Three Kingdoms Lords: Starting by walking into the mouth of a giant python

Chapter 67 Zhao Yun and Zilong

Zhao Yun was from Zhen Ding, Changshan.

Before the age of seven, he was a mischievous child in the fields, only knowing how to catch fish in ponds and climb trees to break willow branches.

After he turned seven, he met his master and saw mountains, rivers, and all living beings.

At the age of eight, he embarked on the path of cultivation. His marksmanship and martial arts progressed rapidly.

In just six months, he rose to the [Yellow Rank]. His [Guns Mastery] reached the [Penetrating] stage, nearly reaching [Minor Completion].

His progress was so rapid that even his master was full of praise. It is said that there are many people in the world who wield spears, but if we talk about talent, he is among the top three.

Although Zhao Yun was naturally prudent, he was still young and naturally harbored a sense of pride.

This sense of pride intensified a few days ago after several people had chosen him as an examiner for the "60-point bottleneck test in martial arts" but were all swept aside by him.

But today, he was defeated by an extraordinary person and was utterly destroyed, never to rise again.

"Advance with sharpness," the man said, striking Zhao Yun's spear blade with his spear, forcing him to retreat without achieving anything. Then, he spun the spear to block Zhao Yun's retreat. "Retreat swiftly."

Zhao Yun barely managed to hold off the attack, and finally managed to retreat by using an old tree as a barrier.

He leaned against the old tree, panting heavily, still somewhat incredulous.

The two fought for more than ten rounds, each ending with him escaping.

He was clearly the one with the "yellow grade" rating, and he was clearly the one who was the "examiner."

Even though the strange man was neither heavy nor fast, and did not use his age or strength to bully him, he still managed to suppress him into a dilemma where he could neither advance nor retreat.

No, let's try again!

After regaining some strength, Zhao Yun picked up his spear and went back into battle.

Unfortunately, after a brief clash of weapons, Zhao Yun was defeated once again.

"Has your spear technique reached the [Penetrating] level?" the strange man suddenly asked.

Zhao Yun stood leaning on his spear, initially reluctant to answer. But after his breathing had calmed, he honestly replied, "We have arrived."

"What is 'connection'?" the strange man asked.

Zhao Yun replied, "To be proficient in all the variations of spear techniques is to have a thorough understanding of them."

The strange man nodded and continued, "There was once a craftsman named Shi from Ying who wielded his axe with the speed of the wind. He could hear and chop away at the same time, removing all the chalk without injuring his nose. This is called 'Guan Tong' (贯通). There was also a butcher named Ding who dissected a beast without seeing the whole ox. He used a single ox-knife to perform the most ingenious movements, which is also called 'Guan Tong'. The wonder of 'Guan Tong' lies in practice. When you are proficient, your mind can forget your hand, and your hand can forget your weapon. You can use your skills with perfect precision and without stagnation. And nothing is more valuable than stillness. When you are still, your mind will not be agitated, and you can act with ease, unpredictable changes, and infinite transformations."

Zhao Yun bowed and said, "I humbly accept your instruction."

The strange man brandished his bronze spear: "Come on, let's have another match."

Zhao Yun scrambled forward.

"There must be both reality and illusion, both the orthodox and the unorthodox, let's start again..."

"This first shot went too smoothly, let's try again..."

"Stand still as a mountain, let's try again..."

...

"[System]: Congratulations on your [Gun Mastery] reaching the [Minor Success] level."

Upon hearing the notification tone, Zhao Yun's face lit up with joy, and he sheathed his spear and stepped back.

He bowed deeply and said, "Thank you for your teachings, elder. I have already reached the [minor achievement] stage."

Zhao Yun followed his master to cultivate in the deep mountains. In half a year, he saw the smoke and light among the grass, the cloud shadows on the water, and heard the sound of pines in the forest and springs on the rocks.

Until two months ago, an extraordinary person appeared out of nowhere, and a series of incredible things, such as the [System], [Ranking], and [Bottleneck Test], came one after another.

Zhao Yun now has his own [character panel] and can see the five major [rankings].

The names of those territories varied greatly; the names of the strange people were even more bizarre.

Some were even more than ten characters long.

My master said that they might be people from the Qin Dynasty in the far west.

Zhao Yun asked what the far west was. His master replied, "West of the shifting sands, where the sun and moon set, is where the Queen Mother of the West resides," which is the far west.

Zhao Yun listened with longing, thinking that when he grew up and mastered his skills, he would definitely travel to the "Land of the Queen Mother of the West".

Aside from these, the person who impressed Zhao Yun the most was the top of the three lists—Li Yu.

After the appearance of the extraordinary person, the master went down the mountain to investigate once and came back saying that there were probably tens of millions of extraordinary people.

Li Yu, who overshadowed millions of people and stood atop the three mountains, was truly remarkable.

[The Martial Prowess Level 60 Bottleneck Test] Zhao Yun took the test once, and the examiner took it more than ten times. At first, he found it novel, especially when he encountered the blond-haired, blue-eyed "people of the Great Qin," and even wanted to chat with them, but those people spoke in a string of gibberish that he couldn't understand at all.

Later, he grew bored. He stopped responding to those who came to ask him to take the exam. Until today, when Li Yu came to take the exam.

