A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

The Purple River Lord did not answer immediately.

His eyes remained fixed on the cloaked figure standing high above the battlefield.

The voice transmission replayed inside his head once again and he frowned.

Something about that tone felt... strangely familiar.

The Purple River Lord quickly searched his memories. He had heard this voice many times before.

Suddenly—

His eyes widened. His mouth slowly fell open.

The string of curses that had already reached the tip of his tongue froze before a single word could leave his lips.

His expression became one of complete disbelief.

’...Impossible...’

He stared at the cloaked figure once again.

Then he sent a cautious voice transmission.

’Aksai...?’

The reply came almost instantly.

’Who else would tolerate your foul mouth, Old Purple Lord?’

The Purple River Lord nearly forgot that he was standing in the middle of a battlefield. His breathing stopped for a brief moment. His heart skipped a beat.

It really was him.

The man standing above the battlefield...

The terrifying existence whose pressure had forced every Foundation Establishment expert onto the ground...

The one who had frightened even the mysterious woman from beyond the subcontinent into complete silence...

It was Aksai.

The same Spirit farmer. The same Emerald Cove Guild Master.

The same young Lord who had secretly built an alliance with the Purple River Sect.

The Purple River Lord could hardly believe his own senses.

Ever since the secret alliance between the Purple River Sect and the Emerald Cove Guild had been established, he and Aksai had met several times whenever both of them found the time.

For obvious reasons, they rarely met on the mainland.

Too many eyes watched the movements of the Lords belonging to the Big Five Sects.

Instead, they usually met on small inhabited islands scattered across the Dadangar Sea.

Whenever meeting in person became inconvenient, they relied on long-distance communication formations, which allowed them to speak across vast distances almost instantly.

Over time, the two had become surprisingly close.

It was not the friendship of equals.

The Purple River Lord was much older. In his eyes, Aksai was still a junior. A very capable junior.

At first, he had assumed the young Lord would be impulsive, full of ambition, and eager to prove himself.

Instead, Aksai turned out to be calm, patient, and highly practical. Something most Lords came to be after spending two three centuries of their lives.

Many times, while discussing guild management, trade routes, or long-term planning, the Purple River Lord found himself wondering whether he was talking to a young cultivator or someone even older than himself.

Sometimes Aksai’s suggestions were so mature that even the Purple River Lord had to admit they were better than his own.

That was one of the reasons he genuinely liked the young man. The alliance had also exceeded his expectations.

Originally, he believed the Emerald Cove Guild would merely become another useful ally against one of the Big Five Sects or perhaps one of the Three Major Demonic Sects.

Back then, he had suspected that the mysterious organization hunting Core Formation Lords had some connection to one of those powers. Even Aksai had similar thoughts to a certain extent.

How wrong they both had been.

The royal faction...

No.

The force hiding behind the royal faction...

It was far greater than anything he had imagined.

Compared to it, even the combined strength of the Big Five Sects and the Three Major Demonic Sects seemed insignificant.

Forget defeating or competing for resources with such an enemy. Surviving the coming storm already felt difficult enough.

That was why, when he had secretly called for help earlier tonight, he had not truly expected anyone to come.

Not even Aksai.

Especially not Aksai.

After all, nobody understood the dangers of the royal faction better than Aksai himself. Most of the intelligence the Purple River Sect possessed had come directly from him.

If anyone knew how terrifying tonight’s enemy truly was, it was Aksai. So why would he come?

Why would he willingly throw himself into such danger?

Had someone else done the same, the Purple River Lord would have questioned that person’s judgment.

Yet, Aksai had still come.

Not only that...

He had arrived in a way that completely overturned everything the Purple River Lord thought he knew.

A Nascent Soul King.

No matter how many times he sensed the overwhelming pressure above him, part of his mind still refused to believe it.

Aksai...

A King?

It simply did not make sense.

The Purple River Lord slowly forced himself to calm down. Years of experience quickly suppressed the storm inside his heart.

