Seventh Grade: "Herbal Scholar"

At infinite heights.

Jiang Tu looked down upon scene after scene of chaos, his heart unable to settle from the shock.

Five years flew by in a flash. On that blizzard-ravaged night when the uprising erupted, that cry of "The fury of farm slaves—blood splashed five steps!" rang high and forceful, crashing down like a struck bell. It carried the blood and fire long pent up within the slaves' hearts, leaving his own heart unable to calm for a long while.

In truth, his initial judgment of Li Shitou had been that he was an ambitious man unwilling to remain ordinary, one who had taken advantage of Luo Jin's seclusion to secretly gather forces and plot a usurpation.

But after watching everything unfold, Li Shitou's endurance and loyalty deeply moved him.

This man clearly had the power to flip the table, yet never did. When his trusted followers came to rescue him during his confinement, he refused. When Luo Dazhuang cursed him to his face, he remained silent. He could clearly have led his confidants away to establish a separate faction, yet he chose to wait for Luo Jin to emerge from seclusion.

When he finally stepped forward, what he said was, "We must protect the place where the Hall Master is in seclusion."

This was no ambitious schemer. He was a loyal man with clear judgment, one who had never intended to betray anyone—a leader no less remarkable than Luo Jin.

There truly were crouching tigers and hidden dragons among the slaves; talent emerged from every corner!

And then there was Luo Dazhuang. Had he done anything wrong?

He had not.

He simply lacked ability, had too narrow a vision, and gave Luo Jin blind, foolish loyalty. Such people were double-edged swords in any organization: loyal and dependable, yet blind loyalty was often more troublesome than betrayal. At critical moments, they could not tell right from wrong, making them infuriating.

Of course, the person Jiang Tu cared about most was still Luo Jin.

This seclusion had lasted a full five years without result. It was obviously not like advancing to Eighth Grade, something that came as naturally as water flowing into a channel. Perhaps this meant Seventh Grade was fundamentally different from the previous two grades... Ninth Grade was entry, Eighth Grade was the initial grasp of arts, and Seventh Grade might touch upon a higher realm of transcendence, which was why it was so difficult.

Could Luo Jin emerge from seclusion at the most crucial moment?

Jiang Tu waited and watched.

[Year 32]

Auspicious Land, New Apple City.

It was deep winter, and the north wind cut like knives.

A hasty uprising erupted with a thunderous crash beneath the cover of night.

Li Shitou led more than a hundred Ninth Grade "Farmers" and two Eighth Grade "Field Stewards" out from Old Farmer Hall's headquarters.

He did not charge in to kill at once. Instead, he swiftly transformed a hidden underground stronghold within the city and spread word that it was Old Farmer Hall's true headquarters.

The Buddhist-Taoist Path cultivators' informants indeed came sniffing after the news, only to be caught squarely in the trap laid in advance by Li Shitou.

Then, with one slash, he severed the supporting beams and set the stronghold ablaze, flames burning through it as a blazing inferno soared into the sky.

Boom!!

"Old Farmer Hall's Hall Master is here—!"

Within the firelight, he let out a thunderous roar.

"The world treats us all as slaves and servants! But today, we farm slaves rebel—! Remember this well, you bastards: my name is Li Shitou, and I am the Old Farmer Hall Master you have been searching for! Didn't you want to kill us? Then let us see whose deer dies in whose hand!"

More than a hundred people behind him responded at once, their cries shaking the heavens as they charged out in perfect coordination!

"Hall Master! Rebel well!"

"Rebel against their mothers! We should have rebelled long ago!!"

"Kill—! With the Hall Master leading us, today we'll turn New Apple City completely upside down!!"

One stone stirred up a thousand waves.

As the Farmers charged head-on into the estates of every great household, those slaves, tenant farmers, and herb farmers who had suffered oppression for years saw the blazing fire and heard the cries. Like dry kindling meeting a raging flame, they poured out from street after street and alley after alley.

They carried hoes on their shoulders and raised iron shovels. Some carried nothing at all, rushing from their homes bare-handed to join the rapidly swelling tide of people.

"The fury of farm slaves—blood splashed five steps!"

The slogan resounded through the night sky.

The great households were caught completely off guard. The Buddha Halls and Taoist temples hurriedly gathered their forces, but the Buddhist disciples and Taoist descendants no longer faced docile slaves and obedient farmers. They faced tens of thousands of bloodshot eyes, every one of them driven mad with killing intent!

Arson.

