I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

Within the illusion of the Heart Sword.

Lin Xuanfeng slowly opened his eyes.

The surrounding area was no longer that shattered city, no longer that blood-stained street.

He stood in nothingness.

There was no sky, no earth, no light, and no shadow.

There was only an endless void, and himself.

Then, a voice rang out.

The voice was very soft and faint, yet it seemed to come from all directions:

"You could have lived."

Lin Xuanfeng did not answer.

"No one has discovered you. As long as you don't come out, you can survive. Only by surviving can you grow stronger and have the possibility of revenge..."

He remained silent.

"Why stand up?"

Lin Xuanfeng lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Bloodstains still remained on those hands.

That wasn't his blood; it was the enemy's blood, the blood of the enemy soldier whose throat he had slit.

The bloodstains had dried, turning into dark red patches that clung tightly to the skin.

He suddenly laughed.

The smile was faint and gentle, yet it conveyed an indescribable sense of relief.

He raised his head and gazed calmly into the void.

"Because I cannot stand by and watch them kill innocent people right before my eyes."

His voice was not loud, but every word was clear, echoing in this void.

"Because I am a soldier, it is my duty to protect them."

As soon as the words were spoken, the scene before them began to change.

……

The solemn and dignified Zhenbei Prince's Mansion.

Lin Xuanfeng found himself sitting in the main seat, on the sandalwood chair he had sat in for thirty years.

Inside the main hall, two rows of military officers stood solemnly, their armor gleaming, exuding an imposing aura.

Their gazes toward us were filled with awe and loyalty.

This is the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion.

And he was Lin Xuanfeng, the Prince of Zhenbei, who held a powerful army in the Great Feng Dynasty.

Thirty years.

He has guarded the northern border for thirty years, ensuring peace in the region, wielding immense power and influence.

"Report—!"

A long, urgent report interrupted his thoughts.

A scout rushed into the main hall, knelt on one knee, and his face turned deathly pale:

"Your Highness, a hundred thousand refugees have gathered and are surging towards the capital! In three days at most, they will be at the city gates!"

Lin Xuanfeng frowned deeply.

The northern border suffered a severe drought for three years.

There was no harvest, and the fields were littered with the corpses of the starving.

He had personally witnessed the corpses lying dead by the roadside, skin and bones, with sunken eyes, still gnawing on tree bark before they died.

The imperial court's disaster relief grain was cut at every level, and by the time it reached the northern border, less than 10% remained.

Over the past few months, he has submitted eighteen memorials to the court, requesting relief for the disaster victims.

All of them sank to the bottom of the sea.

Inside the main hall, the generals were filled with indignation:

"Your Highness! Why don't we open the granaries and distribute the grain? The treasury has enough food to feed the refugees for three months!"

"Rations? Those are military rations!" another general immediately retorted.

"If we distribute grain, what will the 300,000-strong army eat? How will we defend the northern border?"

"If we don't distribute grain, are we just going to watch the people starve to death?" The man who spoke earlier blushed.

"Those refugees outside the city are all people from our northern border! People we swore to protect!"

"We can't let it go..." A seasoned and prudent general shook his head and sighed.

"Once we run out of food, the soldiers will mutini, and then everything will truly be over. If the northern border is lost, the court will hold us accountable, Your Highness..."

Lin Xuanfeng sat in the main seat, without saying a word.

His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, his gaze fixed on the outside of the hall.

From there, faint cries could be heard.

The refugees' outposts have already reached outside the city.

Those emaciated people, lying prostrate along the moat, shouted with their last breath:

"Your Highness... help me..."

"Your Highness... please give us something to eat..."

Please...

Lin Xuanfeng stood up.

He didn't say anything, but simply walked outside.

As he walked past the generals, he felt countless gazes upon him.

There were worries, confusion, expectations, and fears.

He didn't know what he was thinking.

He just wanted to go out and see the world.

Above the city gate.

Lin Xuanfeng stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the outside of the city.

The vast expanse of refugees stretched as far as the eye could see.

They were sitting, lying down, kneeling, or crawling, and each of them was so thin that they were skin and bones, with sunken eyes and chapped lips.

Some of them were still holding their babies, who were no longer able to cry and were only twitching weakly.

The moment they saw Lin Xuanfeng, their crying intensified.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, save us!"

"Please, please give the child something to eat!"

"Your Highness...we don't want to die..."

The sound surged in like a tide, wave after wave, assaulting Lin Xuanfeng's mental defenses.

He saw an old man.

The old man knelt at the front, his hair white and his body thin, holding a broken bowl in his hands, which was empty.

His eyes were already cloudy, but he stared intently at Lin Xuanfeng on the city wall, his lips trembling as he silently spoke something.

