Chapter 286

Liu Bang was squatting on the steps in front of Weiyang Palace.

He really hadn't slept last night—it wasn't that he didn't want to, but he couldn't.

Gu Shanhe's words, "ability is greater than Zhao Yun's, but fate is not as good as Zhao Yun's," were like a thorn stuck in his mind, and he had tossed and turned all night thinking about it.

Zhao Yun was already that fierce; what must someone with even greater ability look like?

Ying Zheng, however, had slept soundly.

He had one good trait—no matter how big the matter, he slept when he should.

Seeing Liu Bang squatting on the steps in the morning with dark circles under his eyes, his mouth twitched, but he didn't speak.

Liu Che walked out yawning, and seeing his High Ancestor like that, he was startled: "High Ancestor, what is this..."

Liu Bang waved his hand: "Don't say it, I waited all night just to see who is number one."

Ying Zheng stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, looking at the whitening eastern horizon, and suddenly spoke: "The time has come."

Before his voice faded, the sky lit up.

The golden light this time was different from before.

The previous times, it had lit up slowly, as if someone were lighting lamps in the sky.

Today it wasn't—today, with a "boom," the entire sky exploded at once, and the golden light poured down from the nine heavens like a waterfall, pressing down so hard it was hard to breathe.

Then, the poem appeared.

It didn't pop up line by line; the whole poem appeared at once.

Every character was as big as a city gate tower, golden and brilliant, with rigid strokes, as if someone were carving characters in the sky with a blade.

【The painted halberd crosses the sky, shaking the nine provinces; the Red Hare tramples away the sorrows of eternity.】

【Among men, Lu Bu startles the world; among horses, the Red Hare is the crown of a thousand autumns.】

【The battle at Hulao makes the feudal lords fear; the end at White Gate Tower brings all things to a halt.】

【The empty name of 'three surnames' remains in history; his martial prowess alone surpasses Cao and Liu.】

Ying Zheng squinted as he finished reading the poem, his brow furrowed into a knot.

"Lu Bu? Is this the number one on the Three Kingdoms Combat Power Ranking?"

He paused and added: "The poem has magnificent momentum; this person's martial prowess must be unrivaled in his generation."

Liu Bang leaned in, read it once, and scratched his head, saying:

"I fought my whole life; Han Xin and Fan Kuai were both fierce generals of their time, yet there is someone who could suppress the feudal lords of the world alone? I wonder what kind of hero of chaotic times this is."

When he said this, there was a tone of unwillingness to accept it, but more curiosity.

Liu Che was direct: "The Three Kingdoms actually produced such an unparalleled god of war? It's a pity he wasn't in my time, otherwise the Xiongnu would have already bowed their heads in submission."

He truly felt it was a pity.

He had fought the Xiongnu his whole life and knew how difficult the border troubles were.

If he had such a fierce person under his command, the grasslands would have been pacified long ago.

Sui Wendi Yang Jian's comment fell from the sky.

【Sui Wendi Yang Jian: Chaotic times produce peerless fierce generals; one can tell from the poem alone that this person's edge is unmatched. It's just that the second half of the poem mentions a miserable end, so there must be a great fault.】

Just as Yang Jian's voice faded, Tang Taizong Li Shimin took over.

His tone was clearly different from the previous ones, carrying a hint of sarcasm.

【Tang Taizong Li Shimin: Hahaha, good poem! It's true he is the number one warrior of the Three Kingdoms, but his character is a textbook example of what not to be in chaotic times.】

Liu Bang was stunned: "Textbook example of what not to be? What does that mean?"

Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's comment was even less polite.

【Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang: All the ability in the world, yet his lack of character will stink for ten thousand years! He has peerless martial prowess but is a disloyal, unrighteous, and fickle villain.】

The Qianlong Emperor shook his folding fan and said in a scholarly tone.

【Qianlong Emperor: His martial arts are unrivaled and he can be called a god of war through the ages, but his character is too low to be a hero. He has nothing but divine power, only to become a laughingstock for eternity.】

Liu Bang was completely bewildered.

He turned to look at Gu Shanhe: "Immortal Master, what is going on?"

"The previous emperors were praising him well, why are these ones all cursing him?"

