The First Serf Revolt Begins: The Fury of Serfs Spills Blood Within Five Steps!

[Sequence Evolution Log]

[Year 28]

Auspicious Land, New Apple City, year's end.

Undercurrents surged beneath the surface throughout the city.

Luo Jin had been in seclusion for over half a year. The boundary of Seventh Grade was within arm's reach.

He sat cross-legged within his secluded residence, the aura around him circulating as he nearly melded into one with the earth's vital currents. The Earth Escape Technique no longer seemed to be merely a method of travel, and his senses were spreading toward deeper earth veins, faintly brushing against the threshold of an invisible gate...

Yet that gate remained tightly shut. No matter how he knocked upon it, it did not budge in the slightest.

He recalled the great immortal and Buddha cultivators of ancient times, beings of immense fortune and power. A single breakthrough could take ten years, a hundred years; seas turned to mulberry fields, and success could not be rushed.

Thus, he remained neither impatient nor restless, steadfastly guarding his true heart.

Outside the door, Luo Dazhuang sat cross-legged without leaving even half a step, rooted like an old tree. Whenever someone approached, he opened his eyes and glared until they retreated, only then closing them again. He did not understand cultivation, nor did he understand the Great Dao. He only knew that the Hall Master was breaking through. Even if the sky collapsed, he could not allow outsiders to disturb him.

Meanwhile, within a farmhouse outside, Li Shitou, who had temporarily assumed control of Old Farmer Hall's affairs, sat in a circle with three newly contacted farmers.

"After you return, keep a close eye on what happens in the city. How much grain have the wealthy households stockpiled? Have any outsiders recently been entering or leaving the Buddhist Sect and Daoist Sect? Any abnormalities... write them all down and report them to the hall!"

The three farmers nodded in agreement and quietly departed.

Li Shitou blew out the oil lamp and sat motionless in the darkness for a long while.

He knew very well what he was doing. He also knew exactly how Luo Jin and Luo Dazhuang would react if they learned he had been contacting farmers.

But he knew even more clearly that if Old Farmer Hall only clung to those lowest-ranking slaves, it would never amount to anything.

The slaves had limited horizons and sealed-off information; they knew nothing of changes in the outside world. Farmers were different. They dealt with landlords, merchants, and even the servants of Buddhist-Taoist cultivators with meager cultivation left over from the old era...

As long as he spread this net wide, Old Farmer Hall would have its own eyes, ears, and information channels reaching in every direction.

This was a dangerous move, but he had no other choice!

He believed that, with the Hall Master's wisdom, once he emerged from seclusion and saw the results, he would surely understand Li Shitou's painstaking intentions.

[Year 29]

Spring plowing and autumn harvest passed, and another year vanished in the blink of an eye.

Luo Jin remained in seclusion.

Meanwhile, Li Shitou's arrangements throughout the city had begun to take shape. More than a hundred farmers from the lower ranks had joined, and over thirty Ninth Grade "Farmers" had emerged among them.

Old Farmer Hall's total number of cultivators surpassed four hundred. Its influence expanded from the slave population to numerous villages and towns within and beyond the city. The total number of Premium Quality crops grew to thirty-five plants, while Shennong Valley concealed all kinds of rare variants... some crops glowed at night, while certain medicinal herbs dissolved the moment they entered water, their wondrous uses beyond measure.

Old Farmer Hall's power was still confined to a single city, but its hand had quietly reached deeper, becoming an underground force that dealt in both light and shadow.

Afterward, Li Shitou further used Premium Quality crops to open several small trade routes. Black markets, grain merchants, medicine peddlers, and traveling hawkers all became his eyes and ears. Which landlord was hoarding grain, which Daoist temple had recently received strangers—information flowed into Old Farmer Hall without end, like streams joining a great river.

He never showed himself. Every order was passed through intermediaries; even those working for him did not know who stood behind them.

Old Farmer Hall's face quietly changed, taking on an entirely new look.

[Year 30]

In late spring, Luo Dazhuang could no longer sit still.

Luo Jin had been in seclusion for two years without a single sign of movement.

He had originally been too lazy to care what Li Shitou was doing outside, but lately even the servants sweeping the floors had been gossiping. They said Old Farmer Hall had become something formidable, with people both inside and outside the city, that even merchants came bearing money and grain.

Luo Dazhuang sensed trouble and sent trusted men to investigate.

