A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

The large doors of the alchemy lab automatically opened the moment Aksai approached.

The familiar scent of herbs, heated spirit essence, and medicinal ingredients filled the air instantly.

Inside, the entire laboratory was alive with movement.

Several Sentient Fiends moved around carrying trays filled with ingredients. Others controlled heating formations beneath various furnaces. Some Woodland Fiends stood near shelves filled with rare herbs while organizing supplies.

At the very center of the large chamber—

Arkaal stood before a massive alchemy furnace. His expression remained serious. Completely focused.

Both of his hands moved continuously as he controlled multiple streams of spirit essence flowing directly into the furnace. The flames beneath the cauldron shifted colors repeatedly.

Blue.

Green.

Dark purple.

The pill refinement had clearly reached an important stage.

Nearby, two Woodland Fiends assisted him by carefully handing over pre-measured ingredients exactly when needed. Three Sentient Fiends continuously monitored temperature fluctuations while adjusting the furnace arrays.

Everything operated with perfect coordination. One had to say that Arkaal made the right use of the manpower he had been given. His experience as an alchemist was quite helpful.

Aksai quietly stopped near the entrance. He observed silently.

Arkaal noticed him almost immediately.

For a brief moment, the reborn Woodland Fiend turned his head slightly. His eyes met Aksai’s. No words were exchanged.

Aksai simply gave a small hand gesture.

Continue.

Arkaal immediately understood. He gave a slight nod. Then all of his focus returned to the furnace.

His hands began moving even faster. More spirit essence surged forward.

The furnace trembled softly. A thick medicinal aroma started filling the entire laboratory.

A faint smile appeared on Aksai’s face as he continued watching silently. He had made the correct decision reviving Arkaal. More importantly, unlike before, Aksai no longer needed to personally oversee every single project.

Arkaal could independently handle complicated alchemy processes. This freed up his own time considerably. And at this point, time was his most valuable resource.

Time passed slowly.

Arkaal’s hands moved in practiced motions as streams of spirit essence flowed from his fingertips and wrapped around the furnace in rotating circles. Nearby, two Woodland Fiends stood ready with trays full of prepared ingredients while several Sentient Fiends adjusted the temperature arrays beneath the furnace.

The entire operation looked smooth. After several more minutes, Arkaal suddenly narrowed his eyes.

"It is done."

He raised both palms.

The furnace shook violently for a second.

Then—

Pop.

The lid opened by itself.

A burst of medicinal fragrance spread through the entire lab.

Ten dark silver pills floated out slowly from inside the furnace, each about the size of a fingernail. Strange rune-like patterns could be seen moving faintly on their surface. Thin wisps of silver spiritual mist surrounded each pill.

Arkaal carefully waved his hand. The pills floated downward and settled inside a prepared jade tray nearby. Only then did he finally turn toward Aksai.

The Woodland Fiends and Sentient Fiends quietly stepped aside.

Arkaal bowed respectfully.

"My liege."

Aksai walked forward with interest in his eyes.

He looked at the ten strange silver pills resting inside the tray. Even without examining them closely, he could feel something unusual coming from them.

Arkaal noticed his curiosity and smiled faintly.

"This is the first successful batch of fourth-order pills I have managed to create after my rebirth."

Aksai picked up one pill carefully and studied it.

"4th Order pills? They look.... interesting."

Arkaal nodded.

"It should be."

He straightened his back with a bit of pride before explaining further.

"These pills are called False King Essence Pills."

Aksai raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak.

"Upon consuming one of these pills, any Core Formation Lord can temporarily release the aura pressure of a Nascent Soul King."

Aksai stared at him quietly, his gaze questioning and doubtful.

Arkaal quickly clarified.

"I mean... only the aura."

"The cultivation itself does not change. The user does not gain actual Nascent Soul strength. However, to outside observers, the spiritual pressure released by the body would perfectly imitate that of a genuine King.

There’s no identification technique known to use that can see through the pill’s effects. Even if a technique like that exists, it wouldn’t immediately be able to break through the illusion created by the pill."

A faint smile appeared on Aksai’s face.

Now this sounded useful.

Very useful.

Arkaal pointed at the tray.

"This entire batch only produced ten pills."

"The ingredients were difficult to gather. They were mainly created using the byproducts extracted from various fourth-order Gu insects you brought from the Gu Farm."

"The effect duration depends on how the pill is used after consumption. If the user avoids heavy Spirit expenditure, the effects may last several days."

Aksai looked genuinely pleased.

Without hesitation, he waved his sleeve.

Nine pills disappeared instantly into his storage artifact.

He left only one pill behind.

Arkaal noticed but said nothing.

Aksai chuckled softly.

"Well done."

