Occupational Level lv3 and the Third Evolution

Jiang Family Courtyard, on the wooden bench.

Event triggered.

(New) Lingjiang Temple publicly recruits farmers, and tens of thousands of farming households respond, resulting in up to one hundred individuals awakening awakened wisdom (Karma Value +150).

(New) New Dajiang County is established, featuring tens of thousands of mu of fertile farmland and dozens of mu of premium-quality fields (Karma Value +80).

(New) Li Xiaobing's cultivation advances, and Lingjiang Temple intends to nurture her as the first agricultural Dao True Person (Karma Value +50).

(New) The Qingshan Lake Qin Household has three eighth-grade practitioners, while Lingjiang Temple has eleven eighth-grade practitioners (Karma Value +70).

(New) The total number of ninth-grade "farmers" in Dajiang County exceeds five hundred (Karma Value +220).

(New) Some "farmers" are ambushed on their journey back home, leaving their fates unknown (Karma Value +65).

(New) Wang Congyun secretly rescues thirty-eight people, transferring seventeen of them to Qingshan Lakeside to be absorbed into the Qin Household (Karma Value +140).

Ambushed on the journey back home?

Fates unknown?

Jiang Tu knew very well in his heart that the truth hidden behind these short lines of events was likely terribly heavy.

Reviewing his previous karma gains, he remembered that early on, a single awakening farmer could contribute over a dozen points, and growing a single stalk of premium-quality crop yielded another dozen or so. Yet now, with the total number of "farmers" reaching over 400 and awakening simultaneously, they only gave this much... The shrinkage was severe.

It seemed that the "dividend period" in the early stages of the sequence's development had already passed. When the exact same behavior repeated, its impact would continuously decline, and the karma gained would drop accordingly. This was the law of the Golden Tome, as well as the law governing all things in the world.

The first person to eat the crab had the best experience; everyone who followed was just riding the coattails, at best getting to drink some soup.

However, what truly concerned him was not the amount of karma gained, but the information hidden behind each individual event.

With the establishment of New Dajiang County, the Daoist Sect claimed to the outside world that profound Daoist techniques had dispelled the strange Qi and driven away strange entities.

Yet Jiang Tu did not believe a single word of it.

He remembered what was mentioned in the Golden Tome's feedback years ago: the Dajiang County Forbidden Zone was ushering in a rebirth.

What kind of "rebirth" could allow a dead zone to come back to life?

What kind of "Daoist technique" could resolve the strange Qi that had plagued the Daoist Sect for tens of thousands of years?

He thought of those farmers who had died within the Daoist Sect—Chen Cun, Sun Fu, thirty-six innocent lives—along with the tens of thousands of wronged souls from the Dajiang County strange calamity... A single thought lingered and refused to leave.

Could there be some connection between the rebirth of New Dajiang County and those dead agricultural path cultivators?

Yet he had no evidence.

He was located in Xiaopei County, separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, able only to see lines of text on the Golden Tome... He still needed a reliable source of news, someone within the Daoist Sect who could exchange information with him. Otherwise, he could not even be certain what was truly happening inside the forbidden zone and the Daoist Sect.

Wang Congyun, that dark and thin young Daoist priest, had initially asked him how to survive within the Daoist Sect, and now was secretly rescuing "farmers" to deliver the sparks to Qingshan Lake.

He truly was an ideal intelligence source, but he was a thousand miles away with no contact method whatsoever...

Even if he had one, Jiang Tu would not initiate contact, as the risk of exposure was far too great.

He shook his head, temporarily suppressing the thought, and summoned Xiao Tuyun's personal panel instead.

Name: Qin Tuo Yun

Lifespan: 4/89

Cultivation: Innately Extraordinary (Eighth-Grade Field Steward (2000/2000))

Event triggered

(New) At age one, she begins to speak, opening her mouth to utter phrases about the agricultural Dao.

(New) At age two, she runs and jumps all over, sensing the earth's veins with bare feet.

(New) At age three, she masters the Earth Escape Technique, hiding in rice paddies to tease her mother and elder brother.

