Chapter 305: Forming the Shadow Guard

"By the way, what has been the reaction from the various warlords across the land?"

After Ma Chao departed, Liu Bian asked Xun Yu and the other man.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, because we have only just gained control of the Sili region during this period, we are currently short on manpower and lack scouts to gather intelligence. Therefore, the Imperial Court currently has absolutely no news regarding the movements of the various warlords across the land."

"Thus, your subject suggests that Your Majesty establish a department for gathering intelligence. Only then can we grasp the situation of the various warlords across the land."

Jia Xu said respectfully to Liu Bian.

"Wenhe is right. I originally intended to wait until after the pacification of Liangzhou to do this, but it seems we cannot wait that long now."

"I will leave this matter to you, Wenhe. Let us call it... the Shadow Guard."

"The Dark Guard will be responsible for scouting and gathering intelligence; the Shadow Guard will be responsible for assassinations. The Shadow Guard shall be loyal only to me alone. Go to the national treasury later to draw funds; I will prepare the cultivation techniques and give them to you."

Hearing Jia Xu's words, Liu Bian agreed immediately and arranged for him to be responsible for forming the Shadow Guard.

Just as the three of them were discussing this, Ma Chao left the Imperial Palace alone.

Outside the palace, the soldiers who were waiting saw Ma Chao come out and immediately stepped forward, asking with worried expressions: "Young General, the Emperor didn't make things difficult for you, did he?"

"Rest assured, His Majesty is a very good person; he even appointed me as a Colonel. Let's go, we shall head to the Xiliang Army camp outside the city now to report to General Lü Bu."

A proud smile appeared on Ma Chao's face as he laughed and said to the soldiers beside him.

"What? His Majesty actually appointed you, Young General, as a Colonel? If the General finds out, he will surely be overjoyed."

"Indeed, the Young General is only 17 years old and has already been appointed a Colonel by His Majesty. This shows that His Majesty thinks very highly of our Young General!"

Hearing Ma Chao's words, the soldiers nearby began to discuss excitedly. In an instant, it was full of flattering remarks.

"Alright, stop arguing. Let's head to the military camp to report first."

Ma Chao interrupted the discussion at the right moment, and then led everyone to rush toward the Xiliang Army camp.

Luoyang

West of the city, at the entrance of the Xiliang Army camp, Ma Chao looked at the tents before him and asked the guards on duty: "Is this the Xiliang Army camp? I am acting under His Majesty's decree to come and find General Lü Bu."

"General, please wait a moment. This subordinate will call someone to notify the Commander immediately."

"You go notify the Commander."

The guard cupped his hands in salute to Ma Chao, and after speaking, he said this to his companion beside him.

A while later, a young general seven feet tall, wearing red battle armor, walked out, followed by several martial generals. The person who arrived was none other than the Xiliang Army Commander, Lü Bu.

Lü Bu stepped forward, sized Ma Chao up, and asked indifferently: "Kid, who are you? What business do you have coming to my Xiliang Army?"

"General Lü, this subordinate is Ma Chao, son of Ma Teng of Liangzhou. Acting under my father's orders, I have come to assist His Majesty in suppressing the rebel Dong Zhuo."

"His Majesty just appointed me as a Colonel, and I have come to report to General Lü."

Ma Chao replied to Lü Bu, neither humble nor pushy.

"Oh, you are Ma Teng's son. Not bad. General Ma Teng is worthy of being a descendant of the Fubo General; he is truly loyal to our Great Han Empire."

Hearing Ma Chao's words, Lü Bu also felt somewhat surprised. Logically speaking, as long as Ma Teng accepted the imperial decree, he would cooperate with the Imperial Court's army to recover Liangzhou when the time came.

He did not expect that he would actually send his own son to the capital.

"Let's go, follow me into the camp first, and I will introduce you to the generals of my Xiliang Army."

Lü Bu glanced indifferently at Ma Chao and the others, and spoke.

"This subordinate obeys!"

Subsequently, everyone walked toward the main military tent. After everyone was seated, Lü Bu introduced to the people beside him: "Everyone, this is the Colonel newly sent by His Majesty, the son of General Ma Teng of Xiliang, Ma Chao, Ma Mengqi."

"These three are the Deputy Generals of my Xiliang Army: Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Hou Cheng."

"As for this person, he is the Military Advisor personally appointed by His Majesty, Chen Gong."

Lü Bu pointed to the people beside him and introduced them to Ma Chao one by one.

"Ma Chao has met you all. From now on, I ask for your kind guidance."

Seeing this, Ma Chao also hurriedly cupped his hands and spoke respectfully to the group.

"General Ma is too polite. We are all colleagues, so it is only right."

The group cupped their hands and said to Ma Chao.

"General, after His Majesty told this subordinate to come, he said to find the General to teach me the cultivation method. I wonder what this cultivation technique is?"

Ma Chao remembered the matter of Liu Bian telling him to find Lü Bu to be taught the cultivation technique, and asked Lü Bu in confusion.

"Since His Majesty told me to teach you the cultivation technique, it means we are all on the same side. This secret manual is the Martial Dao cultivation method of our Great Han Empire. After you go back later, cultivate diligently. If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me or Wei Xu and the others."

Lü Bu took a book out from his bosom and handed it to Ma Chao, then explained the matter of Martial Dao cultivation to Ma Chao.

"His Majesty is truly an immortal descended to earth! With this technique, the unification of the land is just around the corner!"

"This subordinate thanks the General."

Hearing this, Ma Chao was also shocked and filled with emotion, and subsequently thanked Lü Bu.

"No need to be polite, this is not a big deal. This technique can be cultivated by all officials and soldiers in our Great Han. You started cultivating late, so you must cultivate more diligently in the future."

"No wonder I didn't see many soldiers after entering the camp; so it turns out they were all cultivating!"

Since entering the camp, Ma Chao hadn't seen anyone other than the soldiers on duty; so it turned out they were all cultivating.

"Wei Xu and the other two broke through to the Divine General realm ten days ago. I estimate that if they put in some effort, they can break through to the Post-Heaven realm before the expedition."

Lü Bu introduced the cultivation results of the group to Ma Chao.

"What? They are actually this powerful? General, I wonder if this subordinate could spar with the three generals?"

Hearing this, Ma Chao was also greatly shocked, and immediately wanted to spar with the three of them, wanting to experience the power of a Divine General.

"Wei Xu, you go and spar with Mengqi. Remember, stop at the point of contact."

Lü Bu also wanted to see Ma Chao's strength, so he agreed immediately, and then spoke to Wei Xu.

"This subordinate obeys!"

"Mengqi, let's go to the drill ground to spar."

Soon, the group arrived at the military drill ground. Watching the two in the field, Song Xian said to Lü Bu:

"General, how many moves do you think Mengqi can last against Song Xian?"

"I see Mengqi is so young; it would be good if he had the strength of a second-rate warrior. I say he won't last a single move."

Hou Cheng, who was on the side, spoke out.

"Hehe, then you are wrong, Hou Cheng. Don't look at Ma Mengqi's young age; he already has the strength of a first-rate warrior. However, Wei Xu is at the Divine General realm, so Mengqi shouldn't last more than ten moves."

Lü Bu said to Hou Cheng with a smile.

"What? He is actually a first-rate martial general. It seems Mengqi's natural talent is very high; he might even possess the special constitution that His Majesty mentioned."

Hearing these words from Lü Bu, Hou Cheng was also startled and said.

To have the strength of a first-rate martial general at the age of just over ten—this talent can certainly be called powerful.