Avoiding Trouble? No, I'm Here to... Compete for the Throne!

At the thought, Lin Hanzhou couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting.

Back on Blue Star, his third-level Pulse Opening Realm cultivation didn't even qualify him as cannon fodder.

But in this Great Sui world, it put him among the strongest fighters at the very top of the pyramid.

He'd never imagined that one day, even a lowly Pulse Opening Realm cultivator like him could be called an expert.

"System, you said that the more I change the world, the higher my evaluation and the more generous my rewards?"

Lin Hanzhou silently asked in his mind.

[Yes, Host.]

[Ways to change things include, but are not limited to: changing a person's fate, changing the rise and fall of a dynasty, changing the course of martial arts in the world, changing the direction of civilization's development, and so on.]

As he listened to the system's reply, Lin Hanzhou wore a thoughtful expression.

It sounded complicated, but really, the system was just encouraging him to stir things up.

And if he was going to stir things up, what could be better than becoming emperor?

With his third-level innate strength, he wasn't a helpless victim in this struggle for the throne. He was the butcher holding the knife!

"Avoiding trouble? No, I'm here to... compete for the throne!"

Once his mind was made up, Lin Hanzhou's whole demeanor changed in an instant.

At that moment, he was like a sharp sword about to leave its sheath, its edge fully exposed!

He lightly knocked on the carriage wall.

"Your Highness, what are your orders?"

The coachman's respectful voice came from outside.

"Turn around and head back to the post station. I have something important to discuss with Seventh Brother."

Lin Hanzhou's voice wasn't loud, but it rang with authority that brooked no argument.

The coachman's heart tightened. He felt that the Eleventh Prince's voice seemed quite unlike its usual self.

Daring not to ask questions, he immediately tightened the reins.

The carriage slowly turned around. Its wheels crunched over the stones on the main road, making a faint sound.

As the sun sank in the west, Wind and Cloud Post Station, beside the main road, seemed unusually quiet.

In a private room on the second floor, Seventh Prince Lin Yuan stood by the window.

He was a handsome young man with an elegant, scholarly air.

Yet his gentle eyes were filled with sorrow that refused to fade.

He both hoped his Eleventh Brother would safely leave this place of trouble and couldn't help worrying about the bloodshed that was soon to engulf the Capital City.

Just then, a servant hurried in to report.

"Your Highness, the Eleventh Prince's carriage is here."

At this, Lin Yuan's spirits lifted, and he hurriedly looked down.

Sure enough, he saw the familiar carriage slowly making its way toward the post station.

His heart eased. It seemed his brother hadn't run into any danger on the road.

However, when the carriage stopped and Lin Hanzhou was the only one to step out, Lin Yuan's brows knitted tightly once more.

He hurried downstairs and met Lin Hanzhou just as he entered the post station.

"Eleventh Brother, why are you..."

Lin Yuan had only spoken half a sentence when the unprecedented calm and confidence on Lin Hanzhou's face left him speechless.

The youth before him still had the same slender build.

But he stood perfectly straight, his eyes bright with restrained light, his steps steady as he walked.

Where was the cowardice and inferiority he'd always shown before?

"Seventh Brother, I've decided to return to the Capital City."

Lin Hanzhou smiled faintly, his tone calm, as though he'd merely gone away for a short trip and returned.

"Return to the Capital City? Don't be ridiculous!"

Lin Yuan snapped out of it, hurriedly pulling Lin Hanzhou upstairs and lowering his voice to speak urgently.

"Have you gone mad? I went to all that trouble to get you out of there. Why are you coming back now? To get yourself killed?!"

His voice was full of anxious frustration, as if Lin Hanzhou had failed to live up to his hopes.

Lin Hanzhou let him pull him along. Feeling the concern in Lin Yuan's hand, he felt a trace of warmth in his heart.

His Seventh Brother, despite being just as powerless to escape the struggle for imperial power, genuinely cared about him.

"Seventh Brother, don't be in such a hurry."

Lin Hanzhou gently patted the back of his hand, signaling him to calm down.

His unhurried manner only made Lin Yuan feel that he was even more of a stranger.

"You're telling me not to be in a hurry?"

Lin Yuan was so angry he almost laughed, then went on.

"Do you know what tonight means? Third Brother and Ninth Brother have gone mad!"

"For that throne, they won't even care about the bonds between father and son or between brothers!"

"You don't have a shred of cultivation... What can you possibly do if you go back?"

"Who says I don't have any cultivation?"

Lin Hanzhou cut him off, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

At those words, Lin Yuan froze.

"Y-what did you say?"

Lin Hanzhou didn't explain directly. Instead, his gaze swept over a guard downstairs, who was watching warily.

The guard was Lin Yuan's personal bodyguard, a skilled fighter at the ninth level of the Houtian realm.

"Seventh Brother, let me borrow your guard for a moment."

Before he had finished speaking, Lin Hanzhou suddenly moved.

He took one step, and in almost an instant, he was in front of the guard.

The guard was startled and instinctively drew his sword to block.

But before the sword was even halfway out of its sheath, his wrist went numb.

A deft force struck, and the long sword flew from his hand against his will, clattering to the ground.

Lin Hanzhou's fingers were already resting lightly on his throat.

The whole sequence flowed like water, without a single unnecessary movement.

The sight left Lin Yuan and the surrounding servants gaping in shock, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.

They had never imagined that the seemingly ordinary Eleventh Prince was a martial arts expert.

The ninth-level Houtian guard was drenched in cold sweat. His body stiffened like a stone, and he didn't dare move a muscle.

He could clearly feel that the slightest pressure from the other man's fingertip would end his life in an instant.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Lin Hanzhou was quite satisfied.

He withdrew his fingers and stepped back, as if nothing had happened. Then he smiled at the guard, who was still dumbstruck. "Well fought."

Only then did he turn to Lin Yuan, who was staring blankly at him, spread his hands, and say,

"Seventh Brother, do you still think I'd be going back to get myself killed?"

Lin Yuan opened his mouth, but it felt as though something had lodged in his throat. Not a single word came out.

He stared hard at Lin Hanzhou, as if he were seeing his younger brother for the very first time.

One move! In a single move, Lin Hanzhou had effortlessly subdued the personal bodyguard Lin Yuan had always been so proud of!

What kind of strength was this?

Innate! Only someone in the Innate realm could possess such strength!

"Y-you..."

Lin Yuan's voice trembled. He pointed at Lin Hanzhou, too agitated to speak coherently.

"When did you... How could you... Weren't your meridians blocked?"

Faced with Lin Yuan's questions, Lin Hanzhou scratched his head helplessly.

"I don't know either. I fell asleep in the carriage, and when I woke up, I suddenly had cultivation. Maybe Heaven took pity on me."

At those words, everyone present couldn't help but twitch the corners of their mouths in unison.

Good grief, this was the first time they'd ever heard of someone gaining cultivation by falling asleep in a carriage.

This was absurd—so absurd it had come home to roost.

What they didn't know was that Lin Hanzhou really wasn't lying.

He really had fallen asleep in the carriage and awakened with cultivation.

He just happened to have a system exactly like Lin Hanzhou's.