Chapter 39: Zhang Jiao Shows His Might

  Huangfu Song led the generals out of the Northern Army's camp, only to see that the gate was packed with a dense crowd of Yellow Turbans. Compared to those encountered by the Southern Army, the bandits on this side were clearly better equipped and mostly consisted of young men. It seemed that Zhang Jiao had also divided the Yellow Turbans into different levels, with his own troops consisting of strong young men, while other leaders' forces were uneven in quality.

  Zhang Jiao sat in the carriage, his knees slightly bent, his palms facing upwards, muttering to himself, and he really had some divine demeanor. Zhang Liang was sitting on horseback, staring at Zhang Fei with hatred, as if he wanted to swallow him whole, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. Zhang Rui thought to himself that he hadn't noticed before how big Zhang Liang's eyes were, almost comparable to Zhang San's.

  Zhang Jiao saw Huangfu Song and knew that this plan was going to fall through. He had originally intended to take advantage of the Northern Army's leaderless state to crush their morale, but he hadn't expected Huangfu Song to arrive so quickly. For now, his only option was to find an opportunity to kill Huangfu Song in one blow, destroy the Northern Army's prestige, and give the Yellow Turbans a way out. If they were surrounded by the Northern Army, then the Yellow Turbans would truly be at the end of their road.

  "Huangfu Song, now that our two armies are facing each other here, with over 200,000 soldiers on both sides, if we engage in a fierce battle, it will inevitably lead to the slaughter of innocent lives. Wouldn't it be better for us to think of a compromise? As the commanders-in-chief of our respective armies, dare you fight me one-on-one?" Zhang Jue stood on his chariot, his robe fluttering in the gentle breeze, exuding an air of elegance and refinement, looking every bit the part of a tragic hero.

  "Hmph, killing a chicken doesn't require a cow's knife, let me meet you in person." A small officer rode out of the Northern Army's camp on horseback, holding a long spear and standing with his spear at the ready. His appearance looked quite impressive. Zhang Jiao only took one glance at him before losing interest.

  Zhang Jiao was secretly delighted, thinking that he had gotten what he wanted. Just as he was thinking of killing someone to establish his authority, a northerner named Liang Dou appeared, looking quite impressive. However, Zhang Jiao felt that this man couldn't withstand even one of his moves.

  Zhang Jiao raised his hand, and a dark cloud floated in the sky. With a loud crack, a bolt of lightning as thick as a bowl fell onto Liang Dou's body as he was running, instantly turning him into flying ash, including the horse that disappeared without a trace.

  "The sun rises in the yellow sky, the virtuous and talented are half of it... The sun rises in the yellow sky, the virtuous and talented are half of it..." Seeing that Zhang Jiao killed Liang with one move, the Yellow Turban rebels' morale soared, and they even shouted out the Yellow Turbans' secret signal.

  In contrast, the Northern Army was not as enthusiastic. Everyone knew that Zhang Jiao was a great and virtuous teacher, so his abilities were naturally superior to others. But they didn't expect it to be to such an inhuman extent. Take Liang for example, although his martial arts skills were average, he was still a third-rate general. Yet, he was easily killed by Zhang Jiao with just a casual wave of his hand. Although there were people among them who could do the same, no one could do it as effortlessly as Zhang Jiao.

  "Who else?" Zhang Jiao waved his hand, stopping the shouts of the Yellow Turbans. The simple three words were also domineering and shocking to everyone present.

  Zhang Fei had already become impatient, and if it weren't for Liu Bei holding him back tightly, the beam would have probably turned into Zhang San's brother. On the other hand, Guan Yu was narrowing his phoenix eyes and stroking his beard, seemingly also eager to fight.

  Zhang Rui also had the intention to try his hand with Zhang Jiao, and he thought that he shouldn't be afraid of his lightning. When fighting with Tang Zhou, Zhang Rui discovered that he was not afraid of the power of lightning, and this lightning not only couldn't harm him but would even modify his body a bit. However, Tang Zhou was Tang Zhou, and Zhang Jiao was Zhang Jiao; thinking about the bowl-sized lightning from earlier, Zhang Rui's heart was also uncertain.

