Causality Harvest

Qin Xian's heart jolted when she heard that New Dajiang County had been rebuilt within the newly revived forbidden zone.

She could not help recalling how Dajiang County had been reduced to scorched earth, how her husband had been buried beneath the ruins, and the countless familiar faces amid that night's sky-filling flames... The people who had once worked the fields beside her, who had smiled and greeted her at tea stalls, were all gone.

She had thought Dajiang County would remain that way forever, becoming a dead land that could never grow crops again or house people again.

But the eerie aura had actually dispersed? The land had come back to life!

Whose flesh and blood lay buried beneath that reborn earth? And how many innocent, wrongfully dead ghosts were there?

I never thought... the deaths of Agricultural Path Cultivators could purify the land. Her heart churned as she muttered soundlessly. We insignificant farmers are actually the nemesis of those eerie things that even the Daoist masters can do nothing about... Who would believe that?

Complex emotions surged within her.

There was astonishment, shock, and even, for a fleeting instant, a thread of yearning and expectation.

After all, it was hard to leave one's homeland. That was the place where she had been born and raised, where all her family and her husband were buried, their bones nowhere to be found! If she could return and take a look, even just one look at the land where crops had grown once more...

No! Absolutely not!

She drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the impulse.

Qin Tiehan suddenly stopped speaking. He looked around again, as though someone were still secretly watching through the deserted lake and reeds. Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

Gulp.

Only after pondering for a long while did he speak again.

"More than half a year ago, New Dajiang County was officially completed. Thirty thousand mu of farmland were recovered, along with dozens of mu of high-grade fields. The Daoist sect publicly announced the news, but did not reveal the secret of Agricultural Path Cultivators' flesh and blood. They merely said that the forbidden zone, which had been lost for years, had been purified by Daoist arts and returned to the Daoist sect's jurisdiction."

"As soon as the news came out, all of Jiang Prefecture was shaken!"

Qin Xian could imagine the scene.

The common folk spread the word everywhere, and every household clapped and cheered.

For countless years, eerie domains and forbidden zones had expanded without end, with strange monsters running rampant and people living in fear. How could anyone not be exhilarated by news that lost territory had been recovered?

"Us farmers who took part in reclaiming the land and building the city were praised like heroes too. People even gave us thumbs-up when we walked down the road." Qin Tiehan gave a bitter smile. "Back then, we were happier than you could imagine."

"What happened afterward?"

"Afterward, Daoist Priest Li Xiaobing personally announced an important piece of news—all farmers who had awakened their past-life wisdom could decide for themselves whether to stay or leave! Those who wished to leave could return home, while those willing to stay could settle permanently in New Dajiang County, become county residents, join the outer sect, and receive the Daoist sect's training."

Qin Xian's brows twitched. Being allowed to decide whether to stay or leave sounded like good news, didn't it?

But something about it felt strange...

"Most people chose to stay. More than a hundred of us were comparatively cautious. We felt that pies didn't just fall from the sky, and we missed our homes, so we wanted to go back. We quickly packed our bags and prepared to leave at any time."

"That night, a farmer secretly came to see us. He told us not to leave, that we'd only have a future if we stayed with the Daoist sect, that the Daoist sect's prospects were boundless and glorious. We didn't listen to him... Maybe we really should have!"

"Later, people from the Daoist sect came to see us off. We were even happy about it, thinking the Daoist sect was truly righteous. They had arranged our journey, kept us from being attacked by strange monsters on the road, and were escorting us all the way home!"

"But in the end... they took us to an ancient forbidden zone at the border of Jiang Prefecture, a place thick with eerie aura. Then the Daoist masters suddenly attacked!"

"I watched the people beside me fall one after another. No matter how we tried to hide, we couldn't escape!"

In that instant, all color drained from Qin Xian's face!

Qin Tiehan's lips trembled. He was just as pale, drenched in sweat. "That was when we learned the truth. The Daoist sect would not let anyone leave! They hid the secret that Agricultural Path flesh and blood could purify the land. Whoever learned of it could not be allowed to live... Those obedient ones who chose to stay could go on being 'farmers,' the Daoist sect's 'farmers.'"

"Those unwilling to stay, those who wanted to leave, were taken to eerie lands and turned into nourishment for the earth."

Qin Xian's brow furrowed tightly as she grew increasingly tense.

"We only gradually figured these things out later, after someone pointed us in the right direction..." Qin Tiehan shrank back in belated terror. "What the Daoist sect wanted to raise were farmers they could control completely... People like us, who wholeheartedly wanted to escape their control, were restless livestock to them. We should be slaughtered for meat!"

A massacre!

An indiscriminate massacre targeting Agricultural Path Cultivators!!

Qin Xian closed her eyes.

She recalled the eerie disaster in Dajiang County years ago, recalled those Agricultural Path Cultivators who had died without explanation. Over the years, she had harbored suspicions too. Had those sudden deaths and slaughters truly been caused only by strange monsters?

What shocking secret was hidden behind all this?

Yet in all the news circulated outside, the Daoist sect had always been a great and righteous guardian, always standing with the common people. How could she not have believed it... But Qin Tiehan's words had now brutally torn away the Daoist sect's veil, laying bare every scheme behind it!!

Farmers they could control were brought into the Daoist sect and cultivated. Those they could not control were taken to eerie lands, where their flesh and blood purified the earth.

Agricultural Path Cultivators were treated as livestock and fertilizer, chips that could be harvested. Whoever controlled more "farmers" possessed the unparalleled ability to reclaim lost lands in this world of immortals and horrors, and whoever did so could seize greater authority and influence within the Daoist sect's system!

A path of cultivation that appeared to promise limitless prospects had, because of its unique nature, become consumable material to be harvested!

