A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

Four months later.

Dadangar Subcontinent.

Deeper into Duya Forest. Eternal Beast Dynasty.

It had been four long months since Aksai had entered the Duya Forest.

The deep wilderness had swallowed him whole, far past the noisy periphery where most cultivators dared not go.

Here, in the heart of the deep woods known as the Eternal Beast Dynasty, even the trees stood ancient and tall, their trunks as wide as small houses, their roots weaving like veins into the thick, mossy ground.

The ambient Spirit essence was as wild and untamed as the forest and the constant calls of strange, powerful beasts echoed in the distance.

Sunlight barely made it through the dense canopy above, and the forest always felt dim, as if stuck in a never-ending dusk.

Aksai moved quietly along a narrow game trail, his feet pressing gently into the damp soil. He stopped now and then to crouch and study the ground.

Claw marks. Crushed leaves. A faint musk in the air.

These were signs. Faint but clear.

He knelt beside a patch of disturbed ground and unrolled one of the scrolls Haitin had given him. It showed a hand-drawn sketch of the claw prints left behind by a bear-like demon beast called the Hollowback Grizzle. A powerful but slow creature that hibernated for long stretches deep inside tree hollows or caves.

This particular beast wasn't his true goal. But it was his best lead.

The Verdant Elder—a demon beast with the body of a turtle and the limbs of a mountain tortoise—was known to feed on hibernating beasts. It was usually slow, lazy, and extremely cautious. Although it could use SPirit spells to enhance its agility for a period of time, it still had the nature of a tortoise.

Aksai knew he had no chance of finding the Verdant Elder by chasing after it directly. Even spotting it once in a lifetime was considered rare. But Haitin's intel had provided something better than blind luck: a strategy.

According to the information, the Verdant Elder didn't hunt. It simply waited for its prey to sleep. Bear-type demon beasts like the Hollowback Grizzle were its favorite.

They hibernated in this season, making them easy targets. Aksai had tracked two such beasts already, but found both corpses half-eaten, with large bite marks on their sides and a strange mossy trail left behind. The moss seemed unnatural, glowing faintly in the dark, likely residue from the Verdant Elder's Spirit spell use or breath.

Now, he was tracking another bear. A larger one. Judging from the signs, this Hollowback had not been attacked yet. Its trail led deeper into a rocky patch of forest, where the trees were spread out more thinly and the ground rose into small cliffs and caves.

Aksai pressed his hand against a nearby boulder. The stone was still cold, but damp. Something large had brushed against it not long ago.

He pulled out another scroll and checked the map Haitin had marked. If the pattern of attacks was consistent, then the Verdant Elder would likely strike this Hollowback next.

If Aksai wanted to see the beast, this was his chance. He could either wait at the site where the bear was resting or try to follow the faint mossy trail leading away from the last kill.

He chose the latter.

He stepped carefully over a cluster of twisted roots and followed the faint glow of the moss deeper into the forest. The further he went, the quieter the woods became.

Even the birds seemed to stay away from this part of the forest. A thick fog curled along the ground, and every now and then Aksai thought he could hear the deep, slow breathing of something massive beyond the trees.

He tightened the grip on his sword and walked forward, his body tense and senses sharp.

Aksai decreased his speed of exploration and slowly approached. After a while, he stood quietly near the edge of a rocky slope, his eyes locked onto the dark mouth of a wide cave hidden behind layers of thick vines and moss.

He didn't need to go inside to confirm what was sleeping within. By spreading out his Qi Sense, he could clearly feel the slow and steady pulse of his life energies.

He didn't dare use his Spirit Sense in this region to avoid being detected by the demon beast. Qi Sense was a much safer choice.

Not to mention, Aksai's druid bloodline was also very sensitive to life energies, which was compatible with Qi Sense. As such, whenever he used Qi Sense, he was able to gather more information about a beast's type and vitality.

The demon beast's presence was deep and heavy, like the calm heartbeat of a giant creature in a deep slumber. The bear-type demon beast was inside for sure.

'Finally found you. And you are alive and sleeping well. That means that the verdant Elder is or probably would be on your trail but hasn't found you yet.'

