The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Jiang Chen moved through the fields with practiced efficiency, his left hand casting the Spirit Finger technique, his right hand wielding a sharp sickle.

Swish.

[Harvested 1 “Top Grade Spirit Rice” plant. Lifespan +6 days.]

[Harvested 1 “Top Grade Cabbage” head. Lifespan +5 days.]

[Harvested 1 “Top Grade Watermelon”. Lifespan +5 days.]

By the time the first acre of the Spirit Farm was completely stripped, his cumulative lifespan had increased by a staggering 13,516 days.

The process was silky smooth, a dance of muscle memory performed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times.

Unfortunately, the harvest was entirely mundane. Not a single Spirit Plant in this first acre had mutated.

Jiang Chen stepped onto the earthen ridge separating the fields, his gaze shifting toward the second acre.

To the naked eye, the second acre appeared to be a dense, impenetrable thicket of Golden Crow Vines. This was an illusion maintained by a defensive Formation.

Hidden within that thorny perimeter were over a thousand stalks of Variant Spirit Rice.

The concealment was flawless; even Yu Caiqing, who frequently spent the night here, remained oblivious to the treasure trove growing just meters away.

Jiang Chen had meticulously planned the layout of his four acres:

The First Acre was his safety net—the “principal.” It held standard Spirit Rice and vegetables for daily consumption and sale.

The Second Acre was his vault. A protective ring of Golden Crow Vines shielded the precious Variant Rice inside.

The Third Acre was dedicated to Yang-attribute medicinal herbs: Red Yang Ginseng and Red Gold Thunder Marrow Grass.

The Fourth Acre housed a symbiotic pair: the Piercing Sun Lingzhi and the Warm Sun Mushroom.

For the past quarter, Jiang Chen hadn’t used his Green Lotus Domain to force rapid growth. With people constantly coming and going, the risk of exposure was too high. He had let nature take its course.

However, the crops in the third acre were behaving uniquely.

The Red Yang Ginseng was still immature, adhering to its natural cycle.

But the Red Gold Thunder Marrow Grass had accelerated wildly ever since the first clap of thunder during the Awakening of Insects. Whether by coincidence or providence, it had matured on the exact same day as the Top Grade Spirit Rice.

As for the fungi in the fourth acre, they still needed time. They wouldn’t be ready until the Start of Summer.

Thus, Jiang Chen’s harvest today came from the first acre, the second acre, and half of the third.

He walked toward the concealed second acre.

Lin An had been swamped with work lately and rarely returned.

Yu Caiqing was gone during the day, only appearing under the cover of night.

At this hour, the only companions Jiang Chen had were Da Huang, the Pearl Chickens, the wooden construct “Fortress,” and the Poplar Tree.

Three of those couldn’t speak.

And while Fortress could mimic human speech, its cognitive functions were rigid. It could execute simple commands like “kill” or “guard,” but anything requiring nuance caused its logic circuits to stall.

Jiang Chen stepped through the Formation. As its master, the illusion parted for him like a curtain.

Inside, the sight was breathtaking.

Every stalk of the Variant Child Rice shimmered with a flowing golden radiance, their aura imposing and noble.

But they paled in comparison to the king in the center: the Variant Mother Rice.

Perhaps due to prolonged exposure to intense sunlight, it had swelled significantly since its days in the cave. It now stood nearly three meters tall. The heavy panicles of grain hung down like the branches of a weeping willow, lush and abundant.

The entire plant looked as if it were carved from golden glazed glass, emitting a heavy, luxurious light.

The more Jiang Chen looked, the more extraordinary it seemed.

He took a deep breath, savoring the rich, enticing fragrance of the rice.

“You lot,” he whispered with a chuckle, “are my greatest trump card.”

He set to work, his Spirit Finger flickering as his sickle danced.

Swish. Swish.

Suddenly—

Ding!

Jiang Chen froze.

The very last stalk of Variant Child Rice… had mutated again.

