A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

This was the dread of true sword cultivators.

Their entire existence revolved around battle.

They specialized almost entirely in offensive techniques and rarely relied on defensive treasures. This was not because they were all arrogant, but because their offense was their greatest defense.

Moreover, sword cultivators tended to rely solely on their natal swords for both attack and defense. Cultivating another treasure was akin to muddying their pristine sword path.

The fog churned violently under the assault of the natal sword.

Countless formation runes surfaced throughout the mist before shattering one after another beneath the relentless barrage.

The attacks never paused even after the appearance of a small tear in the formation.

One sword strike flowed seamlessly into the next. The black flying sword danced across the sky with frightening precision.

Half a minute later—

Crack!

A deafening sound echoed across the sea.

The endless mist suddenly split apart. A wide opening nearly thirty meters across appeared within the formation.

Immediately, a portion of Emerald Cove Island became visible. The surrounding formation instantly began repairing itself. Streams of Spirit Essence rapidly flowed toward the damaged section.

Unfortunately, thin black sword scars remained embedded throughout the broken barrier. Those lingering traces of Sword Intent continuously tore apart every newly formed layer of the formation.

One sword to break through a thousand traps.

This was the philosophy followed by true sword cultivators. One look at the Devil’s Den in its current state was enough to understand why they adhered to that philosophy so faithfully.

Although the tear in the formation slowly began to narrow after a second or two, its recovery speed became pitifully slow.

Saelyr laughed softly.

"As expected of Senior Brother Varesh."

Droven folded his arms.

"One sword. One opening. Truly worthy of a true sword lineage."

Even the usually emotionless Neshara gave a slight nod.

"This.... The rumors about your advancements actually underestimated you. Your Sword Intent has become even purer."

Varesh calmly extended his hand.

The flying sword returned to his palm before disappearing back into his body.

A satisfied smile slowly appeared on his face.

"To be honest, I expected a little more resistance. That’s why I put so much power into those attacks."

He looked at the damaged formation with faint disappointment.

"But for something capable of hiding an entire island, it fell rather easily."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"It is... kind of strange. Be careful. It might be....."

Of course, he only wanted to give a warning to avoid unnecessary troubles. He did not take the formation in front of him seriously.

The native cultivators of the Dadangar Subcontinent simply lacked genuine inheritances.

Whether it involved formations, sword arts, alchemy, or any other cultivation path, everything they possessed was incomplete compared to the true legacies of the Shinayin Empire.

From the very beginning, he had never expected this island’s formation to withstand him for long. He calmly observed the slowly repairing gap.

"I ask you all to be careful but don’t worry too much. If they intentionally weakened the formation to lure us inside..."

His smile widened.

"...then they’ve made the greatest mistake possible."

Saelyr raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm? You believe it’s a trap?"

Varesh chuckled.

"I almost hope it is."

He pointed toward the opening.

"The closer we get to the Array Eye, the easier it becomes for me to seize control."

His confidence was absolute. As long as he reached the controlling Array Eye, the entire formation would become his. This was not because he was good at controlling arrays but because he could just brute-force his way in and manually take control.

Once that happened, every restriction protecting the island would instead become shackles imprisoning its owners. Not only could he plunder every resource without restraint, he could also claim Emerald Cove Island for his own imperial faction.

His gaze swept across the glimpse of lush forests visible through the opening. He was also impressed a bit by the island’s defence mechanism. He had never seen such a level of formation even on the subcontinent’s mainland.

"I wonder who set up such a formation? It actually endured my attacks for half a minute. Not bad.

"After replacing its crude native control methods with proper imperial formation techniques, it should become a respectable defensive stronghold."

The greed in his eyes grew even stronger. In his mind, Emerald Cove Island had already become part of his future spoils.

There was no time to waste. The four imperial Lords entered the opening one after another.

Varesh was the first to cross through the damaged section of the formation. Saelyr followed closely behind him, with Neshara and Droven entering after her.

The moment the last cultivator passed through—

Hum!

The entire formation trembled.

The wide opening behind them suddenly began shrinking.

The surrounding mist surged inward like an enormous wave, rapidly filling the gap that Varesh had carved open.

The black sword scars left behind by his Sword Intent continued to resist.

Yet this time, the formation did not try to repair the damage in a regular way. Instead, countless formation runes emerged within the mist.

