155: Heaven's First Strike

The Lei Yan Divine Dynasty had been operating for several months amidst order and undercurrents.

The sparks of civilization, like spring rain, silently nourished the wisdom of Mortals; new agricultural tools and more efficient irrigation canals began to appear in Mortal towns, and some even tried to use simple runes to aid their lives.

The three women wielded Divine Artifacts, regulated the earth's veins and water elements, and maintained Reincarnation; everything seemed to be developing in a good direction.

The Sequence Legion conducted silent patrols; beneath the cold order was a distorted, oppressive calm.

However, both the Immortal in a Bottle, suspended high above the thunder pool, and the three women acting as regents, knew that this calm was by no means a sign of the Heavenly Dao's compromise, but rather the suffocating stillness before a storm.

The Spirit Realm Heavenly Dao's rejection and malice towards this 'tumor' had already accumulated to its peak; it was merely waiting, waiting for the most fatal and difficult-to-guard-against moment.

This day, in the early morning.

The initial changes were so subtle they were almost ignored.

Outside the frontier town of 'Qingmu Market', in a patch of ordinary Spiritual Qi valley fields, the leaves of a few rice seedlings appeared overly verdant in the morning light, with faint glows subtly flowing within their veins.

The old farmer leaned on his hoe, rubbed his eyes, and dismissed it as dew reflecting light, paying no mind.

But by noon, the situation suddenly turned bizarre.

Those few rice seedlings were no longer just subtly glowing, but were rapidly elongating and thickening at a visible rate!

Their originally delicate stems became as thick as a child's arm, the edges of their verdant leaves sharpened like knives, and they even grew tiny, tooth-like barbs!

They twisted and writhed, their roots plunging fiercely into the earth, almost greedily drawing Spiritual Qi from the earth's veins and nutrients from the soil!

The surrounding rice seedlings withered and yellowed at an astonishing speed, becoming nourishment for their growth!

"Demon... demon plants!!" The old farmer was so scared his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, scrambling to escape the field.

This was not an isolated incident.

Almost simultaneously, throughout the entire Lei Yan Divine Dynasty's territory, all vegetation—whether crops in the fields, wild grasses in the mountains, or even ornamental flowers and trees in courtyards—underwent terrifying mutations!

Green grass grew wildly like sharp swords, instantly piercing livestock that accidentally stepped on them!

Vines became like giant pythons, coiling and crushing houses, dragging out and devouring the residents within!

The roots of giant trees burst from the ground, like Dragons turning over, tearing roads and collapsing city walls!

Flowers spewed deadly pollen, permeating towns, causing Mortals who touched it to rot all over!

They no longer followed natural growth patterns, but were driven by a cold, malicious will, transforming into monsters that only knew how to grow madly and devour all living beings!

Even more terrifying, the attacks of these demon plants seemed to have some priority; they frantically lunged at the Mortals who had integrated the [Sparks of Civilization] into their bodies!

As if those Souls ignited by knowledge were the lamps they most desired to extinguish!

This was not a natural disaster; this was a divine punishment! It was a direct intervention of the Heavenly Dao's will!

It did not use lightning storms, nor did it dispatch heavenly soldiers and Divine Generals, but rather a more insidious and difficult-to-guard-against method—directly vitalizing and distorting the Wood Law!

Turning the vegetation that life relied on into weapons for the extinction of life!

"Alarm! Wood Law activity within the territory has abnormally soared! Exceeding critical values!"

"Highly aggressive demon plants appearing in multiple locations! Prioritizing attacks on 'spark' carriers!"

"Earth vein Spiritual Qi being heavily extracted for demon plant growth!"

"Mortal casualties are severe! SOS signals are surging!"

Inside Mo Capital's command tower, piercing alarms instantly blared!

Red areas on the light screen representing demon plant activity spread wildly, almost covering the entire territory map!

Countless light points representing Mortal settlements rapidly dimmed and extinguished!

Mo Yu and Ink Snow's expressions changed drastically.

Mo Yu immediately activated the "Four Seas Tide Order," attempting to bring down heavy rain to wash away the toxic powder and extinguish the rampaging plants, but the number of demon plants was too great, and their growth too fast; her power was a drop in the bucket.

Ink Snow released coldness, freezing small areas, but the demon plants' vitality originated from the Heavenly Dao's distorted Law; extreme cold could only temporarily slow them down, not eradicate them.