(New) At age four, she masters the Earthmoving Technique, executing the Earth Escape Technique three times a day and reaching eighth-grade perfection.

(New) Eighth-grade limit, with no path forward ahead.

Age four... Eighth-grade perfection!

This little girl had been cultivating from her mother's womb, being born at the eighth grade with an agricultural bone and Dao foundation. Now at age four, she had walked the entire eighth-grade path to its end, improving at a pace even faster than Luo Jin during his evolution. At this momentum, if her path ahead had no upper limit, wouldn't she be able to charge at the seventh grade immediately?

Yet with no path forward ahead, her cultivation seemed unable to rise any further.

This was likely because the seventh grade had not yet been loaded into reality. The progress of the sequence's evolution determined the development upper limit of the native world's sequence, and he had only evolved up to the eighth grade... Xiao Tuyun was indeed a genius, but without the evolution being loaded, expecting her to forge a new seventh-grade path above the eighth grade was something she might fail to accomplish even after exhausting her entire life.

Seeing this, Jiang Tu could not help but compare it to his own panel.

Name: Jiang Tu

Lifespan: 37/94

Cultivation: Newly Entering the Dao Path (Agricultural Sequence, Eighth-Grade Field Steward) (1596/2000)

Remaining evolution duration: 14 years and 4 months

He was a full thirty-three years older than Xiao Tuyun, yet he still had a considerable gap before reaching the eighth-grade limit. His Earth Escape Technique could only be used twice a day, and his Earthmoving Technique had merely scratched the surface—and this was still with the blessing of his agricultural bone.

Without the agricultural bone, his progress right now would likely be much slower.

Jiang Tu sighed.

There was still a difference between talented types and hardworking types; other people reached the peak just by practicing casually, while you practiced until you nearly died and were still crawling up the slope.

Xiao Tuyun was the talented type, whereas he was the hardworking type—or rather, the "surviving" type.

He would rather be a bit slower just to guarantee his safety.

If he could travel everywhere to preach and widely gather disciples as the "Lord of the Great Dao," his rate of advancement would undoubtedly be fierce. Yet doing so would be tantamount to self-destruction right under the Daoist Sect's nose, so he could only wait—wait for the evolution to pave the way, wait for time to accumulate, and wait for the total number of sequence cultivators to slowly grow and gradually feed back into his cultivation, gathering the drops into a pool.

His remaining evolution duration had reached 14 years, which was his most abundant reserve since he first initiated evolution.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

It was time to get down to business.

Late at night, Jiang Tu rose from his bed and came to the quiet room. Outside the window, the moonlight was thick, and the courtyard was wrapped in absolute silence.

From the adjacent bedroom came Zhou Ning'e's steady breathing. She had long since grown accustomed to her husband's occasional disappearances in the night and never pressed with questions; rubbing her sleepy eyes, she would simply roll over and go right back to sleep.

Jiang Tu locked his consciousness onto the Golden Tome.

"Harvest."

Whoosh—

Karma Value: 2359

Over 2,000 karma points!

This was his entire family fortune saved up over the span of ten years.

Tonight, he was going to dump all of these savings in to build up momentum for the third evolution!

"Optional Profession 1: Farmer"

"Professional Level: lv2" (+)

"Add points!"

Whoosh—

"Consumed 1000 Karma Value, professional level increased, professional sequence evolution efficiency moderately increased."

"Professional Level: lv2 (1000/1000) → lv3 (0/10000)"

"Trait: (New) Blessing a Region"

"Blessing a Region: Regions where a large number of agricultural sequence cultivators gather will give birth to an Earthborn Guardian Spirit that blesses a region, guards a domain of rivers and mountains, and stabilizes the peace of a locality."

Seeing this, Jiang Tu blinked.

An Earthborn Guardian Spirit?

The image of the Earth Gods from the xianxia stories of his past life immediately surfaced in his mind... This "guardian spirit" sounded similar to them, yet it also seemed not to be as simple as a mere keeper of the land. Guarding a domain of rivers and mountains and stabilizing local peace exceeded the scope of simply managing dirt, resembling instead some sort of regional protective lesser deity.

