The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 275: Huang Yuanhua’s Cave Abode

Jiang Chen and the squad left the safety of the fortress, pushing onward toward Huang Yuanhua’s cave estate.

They weren’t alone. Several other hunting teams had the same idea, creating a small migration through the underbrush.

True to Red Tiger’s word, the Dark Forest was a different world by day. While they occasionally spotted monsters, the beasts were far less aggressive. In fact, most turned tail and fled the moment they sensed the collective spiritual pressure of the cultivators.

Hours passed.

As the dense thicket of black trees began to thin, a colossal structure loomed into view.

It was a massive stone mountain shaped like an irregular cone, its surface marred by spiderweb fractures. Heavy, dark-yellow Earth Qi seeped from these cracks, forming a sluggish, flowing mist that hugged the mountain’s base.

On the western face, a natural cavern gaped like a serpent’s maw. The stone around the entrance had been sculpted into the grotesque, snarling visage of an Earth Dragon. Flanking the entrance were two titanic stone pillars, wrapped in chains fashioned from the shed scales of giant beasts. When the wind blew, the scales ground against stone, producing a chilling, metallic rasp.

Even from a distance, the sight was commanding. Jiang Chen and the tourists paused, genuinely impressed. This was far more imposing than the typical Golden Core abode they had imagined.

“It looks treacherous,” Red Tiger noted, seeing their expressions. “But don’t worry. Perfected Master Wang led a coalition to clear this place some time ago. It’s safe now.”

Red Tiger’s squad had been participants in that raid. It had been a bloodbath. If not for Master Wang using his Wood Spirit Root to suppress the Earth Qi and the native “Earth Evil” miasma, the army of hunters might have been wiped out by the nest of Earth Dragons living inside.

But the rewards had been astronomical. Rare earth-attribute spirit plants, Earth Spirit Crystals, cultivation manuals, and techniques—the loot was endless. They had even recovered complete manuals for the Dragon Shaking Art and the Earth Escape Technique. Every survivor had walked away rich.

Jiang Chen felt a gaze on him. He switched to Crow One’s shared vision and scanned the area.

It was Li Chuan—the burly man who had been staring into the Poison Abyss the previous night. He had followed the crowd here, his expression grim and determined.

Jiang Chen noted him but didn’t dwell on it. He blended back into the group as they approached the maw of the cave.

Crossing the threshold, they entered a main tunnel nearly 10 meters wide. The floor was paved with polished Earth Qi Stones, which absorbed the ambient energy to emit a soft, subterranean yellow glow.

The arched ceiling was a gallery of reliefs, depicting Earth Dragons in various states of motion. The carvings were unsettlingly lifelike; it seemed Huang Yuanhua had a peculiar obsession with the ugly, segmented beasts.

Deeper in, the terrain shifted. The stone floor gave way to thick layers of humus soil—a breeding ground for the master’s pets. Earth Dragons were shade-loving creatures that burrowed during the day and hunted at night.

The soil was churned and scarred, evidence of the brutal battle that had taken place during the raid.

Finally, the tunnel opened up into a vast underground world.

The density of the Earth Qi here was suffocating, thick enough to taste.

“This used to be Huang Yuanhua’s Spirit Plant Garden,” Red Tiger explained, gesturing at the expanse. “It covers roughly 1,000 zhang, divided into nine distinct zones.”

Each zone was demarcated by golden threads of earth energy buried deep underground, forming independent Qi-gathering arrays. In the center of each zone stood a 10-meter-tall Earth Qi Pagoda constructed from crystallized earth veins. Yellow liquid energy erupted continuously from the tops of these towers, cascading down to nourish the soil.

Jiang Chen cross-referenced the layout with the map Wu Mang had provided.

Spirit Plant Garden. Earth Qi Pool. Cultivation Chamber. Artifact Refining Chamber. Cave Abode Core.

The Core had been destroyed during the raid. It was a ruin, littered with shattered, contaminated Earth Spirit Crystals. To the average scavenger, it was a worthless junk heap.

But to Jiang Chen, it was perfect.

If I want to refine the Spatial Earth Essence Fruit into a Mustard Seed dimension, I need the Core. I need to reactivate the broken arrays and channel the surrounding Earth Qi into the fruit.

The problem was the crowd. He couldn’t just walk into the Core and start a high-level refining process without attracting every greedy eye in the cavern.

He needed a distraction. Chaos would be his cover.

Just as Jiang Chen was calculating how to manufacture a disturbance, a commotion broke out near the Earth Qi Pool.

“That guy again?”

“He’s going for the pool!”

It was Li Chuan.

The Earth Qi Pool was designed for body tempering, similar to the Rust Empire’s “Meat Stewing Blood Pool,” but it required an Earth Spirit Root to utilize safely.

But Li Chuan wasn’t just stripping down for a soak. He retrieved a large, heavy banner from his storage bag.

A knowledgeable cultivator in the crowd gasped. “Is that… the Wu Earth Banner from the Five Elements set?”

Red Tiger’s face went pale. “He’s trying to forcibly siphon the Earth Vein!”

Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow. Trying to steal my thunder?

This was the perfect opportunity. While every eye was fixed on the madman with the banner, Jiang Chen flickered. Like a ghost, he vanished from his spot, dashing toward the ruined Core.

The crowd surged toward the pool, Red Tiger and his team included, anticipating a disaster.

Li Chuan’s eyes turned blood-red. He planted the banner and roared, “No one can stop me!”

BOOM!

Blood Qi exploded from his body. Strange, scale-like patterns rippled across his skin, and a tyrannical aura—shockingly similar to the Nine-headed Blood Python—erupted from him.

“Evil Cultivator!” someone screamed.

The mood shifted instantly from curiosity to hostility. Evil Cultivators were the scourge of the Azure Realm, universally feared and loathed.

While the mob prepared to lynch Li Chuan, Jiang Chen reached the center of the ruined Core.

He retrieved the Spatial Earth Essence Fruit.

It was smaller than a palm, a semi-transparent orb with golden light swirling liquidly within its depths.

The moment it appeared, the air around Jiang Chen grew heavy. Time seemed to stagnate; space felt viscous.

Jiang Chen activated his technique.

Hummmm—

A deep resonance vibrated through the floor. The dormant, broken arrays of the Core flickered back to life, drawn by the fruit’s gravity. A torrent of Earth Qi surged toward him.

The effect was instantaneous and widespread.

Every cultivator in the cavern—except those with Earth or Wood Spirit Roots—suddenly felt the air turn into cement. Their movements slowed to a crawl; their reactions dulled as if they were wading through a swamp.

Panic erupted.

“It’s a trap!”

“The Evil Cultivator is suppressing us!”

Hundreds of furious eyes turned toward Li Chuan, convinced his banner was the source of this oppressive field.

Li Chuan stood by the pool, gripping his banner, his expression a mask of total confusion.

“I… I haven’t even activated it yet!”