Immortal Mystery Sequence: I Establish a Divine Duty for Heaven and Earth

The twelfth lunar month is not yet over.

A heavy snow fell softly, its fluffy petals drifting down.

The fields and houses along both banks of the Lingjiang River are covered in a blanket of snow, a vast expanse of ice.

In the back hall of the Jiang residence, by the window, a charcoal fire was burning brightly.

Jiang Tu sat around the stove, looking out through the paper window.

Several wintersweet trees in the yard were in full bloom, and Xianggua was secretly picking off the most beautiful plum blossoms from the branches to keep as a keepsake. Not far away, Xueli was keeping watch for her.

He chuckled and shook his head. Why would someone secretly pick their own things? How old are they, still acting like a little girl, always causing trouble?

These two are only two years younger than Zhou Ning'e, and they should have been married off long ago.

Over the years, the servants of the Jiang family have come and gone, several times over, but these two have remained constant. They have grown from the lady's personal maids to the two female housekeepers of the Jiang family, working together to manage the house and the fields outside, and diligently assisting the lady.

Everything inside and outside the Jiang residence was in perfect order, and the two of them deserve half the credit for that...

Over the years, the couple had asked the two girls for their opinions many times, but the two girls were unwilling to leave the Jiang residence and had no intention of getting married.

She wanted to stay in the courtyard to serve the master and mistress for the rest of her life, and also take care of the young master and the little master.

These are all the truth, without any pretense.

Later... no one asked anymore, and they were left to their own devices; they had the right to decide whether to stay or leave.

Zhou Ning'e once asked Jiang Tu during a late-night conversation with him if he had ever considered taking one of the two maids as a concubine, as this was very common in the world these days, and she also hoped that her two little sisters could find a good home.

She even tried to defend Jiang Tu, saying that this didn't count as taking a concubine and didn't violate the promise of a lifetime of one person between husband and wife. But Jiang Tu wasn't a lustful man to begin with, and after having Ning'e, he had no other worldly desires. He believed that no woman in the world could compare to Ning'e in terms of gentleness, intelligence, wisdom, understanding, and spiritual connection. All other women paled in comparison...

Besides, he had practically watched the pears and melons grow up. Even rabbits don't eat the grass near their burrows, so he refused, citing his Taoist practice of purity and detachment from worldly desires as the reason.

Putting his thoughts aside, he looked at the sequence of gold strategies.

Name: Jiang Tu

Lifespan: 49/131

"Cultivation Level: Beginner in the Path of Cultivation (Agricultural Path Sequence, Rank 7, Herbalist) (1149/15000)"

It has been more than four years since I broke through to the next level.

His cultivation level has increased to 1149, which is much faster than when he was at the eighth rank. Back then, even with the bonus from the harvest of the agricultural bone foundation, his cultivation level would only increase by a little over 100 points a year. Now, it has increased by more than 1,000 points in four years, almost doubling.

This is not only because the good seed field yields a bumper harvest every year and gradually improves, but also because he constantly digests and strengthens himself with thousands of precious pills, and he himself is also diligent enough in his cultivation... Most of the credit should also be attributed to the opening ceremony of Qingshan Lake. Every time a new seventh-grade cultivator is born, he can receive a wave of considerable cultivation feedback and karmic value.

The rewards are much greater than when a Rank 8 was created, making it the first wave of Rank 7 bonuses!

However, once this wave of benefits passes, the subsequent improvement speed will still slow down. At the current pace, it will be difficult to reach the sixth rank without decades of accumulation. He still needs to think of a new method in advance.

Enlighten the people! Pass on the traditions of agriculture!

This is the only way!

Of course, one must ensure their own safety and not be exposed before changing identities to conduct education.

When news of the division within the Daoist sect arrived, he had an idea: the dispatch of the eighth-rank official Tian Jun to various cities and counties in Jiangzhou was his opportunity!

If he could disguise himself as a ninth-rank farmer who had been enlightened by Tian Jun, and then spread his teachings discreetly in another place, he would have one more source of cultivation feedback, which would be much more than the current indirect and haphazard feedback!

The most pressing problem is that he only has one straw doll that can take human form, Xiao Jiangliu.

He's also a clumsy and silly cross-dressing guy!

Over the years, Xiao Jiangliu has been growing up slowly. His father-in-law has been spending a lot of time with his grandson, teaching him to recognize characters and speak. He has sought out famous teachers and scholars everywhere to enlighten him, but the child is naturally slow to react. So far, he can only barely recognize characters, write and draw, and say a few simple words.

Zhou was extremely anxious but kept trying. Jiang Tu, seeing his father-in-law's indomitable spirit, didn't think it was a problem.

An elderly man in his eighties, with something to look forward to and something to do every day, has a much stronger spirit than his peers. In addition, with the longevity pills he occasionally takes, he can live for at least another ten years!

Therefore, his immediate priority was to quickly conjure up a usable straw man to use as a disguise.

There is only one spot available for the grasshopper.

As a seventh-rank cultivator, he could sense that he could only enlighten one living straw man during his entire seventh-rank period, even at the limit of the seventh rank. Moreover, once enlightened, he could not abandon it, and even if he destroyed the quota, he could not return.

The rarity and value of a single spot are evident.

Since the end of last year, he has sensed that the straw doll technique is gradually taking shape and that he can try to enlighten it.

Luo Jin went through nine thousand trials to succeed in the evolution process, and as the Lord of the Great Dao, he seemed to have more talent in this craft. He could directly complete the enlightenment from the very first straw figure he wove! But... he never did the enlightenment.

Every time the straw doll was on the verge of coming back to life, he felt that it was still a little short, not perfect enough, and the effect of the straw doll might not be very good. So he had to forcibly stop and interrupt the initiation.

