Chương 777: Chapter 776: The Shifting Seasons

A little over a month had passed since Li Yu first drove his iron hoe into the dark dirt of his estate. The rolling field in the center of his property was no longer a barren expanse of turned earth. It was a vibrant tapestry of growing life. The trellises were covered in the creeping green vines of the Void Pod Peas. The Azure Cloud Cabbages had expanded into wide swirling heads that collected the morning dew. The air around the tower smelled faintly of Frostbite Mint.

Li Yu had also spent the month integrating himself into the quiet rhythm of Silkwood. He was no longer just the strange human outsider who bought a vacant plot. He was the reliable neighbor who fixed broken fences, healed sick draft beasts and listened to tavern stories without judgment. Because of his kind nature and his willingness to help without demanding exorbitant prices, the locals embraced him entirely even though he was different.

On a warm evening at the end of the month, Li Yu walked down the stone streets of the town. He carried a small wooden box tucked under his arm. He was invited to a childbirth celebration at the home of a local weaver and her farmer husband. Li Yu had treated the husband's soil beetle a few weeks prior and they insisted he attend the feast. The house was located near the Weaver's Square. It was brightly lit with glowing pearls but they were not the high quality ones found at the palace.

The place was decorated with colorful silk ribbons. The courtyard was packed with laughing townsfolk sharing platters of roasted river fish, sweet nectar cakes and crystallized honey. Li Yu stepped into the courtyard and was immediately greeted with warm smiles and firm pats on the back. He handed the wooden box to the new father. Inside was a set of delicate and smooth wooden toys Li Yu had carved himself during his morning lessons with General Rawtus.

The parents thanked him and guided him to a seat at one of the long tables. The atmosphere was incredibly joyous. The birth of a child was a pure manifestation of Life. It was the ultimate victory against the cold decay of the cosmos. As the evening progressed and the sweet wine flowed freely, the conversations around the table shifted to familiar local gossip. Eventually the attention turned toward the quiet human sitting near the end of the table. An older moth woman who ran the local bakery leaned forward.

She had a mischievous glint in her dark eyes.

"Tell us, Li Yu," the baker asked, her voice carrying over the chatter.

"You are probably a handsome young man with a good heart and a sturdy piece of land. When are you going to find a lover and settle down properly? A farm that size needs a family to fill it." The table quieted down and was eager to hear his answer. Li Yu paused while holding his clay cup of wine. He offered a polite and slightly apologetic smile.

"I do not have a lover," Li Yu answered honestly.

"I have never really had the chance." A few of the younger townsfolk exchanged surprised looks.

"Never?" The baker pressed.

"A traveler like you must have met countless beauties out in the wider realm."

"I have traveled with a few women before," Li Yu explained, his mind flashing back to the human domain and the demonic realm. He thought of the various companions who had shared his campfires and stood by his side during brutal fights.

"And while I had some feelings for a few of them they were never serious. They were the feelings of a close friend and a trusted partner but never one of love. At least I don't think so. To be completely honest, I might not know what the feeling is."

"You'd know if you felt it." The baker said while smiling back at him. He took a slow sip of his wine.

"I and probably they were focused on different things. Some were trying to find their way back home. Some were tied to me through different circumstances." Li Yu continued as his voice turned slightly reflective.

"The environment was never right for things to develop into any real romantic feelings. We were too busy.. Or at least that's what I think or tell myself." The townsfolk listened with sympathetic nods. They lived peaceful lives in Silkwood and understood how lucky they were but they also understood that the outside world was a brutal meat grinder for cultivators.

"Well, there is no need to rush," the new father said while raising his cup.

"You have established a good foundation here. At your cultivation level, you have countless years ahead of you to find the right person."

"Speaking of which," Jax the barkeep chimed in from across the table.

"You never told us your actual realm Li Yu. Clearly stronger than any of us here since we can't tell. What level are you?" Li Yu set his cup down. He saw no reason to hide it from these people. He never had the intention of hiding his cultivation level. It wasn't too weak or too strong to make any waves.

