NOVEL WEB Chapter 14: 13: The Valley of Echoing Dust
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Chapter 13: The Valley of Echoing Dust
The path ahead was cracked, forgotten, and long reclaimed by the wilderness. As Li Yuan stepped beyond the final protective sigil of Green Mist Village, the world changed—less vivid, more haunted. The air whispered memories that had no mouths, and even the wind seemed unsure of its direction.
> [System Notification: Entered Forbidden Region - Valley of Echoing Dust]
He tightened the strap around the Rootsplit Hoe across his back. The soil here was ashen, brittle beneath his sandals. Each step stirred ghosts of forgotten fields, a cursed place where nothing had grown in a thousand years.
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The Dust Remembers
The Valley had once been lush. According to Granny Xue's tales, it was home to the Verdant Court—a divine faction that nurtured soil and rain across a dozen worlds. But envy bred war, and betrayal shattered the land, burying relics of life under silence and soot.
Li Yuan reached a jagged cliff edge. Below, the remnants of a once-glorious shrine jutted from the earth like fossilized ribs.
As he stepped closer, a sharp chime echoed across the valley.
> [System Notification: Relic Proximity Detected - Spade of Buried Truths]
A pulse emanated from beneath the ruins.
He dropped to one knee and pressed his palm into the dirt.
It resisted.
Then it responded.
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Trial of the Earth
A tremor rolled through the cliff. Cracks snaked across the stone, and a ring of ancient glyphs ignited in golden flame beneath Li Yuan. The trial had begun.
> "Only the one who has buried more than he has harvested may claim the Spade."
A voice—earthy and deep—echoed inside his mind. The glyphs rose like roots, coiling into a humanoid shape: a Golem of Regret, sculpted from memories of soil.
It attacked.
Li Yuan dodged the first strike, spinning with inhuman grace. He summoned the Rootsplit Hoe and twisted midair, deflecting the golem's granite fist with a surge of golden qi.
Each clash shook the canyon.
But the trial was not just a battle.
As they fought, visions erupted from the ground—moments from Li Yuan's past lives: kingdoms crumbling, disciples betrayed, lands scorched in judgment. Every strike from the golem was his own guilt, made solid.
> "You can't defeat it with might," the voice whispered.
He paused, chest rising with ragged breath.
Then he knelt.
> "I accept my failures. I buried them to forget. But the seeds of regret sprout, too."
The golem halted, its body beginning to crack.
> "Then plant this truth," it said.
It crumbled into fertile black soil.
From it, rose the Spade of Buried Truths—its surface etched with his name.
> [System Update: Relic Acquired - Spade of Buried Truths. Special Ability: Unearth Hidden Histories.]
Li Yuan took it with reverence.
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A Shadow Watches
Above the cliffs, unseen eyes followed him. A tall figure stood cloaked in dark willow mist, its aura suppressed.
The Harrower had not yet moved.
But it was watching.
And waiting.
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