A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

The moment Aksai completed the final Mudra series, everything happened at once.

Multiple Innate Spirit Spells burst into existence almost simultaneously. Each spell carried traces of Aksai’s intent-based spellcasting.

Although this combination still could not truly reach the level of a Connate Spell, it was no longer an ordinary Innate Spirit Spell either. The gap between the two had been greatly reduced.

For the first time since this battle began, Kalina truly felt threatened.

The first spell to activate was Vine Barrier.

The ground shook violently.

Countless thick green vines burst out of the earth like hungry serpents. They shot toward the sky at frightening speed. Each vine was covered with countless sharp barbs that glistened under the moonlight.

Before Kalina could even think about retreating, the vines intertwined with each other. Within a single breath, they formed a gigantic dome around both of them.

The barrier sealed the surrounding space completely. It was twice as big as the ordinary Devil’s Den. The space it isolated inside was as big as four football stadiums, covering the entire battlefield between the Purple River Sect and the royal faction and then some more.

The speed of its formation far exceeded Kalina’s expectations. She had expected at least a brief casting delay for such a wide range 3rd order Spirit Spell.

Instead, the barrier was already complete. Her escape route had vanished all of a sudden, before she fully recognized the need to escape in the first place.

This was the result of Nuri’s silent chanting and lightning-fast Mudra execution.

The Neural Link Fabric had handled countless tiny calculations while Aksai merely supplied the Spirit Essence. Or rather, Aksai didn’t need to truly act as a power source either. As long as he gave his consent, Nuri could also automate that job for him.

It allowed every Mudra to be completed at the perfect moment without wasting even the smallest fraction of time.

Aksai had rarely displayed this level of Mudra casting after he ascended to his current status as a Lord. Against most of his previous opponents of the same generation, there had never been a need. Simply adding Intent to his Innate Spirit Spells had already given him a huge advantage.

But Kalina was different.

That advantage alone was no longer enough. So he held nothing back.

Back when he wandered across the mainland as a loose cultivator, many who witnessed his hand seals had given him a title.

Mudra-casting Maestro.

Tonight, that title seemed to shine brighter than ever.

Even before Kalina fully understood what had happened, the second spell activated.

Earth Control.

The earth beneath the vines trembled once again.

Massive stone pillars erupted from the ground one after another.

They surrounded the inside of the barrier in an orderly pattern.

Each pillar merged naturally with the roots of the giant vines.

At first glance...

It merely looked like the vines were being reinforced.

But Kalina immediately noticed something else.

’An array...’

The pillars were not random. They served as formation nodes. Hidden among them, a simple array plate silently activated.

The vines became the skeleton. The pillars became the supports.

Together, they formed a simple sealing formation.

Its purpose was obvious. Trap everything inside.

Aksai had silently thrown the array plate onto the ground while Kalina’s attention had been focused elsewhere. Only now did the formation reveal itself.

Then, the third spell finally activated.

Venom Dominion.

Unlike the previous two spells, this one had been intentionally delayed by a fraction of a moment.

A thick green mist slowly spread throughout the barrier.

At first, it looked harmless. But within moments, the poisonous fog began filling every corner of the enclosed space.

Aksai had deliberately arranged everything in this exact order.

He understood the enormous gap between himself and Kalina. Although both of them were Core Formation Lords, the difference between the peak of the mid-stage and a firmly established late-stage Lord was anything but small.

Aksai knew this better than anyone.

He had already fought Arkaal before.

Arkaal had been a late-stage Lord standing only one step away from becoming a False Infant.

That battle had taught Aksai exactly how terrifying late-stage Lords truly were.

Kalina had not reached Arkaal’s cultivation level. However, she came from the Shinayin Empire.

Her items, Connate Spells, and combat experience. Everything surpassed Arkaal’s.

In many ways, she was even more dangerous than Arkaal.

Aksai never believed that his recent improvements were enough to fight her head-on.

Charging directly at her would have been no different from willingly throwing himself onto a wall covered with blades.

So he chose another path.

He shaped the battlefield itself.

The Vine Barrier became his hunting ground. Inside this enclosed space, the countless vines could be manipulated at will.

The Earth Control spell reinforced both the barrier and the sealing formation. The formation ensured that nothing inside could easily escape.

Especially the poison.

As Venom Dominion continued spreading, the poisonous mist failed to leak outside the barrier.

Instead, it continued accumulating.

The fog grew thicker.

Denser.

Every passing breath made it worse.

Soon...

