The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Jiang Chen pointed toward the humble earthen structure where Lin An resided. “Senior Brother Long, my friend isn’t home these days. You can use this place to recover and cultivate.”

The two approached the small shack. The wooden door wasn’t locked, merely pulled shut with a loose latch.

Inside, the furnishings were spartan in the extreme.

Aside from a stiff wooden bed, there was only a chipped teapot and a few porcelain cups.

A broom, worn down from use, leaned against the peeling mud wall in the corner.

This environment was a far cry from Long Ao’s luxurious mansion back at Beast Mountain. Yet, the Senior Brother didn’t show a hint of disdain. He immediately sat cross-legged on the bed, cradling the jar of Ice Heart Jade Pot Wine with both hands as if it were a fragile lifeline.

Seeing him settled, Jiang Chen closed the door and retrieved several talismans from his sleeves.

He slapped the Sound Isolation Talismans onto the door frame.

There were generally two types of silence talismans. One isolated internal sounds from leaking out, while the other blocked external noise from entering.

Jiang Chen chose the latter.

This ensured that no matter what commotion occurred outside, Long Ao would remain undisturbed. Of course, unless the ground itself split open from an earthquake, the silence would hold.

Long Ao unsealed the jade pot.

Instantly, the ambient temperature in the small room plummeted. A bone-chilling frost radiated from the jar, several times more intense than before.

“I’m going to start,” Long Ao stated, his voice tight.

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged near the door, assuming the position of a guardian. He nodded solemnly. “Proceed.”

Long Ao retrieved a small wine cup from his Storage Ring. With trembling care, he poured a single cup and immediately stowed the rest of the precious wine back into his ring.

The liquid was a deep, mesmerizing sea-blue.

As it swirled in the cup, it shimmered with the luster of fragmented ice crystals.

The first note to hit the nose was the crisp, clean fragrance of Ice Spirit Grass, underscored by the faint, starchy sweetness of Spirit Rice.

If one inhaled deeply, a trace of the unique, metallic tang of Ice Toad Blood could be detected. Fortunately, the gamey scent was faint, barely perceptible beneath the floral notes.

Long Ao didn’t hesitate. He threw his head back and downed the cup in one gulp.

Boom.

It felt as if he had swallowed a glacier.

The wine was full-bodied and mellow, exploding into a complex bouquet of flavors within his mouth—spicy, sweet, and faintly bitter, all weaving together in a chaotic dance.

As it slid down his throat, it left a trailing sensation of absolute zero, as if he had ingested pure, melted snow.

A wave of terrifying cold swept through his Meridians instantly. Long Ao began to shake violently.

In the blink of an eye, a layer of white frost coated his eyebrows, hair, and robes.

This was the terrifying potency of Masterwork-grade Ice Heart Jade Pot Wine.

Jiang Chen watched closely, his eyes narrowed. He silently circulated his Green Lotus Art to the limit of Perfection. The wood spiritual power in his dantian surged, ready to intervene at a moment’s notice.

“Urgh…”

Long Ao exhaled a puff of white mist that crystallized in the air.

The extreme cold threatened to freeze his very soul.

But just as his consciousness began to numb, a trace of heat flared within his flesh, blood, and Meridians.

It started weak, a flickering candle in a blizzard. But as if sensing the invading cold’s intent to extinguish it, the heat roared in defiance.

The temperature within his body spiked. The dormant poison fire awoke, becoming scorching hot.

The two opposing forces slammed into each other, turning his body into a battlefield. It felt as if his mortal flesh was being torn apart from the inside out.

Instantly, Long Ao’s face split into two distinct colors.

The left half turned a deathly, frostbitten cyan-blue.

The right half flushed a deep, angry crimson-blue.

Cold and heat devoured each other, attacking and retreating in a cycle of agony.

They were like water and fire—incompatible adversaries unwilling to rest until one annihilated the other.

From Jiang Chen’s perspective, Senior Brother Long looked like a man possessed. One moment he was shivering uncontrollably; the next, steam was jetting from his pores as if he were burning alive.

Such torment would have broken a lesser man long ago.

But Long Ao’s obsession with revenge ran deep. It was a chaotic anchor that held him together.

No matter how unbearable the pain, he forcibly endured it.

His teeth ground together with a sickening crack-crack-crack sound. It was impossible to tell if the noise came from the shivering cold or the sheer hatred fueling his will.

It sounded as if his jaw might shatter at any moment.

Fortunately, the acute torture of alternating extremes did not last long.

Jiang Chen watched as the cyan-blue hue on the left side of Long Ao’s face began to fade, inch by inch.

The residual poison fire lurking in his body was being extinguished.

