The divine realm was still in its early bloom.
The mountains gleamed with jade light, rivers hummed like gentle flutes, and Tian Yuan's newly planted divine herbs released a soft fragrance that made even the air taste pure.
But today, the wind was different.
It came from above — sharp, cold, and laced with celestial arrogance.
Yulong, the Golden Dragon, lifted his head from where he coiled around a mountain peak. His golden scales shimmered, reflecting streaks of starlight that weren't his own. He rumbled a low warning.
"Master," he called through the skies, "something foreign approaches — not from the Abyss, not from the Void, but from Heaven itself."
Tian Yuan, who was kneeling in his courtyard tending to a newly sprouted Divine Peony, did not look up.
The flower glowed faintly under his touch — its petals were still trembling, shy and newborn, absorbing strands of divine qi that seeped gently from the soil.
He smiled slightly. "Heaven, you say?"
"Yes, Master." Yulong's tail lashed, sending gusts of wind roaring down the mountain. "I sense six signatures — strong, polished, but… hollow."
"Envoys, then." Tian Yuan stood slowly, dusting his hands on his robe. His white sleeves caught the sunlight, shimmering faintly with golden embroidery. "The Heavens have begun to notice the scent of this realm. I suppose it was only a matter of time."
He turned his gaze upward, eyes calm, but his divine sense spread like sunlight across the horizon — reaching past the floating gardens, over the shimmering lakes, and through the clouds of living qi.
At the outermost layer of his realm — just before the border where his divine formations met the void — six brilliant figures tore through space.
Their auras blazed like suns, each bearing the insignia of the Celestial Alliance.
The leading envoy, a tall woman in silver armor with twin spears of light, frowned deeply as her boots touched the invisible barrier of Tian Yuan's realm.
Immediately, her aura dimmed — the divine light around her body began to soften and disperse.
"What is this suppression?" she hissed. "Even a Lord-tier law should not weaken divine essence this easily!"
One of the envoys, a scholar dressed in pale blue, adjusted his glasses nervously. "This… this realm isn't bound to the normal upper realm laws. The qi here is alive. It's rejecting us."
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Rejecting us?"
Then came a calm voice — deep, ancient, and laced with quiet authority.
"Yes."
The sky opened like the surface of a lake, and from it descended Tian Yuan.
His robe fluttered gently, though no wind touched him. He carried no weapon, no crown — only that serene presence, like a man walking through his garden on a peaceful morning.
The moment his feet touched the barrier, all six envoys bowed instinctively — not because of respect, but because their divine cores trembled in recognition.
This was not the aura of a God newly risen.
This was the breath of creation itself.
"You stand at the edge of my soil," Tian Yuan said softly. "Why have you come?"
The silver-armored woman quickly regained her composure. "Forgive our intrusion, Lord of this Realm. I am Envoy Seraphis, representing the Celestial Alliance. We have not come to offend but to investigate."
"Investigate?" Tian Yuan's eyebrow lifted slightly.
"Yes," she continued. "An Abyssal Lord, Xuan Wuji, vanished during the Heavenly War three moons ago. Our divinations traced the final remnants of his divine core to this direction. The Council of Nine Suns believes he may have taken refuge here."
Tian Yuan's gaze remained unreadable. "And if he has?"
Seraphis hesitated, her grip on her spear tightening. "Then we request permission to enter your realm, search, and extract him if necessary."
Yulong growled softly from the mountains. The very ground beneath their feet rumbled.
Tian Yuan smiled faintly — a smile that was kind, but dangerous in its calm.
"Permission?" he repeated. "You already crossed my skies without it."
A cold silence fell. The envoys shifted uneasily. The scholar in blue swallowed hard.
Seraphis clenched her jaw. "Lord Tian Yuan, we mean no disrespect. The matter of the Abyssal Lords concerns all divine domains. If Xuan Wuji hides within your world, he threatens the balance of—"
"Balance?" Tian Yuan interrupted quietly. "You speak of balance when Heaven wages war against its own kin? You call it justice when gods burn gods?"
The weight of his voice pressed against them like mountains. The very light of Heaven dimmed.
Seraphis took a step back, her spears trembling slightly.
"…I… am only following decree."
"Then deliver this decree back to your masters," Tian Yuan said, his tone soft as falling rain.
"No one enters my soil without my blessing. No one takes what my realm shelters, be it beast or god. The land accepts whom it wills. Not Heaven."
The sky cracked with divine thunder as his aura spread — not as violence, but as a presence so vast it silenced the heavens themselves.
The envoys staggered backward, feeling as though the weight of entire worlds pressed upon their knees. Even the stars beyond the realm bent faintly toward Tian Yuan's light.
The scholar gasped, his voice trembling. "W-what manner of law is this…? It's— it's not domination—it's coexistence! His very realm loves him!"
Tian Yuan looked down at him, a faint smile curving his lips. "You understand."
He waved a hand, and the winds softened again. The oppressive pressure vanished, replaced by tranquil stillness.
Seraphis dropped to one knee. "Forgive us, Lord Tian Yuan. We… did not realize the extent of your power."
Tian Yuan shook his head. "Power is not what you should realize. It is purpose."
He turned away, his white robe flowing like mist. "Return to your masters. Tell them the soil of this realm does not yield to war. Tell them that peace is not weakness."
Then, almost as an afterthought, he added quietly,
"And tell them that if Heaven keeps tearing its own roots… someday, even the soil will bleed."
The barrier shimmered. The envoys found themselves suddenly beyond it — standing in the void between realms, the gateway to Tian Yuan's domain sealed behind them like a closing petal.
For a long while, they simply stood there, staring at the radiant sphere of light that was his realm.
"…Did he just banish us without a gesture?" whispered one.
Seraphis exhaled slowly, her face pale. "No. He simply let his world breathe us out."
They turned away in silence, the echo of Tian Yuan's presence still weighing on their souls.
---
Back within the divine realm, Tian Yuan walked through the Valley of Tranquil Waters, where Xuan Wuji now knelt beside a pond, gazing at his reflection.
"You heard?" Tian Yuan asked.
Xuan Wuji nodded. "Yes. The Alliance knows I'm here."
"Then you must decide," Tian Yuan said gently. "Do you wish to keep running? Or will you plant your roots here, and let the soil decide if you belong?"
Xuan Wuji lowered his gaze. "You would allow me to stay?"
Tian Yuan smiled faintly. "Even thorns have a place in the garden, if they grow with purpose."
---
That night, the divine stars above Tian Yuan's world shone brighter than ever.
But far beyond, in the great citadel of the Celestial Alliance, the High Council gathered under the golden dome of judgment.
Reports of the encounter reached them.
The envoys' description — of the realm that breathed, of a god who ruled without domination — caused unrest among the high seats.
One of the elders rose slowly, voice trembling with fury.
"This Farmer God… he shelters an Abyssal Lord, defies celestial decree, and dares to speak of peace?!"
Another elder leaned forward, his eyes narrow. "Peace frightens tyrants, my brother. Because it cannot be controlled."
The chamber fell into uneasy silence.
And in the farthest corner, cloaked in shadow, a figure smiled — faint and knowing.
"The soil has awakened," the shadow murmured. "The seed we once buried in mortal flesh has taken root in Heaven."
---
In his divine garden, Tian Yuan stood beneath the Eternal Willow, looking toward the endless horizon where countless stars shimmered like seeds waiting to fall.
He whispered softly to himself,
"Let them come. Every storm only feeds the soil."
(END OF CHAPTER 70)