Chapter 34

......

When Lü Bu was in a state of confident arrogance, looking down on all his rivals, he could ride alone across the world. However, once Lü Bu began to doubt his own understanding, his strength would start to decline, and with the decline of his strength, he would doubt his abilities even more, thus entering a second vicious cycle.

Zhao Yun had won the bet; strong confidence brought great power, and once confidence waned, it would naturally take away every bit of strength.

Lü Bu entered the second vicious cycle; once the perfect, unblemished confidence cracked, it could no longer be stopped.

Madness, anger, and irritability, Lü Bu wielded his halberd and fought Zhao Yun and Guan Yu with fury, but unfortunately, he became increasingly powerless. Zhao Yun and Guan Yu's coordination, however, grew more默契. Zhao Yun countered Lü Bu's attacks, while Guan Yu built up momentum, slicing out perfect arcs with his blade.

"Clang!" A loud sound, Lü Bu finally felt that the internal energy supply he had never lacked was now insufficient, and his seemingly inexhaustible stamina was nearly depleted at this moment, feeling the weight of his halberd for the first time.

"I am Lü Bu!" Lü Bu, with bloodshot eyes, angrily slashed at the two, completely ignoring the huge opening in his upper body!

"Die!" Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade swung in a large circle, the tip of the blade striking Lü Bu's halberd.

Zhao Yun did not show much reaction to Guan Yu's actions, but his hands did not slow down at all.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp~" A series of bird calls, Zhao Yun was gradually enveloped in flames, and a giant phoenix with flapping wings appeared on the battlefield.

"Boom!" The phoenix flapped its wings, and a line of fire swept across, Zhao Yun's phoenix, condensed with seventy percent of his strength, directly covered all the areas where Lü Bu could escape. This was his strongest move now, "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix," which was both a hundred spears and one spear.

The power of a hundred moves was compressed into the final spear through special means, though this was just a legend. Zhao Yun was very clear that he practiced this move more than his teacher, but it could only make the final spear have twelve to thirteen times, less than fifteen times, the power. However, it was enough for him!

Lü Bu was in a wretched state, but he was still alive. His armor was mostly shattered, not by the phoenix's beak but by its feathers. Red Hare, the finest horse in the world, managed to avoid the strongest spear at the last moment. If not, Lü Bu would have lost half his life. The city wall behind him had a hole the size of a large bowl, with a smooth, mirror-like surface.

Zhao Yun silently adjusted his breathing. After the dust settled, he looked at Lü Bu, whose eyes were flickering, and without hesitation, used "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" again. The shadow of the phoenix had not yet formed when Lü Bu, without any hesitation, turned his horse. He thought that if they continued to fight, he would likely be left here.

"Kill!" The moment Lü Bu turned his horse, neither Dong Zhuo nor the allied forces reacted. Liu Bei immediately leaped out on his horse, remembering Chen Xi's words: when fighting Dong Zhuo, remember to seize the limelight, as this would be his future reputation!

"Kill!" Liu Bei leaped out, and the others, after a moment of shock, also reacted. They could not let Liu Bei take all the glory, as he was a member of the Han imperial family!

Zhao Yun silently charged his spear toward Hulao Pass, and Guan Yu, who was half-dead, uh, Zhang Fei, who had already come back to life, though covered in blood and looking extremely fierce, also charged toward Hulao Pass, shouting, "Dong Zhuo is on the pass, kill Dong Zhuo and the world will be at peace!"

Dong Zhuo was startled and turned to leave the pass, but was directly stopped by Li Ru.

In Li Ru's view, no matter how fierce a single general was, it was far inferior to an army formation. Once the formation was formed, the energy was connected, and a single general rushing over would only lead to death!

Dong Zhuo's face darkened. The previous battle had frightened him so much that his face was ashen. Since he raised his army in Liang, he had never seen such a fierce battle. The two sides fought until the sky was dark and the earth was dim. If one of them rushed to the pass, they would definitely charge at him, and he would definitely not be able to stop them. Thinking of this, Dong Zhuo's face turned ashen, and he directly pushed the weak Li Rui to the side, not even looking back as he left Hulao Pass.

Li Ru was stunned, looking at Dong Zhuo's trembling back, a sense of desolation rose from his heart. When had he, Li Ru, reached this point.

Boulders and logs continuously rained down from Hulao Pass, forcefully blocking the allied forces' advance. As for top-tier experts like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, as soon as they made a move, over a hundred archers with internal energy would fully snipe them.

Guan Yu tried to charge, but over a hundred arrows covered all parts of his body. His Green Dragon Crescent Blade formed a shield, but it did not completely block them. Relying on his internal energy to block for a moment, he was still hit by a hidden arrow on his left arm. Second Lord was immediately depressed and did not charge again.

The battle ended like this. Li Ru was not stupid and did not have the habit of relying on generals for his safety. He preferred to rely on his own abilities to resolve everything.

After repelling the allied forces, there was a cheer on Hulao Pass. To be honest, Li Ru was indeed excellent, treating the soldiers he brought from Liang very well.

This was why the Liang soldiers were not afraid to die. Being a soldier was for a full meal, and Li Ru had achieved this. No one dared to withhold their pay under his command. He understood better than anyone that only military power was everything in a chaotic world, and everything else could be obtained through military power.

Li Ru sat dejectedly on the stone slab of Hulao Pass, without any of the scholarly demeanor he had shown before. He had never sat in a corner so carelessly before, but now he was tired. He was tired the moment Dong Zhuo pushed him away and he fell.

"Advisor!" Gao Shun saluted, "The allied forces have retreated."

"Let me calm down, Gao Shun." Li Ru said with a dark face, and Gao Shun stood behind him, motionless.

After a long time, Li Ru looked up at Gao Shun and said, "You are the general under Lü Bu that I admire the most. Do you think we will lose?"

"The danger of Hulao, the richness of Luoyang, and the elite of our army, the allied forces will surely fail." Gao Shun said decisively.

"Surely fail!" A bitter smile appeared on Li Ru's face. "Yes, surely fail. Gao Shun, guard this place well."

Li Ru got up and staggered down from Hulao Pass. For some reason, Gao Shun felt a sense of the decline of a hero as he looked at Li Ru's back.

Li Ru walked into the government hall set up inside Hulao Pass, hearing Dong Zhuo's roars and Lü Bu's excuses for this time being just a mistake, feeling very tired, tired of the heart.

Upon entering, he found that all the generals who had come to Hulao were sitting in their respective positions. Li Ru sat calmly at the head of the left side, but this time, Li Su was behind him, not the fat and plump Jia Xu.

[Back to Chang'an, I guess he won't even return to Luoyang. Indeed, his grasp of human hearts is better than mine. Dong Zhuo... sigh... ] Li Ru sighed inwardly, no longer having much hope for Dong Zhuo.

The new book ranking has disappeared, and the collection growth is very slow.

ps: Fellow readers, I am Fentu Huangcao, recommending a free novel app that supports novel downloads, audiobooks, zero ads, and multiple reading modes. Please follow the WeChat public account: dazhuzaiyuedu (long press to copy). Fellow readers, please follow us!