Sequence Golden Codex

"Profession 1: Farmer (Locked)"

"Profession Progress: 99.99%"

The eighteenth year of the Jingtai Era, south of Jiang Prefecture.

The Spirit River wound for thousands of miles, and its two banks had since ancient times been among the most prosperous granaries and medicinal storehouses under the governance of the Daoist Sect; Xiaopei County alone boasted one hundred thousand mu of fertile fields laid out in a sweep.

It was the season of the autumn harvest, with a high sky, clear clouds, and a crisp autumn breeze.

Heave-ho, heave-ho.

Jiang Tu buried his head in strenuous toil, harvesting wheat.

"Brother Tu, take a break!" Uncle Tao, whose skin was dark with the sun, straightened up and used a straw hat as a fan to fan himself vigorously. "Just call it a day after you finish cutting this patch today—look over there, Old Sun and the others collapsed under the trees to drink tea ages ago, you are the only blockhead!"

Jiang Tu didn't even raise his head. "Two more ridges."

"You child, how much is enough to cut? You are doing the work for the master anyway, why torment yourself into a donkey?"

Only then did Jiang Tu stand up to catch his breath.

He was in his early twenties, tall, with broad shoulders and a sturdy back. Though his skin tone was deep from year-round exposure to wind and sun, his facial contours were sharp, his brows and eyes possessed an unblemished youthful air, and his appearance was striking.

"Save up a bit more," he smiled broadly. "Just a sliver more money and I can rent two mu of land all by myself. Farming and harvesting your own isn't that much better than carrying loads for others?"

Uncle Tao sneered. "Listen to whoever bamboozled you? Do you really think renting land is any good thing?"

"Facing the yellow earth and turning your back to the sky all year round, that little bit of grain you reap—more than half has to be handed over as rent! And counting the peace money for the Daoist Sect... do you think the patrolling Daoist masters suppress evil for you for nothing? Whenever there's some illness or disaster, wait to die, you! You'd might as well work for the master! At least the master provides meals, and on festivals he even hands out some rice and grain. You eat your fill and the whole family goes hungry, why waste that effort?"

The few resting farmers nodded in agreement.

"Makes sense, going it alone—how could it be that easy?"

"Brother Tu is still young, dreaming prettily! He probably wants to rent land to fetch a pretty wife!"

Jiang Tu didn't retort either, merely smiled and continued cutting wheat.

Everything they said was true.

In this era where ghosts and monsters ran rampant, being able to eat a meal was already a supreme blessing. Yet he was different—he wanted land not just for grain, but for that damned progress bar!

It was just a hair's breadth away!

Over three years ago, he transmigrated here, becoming an orphan who grew up eating meals from a hundred families. His parents died in a calamity the year he turned seven; the villagers were unwilling to mention the specifics, saying only that he had "been entangled by that thing."

Later, he relied on the villagers' charity to grow up, living in a dilapidated shack at the end of the village and making a meager living through hunger and satiation.

At the very beginning of his transmigration, Jiang Tu had been dazed. In his past life he was an ordinary wage laborer, and upon opening his eyes again he had arrived in this Immortal-Phantom World.

Ghosts and monsters ran rampant everywhere, and mortal strength found it difficult to slay them; only Daoist cultivators could contend with them.

Then he discovered that Golden Tome suspended deep within his consciousness, upon which were written archaic seal-script characters: "Sequence Golden Codex".

Upon seeing the profession progress bar, Jiang Tu harbored a guess.

This... is this a class-change system? As long as I continuously perform corresponding professional actions to accumulate progress, can I change classes? Good stuff!

Then, he honestly and steadily worked as a farmer for three years.

Over a thousand days and nights!

It wasn't that he possessed much perseverance, but rather that the path to survival left to ordinary people in this world was too narrow. The Daoist Sect only recruited disciples who possessed bone roots, and he was completely devoid of them. As for other money-making trades, they all more or less required dealing with ghosts and monsters, and they were all life-risking jobs—he refused to do them.

He might as well honestly farm the land!

Fortunately, his starting point possessed the protection of the Daoist Sect, so it was relatively peaceful.

By today, the progress bar was missing only the very last bit, which was why no matter how Uncle Tao tried to persuade him, he had to finish the work!

The sun slanted westward, turning to evening in the blink of an eye, and the master's wagon train arrived.

Manager Qian, who led the way, was a shrewd middle-aged man followed by several hired hands.

"Hurry it up, hurry it up! Finish harvesting this patch and load the carts before dark!" Manager Qian shouted. "Tonight we're hauling it straight to the county granary through the night, tomorrow the Daoist Sect's grain collection team will come to inspect the goods! Whoever messes up gets half their wages docked!"

