"Therefore, in order to avoid ending up like you, I have no choice but to work harder and increase my strength."
As he spoke, Lin Yang extended his right hand and gently waved it, and Li Shimin closed his eyes forever. The "Celestial Scripture" was activated at full power, and a true dragon left Li Shimin's body and entered Lin Yang's body.
After a long while, sensing the destiny that was about to break through, Lin Yang couldn't help but smile.
"Haha, almost there, almost a breakthrough! Truly worthy of being called the Son of Heaven! One of him alone is worth ten or a hundred of others!"
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Chapter 110: Flipping the Table and Returning
Fan Qinghui died, Liaokong passed away, and the four great monks also committed suicide.
Bi Xuan, the spiritual totem of the Turks and the Martial Venerable, died. He was the first to die and also the one who died the most tragically, being hacked to pieces by soldiers.
Fu Chae-rim, the master swordsman of Goguryeo, was also dead. This was a devastating blow to the entire Goguryeo kingdom.
Ning Daoqi, that traitor, actually showed great courage by committing suicide at the last moment! Empress Yin surrendered with the entire Yin Kui Sect's power. Song Que, despite being severely injured, was released.
As for the others, the Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster level experts suffered even heavier casualties. At least a hundred of the core members of the Li clan died at once, and the subordinates of Dou Jiande, Li Mi, and Wang Shichong were not much better off.
You have to understand, these are the backbone of the army, not cannon fodder! If hundreds of them die at once, even if they are already powerful figures, they can't withstand such a loss!
It can be said that the situation was completely reversed in just one day. Whether it was the high-level forces or the mid-level forces, all the feudal lords in the world suffered heavy losses.
“This time, Li Jiancheng, the eldest son of the Li clan, and Li Yuanji, the fourth son, have both surrendered, while Li Shimin, the second son, has died.” Cai Yan glanced at Lin Yang as she said this, then continued analyzing the current situation.
"Haha, the current situation is really, really good! A full eight thousand fire-type Dao soldiers, five hundred second-tier Fire Cloud Dao soldiers, and two hundred thousand well-trained basic troops. In addition, thanks to the cooperation of the Yin Kui Sect and the Southern Families, it can be said that what follows is nothing more than an armed parade," Zhang Lu said happily.
I thought this land-based country would take a long time to recover, but who would have thought that in just half a year, we have already seen the light at the end of the tunnel!
It's safe to say that within the remaining six months, conquering the entire south, including Lingnan under Song Que, would be no problem. Furthermore, if they so desired, unifying the entire country militarily wouldn't be impossible.
Sure enough, Zhang Lu's plan to establish a "Ground Kingdom" proceeded smoothly from then on.
A month later, he fought a great battle against Xiao Xian's 200,000-strong army, killing Xiao Xian on the spot. The entire south, except for Song Que, surrendered.
Two months later, Song Que personally killed Xie Hui, his sworn brother who intended to join the Li clan, as a sign of sincerity. He then surrendered to Zhang Lu with maps of Sichuan and Lingnan.
Within just two months, the entire south was unified!
After that, whenever Zhang Lu conquered a county, he would set up a Taoist temple in the county seat, recruit heroes from all over the world, grant them special privileges, give them gold and silver, and give them many 'treasures' from the celestial realm, in order to win people's hearts.
With the cooperation of local powerful families and sects, the restless hearts of people in the south were initially calmed down in just one month.
At this time, there were still more than two months before Lin Yang and the others left!
In his excitement, Zhang Lu personally conscripted a million peasants to ensure logistical support, then led 300,000 auxiliary troops, 150,000 elite soldiers, 15,000 Daoist soldiers, 1,000 second-tier Fire Cloud Daoist soldiers, and several hundred Grandmaster-level experts to personally attack Luoyang. This army, boasting a million-strong force, immediately caused widespread panic throughout the northern lands.
At that time, in order to avenge the killing of their son and to defeat Zhang Lu, the northern lords united as one, setting aside all grudges and becoming more united than ever before.
