Settlement, Earthwalking Straw Figure

[Sequence Evolution Log]

[Year 41]

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As autumn gave way to winter, the vegetation in Shennong Valley gradually yellowed.

A Straw Figure stood before Luo Jin.

This was his nine-thousandth attempt. More than three years had passed since he first began feeling his way through the Straw Figure Technique. All his spare time had been spent here—selecting blades of grass, weaving them over and over, adjusting their structure, and replacing the materials.

But this time, he felt that he was finally going to succeed!

The frame of this Straw Figure was made from thorn spines, taken from the oldest thornbush on the northern slope. It was said to be over a hundred years old, with toughness and hardness far beyond ordinary thorns... Its outer layer and limbs were made from the valley's toughest Iron-Wire Grass. Once dried, this grass could not be kneaded apart or torn apart, and even ordinary sickles struggled to cut it... Its joints were connected with vines and fine flower-root stems... Its body was filled with rice ears.

Luo Jin watched the Straw Figure. It lay there quietly, like a living creature waiting to be awakened.

This was undoubtedly the most perfect one he had ever made. The direction of every blade of grass had been painstakingly adjusted, and the tightness of every joint was exactly right.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes to compose himself for an hour, then burned incense and bathed before finally moving. All his essence, qi, and spirit gathered at his fingertips. His index finger lightly touched the Straw Figure's brow, and the cultivation of a Seventh Grade practitioner surged forth—

"Rise!"

Whoosh!

A wisp of green light flowed from his fingertip and spread from the top of the Straw Figure. First came its head, then its neck, torso, and limbs. The Straw Figure was completely enveloped in green light, as though soaking in a warm spring. A faint glimmer suddenly lit up within its hollow eye sockets.

Creak, creak, creak.

Hiss, hiss, hiss.

The Straw Figure's fingers began to move. They first curled slightly, then slowly spread open... Next came its arms. Its stiff grass-leaf joints bent bit by bit as it made its first attempt to grasp something!

It braced itself against the ground and swayed as it tried to stand, but its legs still would not obey. Its knees buckled, and it dropped back to its knees.

The watching farmers held their breaths, scarcely daring to breathe as they stared nervously at the scene.

Luo Jin did not step forward to support it. He too held his breath and waited.

It tried again on its own. Its shoulders moved, its back arched, one foot planted firmly on the ground, then the other followed.

It stood up!

It stood up!!

It was only the size of an adult's palm. Yet its grass-woven body slowly expanded, condensed, and took shape beneath the green light. Skin emerged, brows and eyes formed, robes spread across it. In just a few breaths, it transformed into a young man with the appearance of a True Person.

Its features were refined, its skin slightly dark, and its eyes spirited. Yet there was a somewhat blank, sluggish look in those eyes, as though it was not especially bright.

Luo Jin shot to his feet, his face overflowing with ecstasy!

The enlightenment had succeeded!!

This was his first living Straw Figure!!

The farmers around him froze for a moment before a thunderous cheer suddenly erupted!

"It worked—!"

"The Hall Master really brought that Straw Figure to life!"

"This is called enlightenment! Enlightenment! Granting life to a living being! What immortal means is this!!"

Luo Jin ignored the surrounding uproar. He crouched down and carefully examined the living Straw Figure, waving a hand before its eyes. The Straw Figure's gaze followed his hand, but its reaction lagged half a beat behind.

Luo Jin tried to sense its abilities. A moment later, he understood everything clearly.

[Earthwalking Straw Figure].

It possessed two traits. First, so long as it walked upon the earth, it could travel ten times faster than its original master.

Luo Jin had it make a trip from the valley entrance to the valley's end. In the blink of an eye, it had gone there and back. Although it was not as quick or convenient as using an Insect Spirit to deliver messages, and it could not use the Earth Escape Technique and had to rely on its feet, this tenfold speed was already astonishing. Moreover, it would continuously strengthen as its original master's cultivation and physique improved.

Second, it could transform its appearance and change its face.

With a single thought from Luo Jin, the Straw Figure's face gradually blurred and reshaped itself into an entirely different visage.

First, it became a weather-beaten middle-aged man... Then it changed into a white-haired old woman... Then it became a child of seven or eight. Every transformation was seamless. Outsiders would never be able to tell that it had originally been a Straw Figure. Even its height, build, and temperament could change accordingly.

Seeing this, Luo Jin suddenly smiled.

Nine thousand failures had bought him a Straw Figure that could run and change faces. It was a little foolish, slow to react, and possessed no real combat ability, but it was alive. He had enlightened it with his own hands.

The excitement he felt was beyond words.

Among the crowd was an Eighth Grade female cultivator named Xu Lin, one of Luo Jin's most loyal disciples.

She had been quietly watching the whole scene. Her gaze shifted from Luo Jin to the Straw Figure, then from the Straw Figure back to the earth beneath her feet. She had watched that wisp of green light flow from Luo Jin's fingers into the Straw Figure, and watched the Straw Figure transform from grass leaves into human form. In that instant, she seemed to glimpse something deeper through the Straw Figure.

It was the hidden vitality of the Agricultural Path.

"So... this is the Agricultural Path?"

She murmured this, then sat down cross-legged where she was and closed her eyes, carefully contemplating the fleeting opportunity for enlightenment.

In a daze, she seemed to have taken another step closer to Seventh Grade.

The farmers around her were still celebrating wildly over the Straw Figure's birth, and hardly anyone noticed what she was doing.

From then on, Shennong Valley gained another sight to behold.

A "personal bodyguard" always followed behind Luo Jin. It changed faces every day—today a burly man with a full beard, tomorrow a delicate young wife, the day after an old man with a white beard. It wore a different appearance every time it appeared, one person with a thousand faces.