If the gathering of enough agricultural cultivators could give birth to a guardian spirit, then the foundation of the agricultural Dao would be firmly planted.

They would no longer be scattered and wandering skirmishers, but rather a major regional force with roots and foundations.

The emergence of an Earthborn Guardian Spirit also meant that the influence of the agricultural sequence had expanded from personal cultivation to regional impact. Places where cultivators gathered would be blessed and protected, the internal cohesion of sequence cultivators would increase significantly, and this in turn would promote the gathering and heritage of cultivators.

This was the equivalent of an accelerator for a positive feedback loop!

Good stuff!

Professional traits had never disappointed him!!

"Pray for Blessing: 1000 Karma Value"

Jiang Tu's eyelids twitched.

The first prayer only cost 150 points, and the second one directly jumped to 1,000!

Wasn't this inflation speed a bit poetic?!

He had originally intended to pray once and then follow up with another wave of bestowments, but looking at it now, his remaining karma value was only enough to choose one of the two.

After weighing his options slightly, he still chose prayer. Blessings exerted their effects in both evolution and reality, and since he already possessed a second blessing slot, he could hang another one alongside "Favorable Weather," making it more cost-effective.

"Add points!"

Whoosh—

"Consumed 1000 Karma Value, completed the second prayer for blessing."

"You have successfully acquired the blessing—Phenomenon: Auspicious Snow."

"Blessing: Phenomenon: Auspicious Snow"

"Quality: Green (Fine)"

"Description: After loading this blessing into the evolution, it grants a one-percent probability each year for auspicious snow to fall in the lands where agricultural sequence cultivators reside. Auspicious snow portends a bountiful year, allowing crops and medicinal herbs to grow through the winter while substantially increasing their age and infusing them with a faint spirituality of heaven and earth. Upon completing an evolution settlement once, this blessing will be loaded into reality, and based on blessing slots, two types of blessings can be loaded simultaneously."

Jiang Tu's eyes lit up abruptly.

Phenomenon: Auspicious Snow.

Fine quality!

It was a tier higher than Favorable Weather, and its effect was extremely unique. The one-percent probability of auspicious snow falling each year allowed crops and medicinal herbs to grow through the originally cold winter, while also substantially increasing their age and infusing them with spirituality.

A one-percent probability truly was not high.

He might not necessarily encounter it even once during these 14 years of evolution, but what if it triggered? Growing crops in winter with the added boost of spirituality was practically dimensional reduction warfare in the early stages of evolution.

Awesome!

These 2,000 karma points were not spent in vain!

The only thing he needed to worry about was whether the descent of such a phenomenon would invite disaster upon Old Farmer Hall? Probably not; the phenomenon of Xiao Tuyun's birth previously had not attracted the Daoist Sect's attention either, but it was still worth observing for a bit...

Everything was ready—

Professional level lv3 dual traits in place, and the dual blessing slots filled.

Jiang Tu rubbed his hands together, his heart filled with both anticipation and tension. For the third evolution, he hoped to at least see the sequence grade break through the eighth-grade bottleneck.

"Start! Continue Evolution No. 001!"

Boom—!

The scene before his eyes changed drastically.

Mountains and rivers inverted, the sun and moon reversed, and a vast, archaic land burst forth with a resounding crash. His consciousness rose infinitely, piercing through the clouds and the river of stars, overlooking an ancient world that was slowly awakening.

"Comprehensive loading of the native Immortal-Phantom World model..."

"Loading the origin of the Great Dao: thirty thousand years ago, the Primordial Immortal Calamity..."

"Evolution Number: 001 (Continued)"

"Selected Profession: Farmer (lv3) (Traits: Premium Quality, Blessing a Region)"

"Selected Blessings: Favorable Weather, Phenomenon: Auspicious Snow (2/2)"

"Evolution begins!"

Light poured down like a waterfall, completely swallowing his field of vision, and the ancient, auspicious land suddenly manifested!