Chapter 1012: Chapter 968: The Three Major Illusions of Inner Qi Manifestation

Thinking about not having fought Zhao Yun, Ma Chao felt extremely conflicted, pondering if he should go back and see Zhao Yun, who is a true martial arts master capable of retreating unharmed from a duel with Lyu Bu, without even losing a hair, and this was a direct confrontation on the battlefield.

“Marquis Wenn is actually a decent person, just sometimes he can’t think straight. My martial arts were guided by him, and you returned alive only because he went easy on you.” Sun Ce estimated Ma Chao’s strength and spoke.

“Indeed…” Ma Chao deflated significantly. The opponent went easy to the extent of forming an ocean, yet he was almost killed in seconds. It should be noted that the only serious move from the opponent was the last one.

“But you and I seem to be around the same age, and we still have twenty years. By that time, we might be stronger than Marquis Wenn.” Sun Ce said with a smile.

“So, you’re very strong?” Ma Chao’s perception was quite lacking, unable to discern the strength or weakness before making a move. But this was normal, as he didn’t have the time to study these miscellaneous things. To Ma Chao, as long as he was strong enough, it didn’t matter if he could see the depth of others or not.

“You’ll find out if you try. I’m also quite curious about your strength.” Sun Ce reached out his hand with a smile. His perception of the opponent’s strength was also mediocre, for the same reason as Ma Chao, but he was slightly better in that he could at least see if the opponent was manifesting Inner Qi.

“Let’s see then!” Ma Chao laughed loudly, directly reaching out to grasp Sun Ce’s hand with a confident smile of inevitable victory.

Not being able to defeat Lyu Bu was due to age, not Besting Dian Wei was due to insufficient accumulation, not surpassing Guan Yu was due to insufficient momentum, and not overpowering Zhang Fei was due to insufficient strength. Generally, Ma Chao believed his inability to beat others was just an age issue; he thought he was already at the peak among his age group.

As Ma Chao and Sun Ce grasped each other’s hands, they both slowly increased their strength. Ma Chao looked in astonishment at Sun Ce, “I’m going to increase strength now.”

“Don’t hold back.” Sun Ce chuckled lightly, erupting in a golden-yellow Inner Qi, with his eyes even turning gold, staring at Ma Chao with a kingly arrogance, “Give it your all, show me what you’ve got!”

Ma Chao felt the pain in his hand, his face showing a defiant smile, “This is good!” His body erupted with the same golden radiance, but in the next moment, blue-white electricity began to circulate within his golden aura.

“Ha!” Sun Ce erupted crazily with his power, and after slaying Yu Ji and understanding himself, reaching the Ultimate Inner Qi Manifestation, Sun Ce unleashed his full power for the first time.

“Ha!” Arrogant as Ma Chao, in the moment of Sun Ce’s full outbreak, understood he had met a worthy opponent. The electric sparks on his body burst out furiously, yet still couldn’t overpower Sun Ce.

Suddenly, Sun Ce halted his explosive burst, and Ma Chao stopped as well, but unlike Sun Ce’s smile, Ma Chao’s gaze was obviously a bit resentful.

“Why did you stop!” Ma Chao glared at Sun Ce and asked.

“You’re not fully recovered yet and not my match. When you recover, we’ll have a proper fight. Winning now wouldn’t be honorable.” Sun Ce looked at Ma Chao arrogantly.

“Fine, once I’m recovered, we’ll fight!” Ma Chao said, staring with slightly cold eyes at Sun Ce. The opponent was not any older than him, yet the strength he displayed momentarily suppressed him.

“So, General Ma, take good care of your injuries, and if there’s anything you need, let us know, and we’ll do our best to fulfill it.” Zhou Yu said with a smile. Although Ma Chao couldn’t be won over, he was excellent as a tool to send messages to Cao Cao and Ma Teng from afar.

After Sun Ce and Zhou Yu left, Ma Chao looked at his hands. His Inner Qi had significantly declined, probably not even half of what it used to be.

He slowly extended his hands, and upon stimulating his Inner Qi, blue-white electric sparks burst from his originally pure golden Inner Qi.

“Is this the power of thunder and lightning?” Ma Chao said with a bitter smile. He lost half of his Inner Qi and gained only this ability. His Inner Qi level dropped directly from the Ultimate Inner Qi Manifestation to Beginner External Internal Qi.

Fortunately, other aspects of the Ultimate Inner Qi Manifestation were entirely retained. Now Ma Chao was equivalent to a Top General with insufficient Inner Qi. As for Inner Qi recovery, for some reason, Ma Chao’s Inner Qi could only recover to half of its previous level, and even with a careful inspection of his body, Ma Chao couldn’t find any problem.

According to the old saying, as long as an Inner Qi manifestation didn’t die, it could recover. Upon awakening, all negative effects were nullified, and the qi could even rival King Xiang. But in this case, apart from the third aspect, the first two have been proven false.

“Has Youping not awakened yet?” Sun Ce walked to where Zhou Tai was sleeping, frowning and asking, expecting that Zhou Tai’s body had completely returned to normal, yet he still hadn’t awakened.

“No, Dr. Zhang has checked, and the body’s functions have fully recovered, but he hasn’t awakened. Dr. Zhang has used special methods to examine thoroughly, and there’s no problem with the body, but the awakening time can’t be determined.” Zhou Yu said slowly, already having some unpleasant thoughts.

“Youping will definitely recover.” Sun Ce paused slightly, then said confidently.

In fact, when Zhou Tai still hadn’t awakened the day before yesterday, Sun Ce’s intuition already told him that Zhou Tai might never wake up again, but Sun Ce found it hard to accept this intuition and came to ask every day, only to receive disappointing answers.

On the other hand, Zhang Zhongjing had already determined Zhou Tai’s condition but hadn’t spoken out. With his ability, it’s impossible not to understand Zhou Tai’s current state. The body had returned to perfect condition, but what about the soul, or the spirit? Can the Divine Stone restore the body and also the spirit?

Zhou Tai had previously burned everything, Inner Qi, spirit, and body, to explode with such astonishing power. Even if the Divine Stone restored the body, the obliteration of the spirit still meant death, just that the spirit didn’t continue dissipating because the body recovered.

Zhou Yu’s zither sound indeed awakened Zhou Tai’s survival instinct, and the will did surpass the body’s limit, also gaining the support of the Divine Stone’s vitality. However, the spirit had already been burned out, and a strong body without the spirit’s control can only lie here forever.

“Sigh, it seems that this is it for General Zhou this life.” Zhang Zhongjing said helplessly. It’s not that his medical skills weren’t high enough; Zhou Tai’s situation, even Hua Tuo couldn’t do anything about it. The injury is not within the body but within the spirit, which is the forbidden zone of all medical arts in the current world. (To be continued. If you like this work, please go to QiDian (wuxiaworld.site) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.wuxiaworld.site to read.)