Visibility dropped sharply.

The poison itself continuously corroded Kalina’s natural Spirit Essence barrier. It also slowly interfered with the circulation of Spirit Essence inside a Lord’s body.

Although Aksai’s cultivation was lower than hers, meaning the poison alone posed little immediate danger, Kalina knew exactly what prolonged exposure would do.

It would steadily weaken her.

At the same time, the poisonous mist interfered with Spirit Sense. Its effect was not absolute. But it was enough. Enough to blur her perception. Enough to prevent her from accurately tracking every movement inside the barrier.

Low visibility. Disturbed Spirit Sense. An enclosed battlefield.

Only then did Kalina finally understand. She had walked directly into a carefully prepared trap.

Her heart shook.

’How...’

’How is this possible...?’

She simply could not understand it.

Multiple Spirit Spells.

A formation.

Perfect timing.

Everything flowed together as though they were parts of a single spell. There wasn’t the slightest pause or mental hesitation between each action.

Even among the famous geniuses of the Shinayin Empire, very few late-stage Lords could accomplish something like this.

She suddenly discovered something she had never expected.

She...

Could not keep up.

It was not because Aksai’s spells were stronger than hers. They were not. His Innate Spirit Spells still could not compare to her Connate Spells in either quality or raw power.

But, he could cast too many of them. Too quickly. Perhaps this was an advantage of Innate Spirit Spells over Connate Spells that no native cultivator had managed to bring out before?

Her Connate Spells were indeed faster, stronger, and more refined. Yet, they still had to be cast one after another. Even someone as talented as Kalina needed a brief pause between successive Connate Spells.

Aksai, however, had erased that weakness entirely.

No...

More accurately, someone had erased it for him.

Without Nuri’s unbelievable computational abilities, this kind of multi-threaded spellcasting simply could not exist in the hands of a Lord.

Even Kalina was correct in that judgment.

What she was witnessing was not something a normal Core Formation Lord should have been capable of achieving.

***

As soon as the barrier was complete, Aksai did not hesitate.

His figure flashed across the battlefield.

Using Silverblue Moonsteps, he quickly widened the distance between himself and Kalina.

He had no intention of engaging her in close combat.

Not even for a moment.

His Spirit Sense carefully observed every movement inside the dome.

The countless vines shook violently as Kalina tested them with bursts of Spirit Essence.

The sturdy pillars supporting the barrier also trembled.

Small cracks appeared here and there.

Yet...

None of them broke. The vines used the essence of earth to repair their damaged parts almost instantly.

Aksai secretly let out a sigh of relief.

’Good. She won’t break out anytime soon.’

That was enough.

He never expected Vine Barrier to imprison Kalina forever. He only needed some time to let the poison fog accumulate.

Every extra breath she remained trapped inside the barrier allowed the poisonous fog to grow denser.

Sooner or later, her vision would become completely useless. At the same time, the poison would slowly seep through her protective Spirit Essence barrier.

Its effect would not kill her. Not immediately. However, every passing moment would place another invisible burden on her body.

Her Spirit Essence circulation would gradually become sluggish. Her reactions would slow. Even the slightest weakening was valuable against an opponent like Kalina.

Aksai, however, had no idea just how fortunate he had been tonight.

If Kalina still possessed her Natal Artifact, this carefully prepared battlefield would have collapsed almost instantly.

With the overwhelming power of her Natal Sword, she could have carved open the Vine Barrier through sheer force.

The sealing formation would not have lasted long against such concentrated attacks. The poisonous mist would have escaped along with her. His entire trap would have become meaningless.

Fortunately, things had unfolded very differently.

Kalina had not stored her Natal Sword inside her Spirit Essence Core during the past several weeks.

As one of the most talented late-stage Lords within Great Elder Runiye’s faction, she had never lacked cultivation resources.

Various precious Third Order pills were supplied to her regularly. Those pills strengthened both her cultivation and her Natal Artifact.

Before entering the subcontinent, she had swallowed a large number of those pills in preparation for this campaign.

Her goal had been simple.

Increase her strength as much as possible before carrying out her mission.

The pills had indeed worked.

However, consuming too many within such a short period had left behind pill toxins inside her body and Spirit Essence Core.

Kalina naturally understood the risks.

While refining her Core to remove those impurities, she deliberately avoided storing her Natal Sword inside it.

She did not wish to contaminate the weapon with those lingering toxins.

So she temporarily kept the sword inside her storage ring.

That single decision had now come back to haunt her.

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