[Strength not as good as General Dian, momentum not as imposing as General Guan, skill not as refined as my brother-in-law. Each aspect has yet to reach the summit, but when it comes to amalgamating them into one, it fails to ascend to another height. And with such capability, you still intend to kill me!]

Ma Chao thrust his long spear with heavy sword technique against Qui Fu's long spear. The spear strike had not yet exhausted its force; following through, he harnessed the momentum and thrust yet another circle towards Qui Fu's upper body.

One cannot deny that Ma Chao received exceptionally high-level training. At first, he recklessly provoked Lyu Bu and almost got killed, but because of this, he gained Lyu Bu's recognition and obtained a great part of Lyu Bu's legacy. Under Cao Cao's banner, he often dueled against opponents like Dian Wei, who were vastly superior to him.

Once he reached the North, there were masterful hands like Zhao Yun guiding him to master techniques, sometimes even swapping with Huang Zhong and Guan Yu to spar with Ma Chao to avoid him bothering Ma Yunlu.

For experts like Huang Zhong and Guan Yu, teaching one disciple is the same as teaching two. They didn't mind having one more or one less Ma Chao. Moreover, geniuses like Ma Chao are loved by any teacher, and so Ma Chao learned a great deal in the North.

Precisely because of learning so much, Ma Chao genuinely understood how important was what Lyu Bu left for him.

Before Lyu Bu ascended, what he left Ma Chao was not just experience. It was about how within the slaughter to refine a martial path uniquely belonging to oneself, forged through a thousand trials and perfectly resonant with his essence.

No longer was it about learning, imitating, pursuing; it was about the more intrinsic essence of forging one's own path in martial arts, a path untouched by the influence of others.

Standing on such a height, Ma Chao had the right to scorn Chouhun, and similarly the right to scorn Zhao Yun. As for Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and others, their paths had never shown a trace of others' shadows. Their paths were carved out by themselves, making them more intimately knowledgeable of their own journey than anyone else.

Of course, when Ma Chao scorns Zhao Yun, it's mostly words. The path Zhao Yun walks is likely only passable by Zhao Yun; anyone else trying would likely meet their end halfway.

Qui Fu's strike missed, and instead he found himself suppressed by Ma Chao. After tens of blocking and defensive maneuvers, Qui Fu saw Ma Chao's momentum increasing in grandeur. Ignoring Ma Chao's spear shadows, he thrust his Zhongping Spear straight at Ma Chao's abdomen and chest.

This spear didn't appear all that fast in Ma Chao's eyes. However, Ma Chao's attacks also felt similarly slow in his perception. Straining to retrieve his spear and block, he found it was impossible, his resolve stiffened as he held his spear straight and thrust towards Qui Fu.

In the blink of an eye, blood burst forth; Qui Fu's spear pierced through Ma Chao's abdomen and chest, while Ma Chao's spear also penetrated Qui Fu's left kidney.

In the next instant, rather than exerting force to withdraw his long spear, Qui Fu suddenly raised his right hand, five fingers tight together, and instantly extended a metallic radiance as dark as iron before Ma Chao's eyes, directly severing Ma Chao's long spear.

As Ma Chao was caught in surprise, he mimicked Qui Fu by raising his hand, accumulating Inner Qi onto his hand blade, striking down, only to find not even a notch was made, causing pain to shoot through his fingers instead.

Seeing this, Qui Fu sneered as he exerted force to extract his long spear, then swept towards Ma Chao, while the wound in his left kidney was visibly beginning to heal.

Ma Chao exerted himself to block a strike, then immediately turned to flee. At this moment, Ma Chao recalled that his long spear had been broken once fighting with Sun Ce, and once against the Xianbei. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Seeing his long spear frequently shatter, Ma Chao commissioned a custom-made one. The long spear he had was forged not long ago and had undergone high-effect nourishment once, making it capable of enduring without issue provided it stayed out of Inner Qi Manifestation Rank face-offs.

But who would've thought Qui Fu had such a hand, directly severing his long spear? Weaponless, Ma Chao barely managed to fend off a few moves, retreating in another direction while swallowing a pill, seeing the wound heal, and immediately snatching a weapon, resumed fighting Qui Fu.

This time, Qui Fu grasped the essentials against Ma Chao, brandishing his long spear, not seeking to injure but to collide, striking firmly, and within three hits shattered Ma Chao's recently seized long spear, nearly injuring Ma Chao himself.

While Qui Fu prepared to end Ma Chao with a few more strikes, three arrows suddenly flew from afar; one arrow deflected Qui Fu's spear tip, while the other two aimed at Qui Fu's left eye and the warhorse's knee joint from his blindside.

One arrow veered Qui Fu's long spear askew; seeing the arrow aimed at his eye approaching, he dodged immediately, only to find the arrow altering course towards him, promptly sweeping it away with a spear. Only then did Qui Fu notice the blindside arrow, which abruptly accelerated before impact, directly severing the horse's leg.

"Ma Chao, go, finish him!" Ma Zhong threw the long spear from his warhorse directly at Ma Chao; as a mounted archer, he hardly used the spear.

After throwing the spear, Ma Zhong seemed suddenly exhausted of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. The prior three arrows were the sure-hit shots taught by Huang Zhong, each arrow consuming significant Essence, Qi, and Spirit. To unleash three sure-hit arrows at once, from a distinct perspective, Ma Zhong had veered onto Huang Zhong's archery path.

Ma Chao reached out and caught the long spear thrown by Ma Zhong, roaring as he charged towards Qui Fu, having never suffered such misfortune in his life; previously when he couldn't win, it was due to insufficient strength, but this time he lost because of his weapon!