Chu Tiange moved swiftly, seizing the windward position first. The moment the arrow left his bow, it shot forward with the wind at its back — a single short bolt, yet utterly unstoppable in its momentum.

Jun Beiyue dodged sideways, the arrow grazing past his right arm, drawing a sharp line of blood. But then, with his left hand gripping his sword, he swept it in a wide arc against the wind.

Chu Tiange had clearly underestimated his opponent’s ability. They’d crossed blades once, years ago — but he had no idea just how dramatically Jun Beiyue’s martial skill had advanced in these past three to five years.

His internal power now far exceeded the force of the crosswind itself. The sword, though sweeping wide, wasn’t meant to wound with its blade at all — it was meant to wound through the force of wind it redirected!

Like the very power of a wind blade, the sword struck true, straight into Chu Tiange’s abdomen!

Chu Tiange gasped in shock — his abdominal wound had only just healed, and now it very nearly burst open again in a spray of blood.

A cold smile touched Jun Beiyue’s lips. He had clearly targeted this exact spot deliberately. And just as Chu Tiange reeled in shock, Jun Beiyue’s long sword suddenly split apart, releasing a hidden short blade that shot forward in a direct thrust!

Chu Tiange, positioned windward to hold the advantage, also had to bear the brunt of shielding against the crosswind for Jun Beiyue’s benefit. Now, forced to abandon this favorable position, he rode the wind and fled toward the suspended bridge instead.

The bridge — there had to be an ambush waiting there!

Jun Beiyue could hardly fail to see through his intentions — this was a classic strategy: capture the leader to defeat the army.

If Jun Beiyue were to die here today at Chu Tiange’s hands, he would surely carry his severed head down to the battlefield below, to shatter the morale of Great Zhou’s troops!

But if Jun Beiyue had dared to come here at all, did he really think he’d let that happen?

In a sudden burst of speed, he shot through the air, cutting off Chu Tiange’s path entirely, his voice cold. “Chu Tiange. Could it be that your hundred thousand troops actually fear my mere fifty thousand tiger soldiers?”

The moment he said this, Chu Tiange was startled. How could it be sixty thousand?

The northern frontier had three tiger armies combined, totaling ninety thousand troops! How could three thousand of them suddenly be missing without explanation?

No matter how bold Jun Beiyue was, he would never dare face down a hundred thousand cavalry with a mere sixty thousand troops — that would be nothing short of suicide.

But Jun Beiyue didn’t wait for an answer, saying flatly instead, “Prince Xiang of Western Chu. From this day forward, I, Jun Beiyue, hold you in no regard whatsoever.”

With that, sword in one hand, dagger in the other, he launched a two-pronged assault!

In the mere three to five years since he and Chu Tiange had been ranked as equals, twin heroes of their age, this man’s recent conduct had left Jun Beiyue utterly contemptuous of him.

A flash of pain crossed Chu Tiange’s eyes as he fought back, parrying blow for blow. If not for his father’s deep favor toward his sister, with clear intentions of naming her Empress in his stead, would he really have been driven to such desperate, underhanded measures?

If he lost this battle today, he would have no place left to stand in Western Chu!

“Kill him — claim the victory!” That single thought consumed his mind entirely. Without warning, he blew a sharp, piercing whistle, and instantly, the assassins lying in ambush at the far end of the bridge sprang into action!

Jun Beiyue had anticipated this all along — he truly had come alone, without a single soldier at his back!

Amid the fierce crosswind, chaos erupted at once — red and white figures locked in combat, quickly swallowed by a tide of black-clad assassins.

From the cave mouth above, Ziqing had been watching every move, every strike, with perfect clarity, unconsciously comparing the two men. In a one-on-one duel, Jun Beiyue seemed to hold the clear advantage.

But now, she could see nothing at all — only a dark mass swarming the bridge — and couldn’t help but curse Chu Tiange’s underhandedness.

Above, the two commanders fought hand to hand; below, the two armies clashed in open battle.

Across the vast plains, Western Chu’s hundred-thousand-strong cavalry, uniformly clad in bronze armor, formed into a spearhead formation when viewed from above, horses charging at full gallop straight toward Great Zhou’s tiger armies. Meanwhile, Great Zhou’s forces arranged themselves into a shield formation — appearing defensive, but in truth poised for a powerful counterattack, the momentum tremendous on both sides.

Ziqing’s gaze darted back and forth, unwilling to miss a moment of either battle, all the while puzzling to herself — hadn’t Jun Beiyue commanded three tiger armies?

The White Tiger, Red Tiger, and Black Tiger armies, ninety thousand strong combined, distinguished for years by their white, red, and black tiger-head battle robes, a distinction that had never once changed. And yet, this time, every single one of them wore uniform gray.

