A Rift in Ideals

Heaven Dou Empire, imperial capital.

Spring's chill had not yet faded. Icicles on the city walls dripped melted snow, as though recounting the changes of this era. Before the branch academy of the Solitary Cultivation Academy, commoners stood in long lines to receive Cold Rice seeds. These rare seeds, cultivated in the Extreme North Snowfield, were not only cold-resistant and pest-resistant, but also grew rapidly by absorbing Soul Power. With two harvests a year, they had already freed the people of twelve cities from famine. Children ran along the field ridges while old farmers knelt beside the furrows, muttering, "Solitary Cultivator Yang Jun saved my family's lives."

Yet beneath this thriving scene, an undercurrent quietly began to stir.

One night, a scarlet proclamation was pasted atop the city gates, red as blood. Every word was like a blade, every stroke steeped in poison:

The proclamation bore no signature, yet it was swiftly copied and spread. Rumors arose throughout the streets. "I heard that Dao Seed makes people see Yang Jun in their dreams and worship him like a god." "The Plow Array in the Extreme North can freeze Soul Masters so thoroughly that they cannot even use their martial souls. If that isn't an evil art, what is?" Some officials even impeached Yu Xiaogang in court. "The Solitary Cultivation Academy has privately established arrays and gathered the people's support. They may harbor treasonous ambitions!"

The Heaven Dou imperial family was caught in a dilemma. On one side stood the people's support; on the other, their fear of power.

Then, at that very moment, earthshaking news arrived from Sea God Island—Tang San, the Sea God, would personally visit the Solitary Cultivation Hall to inspect the new policies.

The news struck like thunder, shaking the continent. Three days later, at the Extreme North Ice Plains.

A dim blue glow spread across the horizon. Ocean waves tore open the void, pouring down like an overturned heavenly river. Tang San arrived by riding the waves. With a light tap of Sea God's Scepter against the ice, the frost receded, and the ice plains became an open path. Clad in divine robes, his Blue Silver Emperor martial soul surged like ocean tides. Seven elders of the Sea God Pavilion accompanied him, their soul pressure as heavy as mountains, making the entire snowfield tremble.

Before the Solitary Cultivation Hall, Yang Jun led the others in welcome. He wore no splendid robes and carried no divine weapon. He merely held that crude Shennong Hoe, snow clinging to his clothes, looking like an old farmer in the fields.

"Yang Jun," Tang San said with a smile, his voice as gentle as the tide, "your Dao has already taken shape."

Yang Jun cupped his hands, his tone calm. "I merely let the people have food to eat and land to cultivate. It is hardly worth calling a force to be reckoned with."

Tang San looked around. The field ridges were neat, the Plow Array faintly visible, and Ice Thunder Runes were embedded in the earth veins like a network of veins. Farmers worked while children played. Satisfaction flashed through his eyes, but so did a trace of concern.

"You use Soul Power to guide the earth veins and set up a Shadow Sealing Array. Though it is meant to protect the people, it also seals away freedom." Tang San spoke slowly. "The people of Spirit Hall certainly deserve death, but if everyone who enters the Extreme North is frozen, would that not be setting another set of rules? How is that any different from Spirit Hall's Soul Lock?"

Yang Jun raised his eyes, his gaze like a plow breaking frozen earth. "Without rules, how can the people be protected? Spirit Hall's lingering ghosts refuse to disappear. Soul Devouring Gu, Shadow Nails, assassins—they infiltrate day and night. If I do not set arrays or seal souls, the peace the people have only just gained will vanish in an instant. Do you know that last month, three farmers went mad and died after mistakenly eating contaminated seeds?"

Tang San sighed softly. "As a god, I must protect all living beings, but I must also preserve the balance of Dao. Divine power cannot be abused, and order cannot be privately imposed. What you are doing is already close to Suppressing Dao with Force."

"Suppressing Dao with Force?" Yang Jun sneered. "Then tell me, without force, what are the people supposed to rely on to survive? Your divine decrees? The benevolence of the Heaven Dou imperial family? The mercy of Spirit Hall?"

The wind and snow abruptly stopped. Heaven and earth seemed to freeze.

The two stared at each other. One was a god, the other a farmer; one held a scepter, the other gripped a hoe. Their shadows stretched long across the snow, like two paths that had diverged from that moment onward.

That night, within the Solitary Cultivation Hall, the charcoal fire glimmered faintly.

Yang Jun and Tang San sat facing each other. There was no wine, no tea, only two cups of coarse tea, their steam curling upward like circling thoughts.

"Do you know," Yang Jun said slowly, "when I was young, my mother starved to death in the snow, still clutching half a piece of bark in her hand. I swore that if one day I could Control the land, I would never let another person starve to death. I do not want gods, sects, or handouts from Soul Masters—I want everyone to be able to farm, everyone to be able to live."

Tang San said quietly, "I understand. But I became the Sea God not to establish another Solitary Cultivation Kingdom, but to end conflict, to allow Soul Masters and ordinary people to coexist, and to let gods safeguard order."