"I am currently in the Divine Transformation realm," Li Yu revealed freely. In a quiet agricultural town like Silkwood, the vast majority of the residents were in Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment. A Core Formation expert was considered a heavy hitter already. The local magistrate was also only at the Divine Transformation realm. To hear that the polite young man who fixed their wooden fences and healed their sick bugs was a Divine Transformation expert was a revelation.

It was an incredibly impressive level that made him one of the strongest in the town. The townsfolk laughed and raised their cups to toast the humble expert who chose to live among them. They weren't afraid of him all of a sudden because he had only ever been kind. The rest of the celebration passed in a blur of good food and warm company. Li Yu returned to his estate late in the night feeling a sense of belonging he had not experienced in a very long time.

Perhaps it was because he never stayed in one place for too long recently. The next morning as the three suns crested the horizon, Li Yu walked over to the neighboring stone house for his daily carpentry lesson.

'If the locals knew that Rawtus was at the Law Seed level, they might pass out.' Li Yu thought as he was heading there. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. As he got there, he realized things were different. The rough planks of silver timber were gone. The wooden sawhorses were stacked neatly against the wall. General Rawtus stood on the porch. He was no longer wearing his simple unadorned grey robes. The old veteran was clad in full heavy battle armor.

The dark chitin plates were polished to a mirror shine and a long wicked spear rested against his shoulder.

"General," Li Yu said, stopping at the edge of the property.

"My break is over, Li Yu," Rawtus announced. His voice was now carrying a sharp military edge that had been absent for the past month.

"The Queen sent a messenger last night. The border skirmishes with some forces are escalating. The Eclipse Court needs me back on the field." Li Yu nodded slowly. The peaceful illusion of Silkwood often made it easy to forget that the rest of the realm was still recovering from a violent war. Or the fact that war was a constant part of life in the cultivation world.

"I want to thank you," Li Yu said, offering a deep respectful bow.

"You taught me a great deal about craftsmanship and patience. My home is much better because of your guidance." Rawtus let out a warm and familiar chuckle that contrasted with his intimidating armor.

"Think nothing of it, young man," Rawtus replied as he was stepping down from the porch.

"Teaching you helped me remember who I was before the blood and the endless campaigns. It was exactly the rest I needed. For that, I thank you." Li Yu pulled a sealed gourd of demonic wine from his spatial ring and tossed it to the general. Rawtus caught it, popped the cork and took a long deep pull. He wiped his mouth and handed the gourd back to Li Yu who mirrored the gesture. They shared a quiet drink in the morning light, honoring the brief friendship they had built over the carving of wood.

Rawtus turned and activated his movement technique. He shot into the sky, leaving a trail of dark Qi behind him as he headed back toward the capital and the bloody reality of his duty. Li Yu watched him go. He turned back to his own estate and was feeling the quiet emptiness of the morning. The quiet did not last long. The day after Rawtus departed, Li Yu was in his field pulling a stubborn patch of invasive weeds near the Ironstalk Wheat.

He paused and stood up feeling two distinct powerful auras approaching his land. He walked to the wooden gate and waited. Two figures walked up the dirt path from the town. They were a man and a woman. Both of them possessed the unmistakable auras of the Half King realm. They wore casual clothing but they carried themselves with the rigid posture of seasoned killers. Queen Calyptra was clearly using this area as a designated rehabilitation zone for her broken veterans.

The man was tall and lean with faded green wings and a calm analytical gaze. The woman was shorter but possessed a dense coiled energy that felt like a drawn bowstring.

"You must be Li Yu," the man said as he came to a stop at the gate.

"I am Hollis. This is my wife Tara. We are commanders in the royal vanguard."

"Welcome," Li Yu greeted, opening the gate to let them into the courtyard.

"Taking a rest from duty?"

"We are," Tara answered, her voice sharp and direct.

"The Queen suggested we take up common living for a while. She said we might gain something from it or at least get a chance to relax away from the capital." Li Yu invited them to sit at his refined wooden table and poured them fresh tea. He learned their story quickly. They were a married couple who had fought side by side for centuries. But they had no children. Their extended families and their original hives were destroyed long ago during a brutal border war with the Aegis Legion.

