Just as Song Tianxing had said, with Long Zhaofeng ascending to the throne, there was a multitude of matters to attend to, and for the time being, he had no leisure to trouble the Medicine Hall.
On his very first day in power, Long Zhaofeng issued a command, summoning the lords from all quarters to march south, to suppress the rebellious faction of Jiang Feng and his son, sending troops toward the Jiang Han territory!
Furthermore, Long Zhaofeng would lead the army in person!
Everyone knew the deep-seated enmity between Long Zhaofeng and the Jiang family. His most beloved son, Long Yinye, had been killed by an arrow from Jiang Chen. This gnawing grief meant that even after claiming the throne, Long Zhaofeng found no joy.
It was as if the brightest pearl upon his crown had been plucked away.
The three armies were assembled and ready to depart.
Long Zhaofeng, clad in full armor, looking awe-inspiring, led his elite forces under the escort of the various lords' armies, arriving before the vast military formation.
"I have just ascended the throne, yet the rebellious Jiang family shelters the remnants of the Eastern clan, attempting to oppose my Long family royalty, to oppose the entire kingdom. So long as the Jiang family stands and the Eastern clan is not eradicated, the kingdom will never know peace. I have a blood feud with the Jiang family over the death of my son. Today, I lead this campaign personally. Are you all willing to follow me to suppress this rebellion?"
"Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Long family!"
"Suppress the Jiang family! Wipe out every last one of them!"
"Suppress the Jiang family! Wipe out every last one of them!"
The three armies roared in unison, their voices piercing the heavens like mountains collapsing and seas surging, as if the very earth shook.
"Move out!" Long Zhaofeng cracked his long whip, and the three armies set off. A million strong, they marched in three columns toward the Jiang family's territory in the southern frontier!
"Jiang Chen, Jiang Feng—unless I've leveled your Jiang family's lands and slaughtered every man, woman, and child in your household, I swear I will not return to the capital!" Long Zhaofeng swore a blood oath.
As for Long Juxue, her frost-like features radiated waves of terrifying killing intent. Toward Jiang Chen, she harbored a hatred that cut to the bone.
This hatred stemmed not only from the fact that Jiang Chen had killed her brother Long Yinye, but also from other emotions—jealousy!
By all rights, she, Long Juxue, possessed the Innate Azure Phoenix Body and had won the favor of a powerhouse from a hidden sect. She was, by all accounts, a favored daughter of heaven.
For over a decade on her path as a prodigy, she had indeed enjoyed smooth sailing without a single setback, always standing at the pinnacle—adored by thousands, pursued by thousands, doted on by thousands.
And yet, all of that had changed the moment Jiang Chen appeared.
Bai Zhanyun, Yi Taichu — these four heirs of marquis-level prominence had originally been nothing more than lovestruck followers trailing behind her skirts. Yet because of Jiang Chen's appearance, they had gradually grown distant from her.
That alone she could have endured, but this Jiang Chen had gone so far as to publicly refuse her at the Medicine Hall when she demanded the Dragon Bone Supreme Yang Grass, leaving her not a shred of face.
If these were merely matters of pride, then what came after was worse. At the Hidden Dragon Trial, Jiang Chen had actually outshone her. His eight personal guards had been the very first to complete the examination, sweeping away the advantage the Long family had maintained for centuries in a single stroke.
And in the Endless Abyss, even with such an elaborate trap — two spirit artifacts, plus four assassins at the True Qi Master level — Jiang Chen had still managed to escape with his life.
All of these incidents piled together pushed Long Juxue's killing intent toward Jiang Chen to its absolute peak.
With her Innate Azure Phoenix Body, she had still suffered setback after setback against Jiang Chen. This filled her with both jealousy and a rising sense of crisis.
This Jiang Chen absolutely could not be allowed to live! If she let him continue growing, the supreme advantages she, Long Juxue, had been blessed with would be eroded further still.
Even if Jiang Chen was inferior to her and had not been chosen by any great sect patriarch, Long Juxue absolutely refused to permit another genius's halo to shine alongside her own within the borders of this kingdom!
The grand army marched forward in magnificent formation.
...
The road from the Royal Capital to the southern border was a long and arduous journey, passing through countless territories, cities, passes, and treacherous terrain along the way.
Erdü Pass was one such pass.
This pass sat between towering mountains on either side, built right into the slopes — a position that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Erdü Pass fell within the territory of Marquis Yanmen, which was none other than Yan Jiuzhuang's domain.
The general holding the pass was a trusted confidant of Yan Jiuzhuang. And yet, this very confidant had long since lost his head.
Last night, when the sky was dark and the wind ran high.
Out of the darkness, countless fierce birds of prey suddenly descended from who-knows-where, crashing against the pass like a tidal wave.
In less than half an incense stick's time, the pass had been overrun by the endless tide of savage birds. Every last soldier who had been garrisoning the fort had become food for the beasts.
"Chen'er — is it true that Dongfang Lu is dead?"
Atop the pass, Jiang Feng — who had already broken through to the Eleven-Meridian True Qi realm — still could not accept this reality.
"He's dead. You reap what you sow. No one else to blame." Jiang Chen felt little sympathy for Dongfang Lu.
Jiang Feng wasn't exactly grieving either — it was just that the Eastern Kingdom had been under the Dongfang clan's rule for so long. With Dongfang Lu dead and the Dongfang clan fallen, power had slipped from their grasp.
It was an adjustment Jiang Feng found hard to get used to.
"Long Zhaofeng — what a curse he's brought." Over the past few days, Jiang Feng had witnessed much: the turmoil in the Royal Capital, the endless slaughter. In just a few short days, the Royal Capital had truly become a river of blood.
"He won't be jumping around much longer," Jiang Chen said with cold indifference. "Judging by the timeline, his personally led army should be arriving today, shouldn't it?"
Jiang Chen had not chosen Erdu Pass without reason.
This place was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, the terrain favored the concealment of his Sword Bird army. By ambushing Long Zhaofeng's forces here, he had chosen this very spot as the site of Long Zhaofeng's burial!