"But your method is to rule the world through gods." Yang Jun shook his head. "You issue divine decrees and send the Sea God Island Inspection Envoy Corps to oversee the world. How is that any different from Spirit Hall? One relies on divine authority, the other on religious authority. You all believe that only you can save the world."

He rose and pointed toward the fields outside the window. "Look at those people. They farm the land, build defenses, and use the Plow Array to protect themselves. They are not waiting for gods to save them—they are saving themselves. That is Dao. True peace is not bestowed by gods. It is won by the people themselves."

Tang San remained silent for a long while before finally rising. "I respect your choice. But as the Sea God, I cannot allow private arrays to run rampant, nor can I allow Dao Seed to become another form of control. If you insist on this, then I can only—revoke your title as Dao Protector."

"Then revoke it." Yang Jun smiled faintly. "I have never lived by a god's title."

At dawn, Tang San departed.

He did not move a single soldier, nor did he destroy a single plow or array. He merely erected a stone stele before the Solitary Cultivation Hall, inscribed with:

As the stele landed, ocean waves surged. Tang San returned to the sea upon the waves, his back lonely as a god's, as though he bore the weight of the entire world.

Yang Jun stood amid the wind and snow, staring at the stone stele in silence for a long time.

Yu Xiaogang approached, carrying a yellowed ancient volume. He said softly, "I searched through all the secret texts of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon lineage and finally found a passage: 'Gods are not born by heaven, but made by men; Dao is not bestowed by heaven, but upheld by the heart. In ancient times, the god of farmers tasted countless herbs and tested poisons upon his own body, finally attaining fruition.' Yang Jun, the path you walk is another road to godhood."

Yang Jun chuckled. "I do not want to become a god. I want gods to no longer be necessary."

He raised the Shennong Hoe and lightly tapped the stele with its blade. Ice thunder flashed. The inscription remained unharmed, but another line of small words appeared upon it, as though carved into fate:

Several days later, news spread throughout the continent:

Sea God Island issued the Divine Decree Record: the Solitary Cultivation Academy would remain under Sea God's protection, but the Plow Array was listed as a "restricted soul array" and could only be activated with Sea God Island's approval. The Solitary Cultivation Academy was forbidden from establishing private tribunals or recruiting Soul Masters.

The Solitary Cultivation Hall issued the Farmer's Declaration: "Dao does not rely on gods, and force does not oppress the people. Farmers farm for themselves; protectors protect themselves." It also announced the formation of the Farmer's Alliance, composed of farmers, Soul Masters, healers, and craftsmen from various regions. Based around the Plow Array, it would defend and govern itself, rejecting interference from divine authority.

Spirit Hall seized the chance to incite unrest. "The Sea God and the Solitary Cultivator have split! Tang San has abandoned Yang Jun! The Solitary Cultivation Academy is the source of rebellion!" They secretly dispatched Shadow Gu Masters into the Farmer's Alliance, attempting to use gu insects to Control Dao Seed.

The Heaven Dou imperial family adopted an ambiguous stance. On one hand, it praised the Solitary Cultivation Academy for "benefiting the nation and its people." On the other, it ordered that "private armed forces are forbidden," remaining wary of the Farmer's Alliance.

Xiao Wu and Tang Hao returned once more to the village in the Star Dou Great Forest.

An old farmer held Cold Rice seeds in his hands, tears in his eyes. "Miss Xiao Wu, will Mr. Yang still come?"

Xiao Wu looked toward the northern wind and snow and said softly, "He will not come to Sea God Island, but his seeds will keep growing in our hearts."

Tang Hao looked at the ordinary hoe in his hands, the one he had received from Old Plowman, and murmured, "Some people are not gods, yet they are more like gods than gods themselves. They do not fly into the heavens, yet they hold up the earth."

At that moment, a streak of green light flashed outside the village.

Old Plowman appeared amid the wind and snow, followed by dozens of farmers. All of them held hoes, icy water dripping from their blades. They had no soul rings and no martial souls, yet their gazes were firm as warriors arrayed for battle.

"From this day onward," Old Plowman declared, "we will not wait for gods, nor will we kneel to power. We ourselves are Dao Protectors."

The children followed behind them and shouted in unison, "We ourselves are Dao Protectors!"

Their voices boomed like thunder, shaking snow from the treetops.

Extreme North, Solitary Cultivation Hall.

Yang Jun sat alone before an ice lotus. The ice lotus, formed from droplets of water condensed by the Shennong Hoe, still bloomed amid the snow. The point of light in its heart shone even brighter, as though life pulsed within it. He gently stroked the Shennong Hoe and murmured:

"Tang San, walk your path of gods, and I will guard my mortal world.

We are not enemies. It is only that—our Daos are different.

The wind rose, and snow fell.

The ice lotus slowly scattered. Its petals became like seeds, drifting westward across the continent with the wind.

Every petal was like a Core Flame.

Every one waited—to break through the soil.

Far away on Sea God Island, Tang San stood upon a cliff, gazing at the northern wind and snow. Sea God's Scepter trembled lightly in his hand. Bo Saixi approached and said softly, "He has taken another path."

Tang San nodded. "Perhaps that is the true Dao."

He closed his eyes and silently thought, If one day all living beings no longer need gods... that will be true peace.