Tears of joy nearly welled up in his eyes. He had been spamming the Spirit Finger technique for months with absolutely zero success. He had started to believe his luck had run dry.

He leaned in closer. The stalk was undergoing a drastic transformation.

Its brilliant golden hue was fading, replaced by a dull, mottled brownish-yellow.

Simultaneously, a thick, heavy Earth Spirit Qi began to radiate from it.

“The elemental attribute changed?” Jiang Chen muttered in surprise.

He immediately swept it with his Spiritual Sense.

[Eroding Earth Brown Glow Variant Rice]

Negative Effect: Rice grains contain corrosive miasma. Consumption will erode a cultivator’s Meridians.

Special Effect: Generates a Spirit Vortex. Increases the growth speed of Earth-attribute Spirit Plants within its domain by 50%.

One negative effect. One special effect.

Technically… this was a failed mutation. A poisonous crop.

Jiang Chen’s initial expression was one of disdain, but then his eyes darted to the corner of the field.

There, growing in solitary confinement, was the Earth Origin Fruit.

“This fruit takes ten years to root and sprout, and another ten years to flower and bear fruit,” Jiang Chen mused, his mind racing. “If I pair it with this ‘failed’ rice…”

A boost of 50% speed. It was a perfect match.

Abandoning the sickle, Jiang Chen knelt. He wrapped his hands in dense Wood Spirit Power and gently parted the black soil. He excavated the entire root system of the mutated rice, keeping it intact.

Carefully, he carried it across the field and transplanted it right next to the Earth Origin Fruit.

The lonely Earth Origin Fruit finally had a neighbor.

Jiang Chen loosened the soil, watered them with spirit spring water, and patted the drooping panicle of the brown rice.

“From now on, I’m counting on you to take care of it.”

As if in response, a gentle breeze swept through the formation. The Eroding Earth Brown Glow Variant Rice swayed, seemingly nodding its head in agreement.

Satisfied, Jiang Chen turned his attention to the perimeter.

[Harvested 1 “Top Grade Golden Crow Vine”. Lifespan +7 days.]

…

Total additional lifespan from the vines: 700 days.

Now, only the third acre remained.

Jiang Chen stepped into the domain of the Red Gold Thunder Marrow Grass.

The plants were beautiful and dangerous. Their bodies flowed with a red-gold luster, and the edges of their leaves were serrated with dense thorns sharp enough to slice skin.

Dark purple patterns, resembling forking lightning, traced the surface of the stems. With every fluctuation of Spirit Qi, fine electric arcs would burst forth with a menacing crack-crack-pop.

Because of his history with the Thunderstruck Wood, Jiang Chen felt an instinctive prickle of fear—or perhaps reverence—when he entered the field.

Harvesting these was not as simple as swinging a sickle.

Jiang Chen activated the Vine Bind technique. A green wooden seal appeared on the back of his hand. He channeled Qi into a handful of seeds he had prepared, rapidly growing them into thick Black Iron Vines.

He used the vines as grounding rods.

Touching the Black Iron Vine to the Thunder Marrow Grass, he drew out the pent-up electrical charge, letting it dissipate harmlessly into the earth.

Fortunately, it was just grass. It couldn’t store an infinite amount of energy.

One Black Iron Vine was enough to ground one stalk of Thunder Marrow Grass.

The process was tedious, delaying him for quite a while.

It wasn’t until half an hour later that the field was safe to harvest.

[Harvested 1 “Top Grade Red Gold Thunder Marrow Grass”. Lifespan +8 days.]

…

When the work was finally done, Jiang Chen checked his status.

Remaining Lifespan: 656 Years.

He stood on the field ridge, stretching his back as the midday sun warmed his face.

“Finally finished.”

He rubbed his chin, thoughts turning to the most important decision of the day.

“What’s for lunch? Sesame oil scrambled eggs? Spicy stir-fried cabbage?”

“Ah, forget choosing. Let’s make them all!”