Chapter 118: The Owl God Seizes Food Tribulation

"Lord Duan, are you referring to... Feng Guan?"

Li Shun froze for a moment before quickly reacting.

"Could the cries of that man and woman we heard just now be the pair of lovers Feng Guan mentioned in his letter?"

Disbelief filled his face as he immediately took out the letter, reading it over several times.

"But, Senior... what makes you so certain those voices were connected to them?" Li Shun asked, utterly baffled.

Duan Jiuzhang did not answer immediately.

Instead, he slowly walked to the center of the farmland and lightly stamped his foot.

"Rumble!"

A deep roar echoed from beneath the earth.

The fields were violently torn apart as though seized by an invisible giant hand. Soil rolled aside, revealing a bottomless fissure.

Li Shun looked down and involuntarily drew in a sharp breath.

The earth beneath the crack contained none of the vibrant yellow vitality that healthy soil should possess.

Instead, it was packed with countless black crystalline growths, spreading like malignant tumors.

Layer upon layer, they resembled cursed mineral deposits, exuding a nauseating stench of decay.

Li Shun bent down and picked up a fragment.

It appeared solid enough, yet the moment it touched his hand, it felt like the charred remains of burned bones. With the slightest pressure between his fingers, it crumbled into drifting ash.

The instant it shattered, countless miserable wails exploded beside his ears.

It was as if innumerable vengeful spirits had surrounded him, cursing him with venomous hatred.

"This thing..."

Li Shun frowned deeply.

"What do you perceive?"

Duan Jiuzhang stood upon the field ridge with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Death. Decay. It's completely devoid of life, like cold ashes. Most importantly, it contains an almost tangible malice."

Li Shun spoke in a low voice.

After only a brief moment of contact, faint scorch marks had already appeared across his fingertips.

"Your instincts are good."

As soon as the words left Duan Jiuzhang's mouth, a brilliant emerald radiance blossomed from his palm.

Boundless vitality surged within that light.

It bore some resemblance to the life essence Li Shun had once drawn from heaven and earth through the Verdant Wood Invocation, yet it was far purer, steadier, and governed by an orderly natural law.

Having once spent half his life cultivating Spirit Division and Life Transformation, Li Shun recognized it immediately.

This was the unique Dao of Vital Growth practiced by the Agricultural School.

If the vitality summoned by the Verdant Wood Invocation represented the instinctive life force of heaven and earth, then the vitality displayed by Duan Jiuzhang embodied the very principles of cultivation itself.

Plowing. Sowing. Harvesting.

A tide of verdant light poured into the earth below.

Wherever it passed, the sinister black crystals dissolved like snow beneath the blazing sun, instantly purified and driven away.

Within only a few breaths, the underground soil regained its original texture.

The lingering malice that had saturated the land also vanished without a trace.

However...

Li Shun grabbed a handful of earth and examined it carefully.

"It only looks restored."

"In reality, no life has returned."

"Soil like this..."

"I'm afraid it can no longer grow crops."

Duan Jiuzhang nodded slightly.

"You are correct."

"After suffering such a calamity, even if the earth's veins recover, the land must lie fallow for at least three years before it can regain its former vitality."

He raised his gaze toward Yunguan County, nestled among the distant mountains.

Within his deep eyes, terrifying killing intent quietly churned.

"This tribulation..."

Li Shun suddenly thought of something.

His expression changed dramatically.

"Could it be..."

"You were once caught within Zhou Xunzhen's [Greed for Wealth Corrupts the Seal] Tribulation back in Lengshan."

"The calamity that has befallen Yunguan County is likewise the result of someone shifting their own tribulation onto others."

"Its name is..."

"The [Owl God Seizes Food Tribulation]."

This time, Duan Jiuzhang offered no suspense, revealing the answer directly.

"As for how this tribulation manifests..."

"You may very well experience it yourselves."

Li Shun and Li Qing both fell silent, carefully contemplating the meaning hidden behind those four words.

Meanwhile, the burly man who had stopped them earlier wore nothing but confusion.

He understood none of what they were discussing.

He simply looked at the restored farmland with overwhelming joy.

Unfortunately...

His happiness lasted only a few moments.

Soon afterward, enormous shadows swept in from neighboring fields like an incoming tide.

Before their very eyes, the soil that had only just been cleansed was once again consumed by pitch-black corruption.

Countless black crystals burst from the ground like bamboo shoots after spring rain.

"This..."

Both brothers' expressions changed simultaneously.

Duan Jiuzhang showed no surprise whatsoever.

His face remained expressionless.

"So long as the tribulation remains unresolved, the corruption cannot be removed."

"Even if one forcibly creates a sanctuary through divine abilities, the overwhelming power of the tribulation will eventually contaminate it once again."

"Only by finding the one who brought forth this disaster can its root truly be severed."

"Then we have to report this to the authorities immediately!"

Although the burly man had not understood their earlier conversation, he knew enough to realize that his home, Yunguan County, had fallen into terrible danger.

The only thought in his mind was to seek the aid of the imperial government, the very symbol of justice.

Unexpectedly, Duan Jiuzhang shook his head once more.

"Judging by the power of this [Owl God Seizes Food Tribulation], the one undergoing tribulation should be a Celestial Phenomena cultivator."

"The imperial court..."

"...will absolutely not intervene."

The burly man froze in place.

A look of utter disbelief spread across his face.

"How can that be?"

"Our Yunguan County may be remote, but it's still under the rule of the imperial court!"

"Something this terrible has happened, and the court is simply going to ignore it?"

Duan Jiuzhang looked toward Li Shun, who was equally bewildered.

Then he slowly explained, "Great Qian has stood for more than five hundred years."

"There are countless Celestial Phenomena cultivators."

"But those who successfully step into the Creation realm are exceedingly rare."

"Every additional Creation cultivator is a blessing to the nation."

"Attempting to break through while undergoing tribulation is often a cultivator's final gamble."

"They either borrow another lifetime from the heavens..."

"...or perish forever."

"If the imperial court were to interfere at such a moment and force a desperate Celestial Phenomena cultivator into mutual destruction..."

"The resulting backlash would be enough to reduce several commanderies to scorched wastelands."

"For that reason, the court has always adopted a policy of deliberate nonintervention."

"It has become an unspoken understanding."

"These Celestial Phenomena cultivators likewise choose remote regions to undergo their tribulations, keeping the affected area confined to a single county."

"If they fail, the court will naturally send people to clean up the aftermath."

"But if they succeed..."

A trace of ridicule appeared in Duan Jiuzhang's eyes.

"Then Great Qian gains another national pillar in the Creation realm."

"As for the officials sitting in the imperial court..."

"What does the death of a few commoners at the very bottom matter to them?"

"Bastards..."

"A bunch of heartless bastards!"

The burly man's eyes turned bloodshot.

His fury was so intense that crimson veins spread throughout his eyes.

"That's an entire county of people!"

"How many families is that?"

"Just to help one person reach the Creation realm?"

"So the lives of the powerful are lives, but the lives of common folk aren't worth anything?"

Faced with his grief-stricken accusation, Duan Jiuzhang merely sighed softly.

With a flick of his finger, he rendered the man unconscious.

"Sometimes..."

"Knowing too much is not necessarily a blessing."

Turning toward the Li brothers, he instructed, "I'll temporarily erase his memories."

"You two go find some food."

Standing with his hands behind his back, Duan Jiuzhang gazed toward the distant mountains shrouded in black mist.

His voice carried a chilling coldness.

"The imperial court may refuse to intervene..."

"But it has never forbidden others from upholding justice."

"Today..."

"I shall personally meet this Celestial Phenomena cultivator."