Lin Xuanfeng understood his lip movements.

"Your Highness... please save us..."

He closed his eyes.

Take a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was as calm as still water.

"Open the granaries and distribute the grain."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly throughout the surrounding area.

The entire room fell silent.

A deathly silence.

Then, deafening cries and shouts of gratitude erupted!

"Long live the Prince!"

"Thank you, Your Highness, for saving my life!"

"May God bless the Prince with a long and healthy life!"

Outside the city, countless refugees knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, tears streaming down their faces.

The scene brought tears to the eyes of many soldiers on the city wall.

However, the generals in the main hall were greatly alarmed.

"Your Highness!" someone cried urgently, "If the army runs out of supplies, the northern border will surely fall! If the enemy comes..."

Lin Xuanfeng raised his hand, interrupting him.

"There's no need to persuade me any further."

His gaze swept over the generals, calm and resolute.

"If the enemy comes, I will be the first to bear the brunt. If we run out of food, we can raise more. But if we lose our men, we lose everything."

The city gates were wide open.

Refugees poured in.

They lined up in front of the treasury, and each person received a small bag of grain.

There wasn't much grain; it was only enough for the whole family to eat for a few days.

But for those who were starving, this was a life-saving food.

They knelt down and kowtowed, sobbing uncontrollably.

Lin Xuanfeng stood in front of the treasury gate, watching all of this with a blank expression.

An elderly man walked shakily to him and knelt down.

The old man had gray hair, a face full of wrinkles, and eyes filled with cloudy tears.

"Your Highness, you are...you are giving us your manhood!"

Lin Xuanfeng bent down and helped him up.

"There's no need for that, old man." His voice was calm, yet his rugged face revealed an indescribable gentleness.

"For thirty years I have guarded the northern border, all for the sake of ensuring the survival of my people. This is true today, it was true in the past, and it will be true in the future..."

He paused, his gaze drifting into the distance, towards the enemy country.

"That's also true."

The old man was overcome with tears and unable to speak.

……

That night.

Scouts report: The enemy's army of 300,000 has crossed the border.

Lin Xuanfeng stood on the city wall, gazing at the dark night sky to the north.

The night wind was biting, making his robes flutter loudly.

He turned and looked at the 300,000 soldiers lined up below the city.

Under the moonlight, some faces were young, some were weathered, some were resolute, and some were fearful.

But at this moment, everyone's eyes were on him.

He drew his sword.

The sword light was as white as snow.

"Our military rations have been exhausted, and we cannot afford to waste any more time. We have no choice but to leave the city and fight! This battle is a fight with a slim chance of survival."

His voice echoed in the night sky.

"Those who are willing to die with me—"

He paused, then pointed his sword northward.

"Leave the city!"

Three hundred thousand people, not one retreated.

……

In that battle, Lin Xuanfeng was the first to be hit.

He charged ahead, fought the most ruthlessly, and was the most reckless.

They fought from sunrise to sunset, from the front lines to the middle of the battlefield, from enemy generals to lowly soldiers.

His sword never stopped, and his steps never faltered.

Until the very last moment.

He remained standing even as several spears pierced his body simultaneously.

The sword was still pointing forward.

He did not fall.

……

Within the illusion of the Heart Sword.

Lin Xuanfeng slowly opened his eyes.

It was still that same emptiness.

There was no blood, no swords, no fighting, no death.

There was only an endless void, and himself.

Then, the voice rang out again.

This time, the voice carried a more complex tone:

"You already hold a high position of power, commanding an army of 300,000. As long as they are here, your position can be maintained, but you..."

It didn't continue.

Lin Xuanfeng listened quietly, a smile gradually appearing on his face.

That smile was brighter than ever before.

"What my father said is very true."

"When faced with certain situations, if you are no match for them, preserving yourself is the only way to have a future."

He paused.

"But for me, some things are far more important than life itself."

Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared in the void.

The light was faint, yet incredibly pure.

He didn't shine in from the outside, but rather emerged little by little from the depths of Lin Xuanfeng's heart.

The light grew brighter and brighter, eventually enveloping him entirely.

A mysterious and profound feeling welled up in his heart.

That was sword intent.

It was the purest and most primal sword intent he had ever felt before.

He didn't try to grab it or chase it; he simply stood there quietly, letting the sword intent envelop him.

Then he spoke.

The voice was not loud, but every word was clear, like the ringing of a sword:

"I am willing to use the sword in my hand to protect my parents, brothers, and the Lin family."

"This is my way of protecting."

"This is..."

He raised his head, his gaze piercing through nothingness, through illusion, through all obstacles, landing on the world he truly cared about.

"The meaning of my sword practice!"

The words fell.

Nothingness exploded.