The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 248: Position Change

The three bracelets flared to life, swirling with an emerald-green luminescence.

Jiang Chen felt a faint vibration against his wrist. Instantly, a translucent green barrier bloomed outward, enveloping him in a protective dome. A refreshing chill washed over his skin, feeling exactly like a phantom breeze cutting through the muggy summer air.

He checked his dantian, monitoring the drain on his wood spiritual power. The consumption was negligible. Thanks to the Everlasting Pattern constantly siphoning ambient Spirit Qi, he could sustain this shield for a full day of idle operation.

He walked toward the towering poplar tree. The Fortress.

Detecting his approach, the guardian’s dim eyes flared a vibrant, menacing green in the pitch-black night. Recognizing its master, it held its ground. “Master, what are your orders?”

“Attack me,” Jiang Chen commanded.

The Fortress froze. Its core directives clashed violently: protect the master at all costs, yet obey all commands without question. It was trapped in a logical loop.

“I need to test this shield’s durability,” Jiang Chen clarified, waving a hand. “Don’t hold back. Strike with lethal force.”

He had never actually seen the Fortress fight. He was eager for a demonstration.

Freed from its dilemma, the guardian moved with terrifying speed. Thick, dense roots exploded from its heavy wooden arms, violently intertwining to form a massive, brutal warhammer. It swung down with crushing momentum, slamming directly into the green barrier.

Boom!

The impact sent violent tremors through the ground, instantly spiderwebbing the earth beneath Jiang Chen’s feet. Inside the shield, Jiang Chen didn’t feel a thing. The phantom breeze simply intensified, actively converting the kinetic force into a dense, soothing energy that washed over him.

“Keep going,” Jiang Chen ordered. “Don’t stop until I say so.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Fortress rained down a relentless, frenzied barrage. Dust choked the air as the ground gave way, pulverizing into a shattered crater. The once-crisp shield began to blur and warp under the sustained assault. Jiang Chen checked his dantian again; the drain on his wood spiritual power was skyrocketing. Under this level of heavy bombardment, the shield would collapse in ten to thirty minutes.

But the test was only half over.

With a mere thought, the three Wood Spirit Returning to Nest Rings unclasped from his wrist. They darted outward, hovering in a wide triangular formation around his body. The wavering shield instantly solidified, growing twice as thick and radiating a heavy, oppressive aura.

“Again,” he ordered.

The Fortress resumed its onslaught. The ground caved in entirely, forcing Jiang Chen to reposition just to keep his footing. He quickly calculated the new metrics: deploying the rings externally doubled his absolute defense, but the spiritual power consumption spiked massively. He would run dry in under ten minutes. And this was with the five stabilizing runes. Without them, the shield would have shattered instantly.

However, the rings were doing exactly what he designed them to do. As they absorbed the punishing blows, their emerald glow shifted from bright to blinding. They thrummed, vibrating with volatile, pent-up kinetic energy.

Jiang Chen locked his gaze on a distant boulder. He mentally triggered the release.

The three rings converged, rapidly compressing their stored energy into a palm-sized sphere of concentrated green light. It shot forward like a comet.

KABOOM!

A deafening shockwave ripped through the night. The boulder vaporized into fine dust, leaving a crater half a man deep in its wake. The explosive blast violently shattered the farm’s nocturnal silence, instantly silencing the chorus of frogs and insects.

Jiang Chen materialized at the crater’s edge in a blur of motion, nodding in approval. “Decent firepower. A bit slow, but at point-blank range, it would be impossible to dodge.”

He wanted to test the shield’s healing properties next, but his Mystic Wood Golden Body Art was already maxed out; normal attacks simply couldn’t breach his skin to cause damage in the first place. Regardless, the Spirit Weapon was a flawless blend of offense and defense. It would serve Chen Bo perfectly for his Foundation Establishment battles.

Turning back toward the house, he found Da Huang and the pearl chickens glaring at him from the shadows. The explosion had jolted them out of a deep sleep.

Jiang Chen offered an apologetic grin. “My bad. Daytime testing from now on.”

To smooth things over, he produced a massive pig bone and a handful of Top-quality Spirit Rice, tossing the bribes to his disgruntled pets. Leaving them to their midnight snack, he retreated to his stone house and collapsed into bed to replenish his exhausted spiritual power.

The next morning, after finishing his daily chores, Jiang Chen hopped onto his Giant Leaf and soared toward Chen Bo’s Spirit Farm. He arrived quickly, finding his Senior Brother diligently tending to his spirit plants.

Chen Bo looked up, surprised by the unannounced visit.

“Morning, Senior Brother!” Jiang Chen called out, hopping off the Giant Leaf.

“What brings you out here so early?” Chen Bo asked, dusting the soil from his hands.

Jiang Chen tapped his Jade Green Gourd, retrieving the three emerald rings. “A friend gifted me this Spirit Weapon. The Wood Spirit Returning to Nest Rings.”

Chen Bo blinked, staring at the glowing jade. “What are you…?”

Jiang Chen offered the rings with both hands, slipping effortlessly into his generous, humble persona. “I’m just a farmer. I don’t fight, so these are wasted on me. You’re competing in the official disciple tournament. You need them far more than I do.”

Chen Bo’s face tightened with conflict. “This is a high-end Spirit Weapon, Junior Brother. I can’t just take something so valuable…”

“You’re my Senior Brother,” Jiang Chen interrupted, offering a warm, earnest smile. “Who else would I give them to?”

That struck a chord. The hesitation melted from Chen Bo’s eyes, replaced by profound gratitude. He nodded deeply and accepted the rings. “Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Thank you.”

“I’ll leave you to your work,” Jiang Chen said, turning back toward his leaf. “I still need to patrol the outer edges of the Spirit Farm.”

“Wait!” Chen Bo called out abruptly.

Jiang Chen paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Is there something else?”

Chen Bo’s expression turned intensely serious. “Do you remember Li Chun?”

Jiang Chen searched his memory. “The name rings a bell. I think I’ve seen him around.”

“His position in the core area of the Spirit Farm just changed,” Chen Bo explained, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial tone. “A major vacancy is about to open up, and I’ve already put your name forward for the recommendation!”