"It's the Heavenly Dao!" Ink Snow's voice was cold, the Reincarnation Butterfly imprint in her eyes spinning rapidly, "It's directly distorting the underlying Law! It's targeting the 'sparks' sown by Father!"

Just as the situation was about to spiral completely out of control—

"Stabilize the earth's veins."

A calm, profound, and undeniably authoritative female voice rang out.

Mo Yun stepped out of Mo Capital, flying high into the sky.

Her face was serene, but her eyes burned with anger.

She could clearly feel the earth beneath her feet groaning in pain, its earth vein Spiritual Qi being frantically extracted by those demon plants, becoming chaotic.

She held her hands out, and the "Map of Mountains and Rivers" flew out from her body, unfolding completely in the air, transforming into a giant shadowy map covering the entire Divine Dynasty's territory!

On the map, mountains and rivers were clearly visible, and at this moment, countless murky black Qi representing the rampant demon plants and chaotic earth veins were spreading across the map like a plague!

"I wield the authority of the Great Earth; how can evil be allowed to run rampant!"

Mo Yun took a deep breath, pouring her boundless Qi of the Undergoing Tribulation stage into the Map of Mountains and Rivers without reservation!

Her Divine Sense instantly connected with the Divine Map, and with the earth of the entire territory!

She was no longer one person; her will had become the will of the Great Earth!

"Earth vein Magnetic Force, heed my command!"

"Suppress evil! Strengthen foundations! Petrifaction!"

She issued three edicts that were like words becoming Law!

Under the first edict, all the earth's Magnetic Force within the territory was instantly mobilized, forming countless invisible, heavy force fields, pressing down hard on those frantically growing demon plants!

Countless vines about to lash out and devour, and roots breaking through the soil, were suddenly struck by an invisible giant mountain, their movements abruptly halting, their growth speed drastically slowing!

Under the second edict, the earth vein Spiritual Qi, which had become chaotic and thin due to the demon plants' frantic extraction, was forcibly stabilized and locked!

Wherever the light of the Map of Mountains and Rivers shone, the earth became as hard as steel, the flow of Spiritual Qi returned to order, and the demon plants could no longer easily obtain endless nourishment from the earth!

The third edict was the most crucial blow!

A look of determination flashed in Mo Yun's eyes as she pressed her hands down fiercely!

The "Map of Mountains and Rivers" erupted with an unprecedented earthy yellow light, which solidified and scattered across the earth!

Wherever the light reached, Law was rewritten!

Those demon plants, suppressed by the Magnetic Force field and deprived of the earth's nourishment, rapidly lost all signs of life, starting from their roots touching the ground, turning a grayish-white, and then... completely transforming from organic matter into cold, lifeless rock!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A teeth-grating sound echoed throughout the entire territory!

Whether it was the giant vines coiling around houses, the monstrous flowers devouring living beings, or the tree roots attempting to burrow out of the ground, all instantly transformed into stone sculptures of various poses, yet utterly lifeless!

They maintained their last menacing postures, but could no longer move an inch!

The vast territory, which had just been a green Hell of rampant growth, instantly transformed into a bizarre... stone forest, covered with petrified plant sculptures!

All the rampant demon plants were utterly annihilated by Mo Yun's ultimate strike, invoking the authority of the Great Earth!

The poisonous powder in the sky dissipated, the vines disintegrated, leaving only silent stones.

The surviving Mortals collapsed to the ground, staring at the terrifying scene of instant petrifaction around them, their faces filled with the bewilderment and fear of those who had escaped a great calamity.

Inside the command tower, the alarms abruptly ceased.

The red areas on the light screen rapidly receded.

Mo Yu and Ink Snow both breathed a sigh of relief, their gazes at the figure in the sky filled with admiration.

Only Mo Yun, who wielded the authority of the Great Earth, could resolve this disaster originating from the earth so cleanly and decisively.

However, Mo Yun in the high sky had a slightly pale complexion.

That strike just now, mobilizing the Magnetic Force of the entire territory's earth veins and forcibly rewriting local Law, had consumed her greatly.

She slowly descended, put away the Map of Mountains and Rivers, and looked gravely towards the sky.

This was only the first strike.

The Heavenly Dao had already bared its fangs, in a way they had not anticipated.

What would be next?

The Immortal in a Bottle's consciousness subtly fluctuated in the thunder pool, silently recording, analyzing, and deducing every detail of Mo Yun's mobilization of the earth's veins and petrifaction of all things, as well as every change in the Heavenly Dao's distortion of the Wood Law.

The war had already begun.