Chapter 143 : The Martial Saint’s Three Strikes
Chapter 143: The Martial Saint’s Three Strikes
Hang Yu agreed to Guan Yu’s request.
Even though the main body had slumbered for a long time, even though this was merely one of countless unremarkable clones, even though this clone had long been sealed and was extremely weak in a terrible state, it was still not something a mere few Descendants of Huangtian could compare to.
This battle would not be easy.
Hang Yu was mentally prepared.
However, he was quite curious about how powerful Guan Yu’s clone truly was.
As for whether he could win or not? Hang Yu had never worried about it.
First of all, Guan Yu was simply curious about the strength of this human Lord, and also wanted to use his hand to end something — it was not a fight to the death, so regardless of the outcome, there was no real danger.
Second, Hang Yu was already as high as level 20.
There couldn’t possibly be anything on this map that exceeded his level!
He also possessed Lord talents like “Soul of the King,” “Pioneer’s Heart,” and “Lord’s Aura.” With these buffs, his strength had already crossed the threshold of a Commander-class unit. Even when facing a Lord of the same level, he wasn’t without a fighting chance.
Hang Yu’s decisiveness—
Left Guan Yu very satisfied. Who knew what method he used, but a certain energy spread out from within the pillar, coalescing into a giant spiritual arm covered in runes that gripped Zhou Cang.
In the next moment—
A grab and a pull.
A massive mass of greenish-black, tar-like, filthy and polluted substance emerged.
This substance flowed like a parasitic venom — thick and active. When it was slowly peeled and pulled out from Zhou Cang’s body, it seemed drawn to something, automatically adhering to the runic arm, turning the previously transparent arm into a semi-melted tar arm.
Guan Yu slowly retracted the asphalt-like arm back into the crystal pillar. The originally dark-red crystal pillar rapidly turned pitch-black, exuding a foul, ominous aura of corruption.
Abyssal corruption could not be completely erased.
Guan Yu’s method of purifying Zhou Cang’s corruption was merely to lure the corruption into himself by using his own body as bait.
Though this could temporarily free Zhou Cang from the Abyssal Will’s contamination, it also transferred that contamination into Guan Yu’s own body. Given how poor his condition already was, this act was nothing short of adding frost to snow.
“It’s gone!”
Zhou Cang could clearly feel that the chaotic, frenzied sea of the Abyss was rapidly retreating. Even without the protection of the Pure Gold Talisman, he would no longer hear the filthy whispers of the Abyss, nor be affected by it.
For decades, he had never felt as relaxed as this moment.
Although his body and parts of his soul were still severely twisted and mutated, he could at least maintain normal sanity and rational thought — at least for quite a long time, he didn’t have to worry about descending into madness again.
“Thank you, General Guan!”
Zhou Cang bowed in gratitude toward Guan Yu.
Hang Yu was also very satisfied with the result.
The corruptive power within Zhou Cang’s body had already been removed.
Although his physical and partial soul distortions still remained, the Abyssal transformation wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
What’s more, with Hang Yu’s knowledge and understanding, he could find multiple ways to restore Zhou Cang’s original form. Whether he should return to a human body would depend on weighing the pros and cons and making a practical decision.
Hang Yu said, “Zhou Cang, stand down. The rest of you, step back as well!”
“Yes!”
Zhou Cang immediately stepped aside with the players, clearing space.
Hang Yu said to the pitch-black crystal pillar before him, “This junior is ready. May the Lord Guan strike now!”
“Very well.”
Guan Yu’s voice carried a taint of chaos and corruption — just hearing it could pollute the minds of ordinary people, potentially driving them insane. This showed just how close he was to the edge of complete corruption.
“Lord’s Aura!”
“Fiery Tiger Wild Blade!”
Hang Yu activated his skills without hesitation. Light burst from his body, and his aura surged dramatically. The blade-lance in his hand also became blazing hot. Under the gathering of raging energy, even the air began to burn and boil.
Crack!
A crack appeared on the crystal pillar.
The crack quickly spread, eventually covering the entire pillar like a spiderweb. In the next instant, with a thunderous boom, an overwhelming aura engulfed the entire cavern.
【You’ve been affected by “Abyssal Aura,” All Attributes -20%, Duration: 300 seconds!】
At the instant the seal was broken—
All players received a prompt.
The corruption released from Guan Yu unsealing himself was no weaker than the Core Corruption Zone — it might even be stronger!
