I AM JUST A FARMER NOT A GOD

Chapter 11: The Ashes That Breathe

The smoke from Ashborne's departure hadn't settled yet. The soil still glowed faintly from the immense surge of energy released during the clash. Yet amidst the stillness, the villagers slowly emerged from their sanctum beneath Granny Xue's shrine, one by one, drawn by curiosity and the weight of silence hanging in the air.

Li Yuan stood in the middle of the battered field, shoulders square, gaze soft but distant. The Rootsplit Hoe, now warm and humming, rested gently in the crook of his arm. His once simple farmer's robe was now dusted with golden soil and blood-red qi remnants from Ashborne's godfire.

Granny Xue hobbled toward him first, clutching her prayer beads and muttering something ancient.

"You called the storm and silenced it, child. But storms don't end... they change course."

Li Yuan didn't answer immediately. His golden eyes traced the scorched horizon where Ashborne had vanished.

"He hesitated," he murmured. "He was supposed to end me. But he didn't."

Behind him, young Mei Lin approached with wide eyes.

"Are you... really him? The one in those forbidden stories? Xiao Tianmie?"

His fingers tightened around the hoe.

The name was a knife and a mirror.

"Names are powerful," he said, not denying it. "But what matters is what I plant next."

The Soil Reclaims

With a slow breath, Li Yuan knelt and pressed his palm to the soil. It welcomed him. Roots stirred beneath, sensing their guardian. The energy he released wasn't violent this time. It was nurturing.

A soft pulse spread from his hand. The earth drank it greedily.

[System Notification: Local environment purification initiated. Soil fertility: +300%. Spiritual residue neutralized. Qi resonance stabilized.]

The village children clapped and pointed as tender green shoots pushed up from the wounded field, growing before their eyes. Rice, beans, and even silver lotus herbs long thought extinct in the region began sprouting.

The Rootsplit Hoe responded to the shift, its etched runes glowing a gentle jade. Li Yuan smiled faintly.

"The war may follow, but here, life goes on."

Ashborne in Reflection

Far from the Green Mist Village, in a space between time and void, Ashborne hovered in silent meditation. His robes of soot and fire floated in weightlessness as he stared at the glowing fragment of soil still trapped in his palm. It hadn't burned away.

It pulsed.

Memories rose like whispers. Of the Loom. Of his first weaving. Of a boy who saved a dying village not by blade but by teaching them how to till. Of hope.

He clenched his hand around the soil.

"Why do you echo still, Xiao Tianmie? Why does your path resist extinction?"

A flare of heat rolled off his form. But instead of releasing it, he absorbed it.

"He has changed," Ashborne whispered. "Or perhaps... I have."

Then the call came.

A burning sigil in the void.

Tier-Z Directive: HARROWER DEPLOYMENT ORDERED.

Ashborne's eyes narrowed. His voice was low, conflicted.

"They send the Harrower now... Not to cleanse, but to erase."

And in that moment, the soil fragment in his hand bloomed into a single green sprout.

He did not crush it.

Roots Beneath the War

Back in the village, Li Yuan gazed up at the sky. Though calm, he could feel the rhythm of the heavens shifting.

The Harrower was coming.

He didn't yet know how. He didn't yet know when.

But the soil told him.

And the soil had never lied.

He stood, turned to his people, and bowed deeply.

"It's time we prepare not just to defend... but to grow. No matter what steps onto this land, we stand rooted."

The village elders began drawing old formation circles.

The children began tending new sprouted herbs.

And high above, the clouds churned.

For deep in the weave of fate...

The Farmer was no longer hiding.

He was planting a stand.