Broken Cliff Pass burnt beneath the midnight sky.
Ghost flames painted the snow blue.
Phoenix fire turned half the eastern ridge into a warning from the heavens.
Supply waggons collapsed.
War horses screamed.
And somewhere in the middle of all that beautiful disaster—
I was trying very hard not to die.
General Xu stood across from me, silver armour cracked where my spear had struck.
His black warhorse had wisely decided this relationship was unhealthy and retreated.
Smart horse.
Very smart.
The general held his blade low, snow falling across his shoulders, eyes calm and sharp.
No panic.
No arrogance.
Just duty.
Honestly—
annoyingly respectable.
I spun the ancestral spear once, forcing my aching arm to cooperate.
My body hurt.
My pride refused to acknowledge it.
Professional leadership.
Around us, the battlefield slowed.
Not because the war had ended—
But because everyone nearby had realised something important.
When commanders fight, soldiers watch.
And tonight—
The north was watching.
General Xu took one step forward.
His voice was steady.
"This battle decides more than territory."
I nodded.
"Yes."
Neutral nobles.
Border governors.
Merchants.
The capital.
Everyone would hear about Broken Cliff Pass.
Victory tonight would become politics tomorrow.
Failure—
would become history written by someone else.
I hated that option.
General Xu raised his blade.
"Then let us end it."
Perfect.
I smiled.
"Finally. I was getting cold."
Then we moved.
Steel screamed.
Spear and blade collided with enough force to split frozen earth.
Clang!
He attacked like a battlefield commander—
direct, overwhelming, absolute.
No wasted motion.
Every strike was designed to break lines and bury armies.
I fought like a man who had absolutely no business surviving this long.
Creative.
Aggressive.
Emotionally unstable.
Effective.
He slashed high.
I ducked.
Countered low.
He blocked.
I spun the spear shaft and drove it toward his ribs.
He stepped back.
Too disciplined.
Very rude.
Our qi clashed again.
Snow exploded around us.
Ghost flames twisted in the shockwave.
Behind me, Hu Mei shouted like this was an arena tournament.
"Master! Try looking more handsome while bleeding!"
"I'm doing my best!"
Even General Xu looked offended by that sentence.
Fair.
He attacked again.
This time—
his military art activated fully.
Silver light covered the battlefield like moonlit steel.
His aura surged.
Spirit Core Realm.
Pressure like a mountain.
Damn.
Very damn it.
He came down with a killing strike.
I blocked—
and the spear shaft screamed.
Pain shot through both arms.
My knees nearly hit the ground.
Not ideal.
He leaned closer.
"This is the difference between ambition…"
His blade pressed harder.
"…and power."
I gritted my teeth.
Then smiled.
Wrong thing to do.
But very me.
"No, General."
I pushed back.
"This…"
I let every bit of qi I had explode outward.
"…is the difference between men who were given armies…"
The myth system flashed violently.
[Critical Battle Trigger]
Host willpower exceeds the limit.
Emergency Growth Activated
Ah.
Wonderful.
Near death.
Again.
My favourite hobby.
Qi surged like fire through broken meridians.
Every wound burnt.
Every breath hurt.
Perfect.
I roared and forced him back.
The battlefield shook.
Ghost soldiers turned.
Even Feng Yuehuang looked toward us.
The pressure around me rose again.
Qi Gathering Level 6—
broke.
Straight into Qi Gathering Level 7.
The world sharpened.
His breathing.
The angle of his blade.
The weakness in his stance from the cracked armour.
Everything.
I stepped in.
Fast.
Too fast.
The spear struck once.
Twice.
Three times.
General Xu blocked the first two.
The third—
went through.
The spearhead pierced his shoulder armour and drove him back across the snow.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even the battlefield seemed to pause.
Blood dripped onto white ground.
General Xu looked at the wound.
Then at me.
And for the first time—
He smiled.
Small.
Real.
Good.
Very dangerous.
"Well done."
No hatred.
Only acknowledgement.
That was heavier.
I exhaled slowly.
"Please tell me surrender is next."
Hu Mei screamed,
"Don't ruin the drama!"
General Xu ignored all of us.
He looked toward his army.
The broken camps.
The burning supplies.
The Ghost Legion.
The Phoenix Guards.
The truth.
This battle was lost.
Not because his soldiers lacked courage.
But because momentum had already changed.
The north had chosen.
And tonight—
It had won.
He lowered his blade.
The Black Iron Army behind him saw it.
Felt it.
Understood it.
Their commander had made the decision.
Retreat.
No shame.
Only survival.
General Xu spoke clearly enough for both armies to hear.
"The Black Iron Army…"
He paused.
"…withdraws."
For one second—
silence.
Then the entire Northern Border exploded.
Cheers.
Shouts.
Weapons raised toward the sky.
The Phoenix Guards roared victory.
Even the Ghost Legion somehow looked proud in a deeply undead way.
Hu Mei tackled me emotionally from across the battlefield.
"We're alive!"
Barely.
But yes.
I smiled.
Because this—
This mattered.
The first great victory.
Not survival.
Proof.
Proof that the Fifth Prince could stand against the empire and win.
General Xu walked past me, stopping only once.
Without looking back, he said quietly,
"Next time…"
His voice was calm.
"…bring a stronger spear."
I answered immediately.
"Next time, bring less army."
He actually laughed.
He then mounted his horse and left with the retreating Black Iron Army.
No humiliation.
No begging.
Just a general carrying defeat with dignity.
I respected that.
More than most princes.
As dawn began to touch the mountains, I stood in the snow surrounded by fire, victory, and entirely too many emotionally dangerous women.
The north had won.
The empire had blinked.
And somewhere in the capital—
Chen Lie would soon learn the truth.
His fifty thousand soldiers had marched north.
And they had come back with fear.
I looked toward the south.
Toward the throne.
Toward the war that had only just begun.
And smiled.
"Third Brother…"
I lifted the ancestral spear toward the sunrise.
"This was only the first lesson."