Among them, Li Yuan personally led 200,000 elite troops from Guanzhong, Li Mi led 300,000 Wagang peasant army, Dou Jiande led 250,000 troops, plus Wang Shichong's 200,000 troops, totaling 950,000 troops, claiming to be 3 million, and the two sides met for a hunt under the city of Luoyang.
In this battle, after three days and nights of fierce fighting, the armies of the northern lords were defeated by the Fire Cloud Dao Army, which itself suffered losses from a thousand men to only three hundred. The heroes of the entire north also suffered heavy casualties, with countless sect leaders and elders dying on the spot, and many unique skills being lost forever!
However, just as the outcome was about to be decided, the 30,000-strong Golden Wolf Army of the Turkic Khaganate arrived!
It turns out that Jieli had already colluded with Li Yuan and his group several months ago. Just a few days ago, Jieli personally led 30,000 Golden Wolf soldiers to wait on the frontier.
Three days ago, right after the start of the war, he rode three horses and covered five hundred li in a single day. In just three days, he traversed a distance of a thousand li and arrived at the gates of Luoyang!
This is precisely why they were able to evade Zhang Lu's reconnaissance beforehand. This plan was undeniably ruthless, especially since both sides were exhausted. Jieli's 30,000 Golden Wolf soldiers became the final straw that broke the camel's back. Moreover, these 30,000 troops were not weak to begin with!
Unfortunately, all schemes and tricks are futile in the face of absolute power. Realizing he couldn't win by using his army, Zhang Lu had no choice but to overturn the table in order to achieve victory!
"Master, let's overturn the table! With a million-strong army, if we don't reveal some trump cards soon, we'll truly be routed! At that point, a battlefield with a million people won't be something a few immortals like us can salvage!"
"Alright, flip the table!"
That day, a meteor fell into the camp at night, and during the day, a cloud like a collapsing mountain fell into the camp, but scattered before reaching a foot to the ground. The officers and soldiers were all disgusted and subdued.
The battle finally ended after Zhang Lu promptly flipped the table, used his treasure, and summoned a meteor shower.
The entire north fell instantly. What followed was essentially an armed parade. Wherever the army marched in, that place would surrender.
The twelfth month was also the last month since Lin Yang and his companions arrived. By this time, the entire land of China had been initially unified. Of course, Goguryeo had not yet been conquered, nor had the Turks, but for the time being, that was enough.
...
At night, in a pavilion, Zhang Lu and Lin Yang were enjoying the night view, drinking fine wine, and talking about life.
After all, Lin Yang will be going back in a few days. It's perfectly normal for him to have a few drinks and catch up before he leaves.
"In a few more days, Feipeng, you'll be leaving?" Zhang Lu said with a smile in a pavilion.
With that, he downed the wine in his cup in one gulp. This wine was brewed by the Zhang family in the main world, and its quality was quite good. At least, after only a few cups, Zhang Lu was already somewhat drunk.
He truly felt he had gained a great deal over the past year. Not only had he established the Earthly Kingdom and unified this world, but more importantly, his overall strength, temperament, and vision had all improved significantly in the process.
Therefore, he found Lin Yang quite agreeable at this moment and genuinely admired him. There was nothing he could do; Lin Yang had done him such a great favor.
"That's right, unlike you, Master, who directly chose this world as the main world and can stay here indefinitely without time restrictions. It's really quite convenient," Lin Yang said with a smile. As he spoke, he also drank a glass of fine wine.
The so-called main world is actually the world that appears in the cycle of reincarnation. You can choose a world that suits you and stay in that world forever.
This can be considered a privilege of all Chosen Ones of the third tier and above. Of course, after choosing this world, one can still return to the main world at any time. Choosing it is essentially like having citizenship in two countries simultaneously.
Of course, some ambitious individuals might exploit this to dominate the new world. Others simply want to leave themselves a way out, so they can escape in time should anything happen in the main world!
As for Zhang Lu, he chose to establish a terrestrial kingdom directly within the Tang Dynasty world and become its emperor. In any case, given the Zhang family's strength, further upgrading the Tang Dynasty world was still entirely possible.