Demon Lord Tang Dynasty

The Chule River flows beneath the Yin Mountains, where the sky is like a vast dome, covering the boundless plains. The sky is blue, the plains are boundless, and the wind blows the grass low, revealing cattle and sheep.

The "Song of the Chariots" composed by Emperor Gao Huan of the Northern Qi Dynasty vividly describes the grassland scenery on the north and south slopes of the Yin Mountains.

The vast desert grasslands, where the wind blows and the grass grows tall, have witnessed countless rises and falls, and the smoke of war.

People come and go, horses come and go, leaving behind countless corpses, but the land remains the same land, and the grassland remains the same grassland.

Just like the previous battle between Gao Yi and the Sui army.

The flames of war reached as far as Yinshan, stretching for hundreds of miles from north to south. War broke out, corpses fell, and half the sky was shaken.

But as the battles ended and the fighting ceased, the vast grasslands quickly returned to peace.

The wind rustles the grass, creating a peaceful scene, as if nothing had ever happened.

Of course, facts are facts, and what has happened has happened.

The grass and the cattle and sheep may not remember, but people will definitely remember.

Just like right now.

A resounding bugle call once again awakened the slumbering Yinshan Mountains.

"Waaaaahh ...

A desolate yet powerful horn sound came from the horizon, like the roar of a dragon, shaking the endless void.

The entire Yinshan Mountain seemed to be stimulated and began to shake.

"Thump, thump, thump."

After the bugle call, a series of earth-shattering explosions followed.

War drums, horse hooves.

It was impossible to tell what it was, but each sound was enough to shake the heavens and earth, and make people's livers and gallbladders tremble.

The Yinshan White Road, at its core, seemed to rise up completely from the earth.

The sky changed color, and the earth roared.

No one could remain calm after witnessing such a scene.

On a hill dozens of miles away from the exit of Yinshan, Gao Yi watched all this with a solemn expression.

He was followed by a dozen or so riders, each of whom wore a look of fear on their faces.

It should be noted that these dozen or so people were from the same Maitreya cavalry unit that had been fighting before.

He was a follower of Maitreya and had gone through several battles with him.

They had long since become true fanatics.

They charge forward, kill the enemy, and even in a situation where certain death is inevitable, they will only smile and move forward.

These people no longer fear life and death; their hearts are filled only with the name of the World Honored One.

But at this moment, panic appeared on their faces.

This wasn't out of fear, but rather an instinctive reaction to the terrifying aura that overwhelmed them.

"What a Yang Lin! What a powerful army! This is truly an eye-opener."

Gao Yi let out a long breath and sincerely praised him.

Yang Lin's powerful entourage was renowned throughout the land, and Gao Yi had already witnessed it firsthand.

From Yinshan to Wuchuan, and then to the grasslands, it can be said that everything was utterly defeated under his leadership.

But Gao Yi understood very well that Luo Fang, Xue Liang, and Zhang Ziyan, and the fact that the "backbone army" was in their hands versus in Yang Lin's hands, were two completely different concepts.

Even knowing this, Gao Yi never expected that the gap between them would be so large.

Being dozens of miles apart, and with Yang Lin's army not yet having truly stepped out of Baidao, Gao Yi couldn't see a single person.

But that soaring momentum seemed so close, as if it were about to tear apart all the enemies in front of it.

Above Yinshan Mountain, the wind and clouds changed color, and all the birds and beasts in the mountain range had already fled.

This is only what ordinary people can see.

In Gao Yi's eyes, he saw much more.

As mentioned before, martial artists in this world, after reaching a high level of cultivation, will turn to the spiritual realm.

Cultivating the spirit is cultivating the Dao, but this Dao is not the Dao of the Daoist school, but the Dao of the Great Dao.

The divine is in harmony with the Tao, which can be swords, water, fire, nature, or other things.

The so-called communion between heaven and man, the unity of Brahman and Atman, and the clarity of the sword heart are all such examples.

At this moment, in Gao Yi's eyes...

Above the Yinshan White Road, there was clearly a raging fire soaring into the sky.

It burned fiercely, like the gaping maw of a ferocious beast, ready to devour the sky and the earth.

Gao Yi knew that it was a murderous aura formed from the combined momentum and fury of the three armies.

Most importantly, this momentum is not rootless and adrift, but has an origin, a core, a switch, and a brain.

It's obvious that it's Yang Lin.

Like the sword of the swordsman, the knife of the knifeman, the Taoism of heaven and earth, and the Buddhism of Zen mind and Brahman.

Yang Lin's situation is also a manifestation of profound spiritual cultivation.

However, the situation is clearly different from that of martial artists.

"Is this what a true military strategist is like?"

Gao Yi's eyes were somewhat lost in thought, and he unconsciously murmured to himself.

The sheer force of her anger could mobilize the entire army; such momentum was truly terrifying.

It was only at this moment that Gao Yi truly witnessed the power belonging to military strategists and the army.

As a world of high martial arts, the Tang Dynasty is a place where martial artists who have cultivated to a certain level possess unimaginable power.

Grandmasters like Fu Cailin of Goguryeo and Bi Xuan of the Turks were practically strategic weapons.

But even they can only influence a local battle at most; they cannot single-handedly defeat an entire nation.

Previously, Gao Yi still had doubts in his mind.

But now, seeing the scene before him, he finally understood.

No wonder.

No wonder that Zhu Faqing, who was once unruly, had to bow down before Murong Chui, the Northern Overlord, and that the invincible Celestial Master Sun En, who stirred up a rebellion in the south, was helpless against the Northern Army.

In this world, it is ultimately the army that can truly establish dominance and suppress everything.

Why are the four families of the Sui Dynasty—Yuwen, Dugu, Li, and Song—called the Four Clans?

It should be noted that the Li family and the Dugu family only truly rose to prominence during the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the Song family's rise was slightly longer, but still only a little over a hundred years.

The four families did not have particularly illustrious ancestral origins. Song Beifeng, the ancestor of the Song family, was merely Xie Xuan's bodyguard, and the ancestors of the Yuwen family were simply servants of the Xianbei Yuwen clan.

Compared to those truly ancient aristocratic families, these four families are but children in terms of the length of their existence.

In terms of background, they don't even have the right to sit at the table and speak.

The reason they are called the "Four Powers" is not only because they have gathered a large number of supporters, but more importantly, because all four of them have military power.

The Song family, needless to say, ruled over their territory in Lingnan, self-sufficient and commanding tens of thousands of elite troops, totaling nearly one hundred thousand soldiers.

The Li family and the Dugu family are factions within the Guanlong Group, each wielding their own power.

The Yuwen family rose to prominence the shortest period, but because they were highly trusted by Emperor Yang Guang, they were extremely prominent in the Sui Dynasty and also controlled the army.

Therefore, the so-called four great clans were not the traditional aristocratic families.

To be precise, these four major clans should be described as four major warlords.

"Yang Lin truly deserves to be called a famous general of our time; his military acumen is also an eye-opener."

Gao Yi withdrew his gaze and smiled gently.

Compared to Yang Lin in front of him, Zhang Ziyan and the others he had encountered before were as naive as children.

"Unfortunately..."

Gao Yi listened to the increasingly loud noise and shook his head with a smile.

"You're three days late."