The farmers successively quickened their pace, and Jiang Tu was among them.

"The last bundle!"

He tossed the wheat onto the cart, and the driver nodded, taking a straw rope to tie it down securely.

Jiang Tu looked at the cartload overflowing with golden wheat ears and let out a long breath.

In the distance, the sound of a bell faintly traveled over.

Clang—!

The great bell of yellow bronze rang, deafening.

"Profession Progress: 100%"

Deep within his consciousness, multicolored rosy clouds filled the sky and auspicious rays numbered in the thousands.

Brilliant golden light surged like a tide as the Golden Tome emerged, brimming with a grand Dao rhythm.

Jiang Tu froze, then couldn't help breaking out in wild joy!

[Optional Occupation 1: Farmer (Unlocked)]

[Occupation Level: Lv1]

[Description: The farmer is one of the most populous occupations on the Immortal-Phantom Earth, rooted in the soil and relying on the seasons and weather. This occupation embodies the Dao of harvest, hope, and survival. While seeming ordinary, it is actually the foundation of humanity, for the people regard food as their heaven. Using a mortal body to walk the great Dao of the state and society, its upper limit is promising, and the Dao Path is boundless]

[Current Abilities: Farming (Basic), Crop Identification (Basic), Herb Identification (Basic)]

[Corresponding Sequence: Unknown]

[Remaining Evolution Duration: 22 years and 7 months]

[Current Evolution Progress: None]

[Sequence Points: 0]

[Karma Value: 0]

[Dao Foundation: None]

Evolution?

Jiang Tu's pupils constricted.

So, this wasn't a class-change system from a game?

If he wasn't mistaken, the Golden Tome wasn't simply providing him with fixed occupations that could be strengthened, but could evolve entirely new occupation cultivation sequences?

No wonder it was called the Sequence Golden Codex!

Let's try it!

His consciousness swiftly locked onto the [Evolution] option.

The next moment!

Boom—

The scenery before his eyes abruptly changed.

A grand and expansive land unfolded with a dreamlike, illusory roar.

Mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and stars were all within view.

That scenery was ancient, boundless, and carried an unspeakable sense of the passage of time.

[Full-spectrum loading of the native Immortal-Phantom World model...]

[Loading the origin of the Dao: Three tens of thousands of years ago, the Primordial Immortal Calamity...]

[Evolution Number: 001]

[Selected Occupation: Farmer]

[Selected Blessing: None]

[Evolution begins!]

Swish!

Light flowed.

Jiang Tu's consciousness lifted infinitely, as if breaking free from his physical body, transforming into a wisp of breeze sweeping across the earth, crossing ten thousand years of the long river of time, penetrating the ancient and modern in an instant—

[Sequence Evolution Log]

[Year 1]

The immortal path was severed, and the high and mighty immortals and Buddhas did not escape a single one, vanishing completely.

Phantoms and monsters ran rampant without restraint, large swathes of the Immortal Sect and orthodox territories fell, grotto-heavens and blessed lands degraded into forbidden zones, and hundreds of millions of living beings fled in panic. With no gods or Buddhas to protect them, and no immortal officials to vanquish demons, mortals had only themselves to rely on.

This year came to be known in history as [Year One of the Skyfall].

[Year 5]

The surviving human cultivators of the old era struggled to unite and maintain the situation, attempting to rebuild order.

Yet heaven did not follow human wishes, and the backlash from the severed immortal path far exceeded imagination. Thousands of high-level cultivators died suddenly one after another, their deaths bizarre, while the remaining hundreds of millions of low-level cultivators suffered cultivation regression, plunging realms, and mental derangement.

[Year 12]

The Great Famine.

Phantoms and monsters ran amok, destroying all farmland and crops. With no grain seeds, no livestock, and water sources difficult to sustain, corpses littered the fields and people exchanged their children to eat.

Ever since then, the famine brewed even more phantoms and monsters, and the human race could only continuously flee their native lands, stepping into the wilderness and crossing desperate regions.

[Year 20]

The human race of the old era completed its first ten-thousand-li great migration, putting the mountains and rivers in order in a remote and desolate place, establishing the [Auspicious Land], and starting over from scratch.

They reclaimed wasteland and revived agriculture, with farmers becoming the backbone.

Immortal arts were no more, magical treasures were no more, and miraculous elixirs no longer existed in the world; they could only sow and plow like ordinary mortals, day after day.

That year, Luo Jin was a mere twelve years old. Born to slaves, he was a slave himself, his life worth no more than a blade of grass.