The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became!!

"What happened afterward..." Qin Xian's voice had turned hoarse. "How did you survive?"

Qin Tiehan's body suddenly shrank back. He lowered his gaze, dazed by the fact that he had survived the disaster.

"The person who cut my throat that day... was Daoist Priest Wang."

Qin Xian's breathing caught.

"I was terrified then. I still remember the blade cutting through my flesh, remember the blood spraying out, remember the moment everything went dark before my eyes... I thought I was dead for sure! But when I woke up again, I found myself in an underground hideout."

"There were dozens of others with me, all barely alive. Daoist Priest Wang had dug us out of the pile of corpses!"

"Daoist Priest Wang drew a great deal of blood from each of us, letting it seep into the ground and continue nourishing the earth, faking the appearance that we had all died... In those circumstances, only people with tough lives could survive!"

"It took nearly half a year for my body to recover. During that time, Daoist Priest Wang had been secretly observing us."

"Only those who could be relied upon, those worthy of trust, could be brought here. As for those who couldn't be relied upon... Daoist Priest Wang never said where they went, but I know they most likely didn't survive."

"Daoist Priest Wang isn't some indiscriminately kind man! He only saves those worth saving, only saves people who can be relied on at critical moments. Otherwise, sooner or later someone would betray him, sooner or later someone would reveal that he had been saving people behind the Daoist sect's back. Then he'd only be bringing disaster upon himself."

After a moment of silence, he said quietly, "I think Daoist Priest Wang did nothing wrong... In this world, human lives are far too cheap! Some people only bring trouble while they're alive. Death is a release for them instead."

Silence.

A long silence.

The lake wind blew in from afar, passing through the reeds. Though it was summer, everything felt bitterly cold.

Qin Xian rose to her feet, her legs weak. She held onto the tree trunk for quite some time before steadying herself.

Only now did she truly understand what it had meant when Wang Congyun saved her and Xiao Tuyun back then. It had not merely saved a few lives. Right beneath the Daoist sect's eyes, he had torn open a gap, leaving the Agricultural Path with a vital chance at survival and preserving a small spark of hope!!

This time, Daoist Priest Wang had secretly rescued seventeen people and brought them here. That was a good sign.

This might only be the first group. Later, Daoist Priest Wang would likely save as many more people as possible who had passed the test, expanding the Qin Household.

She did not hope that one day their Qin Household could contend against a towering tree like the Daoist sect. She only hoped they might have the slightest chance to survive...

"In three days," Qin Xian said. Seemingly having made up her mind, she suddenly turned to Qin Tiehan. "Those among you willing to learn can come find me by the lake. I will teach you more Agricultural Path knowledge and help you cultivate."

Qin Tiehan froze.

"Since you survived, then live well. Live like decent people. Don't let young Daoist Priest Wang's painstaking efforts go to waste!"

Qin Tiehan's eyes reddened. Suddenly, with a thump, he dropped to his knees.

"Yes! I, Qin Tiehan, greet the Household Head! From this day onward, we are all members of the Qin Household, and we will all obey the Household Head!"

From the western marshes in the distance came the clinking and clanging of repairs: hoes striking the ground, wood being hammered, and people murmuring to one another. Life flourished everywhere.

Qin Xian stood by the lake, looking at the wasteland where signs of human habitation had returned. For a long time, she said nothing.

South of Jiang Prefecture, Xiaopei County.

Locust Tree Village, the Jiang Household's small courtyard.

Several years had passed, and the Jiang Household's small courtyard was no longer what it used to be. Its five successive courtyards extended one after another, with covered walkways, blue bricks, dark tiles, and connected corridors.

The courtyard walls had been expanded outward three times. Outside lay more than five hundred mu of good farmland, including two hundred mu of grain and one hundred mu of vegetables. The rest was rotated and left fallow. They kept more than twenty cattle and over a hundred sheep, employed more than twenty-five servants, and hired over a hundred farming households. The place now had the air of a major household.

The afternoon sunlight was perfect, and the fishpond's surface glittered with rippling light.

Zhou Ning'e sat on a stone bench by the pond, scattering fish food into the water. Xianggua and Xueli crouched at her left and right, chattering as they pointed at the koi scrambling for food.

Jiang Tu leaned against a long bench, his eyes half closed as he watched the three mistress and servants.

In the blink of an eye, four years had passed. Zhou Ning'e had grown increasingly radiant. Some of her girlish innocence had faded from her features, replaced by the charm of a married woman. Every so often, she turned and smiled at Jiang Tu without urging him to join them. They each entertained themselves, carrying a leisurely air of afternoon ease.

Jiang Tu appeared to be taking an afternoon rest, but his consciousness had long since sunk into the Golden Tome—

Agricultural Dao Sequence

Sequence Number: 01

Current Evolution Progress: Eighth Rank · "Field Steward"

Total Cultivators in This Sequence: 429

Influence Level of This Sequence: lv1.4 (both the overt and covert lines have achieved success)

Harvestable Causality Points: 1984

429 cultivators!

His influence level had broken through Level 1, successfully granting him a second blessing slot!

Including the surplus he had already possessed, his causality points had exceeded two thousand. It was the largest sum he had accumulated in all these years.

Yet there was not the slightest hint of excitement on Jiang Tu's face. There was only gravity. He knew what this harvest of causality meant.

Four hundred farmers from New Dajiang County and several dozen people from the Qin Household at Green Mountain Lake—the overt and covert lines intertwined, together supporting the tremendous growth in the sequence's numbers. Yet behind that growth, a web of blood spread across Jiang Prefecture was slowly closing in—

He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

Tonight. Tonight, it was time to begin the third evolution!