Cultivation Soars, Chaos Looms

For a martial artist immersed in cultivation, five years is but a snap of the fingers.

In that inconspicuous little courtyard on the east side of Peace Town, Lin Hanzhou had lived a peaceful life for five years.

His strength, too, had undergone earth-shaking changes during these five years of stability.

In the center of the courtyard, Lin Hanzhou stood with his eyes closed, holding a long sword.

His entire being seemed to have merged into the surrounding environment.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and swung the long sword in his hand with casual ease.

There was no astonishing Sword Qi, nor any sharp sound of breaking air.

His sword was like flowing clouds and moving water, continuous and unending; yet it was also like shifting clouds and strange waves, unpredictable and ever-changing.

In his hands, the entire set of sword techniques was reduced to a single, natural artistic conception.

This was the hallmark of the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique reaching great completion.

"Hoo..."

Having finished practicing the sword technique, Lin Hanzhou sheathed his blade and exhaled a long breath of stale air.

His cultivation base had also, as a matter of course, broken through to the peak of the second-tier Qi Gathering Realm half a year ago.

He was only one step away from the third-tier Qi Sea Realm.

This speed of cultivation could only be described with the words "rapid progress."

One must know that here in Peace Town, he had no rare treasures or herbs to assist his cultivation.

He had cultivated to this level entirely by absorbing the thin spiritual energy from the air.

Even so, he had managed to break through from the third stage of the Qi Gathering Realm all the way to the peak of the ninth stage in just five short years.

Lin Hanzhou had to sigh once again that the talent provided by the system was truly powerful.

Over these five years, his life in the small town had been quite comfortable.

Relying on his strength as a second-rate martial artist and his status as a patrol officer, he was considered a person of some standing in the town.

The highest cultivation level in the entire town was that of the old town mayor, who was only at the peak of the first-rate martial artist level.

In the whole town, one could not find a second person as young as Lin Hanzhou who was already a second-rate martial artist.

It was for this reason that he had lived very comfortably in the town all these years.

No matter where he went, people would respectfully address him as "Patrol Officer Lin."

Many people in the town knew of this powerful and kind-hearted Patrol Officer Lin and were very willing to be on good terms with him.

Even the town's wealthiest merchant, Squire Zhang, had once sent a matchmaker to his door.

He was willing to offer one hundred taels of gold as a dowry to marry his precious sixteen-year-old daughter to Lin Hanzhou.

Unfortunately, this matter was politely declined by Lin Hanzhou.

The reason was simple: he did not want to settle down here.

Peace Town was ultimately too small; he could not stay here forever and would have a day to leave.

Since he was going to leave, why would he marry and have children here?

He had always been accustomed to a free and easy life and could not bear such constraints.

For five years, Lin Hanzhou's daily life had remained very simple.

During the day, he practiced in the courtyard.

At night, he went to patrol the town.

Though it was called patrolling, in reality, he was mostly just slacking off.

Sometimes, he would simply walk around the streets and call it a day.

After all, Peace Town was indeed very peaceful, and criminal incidents almost never occurred.

The reason for this was directly related to him.

He remembered it was two years ago when a gang called the Flying Fish Gang came from outside Peace Town.

It was said that this gang had fled from a certain large city to escape a reckoning from their enemies.

At first glance, they looked like stray dogs and were completely nothing to fear.

However, within the gang, there were several first-rate martial artists, and the gang leader was a peak first-rate martial artist.

Such a lineup was enough to sweep through several Peace Towns.

One must know that Peace Town only had the old town mayor as a peak first-rate martial artist.

The other party was already advanced in age, his vitality was beginning to decline, and his actual combat power was likely only at the level of an ordinary first-rate martial artist.

It was for this reason that the old town mayor could only helplessly let them enter Peace Town.

He knew very well that if he did not let them in, the Flying Fish Gang would force their way in anyway.

With so many first-rate experts on the other side, he could not stop them by himself.

Since the Flying Fish Gang arrived in Peace Town, they revealed their true colors, committing every evil from arson and murder to looting.

They seemed intent on making a comeback, even recruiting local thugs and ruffians into their ranks within the town.

For a time, everyone in Peace Town lived in fear, with residents afraid to even step out of their doors.

Although the old town mayor had the heart to resist, he lacked the strength to do so and could only remain in his corner.

It was precisely at this moment that Lin Hanzhou stepped forward.

Having lived in Peace Town for two years by then, it was impossible for him not to have developed some attachment to the place.

He could not stand by and watch the Flying Fish Gang commit such atrocities; they had already crossed his bottom line.

Moreover, he was a constable of Peace Town, and maintaining order here was his duty.

Thus, on a dark and windy night, Lin Hanzhou headed alone to the Flying Fish Gang's stronghold.

With just one man and one sword, he slaughtered the hundred-plus members of the Flying Fish Gang in less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

For him, killing these martial artists, who hadn't even reached the second rank, was truly as easy as slicing melons and vegetables.

After finishing, Lin Hanzhou wiped away all traces of the scene as usual and buried all hundred-plus members of the Flying Fish Gang in the ground.

Having finished teaching them physics, he followed up with geography—a dual-subject lesson.

It was precisely for this reason that the vast majority of the original thugs and ruffians in Peace Town died within the Flying Fish Gang.

As a result, once Peace Town returned to tranquility, there were no longer any so-called thugs or ruffians causing trouble.

Consequently, Lin Hanzhou's life as a constable became increasingly relaxed, and he might not even encounter a case in several months.

When patrolling at night, he only needed to watch out for wild beasts from the mountains approaching the town.

With his current second-rank peak sensory abilities, he could detect any beast approaching the town from anywhere within its borders.

With such a human radar, he had no fear of neglecting his duties.

In his spare time, Lin Hanzhou would head to the small Spring Breeze Pavilion in town to listen to tunes and drink flower wine.

In his own words, he called it "assisting wayward maidens and experiencing the hardships of the world."

One could only say that he knew how to enjoy himself.

Sometimes, Lin Hanzhou would even wonder if he should just marry, have children, and live out the rest of his life peacefully in this small town.

Such a leisurely, slacker lifestyle was truly intoxicating.

However, he would quickly extinguish this thought himself.

He clearly could not allow himself to degenerate like this.

He was very clear that the reason he could possess all this comfort and leisure stemmed fundamentally from his strength.

As long as one has sufficient strength, one possesses everything.

This was also the greatest motivation for Lin Hanzhou to endure loneliness and engage in day-after-day of tedious cultivation.

Beyond this, he also frequently visited the town's taverns to gather news of the outside world from merchants traveling to and fro.

Over these past five years, many things had happened throughout the Great Gan Dynasty.

The critically ill Gan Emperor seemed to be growing worse, reportedly reaching the point where his oil was exhausted and his lamp was drying up.

This had led to open turmoil beginning to emerge within the Great Gan Dynasty.

Several provinces had erupted in large-scale peasant uprisings due to natural and man-made disasters.

Meanwhile, the three feudal lords holding heavy military power were using the pretext of "suppressing rebellions" to frantically recruit soldiers and horses to expand their own influence.

They were already making final preparations for the coming chaotic era.

The three great sects, as well as the Great Qing Dynasty in the north, were also stirring restlessly.

Like a pack of sharks smelling blood, they all wanted to tear a massive chunk of meat from the Great Gan, this giant beast about to collapse.

The entire world was like a powder keg about to be ignited.

Peace Town, where Lin Hanzhou resided, was merely a temporarily calm harbor before the storm arrived.