Imperial Chronicle: The Underappreciated Lin Feng

In the 335th year of the Imperial Calendar, many great events took place within the Empire.

The demon race on the front lines launched a massive invasion of Jiashan Fortress, placing the Empire in grave peril.

Amid this chaos, an unparalleled genius emerged within the Empire—the Empire's third prince, Lin Junyu!

He accepted the mission in a moment of crisis. Disregarding the danger to his own life, he boldly defied both the king's orders and the marshal's orders, leading one hundred thousand soldiers from the Empire's Danna Crossing camp to support the front lines.

With the eight hundred Feather Forest Army soldiers he had trained himself, he defeated sixty thousand enemies, slew enemy generals, and repelled the demon race's hundred-thousand-strong army attacking Jiashan. He became famous in a single battle, lifted the siege of Jiashan, and saved the entire Empire from disaster.

An investigation afterward revealed that the commander of the demon army in that battle had been Kabu Lin, the Demon God Emperor's most favored third son and the number one genius of the Demon God Kingdom!

Afterward, the Empire's War God, Third Prince Lin Junyu, led eight hundred cavalrymen in pursuit of the enemy, rescuing Zichuan Mingyue, the Flower of the Empire, who would later command the entire Southeast Legion and render illustrious service during the Empire's eastern expedition.

While Jiashan Fortress was under siege, Prince Lin, the first commander of the Southeast Legion, was assassinated by demon assassins while inspecting civilian conditions in Butler Province. He was gravely wounded and died beyond treatment, leaving five hundred thousand Southeast Legion soldiers trapped in Bartley City.

Once again, it was the Empire's third prince who led eight hundred Feather Forest Army soldiers in disguise through the blockade of a million-strong army, broke into the city, and assumed command amid the crisis as the second commander of the Southeast Legion.

Unflustered in the face of danger, he calmly formulated plans, arranged the deployment before the battle, positioned the troops, coordinated all sides, and decided to launch a decisive battle against the demon army.

During the decisive battle, he once again led eight hundred Feather Forest Army soldiers alone, under the cover of one hundred thousand Imperial Black Cavalry, charging into the central camp of the demon commander, guarded by more than a hundred thousand enemy troops.

Breaking through formations and slaughtering enemies all the way, he reached Shaluoluo, then the commander-in-chief of the demon race's southeastern army and the second greatest expert of the Demon God Kingdom.

The third prince seemed like a god descended upon the world. After several exchanges of attack and defense, he slew the demon army's commander-in-chief, throwing the demon race's million-strong army into chaos. The Southeast Legion pursued and slaughtered the fleeing enemy, achieving a resounding victory. The Empire's eastern expedition faced no further obstacles.

Yet just when everyone believed this new star of the Empire was about to rise, his two elder brothers forged an imperial decree and ordered the death of this young War God of the Empire.

Thus, this unparalleled Imperial genius, who had spent his life enduring the mockery of others calling him trash, only shone once upon the front lines.

But even that single moment of brilliance was enough to eclipse every famous general and genius in Imperial history.

Yet the events of that year had not ended. The second prince discovered that the eldest prince had been conspiring with the Danna Crossing camp to rebel.

On the front lines, gripped by fear, the eldest prince arranged a killing plot against the second prince and personally shot him dead with an arrow.

News of the deaths of the two princes on the front lines was carried back to Far Capital by a messenger. The Emperor flew into a rage, his earth-shaking fury sweeping across the entire Empire as he ordered a thorough investigation into everything.

That night, nearly every major family and power in Far Capital was subjected to a bloody purge. It was Far Capital's most chaotic and bloodiest night.

After that night, the Emperor discovered the eldest and second princes' collusion with ministers and the military. Since the second prince was already dead, he was no longer pursued.

The eldest prince was escorted back to the capital, stripped of his status as a prince, and imprisoned in an Imperial prison for life.

The Empire's three most promising princes had, within that single year, either died or been disgraced. The Emperor's hair turned white overnight, and he poured all his rage and energy into the Empire's eastern expedition.

The Emperor personally led the expedition. Over three years on the Far Eastern battlefield, he led the Imperial army from victory to victory, slaughtering enemies all the way to the Far East Holy Temple.

