A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

Kalina’s face stiffened.

A mixture of embarrassment and anxiety slowly appeared in her heart.

She had been completely confident when the mission began.

Now...

She suddenly felt as though she had committed an enormous mistake.

Even though she knew she had done everything in her power to gather intelligence, she also knew how Nascent Soul Kings, including her leader, defined incompetence.

If a mission failed to be executed flawlessly, the blame would fall on her regardless of the external factors. After all, she was expected to take those external factors into account before taking action.

If King Kainaat truly visited Great Elder Runiye, this matter could become much bigger than she wanted.

The competition between the Shinayin Empire’s factions was already delicate enough.

Causing unnecessary friction because of what this cloaked King described as faulty intelligence would certainly leave a bad impression. Even if she tried to explain herself, Great Elder Runiye would never blame another cultivator of his own standing. He would place all the blame on her instead.

She lowered her head even further.

"This junior apologizes."

"I truly did not know the Purple River Sect had already come under your esteemed faction’s protection."

"If this junior has offended Great Elder King, please allow me to make amends."

Hidden beneath his hood, Aksai almost smiled when he heard Kalina.

’It worked? It actually worked? Hehehe. I must thank the work culture of the Shinayin Empire. It probably treats its enforcers like corporate employees. Without the fear of the hierarchy, this wouldn’t have been possible.’

He had expected resistance.

Perhaps even suspicion.

Instead, Kalina appeared genuinely worried.

That alone was enough for Aksai to draw his own conclusions about how her superiors treated her and other Lords like her.

The Shinayin Empire truly functioned like an empire.

It was not a sect where disciples were nurtured and pampered by their elders.

It was more like a giant machine that treated its subjects as disposable components for the sake of strengthening itself.

One could say that the Shinayin Empire was trying to imitate the social structure of the Eternal Sea because of its proximity. However, since it lacked the presence of a Deity Transformation powerhouse, it could not be ruled by a single true Emperor.

Instead, the empire had a False Infant Spirit cultivator acting as the Emperor in name, while the real power rested in the hands of the Imperial Guards, who were genuine Nascent Soul Kings.

These Imperial Guards represented different factions.

Their primary responsibility was to maintain trade between the Shinayin Empire and the Eternal Sea.

As for truly acting as Imperial Guards and protecting the False Infant Emperor, very few of them actually cared.

As for why none of the Nascent Soul Kings became Emperor themselves, the answer was simple.

No single King was powerful enough to suppress all the others combined.

Since no King could claim the throne by force, the existence of competing imperial factions was inevitable.

The False Infant Emperor existed mainly to fulfill ceremonial duties and keep the mortals and low-level Spirit cultivators under control.

Aksai did not know everything about the Shinayin Empire.

Although he had gathered as much information as possible through his own channels, much of it was incomplete or outdated.

Even so, that did not stop him from drawing conclusions based on his interaction with Kalina.

The more he observed her, the more he wanted to exploit the effects of the False King Essence Pill...

...and, by extension, exploit her as well.

At this point, Aksai was simply pushing his luck.

The effects of the False King Essence Pill were already nearing their limit.

Sooner or later, the disguise would fail.

He no longer cared much whether his cover survived.

If Kalina suddenly became suspicious or decided to ignore his supposed status as a King, he would simply begin the next phase of his plan.

The disposable Sentient Fiends waiting inside the Enchanted Everwood Farm. The poison trap only needed a trigger.

If negotiations failed, then this battlefield would become Kalina’s nightmare.

Until then, there was nothing wrong with seeing just how much wealth he could squeeze out of this frightened "fat sheep" before the curtain finally fell.

***

Kalina’s face turned blank when she heard Aksai’s unreasonable demand. She had thought that she was bullying the Purple River Lord earlier. But it turned out that there were levels of bullying and what she did to her opponent was nothing compared to what the Nascent Soul King wanted to do with her.

