Fifty Years Pass, Peak of the Third-Tier Qi Sea Realm

Time drifted by, fifty years passing in the blink of an eye.

The stone door of the treasure vault deep within the imperial palace, silent for who knows how many years, slowly creaked open.

Blinding sunlight pierced through, illuminating the dancing dust motes in the air and casting beams of golden light.

A figure stepped slowly out from within that radiance.

He remained dressed in black, still possessing the same handsome, youthful appearance.

Yet, compared to fifty years ago, the hair that had turned gray from the burning of his life force had now transformed into a snowy, pristine silver.

Time seemed to have left no wrinkles upon his face.

Instead, it had settled a deeper, more profound aura into the depths of his eyes.

He was Lin Hanzhou.

This period of seclusion had lasted for exactly fifty years.

For a mortal, fifty years is half a lifetime wasted.

It is enough time for a newborn infant to grow into a middle-aged person capable of standing on their own.

When Lin Hanzhou stepped out of the vault and saw Li Yuechan waiting outside once more, even with his century-spanning state of mind, he could not help but feel a sense of melancholy at how things had changed.

The woman before him was no longer the green, youthful girl of fifty years ago.

She wore a graceful and luxurious golden phoenix robe, an imperial crown upon her head, her posture elegant and refined.

But time had, after all, left some marks upon her stunning face.

Faint, fine lines had appeared at the corners of her eyes.

Yet, all traces of naivety and dependence had long since faded from her gaze.

In their place was the majesty of one who ruled the world and the composure of one who held everything in her grasp.

She had truly grown from a girl in need of protection into a capable monarch.

In simpler terms, she had transformed from a green girl into a mature empress.

"Grand Master, you... have emerged."

Seeing Lin Hanzhou's figure, an uncontrollable surge of excitement and joy instantly welled up in Li Yuechan's majestic phoenix eyes.

She stepped forward quickly and bowed deeply to Lin Hanzhou.

Over these fifty years, she had long grown accustomed to the presence of this Protector Grand Master.

Although he had been in seclusion the entire time, just knowing that he was quietly residing deep within this palace brought an incomparable sense of peace to Li Yuechan's heart.

"Rise. I have told you many times, an emperor need not bow to a subject, yet you never listen."

A gentle smile touched the corners of Lin Hanzhou's mouth.

"Grand Master, you speak too heavily. Without you, there would be no Great Gan today, and certainly no me."

Li Yuechan said with a face full of sincerity, her heart overflowing with gratitude toward Lin Hanzhou.

She knew very well that if Lin Hanzhou had not intervened back then, she would have long since turned into a pile of dry bones.

"Fifty years have passed, and Your Majesty's grace remains unchanged."

Lin Hanzhou's smile did not fade as he stepped forward to help Li Yuechan up.

"Yue Chan... has grown old."

Holding Lin Hanzhou's hand, a bitter smile appeared on Li Yuechan's face.

The reason she could maintain such a youthful appearance was entirely due to her exceptional cultivation talent.

Back then, at sixteen, she had already been a peak first-rate martial artist.

This speed of cultivation had already surpassed the vast majority of martial artists.

Over these fifty years, her cultivation had successfully broken through to the Grandmaster Realm, extending her lifespan by three hundred years.

With the massive resources of the entire imperial family at her disposal, achieving this was not difficult.

Moreover, there was the occasional guidance from Lin Hanzhou whenever he emerged from seclusion.

Every piece of his advice was incisive, striking directly at the most critical issues.

For Lin Hanzhou, who possessed the talent of a Martial Arts Prodigy, this was not a difficult feat.

With his understanding of the world's cultivation techniques, he could even create Grandmaster-level techniques directly.

One must know that even among the three great sects with thousand-year legacies, Grandmaster-level techniques were rare and precious treasures.

That Lin Hanzhou could create such precious treasures at will was enough to show just how deep his current martial arts attainments truly were.

With such profound martial arts attainments, guiding others in their cultivation was naturally as easy as turning over one's hand.

It was precisely for this reason that Li Yuechan not only broke through to the Grandmaster Realm but had now reached the level of a veteran Grandmaster.

As long as she was given more time, reaching the Great Grandmaster realm in the future would not be a difficult task.

Once she broke through to the Great Grandmaster Realm, she would possess the power to personally suppress this world.

By then, even if Lin Hanzhou left, she would be able to stand on her own.

She would no longer need to rely on him for everything.

Meanwhile, Lin Hanzhou's cultivation had also reached an unprecedented realm over these fifty years.

Peak Third-Order Qi Sea Realm!

The golden Qi Sea within his body had long since expanded to its absolute limit.

Within it, the golden spiritual energy had been compressed to the extreme, containing a terrifying power capable of destroying the heavens and extinguishing the earth.

However, he had also touched the ceiling of this world.

He could clearly feel an invisible barrier above his head.

It was a wall constructed from the laws of heaven and earth, firmly restricting him.

No matter what he did, he could not advance a single step further to break through to the Fourth-Order True Origin Realm.

He knew this was not a problem with his talent.

With the blessing of the blue talent "Martial Arts Prodigy," his cultivation speed and comprehension ability had long surpassed all the geniuses in this world.

This was a problem with the world itself.

This low-level world known as the "Great Gan Dynasty" had a weak origin and incomplete laws.

The limit of individual power it could sustain was the peak Third-Order Great Grandmaster.

It was fundamentally impossible for a Fourth-Order martial artist to be born here.

Unless it was that kind of peerless monster, unseen in ages, capable of breaking the world's rules.

Only such a genius would have a sliver of a chance to forcibly break through the realm.

And Lin Hanzhou, after countless attempts, had to admit that he clearly could not do so.

Having failed to break through time and again, he slowly accepted this fact.

Consequently, he began to cultivate movement techniques and martial arts to strengthen his foundation.

Over these fifty years, he had already cultivated everything he could to the extreme.

Whether it was the Profound-tier high-grade movement technique Floating Light Glancing Shadow learned from the imperial treasury, or the fist technique Great Sun Divine Fist borrowed from the Vajra Temple, both had been cultivated to the realm of perfection.

As for his most proficient Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, it even showed faint signs of evolving on its own, breaking through the shackles of the Profound-tier and trending toward ascending to the higher Earth-tier.

All of this was thanks to the heaven-defying effects of Martial Arts Prodigy.

In addition to these, he had also practiced countless unorthodox skills and strange tricks.

Things like the art of disguise, bone-shrinking techniques, turtle-breathing methods...

It could be said that there was nothing left for him to cultivate.

In this world, he had already reached the end of the martial path.

Since he could not advance any further, he might as well go out and have a good look around; this was his intention for coming out of seclusion.

After bidding farewell to Li Yuechan, Lin Hanzhou left the Capital City without a sound.

He wanted to see what this prosperous age, which he had personally guarded for over fifty years, looked like now.