Hang Yu’s expression didn’t change, because as a Lord acting on behalf of the Will of the Stars, this level of corruption had no effect on a Tier-Two Lord. At this moment, he also saw the opponent’s form clearly.
This clone of Guan Yu was in a demonized state.
He now stood at least 2.5 meters tall, clad in tattered and mutated armor, wielding a crimson Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Though still humanoid in shape, his body had become highly crystallized.
His entire face was crystallized, fused with his similarly crystalized helmet.
Most of his body and armor had also undergone crystallization.
It looked somewhat similar to the “Frozen Wargod Guan Yu” skin from the King of Glory game.
However, this demonized Guan Yu was dark red in color, and the deformities were far more severe. Numerous parts of his body had sprouted crystalline spikes. His left arm had swollen to more than twice its normal size, covered in sharp crystalline thorns — making him look even more grotesque and terrifying.
Guan Yu slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes were like two blazing bulbs, bursting forth with a divine light that inspired awe. A pressure like Mount Tai crashing down enveloped the entire space.
【You are affected by “Martial Saint’s Aura.” All Attributes -30 points!】
【You’ve entered a stiffened state. Duration: 20 seconds!】
All players were hit with another powerful debuff.
Their bodies tensed involuntarily, or they directly collapsed to the ground. If they were attacked now, they would be completely at the enemy’s mercy, without the slightest chance to resist.
That’s way too broken!
How are they supposed to fight this!?
Struggling to lift their heads under the crushing pressure, the players finally saw Guan Yu’s data.
【Demonized Clone of Guan Yu】, Level 15 Lord……
Description: Originally one of Guan Yu’s clones, it mutated and demonized after absorbing corruption for a long period. Still possesses the might to face ten thousand foes alone.
“Lord-class!”
“It’s a Lord!”
“Stronger than Commanders!”
“We couldn’t even beat a Commander. Just how powerful is a Lord supposed to be? This is beyond imagination. So Lord Guan was the final secret boss of the Wo Niu Mountain map all along!”
“We can’t even trigger the quest to challenge Guan Yu!”
“No kidding! The Calamity Army right now isn’t even qualified to face such a powerful being!”
“Can Lord Hang win?”
“Hard to say. After all, the opponent is Guan Yu!”
“I think it’ll be fine. Our God Yu is invincible — he will win for sure!”
“Don’t jinx it. This is the most prestigious figure of the Three Kingdoms era — on par with Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao, and Lü Bu. Even if he loses, there’s no shame!”
“……”
Chimera Wraith pulled out the High-Grade Photography Crystal she just got from a treasure chest.
The others who had photography crystals also quickly took them out to record the event.
After all, this battle was just too hype and too meaningful. It was definitely a landmark moment in Twisted Three Kingdoms history. Whether for personal reasons or profit, this scene had to be captured.
Twisted Three Kingdoms had open policies regarding in-game screenshots and video copyrights.
As long as screenshots or videos taken in-game didn’t cause negative impacts, the official team wouldn’t pursue legal action, even if they were used for profit submissions!
This heavyweight showdown was sure to go viral.
High-quality photos and videos would certainly soar in value.
Hang Yu was also surprised — so this was a Lord-class opponent. No wonder the aura was so terrifying.
Even though his level wasn’t as high as Zhang Bao or the Descendants of Huangtian—
Guan Yu’s strength at this moment might surpass all six of them combined!
Just as ten Tier-Two elites normally found it hard to shake a Tier-Two Commander of the same level, ten Tier-Two Commanders also found it difficult to contend with a Tier-Two Abyss Overlord. Lord-class and Commander-class units were generally not on the same level.
Guan Yu didn’t have much time left.
So he wasn’t planning to waste any of it.
He said: “This Guan shall unleash the three-strike saber technique I created in my early years. These are the strongest moves this clone can execute. If Lord can withstand these three strikes without falling, then I, Guan, shall concede defeat!”
Settling victory in just three of his strongest strikes?
That worked out well — it saved the hassle of dragging things out!
Hang Yu nodded. “Please!”
“—First Strike!”
Guan Yu stepped forward — the entire cavern quaked violently as a mighty sense of oppression burst forth. His body instantly leapt in front of Hang Yu, single-armed, swinging the crimson Green Dragon Crescent Blade in a clean, decisive slash.
There were no wasted movements!