Gu Shanhe smiled bitterly: "You will know as you keep reading."

The golden light on the sky screen gathered slowly, then exploded suddenly—

A line of large characters descended from the sky, each one like a mountain, smashing into everyone's heart.

【Three Kingdoms Heavens Warrior Combat Power Golden List · First Place】

【Lu Bu · Lu Fengxian】

In a crack in space-time, a tall figure suddenly raised his head.

He was ten chi tall, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, wearing a purple-gold crown with three-pronged hair-binding, a red brocade hundred-flower robe from Xichuan, holding a painted halberd of heavenly square, and his Red Hare horse neighed like thunder beneath him.

Lu Bu.

He had been walking in the void and thought it was just a normal celestial phenomenon when he saw the sky screen light up.

Then he saw his own name.

Golden, bordered, hanging at the very top.

First.

First in the Three Kingdoms.

Lu Bu laughed up at the sky, his laughter like thunder.

"Hahahaha! I am the best in the world! Unrivaled in the Three Kingdoms! Who dares not to be convinced?"

That laughter was extremely arrogant, as if he didn't put anyone in the world in his eyes at all.

【Core reason for ranking】

【The ceiling of combat power in the Three Kingdoms, invincible in both official history and romance, with no opponent in the entire Three Kingdoms in one-on-one combat.

At Hulao Pass, the combined efforts of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were needed to contend with him, and he still escaped undefeated.

Shooting a halberd at the gate, piercing a willow leaf from a hundred paces; his martial arts are all-encompassing, with top-tier skills in foot combat, horse combat, and long-range shooting.

Feudal lords of the world trembled at the name of Lu Bu; heroes like Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu all dared not face him head-on alone.

Throughout the late Han and Three Kingdoms, no one's martial prowess could steadily suppress Lu Bu; he is recognized for a thousand years as the number one warrior of the Three Kingdoms.

Enhanced by the Red Hare horse, he is a dragon among men and a phoenix among horses, the best of the best; the combination of man and horse is unrivaled in the world.】

Cao Cao's mansion was in an uproar.

Cao Cao himself sat in the hall, his face pale.

He admitted Lu Bu was fierce—not just normally fierce, but fierce to the point of making people despair.

But with the sky screen ranking this wild wolf as number one in the Three Kingdoms, he still felt uncomfortable.

"Marquis of Wen, Lu Bu."

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and read the next line.

"Number one in the world, what a number one in the world."

Xun Yu said softly: "My Lord, the sky screen only discusses combat power, not anything else."

Cao Cao snorted and didn't respond.

Of course he knew the sky screen only discussed combat power.

But it was precisely because of this "only discussing combat power" that he felt even worse.

Because Lu Bu wasn't a pure enemy—Lu Bu once had the chance to become his man.

When he besieged Xiapi, Lu Bu sent someone to surrender, and he almost agreed.

It was that line from Liu Bei that made him change his mind.

"Does the Illustrious Lord not see the affairs of Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo?"

Liu Bei.

It was Liu Bei again.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao's teeth were almost ground to pieces.

In the city of Chengdu, Zhang Fei squatted in the courtyard, looking up at the sky with his neck craned, his face wrinkled into a ball.

He wanted to curse a few times, but he couldn't open his mouth.

It wasn't that he didn't want to curse, but he didn't know what to curse—the Immortal of the sky screen ranked Lu Bu first, what could he do?

Guan Yu stroked his long beard, his phoenix eyes opened slightly, and he didn't say a word.

But he had fought Lu Bu before Hulao Pass and knew what level that was.

He hadn't admired many people in his life, but Lu Bu was one of them.

Zhao Yun also came.

He was ranked second yesterday, and today he stood to the side watching the number one, his face expressionless.

He was the type of person who didn't fight or compete; whatever rank he was, he was, and he wouldn't be jealous just because someone else was ranked ahead of him.

But his eyes were fixed on the sky screen—he wanted to know just how strong this person ranked ahead of him really was.

【Detailed life file of Lu Bu】

【Date of birth and death: Birth year unknown, approximately 156-160 AD; died in the third year of Jian'an, February 7, 199 AD, at the age of about forty.】

【Native place: Wuyuan, Jiuyuan, Bingzhou. Courtesy name Fengxian.】