Starting with a useless yellow dog, he swept through the immortal realm.

Although the news of Emperor Jingyuan's death was not announced to the public, some powerful nobles in the capital and high-ranking officials in the court already knew about it.

After all, it was Crown Prince Changshen who announced the one-day suspension of court yesterday. These ministers and nobles were not fools, so they naturally used their connections to find out more.

They were not only surprised to learn that Emperor Jingyuan had passed away, but also to learn about what had happened in the palace the day before.

Unexpectedly, after the Crown Prince exiled the Second Prince to Jueling Pass and forced the Third Prince to stay at home and become mentally impaired, Changde, who seemed to be the most honest and had the least interest in the throne, suddenly launched an attack on Changshen.

At this time, the court was roughly divided into three factions. The largest faction was very supportive of Chang Shen's abilities and performance during the Crown Prince's reign, and therefore supported the Crown Prince's succession to the throne.

Another group of people did not favor Chang Shen or Chang De in their ascension to the throne, feeling that it didn't matter who ascended the throne.

The fewest are supporters of Changde, and these people were investigated by Chang Shen a few days ago.

Therefore, they knew that if Chang Shen ascended to the throne after Changde formally declared war on Chang Shen, they would all inevitably be purged.

Although Chang Shen did not kill his own brothers, judging from his performance in the past two years, he would not show any mercy to his ministers.

Over the years, Chang Shen has used many methods to suppress and attack the second and third princes who compete with him for the throne. However, Chang Shen has always adhered to one bottom line: his brothers are all close blood relatives.

Therefore, although Chang Shen defeated the Second Prince and the Third Prince in the duel, he did not kill them.

Born into royalty, they all aspire to the throne and compete with each other—this has been the case since ancient times. Chang Shen also considers this normal. As long as his brothers don't fight with him, he will let them live a carefree life as princes.

However, as soon as he reveals his covetousness for that position, Chang Shen will show his claws without hesitation.

What Chang Shen didn't expect was that Chang De would commit such a heinous act as killing his own father, all for the sake of the throne.

The most ruthless are those in the imperial family. Fortunately, in order to ascend the throne legitimately, Chang De did not take action against him within the palace. Otherwise, Chang Shen would probably have been killed by Chang De by now.

At this time, the two brothers only planned to stabilize the court officials and imperial relatives in the imperial court and obtain nominal legitimacy.

Yesterday, Chang Shen was in the Eastern Palace discussing countermeasures with several ministers from his faction.

However, once the news of Emperor Jingyuan's death was announced, all the pressure from public opinion in the court would fall on Chang Shen, and Chang Shen's side could only deal with it as it came.

At this moment, Changde and Changshen arrived at the court one after the other. Changshen first announced the news of Emperor Jingyuan's death to the ministers.

Changde then had someone read out Emperor Jingyuan's last edict, and the two sides began their struggle in the court.

Most ministers watched this struggle from the sidelines, but Chang Shen clearly had more supporters.

Although Changde now held the power of the imperial edict, Changshen had been regent for many years and had more supporters among the ministers.

After being examined by the ministers one by one, the imperial edict was confirmed to be the genuine handwriting of Emperor Jingyuan.

The two sides argued incessantly in the court, but after leaving the court, as if by prior agreement, they both knew that the problem could not be solved in the court, so they had already deployed their troops in the capital.

In terms of troop strength, Changde's Jingcheng Guard had more men, but Chang Shen's Imperial Guard was generally stronger.

The two sides confronted each other in the capital, causing the situation to change rapidly. The common people did not know what was happening, only that the Crown Prince was going to fight the Fourth Prince.

During his years as regent, Crown Prince Chang Shen had won the deep affection of the people, who now overwhelmingly supported him.

Changde had calculated everything, but he hadn't anticipated the power of the people's hearts. For Changde, this was his last desperate gamble.

After all, Chang Shen has already begun investigating Changde. If Changde sits idly by and waits for its doom, although it will not die, all the careful planning it has done over the years will be in vain.

At the same time, Changde did not know whether his fate would be exile, being driven to madness, or becoming crippled. This was not what Changde wanted, so he risked scheming to make Emperor Jingyuan die of illness.

What Changde didn't expect was that the Demon Extermination Division of Hantian City appeared to support Chang Shen when the two armies were facing off, catching Changde off guard.

Since previous emperors, it has been stipulated that the Exorcism Bureau must not participate in political affairs other than exorcising demons, let alone participate in the struggle for the throne.

At that time, the society of the Hantian Dynasty was still very enlightened, unlike the darkness it is now. The position of the Demon Extermination Division was too high. After all, the people in the Demon Extermination Division had very high cultivation levels, so if they participated in politics, no department could stop them.

Therefore, the emperor at the time made this regulation. However, now that the Hantian Dynasty has entered a turbulent era, and now that all officials have cultivation, many things, such as the promulgation of government decrees, require the intervention of the Demon Extermination Division.

Therefore, Emperor Jingyuan had long wanted to allow the Demon Extermination Bureau to participate in the arrangement of political affairs. However, due to Emperor Jingyuan's poor health, this regulation would inevitably cause dissatisfaction in the court and society. Therefore, Emperor Jingyuan planned to hand over this matter to Chang Shen after he ascended the throne so that he could implement it.

Of course, Emperor Jingyuan did not intend to hand over everything to Chang Shen. Rather, during his reign, he planned to gradually delegate power to the Demon Extermination Bureau to achieve a smooth transition.

Emperor Jingyuan highly recognized his son's abilities and saw this as a test for Chang Shen. If Chang Shen couldn't even solve this problem, how could he, as the emperor, possibly bring the dying Hantian Dynasty back to its peak?

