Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 1610 - 1552: So-Called Mirror Image

A crimson radiance burst forth from Wei Yan's body with his awakening, and before it could spread, it transformed into a dim glow mixed with bright yellow light, enveloping almost all of the Han army.

In an instant, the Han army, which was initially drained by Zang Ba's legion talent, losing the power to confront the Miscellaneous Hun cavalry head-on, suddenly found their lost strength returning again, with the same effects as Zang Ba's legion talent once more blessing all the soldiers.

[Did he ultimately choose this path?] Wei Yan's expression was calm. When he took this step, he already knew the outcome, yet he understood that a person can hardly achieve perfection in a lifetime.

Wei Yan is one of the rare commanders who knew the effect of his legion talent before breaking through, yet he chose not to awaken it.

Wei Yan initially learned his sword technique from Huang Zhong, and then from Guan Yu. Both individuals had an immense influence on him.

Initially, Wei Yan didn't understand what the path of Qi Refining to Gang meant and kept imitating Huang Zhong and Guan Yu, even when he broke through to Inner Qi Manifestation during a bloody battle with Gao Lan, he was still imitating Guan Yu and Huang Zhong.

When he crossed that threshold, Wei Yan realized the shadows of others weighed too heavily on him, so much so that his sword and his martial arts bore the marks of others, leaving him without his own path.

It was fortunate that both Guan Yu and Huang Zhong were top-level experts of the time; otherwise, merely relying on mimicry wouldn't have allowed him to make that leap, as Inner Qi Manifestation is, after all, a fundamental transformation.

Others, regardless of who they are and even if they are like Li Tiao, a vagabond, have walked their own path. It's rare but not unheard of for people like Guan Ping, who slashed a path forward where there was none ahead. Yet, most who achieve Inner Qi Manifestation do so.

However, Wei Yan's path was that of Guan Yu and Huang Zhong, not his own.

This is also why Wei Yan, upon realizing the formation of his legion talent within his will, refused to awaken it, as he vaguely sensed the attribute of his legion talent—Mimicry.

Like a mirror, reflecting the legion talent he currently sees onto his subordinates, producing the effect he witnesses, applicable only to legion talents, reflecting one effect at a time, whether friend or foe.

This is why Wei Yan suppressed the urge to awaken it; his martial arts emerged from mimicry, and would his legion talent be the same? Would Wei Yan himself be left with nothing?

As a radiance covered the more than three thousand remaining people, the formation, which had been somewhat fragmented, once again steadied its footing. Unlike other legion talents, Zang Ba's Unmovable like a Mountain was inherently the most suitable for stabilizing formations.

"Follow me and kill!" Wei Yan roared. The less than three hundred cavalrymen beside him felt as if a sturdy armor covered them under the effect of Wei Yan's legion talent.

Wei Yan, brandishing his spear, charged forward. With courage fueled by Blood Qi, coupled with the powerful defensive effect of his legion talent, he swiftly repelled the front-facing Miscellaneous Hun.

Without any hesitation, he immediately retreated into the formation again. Relying solely on those cavalry, only Wei Yan could charge out, and if only he could break through, then what was the point of awakening this legion talent, what meaning would remain in protecting his comrades, even if he might regret it later?

After Wei Yan retreated to the main formation, Xu Shu desperately blocked the path Wei Yan carved during his retreat. Fortunately, Wei Yan's legion talent not only mirrored Zang Ba's Unmovable like a Mountain but also that kind of rebound effect.

At this moment, no one noticed the essential difference in nature between Wei Yan's mirrored legion talent and Zang Ba's legion talent, even if both presented as Unmovable like a Mountain with rebound effects. The way Wei Yan's legion talent achieved this effect was fundamentally different from Zang Ba's.

Even though the effects might seem similar outwardly, the intrinsic nature was entirely different; this is Wei Yan's legion talent, which only mimicked the outward effect of a legion talent, whereas the internal mechanism depended on Wei Yan's own understanding.

For instance, while both represented Unmovable like a Mountain, Wei Yan perceived it as being achieved through powerful defense, thus he constructed his mirrored legion talent around this core, whereas Zang Ba's was accomplished through the transmission of force, appearing identical on the surface but fundamentally dissimilar internally.

This also led to completely different consumption levels for both legion talents. For Wei Yan, achieving a counterattack against cavalry, in his understanding, required soldiers to suddenly erupt with great force, but since the force was too immense, it could only be triggered once...

Similarly, the mirrored legion talent constructed around this core exhibited an effect identical to Zang Ba's legion talent rebound, though naturally, the consumption was several times greater than Zang Ba's.

Yet, reinforcing defense consumed significantly less than Zang Ba's approach of entirely channeling impact force into the ground. After all, no matter how much defense is strengthened, the impact force from cavalry will always be felt, while channeling the entire impact force into the ground leaves soldiers unaffected, thus greatly increasing consumption. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Zang Ba was fortunate to inherit the Yellow Turbans' legacy; otherwise, supporting Unmovable like a Mountain for long wouldn't have been possible, especially in a large-scale battle like this. Without the earlier support from the shattered Military Soul of the Empire bestowed upon Zang Ba, he likely couldn't have held on for even an hour.

With the support of Wei Yan's legion talent, Zang Ba's main formation, leveraging Xu Shu's skill in attacking what is weak, quickly stabilized its position. The situation improved considerably, yet Zang Ba, Guan Ping, and others knew that this was only a temporary fix.

"Wen Chang, how much longer can you hold?" Zang Ba commanded a few hundred soldiers to resist the Miscellaneous Hun who had breached their outer defenses and shouted to Wei Yan.

"As long as I'm alive, I can hold on forever!" Wei Yan shouted with a majestic aura, though his slightly pale face had already betrayed his true condition. However, at this time, they must not expose their vulnerabilities within the unit.

Guo Huai and Wenn Hong joined forces and tenaciously slaughtered a Miscellaneous Hun Leader of a Thousand, their armor long stained with blood, both their own and that of the Miscellaneous Hun. By now, only two of their original escort remained, the very ones Wang Ling had left with Guo Huai.

Thanks to these two tirelessly protecting them, Guo Huai and Wenn Hong survived till now. Yet, even they lost all grace and bearing of aristocratic family scions; all that remained was a steely, bloody determination.

"Follow me and kill!" Guan Ping roared. Seeing the western defense line faltering, he immediately led dozens to reinforce it, stabilizing the line amidst fierce slaughter.

However, when Guan Ping turned back, he found the flank had been breached by the Miscellaneous Hun. Juu Fu was leading several dozen trying to mend the gap, and other directions also showed signs of imminent collapse; Zang Ba's main formation was not far from breaking down.