After a long, long time had passed, when Ashina had already become white-haired, under the tranquil moonlight, as he touched the marks on the armor, he would still be overwhelmed with tears. The image of his mother’s illness and demise, and his father’s last spear, along with his laughter and words, echoed in his ears.

Back when he was young, his father had not yet had a significant falling out with his mother. The king of the grassland bowed his head, letting the child sit on his shoulders as if riding a tall horse, while the child shouted, "Giddy-up, giddy-up."

The monarch of the Turks mimicked the horse’s call, also saying the child’s nickname.

At that time, the wind blew across the grassland, the vegetation on the grassland swayed like waves. The sunlight was warm, with a translucent quality. The king wore a gallant smile, the sunlight shone on the royal tent with a golden glow, as gentle women from the Central Plains smiled wryly.

That phrase in the Turkic language was just like that.

...

"Kill!!!!"

The Great Khan’s heavy spear slammed down heavily, tearing open the road ahead. When they changed direction to avoid the enemy reinforcements behind Xiyi City, they again encountered the elite forces of Chen Country. The Great Khan galloped across the battlefield, continuously breaking through enemy lines.

In a clash against the First Divine General of Chen Country from eighteen years ago, he rendered Chen Tianqi’s hands trembling.

This battle saw the Great Khan of the grasslands fight from the time the bright moon began to sink until the sky was faintly lit. The vast grassland, the grassland he was familiar with, seemed to have become another world, with enemies everywhere.

By the end, there were only about thirty Colonels left by his side.

The remaining soldiers were dispersed widely.

Central Plains’ renowned generals appeared one by one to confront the Great Khan, reminiscent of bidding farewell to an eight-hundred-year nemesis, yet like a sieve, continuously dispersing the Turkic troops.

The Qilin Army swallowed a part.

Xiyi City swallowed a part, and the elite of Chen Country swallowed a part. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Jiang Su swallowed a part.

Their combat strategy, the strategy of the Central Plains, was annihilation.

The Great Khan gripped his weapon; his long spear was stained with blood, blood seeping into the weapon, then drying up, and then stained with fresh blood again. He looked at the surviving warriors by his side, his face showing a complex expression.

"Heh...this is the final stage."

"Gentlemen, who would have thought that our end and conclusion would be like this."

The Great Khan held his weapon and then knelt on one knee. The aged Divine General lowered his head, and the surrounding Fierce Generals, Ten Thousand Captains, and Chiliarchs were startled, and they too knelt down, heads bowed, choking with sobs.

The wind blew by, slightly lifting the white hair of the Great Khan, who said:

"Things have come to this pass, we cannot promise cattle and pastures as before. All I can say now is, in this battle, I will fight with you to the end, let us die here."

The surrounding generals responded altogether.

The Great Khan wiped his face and laughed loudly: "Ahaha, stand up, stand up, in this way, what does it amount to?!" He helped the generals around him, and then they mounted their warhorses.

The last remaining cavalry gathered behind them, deeply inhaling, looking ahead. The sun had appeared, not just Heavy Cavalry, but a mix of heavy shield infantry and cavalry stood present.

Amid the steady and solemn footsteps, blades and swords stood like a forest, pointing to the sky. The scarlet flags fluttered continuously in the wind, displaying the military prowess of the Qilin Army.

And the Heavy Cavalry advanced slowly, representing Xiyi City.

Behind them were the Tiger Barbarian Cavalry, their dark flags embroidered with Azure Dragon patterns wildly dancing in the wind, manifesting their presence, with daunting military might soaring skyward.

Military God Jiang Su.

The Qilin Pattern Qin, Azure Dragon Pattern Ying, Double-winged Tiger Chen.

The three banners of the Central Plains stood here, like long spears pointing to the sky. Mighty military forces converged, it was unknown how many ages had passed since the armies of the Central Plains gathered as one again.

The Great Khan drew a deep breath, laughed: "Hahaha!"

"Good, good, good!"

His weapon pointed forward, at the army that entirely blocked the roads and all vitality, yet still emitted a roar, saying:

"All of you, advance together!"

He led the last cavalry to charge, but the three armies countered first using mechanical techniques. The cavalry of the Central Plains, their horsemanship and archery skills were not equal to the grassland elites, but the mechanical techniques of the Mo School from the Central Plains compensated for this discrepancy marvelously.

The Great Khan breathed deeply, charging through countless arrows and bolts.

The sound of warhorses thundered like storms, the screams and the smell of blood rose, the sunlight cast warmly over them, and the rising dust carried a familiar earthy odor.

The Great Khan cared no longer about anything else.

Just as he had previously judged: if he could not divide the inherently already opposing and tumultuous Central Plains while he was alive, then when the Central Plains became unified and he was dead, the grassland would stand even less chance against the Central Plains.

He couldn’t resign himself to that inevitable end of destruction, so he fought with all his might to take one last stand.

It was just that the fractured and opposing Central Plains would unite against outsiders at such a time.

He lost, but held no regrets.

The graceful exit of destruction amidst peace, the resounding exit with all one’s might.

To make a choice, to pursue that choice, to pay the price for that choice.

Nothing more than this.

"Kill!!!!"

The Great Khan’s roar erupted, as he brandished his battle spear, unleashing Dharma Form and Divine Weapon to the fullest, constantly advancing, not knowing when those thirty-odd colonels by his side had vanished, nor when the Divine Steed had perished.