Bestowing Grace: "Endless Renewal"

Inside the room.

Jiang Tu climbed up from underground, closed the hidden door, and moved the rack of farm tools used as cover in front of it. Only then did he swiftly sit by the bed and sink deep into his consciousness.

Agricultural Dao Sequence

Sequence Number: 01

Current Evolution Progress: Eighth Grade · "Field Steward"

Total Cultivators in This Sequence: 109

Influence Level of This Sequence: lv0.9 (Its reputation has begun to emerge within Dajiang County)

Harvestable Karma Value: 605

Over the past five years, the number of Agricultural Path Cultivators had unknowingly surpassed one hundred. With the support of the "Premium Quality" trait and the "Favorable Weather" blessing, this growth was actually far faster than Jiang Tu had initially expected.

He quickly looked through the dazzling array of previous events...

Triggered Events

(New) Dajiang County farmer Zhao Tiezhu awakened Awakened Wisdom and became a Ninth Grade "Farmer" (Karma Value +2)

(New) Dajiang County farmer Liu Gen successfully planted one Premium Quality wheat seedling (Karma Value +15)

(New) Dajiang County farmer Sun Xiaoniang successfully planted one Premium Quality medicinal herb (Karma Value +10)

(New) Twenty-one Ninth Grade "Farmers," including Zhang Laoshi, Li Mancai, and Wang Shitou, were selected by the Daoist Sect as outer disciples (Karma Value +105)

(New) Ninth Grade "Farmer" Chen Dayong died suddenly (Karma Value +10)

"Another one died?"

Jiang Tu's gaze stopped on the newest sudden-death event, and his brows knitted together.

Over the past five years, a total of thirty-seven Ninth Grade "Farmers" had been selected by the Daoist Sect to become outer disciples. Yet by tonight, including the first Chen Cun, thirty-five had already died within the Daoist Sect—without a single exception.

Meanwhile, the fish that had slipped through the net and had not been selected by the Daoist Sect were living perfectly well. They farmed and harvested, rose at sunrise and rested at sunset. One of them had even broken through to become an Eighth Grade "Field Steward" in the fields—the only Eighth Grade cultivator born in this local world.

Jiang Tu remembered that man was called Sun Fu. He had never left his farmland in his life. On the day he broke through, he displayed the Earth Escape technique in public. Less than three days after the news spread, people from the Daoist Sect came to take him as a disciple. They had even designated him the first inner disciple among the Farmers!

Glory soared to the heavens, and the entire county beat gongs and drums as it held a grand feast. Then there was no then. The thirty-sixth one was gone.

Lingjiang Temple furiously claimed the achievement of thirty-six kills in five years, sorrowfully reported.

Jiang Tu fell silent for a moment. He guessed the last two would be next soon... This could not possibly be a coincidence!

Without question, Chen Cun's death had not been an accident, nor an isolated case. It had been inevitable!

The Daoist Sect had a huge problem!

So many lives lay before him. The evidence was conclusive! Being chosen by the Daoist Sect had never been some heaven-sent match—it was sheep walking into a tiger's jaws!

He had made many guesses about it.

Was the Daoist Sect secretly harvesting Agricultural Path Cultivators? Had strange creatures infiltrated the Daoist Sect, with "outer disciples" actually being sent in as nourishment? Or were they using these farmers who had awakened Awakened Wisdom for some unspeakable... experiment?

Every possibility was chilling, and every possibility was plausible, but he had far too little information.

Over the past five years, he had never stopped making indirect inquiries about the Daoist Sect among the common folk. Yet there was only one story in the outside world—the Daoist Sect was upright and righteous. It protected the common people and slew strange creatures, so it deserved their respect and love.

Whenever the villagers mentioned Lingjiang Temple, they were filled with reverence and gratitude.

"Those Daoist masters are incredible! With a wave of their hands, their Daoist arts are boundless, and strange creatures turn to ash on the spot!"

"If not for the Daoist Sect, this place would have long been crawling with strange creatures like everywhere else!"

No one had ever doubted them.

The enormous disparity between reality and rumor made Jiang Tu increasingly terrified. He always felt that something major was about to happen, but he could not say what it was, much less when it would come.

More than once, he had even considered whether he should leave Xiaopei County as soon as possible, leave Lingjiang Temple's territory, and go somewhere beyond the Daoist Sect's reach.

But he quickly rejected that idea.

If even Lingjiang was like this, the outside world would only be more chaotic. At least the Daoist Sect of Jiang Prefecture still maintained a veneer of decency and had not indiscriminately slaughtered ordinary people. Who knew what things would be like elsewhere?

In troubled times, the most important thing was to find a place to put down solid roots, survive, and quietly build up strength.

Just as he was thinking that—

The Golden Tome violently stirred once more—

Jiang Tu abruptly sat upright. The total number of sequence cultivators had suddenly begun to plummet!

109.

105!

98!

87!

The number fell at a terrifying speed, dropping by a huge amount every short while. Jiang Tu's pupils shrank, and his hands unconsciously clenched into fists.

63!

51!

42!

New events erupted frantically, line after line, densely packed and utterly unending—

(New) Ninth Grade "Farmer" Zhao Tiezhu encountered a sudden attack and died suddenly (Karma Value +5)

(New) Ninth Grade "Farmer" Liu Gen encountered a sudden attack and died suddenly (Karma Value +5)

(New) Ninth Grade "Farmer" Sun Xiaoniang encountered a sudden attack and died suddenly (Karma Value +5)

(New) Ninth Grade "Farmer" Chen Tang encountered a sudden attack and died suddenly (Karma Value +5)

(New) Ninth Grade "Farmer" Wang Xing encountered a sudden attack and died suddenly (Karma Value +5)

Every line was a living, breathing life!