A red saber light twenty zhang long slashed toward him head-on!
Facing this strike, Hang Yu felt as though he stood before a towering mountain, a vast ocean — the power contained in it was undoubtedly the most terrifying attack he had ever faced since setting out on his journey!
Though this strike was horrifying—
He didn’t try to dodge it.
This slash carried immense follow-up momentum. If Hang Yu backed down and dodged recklessly, the second and third strikes that followed would likely put him in an even more dangerous situation.
“—Roar!”
A high-pitched tiger’s roar rang out!
Hang Yu swung both hands, unleashing a Fiery Blade Light that collided head-on with the red saber light!
Bang!
Fiery Tiger Wild Blade VS The Martial Saint’s First Strike!
The two forces violently clashed, shaking the entire cavern once more. In the end, both saber lights shattered at the same time.
–
162!
Hang Yu received a blow, retreating ten steps before coming to a stop. Clearly, he was at a disadvantage in this exchange, but the damage was very limited — losing just over a hundred health points was negligible to him.
All in all, it was a close match with a slight edge to Guan Yu.
Guan Yu’s eyes flashed sharply. “Then behold—Second Strike!”
He flipped the saber.
The saber momentum, which had seemed nearly exhausted—
Suddenly surged again by severalfold!
Guan Yu, midair, launched the second strike without buildup. It formed instantly in a split second, and its power far exceeded the first — by several times! He slashed once again toward Hang Yu, who had yet to fully regain footing.
So powerful!
The pressure was overwhelming!
As expected of a top-tier figure of the Three Kingdoms!
This was no power a weak Overlord could possibly unleash!
Hang Yu didn’t just stand and wait — he took the initiative. Activating Swiftflash Assault, he transformed into five afterimages, attacking simultaneously from the east, west, south, north, and directly ahead. In Guan Yu’s eyes, it was as if five fierce striped Fiery Tigers lunged at him with claws bared.
“Well done!”
Guan Yu let out a low growl. Suddenly, the downward slash turned into a sweeping arc. His saber drew a perfect circular blade light, which, in the players’ eyes, cleanly sliced through all five of the Lord’s afterimages in succession. Even stone pillars within a hundred-meter radius were severed like tofu.
During this process, part of Fiery Tiger Wild Blade’s Blade Qi seemed to strike Guan Yu.
–
25!
–
47!
–
105!
–
207!
–
376!
One strike to counter five.
There was still some cost.
Hang Yu had recently used this move to one-shot five Projections of the Huangtian Descendant. Yet now, with Lord’s Aura active and in near-peak state, his five attacks were successively blocked and only dealt minimal damage.
This alone showed how terrifying Guan Yu truly was!
At the very least—stronger than all five Descendants of Huangtian combined!
“—Final Strike!” After delivering the devastating Second Strike, Guan Yu’s momentum still showed no signs of fading. Instead, it surged to a peak. The Third Strike took form in an instant — and its power was several times greater than the second!
Still without pause.
This was too outrageous!
Though their exchanges happened at lightning speed—
Some players still managed to feel the sheer terror of Guan Yu’s saber techniques.
It was said that Guan Yu’s killing mastery lay in his three-strike quick kill. Now it seemed the rumors were true. The first strike was already terrifying, the second was several times stronger, and the third? Even stronger still.
No breathing room at all!
Who could possibly withstand that kind of assault!?
Hang Yu had already used Swiftflash Assault.
He now had no remaining powerful skills to withstand the third strike.
Granted, with his defense and health, forcibly tanking the blow wouldn’t kill him. He could recover with healing skills and return to battle quickly. In the end, he’d still be the one to win.
But Hang Yu didn’t do that. A victory achieved in that way, in front of so many players, would be unsightly. Even if he won, he had to win with pride — and it would also improve Guan Yu’s evaluation of him.
“—Majestic King’s Might!”
Hang Yu activated the newly acquired Fate Skill.
Majestic King’s Might had two modes of use.
The first: as a large-area control skill, it could weaken or even stun all targets within range.
The second: it could be infused into an attack or active skill, enhancing the suppression effect, reducing more of the target’s attributes, and also boosting the attack power and skill effect by 100%!
Guan Yu could clearly sense—
The human Lord emitted an intense aura.
This aura was not inferior to the Martial Saint’s Aura of his own clone.