He first glanced toward the bewitching beauty. She remained completely motionless. Her eyes never left the cloaked figure.

The confidence she had displayed only moments ago had completely disappeared. Seeing that she had truly been forced into inaction, the Purple River Lord finally looked back toward Aksai.

A grin slowly appeared on his weathered face, which he quickly concealed. However, one could already tell that his earlier despair had vanished.

In its place came something much more familiar.

He opened his mouth.

"Brat..."

His voice carried neither fear nor formality. It sounded exactly the same as it always had whenever they drank together.

"You aren’t really a Nascent Soul King... are you?"

The question sounded casual.

Ever since their friendship had deepened, the Purple River Lord had long stopped treating Aksai like an ordinary junior.

Instead, he treated him like the younger brother he had never had.

Whenever they shared jars of Bacchus’ Wine from Aksai’s private collection, the dignified Purple River Sect Master would completely throw away his usual image.

He would complain about the other Lords of the subcontinent. He would gossip endlessly.

He would curse so creatively that even Aksai sometimes found himself learning entirely new insults.

That was how Aksai had discovered that behind the Purple River Lord’s refined appearance hid a man with one of the filthiest mouths in the entire Dadangar Subcontinent.

***

Aksai let out a quiet sigh inside his mind.

Out of everything happening on the battlefield, the Purple River Lord was worried about seniority.

The battlefield below had already become a sea of blood. Hundreds of cultivators had died. A Core Formation Lord from the Shinayin Empire stood only a few hundred meters away, watching them carefully.

Yet the old man was more concerned about whether Aksai had become a Nascent Soul King before him.

However, the Spirit farmer had no time to waste. Using voice transmission once again, he spoke directly into the Purple River Lord’s ears.

"I am not really a King. This is only a small trick I came up with. It won’t last for long."

Aksai paused briefly before continuing.

"The moment I am forced to take action, this bluff will disappear. So stop standing there.

"Hurry up and do as I say. Order your sect members to retreat immediately.

"Tell them to leave the battlefield and get as far away from this place as possible."

Aksai’s tone became even more serious.

"And after I give you the signal..."

"You leave as well."

The Purple River Lord stared blankly at the cloaked figure for a moment.

Then...

He quietly let out a long breath. Relief spread across his face.

’Thank heavens.’

He had genuinely been worried.

If Aksai had really broken through to the Nascent Soul realm then everything between them would change.

No matter how much younger Aksai was...

No matter how close they had become over the past months...

A King was still a King.

The Purple River Lord would have no choice but to address him as Senior. He had already accepted Aksai as the little brother. He didn’t want to break the status quo between them at this point.

The relief only lasted for a moment before another feeling replaced it.

He did not ask how Aksai had managed to imitate the aura of a true Nascent Soul King. He also did not ask what kind of treasure or technique had made such a thing possible.

If Aksai wished to keep that secret, then he would respect it.

Nor did he ask about Aksai’s plan. But one sentence continued echoing inside his head.

You leave as well.

The Purple River Lord frowned deeply.

Inside his chest, conflicting emotions battled each other.

He had already lived a long life.

Long enough to witness friends grow old and die.

Long enough to see generations of disciples rise and disappear.

Long enough to understand that every cultivator would eventually meet death.

Of course, he still wished to continue cultivating.

He still dreamed of one day reaching the Nascent Soul realm.

But dreams were different from reality.

For centuries, the Dao Paths of the Dadangar Subcontinent had remained sealed.

That fact alone had crushed countless ambitions.

Even though those shackles had finally disappeared...

Even though hope had returned...

He knew better than anyone how difficult the road ahead remained for him.

Deep inside...

He had already accepted that he might spend the rest of his life as a Core Formation Lord.

If death arrived today, he would naturally regret it. But he would accept it. Or at least try to. As much as he can.

What he could not accept...

Was allowing Aksai to stay behind while he escaped.

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