9: The Man Who Burns Fields
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The wind changed.
Over the hills beyond Green Mist Village, the scent of scorched ash rode the breeze. It came not from any fire the villagers could see, but from something ancient. Something deliberate.
And with it came footsteps.
Each one left behind a faint glowing ember, even upon stone.
The one walking had no name in this world, not yet. But in other realms, he was known only as Ashborne — a Watcher from beyond the Veil, once a judge of dying stars, now a hunter of worlds.
His purpose: to snuff out regrowth before it could bloom.
And his eyes were set on the field where Xiao Tianmie had buried his godhood.
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The Omen
In the early dawn, Li Yuan stood at the edge of his southern field, Plot 3B, gazing toward the horizon.
The Rootsplit Hoe rested beside him in the soil, humming faintly. The soil itself felt uneasy — as if the worms dared not turn in their beds.
> [System Alert: Unknown energy frequency approaching. Type: Multiversal. Threat Classification: Cataclysmic.]
[Warning: Host signature has been pinged by a Tier-Z Watcher.]
Li Yuan didn't flinch. His fingers traced the smooth wooden handle of his hoe.
> "So… even the Watchers remember me."
He had hoped to avoid them. Hoped the name "Xiao Tianmie" would stay buried beneath turnips and tilling.
But the moment he had awakened the Womb of Soil — the moment he chose to protect — he had reignited an old beacon.
The beacon of a god.
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Entry Through Fire
At noon, the first flame bloomed.
It wasn't a typical fire — not born of spark or sun. This was a rift, a tear in the fabric of air itself. It opened near the dry riverbed just outside the southern grove, and from it stepped a man.
Ashborne.
He was tall and robed in soot-colored silk that moved like smoke. His face was gaunt, flawless, but empty — save for his eyes. They glowed like twin suns, locked in eclipse.
The air dried instantly.
The grass withered beneath his steps. Birds fell mid-flight, turned to ash before they hit the ground.
Behind him, the rift closed.
He walked forward slowly, calmly — as though time itself bowed with each stride.
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The Meeting
Li Yuan was waiting.
The villagers had been quietly evacuated, tucked deep in the old root-cellar sanctum beneath Granny Xue's shrine. He stood alone, hoe over one shoulder, eyes unreadable.
Ashborne stopped twenty paces away.
He tilted his head, examining the farmer.
> "So this is how the Tyrant God lives now."
> "Not a tyrant," Li Yuan said calmly. "Just a farmer."
Ashborne didn't blink.
> "You wield relics that fractured timelines. You severed cause from effect. You sowed time like wheat — and harvested calamity."
> "That was another life."
> "All lives echo. And your name… Xiao Tianmie… echoes still."
The ground trembled as he spoke the name.
Thunder rolled across the sky. Clouds churned into spirals. Far away, animals screamed.
Ashborne stepped forward.
> "I will give you a mercy. Submit. Unbind the Rootsplit Hoe. Release the relics. Let the soil fall silent once more."
Li Yuan looked down at his hands, calloused from real work — not war.
He looked up again.
> "No."
And the battle began.
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Godfire vs. Soil
Ashborne raised one hand.
Flames licked from his fingertips — not red or gold, but white. Godfire. Fire that devoured not only matter, but memory.
He swept it across the field.
Rice exploded into steam. Trees caught flame without burning. Even the air screamed.
But Li Yuan moved.
> [System Skill: Verdant Cocoon – Activated]
A living seed burst beneath his feet. Roots surged upward, forming a dome that shielded him as the godfire passed.
Inside, it was quiet.
> [Warning: Barrier holding. Estimated integrity: 42%]
Li Yuan took a breath.
> "System."
> [Awaiting Command.]
> "Unlock suppression node three. Let me remember…"
> [Confirm? This will raise Host Threat Level to Omega-Class and summon other Watchers.]
> "Confirm."
And then… the world changed.
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The Rise of the Farmer-God
Ashborne's flames parted.
And Li Yuan stood at the center of the field — glowing.
Not just with qi. With presence.
His simple farmer's robes fluttered as though caught in storm winds. His eyes now shimmered with golden rings — layers of knowledge from unsealed pasts.
The hoe in his hand no longer looked like a tool.
It looked like a weapon made to split heaven and root alike.
Ashborne paused.
> "So the name does still carry weight."
> "It's not the name," Li Yuan replied. "It's the promise I made to this land."
And then he struck.
The earth answered.
---
Clash of Worlds
The Rootsplit Hoe connected with Ashborne's flame-blade in a shockwave so powerful, it leveled the hillside.
Ashborne surged forward, weaving flames into blades, spears, dragons — Li Yuan danced through them with rooted feet and anchored resolve.
The sky darkened.
The field cracked.
Yet no matter how bright the fire, the soil endured.
And as the battle waged, memories returned to Li Yuan — memories of planets saved through farming, of barren wastelands restored by turning soil. Not all gods burn.
Some heal.
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A Message to the Stars
At last, Li Yuan drove the hoe into the heart of the field.
From it, a wave of golden soil qi erupted, rising like a tsunami. It didn't strike Ashborne — it engulfed him, drawing him downward into the memory of what the land once was.
He saw children laughing.
Elders harvesting.
Villages thriving.
And at the center — a man with muddy hands, smiling.
> "You are not weak," Ashborne whispered from within the vision. "You are dangerous. To them."
> "Then tell them," Li Yuan said, eyes glowing. "Tell the Watchers: I till not for war… but for the future."
And with that, Ashborne vanished.
Retreated.
Not defeated. But… changed.