Hang Yu channeled this aura entirely into his weapon, giving the already powerful Fiery Tiger Wild Blade a qualitative enhancement. Its might was no less than combining all five strikes of Swiftflash Assault into one. When he swung this blow, even someone as powerful as Guan Yu felt the pressure — his saber force was weakened by ten to twenty percent.
“Well done!”
Weapons clashed once more!
Several lower-level players were directly stunned by the shockwave.
The massive cavern cracked in many places. Huge rocks constantly fell.
The clash between these two top-tier powerhouses nearly brought the whole place down.
Little Bell, after seven or eight seconds of dizziness, finally regained her vision and condition. She hurriedly widened her eyes to look at the battlefield engulfed in smoke and fire.
“What happened?”
“Is the battle over?”
“Who won—Lord Guan or Lord Hang!?”
Little Bell clenched her fists, her face full of nervous anticipation.
Though she knew this was merely a sparring match and that the Lord shouldn’t be in danger—though the opponent was the renowned Emperor Guan and even losing wouldn’t be shameful—yet as a devoted fan of Lord Hang Yu, she still hoped her Lord would win this bout.
After all—
This was Hang Yu!
The supreme leader of the Calamity Army!
Soon, the dust and smoke gradually cleared. Two figures still stood tall — but the outcome of the battle was already abundantly clear.
Hang Yu’s armor showed multiple cracks and damage. He had clearly taken considerable damage in the recent clash, though most of his wounds had already been healed by himself using a recovery technique.
Though Guan Yu still stood tall and proud, his entire right arm had vanished. The crimson Crescent Blade was embedded in a nearby stone wall—a clear sign that he had lost in that final exchange.
“Guan has lost!”
“If not for the constant erosion weakening Lord Guan’s physique, I might not have won that last blow!”
“Loss is loss. No need to make excuses for me!” Guan Yu did not become angry over his defeat. Instead, he could not hide the excitement in his voice. “I can sense it—though your time in the Abyss has been short, your potential defies common sense!”
Guan Yu did not ask further questions.
He knew this human lord surely possessed extraordinary means.
Everyone had their secrets. There was no need to pry. What mattered was—he was human!
“This world is suffering under the corrosion of the Abyss and the invasion of countless tribes. Perhaps the arrival of Lord Hang may change everything!” Guan Yu paused, then continued: “Though this decayed body of mine can no longer offer much help, I can still leave the lord with a parting gift!”
A gift?
What could it be?
Hang Yu was somewhat curious.
Guan Yu slowly walked up to the wall. His severed right arm began to grow crystalline clusters, eventually forming a new arm as thick and fierce as the left one. At the same time, other parts of his body that had not yet mutated also began crystallizing.
“Guan Yu is reaching his limit!”
“He’s about to fully demonize!”
That was Hang Yu’s assessment of Guan Yu’s current state.
Though Hang Yu wasn’t without confidence in defeating this avatar of Guan Yu, this guy’s strength was truly extraordinary. Even with his current power, defeating him outright would come at a cost.
Crack—
The blade was drawn.
Guan Yu did not attack again. He was an extremely proud man. Since his three strongest moves couldn’t defeat the human lord before him, continuing the fight would be pointless.
A loss was a loss.
Rather than losing control—
—it was better to let this battered body be of one final use.
The People of the Stars possessed the ability to plunder and refine the essence of living beings into constructs.
This was also one of the main reasons why most native forces hated the People of the Stars. After all, most of them didn’t see the natives as people, but as potential slaves and prey.
But admittedly—
—that power was the reason the People of the Stars could stand against the Abyss.
However, extracting essence through slaughter usually resulted in most of the essence being lost or damaged.
Guan Yu stabbed his blade into the ground at his feet with his right hand. Then, with his left hand, he suddenly thrust into his chest. No one knew what method he used, but the aura around him rapidly faded. Cracks appeared across every inch of his gear and skin.
A few seconds later—
—his left hand pulled something out of his body.
A blue orb of light appeared in his palm.
At that moment, Guan Yu’s aura had weakened to the extreme.
“Though the Abyssal Plane is vast and boundless, we will meet again soon. Guan hopes that when we next meet, your strength will have reached new heights!”
After he said this—
—he shattered.
On the spot, his body burst into dust.
Only a floating blue orb remained in midair.
The other players nearby were all dumbfounded by the sight. Had Guan Yu just chosen to end himself? And that blue orb—was it loot? Could an NPC take the initiative to extract his loot and hand it over in advance? What kind of godlike move was this!