Zhao Yun had thought Li Yu might be skilled in martial arts, but to his surprise, he was not only skilled but far superior. After some guidance, Li Yu's [Spear Mastery] had reached [Minor Mastery].

No wonder my master always said, "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me."

Sure enough.

Zhao Yun sincerely thanked him, thinking that this would be the end of the [bottleneck test].

Having achieved a certain level of proficiency, it is time to return to my master for further instruction.

As he was thinking this, he saw Li Yu across from him smile and say, "Do you know what 'minor achievement' is?"

Zhao Yun was taken aback. After discussing "comprehension," he could also talk about "minor achievement." Could it be that he had encountered a grandmaster today? A grandmaster who was only twenty years old?

Seeing that he did not answer, Li Yu continued, "At the stage of [minor success], remember two words: macro and micro."

"Macro? Micro?"

"Hmm. If we compare [Mastery] to a city, the people of the city are like the techniques of spear fighting, coming and going in an orderly and methodical way. However, once you reach [Small Success], you can no longer stay in the city for long; you must learn to enter and leave the city."

"In and out of the city?"

"Leaving the city, one can observe the distant mountains, the long rivers, and all things grand and vast; entering the city, one can observe the daily lives of pedestrians, the wildflowers along the roadside, and all the smallest details."

Zhao Yun seemed to be deep in thought.

Li Yu continued, "Above, it soars to the heavens; below, it stands like a towering building, a grand structure; yet below, it teems with life, like a tiny drop on a vast ocean, governing a snail-sized country, a small one. Do you understand?"

Zhao Yun nodded hesitantly.

Seeing this, Li Yu beckoned: "Come, come, talking is not enough, let's try it out."

For the next half hour, Li Yu fed Zhao Yun practice and guided him to become familiar with the [Minor Success] realm.

"[System]: Congratulations to the player for sparring with Zhao Yun and gaining 396 proficiency in [Spear Mastery]."

"[System]: Congratulations to the player for upgrading [Gun Mastery] to [Piercing 2/100000]."

Li Yu smiled with satisfaction, and the tip of his spear instantly struck the spine of the gun.

Zhao Yun was young after all, and after a long battle he was exhausted. The spearhead was shaken three feet off the ground, and the spear almost slipped from his hand.

Li Yu sheathed his spear and asked, "Are you more familiar with the [Minor Success] realm?"

After Zhao Yun calmed his breathing a little, he first performed the disciple's salute before speaking, "I only know a little bit."

Li Yu knew he was being modest, so he said, "The rest is just a matter of patience and perseverance; let's cultivate ourselves slowly."

Zhao Yun responded, paused slightly, and bowed again: "Thank you for your teachings, elder." He didn't know how to address the person in front of him; calling him brother was too frivolous, while calling him teacher felt inappropriate.

Being addressed as "elder" by Zhao Yun made Li Yu feel extremely comfortable, and he suddenly asked, "Brother Yun, have you taken a courtesy name?"

Zhao Yun shook his head.

During the pre-Qin period, the age at which nobles underwent the coming-of-age ceremony varied according to their social status. The ruler underwent the ceremony at twelve, high-ranking officials at fifteen, and commoners and scholars at twenty. The Han dynasty followed the Qin system, with little difference between the two.

Zhao Yun was born into a farming family and was only nine years old, so of course he did not have a courtesy name.

Although Li Yu was kind enough to impart knowledge and resolve doubts upon their first meeting, his act of giving someone a courtesy name was somewhat rash and impolite.

Li Yu, however, disregarded all else and, after careful consideration, said, "The Book of Changes, in the Qian hexagram, says, 'Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger.' Young brother Yun, I will give you the name 'Zilong,' what do you say?"

Zhao Yun was not used to Li Yu's "enthusiasm," but for some reason, he was very satisfied with the words.

Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong.

Very good.

Zhao Yun nodded.

"[System]: The player has given Zhao Yun the courtesy name 'Zilong' and gained his approval, thus gaining 970 points of [Intelligence] experience."

"[System]: Congratulations to the player for raising their [Intelligence] level to 49."

Li Yu smiled brightly.

After laughing, he turned to Zhao Yun and said, "Let's get back to spear techniques. Now that we've discussed [minor mastery], Zilong, do you know what [major mastery] is like?"

Great Achievement?

Zhao Yun felt he shouldn't be so ambitious, but he was still curious and asked, "How is it?"

"[Da Cheng] speaks of momentum, embracing the method to seize momentum. Before momentum is established, one should be like a drawn crossbow, ready to fire; once momentum is established, one is like a dragon gaining clouds and rain, swimming in the abyss, seizing the opportunity and momentum, unstoppable."

Zhao Yun didn't understand why, but he wrote it down word for word.

After exchanging a few more words, the deadline approached, and the two parted ways.

Zhao Yun was somewhat reluctant to part with him.

When time and space shifted and he returned to the mountains and forests, he still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

His master became worried when he didn't appear for a long time. Zhao Yun then recounted his experiences during the [Bottleneck Test].

After listening to "City", "Snail Kingdom", and "Embracing the Law and Seizing Power", the master fell silent for a moment, and finally sighed, "This child is very talented, I am not as good as him. Yun'er, oh no, Zilong, if we meet again, you can become his disciple."

Zhao Yun should be the answer.

Name changed

(End of this chapter)