He looked directly at Arkaal.

"You continue proving that reviving you was a worthwhile investment."

Arkaal lowered his head slightly.

"I merely serve, my liege."

Aksai picked up the final pill.

"Well... why wait? Let us test it immediately."

Without waiting further, he placed the pill inside his mouth and swallowed. The medicinal energy activated almost instantly. A strange sensation spread through his body.

Then—

Boom.

A violent wave of spiritual pressure erupted outward from Aksai’s body.

The entire laboratory shook slightly.

Nearby Sentient Fiends instinctively stopped moving.

Even the Woodland Fiends paused.

A thick invisible pressure now surrounded Aksai completely.

His eyes slowly widened.

The aura around his body had changed entirely. It felt deep and overwhelming. Exactly like the pressure released by Gu Poison King Qishan before his death.

For a brief moment—

It truly felt like Aksai himself had become a Nascent Soul King.

Yet internally—

Nothing had changed.

His cultivation remained exactly the same. Sixth-stage Core Formation Lord. No increase in actual strength.

A faint spectral screen suddenly appeared before him.

Nuri’s voice echoed inside his mind.

[ Analysis complete. ]

[ Pill effect successfully integrated. ]

[ Estimated duration: seven days under passive conditions. ]

[ Warning: Use of third-order Innate Spirit Spells will immediately destabilize the pill’s effect and terminate aura projection. ]

Aksai smiled widely.

"Incredible."

He slowly released a small breath. The false King aura still lingered around him.

This could become extremely useful in the near future. Sometimes bluffing was more valuable than actual strength.

After a few moments, Arkaal stepped forward again.

"My liege... I have prepared more than just the fourth-order batch."

Aksai looked at him curiously.

"Oh?"

Arkaal walked toward another nearby table.

Three jade boxes rested on top of it.

He opened the first box.

Inside were dozens of crimson-colored pills.

"These are Blood Surge Pills."

"Third-order."

"They temporarily increase blood circulation and physical recovery speed during battle."

"The recipe was taken from the Heavenly Poison Sect archives. I also employed the insights you had recorded on a Jade slip."

Aksai nodded slowly. The insights that Arkaal talked about were from Martial World Sharang. Aksai had given them to Arkaal casually, not expecting anything from the exchange. Surprisingly, Arkaal had made use of them.

Arkaal opened the second jade box.

Inside rested dark green pills covered with tiny black dots.

"These are Venom Absorption Pills."

"Also third-order."

"These pills allow poison cultivators to temporarily improve their resistance against higher order toxins and absorb poison essence directly into their meridians for cultivation purposes."

Aksai immediately recognized the recipe.

He had personally given it to Arkaal from the Heavenly Poison Sect inheritance.

"Good."

Arkaal finally opened the third jade box.

This batch looked completely different.

The pills were dark blue and faint mist constantly leaked from their surface.

Aksai looked interested.

"And these?"

A faint pride appeared on Arkaal’s face.

"My own creation."

"I call them Spirit Veil Pills."

Aksai stayed silent.

Arkaal continued.

"These pills suppress fluctuations in spirit essence for several hours. The user becomes extremely difficult to detect through normal spirit sense."

"It is not perfect invisibility. But it makes tracking a cultivator much harder. I suggest pairing the pill’s effects with other techniques or artifacts to maximize the state of invisibility in more ways than one."

Aksai’s eyes narrowed slightly. He had many thoughts in his head but he decided to not voice them. He then slowly turned toward Arkaal.

His smile widened.

"You have exceeded my expectations today."

Arkaal immediately lowered his head.

"It is my duty, my liege."

Aksai thought for a bit before speaking.

"Arkaal, I have another task for you."

Arkaal straightened his posture slightly.

Aksai continued.

"I want you to start working on some truly offensive alchemy products."

Arkaal listened quietly.

Aksai looked toward one of the nearby shelves filled with poison-related ingredients before speaking further.

"Specifically... I want alchemy bombs."

Arkaal blinked once.

Aksai calmly elaborated.

"Disposable weapons."

"Something that can be thrown into enemy groups."

"Something that can explode on impact and release powerful poison clouds over a wide area."

The laboratory became quiet for a moment.

Aksai slowly began walking around the room while continuing his explanation.

"Use the strongest poison samples available. Anything from the Heavenly Poison Sect database. Anything extracted from the Gu Insect Farm. or anything we have collected from Qishan’s inheritance."

His eyes sharpened slightly.

"I want poison dense enough to affect multiple cultivators at once. Something capable of turning battlefields into death zones."

Arkaal listened carefully.

Then Aksai added another thought.

"And there is something else."

Arkaal looked up.

Aksai stopped walking and turned toward him.

"I also want Poison Gu Bombs."