  "Let me, Cao Chun, meet you." Cao Chun had been eyeing Zhang Jue since he appeared, and as a rival, he felt threatened by Zhang Jue. It had been a long time since he'd felt this way, and now his whole body was filled with a desire to fight.

  Cao Chun realized that as long as he didn't die this time, it would be his chance to break through. His martial soul, the Lightning Leopard, directly merged with his body, and Cao Chun was indeed as fast as lightning. In an instant, he had already dodged four or five of Zhang Jiao's falling thunderbolts.

  Zhang Jiao became interested, this person's martial soul is really interesting, it's actually a rare leopard-type martial soul. This leopard-type martial soul, as the name suggests, will greatly increase the warrior's speed, but its attack power is not as strong as that of the tiger-type martial soul. Of course, all martial souls have their own advantages and disadvantages, the key lies in how the user utilizes it.

  "Tai Ping Secret Technique: Five Thunderbolts" Zhang Jiao made a hand gesture, and the single falling thunder suddenly turned into five paths. This time, Cao Chun couldn't dodge it no matter what. Cao Chun closed his eyes, feeling the thunder falling on his head, the aura in his body constantly rising, Cao Chun knew he had gambled correctly, this was the feeling, the breakthrough feeling, which he hadn't felt for a long time. Come on, Cao Chun concentrated all his strength into the large knife in his hand.

  "The Invincible Slash" emitted a sharp, piercing air slash that rubbed against the air, producing a hissing sound. The air slash instantly collided with the falling lightning bolt. Cao Chun succeeded; when he released the final "Invincible Slash", he knew he had succeeded in breaking through to the peak of the first-class warrior realm, a boundary he had been stuck at for a long time. He finally broke through this time, and from now on, he could reach his dream of becoming a super-first-class warrior.

  Just as Cao Chun was rejoicing, he was startled awake by a sharp pain. "Ah, it hurts...!" Zhang Jiao's lightning had arrived. Although Cao Chun launched an invincible slash, he ultimately couldn't withstand Zhang Jiao's lightning. Fortunately, the lightning had lost most of its power and only managed to electrocute Cao Chun until he was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

  "Yan people, Zhang Fei is here!" Zhang Fei saw Cao Chun break through and could no longer hold back the battle intent in his heart. Ignoring Liu Bei's pull, his whole body burst out with black flames as he charged out of the formation.

  "Hei Da Ge will die." Zhang Liang was about to leave, but was stopped by Zhang Jiao. "I'll avenge Xiao Bao myself, you provide cover for me from the side. Yellow Turban Secret Technique: Hundred Thunderbolts Descend."

  Suddenly, dark clouds rolled in the sky, and Zhang Rui's heart surged. He just wanted to shout loudly: "Thunderstorm is coming, pick up your clothes!" Thinking of Tang Monk's power in Journey to the West, Zhang Rui thought that if he had such power too, he would really shout out loud.

  "Third brother is in danger, eldest brother Yun Chang goes too. Qing Long secret skill: Ghost Wailing Wolf Howling". A vivid and lifelike green dragon flew up into the sky, tumbling amidst the rolling dark clouds. The lightning balls in the dark clouds left scars on the green dragon's body, while the lightning balls were also gradually shrinking.

  "Chi Water Secret Technique: Black Snake Swallows Heaven" Zhang Fei also quickly seized the opportunity, a ferocious three-eyed snake rose from the ground and charged towards the sky. The dragon and snake danced ceaselessly in the dark clouds, finally the dark clouds dispersed, revealing layers of sunlight.

  Everyone was stunned by this magnificent battle, and the two top-notch warriors Guan Yu and Zhang Fei barely managed to hold off Zhang Jiao. This Zhang Jiao was incredibly powerful. Meanwhile, Cao Chun took advantage of the opportunity to hurry back to his formation and consolidate his newly broken-through state.

  "Fine, this is what you've forced me to do. Huangjin Tiangui: Qian Lei Luo!" A cold voice came out of Zhang Jiao's mouth, and the sky that had just revealed a hint of sunlight was once again shrouded in dark clouds...