Hang Yu picked up the blue orb.
A prompt from the Will of the Stars rang in his ears.
【Ding—You’ve obtained “Guan Yu’s Legacy.” Would you like to convert it into loot now?】
So that was it!
Guan Yu had used some method—
—and had actively separated the essence and energy from his own body.
Even Hang Yu had rarely heard of such a method. But considering that Guan Yu’s original form was godlike, it wasn’t surprising for him to possess abilities that defied logic or even touched upon the laws of reality.
“Convert!”
【You’ve acquired loot: Essence +300,000, Abyssal Magic Crystals +1,500, “Skill Stone: The Martial Saint’s Three Strikes” +1, “Guan Yu’s Memory Crystal” +1!】
Hang Yu was slightly surprised.
A Skill Stone had dropped.
Skill Stones were usually only acquired from treasure chests.
The chance of one dropping from a Demonized being was practically lottery odds—nearly nonexistent.
Furthermore, Hang Yu noted that while Guan Yu’s loot provided an abundant amount of essence and magic crystals, it seemed to be only five to six times what a Level 15 Overlord would normally drop, and no gear or materials were dropped either.
In other words—
—this type of manually separated essence loot—
—might offer more than a typical Starsea citizen’s kill drop,
—but for the Calamity Army blessed by the Heavenly Dao, it might not be worth the trade-off.
However, this method of extracting loot did seem to offer one benefit: the ability to pre-select what would drop.
For instance—
—this time, an extremely rare blue-quality Skill Stone had dropped.
Guan Yu’s avatar definitely had more than one skill. But this was probably the most valuable one he could offer. After all, the chances of a skill stone dropping were already incredibly low—how likely would it be that the best skill dropped by sheer luck?
Also dropped was a Memory Crystal, and this item was almost certainly something Guan Yu had intentionally left for him.
【Guan Yu’s Memory Crystal】, Special Item… Description: A crystal sealed with Guan Yu’s memories. Can be used on other avatars of Guan Yu to instantly restore all memories related to the Wo Niu Mountain region.
Guan Yu’s true body had already fallen into slumber.
The true body wasn’t just a divine core—
—it was the collective of all subsidiary consciousnesses.
All the avatars’ memories, experiences, and encounters were unified by the main body.
Now that the true body was asleep, the avatars were cut off from each other and acted independently.
As a result, anything that happened couldn’t be shared across avatars in real time. In such a situation, if Hang Yu were to encounter another Guan Yu avatar in a different space, and if their positions conflicted, the avatar might unleash a combo attack on sight.
The reason Guan Yu left this Memory Crystal—
—was to prevent other avatars from failing to recognize Hang Yu.
Now, as long as he held this item, he could instantly restore the avatar’s memories, avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings. No wonder this was such a crucial support tool.
Though the drop multiplier didn’t feel very high—
—it was still better than killing Guan Yu himself.
Lord Guan had given considerable face indeed.
Of course, Hang Yu wasn’t naïve. Though Lord Guan was a man of utmost loyalty and honor, he didn’t believe the man would help unconditionally.
Guan Yu paid special attention to this human Starsea faction—partly in hopes they could shift the tides of the Abyss Three Kingdoms and win more room for humanity to survive, and partly for his own interest.
Even if this lord was still weak—
—his potential was tremendous.
Hang Yu guessed that Lord Guan must be in quite the predicament now.
On this, Hang Yu remained cautious. He owed Guan Yu a favor, true. But the situation needed to be judged on a case-by-case basis. If he had the power in the future to lend a hand, perhaps he would. But before he grew strong enough, he would absolutely not jump into this divine brawl prematurely.
And thus—
—the curtain closed perfectly on the events at Wo Niu Mountain.
Hang Yu had no plans to unlock the next map for now.
Even he felt that his growth had been a bit too fast.
Better to slow down for now. The players needed a few days to rest, and a new batch of 900 players would soon be joining. They needed time to level up and train too.
As for Hang Yu himself?
His descent into the Abyss was about to reach one full month.
The Day of the Stars' Return was near.
It was time for Hang Yu to take a break—and return to the Stars for a day!
That said, in less than a month, he had become a Tier-Two Lord who had fully conquered three maps, and all as a human lord. If word of this got out, it would likely cause an uproar. Best to stay low-key for now.