The Army at the Gates

Ancient Star, Great Abyss Dynasty.

With Horse-Blocking Pass fallen, the Great Abyss Dynasty's southwestern gateway stood wide open.

In just half a month,

Thirty-six cities on both sides of the pass changed banners without putting up a decent fight, raising the Mandate Army's flags.

The world shook.

After slaying both Wei Cangyuan and Chu Xuanting, two supreme masters, Lu Zhen's fearsome reputation eclipsed eight thousand years of imperial authority.

A fine bird chose the tree where it would roost.

In that half month alone, sixteen Super-First-Rate experts of the Upper Extremity Realm came over of their own accord!

As for First-Rate Martial Artists, they were as plentiful as carp crossing a river.

For a time, the Mandate Army's momentum was unmatched.

But just then,

Earth-shattering news came from the Great Abyss Imperial Capital.

The old emperor had died. His sudden illness was strange; his death, stranger still.

The princes had torn away all pretense and fought until blood ran in rivers through the Inner City.

Yet no one had expected

That the one to claim the dragon throne would be neither the First Prince, who commanded a mighty army, nor the Third Prince, whose mother's family wielded immense power.

It was Chu Long, the commandery prince who had always been least favored, the man people secretly mocked as the "Short Prince"!

He was a Heavenly Extremity Realm grandmaster who had hidden his strength for years!

And that was not all.

Chu Long had lain low for decades. At some point, he had infiltrated most of the court, the imperial guards, and the nine gates.

On the night of the succession struggle, Chu Long entered the fray himself. With the terrifying might of the Heavenly Extremity Realm, he killed several imperial retainers in succession.

The First Prince was killed on the