Two States Fall, Always Ready to Flee

Facing the coming chaotic era, the only thing Lin Hanzhou could do was seize every moment to improve his strength.

He was well aware that his cultivation at the peak of the second-tier Qi Gathering Realm was far from enough.

Although this level of cultivation was not low and would rank him among the notable figures in the martial arts world, it was nothing more than a slightly larger piece on the chessboard of the entire world.

Only by breaking through to the third-tier Qi Sea Realm and possessing the strength of a grandmaster would he truly have the qualifications to stir the winds and clouds of the world.

Only then could he transform from a so-called pawn into a player capable of flipping the table.

Time passed, and another year went by.

This year marked the seventh year since Lin Hanzhou transmigrated into this world.

Currently, his cultivation remained stuck at the peak of the second-tier Qi Gathering Realm.

The bottleneck of a major realm was not so easily crossed.

Even with the talent bonus of a martial arts prodigy, he felt that he was still lacking that final spark to achieve a breakthrough.

He estimated that it would take another year or two of grinding effort before the breakthrough would come naturally.

Lin Hanzhou felt quite satisfied with this cultivation speed.

Achieving the third-tier Qi Sea Realm within ten years completely exceeded his expectations.

Even in Blue Star, a world teeming with geniuses, ten years to advance from the second to the third tier would be considered an extraordinary feat.

Moreover, he was cultivating in a world where spiritual energy was far less dense than in Blue Star and cultivation resources were scarce.

Beyond that, his Flowing Cloud Sword Technique had reached the realm of Great Success after seven years of bitter practice.

It was only one step away from the legendary Perfection level.

If the higher-ups of the Cloud Glow Sect knew of this sword technique proficiency, their jaws would likely drop.

Those who didn't know better would assume that he, Lin Hanzhou, was the orthodox successor of the Cloud Glow Sect.

It is no exaggeration to say that once his cultivation improved, he could even use this to disguise himself as a Grand Elder of the Cloud Glow Sect.

It was also in this year that a major event occurred on the border of the Great Gan Dynasty, shocking the entire world.

The Great Qing Dynasty to the north brazenly tore up the peace treaty and assembled three hundred thousand iron cavalry to march south.

The Qing Army aimed directly at Liao Province on the border of the Great Gan Dynasty, launching a lightning-fast surprise attack.

For reasons unknown, the one hundred thousand Great Gan border troops guarding Liao Province collapsed like a mountain in just half a month.

This directly resulted in the northern defense line of the Great Gan Dynasty being torn open by a massive gap.

The front line was pushed directly to Qing Province, adjacent to Liao Province.

This incident infuriated the already precarious Great Gan imperial court!

Currently, the Great Gan Dynasty is issuing a "Conscription Order" to the world.

The goal is to summon all ranked martial artists in the world to rush to the front lines in Qing Province to resist the invasion of the Great Qing Dynasty.

This measure even affected Peace Town, where Lin Hanzhou resided, showing just how dire the situation of the Great Gan Dynasty had become.

In Peace Town, every ranked martial artist, from the town mayor at the peak of the first-tier to the young men who had just stepped into the third-tier, was affected.

Under the Conscription Order, they almost all left their homes to head to Qing Province to resist the Qing Army's invasion.

This directly resulted in the high-end combat power of Peace Town being almost completely drained.

Only an old mayor over sixty years old and a few old, weak, sick, or disabled third-tier martial artists remained.

They were not conscripted either because they had performed meritorious service in their youth or because they held important positions that were difficult to vacate.

In the face of cruel war, the Great Gan Dynasty would not care whether you were disabled or not.

As for second-tier martial artists, Lin Hanzhou was the only one left.

The reason he was not conscripted was entirely due to his status.

He was a rootless, mysterious outsider.

To the government, such people were the most unstable factors.

They had no family or relatives to worry about, and thus, they possessed no loyalty on the battlefield.

Even if they deserted or defected to the enemy country, they would have no concerns.

So-called post-war punishments held no deterrent power over them.

It was for this reason that he was fortunate enough to be exempted from this conscription.

However, Lin Hanzhou knew clearly that even if the imperial court insisted on conscripting him, he would find a way to escape halfway.

He was joking; he had no intention of working for free or dying for this crumbling dynasty.

Time passed in a tense and oppressive atmosphere for another two years.

This was the ninth year since Lin Hanzhou transmigrated into this world.

That year, worse news arrived from the front lines of Qing Province.

The Great Gan Dynasty's army of five hundred thousand, assembled in Qing Province, suffered a crushing defeat in their decisive battle against the Qing Army.

This directly led to the collapse of the entire Qing Province defensive line, resulting in its total fall.

With this, the iron cavalry of Great Qing had already seized two of the eighteen provinces belonging to the Great Gan Dynasty.

Thirty thousand Great Qing troops were now pointing directly toward the heartland of the Central Plains!

Regarding this outcome, Lin Hanzhou could only remark that the Great Gan Dynasty should practice more if they were incompetent.

To lose five hundred thousand against three hundred thousand and end up like stray dogs—was this a joke?

According to the current situation, if the Qing Army occupied one more province, the flames of war would sweep into Qing Province, where Lin Hanzhou was currently located.

When that time came, if the Qing Army attacked, he would definitely be the first to run.

As a transmigrator, he felt absolutely no sense of belonging to this Great Gan Dynasty.

Preserving his own life was what mattered most.

In a war of this national scale, even the number of grandmasters was significant; a second-tier martial artist like him could never change the tide of battle.

Even if he could perhaps kill a grandmaster by relying on his Great Completion level Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, then what?

Would he just be swarmed and beaten to death by a group of grandmasters?

It is worth mentioning that although the flames of war had not yet spread directly to Qing Province, the entire region had become increasingly chaotic and unstable.

The reason was simple.

Countless refugees fleeing from Liao Province and Qing Province were flooding into the borders of Qing Province.

Mixed among these refugees were large numbers of routed soldiers, as well as bandits and marauders taking advantage of the chaos to loot.

The current state of Qing Province could be described as rife with bandits, where murder and robbery occurred frequently.

Peace Town, where Lin Hanzhou resided, was remote, yet it too was gradually beginning to feel a sense of unease.

He knew that his days of peaceful cultivation were likely coming to an end.

However, none of this was as important as the matter at hand.

Due to his previous accumulation, his cultivation had reached a critical threshold.

He was about to enter the third-tier Qi Sea Realm!