Chapter 80: To learn martial arts, one must first establish merit

  Stay with Lü Bu for dinner, and then ask about the things that have happened in recent days, including the big battle with Nan Hua Lao Xian.

  "That man's strength was too great, and with just one palm, he heavily injured Red Hare. Although at the time he had the geographical advantage, Red Hare couldn't charge forward, but judging from his relaxed posture, it seemed that even on flat ground, the outcome would have been the same."

  Every time it comes to this, Lü Bu's face is full of resentment and unwillingness, and I don't know if it's because he was defeated so easily that he can't bear it, or because his beloved horse almost died.

  Liu Xuan didn't know how to comfort him, so he just said: "Don't worry, General, Red Hare's lucky this time. He won't die and will even gain some good fortune. Once we get back, we'll take good care of him and after he recovers, he might become even stronger."

  The quality of a warhorse is basically determined by its bloodline. Whether a horse is a good or bad one is almost predetermined from the moment it is born. This also means that top-notch warhorses cannot be casually cultivated - but this is normal, and for Liu Xuan, who was once an immortal, cultivating a few ordinary horses is not difficult at all.

  Not to mention the Red Hare, a top-notch warhorse with excellent genes in itself. Even an inferior horse, given enough time, can be trained into the strongest steed in this world. It's just that various means would have to be employed, and by then, that inferior horse probably wouldn't be a horse anymore. As for what it would become, there's no telling.

  Lü Bu didn't know the reason, and upon hearing this, he looked puzzled. Liu Xuan had to explain again: "That day when we retreated from Nanhua, I used the Dragon Qi to stimulate the healing technique to recover Red Hare's injuries. After the injury healed, the remaining Dragon Qi stayed in Red Hare's body... Moreover, although Red Hare was seriously injured and almost died, it also became an opportunity for him. His flesh and blood were all restored with the Dragon Qi, and after he fully recovered, his strength and leg power would become even stronger."

  Of course, there is an even more mysterious thing that Liu Xuan didn't mention, which is that after the Chi Tu Ma has undergone this tempering by the dragon energy, it may even open up its spiritual intelligence. You should know that horses are inherently very spiritual, and warhorses are even more so than ordinary horses. Now that it has been refined by the dragon energy, if the Chi Tu Ma's vital energy is good enough, it will gradually begin to open up its spiritual intelligence, and its wisdom will become higher and higher, eventually becoming a being with high wisdom like humans.

  By that time, apart from being able to coordinate better with Lü Bu himself, Red Hare could also cultivate more efficiently - it can already cultivate now, only because its intelligence is not high enough, so cultivation is just a vague understanding of following instincts, so the progress will not be very fast.

  As for the cultivation method, Liu Xuan was not lacking. When he ran around everywhere earlier, he had collected many miscellaneous things. Although the secret books and manuals were not preserved, after reaching a certain level of cultivation, there was one advantage: he could memorize everything at a glance. Those methods were all remembered in his heart, and as long as he wanted to, he could silently write them out.

  Lü Bu's head was spinning, what mantra, spiritual intelligence, roots and bones, flesh and blood he heard was half-understood and half-not understood. Fortunately, he figured out one thing, that is, the Red Hare horse not only came to no harm but also benefited from the disaster and would become even stronger after recovery, just like himself.

  With that settled, Lü Bu's mood changed by 180 degrees. Since Liu Xuan had already taught him the method of tempering the weapon, he only needed to find some good steel and slowly temper his own sword - he was used to using the Fang Tian Hua Halberd and didn't plan on changing to another weapon, let alone something strange and unusual.

  Liu Xuan originally asked him if he wanted to change the shape of Fang Tian's halberd, and also taught him how to modify the appearance of his own weapon. However, Lü Bu thought about it and gave up on this idea.

  "If it's going to change, I'll have to get used to it all over again, which is far from ideal."

  Liu Xuan nodded and then suggested, "In addition to this, if you find something special, you can also integrate it into your weapon. However, what changes will occur after integration is uncertain."

  His Red Cloud became its current form because it merged with the Red Cloud Sword of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty. Not only is the blade a deep red color, but it can also automatically condense a powerful dragon energy that is extremely deadly. This can be considered one of the self-contained properties of this weapon.

  To illustrate more intuitively, Liu Xuan also pulled out his own Chi Xiao and let Lü Bu feel the power contained in it.

  "This sword of yours, Your Majesty, seems to be ablaze with fierce flames, but when people see it, they feel a chill run down their spine. It must be the powerful and ferocious aura emanating from the sword."

  Liu Xuan had long understood this point, nodded and continued: "Also because of that murderous aura, when I use this knife to perform some attacking techniques, the power is stronger, but if you want to use other techniques, the effect will be slightly worse."

  Fortunately, Liu Xuan still had six seals in his hand, among which the Tianzi Seal was most suitable for casting spells, so it didn't have much effect on Liu Xuan. Moreover, Chi Xi was originally used to fight against enemies, and this characteristic was even more to his liking.