They overlapped.

They intertwined.

Then, like an enormous net, they wrapped around the remaining Sword Intent and began consuming it.

Varesh’s expression changed slightly.

’Hmm? What a profound formation. It almost matches the formation levels of the empire.’

His eyes narrowed.

The Sword Intent he had deliberately left behind was indeed preventing the formation from repairing itself. However, the formation was not powerless against it.

It was simply using an enormous amount of Spirit Essence to forcefully reconstruct the damaged section. Or rather, it just created another patch of barrier before discarding the old one that was affected by the Sword Intent.

All of it sounded easy but it involved countless calculations and ability to control so many complex Essence Equation runes at once. It meant that not only the formation was more profound that earlier estimation but the one who was controlling it from within was also not someone who could be underestimated.

While Varesh was wondering how a native Lord from the subcontinent managed to do so many calculations in such a short time, the surrounding Spirit Essence around the barrier surged like a tide.

The gap completely disappeared. The four imperial Lords were sealed inside the formation.

Varesh remained silent for a moment. A faint smile appeared on his lips.

"As I expected."

Saelyr looked around.

"That exaggerated barrier healing is a little suspicious. We’re trapped right? Or is this a type of formation that is easy to attack and also easy to repair itself?"

"No. you all are thinking too much"

Varesh shook his head.

"We were simply invited inside."

Varesh’s expression remained calm as he spoke.

"That was why I warned you to be careful."

Neshara’s eyes narrowed beneath her veil.

"Is that so? Then why did you enter?"

Varesh gave her a strange look.

"Because not entering wouldn’t have solved anything. Do you want to maintain a siege for that cockroach for months on end here?"

The other three fell silent.

Varesh looked back at the place where the opening had disappeared.

"The formation has a strong foundation. Much stronger than I initially expected. It also means that the resources hidden on this island are probably worth even more than we thought."

Varesh’s voice carried a hint of excitement. Before any of his companions could say anything, he had already made his decision.

"We’ll take control of the central Array Eye."

Droven frowned.

"Shouldn’t we first try to create an exit, just in case things get out of control? We could use our talismans to forcefully create a tear and maintain it for as long as we remain inside. We’ll just have to invest time and other precious resources. And someone has to stay behind to maintain the talisman’s operation."

Varesh shook his head.

"You are still underestimating this formation. Do you think I would have waited for your opinion if it were that simple to create an exit strategy in this situation? Breaking out from the inside is different."

He pointed toward the surrounding formation.

"From the outside, my attacks only needed to fight against the outer layer of the formation. From the inside, every attack will have to fight against the formation’s internal structure as well. Even if you use those special talismans to create an exit, it wouldn’t last long. Plus, the talisman’s activation time is simply going to be too lengthy."

His eyes sharpened as he continued.

"During the time it takes to activate the talisman, we won’t be able to launch powerful attacks to avoid the Spirit Pulse interference. Someone could use that window to launch an attack against us."

He had already considered everything.

Creating another opening was possible. But it was unnecessary for various reasons.

The safest path was also the most direct one.

Take control of the central Array Eye.

Once he reached it, the entire formation would become his battlefield. At that point, breaking the formation would be unnecessary.

He could simply bind his Spirit Sense to it and take ownership.

Varesh’s lips curved upward.

"Such a precise control over the formation’s outermost layer and near-direct way of getting rid of my Sword Intent on the barrier means whoever controls this formation must be nearby."

He stepped onto his black flying sword.

"Let’s find him."

Whoosh!

The sword shot forward.

Varesh’s figure instantly transformed into a black streak, cutting through the thick mist. His Sword Intent spread outward, tearing apart the layers of fog in front of him.

Saelyr sighed.

"Senior Varesh really doesn’t like wasting time."

Droven grunted.

"He is a sword cultivator. What else did you expect?"

Neshara remained silent for a moment before following.

The three had little choice.

Although they didn’t entirely agree with the straightforward philosophy of true sword cultivators, they couldn’t deny one thing. Varesh was the strongest among them. His offensive power was also the greatest.

If there was danger ahead, he would be the first one to encounter it. If there was an ambush, he would be the first target. And if there was a formation layer blocking their path, he would be the first one to break it.

That was the advantage of allowing a true sword cultivator to lead. They were naturally suited to walking at the very front.

The other three exchanged glances before following behind.