And wasn’t Kaainaat supposed to be a rich King even by a 4th Spirit realm cultivators’ standards? Kalina couldn’t imagine that this King would be so unscrupulous.

She had indeed heard that Kaainat was a thrifty merchant and as the Black Yin Flower Trading Company was run by him, it too had a bit of swindling nature to it. But Kalina realized that the rumors weren’t doing justice to his actual "fame".

Of course, Kalina wanted to say that she had nothing worthy of a Nascent Soul King.

But how could she dare?

The cloaked figure before her had already made it clear that this was a lesson.

A lesson.

Not robbery.

Not extortion.

At least, that was how he had chosen to describe it. And as far as she knew about the Kings, they were indeed capable of twisting the truth and turn black into white and white into black.

Meanwhile, Aksai gave two dry coughs before letting out an awkward laugh. He knew that he couldn’t be too demanding or Kalina would start doubting his identity. As such, he decided to sweeten the deal for Kalina as well. Or rather, there was nothing wrong with pretending to sweeten it.

"Hehehe."

"Lass, don’t think I’m bullying you."

"I am merely trying to teach you an important lesson. How could you learn a lesson if you don’t face punishment?"

He slowly raised a hand behind his back, looking every bit like an eccentric senior.

"Alright. Take out anything that you deem worthy of my attention. I shall compensate you in some other way in return to show my sincerity toward King Runiye.

"How about it?"

Kalina bit her lower lip.

Her eyes showed three parts reluctance and one part complaint.

What could she possibly possess that would catch the eye of a Nascent Soul King?

Even though she came from a powerful faction and had received generous support from her seniors, she was still only a Core Formation Lord.

Cultivation was expensive. Especially so when it reached her level.

Every minor advancement required enormous resources. Nothing came easily.

Even inside the Shinayin Empire, resources were never enough. Not because there was scarcity of them but because there were too many cultivators.

Many outsiders and drifting cultivators believed that every Lord from the empire lived a luxurious life. That was far from the truth.

The empire indeed possessed Nascent Soul Kings. Its trade with the Eternal Sea also brought countless treasures into its territory. Yet that only meant there were more cultivators competing for those treasures.

Especially among the Core Formation Lords. The competition was ruthless. Every resource was fought over. Every opportunity had to be earned.

Becoming a Core Formation Lord was only the beginning. Advancing beyond the early stage was an entirely different challenge.

There were countless Lords throughout the empire. But most of them remained stuck at the early stage for the rest of their lives.

Only a small number managed to step into the middle stage. Even fewer reached the late stage. Those cultivators were the true elites.

They possessed genuine potential to challenge the Nascent Soul realm someday. Even if that chance was extremely small.

In comparison, the Dadangar Subcontinent looked rather strange.

Almost every known Core Formation Lord here had reached the late stage.

Someone unfamiliar with the history of the land might think the subcontinent produced only powerful Lords.

The truth was exactly the opposite.

For centuries, the Dao Paths of this land had remained sealed. Only the greatest geniuses could force their way into the Core Formation realm despite the suppression.

Anyone with merely average talent failed long before reaching that point. Many died during their breakthroughs. Many never even had the chance to try.

Only those with extraordinary talent, firm Dao Hearts, and unbelievable determination survived long enough to become Lords.

Every Lord born in this land naturally possessed the potential to become a Nascent Soul cultivator. Because the cut off for being a Lord was much much higher in the subcontinent in the past than it had been in the Shinayin Empire.

It was simply that the final path had been blocked that the late-stage Lords of this land couldn’t take the final steps. There was never a bottleneck of talent for these Lords. Even though the 3rd Order resources were scarce, they too were not true hindrances in their path,

It was the Dao Paths which had refused to let them advance.

Of course, that restriction had disappeared at this point.

Even so, potential alone meant very little. It would be a while before the subcontinent produced a true Nascent Soul cultivator from its soil.

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