Murder.

Breaking down doors.

Pillaging.

The resentment that had been suppressed for so long erupted completely. In the alleys, beneath courtyard walls, before the Buddha Halls, fighting and cries of slaughter filled every corner. Some were hacked down; some were trampled to death. Mud and blood covered the ground, and it was impossible to tell whether the corpses belonged to innocents or powerful nobles.

Li Shitou wanted to bring the situation under control, but the chaos had already become a tangled mess. He watched helplessly as what had begun as resistance rapidly slid toward massacre, as innocent people were swept into the turmoil, yet there was nothing he could do.

This was a war!

He had lit the fire, but he could no longer control its spread.

But there was no time to worry about that now. He could only add fuel to the flames!

Who knew how much time passed.

In a daze, he looked around.

The common people who had joined them had already gathered in numbers exceeding ten thousand. In the Auspicious Land of this era where the path of immortality had ended, this force was enough to overturn an entire city. Perhaps they truly could seize this momentum, overthrow Buddhist-Taoist rule, and let the Agricultural Path take root completely in New Apple City?

At that thought, he gritted his teeth.

"Quick! Follow me and kill our way to the Buddha Hall—!"

The black mass of people surged like a great tide toward the largest Buddha Hall in the city.

Near Old Farmer Hall's headquarters, outside Luo Jin's place of seclusion.

Luo Dazhuang had just struggled free of the ropes when the trusted followers around him exploded into uproar.

"Li Shitou really has rebelled!"

"I told you he was no good! While the Hall Master was in seclusion, he was linking people together and gathering farmers and merchants. Now he has finally shown his fox tail!"

"This is rebellion! Once we get out, we must slaughter him!"

"Should we inform the Hall Master? He's right next door... but if we disturb him recklessly while he's in seclusion, will something happen?"

Luo Dazhuang abruptly rose to his feet. Without a word, he swung his arm and slapped each of the followers who had spoken.

Smack!

"Idiots!" he cursed furiously. "Are you bastards brainless?!"

The followers clutched their faces, utterly stunned.

"D-Dazhuang..."

"If Li Shitou truly wanted to rebel, would he need to lock us up here to guard the Hall Master? Wouldn't it be enough to cut us all down with one stroke? Why would he need to go around in circles?"

At that moment, Luo Dazhuang broke out in cold sweat. Only now did he realize belatedly that Li Shitou might have been telling the truth when he said someone outside was about to make a move.

"Damn it..." Luo Dazhuang cursed and turned to leave.

"Dazhuang, where are you going?"

"You lot, continue guarding the headquarters and the Hall Master. Unless the Hall Master breaks out of seclusion, no one is allowed to disturb him! Whoever dares approach will be killed without mercy!" He paused, drawing a deep breath. "I'm going to find Li Shitou—!"

"What?"

"If he dies, and if he dies because of my stupidity—" Luo Dazhuang gritted his teeth. "I'll have no face to see the Hall Master even in death! He can die, but he has to die after me!!"

The next instant, he stamped both feet and used Earth Escape to sink underground, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Rumble—!

Outside the Buddha Hall, flames shot into the heavens.

A massive hole had been smashed through the blue-brick walls of the grand compound. Billowing black smoke dyed half the night sky dark red. Broken walls and collapsed ruins lay everywhere, and a fallen Buddha statue had half its body smashed apart, draped in flames.

Corpses lay scattered across the ground—some were farmers, while others were Buddhist disciples and followers.

Blood flowed into rivers, giving off wisps of white vapor.

At first, those Buddha Hall disciples had indeed fought fiercely. Though the era had lost its immortal path and they possessed no cultivation or divine abilities, they trained in martial arts year-round and had strong bones and sinews. Three or five ordinary farmers could not get near them. A single Buddhist disciple holding a staff could guard half a corridor, forcing back more than a dozen attackers by sheer force. Li Shitou's side quickly suffered heavy casualties.

But there were simply too many people.

One batch fell, and another surged forward. Their chests burned with bloody courage, their eyes red as they charged without fear of death.

Even more people poured in from behind without end. It was nothing less than a human-wave assault!

Some grabbed Buddhist disciples by the legs, some pounced from behind, and some even opened their mouths and bit their opponents. For the first time, these farmers of the fields discovered that they too could kill—and that they were far more savage than they had imagined!

At last, the Buddha Hall disciples began to collapse one after another. Some threw down their staffs and fled toward the inner courtyard, some climbed over the walls to escape, and some knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Splurt!