Three days later.

The news his confidants brought back... sent him flying into a rage!

"Li Shitou isn't only spreading the teachings among farmers—he's even begun laying out trade routes! The owners of several grain shops in the city are in contact with him, and some say he even plans to place people in New Apple City's Buddha Halls and Daoist temples..."

Luo Dazhuang sprang to his feet. "Damn it! He's courting death!"

That evening, Luo Dazhuang stormed into the council hall. Before all the hall members, he pointed at Li Shitou and cursed, "Behind my back, behind the Hall Master's back, you're gathering factions outside! What are you trying to do? Sell Old Farmer Hall's foundation to outsiders?!"

Li Shitou's expression remained calm. "Brother Dazhuang, listen to me—"

Bang!

"I won't listen!" Luo Dazhuang slammed a palm onto the table. "What did the Hall Master say before entering seclusion? Stability first! Slaves as the foundation! Yet here you are, stretching your hand into the farmers' and merchants' ranks! What next? Are you going to seek out landlords? Those powerful nobles and Buddhist masters, Daoist masters?"

Li Shitou fell silent for a moment, then tried to soothe him. "Brother Dazhuang, without farmers and merchants, we are blind and deaf!"

"Whenever those landlords and Buddhist-Taoist cultivators in the city make any move, we are always the last to know. We can only wait until the blade is at our throats..."

"Bullshit!" Luo Dazhuang cut him off. "You're just making excuses! The Hall Master said outsiders cannot be trusted! Today, you dare take one step outside; tomorrow, someone will sell out Old Farmer Hall! Was it easy for us to build what we have now through blood, sweat, and tears? You're digging up Old Farmer Hall by its roots!"

"You're simply acting recklessly!!"

The argument continued for an entire hour.

In the end, Luo Dazhuang used his authority as acting Hall Master to order Li Shitou thrown into confinement. At the same time, he began expelling every farmer and merchant from Old Farmer Hall—those hard-won trade routes and informants were almost entirely severed overnight, forced back underground.

Finally, he openly threatened that if Li Shitou continued acting recklessly and working behind the Hall Master's back, he would use his power as acting Hall Master to expel him from Old Farmer Hall.

Old Farmer Hall's flourishing growth was cut short just like that, coming to an abrupt halt.

[Year 31]

Summer, confinement chamber.

Li Shitou sat in silence, eyes closed as he rested his mind.

Knock, knock, knock—

Someone rapped on the door outside. It was one of his confidants.

"Brother Shitou, the brothers want to rescue you."

"No need."

"But Luo Dazhuang—"

"He isn't wrong." Li Shitou opened his eyes, his voice even and unhurried. "The Hall Master left instructions before entering seclusion: stability first, slaves as the foundation. Brother Dazhuang is only upholding the Hall Master's rules."

"But your method was clearly right! Look how well Old Farmer Hall developed over the past two years... In my view, Luo Dazhuang is plainly a man whose eyes are higher than his hands. Relying on his brotherhood with the Hall Master, relying on the Hall Master's trust and his own loyalty to the Hall Master, he acts recklessly and fiercely purges dissidents. If this continues, won't Old Farmer Hall be finished...?"

"I know it is right, and I believe I am right. But Brother Dazhuang and I are merely in conflict over our paths. We simply think differently. It has nothing to do with right or wrong, nor with ability." Li Shitou lowered his head and looked at his hands. "...I cannot tear my face apart with him while the Hall Master is in seclusion. Otherwise, what awaits us will be complete collapse and fragmentation."

"Once Old Farmer Hall splits, it will scatter... When the Hall Master emerges from seclusion, he will make his own judgment."

The confidant remained silent for a long time before finally leaving.

Over the following months, Old Farmer Hall's development fell completely into stagnation and even gradually began to decline.

Luo Dazhuang fiercely excluded outsiders and expelled farmers and merchants. News from outside could not get in, and news from inside could not get out. He still firmly believed slaves were the foundation of Old Farmer Hall, so he continued developing the hall's slave members.

Storm clouds began to gather.

[Year 32]

Winter. Wind and snow raged together.

Li Shitou was meditating in the confinement chamber when the door was violently shoved open.

His three confidants rushed inside, their faces pale and their breaths ragged—

"Brother Shitou! Something happened!"

"Speak."

