The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 272: The Ink Scale Snake

At the first hint of disturbance, Red Tiger snapped to attention.

“Something’s approaching,” he hissed, his voice low and urgent. “Stay sharp. Laizi, scout ahead.”

Zhang Laizi stepped onto her flying wheels. She glided inches above the ground, vanishing into the underbrush without a sound.

“This is my first time in the Dark Forest,” one of the tourists whispered, voice trembling with a mix of fear and thrill. “I heard it’s crawling with monsters?”

“Mine too. I can’t wait to see one!”

In stark contrast to the grim focus of Red Tiger’s squad, the temporary members were buzzing with excitement. Those who possessed spiritual sense cast it out eagerly; those who didn’t craned their necks, scanning the shadows.

Rustle. Rustle.

The noise grew distinct, accompanied by a rhythmic tremor in the earth.

Jiang Chen had already swept the area with his spiritual sense. Combined with the aerial vantage point of his Fire Crow, he had a crystal-clear view of the incoming threat.

It was massive.

An Ink Scale Snake.

The beast was over ten meters long, its torso as thick as a rain barrel. Its body was armored in jet-black scales, each edged with a sickly gray-green fluorescence that looked like corroded metal.

Its head was a triangular wedge of malice, topped with two bony protrusions on its forehead. A forked tongue, stained bluish-black, flickered in and out, carrying a pungent, sulfurous stench that assaulted the senses.

Moments later, a pair of turbid, yellow eyes emerged from the dense foliage. The pupils had already contracted into vertical, needle-thin slits. It stared at the group with a gaze that was equal parts cold cruelty and ravenous hunger.

The aura of a true monster was distinct from that of a tamed spirit beast—it carried a primal dread that made one’s skin crawl.

“How strong is it?” Jiang Chen asked calmly.

“Five hundred years or older, and we’d be in trouble,” Red Tiger replied without turning his head, his eyes locked on the predator. “Under five hundred? Easy kill.”

The tourists let out a collective sigh of relief. They were still on the outskirts of the Dark Forest; the chances of encountering an ancient beast here were slim.

Jiang Chen crossed his arms, stepping back to signal he had no intention of interfering.

The Ink Scale Snake hissed, its body coiling as it began to circle the group, hunting for a blind spot.

Red Tiger didn’t give it the chance. He exchanged a sharp glance with his team, then exploded into action.

He leaped straight into the air. At the apex of his jump, his body erupted in blazing flames. The sudden burst of light and heat acted as a perfect taunt, instantly drawing the snake’s aggression.

Simultaneously, Li Tie, the towering hulk on the right, roared. A layer of metallic gold light coated his skin. Like a rampaging bull, he charged, slamming his shoulder heavily into the snake’s flank.

BOOM!

The impact was visceral. The massive snake shuddered, momentarily stunned and disoriented.

The combo continued without a pause. Zhou Cui, the woman in the leather suit, stomped her right foot. The earth beneath the snake rippled like water, turning from solid ground into a churning quagmire.

The snake, heavy and long, sank instantly. The more it thrashed, the deeper the mud sucked it in.

“Now!”

Wang Linxun thrust both hands into the soil. Wood spiritual power surged from his dantian, animating the surrounding weeds. In a blink, hundreds of grass blades twisted into thick, iron-hard vines. They shot forward, wrapping around the snake layer by layer, binding it tight against the mud.

It became clear to everyone watching: Red Tiger’s “reckless” aerial taunt had been a calculated move. He was essentially courting death to bait the monster, creating the perfect opening for his team to chain their crowd control abilities.

The Ink Scale Snake sensed its impending doom. It writhed madly, straining against the vines and the suction of the swamp.

But Jiang Chen was looking elsewhere. His gaze drifted to a dark corner of the forest.

There was a shadow there.

Zhang Laizi had returned.

She waited for the perfect beat, then flashed forward on her flying wheels.

Schlick—

The sickening sound of tearing meat filled the air. A precise, bloody line appeared on the snake’s waist, raced up past its vital “seven-inch” heart region, and sliced through the hardened skull.

Squelch.

The snake’s head split cleanly in two.

From contact to kill, the entire sequence had taken less than five breaths. A monster capable of terrorizing standard cultivators had been dismantled by the five-person squad with surgical efficiency.

Turbid fluids—a vile cocktail of brains, venom, and blood—sprayed from the severed neck. Wherever the liquid landed, plants hissed and withered, melting into black sludge amidst a rising cloud of acrid vapor.

“Impressive,” Jiang Chen nodded approvingly. “Truly a professional team.”

This skirmish revealed the depth of Red Tiger’s squad. Although only two were at Foundation Establishment and the rest were merely Qi Condensation, their synergy was flawless.

Red Tiger landed and extinguished his flames. He walked over to the carcass, his tone business-like.

“Valuable parts: Dorsal scales, venom glands, the inner core and gall, fangs, and the spinal cord,” he listed mechanically. “Current market price for a whole specimen is roughly 3 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.”

Since the tourists hadn’t lifted a finger, they weren’t entitled to a cut.

However, one of the temporary members stepped forward. It was Ling Mo, the stern-faced male cultivator in the black robe.

“I’m interested in the snake gall and inner core,” Ling Mo said. “Name your price.”

Red Tiger smiled. “Ling Mo, was it? Standard market rate is one Mid-grade Spirit Stone plus twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones. But since you’re a client and a temporary teammate, I’ll give you the friendship price: one Mid-grade Spirit Stone flat.”

Ling Mo nodded, producing a shimmering Mid-grade Spirit Stone and tossing it over. “Reasonable.”

Red Tiger caught the stone and signaled his deputy.

Zhang Laizi, face devoid of expression, began the dissection. Her blade work was fluid and practiced. Within moments, she had opened the abdominal cavity and extracted an oval object the size of a pigeon’s egg. It was dark, covered in vein-like patterns, with a faint green light pulsing at its center.

Ling Mo took the core, inspecting it closely. “I am a Junior Alchemist,” he stated casually. “If we encounter similar materials later, I’m open to trading for them, provided the quality holds up.”

A Junior Alchemist?

The revelation shocked everyone, including the mercenary squad.

Alchemists were the wealthy elite of the cultivation world. They rarely ventured into the perilous Dark Forest. Why risk life and limb when you could stay in a safe city and print money by refining pills?

Jiang Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly in thought.

If he were a disciple of a major Immortal Sect, he wouldn’t be here, and he certainly wouldn’t reveal his identity so carelessly to strangers. He must be from a minor cultivation family or a small sect… and likely an outcast or someone with low status.

Whatever the case, it didn’t matter. As long as Ling Mo didn’t interfere with his plans, Jiang Chen didn’t care.

Aside from Ling Mo, the other tourists had no interest in the bloody carcass.

Red Tiger’s team efficiently stripped the remaining valuable parts, stowing them in a Storage Bag specifically designed for monster corpses.

“Form up,” Red Tiger commanded. “We move deeper.”

The team advanced further into the depths of the Dark Forest!