They had nothing to return to except the battlefield. The Queen recognized their burnout and sent them here for a break. After chatting for a long time, Hollis took a sip of his tea and looked out over the fence toward the main field. His analytical eyes scanned the rows of crops.

"Your field is growing okay," Hollis commented while setting his cup down.

"But several things are severely mismanaged." Li Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Mismanaged? Please explain. This is my first real go at trying to grow things." Hollis stood up and walked to the fence. He was gesturing over the wooden planks.

"You have no concept of growing space or plant synergy," Hollis pointed out.

"Look at your Ironstalk Wheat. You planted it directly uphill from your Spirit Root Carrots. The wheat stalks are durable because they pull heavy trace metals from the soil. But because they pull from deep underground, the dirt around them has a much higher concentration of those metals. When you water the field, the runoff carries those metals down into the loose dirt where your carrots are trying to expand. It will stunt their growth and make them bitter."

Li Yu frowned, realizing his mistake if that was indeed the case. He had treated the plants as isolated entities rather than a connected ecosystem. He didn't have the knowledge to know that was what the wheat was doing.

"And over there," Hollis continued, pointing toward the base of the log tower.

"You planted the Frostbite Mint far too close to the Starfire Peppers. The mint produces a cooling aura to soothe the earth while the peppers generate a spark of heat. Their root systems are literally fighting each other beneath the dirt for dominance. The peppers are expending all their Qi trying to stay warm instead of growing fruit."

"I did not know they hated being next to each other," Li Yu admitted stepping up to the fence.

"I thought maybe they would balance each other out, like Yin and Yang."

"Plants are like cultivators," Hollis explained while turning to look at Li Yu.

"You cannot force two opposing laws into the same tight space and expect harmony without anything else. They need proper spacing. They need companion plants that support their natural element rather than fight it." Li Yu bowed his head.

"If you are willing, Hollis, I would like to learn proper field management from you." Hollis smiled faintly.

"I have time now. I will show you how to properly arrange it." While Hollis found peace in analyzing the dirt and plants, Tara did not share his enthusiasm for agriculture. She sat at the table tapping her fingers against the polished wood. She possessed the restless energy of a warrior who had been pulled away from the front lines too soon. She preferred to fight.

"I am not going to sit around and watch grass grow," Tara announced to the two of them as she stood up and stretched her arms. She looked at Li Yu, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Rawtus said you were strong. He said you have a powerful foundation. I want to test it. In the same realm of course." Li Yu looked at the Half King commander. A fight between them under normal circumstances would be incredibly dangerous. But he understood her need. She needed to burn off the volatile energy of the war.

"I accept," Li Yu said with a smile. The routine of the estate shifted. Tara and Hollis took over the space Rawtus had left behind and the place he was staying at as well. In the early mornings before the suns grew too hot Li Yu and the couple walked to an empty clearing near the pale silver forest. Tara and Hollis would spar with him and each other. They did not use lethal force but they did suppressed their realm down while facing him. Tara fought with blinding speed and sharp precise strikes.

She forced Li Yu to rely on his Lightning laws and his physical toughness to evade and block. Hollis fought with arrays and other tricky tactics. The morning sparring sessions were brutal but incredibly rewarding. The fighting experience of Half King acted like a hammer striking hot iron. It forced Li Yu to rapidly compress and refine his newly acquired fifth level Divine Transformation Qi. After the morning spars, Hollis would walk the fields with Li Yu teaching him companion planting and soil management.

Li Yu spent hours digging up the opposing plants and relocating them to harmonious zones. He was learning how to balance opposing forces within the earth. He was no longer learning how to build dead wood into static structures. He was learning how to manage the chaotic flowing energy of a living ecosystem. He was learning how to balance the aggressive strikes of a Half King with the delicate roots of a Frostbite Mint.

The Dao was present in the sweat of the spar and the dirt of the field and Li Yu drank it all in with eager open arms.