Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 114: Sweeping the North (Part )

During the banquet, Hu music played and dancers danced. After several rounds of wine, Yang Lin stood up to say goodbye. Shabolue and others hurriedly stood up to see him off. After some pleasantries, Yang Lin left the Golden Tent accompanied by Lu Shang and Zuo Tiancheng.

On the way back to the camp, Yang Lin looked up and saw that the Turkic people's tents were connected in a row, and the military flags in front of the tents were fluttering. The flags were painted with ferocious animal patterns and fluttered wildly in the night wind. Outside the tents, deer-antlered chevaux de frise were lined up in layers, and their sharp branches pointed straight to the night sky, like pieces of thorns.

The Turkic soldiers coming and going were tall and strong, with stern facial features and braids swaying in the wind.

Clad in thick furs and tough leather armor, armed with spears and sharp blades, they moved with a steady, powerful gait, radiating an innate wildness and fierceness. Soldiers occasionally chatted in the camp, their voices rough and deep, their words carrying the harsh chill of the steppe sand.

Looking at the Turkic camp, Yang Lin said to Lu Shang and Zuo Tiancheng beside him, "Shetu's ambition is not small. Judging from the layout of his camp and the appearance of his soldiers, his intentions are clear. If there is no leader to check and balance him, he will definitely be a serious threat."

Lu Shang nodded and said, "Your Highness is absolutely right. The Turks are naturally brave and skilled in riding and shooting. In addition, the Shetu people are strong-willed and good at adapting to changes. If we allow them to grow stronger, they will definitely cause trouble in the future."

Yang Lin nodded slightly, his eyes deep as he smiled, "Fei Xiong, your trip to the northern border to support the army was not in vain. In just a short period of time, your understanding of the situation has become more acute, and your thoughts and ideas have become more comprehensive. It seems that the wind and sand outside the Great Wall have tempered you."

"Your knowledge and cultivation have made great progress. The battlefield is the best teacher."

Yang Lin sighed, "But this is just the beginning. There's still a long way to go. Don't become complacent."

Lu Shang looked solemn and said, "I will always remember your teachings, my lord."

Yang Lin patted Lu Shang's shoulder, turned to look at Zuo Tiancheng, and said, "Tiancheng,"

Zuo Tiancheng bowed and said, "I am here,"

Yang Lin said in a deep voice, "You and Feixiong are both my most promising descendants. I regard you as my nephew, and Feixiong as a relative of the royal family. You two should get along well and help each other in the future, becoming the backbone of our Great Sui Dynasty."

Zuo Tiancheng nodded heavily and said, "Don't worry, my lord. I will definitely stand with Brother Lu and will never let you down!"

Yang Lin hummed and said, "Unfortunately, Helian Bobo's Nine-Ring Golden Blade was lost to Emperor Xiaowen. Since then, the Nine-Ring Golden Blade has been missing. Your Zuo family's golden blade technique originated from Helian Bobo. If you can obtain the Nine-Ring Golden Blade and comprehend the divine will within it, it will be of great benefit to your Witness Immortal."

"Although Helian Bobo is not a human immortal, he is the most skilled warrior among the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms, and possesses extraordinary talent. He regards the Nine-Ring Golden Blade as the national treasure of the Xia Kingdom, and he used the nation's destiny to refine the blade. The blade is imbued with the destiny of the Xia Kingdom."

"Tiancheng, you are extremely talented. If you can find this sword, and use the Zuo family's golden sword technique as a foundation, and comprehend its divine meaning, your physical body will soon become an immortal."

Zuo Tiancheng murmured to himself: "Nine-ring Golden Blade Blade,"

The Nine-Ring Golden Blade Knife is golden in color, with a thick back and nine iron rings on it. The blade is extremely sharp and can cut through iron like mud.

It was crafted by Pu Yuan, a renowned master craftsman during the Shu Han Dynasty, using refined steel and meteorite iron. Helian Bobo acquired the sword and designated it as the national treasure of the Great Xia Kingdom. After the Great Xia Kingdom was conquered by the Northern Wei, the sword passed into the Northern Wei's possession. It was later lost during the Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowen's reforms and relocation of the capital to Luoyang.

"Nine-ring golden blade?" Lu Shang on the side looked at Zuo Tiancheng thoughtfully.

