A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

The Melody of Panic was amplified. Its effect reached its peak.

Saelyr’s eyes widened as her heart suddenly began beating faster.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Her breathing became heavier.

She instinctively stepped backward.

"What is this...?"

She knew something was wrong.

Her mind remained clear enough to understand that the formation master was attacking her in a strange way. But understanding the attack didn’t make it disappear.

The Melody of Panic wasn’t attacking her physical body or mind. It was affecting her soul.

Her heartbeat accelerated further.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

A sudden sense of danger overwhelmed her. The Demon Vine in front of her moved, targeting one of her vitals. Soon, another Demon Vine followed. Then another. By this time, one could guess that this was how the Devil’s Den operated.

Normally, Saelyr would have simply destroyed it.

Instead—

She jumped backward.

Swish!

The vine passed through the space where she had been standing.

Saelyr stared at it and her expression changed. She knew that the vine attack wasn’t particularly dangerous. She had already destroyed hundreds of them. Yet her body had reacted before her mind could think.

Fear had taken control of her instincts.

"Calm down."

Saelyr gritted her teeth.

"Calm down!"

She tried to circulate her Spirit Essence and suppress the strange sensation. But another Demon Vine suddenly emerged from the ground.

Saelyr immediately retreated without her own consent. The vine wasn’t dangerous. She knew that. Yet her soul screamed at her to stay away.

The more she avoided the Demon Vines, the more anxious she became. And the more anxious she became, the stronger the Melody of Panic became.

It had formed a vicious cycle.

Neshara was experiencing something similar.

However, unlike Saelyr, she didn’t run immediately.

She remained still.

Her breathing became slightly faster.

Her fingers tightened around the artifact hidden inside her sleeve.

Something is wrong.

She identified the problem almost immediately. She could recognize the symptoms of a soul-based attack.

Yet that realization only made things worse.

Because she knew that ordinary defensive measures might not be enough.

The Melody of Panic wasn’t merely entering through her ears. It was being transmitted directly into the isolation layer through the formation, directly attacking her soul.

Even if she blocked her hearing, it wouldn’t matter.

Even if she sealed her five senses, it wouldn’t matter.

The sound was already inside the formation.

And the formation itself had become the medium through which the attack reached her.

Neshara’s eyes narrowed.

’A Soul-based Intent technique? The formation master is not a native?’

She had encountered similar techniques before.

But never one this strange. And never one amplified by an entire 3rd Order formation to such an extent.

Aksai continued playing Bansi. His crimson hair fluttered gently and his golden eyes remained closed.

Every note was precise and every sequence was deliberate. His druidic transformation helped him maintain control over the Intent-based technique flowing through his Soul Artifact.

The deeper his soul connected with Bansi, the more powerful the Melody of Panic became.

This was one of the greatest advantages of Aksai’s cultivation path.

His Spirit cultivation realm was only one part of his foundation. Body cultivation was another part.

His Aether cultivation had strengthened his soul far beyond what an ordinary Spirit cultivator of the same realm could possess.

His soul was the foundation that allowed him to wield Bansi at a level that most Spirit cultivators from Dadangar World could never achieve.

It had to be noted that even in the Shinayin Empire, Soul Artifacts were rare treasures. And possessing one did not mean that a cultivator could unleash its full potential.

Most Soul Artifact users could only utilize Soul Artifact of the same rank as them superficially because their souls simply weren’t strong enough.

Aksai was different, highlighting the fact that he was an anomaly. His cultivation path was scattered across multiple systems, each reinforcing the others.

He might not have been considered a traditional genius in the Dadangar World. He couldn’t casually defeat opponents several realms above himself through brute force.

He couldn’t rely on a single cultivation system to overwhelm everyone in his path. But his foundation was extraordinarily diverse.

His Aether cultivation strengthened his soul. His druidic bloodline allowed him to manipulate natural forces and emotions. His Soul Artifact gave him a weapon capable of attacking the soul directly.

And now—

The Devil’s Den formation amplified everything.

Aksai continued playing.

Hummm...

The Melody of Panic spread through the two isolation layers. It was played for some time.

Once Aksai was certain that the Melody of Panic had affected both women to the extent he desired, he subtly changed the tune.

The transition was almost impossible to notice.

The notes became slower.

Softer.

More repetitive.

Yet the effect they carried was completely different.

Melody of Daze.

