Arbiter of the Realm

Aside from these major powers that had arrived openly, there were also people who had blended into the crowd and entered First City Under Heaven.

They included the remnants of Liangshan and Zhang Bao of the Yellow Turban Army.

Zhang Bao had failed to catch up to Tang Luo, while the Liangshan remnants had encountered Cao Cao, the King of Wei—although there were no married women among that group of burly men.

Even so, Cao Cao had received Wu Song and the others with tremendous enthusiasm, telling them that as long as they were willing to join him, they would all be good brothers from then on.

Unfortunately, news soon arrived that the army pursuing Jia Rong had returned in crushing defeat, and that "wondrous spectacle of heaven and earth" had been created by Jia Rong.

After arriving at the enormous fissure—the "Deep Valley"—that Tang Luo had carved out for more than ten kilometers, Wu Song and the others received news of the update to the Contending for the Realm, Striving for the Central Plains version. After pondering for a moment, they chose to leave Great Ding and head for the City of Chaos.

The "Chess Warriors" proposed by Jia Rong were their only chance for revenge.

Although Cao Cao regretted that these people had not become his subordinates, he did not stop them.

At times, he possessed an astonishing degree of magnanimity. Take Xu Shu, for instance: after joining Cao Cao, that fellow truly said not a single word and treated himself as a useless man.

Cao Cao did not mind either, and had supported him for many years.

When Pig Bajie saw Xu Shu, the man was plump and sturdy, living a life of unimaginable comfort. Pig Bajie said he wanted to help him "escape the sea of