Something felt distinctly wrong to Ziqing, though she couldn’t tell if she was simply overthinking it, or if something else was truly afoot.

Beside her, Xuanyuan Lige seemed to have little interest in the fighting atop the bridge, his attention entirely fixed on the battlefield below — thousands upon thousands of soldiers, war drums thundering without pause…

No one could have predicted that the duel atop the cliff would rage on for three full days and nights, and that the clash of arms on the plains below would likewise continue, unbroken, for the same three days and nights.

After three days and three nights, every single black-clad assassin on the bridge lay dead, their bodies swept away entirely by the fierce wind, leaving not even bones behind.

By now, Chu Tiange had clearly taken the worse of it — his clothes torn to shreds, his body covered in wounds, especially the gash across his abdomen, now a mess of raw, bloodied flesh. His once-fiery red battle robe had turned almost entirely the color of blood. He knelt on one knee, one hand braced against the ground, the other gripping his short crossbow, aimed squarely at Jun Beiyue.

Jun Beiyue, too, knelt on one knee, one hand braced against the ground, the other gripping tightly to his long sword, driven straight into the earth. His white robe was stained and streaked with blood, his black hair and white robe still whipping wildly in the wind behind him. Despite clearly being at a disadvantage in this moment, his eyes remained coldly composed, radiating such lethal intent that Chu Tiange didn’t dare make a move, no matter how long he hesitated.

For no other reason than this — he simply couldn’t gauge what the consequences of firing that short bolt might be.

And at that very moment, far below on the vast plains at the border between the two nations, blood ran like rivers, bodies piled in mounds. Despite fighting for three full days and nights without pause, the mere sixty thousand tiger troops hadn’t gained the slightest advantage over their enemy — but neither had Western Chu’s cavalry gained any advantage over them. Now the two armies stood locked in stalemate, each holding their respective gates.

Then, suddenly, a resounding horn blast rang out — from the west!

Chu Tiange froze, whipping his head around sharply, and there, seemingly materializing out of nowhere, was an entire army approaching from the west — at least thirty to forty thousand strong, cavalry leading the charge, war chariots and archers positioned at the center, followed by ranks of spear-wielding infantry.

Reinforcements! Reinforcements from Great Zhou’s western frontier!

The western frontier forces, which had long been at odds with the northern tiger armies, had actually traveled all this way to offer support — and arrived so swiftly at that!

In an instant, Western Chu’s army was thrown into panicked confusion, and Chu Tiange himself was equally stunned. But in that exact moment, Jun Beiyue’s hand, still gripping his sword tightly, suddenly swung it up and hurled it like a dart, straight at Chu Tiange with brutal force!

The blade’s edge was so sharp, its trajectory so ruthless, that Chu Tiange had no way to dodge it at all. But at that very moment, a volley of crossbow bolts suddenly rained down toward Jun Beiyue from the far end of the bridge!

The archery was so precise it managed to shield Chu Tiange completely from the arrow storm while sending bolt after bolt directly at Jun Beiyue.

These were the very same crossbowmen who had ambushed Xuanyuan Lige that day!

Ziqing recognized them instantly. Jun Beiyue darted and weaved through the hail of arrows, his short blade deflecting bolt after bolt without pause, while Chu Tiange was rescued and pulled back toward the far end of the bridge.

“My lord — Western Chu is in internal turmoil. Several armies from the north and east are closing in on the capital. Without reinforcements, the capital will surely fall within five days!” a black-clad crossbowman reported urgently — having acted without Chu Tiange’s authorization, rushing in to deliver this critical intelligence himself.

And at that very moment, behind Jun Beiyue, a shadow-guard suddenly materialized out of thin air, his figure flickering in and out of view, intercepting every last crossbow bolt meant for his lord. Yingzi positioned himself protectively in front of Jun Beiyue, speaking respectfully. “My lord, forgive this servant’s presumption in coming — urgent, secret intelligence: Western Chu is in internal turmoil. Rebel forces have seized the opportunity, while Prince Xiang concentrated his troops here, to launch a coordinated assault on Western Chu’s own capital!”

Yet compared to Chu Tiange’s visible shock, Jun Beiyue showed little reaction at all. He finally turned his gaze down toward the battlefield below — not toward the clash between the western frontier forces and Great Zhou’s army, but gazing far off toward the Eastern Qin border instead.

His gaze lingered there only briefly before he spoke coldly. “Pass the order. Whether northern frontier tiger army or western frontier cavalry — whoever enters Western Chu’s territory first will be granted land and title as a sovereign prince.”

With that, his cold gaze finally turned toward Chu Tiange…