The two enormous woodland ears beside Aksai remained unchanged. They continued capturing every soul-stirring note produced by Bansi and transferring the sound energy directly into the two isolated layers.

But the woodland mouths inside the isolation zones began to change.

Their lips slowly closed. Their wooden bodies twisted.

Then—

Crack!

The mouths split apart and transformed into golden eyes.

One after another, the Demon Vines developed eyes across their surfaces.

Some were the size of a fist. Others were several meters wide.

Within moments, countless golden orbs appeared throughout the two isolation layers.

They looked similar to Aksai’s own druidic eyes. The sight of countless eyes appearing and staring was even more nightmarish than before. It could make even the most cold-hearted devil cultivators have a sense of fear.

But the real change was happening inside those eyes.

The negative emotion essence flowing through the Demon Vines was absorbed into the Woodland Eyes. Then, peculiar runes began appearing inside the golden irises.

One circle. Then another. Then another.

Essence Equation runes that corresponded to Melody of Daze.

They formed intricate patterns within the eyes, with each rune connecting to the next.

The circles glowed in different colors. And the multi-colored runic circles slowly began rotating inside the golden eyes in various ways.

Hummm...

The Melody of Daze became clearer. And this time, its effect was almost immediate.

Saelyr suddenly stopped. Her crimson robes fluttered gently around her body.

Her eyes became unfocused.

"What... was I doing?"

She looked around. For a moment, she couldn’t remember why she had raised her hand. In the next moment, she lowered it and frowned. A strange emptiness appeared inside her mind.

She knew she was fighting someone. She knew she was trapped inside a formation. But the details were becoming increasingly difficult to grasp.

Neshara suffered the same fate. Her breathing slowed and her eyes lost their sharpness.

The artifact hidden inside her sleeve slipped slightly from her fingers. At first, she stared at it. For several seconds, she couldn’t remember why she was holding it.

Then the memory returned only to disappear again. Her brows furrowed.

"Who... am I fighting?"

The question escaped her lips almost unconsciously.

The Melody of Panic had already shattered the mental barriers they had built. Now the Melody of Daze was slowly eroding what remained.

Their thoughts became sluggish and their memories became distant. Their ability to connect cause and effect began collapsing.

The two women still possessed their cultivation bases and they still possessed their combat instincts. But the reasoning behind those abilities was disappearing.

Aksai continued playing. His golden eyes watched the two isolated layers without emotion. He could feel their mental states through the formation.

’Hmm. This should be enough.’

He subtly changed the tune again. The Melody of Daze disappeared. The Melody of Panic returned. It was a switch-back move that shook the souls.

Hummm...

The sudden change was devastating.

Fear returned to minds that could no longer properly understand it.

Saelyr suddenly looked around in panic.

"Who is there? Who is behind all this?"

Neshara also spun around.

"Show yourself! How dare you trap someone from the Shinayin Empire into an illusion-type formation?"

There was no answer. Only the countless golden Woodland Eyes staring at them.

Then the tune changed again.

Melody of Daze.

Their thoughts became blurry.

Their memories slipped away.

Then—

Melody of Panic.

Fear returned again. And again.

Aksai repeatedly switched between the two melodies.

Panic.

Daze.

Panic.

Daze.

The two opposing effects tore apart whatever stability remained inside the women’s minds.

Fear demanded that they act. Daze prevented them from understanding why they were acting.

Their instincts screamed at them to fight. Their minds could no longer determine who the enemy was. Their memories could no longer provide reliable answers.

Soon, their mental states descended into complete chaos.

Seeing the time was ripe, Aksai flew back and merged the two isolating layers into one, allowing the two female cultivators to meet each other.

The two females stumbled through the fog as it became thinner. For the first time since entering the formation, Saelyr could see another figure.

Neshara saw her as well.

"Where... where am I?"

Neshara raised her artifact.

"Don’t come closer."

"Who are you?"

"I said don’t come closer!"

The two women couldn’t even recognize each other anymore.

The Demon Vines immediately reacted. They attacked from opposite directions.

Swish!

One vine struck toward Saelyr and she instinctively dodged. Another vine struck from behind her forcing her to move forward.

At the same time, several vines attacked Neshara as well and she was forced to move in the opposite direction.

Their movements gradually brought them closer.

Saelyr saw a figure approaching through the fog. Her mind, already fractured by the two melodies, interpreted the figure as an enemy.

Neshara saw the same thing.

Unfortunately for them, neither recognized the other.

"Die!"