Emperor Jingyuan never imagined that he would die at the hands of his own fourth son.

The involvement of the Demon Extermination Division instantly shifted the situation to one-sidedness. After all, the Demon Extermination Division of Hantian City was the headquarters of the Demon Extermination Division, which housed many high-level cultivators, including an immortal who was in charge.

However, this immortal does not usually participate in the specific affairs of the Demon Extermination Bureau; he only intervenes when dealing with particularly large-scale demon extermination operations.

The current director of the Demon Extermination Division is also a cultivator in the late stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm, only one step away from the Immortal Realm.

As for the other immortals above the rank of offerings in the Hantian Dynasty, they would not easily intervene unless the Hantian Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, so they would not interfere in this struggle for the throne.

Therefore, Shangguan Shuo, the director of the Demon Extermination Bureau, is already the most powerful cultivator in this conflict.

Chang Shen promised that after ascending the throne, he would continue the late emperor's decision to increase the power of the Demon Extermination Bureau, which is why he was able to persuade Shangguan Shuo to take action.

The people of the Demon Extermination Bureau may seem glamorous, but they actually feel that their status in the capital is very strange. Although they are court officials, they are ignored by the officials. Despite having the highest cultivation level, they are the most neglected. They have long been fed up with this.

The late emperor had already made arrangements, and Chang Shen was willing to abide by them. However, things might not be so certain after Chang De ascended to the throne.

Shangguan Shuo quickly brought the rebels under control, and the turmoil in the capital city finally came to an end after several days.

By the time news of the turmoil in Hantian City reached Zhenyao Pass, it was already half a month later, as Zhenyao Pass was still defending against the attack of extraterrestrial demons.

Who sits on the throne in the imperial court will not actually affect them, because as long as the new emperor is not out of his mind, he will not make any special arrangements for Zhenyao Pass and Yunlan Pass.

The officers and soldiers at Zhenyao Pass were even more supportive of Chang Shen's ascension to the throne, because Chang Shen had visited the pass more than once to comfort them.

Chang Shen visited and comforted the border posts more often than Emperor Jingyuan, clearly showing that he was a crown prince who valued the border regions highly.

At this moment, Song Xun and Jiang Wanfeng, who were resting on the city tower, also started discussing this matter, since they had just met the two protagonists of this incident not long ago.

"I never imagined that in just over a month while I was at Zhenyao Pass, the emperor outside would be changing."

"Actually, I saw at the Hundred Flowers Banquet that there would be a struggle between the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince, and now it has come to pass. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"Changde is really ruthless. He even killed his own father for the throne."

Between Crown Prince Chang Shen and Fourth Prince Chang De, Song Xun actually had a better impression of Chang Shen. At least Chang Shen had been diligent and conscientious during his years as regent, and the decline of the Hantian Dynasty was due to his father, Emperor Jingyuan, not the Crown Prince's fault.

For a crown prince to merely oversee the country in such a turbulent and declining dynasty, to gain the approval of many people is already a remarkable achievement.

After more than a month of fighting at the Demon Suppression Pass, Song Xun had clearly grown a lot. His originally fair skin had turned wheat-colored, and his features had become noticeably more defined.

Because he hadn't taken care of himself for a long time, Song Xun now looked a bit disheveled, but he also appeared more mature.

Jiang Wanfeng was the same, but because Jiang Wanfeng was already fairer than Song Xun, she was still very fair-skinned at this time, but she had clearly grown from a young girl into a qualified female swordsman.

Compared to half a month ago, Song Xun and Jiang Wanfeng have clearly shed their boyishness and now exude an aura of maturity.

Although he is only eighteen years old, he looks like a young man in his twenties. This kind of growth is very rare.

Song Xun and Jiang Wanfeng, due to their outstanding combat performance, were now highly regarded by all the soldiers and officers of Zhenyao Pass and won the respect of everyone.

The soldiers who initially thought Song Xun and Jiang Wanfeng were just there to gain experience now all changed their minds.

Even Gu Song developed a fondness for talent and wanted to keep Song Xun and Jiang Wanfeng at Zhenyao Pass.

But Gu Song only thought about it in his heart, because he knew it was impossible. Song Xun and Jiang Wanfeng obviously wanted to go back to inherit the sect and carry it forward, so they would definitely not choose to stay in Zhenyao Pass.

More than a month of fighting greatly enriched Song Xun's practical experience and made his control over his cultivation level more precise and meticulous.

Song Xun's previous cultivation advancements largely relied on the "Beast Dao Immortal Record." Although his realm advancements were quite stable, the lack of time to accumulate experience made Song Xun's foundation somewhat unstable as he transformed from a mortal into a Nascent Soul cultivator.

But these superficialities are gradually being filled in, after all, the high-intensity battles every two or three days are allowing Song Xun to quickly hone his skills.

Not only himself, Song Xun also developed a combined attack tactic with Huang Bulang and Xiaobai. Previously, Song Xun relied on his combat instincts when engaging in team battles.

However, Song Xun has now honed a qualified combat method for a beast taming cultivator. Moreover, due to Song Xun's superior strength feedback talent compared to other beast taming cultivators, this combat method has created a synergistic effect greater than the sum of its parts.

Jiang Wanfeng's recent improvement has been tremendous. Although she has been exceptionally talented in swordsmanship since childhood, she has always lacked opportunities for actual combat. Sparring with other disciples within the sect is not a life-or-death battle, so it is naturally not as effective as such life-or-death combat for improving her swordsmanship.

Besides her improved tactical experience, Jiang Wanfeng's control over Wan Jianming and her cooperation with Xiao Wan have reached a level of unparalleled skill.

Only then could she truly call herself a female swordsman.