his long spear, spitting out nine spear flowers, holding the spear straight at Liu Xuan's chest, "Take this spear from me!"

  The gunfire was neither fast nor slow, calm and unhurried.

  Liu Xuan wanted to counterattack, but the time was not enough. He thought of dodging, but it was too early. The gun tip came like a shadow, leaving him nowhere to hide.

  Helpless, Liu Xuan had to raise his fire and burn the sky, with both hands holding the gun and supporting it outward. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yun's gun was as heavy as a mountain, pressing down on his gun handle, and the gun tip was like a poisonous snake, already pressed against his chest armor plate.

  Zhoa Yun's spear did not thrust in, stopping at the last moment. If it were an enemy, Liu Xun would have been pierced through the chest by a single spear.

  After a brief stalemate, Liu Xuan let out a long sigh and dropped his spear to the ground. He had trained hard for three months, but still couldn't defeat Zhao Yun in one round. He couldn't help feeling somewhat disheartened - what was the difference between now and three months ago?

  He was deeply grieved in his heart, turned over and dismounted to walk quickly towards the edge of the school field, the war horse followed him obediently. Liu Xuan sat on a large stone, staring blankly at the distant military camp. The confidence he had gained from killing Cao Jun's Tunzhang last night was shattered by Zhao Yun's single shot.

  For over 90 days, he secretly practiced in the Han River every night, even on the coldest of the three nine-day periods. His persistent training yielded a crushing defeat, and Liu Jiong couldn't accept this cruel reality, which left him utterly disheartened.

  "I can actually give you a turn, after our two horses cross each other, I'll defeat you in the second round."

  Zhao Yun's gentle voice came from behind him, he could understand Liu Xuan's sense of loss in his heart. At this time, his heart was filled with compassion for this brother, but compassion was not indulgence. Zhao Yun's voice immediately became cold again, "Are you willing to do so?"

  Liu Xuan shook his head, "Why deceive yourself and others."

  Zhao Yun stepped forward and patted his shoulder heavily, saying with a serious tone: "Since you also know, why must you deceive yourself?"

  Zhoa Yun's words pierced into Liu Xuan's heart, actually Liu Xuan also understood in his heart that he too had made progress, he just lost in terms of strength, but not in technique.

  Zhoa Yun's spear thrust was neither fast nor slow, seemingly ordinary to others, but Liu Jiong understood it. That spear thrust contained extremely great control power, speed grasped with utmost precision, wanting to counterattack, the spear speed had already come too late, wanting to dodge, but the spear speed was also a bit slower, dodging would instead become clumsy, could only choose to parry outwardly.

  This is actually the ultimate development of the essence of Bai Niao Chao Feng Gun, and in the end it's still a kind of power application.

  In the past, Liu Xuan couldn't understand, but now he can, that's why Zhao Yun said he was deceiving himself.

  Liu Xuan sighed, "Although I said that, but still can't withstand a single round, it's still the same as three months ago, and my heart is not reconciled!"

  Zhoa Yun sat down beside him, smiling slightly: "In your opinion, it's just one move that can't be countered, but in my opinion, it's completely different. Before, I could withstand your attack with only 30% of my strength, but now I have to use 80%, or even go all out. This is your progress. If you were to fight against Yu Jin, you could already withstand him for five rounds. Could you have imagined that three months ago?"

  Liu Jie's eyes lit up, and the shattered confidence in his heart solidified again. He turned back to gaze at Zhao Yun, "Brother is saying that I can already withstand Yu Jin for five rounds?"

  "Weren't you the one who shot and killed Cao's army commander with a single arrow? How can you still lack confidence in yourself?"

  Zhao Yun's smile carried a great deal of encouragement. "I believe that in two years, you can engage me in a battle of thirty moves!"

  Liu Jing bit her lip tightly and nodded silently.

  At this time, a soldier came running from afar, shouting loudly: "Gongzi Jing!"

  Zhao Yun recognized this person as his lord's personal bodyguard Bo Zhang, and said to Liu Xun: "It should be my lord looking for you."

  Liu Xuan stood up and walked forward, "What's the matter?"

  The soldier knelt down on one knee and reported, "His Majesty requests that General Jing go to the central military tent for an important discussion of military affairs."

  Liu Jiong nodded and said, "I'll go now."

  The soldier smiled at Zhao Yun and said: "My lord invites General Zhao to go together."

  Zhao Yun felt a pang in his heart, he knew that his lord was somewhat displeased, silently nodded and led the horse to quickly head towards the central army's large tent.

  Inside the Chinese army's main tent, Liu Bei stood in front of a map speaking softly to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei when suddenly a soldier reported: "General Zhao and Master Zhen have arrived."

  A hint of displeasure flashed in Liu Bei's eyes, he had just seen Zhao Yun teaching Liu Xun martial arts from afar, which made him quite dissatisfied. Liu Xun had just arrived at the main camp, and Zhao Yun was already showing such concern for him?