Aksai didn't move any closer. Instead, he turned away and quietly walked to a nearby tree — large with a thick trunk and wide branches.

He placed his palm on the bark and whispered a Spirit spell under his breath. Wood-element energy flowed out from him and sank into the tree.

Slowly, Aksai's body melted into the bark, and in the next moment, he had vanished. The tree stood the same as before, but if one looked closely, they would notice a faint outline of a human figure within the layers of bark.

He had become part of the tree. His druid bloodline also helped him mask his aura as a Spirit cultivator completely.

It was an old wood-element concealment technique. As long as he didn't move or release his Qi or Spirit essence, even Spirit Beasts with keen sense of smell, eyesight, or fine-tuned Spirit Sense would find it hard to detect him.

From his hidden position, Aksai formed a pair of Spirit eyes on the trunk of the tree — small openings that allowed him to observe without revealing himself.

He waited.

One day passed. Then two. Then three.

The cave remained quiet. The forest, though filled with occasional beast calls, felt slow and silent in this part. The Hollowback Grizzle didn't wake up, and the Verdant Elder showed no signs of appearing.

But Aksai did not grow restless. He had the patience of a wise hunter. He actually found it soothing to merge with a tree. He only feared that he would not be labelled as a tree hugger if he were to be found out by someone from his previous world.

Of course, Aksai could retreat to the Everwood Farm during this time if he wanted to. But he didn't know if the Verant Elder could sense the ripples in the spatial fabric or not if he did that. As such, he didn't take the risks and continued his hunt.

Thankfully, on the fourth day, just as dawn was breaking beyond the canopy, something changed.

A ripple passed through the forest floor — subtle but powerful. It wasn't an earthquake, but a deep movement of Spirit energy. Aksai's eyes widened slightly as he focused on the area around the cave.

Then it began.

Roots suddenly burst out from the soil, thick and wild. Vines slithered up like snakes, and branches shot out from nearby trees. In the blink of an eye, a massive formation of nature had started building itself around the cave.

It wasn't just random growth. The roots moved with a sense of definite direction. They tangled together, wrapped around tree trunks and rocks, and reached high into the air. Above, the branches twisted and met each other, forming a dome.

Within seconds, a giant cage had been formed — almost fifty meters wide and tall, sealing off the cave and everything around it. It was almost like watching the cage-like construction of the Devil Tree. However, it had some differences.

The vines and branches glimmered faintly. There was a metallic shine to them, as if they had been tempered by some unknown force. Aksai narrowed his eyes.

These weren't simple plants. They were strengthened with elemental force — strong enough that even a Foundation Building cultivator like him would struggle to break through in a short time.

Soon, even the light from above was cut off. The cage grew denser, thicker, layer by layer until the entire area looked like a giant sealed nest made of living wood and steel.

Aksai quickly understood what had happened. The Verdant Elder was making its move. As per the intel provided by Haitin, this was how the demon beast would catch its prey.

Deafening silence followed for a short while. Then, all of a sudden, the ground cracked.

A line split open in the center of the cage, right in front of the cave. The cracks widened as chunks of earth pushed aside, and something massive began to rise from below.

Aksai didn't blink.

A huge figure came into view. It looked like a tortoise — but one of unnatural size and power. Its shell was the size of Aksai's palace, dark green in color, with a natural shine like jade mixed with iron.

The shell wasn't smooth either — it was covered in glowing Essence Equation runes, each one pulsing with Spirit energy.

These runes weren't ordinary. Aksai recognized a few of them from his studies. They were marks of the Great Dao — signs of a beast that had lived for hundreds of years and mastered multiple elements.

The creature had four thick legs like ancient tree trunks. Its eyes were half-lidded and lazy, but behind them, Aksai could sense a deep, endless awareness.

This was the Verdant Elder.

What surprised Aksai even more was the fact that this demon beast was very close to breaking into the third realm. Furthermore, it was not only a hybrid but also a mutated hybrid demon beast. This was because it had the tail of a serpent, and the end of the tail actually had a snakehead.

"This... this is going to be even more difficult than I thought it would be," Aksai gulped as he sensed the heavy pressure coming from the Verdant Elder.