In the third year of the Empire's eastern expedition, Zichuan Mingyue, the Flower of the Empire, contracted a serious illness on the battlefield and unfortunately passed away. Her younger brother, Zichuan Mingri, succeeded her as the fourth commander of the Southeast Legion.

In the tenth year of the Empire's eastern expedition, the situation in the Far East had been completely brought under Imperial control. Lin Huang, the eleventh Luminous Emperor, led one million Royal Legion soldiers and two million Imperial soldiers.

They crossed the Solimia Plain of the Demon God Kingdom, broke through the Black River, captured cities and slaughtered enemies along the way, and pressed toward the Demon God Kingdom's holy land, the Great Demon God Fortress.

Before the decisive battle, the Luminous Emperor and the Demon God Emperor spoke through the night.

The next day, before their million-strong armies, the two sides jointly signed an agreement of submission.

Agreement One: The Demon God Kingdom could submit to the Luminous Empire, but would retain its right to independence forever, without interference from the Luminous Empire.

Agreement Two: The Luminous Empire was required to dispatch troops to join the demon army in garrisoning the borderlands of the demon race's Eastern Wasteland, jointly defending against the incursions of unknown creatures.

Agreement Three: Both sides jointly swore and proclaimed that they would select men and women from their respective clans with the highest concentration of inherited bloodlines to marry, become kin, and bear children. This oath would remain unchanged for a thousand years, until the intermarriage produced powerful descendants!

No one knew what the Emperor and the Demon God Emperor discussed that night.

Once the agreement had been signed, the Luminous Emperor voluntarily withdrew his troops and no longer interfered in the affairs of the Demon God Kingdom.

Instead, he left Imperial Marshal Qin Zhuo behind, leading one million Royal Legion soldiers to follow the Demon God Emperor's legion into the isolated Eastern Wasteland. No news ever came from them again!

Yet under the leadership of the eleventh Luminous Emperor, Lin Huang, the Luminous Empire ruled the entire West River Continent in the name of justice and righteousness, ending the continent's tens of thousands of years of conflict!

Five years after fulfilling his lifelong dream, this Emperor, whose life had been filled with glory and honor, passed away in the bedchamber where the third prince had spent his childhood, though the prince had already been dead for many years.

He clutched a small rattle-drum tightly in his hand, his eyes peacefully closed.

Looking over the life of Lin Huang, the eleventh Luminous Emperor, people held mixed opinions of him.

But there was one point universally acknowledged by all: he accomplished what the eleven generations of Imperial Emperors, and all under heaven, had hoped for—the unification of the West River Continent.

This brilliant achievement was enough to make him shine in the continent's history and be remembered by the world!

...Biography of the Eleventh Luminous Emperor Recorded by Historian Zhou Qingyun

River Hill City was built by the sea. Outside the city ran the long Golden Water River, carrying its surging waters straight into the Eastern Sea!

On the golden beach outside River Hill City, a young man lay stretched out on the sand.

Holding an Imperial history book, he enjoyed the cool sea breeze and basked in the sun, reading with great interest.

"Lin the Overlord was just too overpowered. How did eight hundred men defeat more than a hundred thousand?"

Lin the Overlord was the nickname given to Lin Junyu by all Imperial youths of later generations who admired him.

Stars shone in the young reader's eyes. He clearly revered this invincible War God, who had emerged more than two hundred years ago and saved the Empire from collapse.

His name was Lin Feng. He belonged to a direct branch family that carried the Imperial royal bloodline.

His ancestor was Lin Xingyuan, Prince Lin, who had been bestowed the title of Imperial War God even before Lin Junyu was born, and who had founded the Empire's most glorious legion—the Southeast Legion!

When the Eleventh Emperor died, he had no powerful blood heir. To prevent the great unification he had worked so hard to achieve from being destroyed, the Emperor selected the most capable descendant from the clan and carefully groomed him to inherit the throne after his death.

By now, those who had originally been the legitimate imperial bloodline in history had been marginalized, reduced to so-called collateral direct descendants, and were no longer entrusted with important positions.

It was simply because the branch that had inherited the throne feared their purer bloodline.

Having already tasted power, they had no intention of relinquishing it. They wanted to keep it in their hands forever, so they had continuously suppressed this branch.

Especially the descendants of the Eleventh Emperor—by now, almost none of their line remained.

Of course, Lin Feng knew nothing of these twists and turns.

For now, he was merely an ordinary naval bannerman.