Three Kingdoms, Myth

While Chen Xi and his group were making diligent progress in Fenggao, Gan Ning's large ship had once again set sail on the sea. By this point, Gan Ning had already cursed Lu Jun several times. The ships from the Lu family were clearly using him as a test subject, constantly undergoing modifications that left Gan Ning wary of venturing too far from the coastline.

Lu Jun, feeling grateful for Gan Ning's loyalty, had initially given him a modified version of the family's unfinished tower ship. Gan Ning, who had only ever piloted small sailboats, was ecstatic to receive such a grand and luxurious ship. Without hesitation, he sailed the tower ship down the Yangtze River. The journey was smooth until they reached the mouth of the river, where a strong sea breeze capsized the ship.

Feeling ashamed, Gan Ning returned to the Lu family and admitted that he had underestimated the power of the sea wind. He requested that the Lu family prepare another ship, as he still intended to venture out to sea.

Upon learning what had happened, the Lu family's craftsmen prepared a batch of smaller boats for Gan Ning to test the waters. Unfortunately, they encountered a whale. Imagine what it would be like to face a whale at the Refining Qi into Steel level—one that also carried the power of clouds!

Even the mightiest Gan Ning was nothing more than a mosquito to this massive whale. Naturally, his fleet was wiped out, as the whale's wave alone overturned half of Gan Ning's ships. Fortunately, they were not too far from the Yangtze River's mouth—less than a hundred miles—and the crew managed to swim back.

To Gan Ning, encountering a mythical creature like the Kun and suffering defeat was expected. Though he had lost, he felt there was no shame in it, so he once again went to the Lu family. This time, after confirming that the waves had indeed capsized the ships, the Lu family's craftsmen made further improvements and sent out another fleet.

On his third attempt, Gan Ning grew wiser. Before entering the sea, he had his well-trained water bandits form a formation. By using the clouds' cover to strengthen the ships' defenses, they slowly entered the sea. The most challenging part of naval warfare is maintaining formation, which, while reducing speed, increases resilience against enemy experts who could otherwise wipe out the fleet single-handedly.

With the addition of cloud energy, the ships' defensive capabilities were significantly enhanced. When cloud energy and internal energy are infused into physical objects, the objects' strength increases dramatically, and they can even be nurtured by the energy. For example, Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade, originally just a fine weapon made of refined iron, would grow stronger with use, becoming increasingly comfortable for Guan Yu to wield. However, this nurturing process typically requires internal energy of extremely high quality and is measured in decades, which is one downside of inanimate objects.

Returning to the topic of cloud energy's counteracting effect on internal energy: Internal energy is incredibly destructive, and without cloud energy, a powerhouse like Guan Yu or Zhang Fei could easily fight against tens of thousands of soldiers.

For instance, during the early Han dynasty, when people had not yet understood these concepts, Xiang Yu single-handedly fought and defeated Liu Bang's thirty thousand elite troops. This was because, at the time, no one understood the workings of cloud energy, while Xiang Yu, as the only person capable of externalizing his internal energy, was akin to a protagonist with divine favor. While others were still pondering how to transform their internal breath into gang energy, Xiang Yu had nearly reached the pinnacle of martial arts, much like Lü Bu today—already at the peak!

When internal energy encounters the combined power of the heavens and earth, along with the unconscious life energy emitted by living beings, it is significantly neutralized by cloud energy!

This is why, despite city gates being made of wood, Guan Yu wouldn't bother chopping them down. The reason is simple: the cloud energy of the soldiers atop the city gate is primarily concentrated on the gate itself. Slashing at the gate with externalized internal energy would be ineffective; it would be better to use the blade to cut the gate directly. But doing so would be riskier than just attacking the stone walls, as using internal energy on stone walls is safer than hacking at the gate.

The same principle applies to ships. The more people on a ship and the better the fleet's formation, the higher the resistance to experts. For example, a large tower ship capable of carrying nearly a thousand people would be difficult for even someone like Zhao Yun to damage with a single strike. However, if those people were not present, Zhao Yun could sink an entire fleet in minutes.

Moreover, because ships are on water, the fleet's formation, the flow of cloud energy, and other factors primarily protect against waves rather than internal energy. For example, while Zhao Yun might not be able to shatter a tower ship, he could create massive waves to capsize it. An excellent formation is designed to prevent this by dispersing the impact into the water. If your naval command is truly top-notch, taking a tower ship to the sea is not out of the question...

With his fleet arranged in formation, Gan Ning felt quite pleased. This time, even though the sea winds were fierce, they didn't capsize his ships. Although they were somewhat carried by the waves, it was far better than the previous instances where they capsized upon entering the sea.

Then, Gan Ning once again encountered the mythical creature from before—the Kun. Being someone who holds grudges, Gan Ning thought that, even though the Kun was a legendary creature, he might be able to take it down.

What followed was predictable. Gan Ning's ship sank again, though this time he managed to drag the Kun back with him. Unfortunately, on the way back, they were attacked by an even more ferocious group of fish, and all that remained when they returned was the Kun's skeleton.

Though this was embarrassing for Gan Ning, he still shamelessly traded the bones for a new ship. Naturally, this time he made sure to inform the shipbuilders of the issues, such as the ship's weak bow, insufficient structural integrity, and poor resistance to wind and waves.

Lu Jun, with a wave of his hand, assured him that these were minor issues. After modifying the returned ships, the craftsmen began working on the ships they had built previously. Once more, they sent Gan Ning off, indicating that he could go and play.

After four or five attempts, even though Gan Ning wasn't as clever as Lu Jun, he finally realized what was happening. The Lu family was using him as a test subject to improve their maritime shipbuilding!

With this suspicion in mind, Gan Ning paid closer attention and eventually concluded that sometimes ignorance truly is bliss...

Having suffered so many losses, Gan Ning's first action upon reaching the sea was always to pray that the Lu family's ships wouldn't fail this time, followed by cursing their misfortune. But it seemed that, after five shipwrecks, the Lu family had gained enough experience. This ship had been at sea for three months, and there had been no issues, whether on the sea or the Yangtze River. Gan Ning had even tested it in battles against pirates, winning decisively each time. The sixth-generation tower ship had earned Gan Ning's approval.

Although Gan Ning was sure that the seventh-generation ships would be even better, he no longer wanted to experience being chased by sharks for nearly a hundred miles. Those rows of teeth made him realize that the Yangtze River was indeed weak in comparison.

Having been humbled by the sea multiple times, Gan Ning now looked down on the Yangtze River. To him, it was just a small stream. "Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, you two weaklings, come to the sea—I'll make sure you learn some respect!" Having been toyed with by the sea multiple times and survived, Gan Ning had become somewhat arrogant.