  Although Liu Bei also knew that Zhao Yun was a loyal and righteous person, he wanted to repay the kindness of saving his life. If it were someone else, it would be fine, but it happened to be Liu Jing's nephew, and this nephew's authenticity was unknown, so he prepared to make good use of him.

  On the one hand, Liu Bei wanted to use the relationship between Zhao Yun and Liu Xun to win over Liu Xun, while on the other hand, he did not want Zhao Yun to treat Liu Xun with sincerity, so Liu Bei himself was also in a dilemma.

  "Please come in, Master Jing!"

  Liu Bei's face again wore a warm and gentle smile, as he said to Liu Xuan who had just entered the tent: "I have just received the latest intelligence, so I invite you to come and discuss military affairs."

  Liu Jue saw that Deng Wu was not in the account, and his heart slightly hesitated. He originally thought that Liu Bei was inviting the leaders of Jingzhou army to discuss military affairs together, so Deng Wu, as a tooth general, was one level higher than himself and should have been invited, but why only he was called? It seems that he misunderstood.

  However, Liu Jue didn't say much. With Liu Bei's personality and worldly experience, he fundamentally didn't need his own reminders; just quietly observing the situation was enough. He nodded to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, then walked to the map without saying a word.

  Liu Bei glanced at him and walked to the map, saying: "Just now, scouts brought urgent news that Cao Jun's commander Xia Hou Dun led 20,000 troops to arrive at the military camp. We have 6,000 people, while Cao Jun has more than 25,000 people, with a force four times ours, including 5,000 cavalry, and the situation is extremely unfavorable for us."

  Liu Bei sighed and looked at the crowd, "I didn't expect Xiahou Dun to arrive so quickly either. What do you all think we should do now?"

  Zhang Fei's temper flared up and he immediately shouted: "Brother, lend me an army and I'll go destroy Xiahou Dun's lair. Let them come as they please!"

  Liu Bei shook his head, "This trip to Wan City will take at least two days, and time is not on our side. By the time you arrive at Wan City, we would have been completely defeated. It's not feasible!"

  "Th...". Zhang Fei was speechless, unable to utter a single sentence.

  "Perhaps we should retreat back to Xinye, defend the city, and ask for help from the Jingzhou army. I think it's feasible."

  As they spoke, Guan Yu and Liu Bei exchanged a glance, their eyes shifting to Liu Xun, the implication being that with Liu Jing's nephew here, how could the troops of Jingzhou not come to their aid?

  Liu Bei knew it in his heart and cast his last glance at Liu Xuan, smiling and asking: "Does young master Xuan have any good strategy?"

  At this time, Liu Xuan suddenly remembered something - wasn't the Battle of Bo Wang Po in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" exactly like this battle now? Xiahou Dun was the commander-in-chief, Yu Jin and Li Dian were deputy commanders. It's just that Luo Guanzhong deceived people by pushing back the war that took place in Jian'an 7 to Jian'an 13, giving Zhuge Liang a divine halo.

  "I'm thinking, since the enemy has an absolute advantage in military strength, they must be underestimating us. Moreover, Xiahou Dun is eager to capture Huang Zhong to gain merit. Can we use Xiahou Dun's mindset to our advantage and win with a clever strategy?"

  As soon as Liu Jue's words fell, Sun Qian nodded beside him and said: "Young Master Jue is right. Now Cao Cao is focusing on Hebei and is determined to destroy Yuan Shao, so he has no time to take care of Jingzhou. This time Cao Jun went south to Xinye, it was clear that it was not for Jingzhou, but to destroy the lord.

  "My lord has always been a thorn in Cao Cao's side. Now that my lord is stationed in Xinye with a small and weak army, it is the perfect opportunity to eliminate him. Therefore, Xiahou Dun will definitely be worried about my lord retreating south to Jingzhou, which would ruin his plan. We can indeed take advantage of Xiahou Dun's anxious state of mind and use strategy to defeat him."

  Liu Bei walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and nodded slowly, "Gong Yu's analysis is very thorough, indeed it is so."

  He smiled at Liu Xuan and said, "Still, Master Xuan has insight, seeing through Xiahou Dun's bottom line."

  Liu Jue smiled faintly, "I'm just throwing a brick to attract jade, Mr. Sun is the one with golden words, the Jingzhou army is willing to fully cooperate with the imperial uncle and listen to his dispatch!"

  Liu Bei nodded and said to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei: "This battle will rely entirely on the two of you, my brothers."

  "Brother, just give the order, I'll die for it!"

  Liu Bei then said to Zhao Yun: "Zilong, I will give you 500 elite soldiers. You and the 1,000 troops from Jingzhou will work together to attack Cao's army from behind, capture many prisoners of war, and seize their armor, flags, and banners."

  Zhao Yun knelt down on one knee and raised his fist high, saying: "Your subordinate obeys!"