Over the years, there have been more than two hundred failures.

He gradually figured out some tricks of the trade. He believed that to make the straw man more perfect, he should restore the human body structure as much as possible and use the best materials to make flesh, skin and bones. Not a single part of the flesh could be missing, and even the internal organs had to be woven together.

The straw figures formed in this way are more practical, more complete, and have a better appearance. At the very least, they will be able to mimic human form in the future.

So he began to read medical books to study human bones and muscles, and created the ribs, joints, and meridians, and then layered and interwoven leaves to form the texture of the skin.

He even learned needlework from Zhou Ning'e. Those stitching techniques and finishing techniques were more secure and tighter when used to sew the skin of the straw doll than simple weaving. It was impossible to tear it without force.

Zhou Ning'e is quite different from when she first started learning needlework; now her needlework skills are famous in Xiaopei County.

She has always been intelligent, able to learn anything quickly, and can achieve something as long as she wants to learn it. She has a very high level of comprehension... But the winter coat Jiang Tu was wearing was still the same old coat he wore when he returned home for the Spring Festival a few years ago. Zhou Ning'e made him a new one every year, but he never changed it.

He preferred the first one.

And so, Jiang Tu took out the raw materials and tools and began a new round of straw doll weaving under the cover of night.

The three hundredth time.

The 500th time.

The 800th time.

The thousandth time.

Day after day, he repeated the process endlessly... He was surprised to find that with each failure, his cultivation progress had subtly improved, which made him even more enthusiastic and never slacken his efforts.

Almost there, almost there, almost there, but he could still feel that he was getting closer and closer to the perfection in his heart.

Soon, soon!

……

……

Winter goes and spring comes, the grass grows and the orioles fly.

In the blink of an eye, it was the forty-fifth year of the Jingtai reign, and spring had arrived.

The snow has melted.

Greenery floats, the river tide surges, and the flow never ceases.

A new batch of "Tian Jun Dao Ye" has been arriving in various parts of Jiangzhou.

The policy of separating the Taoist and agricultural branches was officially implemented. All the field stewards of Dajiang New County were distributed to various cities and counties throughout the prefecture. Large cities like Yingfeng City and Guyan City had at least three field stewards, and even large counties like Xiaopei County had one stationed there.

They took up their posts with the Taoist tokens and imperial edicts distributed by the Taoist sect, stationed as local Taoist guardians, preaching, teaching, and educating farmers, and overseeing agriculture.

His status was superior to that of the local secular county magistrate and city lord, who had to treat him with utmost respect. His status was comparable to that of the Taoist priest who once suppressed evil in all directions.

Meanwhile, most of the local Taoist priests who were originally stationed in various towns were gradually withdrawn, supposedly to be reassigned to more important tasks.

The blazing fire of agricultural roads in Dajiang New County was dealt a fatal blow, as if it had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

The strongest eighth-rank spirit dispersed and vanished, the spiritual energy of the area dissipated, and the many earth spirits that had previously emerged disappeared one after another. Even the most numerous insect spirits were mostly gone.

Today, there are still many farmers with nine grades in Dajiang New County, and the scale of high-quality farmland is also quite impressive. It seems that its development is far ahead of other places, but the sacred atmosphere of that place is almost gone!

The enthusiasm of farmers who used to scramble to settle down in Dajiang County quickly waned, leaving some happy and others sad. Some were resentful for not being able to reach the pinnacle of agricultural success, while others felt that it was a great thing that Master Tian Jun had come to their land to impart his knowledge and skills.

Zhou the wealthy man was not worried at all; on the contrary, he was quite happy. After experiencing the strange disaster in Dajiang County and witnessing the rise and fall of Dajiang New County, he had long lost that ambition to chase trends.

For decades, he has lived a peaceful life tending to the Zhou family's old house, shop, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson.

Early that morning.

Zhou Dahu slowly woke up. Now he had a full head of white hair and was covered with wrinkles, but he was still quite healthy and walked with a brisk pace.

He casually wrapped a thick cotton robe around his neck and was about to go out to check on the progress of spring planting in the fields when he walked into the main room. His gaze inadvertently swept over the table and he discovered that there was a letter on it that had appeared out of nowhere!

Zhou, the wealthy man, picked up the letter with suspicion. Just as he was about to ask the steward a question, he opened it and his brows furrowed instantly, then his pupils contracted!

The letter contained only a few lines.

"The agricultural path has diverged into four directions. The leader of the field leaders in Yingfeng City is Rong Yidao. He is eccentric and uneducated, and he bullies others because he entered the field early. There is no better example of a petty person who has suddenly become rich than this. Lord Zhou should be cautious in dealing with him. —Wang."

The signature was just one character, but Zhou, the wealthy man, didn't need to guess; he made a judgment instantly.

"Dog Egg!"

This must be Wang Congyun's letter!

Decades have passed in the blink of an eye. That kid has been teaching the Taoist sect and has been training in all directions without ever returning home. Occasionally, some news will come back, but it is all half true and half false and cannot be confirmed. Recently, Gou Dan's grandfather passed away, and he was unable to return home, but he still remembered to send him a message...

The new Daoist Master Tian Jun of Yingfeng City is Rong Yidao!

He vaguely recognized the name!

They may not be the best in terms of cultivation, but they entered the sect early and have seniority. They have been cultivated by the Taoist school and have a head over those who come later.

Without delay, Zhou the wealthy man immediately put the letter into his pocket.

"Get the car ready! Let's go to the Jiang residence!"

The message from Gou Dan must be quite important, but he would not express his opinion until he had discussed it with his good son-in-law!

He really doesn't feel at ease if there's no good son-in-law to oversee important family matters!