Among them were skilled farmers and medicinal herb experts. Some had only just married, while some still had children in swaddling clothes... Yet the event list was a glaring blood-red... What the hell kind of list was this? This was a death list!

Gulp.

Jiang Tu's throat went dry. He instinctively swallowed, opened his mouth to say something, yet could not utter a single word.

Ten years of accumulation! A sequence path of 109 people had reached the end of the road in mere moments! It was on the verge of collapse!

What was happening?

What the hell was going on?!

The most painful part was that he did not even know what had happened. Separated by the Golden Tome, he could only see strings of cold numbers and lines of blood-red death records. He could not see the truth.

He could think of only two possibilities capable of causing a change on this scale.

First, the Daoist Sect could no longer sit by and watch Agricultural Path Cultivators develop, so it had simply launched a massive purge.

Second, a Strange Calamity.

But no matter how he looked at it, the second possibility made no sense. Dajiang County lay deep within Lingjiang, one of the Daoist Sect's core territories that it had operated for years. The strange creatures in the surrounding region had been cleaned up fairly thoroughly. The occasional survivor could not amount to much. By all reason, a huge number of strange creatures could not suddenly emerge, much less unleash a Strange Calamity that swept across an entire county.

So no matter how he looked at it, this matter reeked of strangeness from beginning to end. No matter how he guessed, it could not possibly be unrelated to the Daoist Sect!

Jiang Tu took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. This was not the time for panic. The total number of cultivators had already crashed below thirty, while the influence that had nearly reached Level 1 was almost reduced to zero!

If it kept falling, the Agricultural Dao Sequence might vanish from the earth entirely. He could not sit by and do nothing!

"Harvest!"

Whoosh—

Karma Value: 775

Seven hundred seventy-five Karma Value points—everything he had accumulated over the past five years, plus tonight's plummeting events. Jiang Tu swept his gaze over the options and locked onto one without hesitation.

Bestow Grace: First Time, 100 Karma Value

Grace could affect every sequence cultivator in the current world. It was the most effective emergency measure available to him right now! It was also his only option!

"Add it!"

Whoosh—

Consumed 100 Karma Value. First Bestowal of Grace Complete

You have successfully bestowed Grace—Kindling Flame

Grace: Kindling Flame

Quality: White (Common)

Duration: One Hundred Years

(Note: After the duration expires, you may directly spend the corresponding Karma Value to reactivate it. There is no need to bestow the Grace again.)

Description: You have successfully bestowed the "Kindling Flame" Grace upon all sequence cultivators in this local world, including yourself. Sequence cultivation is twice as effective through master-disciple inheritance, father-son inheritance, and kinship inheritance. As the kindling flame is passed down, the sequence shall never cease.

Jiang Tu froze for a moment. Grace... actually had a duration limit?

A duration of one hundred years was not short. Once it expired, he could spend Karma Value to reactivate it without having to roll for the Grace again. Still, compared to blessings, which were permanent and could affect both evolution and reality at once, Grace was indeed inferior.

However, its effect was straightforward. The "Kindling Flame" Grace was equivalent to a massive accelerator for the [Inheritance Method]. It doubled the effectiveness of passing down the Dao among masters and disciples, fathers and sons, and relatives. Given time, it should help the Agricultural Path Cultivators in the real world comprehend a complete [Inheritance Method] faster and accelerate the sequence's expansion.

But in the current situation...

Jiang Tu gave a bitter laugh. Everyone was about to die out, so what the hell was there left to inherit? Distant water could not put out a nearby fire!

"Keep adding!"

Whoosh—

Consumed 300 Karma Value. Second Bestowal of Grace Complete

You have successfully bestowed Rare Grace—Endless Renewal

Grace: Endless Renewal

Quality: Purple (Rare)

Duration: One Hundred Years

Description: You have successfully bestowed the "Endless Renewal" Grace upon this local world. Wildfires cannot burn it all away; when spring winds blow, it grows anew. So long as the sequence's inheritance is not completely severed, every low point in the sequence's development shall gather strength for a counterattack, bringing an even more powerful rise and rebound. The path of the sequence shall renew without end.

Jiang Tu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he was stunned.

Holy shit! Purple! Rare!

Had the Golden Tome also seen how urgent the situation was, seen that the sequence stood on the brink of collapse, and finally left him a thread of hope?

Wildfires could not burn it all away; when spring winds blew, it grew anew! Every low point meant an even stronger rebound and counterattack!

This "Endless Renewal" Grace was brimming with hope and a future!

Thump, thump, thump!

Jiang Tu's heart pounded like war drums. He was wildly excited, but after the excitement subsided, reason quickly returned. He noticed the words in the description: "so long as the sequence's inheritance is not completely severed."

The prerequisite was that it could not be severed.

If every Agricultural Dao Sequence cultivator in reality died out, could new ones still be born? Would the occupational sequence load again? How long would the cooldown be?

Jiang Tu did not know the answers to those questions. He only knew that he had already done everything he possibly could.

The two bestowals of Grace had consumed four hundred Karma Value. The next bestowal would require five hundred points, and he no longer had enough Karma Value.

Now, he could only pray that the Agricultural Path would not be extinguished, that one last breath remained.

Jiang Tu leaned against the bed and closed his eyes for a long while.

Outside the window, the night wind howled past, and the winter cold wave invaded, chilling him to the marrow.

"Don't really let it break..."