"We moved our previous informants underground. Through the trade routes we laid down before, we intercepted a message. Several great households in the city, along with the Buddha Halls and Daoist temples... have noticed us because of Old Farmer Hall's internal strife during this period!"

"They may not know our true details, but they know there is a group in the city whose momentum is wrong, and they are preparing to move against us!"

"What...?"

Li Shitou's pupils contracted.

He had believed that Old Farmer Hall's scattered arrangements and secret operations could conceal it for long enough. He had believed he could remain silent and wait for Luo Jin to break through to Seventh Grade and emerge from seclusion before making further plans.

But he had never expected Luo Dazhuang's brutal exclusion of outsiders to draw even more attention from the outside world. The expelled farmers and merchants scattered throughout the city, and their tongues were not tight. In twos and threes, word spread outward, bringing Old Farmer Hall's existence from the shadows into the light.

Fortunately, because of his previous efforts, there were still informants hidden underground, allowing them to receive the news in advance.

"How many people?"

"At least five great households. Adding the dozens of former cultivators from the Buddhist and Daoist Sects, they may be far inferior to the great cultivators of ancient times, but we are not skilled in slaughter either... They have already colluded in secret and are preparing to act within the next few days!"

Li Shitou abruptly rose to his feet.

Though Buddhist-Taoist cultivators had reached the end of their road and their cultivation was shallow, Old Farmer Hall's foundation was even shallower. If they clashed head-on now, Old Farmer Hall would surely be destroyed!

This was a calamity that would blot out the sky and bury the earth!

There was no time!

He immediately crossed through the wind and snow, striding outside.

"Brother Dazhuang!"

Luo Dazhuang was drinking warm wine. Seeing Li Shitou barge in, he set down his wine bowl. "You still dare—"

"Shut up!" Li Shitou interrupted him for the first time. "The people outside are about to act! The Buddha Halls, Daoist temples, and great households have all joined forces! If we do not leave now, the hundreds of cultivators of Old Farmer Hall will all die here! Even the Shennong Valley we have hidden may not be preserved!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"You drove everyone away. Our information channels were cut off, so you know nothing! But I trust my informants. I know they are coming soon!"

Luo Dazhuang opened his mouth, then hesitated.

"You... you are clearly stirring up trouble! How could anyone possibly notice us?! And gather together to make such a huge mess?! Are you trying to rebel?!"

Li Shitou no longer looked at him. He turned toward his confidants and the hall members gathered outside.

"Those willing to believe me, step forward—!"

Many hall members had suffered under Luo Dazhuang for a long time. Li Shitou had always commanded greater prestige, and at his words, they stepped forward one after another.

Bang!

Luo Dazhuang slammed the table and sprang to his feet, about to say something, but Li Shitou waved a hand, signaling for them to tie up him and all his confidants directly.

"Quickly, take them to guard the Hall Master's place of seclusion. Do not leave even one step... I will buy time for the Hall Master. I will draw away the attention of those damned coveters and must not expose Old Farmer Hall's headquarters or Shennong Valley!"

"My name is Li Shitou." He swept his gaze around before speaking boldly, his voice ringing through the entire hall. "Once, I was only a slave."

"You were too. All of us were."

"But the Hall Master taught us that we could live standing upright. We could resist! One day, we would no longer be slaves! Now, the time has come! Those willing to sacrifice yourselves with me to protect Old Farmer Hall, step forward!"

"Those unwilling may remain here to guard the place. I will never force you!"

Silence—

The hall fell into deathly stillness.

Then the first Farmer stood. Then the second, the third, the fourth... hundreds of Ninth Grade "Farmers" rose in unison. Some gripped their hoes tightly, some seized iron shovels, while others merely took deep breaths and clenched their fists.

Li Shitou looked at those faces—slaves, farmers, youths, elders. One face after another flickered in the firelight.

They were not people skilled in killing. They were merely farmers who faced yellow earth with their backs to the heavens, but they too had burning blood in their chests. They were willing to seek a path to survival, seize a thread of life, for Old Farmer Hall's continued existence!

He suddenly smiled.

"Today, we farmers will show those Buddhist-Taoist cultivators who stand high above us that even the fury of serfs can spill blood within five steps!"

He turned and strode out the door.

Behind him, footsteps surged forth like a tide.

Thus began New Apple City's magnificent First Serf Revolt—