The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 263: Water Absorption Formation

On the sickbed, Tie Zhu looked at the jade pot with a mixture of hope and terror.

“Senior Brother Jiang,” he stammered, “how exactly do I drink this?”

He had never seen wine that radiated frost so intense it lowered the Chamber’s temperature by ten degrees.

“Treat it like high-grade Spirit Wine,” Jiang Chen instructed. “Take one small sip first. If the fire poison isn’t extinguished, take another. But remember: do not be greedy. This stuff is potent enough to freeze your soul.”

Jiang Chen gestured with his chin. “Drink. I’ll stand guard as your Dharma Protector.”

Tie Zhu nodded, his trust in Jiang Chen absolute. He uncorked the bottle.

A plume of white mist rolled out, instantly coating the nearby furniture in crystalline frost. Tie Zhu shivered. As an Earth Spirit Root cultivator, his defenses were high, but he was naturally vulnerable to Yin-Cold energy.

But the fire burning his insides gave him no choice. He steeled himself and took a sip.

The liquid hit his tongue like glacial meltwater. His teeth chattered violently, and a numbness spread through his jaw. But beneath the cold, he felt something miraculous—the searing agony in his gut began to recede.

“Swallow it,” Jiang Chen commanded.

Tie Zhu gulped it down.

The wine slid down his throat like a jagged icicle, plunging straight into his dantian.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a tidal wave of cold energy exploded outwards. It swept through his meridians, hunting down the invasive poison fire with ruthless efficiency. The fire didn’t stand a chance; it was snuffed out instantly, hissing into nothingness.

The burning in his flesh, the cramping in his organs—all of it vanished, replaced by a deep, numbing chill.

“Amazing,” Jiang Chen noted, watching Tie Zhu’s complexion shift from fever-red to pale white. “Ice conquers fire. It never fails.”

Tie Zhu opened his mouth and exhaled a long breath of white fog. “Senior Brother… I feel alive again.”

Jiang Chen smiled and placed five jugs of Top-quality Spirit Wine on the bedside table. “Good. Now drink these to recover your vitality. I need you healthy enough to dig that pond.”

Tie Zhu stared at the wine, tears welling in his eyes. “Senior Brother… why? Why do you do so much for me? I’m just a nobody.”

Since his parents died, Tie Zhu had been invisible. Yet Jiang Chen treated him like family.

Jiang Chen patted his shoulder. “Just recover. If you need anything else, tell me. I can’t solve everything, but I’ll do what I can.”

“It’s enough,” Tie Zhu sobbed. “More than enough.”

Half an hour later, confident that Tie Zhu was stable, Jiang Chen left the Chamber.

Instead of heading up to the surface, he turned toward the lift and descended deeper.

He wanted to see the 38th layer. The last time he was there, a massive eruption of Yellow Earth Essence had collapsed the spirit veins. He was curious to see the aftermath.

Plus, Han Xin lived down there. Since he needed array advice for his new pond, he could kill two birds with one stone.

10th Layer… 20th Layer… 30th Layer…

The pressure mounted with every floor. By the time he stepped onto the 38th layer, the gravity was crushing. Without his late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation and mutated Wood Spirit Root, he would have struggled to even stand.

He walked to the edge of the platform and looked out.

Darkness.

The vast, subterranean cavern was pitch black. The glowing spirit veins were gone. His Spirit Sense hit a wall of nothingness a hundred meters out. It was dead silent—no mining picks, no shouting, just the sound of his own heartbeat.

“What are you doing here?”

Jiang Chen spun around. Han Xin stood outside her cave dwelling, looking surprised.

“Visiting a friend,” Jiang Chen said. “And looking for you. I need advice on formations.” He gestured to the void. “It’s quiet down here. Did the vein die?”

Han Xin walked over, smirking. “You think it’s quiet? You think it’s dark?”

She tapped her temple. “Your senses are being jammed.”

“Jammed?”

“Manager Yang sealed the area after the collapse,” she explained. “The Spirit Qi became too chaotic, and the Earth Qi went feral. To prevent accidents, he placed a sensory deprivation array over the entire sector. Unless you have an Earth Spirit Root, you’re blind and deaf to the reality of this place.”

“Chaotic Spirit Qi?” Jiang Chen frowned. A sudden, uneasy feeling prickled the back of his neck.

Burp.

Han Xin took a swig from a wine pouch, breaking the tension. “So? What kind of formation advice do you need?”

Jiang Chen shook off the feeling. “I’m digging a pond next to my farm. I need aquatic arrays.”

“You’ll want a Water Absorption Formation at the minimum,” Han Xin said, wiping her mouth. “Maybe a Spirit Water Array and a Purification Array if you’re feeling fancy.”

“Name your price.”

Han Xin eyed him. “Spirit Stones or wine?”

“Stones, unless the price is astronomical.”

“One hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones for the Absorption array. Four to five hundred for the full suite.”

Jiang Chen nodded thoughtfully. “That’s acceptable. While we’re at it, I need to expand the Mirror Flower Water Moon Array. My farm has grown, and covering only one acre is wasteful.”

Han Xin froze, the wine pouch halfway to her mouth. She blinked.

“Wait. Expand? How many acres do you have now?”