  Lü Bu spoke for a while and then left to rest in his own military tent. As for the great battle?

  Is anyone still concerned about this war? On Liu Xuan's side, neither Lü Bu nor Liu Xuan, or even Zhang Fei, had the heart to pay attention to this battle that was almost devoid of suspense.

  Just like in Liu Bei's tent, Liu Bei and his two brothers sat there in silence.

  Liu Bei took a look at Zhang Fei, his third brother who was usually fiery and impulsive, but now looked completely listless, as if he didn't know what was going on, and Liu Bei thought that Zhang Fei must have contracted a serious illness and had no energy.

  "Are Yide's words really true and without a single false statement?"

  Guan Yu had asked the question several times, and naturally knew how Zhang Fei would respond. However, in this awkward atmosphere, not saying anything would be suffocating, so he could only ask again.

  Perhaps he had asked too many questions, and Zhang Fei, who had been annoyed for a long time, finally became angry: "If Second Brother doesn't believe it, go find Lü Bu to try it out, and you'll naturally know whether it's true or false!"

  Liu Bei hastily drank a sound: "Yide! Your second brother is not suspicious of you, but this matter is too unbelievable, making it difficult for us to accept for the time being."

  Guan Yu didn't say a word, and indeed that was the case. However, he knew his younger brother's temperament very well - hot-tempered, but would never fabricate nonsense to deceive him, so he could be certain that what Zhang Fei said was true, only...

  "Can people really do that?"

  Zhang Fei suddenly let out a sigh, his entire shoulder slumping down: "To this day I still think it was just a dream, but all those captives in the camp can't be fake, can they?"

  Liu Bei sighed, and the prisoners of war in the army naturally went to see him. As the middle guard, these forbidden troops were almost all under his command. Although he couldn't lead soldiers in battle, this right still had some power, let alone the duty of guarding the emperor, which was a matter of course everywhere.

  Not only did he take a look at the captives, but also went to the wounded camp in person. Compared with the large number of captives, the few wounded were really overturning his understanding - this was not the kind of battle achievement that should appear in this world.

  Logically speaking, Liu Xuan is the Son of Heaven, and Lü Bu serves the Son of Heaven. The Son of Heaven being so powerful should make Liu Bei happy - because it means that the revival of the Han dynasty is hopeful.

  However, Liu Bei was not willing to just watch all this happen in vain. He originally wanted to participate in it. Not necessarily wanting to be the able minister of the Han Dynasty himself, but at least he also wanted to leave a heavy mark on history.

  Now it seems that whether he is here or not doesn't make much difference.

  "It's just... I heard from the teacher that Your Majesty personally summoned us to come to Beijing, it seems that Your Majesty still values my brothers and me, but I don't know when you will be willing to reuse us?"

  He naturally knew that Lü Bu's cultivation method was obtained from the Emperor, and Zhang Liao, Cao Cao and others also transmitted it with pride. Liu Bei did not avoid him in these matters, and now he thought that he might also be one of the people valued by the Emperor, but for some reason, the Emperor was not prepared to teach those methods to himself yet.

  Liu Bei's mind calmed down as he thought: "My second and third brothers don't have to be disheartened either. Think about it, Lü Bu was just an ordinary person at first, but now he's so powerful, all thanks to the Emperor's gift. I think that as long as we are loyal and work hard for the imperial court, the Emperor will take notice of us and naturally teach us something."

  Guan Yu listened, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes. The idea of making a name for himself became even more urgent - he had originally just wanted to make a great reputation, but now he had another goal: to learn the emperor's skills and become an invincible general who could come and go as he pleased in the midst of thousands of troops, killing as many as he wanted.

  Zhang Fei also had a general idea, with a flash of light in his eyes, and he stood up and was about to go out.

  "Where is my third brother going?"

  "Go and ask the Emperor to fight, that Li Jue's army is just a few dozen miles away. This is a great opportunity to deliver it to the door, how can we miss it?" After all, he was an impatient person, and he couldn't wait to take his troops into Li Jue's camp right now and bring back Li Jue's head to report to Liu Xuan.

  Liu Bei smiled wryly: "Today the sky is already dark, it's not a time for war! Moreover, Your Majesty has already rested at this hour. You burst in like this, what kind of decorum is that?"

  Zhang Fei nodded, not daring to speak. Liu Bei continued: "Now is not the time as before, serving by the emperor's side, we can't be as reckless as before, we must be cautious and careful, otherwise even if you achieve great merit, it's hard to get the emperor's trust."

  These rules and regulations are really annoying, but they exist for the service of the emperor, you can't go against the emperor's wishes. Besides, what my elder brother said is right, I should be more careful in the future.

  But he didn't expect that the next day, when Liu Xuan led his army to find Li Jue, the vanguard general did not use Lü Bu, but instead used a lieutenant named Xiahou Dun.