Yet that very day, he awakened his past-life memories, becoming the first-ever Ninth Grade "Farmer" in human history.

--Agricultural Dao Sequence unlocked--

He was born with an innate mastery of crop cultivation knowledge and the ability to identify weeds, just like a seasoned veteran farmer reborn through several lifetimes.

He was naturally cautious.

In this world, a slave with abilities he ought not to possess brought disaster, not fortune!

Therefore... he kept quiet about it, quietly using his knowledge to turn the soil three points deeper than others, plant his seeds one point denser, and time his watering with precision that rivaled the official sundials. The plot remained the same, yet the crops he sowed grew quite differently.

Gradually, he gained fame among the slaves. Other slaves came to ask him in secret. At first, Luo Jin kept things closely guarded, but later, as trust built up and he confirmed that the slaves were as cautious as he and would not betray him, he began secretly guiding those around him.

Whenever someone's seedlings turned yellow or crops grew pests, he offered pointers.

That year, the slaves' crop yield increased by a full twenty percent.

The landlord was overjoyed, rewarding them with meat and grain. From then on, the slaves no longer looked at Luo Jin as a mere little child, but with hidden awe instead.

[Year 22]

Luo Jin grew even more cautious. He dared not display his abilities in public, and all his teachings took place at night.

"Yellow soil is hard, clay is fertile, and peanuts are planted in sandy soil. Grab a handful, squeeze tight, and release; if it forms a clump and doesn't break apart, it's good soil, while soil that crumbles at a touch is barren... River water is muddy, well water is cool, and rainwater is the absolute best for watering vegetables... The east wind doesn't pass You, the west wind doesn't pass Mao. Look at the sky in the early morning, and watch the skirts of the clouds at dusk."

What Luo Jin taught was nothing more than basic knowledge, yet to the slaves, it sounded like heavenly scripture!

Subsequently, one after another among the slaves awakened their past-life memories. Within a mere single year, the Ninth Grade "Farmers" he had trained already numbered eleven.

Luo Jin gathered the people together and set down strict rules in private: no one was allowed to display their abilities outside. While working, they were to act just as they had in the past—taking scoldings when due, and keeping their heads bowed low.

As Luo Jin spread enlightenment among the slaves, the "Farmers" he cultivated regarded him as their second set of parents, and his own abilities surged ahead rapidly.

Gradually, he could hear the earth. With bare feet pressed against the ground, he could sense the moisture and nutrients beneath the surface, instantly determining how deep the soil needed to be plowed and how many years it should lie fallow.

Gradually, he could perceive the crops, reading their moods—when they were thirsty, hungry, suffering from the heat, or tormented by pests... After he soothed them, their yields soared.

In June of that same year, he broke through the invisible boundary shackles and fiercely shattered his realm!

Eighth Grade "Field Steward"!

He squatted on the ridge of the field, pressing his palms against the ground. The next moment, he sank right into the earth.

Swish!

After moving a mere three or four steps through the soil, he poked his head out from the field, gasping heavily.

The Earth Escape technique on a micro scale!

In this Age of Dharma's End where the immortal path was severed, this was nothing short of a miracle!

He dared not spread word of it, concealing the secret while his heart already anticipated the harvest. He had a premonition that this year's yield would break new records once again—

"Due to insufficient remaining evolution duration, evolution has been paused."
"Settling--"
"Evolution duration: 22 years and 6 months"
"Historical brief review: Twenty years after Heavenfall, the human race migrated across ten thousand miles to secure an Auspicious Land, and agriculture flourished once more. The slave Luo Jin awakened past-life memories, united his kin through the methods of the agricultural Dao, and enlightened them in cultivation. He pioneered the agricultural Dao sequence among the slaves, allowing cultivation without the need for bone structures or a Dao Foundation. He awakened at age twelve, gathered 'Farmers' in a mass following by thirteen, and advanced to the Eighth Grade 'Field Steward' at fourteen. Though born of humble status, he held the welfare of the state in his heart, and the fire of the agricultural Dao began from this moment on."
"Settlement rewards: Sequence Points * 65, Luo Jin's Agricultural Dao Knowledge Legacy: Part One, Luo Jin's Hoe"
"As the Agricultural Dao Sequence has already been unlocked, loading the local Immortal-Phantom World--"

"Loading... Does this mean that true agricultural Dao cultivators will henceforth be born into this world? Doesn't that mean..."

Jiang Tu experienced a violent tremor in his heart as a bold notion surfaced in his mind.

"Through my evolution with the Sequence Golden Codex, did I truly forge a path of cultivation? A professional path of cultivation that requires no bone structure?"