Li Shitou hacked down a Buddhist disciple and strode through the front courtyard, about to kill his way toward the rear residence.

Suddenly—

A streak of golden light shot into the sky from deep within the Buddha Hall!

In the air, a massive swastika slowly revolved. Golden light rose into the night like a blazing sun, then poured downward in a rushing cascade.

Immediately afterward, majestic Buddhist chanting rang out from the void, each syllable heavy as a mountain, vast and earthshaking.

"Om—ma—ni—pad—me—hum—"

More than a dozen farmers at the front immediately bled from all seven orifices, their eardrums bursting. They screamed as they clutched their heads and collapsed to the ground. Some had their heads explode violently, flesh and blood spraying everywhere while their headless bodies continued convulsing fiercely.

The Buddhist chant pierced through their eardrums and drilled straight into their minds, as though a fire poker were stirring their brains. The pain was unbearable!

Li Shitou's pupils contracted sharply.

Impossible!

The immortal path had already been severed. There should not have been cultivators in the world capable of wielding such terrifying Buddhist arts! The great Buddhist cultivators of the old era had long since perished completely. At most, there should have been only martial monks guarding the compounds, with strong bones and sinews. How could Buddhist chanting of this intensity still exist?

"Cover your ears! Retreat!! Retreat now!!"

He roared himself hoarse, but the Buddhist chant seeped through every opening. Covering their ears was useless.

The Farmers around him had no power to resist. One after another, they fell, their bodies exploding beneath the golden light. Their flesh and blood seeped into the earth, staining the broad stone steps and corridors before the Buddha Hall red.

Li Shitou himself bled from all seven orifices. His skin split apart inch by inch, his robes exploded into tatters, yet he continued shouting, continued directing everyone, continued trying to drag people backward. But his own body began to sway, his steps growing unsteady.

Was he going to die?

Was this how he would die?

I'm sorry, Hall Master... Darkness clouded his vision, and his consciousness began to blur.

Suddenly—

The earth beneath his feet abruptly stirred, and a hand shot out from underground, gripping his ankle with precise force.

Whoosh!

A tremendous force dragged him downward. The soil split rapidly apart, then closed again.

In his dazed state, Li Shitou saw Luo Dazhuang's flushed face. The other man was drenched in sweat, his gaze fierce. "Damn it, there's actually such a vicious monster hidden inside the Buddha Hall—! I told you long ago to proceed steadily, but you just wouldn't listen!!"

Old Farmer Hall headquarters, the place of seclusion.

Luo Jin had sat cross-legged here for five entire years, yet that invisible gate to Seventh Grade had never moved in the slightest.

He steadied his mind and remained neither hasty nor impatient, challenging the barrier day after day.

But just moments ago, a violent palpitation suddenly surged through his heart without warning.

Within the darkness before his eyes, scenes appeared without reason: a farmer falling to the ground, his head exploding, his flesh and blood melting into the earth... then a second, a third, a fourth...

They had died in all kinds of ways, each more tragic than the last. He recognized those faces as well. Many were Old Farmer Hall brothers who had followed him for years.

With every image that appeared, the aura around him surged upward by another great measure.

The unceasing deaths seemed as though the land itself was forcibly pouring the cultivation of those dead people back into him. The aura was coarse, scalding, and surging like a raging tide, even carrying the unwillingness they had felt before death!

Luo Jin's heart shook violently.

Something has happened!?

Something has happened to Old Farmer Hall!

But he could not stop... that aura was still pouring into him without end, pushing him toward the gate of Seventh Grade. He could only force his mind to remain steady and use this irreversible torrent to launch one final assault on Seventh Grade.

Boom—

The next instant, it was as if great bells and grand drums exploded. The shackles shattered inch by inch! The gates burst wide open!

Dazzling green light surged forth and completely swallowed him. The Agricultural Path's essence accumulated between the furrows, settled within the soil, and contained in every Premium Quality crop violently boiled over. All of it flooded fiercely into his body as the earth returned its most blazing power to him!

His perception expanded abruptly, as though he had become one with the land itself!

Underground water veins, cracks in the frozen earth, the spread of grass roots—all became clearly discernible... as did the flesh and blood of those who had died, still seeping into the earth, taking root and sprouting underground.

Whoosh!

He abruptly opened his eyes, and the vibrant life of the Agricultural Path seemed to boil within them.

—Seventh Grade: "Herbal Scholar."

He had broken through!