Chapter 61: Zhao Zilong of Courageous Gall

"You arrogant scoundrel, how dare you bark like a dog!" Even with Zhao Yun's usually pleasant temperament, he could not help but be provoked to anger by Li Que, who kept calling him "grandfather" over and over again.

"Ding! Zhao Yun's skill 'Courage of the Dragon' activated.
Courage of the Dragon: A heart full of passion and a body made entirely of courage. This is Zhao Yun's exclusive skill.
Effect 1: When dueling generals, self martial prowess increases by 4, while the opponent's martial prowess decreases by 1.
Effect 2: When charging through enemy formations, self martial prowess increases by 3. Upon slaying 10, 30, and 100 enemies respectively, self martial prowess further increases by 1 each time, while the opponent's martial prowess decreases by 1 each time.
Note: Slaying duties can be performed by other generals, but such substitute generals must not be weaker than first-rate. The final stack of this effect requires a substitute general of no less than super-first-rate.
Effect 3: When leading cavalry to charge enemy formations, self martial prowess increases by 1, and the morale and combat effectiveness of friendly cavalry rise... (Unlocked only after base martial prowess reaches Heavenly rank and generalship reaches first-rate.)"

Wang Yu, who was currently searching for his second target, paused for a brief moment upon hearing the system prompt. Zhao Yun's second skill had finally manifested.

With this skill, Zhao Yun's strength in a general duel was already formidable. Even though he was still far from his absolute peak, his current martial prowess could reach 105 points under this state.

Once he entered the formation-charging state, Zhao Yun's strength would ascend to even greater heights, with his ultimate burst of martial prowess reaching 107 points, accompanied by an extremely potent negative skill suppression effect.

In the formation-charging state, Zhao Yun was visibly much stronger than in a one-on-one duel. Although the burst of martial prowess in the charge state came with certain prerequisite conditions, those conditions were not overly difficult for Zhao Yun.

Could Zhao Yun, the man who fought his way in and out of Cao Cao's camp seven times, fail to slay a few first-rate generals or dozens of foot soldiers?

Besides, who could say for sure whether Zhao Yun possessed a third skill? After all, given the intensity of the current battle, forcing out Zhao Yun's second skill was already the limit; it was unlikely they would get to witness his third skill in this major engagement.

"Ding! Zhao Yun's skill 'Courage of the Dragon' Effect 2 activated. Martial prowess increases by 3 and +1, raising his current martial prowess to 105."

"Ding! Affected by Zhao Yun's skill 'Courage of the Dragon' Effect 2, Li Que's martial prowess decreases by 1, dropping his current martial prowess to 94."

"Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix!"

A blinding, freezing glare erupted from the silver spear. The spear intent was fierce and peerless, sweeping across the expanse of the battlefield. Amidst the intertwining shadows of the spear, a multicolored phoenix vaguely began to take shape within the onslaught. The moves were dazzling and magnificent, carrying the implicit intent of supreme dominion over the realm. Countless flashes of cold light flickered around it, resembling a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix, as they charged frantically straight toward Li Que!

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang..."

Countless spear shadows struck the spiked club in Li Que's hands, wave after wave. The continuous accumulation of force finally caused Li Que's left hand to loosen involuntarily.

"A fine opportunity!" As the attacker, Zhao Yun instantly perceived Li Que's abnormality. Changing his spear from a thrust to a sweep, he forcefully shoved Li Que's previously steady spiked club out of position.

The bright silver spear lunged forward, its tip striking heavily against Li Que's chest like the venomous fangs of a serpent.

Li Que stared at Zhao Yun in disbelief, utterly unable to comprehend how he could possibly be slain here by a pretty-boy. He muttered incoherently, "Such... fast... spearwork!"

As the last words faded from his lips, he tumbled from his horse and died instantly!

"The bandit leader is dead! Those who surrender will be spared!"

"The bandit leader is dead! Those who surrender will be spared!"

"The bandit leader is dead! Those who surrender will be spared!" Zhao Kuangwei had sharp eyes; the moment he saw Zhao Yun single-handedly slay Li Que, he immediately shouted at the top of his lungs to the surrounding area.

"The bandit leader is dead! Those who surrender will be spared..."

Behind Zhao Kuangwei, the soldiers following him joined in with thunderous roars.

"The chief is dead..." a bandit soldier muttered, his heart trembling with terror.

"The second chief and the other three chiefs are dead too..." another bandit lackey babbled in panic.

There had been roughly eight hundred bandits who charged out following Li Que, but now they were facing a four-sided encirclement and slaughter by two thousand elite imperial guards, having already been frightened out of their wits.

Now that five of the seven bandit chiefs who had sortied were dead, it snapped the very last spine of these bandits, causing them to completely lose the courage to continue fighting.

"Thud!" The sound of a weapon hitting the ground echoed. A bandit lackey finally could not bear the terrifying atmosphere anymore and cluelessly dropped his weapon.

With one person taking the lead, it triggered a chain reaction like falling dominoes. In the span of a few brief moments, the remaining bandit soldiers had all abandoned any thought of resistance.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host and your subordinates for slaying 1 super-first-rate general, 1 first-rate general, and 1 second-rate general. You have gained 24 summoning points. Your current remaining summoning points total 159."

"Not bad!" Wang Yu muttered to himself inwardly.

Among the five bandit chiefs who had sortied out, three of them died at his or Zhao Yun's hands, while the remaining two were slain by the imperial guard captain and Zhao Kuangwei's men respectively.

Although he hadn't claimed every single head, the summoning points acquired this time, combined with the points he previously possessed, were already enough for him to initiate another Heavenly-rank summon.

"Reporting to the General, all the bandit leaders have been slain! Three hundred of the eight hundred bandits have been killed, and five hundred captured alive!" After clearing the battlefield, Imperial Guard Captain Xu Nian reported respectfully to the Fourth Prince, Huangfu Mingfeng.

To be frank, the actual duration of the battle between the two sides was not long. Therefore, the vast majority of the bandits were captured alive in the end, making the casualties of those slain a relatively small proportion.

As for the imperial guards, aside from the detachment Xu Nian used as bait, the rest were standard heavy-armored veterans. Coupled with the fact that their numbers were more than double that of the enemy, the casualties suffered by the imperial guards could be said to be negligible.

"Very well. What do you all think should be done with those captured bandits?" Huangfu Mingfeng asked, an exceptionally rare trace of a smile appearing on his face.

Achieving victory on his very first command of troops in battle—even if it was merely wiping out a band of mountain bandits—clearly showed that Huangfu Mingfeng's mood was quite favorable.

"There are still two hundred bandits left in the stronghold, and we can just clean out the bandits from the other two mountains along the way! These scoundrels still have their uses!" Wang Yu said indifferently as he walked into the camp tent.

"Indeed, the mountain strongholds of the three mountains are mostly strategically perilous terrain. Using these bandits to charge ahead first is indeed a fine idea!" Zhao Kuangwei chimed in, walking into the large tent alongside Wang Yu.

At this moment, both Wang Yu and Zhao Kuangwei still carried traces of a murderous aura, and the bloodstains on their armor had not yet been completely cleaned off.

In this battle, two of the five bandit chiefs had been killed by Wang Yu himself. As for the ordinary foot soldiers, Wang Yu had personally cut down a dozen or so back and forth.

As for Zhao Kuangwei, the number of foot soldiers he had slain exceeded Wang Yu's tally, though Zhao Kuangwei had not encountered any elite-level boss figures like the bandit chiefs, and thus had made no such high-value kills!