Seeing his chance, Long Ao grit his teeth and activated his Perfection-level Water Form technique. He seized control of the rampaging cold energy before it could run wild.

With the precision of a master weaver unspooling silk, he refined the potent medicinal energy. He guided the cold currents into his dantian, “adding bricks and tiles” to his depleted reservoir of water spiritual power.

Time ticked by.

Minutes turned into hours.

The session stretched from high noon all the way to evening, lasting far longer than the initial clash between water and fire.

It wasn’t until the curtain of night had fully fallen that Long Ao finally snapped his eyes open.

A brilliant blue light flashed through his pupils.

His aura was transformed. The sluggish, sickly feeling from the day was gone, replaced by a sharp, predatory vitality.

“How is it?” Jiang Chen asked, his voice low.

Long Ao offered a faint smile. “The poison fire is purged. I’ve even refined the remaining cold energy into my own water spiritual power.”

To be honest, Jiang Chen had been sweating internally.

This was, after all, Masterwork-grade wine.

What if the effects were too potent? What if Long Ao couldn’t withstand the shock?

If Beast Mountain came demanding their disciple and Jiang Chen handed over a frozen corpse, how would he explain that?

‘Sorry, my wine was too delicious?’

Thankfully, Long Ao possessed dual Water and Wood Spirit Roots, granting him a recovery, resilience, and endurance far superior to the average cultivator.

Long Ao stood up and bowed deeply, cupping his fists. “Thank you, Junior Brother Jiang, for acting as my Dharma Protector!”

Jiang Chen waved a hand dismissively. “We are on the same side. There is no need for such formalities.”

Long Ao smiled, stretching his limbs. “Since I have recovered, I imagine Storm Crane 7 is nearly finished healing as well.”

Jiang Chen looked at Long Ao’s face. While the internal injuries were gone, the external scars remained. “It is a pity… Senior Brother’s handsome appearance…”

Long Ao touched his face, unbothered. “It matters not. At worst, I will wear a mask. It won’t affect my cultivation or my life.”

“Even with your injuries healed,” Jiang Chen cautioned, “that Mo Sha is not to be underestimated.”

Although Jiang Chen had never met the man, the brutality of the injuries spoke volumes. Mo Sha was ruthless.

If not for the strict laws of the Sect, Shui Wuhen and Long Ao likely wouldn’t have made it back alive.

Long Ao twisted the Storage Ring on his finger, his eyes darkening. He ignored the warning, his mind elsewhere. “The Ice Heart Jade Pot Wine you brewed, Junior Brother… the effect is astonishing. It has even boosted my cultivation speed significantly.”

He clenched his fist, feeling the surge of power.

It wouldn’t be long before he broke through from the late stage to Foundation Establishment Perfection.

Just wait.

If he encountered Mo Sha in the official disciple competition… he would make that bastard pay a painful price.

The two chatted for a while longer before Long Ao prepared to depart.

Before leaving, he insisted on shoving a pouch containing 3,000 Mid-grade Spirit Stones into Jiang Chen’s hands.

Jiang Chen tried to refuse, adhering to polite custom, but Long Ao was relentless, practically stuffing the stones into his robes.

For Long Ao, spending a mere 3,000 Mid-grade Spirit Stones to fully recover his foundation was a bargain. It was like a pie falling from the sky.

If anyone else had brewed this wine, it likely wouldn’t have had such heaven-defying effects.

Originally, Long Ao’s first choice for help had been the Golden Core Perfected Master, Jiang Bo, who was presiding over the competition.

Jiang Bo was a known drunkard who hoarded wine recipes and possessed brewing skills that bordered on the divine.

Unfortunately, the Golden Core master was like a divine dragon—showing his head but never his tail. He was impossible to find.

Long Ao had chosen Jiang Chen as a desperate backup, never expecting such a pleasant surprise.

Under the light of the stars and moon, Long Ao stepped onto his Paper Crane. He looked down at Jiang Chen, his expression unusually sincere.

“Junior Brother Jiang, today’s favor is remembered in my heart.”

“In the future, if you need Senior Brother’s help, just say the word!”

“I’m off.”

Whoosh.

Long Ao shot into the sky, disappearing quickly into the hazy night.

Jiang Chen withdrew his gaze and turned back toward his stone house.

Looking up, he saw Yu Caiqing leaning against the railing of the second-floor balcony.

She was watching him quietly, her eyes reflecting the moonlight.

This entire incident had forced Yu Caiqing to view Jiang Chen in a completely new light.

She had originally thought he was just a talented Spirit Farmer—a man who knew the earth and plants, and nothing more.

She never expected this.

Farming. Spirit Cuisine. Wine Brewing.