A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

The flames spread with astonishing precision. Only biological remains were targeted.

Aksai slowly walked through the battlefield while the snake tail followed behind him.

Whenever he spotted another severed limb, another pool of blood, or another forgotten fragment of flesh, the snake immediately opened its mouth.

Another stream of fire followed.

Within minutes, the battlefield had completely changed.

Nothing remained except scorched earth and gray ash.

Even the poisonous blood that had seeped into the soil had been burned away.

Aksai crouched down and scooped up a handful of ash. He rubbed it between his fingers, and it scattered into the wind.

He then used his earth-element Spirit Spell to make the battlefield blend in with the surrounding area.

Afterward, he activated several simple Second-Order wind-element talismans, summoning a powerful gale to disperse the lingering scent of blood and poison.

After doing everything within his power, the paranoid Spirit Farmer within him was finally satisfied.

"This... this should be enough for now. Kalina would be a valuable member of her faction, enough to warrant an investigation. However, she certainly wouldn’t be valuable enough for a Nascent Soul cultivator to personally take action because of her."

If someone came here within the next few weeks, they would certainly know that a battle had taken place.

Completely erasing the traces of the battlefield was impossible.

However, recovering useful evidence would become vastly more difficult. It would likely no longer be worth the effort and resources required to investigate it.

At that moment, Nuri also completed another scan.

[ Battlefield analysis complete. ]

[ No significant biological traces detected. ]

[ Remaining traces fall within acceptable risk parameters. ]

Aksai finally relaxed.

"That’s good enough."

Aksai had never believed in perfect crime scenes.

He only believed in making investigations increasingly difficult.

Even the mortals from his previous world had developed countless ways to investigate incidents long after they had occurred, often reconstructing a nearly complete picture of what had happened based on tiny clues.

Cultivators were bound to be even more thorough.

However, there were always limits that even cultivators could not cross.

Although they wielded powers beyond mortal comprehension, they were certainly not omnipotent or all-knowing.

After finishing the cleanup, he slowly turned toward the towering walls of vines surrounding the battlefield.

The isolated domain had served its purpose.

Without it, neither Kalina nor the royal faction would have been trapped inside the poisonous mist.

However, there was no reason to continue maintaining such a taxing Innate Spirit Spell any longer.

He raised a hand.

The countless vines immediately began trembling.

Then...

They rapidly shrank.

The massive walls collapsed inward like retreating waves before dissolving into countless streams of green light.

Those streams returned to Aksai one after another before disappearing into his body.

Within moments, the enormous vine barrier vanished completely, and the twilight sky became visible once again.

The fading moonlight, just before the sun peeked over the distant horizon, quietly fell upon the ruined battlefield.

A cool breeze swept across the burned earth, carrying away the last traces of ash.

A new dawn was approaching.

***

Soon after the vine barrier disappeared, a figure shot across the sky at full speed.

It was the Purple River Lord.

He had been waiting outside the barrier the entire time.

The moment the vines vanished, he rushed inside without the slightest hesitation.

His anxious eyes immediately searched the battlefield until they landed on Aksai.

For a few seconds, he simply stared.

His expression slowly shifted from relief... to confusion... and finally to complete disbelief.

He looked Aksai up and down several times.

The young man stood calmly with his robes only slightly damaged. His aura had stabilized, and there was almost no sign that he had just gone through a life-and-death battle against a late-stage Lord.

The Purple River Lord blinked repeatedly.

"Brat... what happened?"

He hurried closer.

"Did that woman escape?"

Then he suddenly stopped.

"Hmm? No... wait..."

His brows knitted together. He slowly turned around and looked at the surrounding land.

The battlefield was... clean. Too clean. Only scorched earth remained.

The Purple River Lord frowned deeply.

"This..."

He immediately spread his Lord-level Spirit Sense in every direction. His powerful perception swept across the battlefield several times.

Nothing.

Not a single useful Spirit trace remained. Even the lingering Spirit Essence fluctuations had almost completely dispersed.

The Purple River Lord’s eyes widened slightly. He slowly turned back toward Aksai. His face clearly said the words he hadn’t spoken.

Explain.

Aksai met his gaze calmly.

"That woman is dead."

His voice remained steady.

"Along with the entire royal faction army that came with her."

He paused briefly before adding,

"Not a single survivor."

The Purple River Lord simply stared as he processed Aksai’s words.

His mouth opened slightly before closing again.

He waited.

Surely there had to be more.

How?

What happened inside the barrier?

What kind of battle had taken place?

There were many more questions that kept on piling inside the Purple Lord’s mind.

Yet Aksai merely stood there quietly.

He offered no further explanation.

After a long moment, the Purple River Lord let out a helpless chuckle.

He understood.

Whatever had happened inside that barrier belonged to Aksai’s secrets. Continuing to ask would only cross a line. He might be curious beyond measure, but curiosity was not worth damaging their alliance.

Instead his expression slowly changed.

Relief appeared first.

Then excitement.

Finally, uncontrollable joy.

"Hahahahaha!"

His loud laughter echoed across the quiet battlefield.

He stepped forward and heavily patted Aksai’s shoulder.

"Aksai, my little brother!"

His face was full of genuine happiness.

"I’m truly glad our sect formed an alliance with your Emerald Cove Guild."

He laughed again before speaking proudly.

"Don’t worry. We simply fell into a trap this time because of the rumors regarding a certain treasure. We were caught completely unprepared."

His eyes shone with confidence.

"But that won’t happen a second time. We from the Purple River Sect certainly won’t become a burden to the Emerald Cove Guild."

He folded his arms behind his back.

"With my connections, many small and middle-ranked sects will soon join us. We’ll unite everyone willing to fight."

A determined smile spread across his face.

"Rest assured. Our alliance alone will become a powerful wall against the Empire’s advance. We’ll make those invaders understand that this subcontinent isn’t theirs to take."

Unfortunately, the confidence on the Purple River Lord’s face wasn’t reflected in Aksai’s expression. Instead, Aksai quietly looked at the middle-aged looking old man.

Then he slowly shook his head.

"Old Purple..."

His voice was calm.

"Drop the idea of resisting the imperial campaigns."

The Purple River Lord’s smile slowly disappeared.

Aksai continued without worrying about his friend’s feelings.

"That woman never took you seriously. She didn’t care how many cultivators stood under your command."

He looked toward the distant horizon where the first rays of sunlight had begun to appear.

"My battle with her was to probe the empire’s might. And it certainly served its purpose. I... I realized something last night.

"I am sorry to say this bluntly but we natives aren’t qualified to face and repel the empire’s invasion.

And don’t even think about getting small and medium sects into the fray. We can’t fight the Empire’s cultivators through numbers alone. It will only lead to more unnecessary deaths."

"And more destruction."

He remained silent for a moment.

Then he quietly sighed.

"This... this resistance isn’t worth it."

At this point, the morning sun slowly rose above the distant horizon. Golden light spread across the land.

Yet Aksai felt none of its warmth.

For him, the chill of the previous night had never truly left.