The farmers' greatest pastime after meals was guessing what the Straw Figure would look like that day. Luo Jin enjoyed it as well.

Seeing this, Jiang Tu's eyes lit up.

Nine thousand failures for one Straw Figure—the cost was truly high. Still, the final result was indeed exquisite. Tenfold movement speed plus transformation and face-changing; though it could not fight, it was fairly practical!

For no reason at all, he felt a little tempted. He even began looking forward to it... When he one day advanced to Seventh Grade, what kind of Straw Figure would he be able to enlighten?

Well, putting everything else aside, he only hoped his own Straw Figure would be a little smarter!

Luo Jin's Straw Figure was far too dull. It was stupid and clumsy, as though it had no future at all.

[Year 42]

On a spring night, Shennong Valley was silent.

Whoosh!

Luo Jin suddenly woke from a nightmare, drenched in cold sweat.

Huff, huff, huff—

He gasped heavily, bracing himself against the edge of the bed as he sat up. His heart pounded like a war drum.

The scenes from his dream still flickered endlessly before his eyes. A gigantic golden Buddha hand had descended from the sky, crushing countless living people into pulp on the spot. Li Shitou's voice seemed to still echo in his ears: "Today, my vitality has run dry... I can't go back..."

He pressed a hand over his turbulent chest, unable to calm himself for a long time!

He had been having this dream for nearly seven years! It came once every few days, never failing to appear!

Sometimes it was the Buddha palm descending. Sometimes it was Li Shitou's retreating back. Sometimes it was Luo Dazhuang kneeling on the ground and offering up that severed finger... The ending was always the same. He woke drenched in cold sweat, his heart still haunted by lingering fear.

Luo Dazhuang blamed himself for getting Li Shitou killed, but how could Luo Jin not blame himself as well?

If he had not insisted on entering seclusion to charge toward Seventh Grade... If he had emerged even a little earlier... If he had not been so obsessed with breaking through to Seventh Grade... There would have been no rift between Luo Dazhuang and Li Shitou, no Serf Rebellion, and no tens of thousands of lives buried in vain!

This was his heart demon, impossible to shake off.

Ever since he successfully enlightened the Earthwalking Straw Figure, his cultivation had been unable to advance even an inch.

No matter how he taught, passed on his knowledge, or farmed, there was no progress at all. The road ahead seemed to end here. This was certainly because Shennong Valley's development had now neared its limit, but even more because he had failed to forget that nightmare.

He was even beginning to feel afraid.

Many times, he had considered leading people out of Shennong Valley again to develop elsewhere and return to New Apple City. But he feared that once Shennong Valley was opened, the Buddhist Sect's Buddha hand would descend again. He feared that even the remaining embers of Old Farmer Hall could not be preserved. He feared that the Serf Rebellion would happen again. He feared that he would be unable to protect anyone.

He could not make this decision.

Since awakening his Awakened Wisdom, he had never been so lost, never been so unable to move forward.

A few days later, a late spring cold spell suddenly arrived.

Shennong Valley had enjoyed Favorable Weather for many years. This was the first time frost had fallen in spring, the first time they had encountered a cold wave again. As Luo Jin watched the sudden cold descend, the unease in his heart grew increasingly intense.

He felt... that this was not a good omen.

But immediately afterward, a heavy snowfall descended without warning.

The snow fell like goose feathers, fluttering down and covering the valley. The farmers were first thrown into panic... Snow in early spring—wouldn't the crops freeze to death?

Yet they soon discovered that the snow was not cold when it landed upon the ground. Instead, it carried warmth and vitality. The wheat shoots blanketed by snow became even more vigorous. Their tender leaves spread open, and their greenery rapidly deepened.

Auspicious snow foretold a bountiful harvest.

Standing amid the snow, Luo Jin reached out and caught a snowflake. The instant it fell into his palm, he felt an indescribable sense of auspiciousness descending upon him. Amid the blessing of this unique heaven and earth, he sensed a wondrous encounter. His emotions surged, and the gloom in his heart, long entangled by his heart demon, actually faded somewhat in the light of this snow.

He raised his head and suddenly looked toward the valley entrance, sealed away for seven long years, falling into deep thought.

"—Phenomenon: Auspicious Snow triggered—"

"Evolution has paused due to insufficient remaining evolution time."

"Settling—"

"Evolution duration: 42 years and 2 months."

"Historical summary: In the twenty-eighth year after Heavenfall, Luo Jin entered seclusion to break through his realm. Storm clouds roiled within Old Farmer Hall as it endured internal disputes, the Serf Rebellion, suppression by the Buddhist-Taoist Path, and a retreat to Shennong Valley, repeatedly teetering between life and death. The handover of a severed finger, blood splashing five steps away, finally became an echo that would never fade; crushing a pill in hand and entering the path opened the road to Seventh Grade from that day onward. Luo Jin finally broke through to Seventh Grade as an Herbal Scholar, mastering core techniques such as the Pill-Crushing Method and Straw Figure Technique. He compiled the Herbal Compendium, spreading teachings far and wide. The Agricultural Path flourished in Shennong Valley, Blessing a Region and giving birth to a Land Spirit. After nine thousand unrelenting attempts, he enlightened a Straw Figure. Reborn like a phoenix from the ashes in desperate straits, yet trapped by his heart demon and unable to advance, he suddenly encountered the phenomenon of auspicious snow, which washed away the gloom and let him see a thread of dawn once more—"

"Settlement rewards: Sequence Points*729, Luo Jin's Cultivation Experience · Part Two, Herbal Compendium · Complete Edition, Luo Jin's Earthwalking Straw Figure."

"Occupational traits synchronizing into the native world—Evolution blessings synchronizing into the native world—"