The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 305: The Price of Victory

He carefully poured the Liquid Water Essence into his Jade Green Gourd, then transferred the entire Water Spirit Fruit Tree into his personal dimension.

Next, he unleashed his spiritual sense, meticulously sweeping every inch of the cavern, unwilling to miss a single valuable item.

His diligence paid off.

Wedged in a nearby crevice was a corpse. More precisely, the remains of an angler. Clad in a tattered raincoat and a conical hat, the corpse still clutched a mottled fishing rod, a silent testament to his final moments.

As Jiang Chen unearthed the body from a pile of fish bones, he realized the fishing rod was far from ordinary.

Thanks to Old Mo and Old Jin’s shared passion for angling, Jiang Chen knew a thing or two about fishing gear. A fishing rod was comprised of three essential parts: the rod itself, the hook, and the line. And this seemingly ordinary tool was anything but.

The rod was crafted from Sinking River Bamboo.

The hook was a Swallowing Abyss Hook.

The line was spun from Fish Demon Sinew.

In short, this was no mere fishing rod—it was a Spirit Weapon.

Five distinct spirit patterns were carved into its length:

Water Gathering Pattern

Spirit Binding Pattern

Water Concealment Pattern

Insight Pattern

Water Tracing Pattern

While the inscriptions were clearly designed for angling, they could undoubtedly be repurposed for combat, and their power would be far from negligible.

Jiang Chen searched the corpse and found a Storage Bag tied to its waist. The owner was long dead, but his spiritual imprint remained, sealing the bag shut.

Jiang Chen pocketed the Storage Bag for later and hauled the angler’s body back to the deck of his Demon Dragon Water-Avoiding Boat.

To his surprise, the massive corpse of the Sunfish Demon remained untouched, not yet devoured by the boat.

Jiang Chen set the angler’s body down. “What’s this?” he muttered, baffled. “Too good for a Fish Demon now?”

The Demon Dragon Water-Avoiding Boat remained utterly inert. Even with the feast right beside it, the vessel seemed too lazy to even acknowledge its presence.

He sighed. “It’s easy to get used to the finer things, but so hard to go back. You won’t even eat a Fish Demon now. What’s next? I’ve clearly spoiled you rotten.”

Shaking his head, Jiang Chen drew a sharp dagger and swam toward the colossal carcass, beginning the meticulous work of dissection.

Being a demon, its body was a treasure trove of materials. Its fins, scales, bones, blood, and sinew were all valuable components for refining Pills and even certain Spirit Weapons.

But the most valuable part of any demon was, of course, its core. For most, this took the form of a demon core, a crystallized vessel of its demonic power.

The Sunfish Demon’s core was a perfect sphere, about the size of a newborn’s fist. A translucent, water-blue halo shimmered across its surface. It pulsed with a contradictory energy—the aggressive, Yin-cold power of a demon, yet also the gentle, nourishing warmth of pure Spirit Qi. Its surface was covered in fine, scale-like protrusions, and a light touch revealed a faint, rhythmic pulse from within, like a dying heartbeat.

Just holding it in his palm was enough to make the ambient Water Spirit Qi converge upon it. A pity the demon was dead; otherwise, the core could have been refined on the spot.

Soon, Jiang Chen had harvested everything of value, leaving behind only chunks of worthless flesh. After a moment’s thought, he patted his waist.

The Blood Gourd, an artifact he had refined long ago but never used, shot out. It hovered over the leftover meat, unleashing a powerful vortex of suction. In an instant, every last scrap was devoured by the gourd. It had finally had its first taste of flesh and blood.

His work complete, Jiang Chen returned to the deck. A light stomp of his right foot commanded the boat to turn, and it shot toward the cavern entrance. He soon exited the lair and navigated back through the Black Dragon Pool. His departure was smooth and unobstructed.

The Black Dragon Pool was now a shadow of its former self. The Demon Dragon’s skeleton was gone. The Dragon Carp were gone. Jiang Chen had stripped it bare, taking the hidden Water Spirit Palace, the Water Spirit Pearl, the Swimming Dragon Hundred Transformations technique, and even the Dragon Abyss Water Spirit Seal. All that remained was the Dragon Locking Abyss itself and a complex of abandoned ruins.

Once clear of the Black Dragon Pool, Jiang Chen found a serene spot by a mountain stream. He dug a grave and gave the old angler a proper burial.

The fishing rod and Storage Bag, however, he kept. A fair price for his services, he reasoned.

With that done, Jiang Chen checked the time. A significant amount had passed. He wondered if he was too late to witness the final battle between Long Ao and Mo Sha. The entire Sect had been anticipating the showdown. It wasn’t just because the title of champion was on the line. More importantly, the two shared a bitter grudge. Their repeated confrontations and venomous threats had built the anticipation to a fever pitch.

Without another moment’s delay, Jiang Chen summoned his Giant Leaf and streaked toward Fire Peak. He cycled through the three types of spiritual power in his Qi Sea, pushing his speed to several times its normal limit. He reached Fire Peak in record time.

But when he arrived, the crowd was sparse and the atmosphere subdued—nothing like the roaring spectacle he had expected.

“An unbelievable outcome…”

Whispers and sighs filled the air, but the words were cryptic. Jiang Chen couldn’t make sense of it. He scanned the crowd until he spotted a familiar face and immediately strode over. “Tie Zhu!”

Tie Zhu turned, his expression startled. “Senior Brother Jiang?”

Jiang Chen asked, his voice tight with anticipation, “Who won? Senior Brother Long or Mo Sha? What was the final result?”

Tie Zhu blinked, then replied, “Senior Brother Long won!”

A wave of relief washed over Jiang Chen. “That’s good.”

“But…” Tie Zhu’s voice trailed off, his expression turning grim.

Jiang Chen’s face hardened. “But what?”

Tie Zhu sighed. “Senior Brother Long won, but it was a pyrrhic victory.” He quickly recounted the brutal details of the fight.

While Long Ao had officially taken first place, he would almost certainly be unable to participate in the upcoming Return to Ruins Secret Realm. The reason? The fight had been vicious, with neither holding back. At a critical moment, Mo Sha unleashed a forbidden technique that polluted Long Ao’s Spirit Root.

He originally possessed a dual Water-Wood Spirit Root, a synergistic combination. But now, his Water Spirit Root was corrupted, transformed into a toxic variant. As a result, the elemental cycle was reversed. Instead of Water nourishing Wood, the toxic water now actively corroded his Wood Spirit Root.

“So, yes,” Tie Zhu finished, “Long Ao defeated Mo Sha and won the competition. But with his Spirit Root crippled, he can’t cultivate, let alone enter the secret realm. That’s why everyone is in shock.”

A dangerous glint entered Jiang Chen’s eyes. “Mo Sha did that, and he wasn’t punished? It was just a Sect competition. Was it necessary to cripple a fellow disciple?”

Tie Zhu flinched, visibly intimidated by the sudden, chilling aura radiating from Jiang Chen. A cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his voice trembled as he replied, “Perfected Master Qin was about to deliver the Penalty, but a Nascent Soul True Lord suddenly appeared and intervened, shielding Mo Sha from all consequences!”