The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 276: The Portable Space

The Spatial Earth Essence Fruit no longer needed Jiang Chen’s hands to support it; it was buoyed mid-air by a geyser of relentless Earth Qi.

Inside the semi-transparent fruit, golden light churned like liquid sand.

As the Earth Qi accumulated, the fruit’s density skyrocketed. Though it remained the size of a palm, its weight surged past 10,000 jin, crushing the stone floor beneath it and causing the entire chamber to groan and sink.

It showed no signs of stopping. The gravitational pressure only intensified.

Seeing the golden light within reach critical mass, Jiang Chen didn’t hesitate. He retrieved every fire-attribute resource he possessed—Fire Flame Fruits, Spring and Summer Fruits, Red Yang Pills—and swallowed them all in a single, desperate gulp.

Simultaneously, he ignited the first three layers of the Nine Flames Mystic Art and pushed his max-level Green Wood Fire Attraction Art to its absolute limit.

Fwoosh!

His hands turned a translucent crimson, erupting in roaring flames that distorted the air with terrifying heat.

He thrust his burning hands forward, channeling a torrent of Fire Spiritual Power directly into the Spatial Earth Essence Fruit.

The moment his fire met the yellow Earth Qi, the impossible happened.

Green Wood feeds Crimson Fire. Crimson Fire births Yellow Earth.

The ancient law of Five Elements Mutual Generation triggered instantly.

Wood generates Fire. Fire generates Earth.

As the fruit underwent its metamorphosis, a profound resonance echoed within Jiang Chen’s body. His third Spirit Root—the Earth Spirit Root—began to form at a breakneck pace, his dantian greedily refining the surplus Earth Qi.

This was beyond his wildest calculations.

It was a perfect double harvest. The Earth Spirit Root, which he had expected to cultivate slowly by year’s end, was being birthed half a year early.

The sensation was exquisite. It felt as natural as a fish returning to water. His Wood Spirit Root felt rooted in fertile soil; his Fire Spirit Root danced in a boundless sea of fuel.

Instead of being burned by the intensity, his physical body was tempered, his skin taking on a resilient, golden-yellow sheen.

Then, the expansion began.

The Spatial Earth Essence Fruit pulsed and ballooned, growing from the size of a palm to larger than a watermelon in the blink of an eye.

The distortion field expanded, engulfing the entire Cave Core and rippling outward through the walls.

Wherever the field passed, reality seemed to stutter. Time and space grew viscous, nearing absolute stillness.

Outside, the chaotic battle against Li Chuan froze. Cultivators were locked in mid-shout, mid-strike, their expressions of rage and fear preserved like insects in amber.

Only Jiang Chen, the eye of this storm, remained unaffected.

The spatial field continued to expand, stretching far beyond the range of his spiritual sense. He lost track of how massive it had become.

Time lost its meaning. At first, the Earth Qi had gushed like a fountain, but eventually, the flow sputtered and slowed, unable to keep up with the voracious appetite of the refining process.

Then, the contraction hit.

Snap.

The massive spatial field collapsed inward with violent speed.

Outside, time resumed its flow. Not a single person realized what had just happened. They continued their chaotic brawl with Li Chuan, shouting and cursing, completely oblivious to the fact that they had been frozen in time.

Inside the core, the spatial anomaly compressed inch by inch until the fruit shrank down to a small, unassuming bead—roughly the size of a child’s thumb.

It was a perfect sphere of amber crystal. Its surface was etched with intricate, natural patterns that resembled the winding topography of mountain ranges.

Under the dim light, the bead refracted a mesmerizing tri-color halo: green, red, and yellow. The lights danced and interwove—flames leaping, earth steaming, vines growing—a perfect visual representation of the Five Elements in harmony.

Jiang Chen’s breathing was heavy. Ignoring his newly formed Earth Spirit Root, he reached out to grab the bead.

He froze.

It was immovable.

This tiny marble weighed as much as a mountain. Ten thousand jun of force concentrated into a single point. He couldn’t lift it; he couldn’t even nudge it.

Of course. It needs a master.

Jiang Chen bit his tongue, forcing a drop of Essence Blood onto the bead.

The blood sizzled and vanished, absorbed instantly. A mental connection snapped into place.

He reached out again. This time, the bead felt light as a feather. It was warm and smooth, pulsing with a faint, rhythmic heartbeat against his skin.

With a thought, the bead vanished.

Where did it go?

Just as his Companion Green Lotus resided within his Wood Spirit Root, this “Mustard Seed” bead—his new portable space—anchored itself firmly within his Earth Spirit Root.

Jiang Chen prepared to inspect the interior of his new dimension, but the ground beneath him gave a violent lurch.

Rumble—

Huge, jagged cracks tore through the floor and walls.

The cave system, having been drained of the Earth Qi that supported its structure, was collapsing.

“Time to go!”

Jiang Chen grabbed Crow One, transformed into a streak of firelight, and shot toward the exit.

The earthquake accomplished what Li Chuan couldn’t.

Panic swept through the cavern. Red Tiger’s squad, the tourists, the merchants—everyone abandoned their goods and grudges, scrambling for the exit in a desperate stampede.

Li Chuan, seeing his chance to use the Earth Qi Pool vanish into a pile of falling rocks, roared in frustration but turned to flee with the rest.

Fortunately, everyone present was a cultivator. Under the threat of being buried alive, they pushed their movement techniques to the limit.

Everyone made it out.

They stood in the clearing outside, watching as the massive stone mountain imploded.

BOOM! Rumble…

The majestic cave estate of Huang Yuanhua crumbled. The entrance collapsed, the stone pillars toppled, and the ground swallowed the ruins in a cloud of dust.

A shockwave of grit and wind blasted toward the crowd, looking like a charging cavalry charge, but it dissipated harmlessly ten meters away.

Silence fell.

“Huang Yuanhua’s cave… it’s just gone?”

“I can’t believe it. We were the last tour group.”

“What a waste. I didn’t even get to explore the inner chambers!”

Reactions varied from shock to regret to indifference.

Red Tiger exchanged a bitter look with his team. “Well,” he sighed. “I didn’t expect this to be our retirement run.”

“It’s a shame,” Zhang Laizi frowned, looking at their headcount. “We didn’t make enough Spirit Stones for the Foundation Pill.”

Li Tie, the towering giant, waved a massive hand. His voice was muffled but gentle. “We’ve waited years. A little longer won’t kill us. You guys worked hard.”

Wang Linxun, usually silent, spoke up, his voice raspy. “Don’t be polite. We’ve lived and died together for this long. We’ll figure it out.”

Jiang Chen stood at the very back of the crowd, ignoring their plight.

He directed his full consciousness into the bead anchored in his Earth Spirit Root.

Inside, there was light, provided by his Fire Spirit Root.

There was growth, fueled by his Wood Spirit Root.

And beneath it all lay an endless expanse of rich, black soil, generated by his Earth Spirit Root.

How big was it?

Jiang Chen’s mind reeled.

One hundred mu.

One hundred acres of Second-Grade Spirit Farm.