Family Secrets

"King, it's dangerous."

Seeing the King standing on the cliff at the mountain's summit, Guardian Dragon was deeply worried.

"Then how is the cavalry training going?"

Yang Yu gazed down at the land below, his eyes filled with yearning.

This was the best of times.

There was almost no civilization capable of competing with the Star Ancient Dynasty for supremacy.

Armed with finely crafted weapons, they had become the most powerful and ideal supreme dynasty for unifying the era.

Moreover, they could wage war on a large scale, and their numbers were considerable.

Which tribe, after all, could compete with the Star Ancient Dynasty for supremacy in this era?

None.

However.

The emergence of the northern steppe peoples' cavalry had taught the Star Ancient Dynasty a lesson.

The kite-flying tactic had ground down more than ten thousand elite soldiers of the Star Ancient Dynasty.

"King, the current progress of the cavalry training isn't ideal."

Guardian Dragon naturally kept a close eye on the progress of the dynasty's army.

At present, the dynasty had established specialized Riflemen, archers, Shieldbearers, and Light Cavalry that was still being formed.

Riflemen focused on offense.

Archers focused on support.

Shieldbearers focused on defense.

Light Cavalry focused on breakthroughs.

"If it isn't ideal, then make it ideal." Yang Yu pondered for a moment before saying, "We have plenty of time. We can wait another twenty years before launching a surprise attack on the northern steppe."

He didn't believe it.

With twenty years.

The Star Ancient Dynasty could not train a force of Light Cavalry capable of sweeping across the steppe.

Heavy cavalry had no use at all in this Star Ancient Dynasty's era of supremacy over the primordial wilderness.

That was because any civilization competing with the Star Ancient Dynasty was suffering a Dimensional Strike when placed in this era.

Even the current arrangements.

For this ancient, primordial era, they already constituted a Dimensional Strike-level advantage.

While everyone else was still in the tribal era, hunting beasts with flint spears and throwing bows, the Star Ancient Dynasty had already reached the dynasty era—and one operating on a Dimensional Strike level.

Any army they dispatched numbered at least a thousand.

Moreover.

Twenty years would also allow them to await the emergence of iron spears, iron shields, and iron arrowheads, enabling them to strike those tribes on a level beyond a Dimensional Strike.

Ordinary arrows could no longer meet the Star Ancient Dynasty's needs for carrying out Dimensional Strikes.

Steady progress was the key to the Star Ancient Dynasty.

This was the policy Yang Yu had established.

Year 330 of the Era.

After twenty years of silence, the Star Ancient Dynasty, now with its army fully equipped with iron weapons, once again chose to wage war against the steppe tribes.

This time, the Bai Clan led the campaign against the steppe tribes.

With the emergence of Light Cavalry, the peoples of the steppe no longer possessed an advantage in mounted warfare.

Even though they had grown up on horseback and still possessed an innate advantage, the Light Cavalry of the Star Ancient Dynasty used its superior equipment to launch an overwhelming, Dimensional Strike-level assault against the steppe peoples.

As for the issue of logistical supplies?

There was no need for logistics.

The Bai Clan had inherited its usual style: wherever they fought, they plundered, solving their food and supply problems on the spot.

The land of Mobei.

A middle-aged man with a head of white hair, sunken eye sockets, a face etched with the marks of time, an aquiline nose, thin lips, skin pale as paper, and a lean, upright frame had a Bronze Ancient Sword hanging at his waist. Gripping his warhorse's reins with one hand, he silently watched the dynasty's cavalry slaughtering the steppe tribes in a frenzy ahead.

"Cough, cough~" A sweet, bloody taste rose in the middle-aged man's throat, and he hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.

"General." Seeing the middle-aged man's condition, another middle-aged man clad entirely in iron armor urged his horse forward worriedly.

"I'm fine."

The middle-aged man immediately raised his hand to stop his deputy and said, "How far have we advanced?"

"By sustaining ourselves through warfare, we've advanced nearly two thousand li."

The deputy answered.

"Two thousand li? Not enough."

Hearing this, regret filled the middle-aged man's eyes.

He might not be able to hold on much longer.

With such advanced weapons and equipment, he truly wanted to gallop across the battlefield, strike across Mobei, and bring the entirety of Mobei into the territory of the Star Ancient Dynasty.

"General, if you want to leave your name in history, you could establish your own Mobei Dynasty in Mobei and proclaim yourself—"

The middle-aged deputy's eyes flickered as he spoke in a low voice.

If the general declared himself king here, he would become a minister who had helped establish the realm.

Such temptation.

He truly desired it.

However.

Before he could finish speaking, a flash of cold light swept past.

The middle-aged deputy's head flew from his shoulders and landed on the grass, rolling several times with a clatter, his eyes wide open in disbelief.

Blood gushed from his neck, and his body slid limply from his warhorse and crashed to the ground with a muffled thud.

The next moment.

A young man rode over and handed the middle-aged man a face cloth made of sackcloth.

The middle-aged man took the cloth meant for washing his face and gently wiped the unsheathed Bronze Ancient Sword, murmuring, "So Grandfather's Bronze Sword is still just as sharp."

"Pass down the order. Deputy General You Hun died protecting the general during a surprise attack by the steppe cavalry."

The young man turned to the personal guards beside him, his eyes filled with coldness and killing intent, and said, "Also, bury Deputy General You Hun's remains here."

"Yes."

Seeing his icy expression, several personal guards could not help lowering their heads.

"Lu'er, your father can no longer accomplish the feat of striking across Mobei."

"From now on, you shall strike across Mobei in your father's place."

"Ask the King's forgiveness on your father's behalf. Si can no longer continue fighting across the realm for the King."

Bai Si looked at his child with relief. His son already possessed the bearing of a great general.

"Father, Lu will not fail you."

Bai Lu's slightly immature face was solemn as he gazed firmly at his father. He understood his father's temperament very well.

He disliked people who wept and wailed or acted like spoiled little girls.

"Good. Very good."

Bai Si nodded with a smile. "Remember, do not become like that wretch. Our Bai Clan split away from the Yang Clan, and we also carry the King's bloodline. Our ancestor, Mystic Maiden Jiu, was the daughter of Sui Ren Yu and Youchao Lin."

"So anyone may betray the King, but our Bai Clan alone must never betray him."

"Yes."

Hearing this.

Bai Lu was deeply shaken.

The Bai Clan actually carried the King's bloodline?

No wonder the Bai Clan had taught its children from generation to generation to take the King as their standard and serve him loyally. That was their mission.

"Father, what about the Long, Yang, and Lin Clans?"

Thinking of the dynasty's other three great clans, Bai Lu trembled inwardly and asked tentatively.

After all, they all educated their descendants just as the Bai Clan did.

"Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain."

"They represent the Four Great Clans of the Royal Capital, and they also represent the fact that all of them descend from Mystic Woman's bloodline."

"Wind: swift as the wind, representing the Long Family."

"Forest: gentle as the forest, representing the Lin Family."

"Fire: invading and ravaging like fire, representing the Bai Clan."

"Mountain: unmoving as a mountain, representing the Yang Family."

"This is also why the King trusts our Four Great Clans and allows us to control the dynasty's military power."

Bai Si said.

This was a secret known only to the heads of each clan.

"Historical Records—Star Ancient Era, the seventh month of Year 332. After a lifetime of warfare without a single defeat, Si, clan head of the Bai Clan, fell on the land of Mobei. His eldest son, Lu, took command of the Northern Expedition Army. With the might of thunder, Lu slaughtered his way across Mobei, leaving no human habitation for a hundred li and not a single cockcrow for a thousand."