Chapter 35

Liu Yao pointed to the three people behind him, Zhang Fei and the others. "All three of them are top generals in my army. You can choose one to fight. If your martial arts can earn their recognition, then you can stay."

Zhao Yun listened and began to size up Zhang Fei and the others. Taishi Ci was looking at Zhao Yun with curiosity. Huang Zhong looked at Zhao Yun calmly, as if nothing else mattered to him. But Zhao Yun knew that Huang Zhong was definitely the strongest of the three. That kind of calmness he had only seen in his teacher, Tong Yuan. As for Zhang Fei, he was staring at Zhao Yun with wide eyes, as if trying to see what made this young man a hero.

Zhao Yun felt very uncomfortable under Zhang Fei's intense gaze and made his choice in an instant. "My lord, I choose him." Zhao Yun said, pointing at Zhang Fei.

"Me?" Zhang Fei was taken aback, then burst into a rage. "Wawa, you young pretty boy, do you think I'm the easiest to bully, so you chose me?"

"Yi De, no rudeness." Liu Yao quickly reprimanded Zhang Fei. "But isn't this what you wanted? You wanted to see how Zhao Yun's martial arts are, didn't you?"

"Humph." Zhang Fei coldly snorted and said no more.

In the center of the training ground, Zhang Fei sat astride his black horse, looking at Zhao Yun with a spirited air, his imposing aura enveloping Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun, on the other hand, calmly rode a fine Da Yuan horse, holding his Longdan spear without any fear of Zhang Fei's aura.

Just as the two were about to engage, "Wait!!!" Liu Yao's voice suddenly interrupted, breaking their confrontation.

The two turned around, looking at Liu Yao in confusion. Liu Yao ignored them and said to his bodyguard, "Go and fetch a spear, a halberd, and a saber from my study."

It turned out that Liu Yao's order for Oufeng to smelt steel had already been successful. The divine weapons he wanted had been forged just a few days ago. Liu Yao originally planned to give them to the three of them later as a surprise. But now, looking at Zhang Fei's weapons and Zhao Yun's Longdan, he had to give them the weapons early to avoid Zhang Fei being at a disadvantage.

"Yes." The bodyguard obeyed and quickly left.

Soon, two bodyguards brought the three weapons to the training ground. As soon as they entered, Zhang Fei and the others' eyes were fixed on the weapons, unable to look away.

Liu Yao took the weapons and directly threw them to Huang Zhong and Taishi Ci. "Han Sheng, this is your Daxia Longque saber. Zi Yi, this is your Kuangfeng halberd."

The two were overjoyed, constantly handling and wielding their new weapons, their excitement evident. For a general, the most important things were horses and divine weapons. Now that they had both, what more could they want? "Thank you, my lord."

"My lord, what about mine!!!" Zhang Fei's dissatisfied voice came over.

Liu Yao couldn't help but laugh at Zhang Fei's anxious face. "I won't forget you. Here's your eighteen-foot snake spear." Saying this, he threw the four-meter-long, fully forged steel snake spear to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei caught the snake spear with one hand and immediately threw away the old weapon in the other. He continuously wielded the snake spear, which danced in his hands, creating multiple shadows.

"Good spear, it's a good spear." Zhang Fei shouted with joy. Earlier, seeing Zhao Yun's Longdan, he knew it was a divine weapon and was extremely jealous. But now that he had his own divine weapon, he was overjoyed.

Then Zhang Fei faced Zhao Yun again, taunting him. "Young pretty boy, now we can have a good match."

Zhao Yun didn't mind Zhang Fei's nickname, bowed, and said, "Please guide me."

The two simultaneously spurred their horses towards each other. After the initial clash of auras, they knew their opponent was not to be underestimated, so they didn't hold back, attacking with full force.

As the two horses drew closer, Zhao Yun realized that due to the length of the weapon, Zhang Fei's snake spear reached him before his Longdan. Forced to react, he pulled back his spear and deflected the snake spear with a "clang." The two passed each other.

Zhang Fei turned his horse and thought, "TNND, why are the young pretty boys these days so strong? My lord is one thing, but this Zhao fellow is really strong. Even without using full strength, he can easily block my full attack. I need to be careful, or I might lose in an unexpected way."

On the other side, Zhao Yun felt his hands go numb and thought, "This guy is really strong. I can't match him with brute force; I need to use skill to win."

After the first round, both had a deeper understanding of each other's strength and became more cautious.

"Hey, take this spear from me." Zhang Fei roared, using the speed of his horse to reach Zhao Yun in an instant. The horse reared up, and Zhang Fei, using the spear like a saber, brought it down with a forceful chop. Zhao Yun had no choice but to raise his spear and block the powerful blow.

The next moment, the two were locked in a struggle. No one knew how much force Zhang Fei's thousand-jin strength, combined with the momentum of the horse, could generate. Zhang Fei roared and used all his strength to press down on Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun gritted his teeth, his body bent under the pressure, but he slowly pushed Zhang Fei's spear away. However, while Zhao Yun could endure, his horse couldn't. The Da Yuan horse, though good, couldn't withstand the immense force and began to whinny in pain.

Seeing the situation, Zhao Yun roared and used all his strength to push Zhang Fei's spear away.

Zhao Yun took a deep breath to relieve the pressure, feeling a bit annoyed. After all, he was only seventeen or eighteen, and his competitive spirit was strong. He had wanted to show off his skills, but now he was being pressed, which made him angry.

He looked at Zhang Fei with eyes like lightning and roared, "If you don't return a favor, it's impolite. Watch my Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix." The Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix was the final move of Tong Yuan's Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix spear technique, incredibly powerful.

Zhao Yun's spear split into two, then four, then eight, ultimately forming a hundred spear shadows that stabbed directly at Zhang Fei.

Seeing the dense spear shadows, Zhang Fei's scalp tingled. He gathered his strength and defended against the fierce attack. Zhang Fei blocked left and right, but in the end, one of the spear shadows slipped through, and Zhao Yun's spear tore a small hole in his clothes.

Zhang Fei looked at the torn clothes and thought, "This young pretty boy's spear technique is really strong. If I hadn't barely managed to dodge at the last moment, I would have been bleeding just now, and I would have lost."

Liu Yao, watching Zhao Yun's Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix, couldn't help but be captivated by the beautiful and powerful spear technique.

The two had already fought for over a hundred rounds, but neither could gain the upper hand.

"Han Sheng, who do you think will win?" Liu Yao asked Huang Zhong. After all, he wasn't an expert in martial arts and couldn't tell who had a better chance of winning.

Huang Zhong thought for a moment and said, "It's really hard to say. Yi De is stronger, but Zhao Yun's spear technique is very skillful. Whether strength or skill wins, it's really hard to say."