Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

Liu Ce turned his horse around and whispered to Guan Yu and the other six, his voice laced with undisguised mockery:

"Brothers, watch closely, and see how I, your big brother, teach this Earth God General a lesson called 'The Price of Showing Off' and 'How to Properly Assess Your Opponent's Strength'."

Cheng Yaojin immediately responded in his distinctive accent, winking and making faces:

"My lord, you must treat him 'gently' and be 'light-handed'. Don't 'accidentally' smash him to pieces; we want to see what he looks like whole!"

The crowd chuckled softly again, their eyes filled with pity as they looked at Zhang Bao.

Liu Ce spurred his warhorse and leisurely arrived at the open space in front of the two armies, feeling utterly absurd and amused:

"I was just worried about not having a chance to get some exercise, and the first one to run into the line of fire turned out to be this overconfident clown..."

"Fine, I'll use you as a test, to liven things up for the brothers, and to show these 120,000 Yellow Turbans how their Earth God General died!"

On the battlefield, tens of thousands of eyes were focused on this place, and the air seemed to freeze.

Eager to make a name for himself and even more eager to use this opportunity to step on Liu Ce and gain fame, Zhang Bao roared:

"Liu Ce, prepare to die!"

He spurred his warhorse, brandishing a rather fine-looking spear, and charged menacingly toward Liu Ce, attempting to use the momentum of his charge to achieve victory in one fell swoop.

A mocking smile played on Liu Ce's lips as he slapped his horse's rump and rode forward.

He made up his mind to play along with this guy first, and also to show the Yellow Turban Army how vulnerable their "hope" was.

The two weapons clashed for the first time with a crisp clang, sparks flying everywhere.

Liu Ce deliberately restrained most of his power, only using two or three tenths of his strength. He wielded the Heavenly Dragon City-Breaking Halberd, which seemed dangerous, but in fact easily neutralized all of Zhang Bao's attacks.

He even deliberately created several openings, causing Zhang Bao's spear tip to narrowly miss him each time.

This drew gasps and cheers from the Yellow Turban army, who thought their general had gained the upper hand.

Zhang Bao became more and more confident as he played, and the more he felt that the rumors were exaggerated.

Liu Ce's strength was only average, and his skills were just so-so. He must have won against Cheng Yuanzhi and Bo Cai by relying on his fierce generals and tricks!

He seemed to already see himself beheading Liu Ce, becoming famous throughout the land, and even replacing his elder brother as the leader of the Yellow Turbans. He swung his spear more fiercely, shouting and cursing incessantly.

The two exchanged blows, the sounds of their weapons clashing filling the air. After about thirty rounds, the scene appeared to be "evenly matched."

On Liu Ce's side, Zhang Fei scratched his head and muttered to Guan Yu:

"Second brother, what's eldest brother up to? Are you kidding me? Why not just stab him to death with one blow? Why waste time on this piece of trash? I'm getting impatient just watching!"

Guan Yu squinted, stroked his long beard, and said calmly:

"Third brother, please calm down. Your elder brother knows what to do."

"Look, the Yellow Turban rebels' morale has been boosted by this false 'draw.' When our leader suddenly launches an attack, their morale will plummet even further, like falling straight off a cliff, which will be extremely advantageous for our army's charge."

"This is military strategy; winning hearts and minds is the best policy."

Zhao Yun and Qin Qiong also saw through the scheme and nodded in admiration of Liu Ce's calculations.

Sure enough, having played the game long enough, Liu Ce's eyes sharpened, as if a sleeping tiger had suddenly awakened, and he decided to end this farce.

Just then, Zhang Bao thrust his spear at full force, shouting:

"Liu Ce! This day next year will be the anniversary of your death!"

This time, Liu Ce no longer blocked or dodged, but instead suddenly channeled his power into the Heavenly Dragon City-Breaking Halberd!

The heavy halberd seemed to come alive, emitting a chilling, piercing shriek that tore through the air.

With the simplest, most domineering, and most direct force, it slashed down fiercely at the spear in Zhang Bao's hand! The speed was several times faster than before!

Zhang Bao felt a blur before his eyes, and an irresistible, terrifying force came through the gun barrel!

His prized spear, forged from refined steel, snapped in two with a deafening crack the moment it came into contact with the terrifying halberd!

"What?! Impossible!!"

The sneer and confidence on Zhang Bao's face froze instantly, turning into boundless horror and fear! His tiger's mouth split open, blood gushing out, and his entire arm lost all feeling!

Before he could even react, the halberd that had severed the spear continued its downward trajectory with undiminished momentum, carrying a chilling, blood-red light of death!

"Pfft—!"

A dull, crisp sound!

Blood splattered!

The sharp crescent-shaped branch of the Heavenly Dragon City-Breaking Halberd easily sliced ​​open Zhang Bao's neck, and a head with an expression of disbelief and extreme terror shot into the sky!

The headless corpse was thrown backward from the horse by the enormous impact, and blood from its neck spurted several feet high, staining a patch of land red.

The battlefield fell into a deathly silence in an instant!

You could hear a pin drop!

Both the Yellow Turban Army and Liu Ce's army were stunned by this sudden and extremely contrasting ending, leaving them speechless and their minds blank.

Just moments ago they were locked in a fierce battle, neither side gaining the upper hand. But in the blink of an eye, the mighty Earth God General was... instantly killed, gun and all!

And in such a tragic way!

After a brief, suffocating silence, a deafening roar of cheers and shouts erupted from Liu Ce's army! Morale soared instantly!

Liu Ce said calmly to Zhang Bao's corpse:

"I gave you a chance, but you couldn't seize it!"

Then he used the tip of his halberd to lift Zhang Bao's head, whose eyes were still wide open, and raised it high, shouting loudly, his words clearly reaching everyone's ears:

"Zhang Bao is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Black-armored cavalry! Charge!"

"All troops, attack! Crush them!"

At Liu Ce's command, the eight hundred Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, who had been poised for battle like taut bowstrings, were led by six fierce generals: Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Qin Qiong, and Cheng Yaojin.

Like a torrent of steel, with unparalleled momentum, it crashed into the Yellow Turban army's formation, which was plunged into chaos, panic, and despair due to the instant killing of its commander!

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and others charged into the Yellow Turban formation and immediately killed the Yellow Turban generals.

Having lost unified command and witnessing their commander-in-chief being killed in such a horrific manner, the morale of the Yellow Turban Army collapsed instantly and completely.

The 120,000-strong army had now become 120,000 terrified lambs, ready to be slaughtered.

Faced with the relentless charge and trampling of the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, faced with Guan Yu and his men cutting through everything in their path, and faced with the frenzied pursuit and slaughter of the following infantry,

They had no will to fight, only regret that their parents hadn't given them two more legs. They cried out for their parents and scattered in all directions, trampling each other in the process.

The battle almost entirely turned into a one-sided pursuit and capture of prisoners.

In the end, about one-third of the Yellow Turban army managed to escape, abandoning their armor and fleeing in all directions.

The rest, apart from a few who resisted and were killed on the spot, mostly became prisoners, kneeling down in a dark mass.

Liu Cejun captured Xiaquyang at minimal cost, achieving another brilliant and unbelievable victory.