Nine-ring Golden Blade Knife. If Lu Shang remembered correctly, this knife was very popular during the Song Dynasty and was also known as the Nine-ring Golden Blade Knife that stabilized the Song Dynasty.

The reason why Lu Shang knew about this sword was because it appeared in "The Yang Family Generals".

The golden sword in the hand of Yang Linggong in "Generals of the Yang Family" is the Nine-Ring Golden Edge Sword. Yang Linggong had a rare adventure and obtained the golden sword and golden armor. After returning to the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin personally named the Nine-Ring Golden Edge Sword as the Ding Song Divine Edge Sword.

The destined owner of this Nine-Ring Golden Blade Knife was the renowned Northern Song general Yang Jiye, not the Sui general Zuo Tiancheng. Entering the military tent, Yang Lin walked directly to the commander's desk, reached out and picked up the wolf-hair brush on the desk, dipped it in thick ink, and applied it to the rice paper.

"Fei Xiong, Tian Cheng,"

Yang Lin frowned slightly as he spoke, "Who among you is willing to challenge Datou on my behalf?"

An army of one hundred thousand was stationed in the northern border, and the daily food and money consumption for the soldiers and horses was huge.

Although the Sui Dynasty treasury had a lot of money and grain, it could not be consumed without restraint.

What Yang Lin wanted was a quick victory, the first battle would be the decisive battle, and success or failure would be determined in one battle.

In reality, Yang Lin did not want to completely destroy Datou. The Sui Dynasty needed Datou's existence to check and balance Shabolue. Now that the Turks were divided into two, the confrontation between the east and the west was the most beneficial to the Sui Dynasty.

Moreover, Yang Lin was wary of Shabolue, whose Khatun, the Yuwen clan, had a blood feud with the Sui Dynasty. Among steppe peoples like the Turks, matriarchal power was still very strong, and as a Khatun, the Yuwen clan could even influence the election of the next Turkic Khan to a certain extent.

A Turkic Khatun who was hostile to the Sui Dynasty was too dangerous for the Sui Dynasty.

After exchanging a glance with Zuo Tiancheng, Lu Shang stepped out first, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I am willing to go."

Yang Lin's eyes were filled with consideration as he said in a deep voice, "Fei Xiong, you just led your troops to attack Jinshan. Datou hates you to the core. This journey is dangerous. Datou is a vindictive man with ruthless methods. I am truly worried about him."

Upon hearing this, Lu Shang stepped forward and said loudly, "Your Highness, the more you insist, the more I will go. Your Highness is the God of War of our Great Sui Dynasty, and his reputation is feared by all. Datou is afraid of Your Highness's power and may not accept the letter of challenge. But if this letter of challenge comes from Shang, it will be up to him to accept it or not."

Yang Lin frowned and looked at Lu Shang, and this look gave him some clues.

Although Yang Lin knew that Lu Shang had become increasingly powerful after experiencing the trials and tribulations of the battlefield in the northern border, he was only now shocked to realize that Lu Shang's martial arts had made a qualitative leap.

In the past, Lu Shang's aura was exposed and his edge was obvious, but now he is introverted and condensed, just like a deep pool. It seems calm, but in fact there are undercurrents surging, waiting for the opportunity to make a shocking move.

Yang Lin exclaimed in surprise, "Fei Xiong, how could your aura be so concentrated? If I didn't know that you hadn't yet achieved immortality in your physical body, I would have thought you had already broken through the barrier between immortals and mortals and become a martial arts immortal."

"How wonderful, how wonderful,"

In response to this, Yang Lin just couldn't stop sighing, and his gaze towards Lu Shang became more and more intense.

Of course he knew that Lu Shang must have had an extraordinary opportunity to cultivate such powerful and inhuman martial arts.

But Yang Lin had a big picture and did not mention Lu Shang's opportunities at all. He was only happy for Lu Shang's growth.

He calmed down and said, "Since you have such military power, you must show your full courage when you go to Datou's camp this time. Not only must you deliver the declaration of war, but you must also make Datou understand that our Great Sui is not the Northern Zhou or Northern Qi of the past, and his Turkic people are no longer the northern hegemons they once were."

Lu Shang said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will definitely live up to the great power of the Great Sui Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)