A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

Arkaal frowned slightly.

"Poison... Gu Bombs?"

Aksai nodded.

"Yes."

"Sealed containers using special spatial techniques. Once activated, the containers should burst open and release live poison Gu insects directly into the enemy’s surroundings."

"The Gu can spread poison, attack spirit barriers, invade enemy bodies... whatever their nature allows. I’d prefer a Gu poison cloud, but a poison sap or poison Gu puddle also works."

For the first time since their conversation began, Arkaal remained silent for longer than usual.

He crossed his arms and started thinking deeply.

The Woodland Fiends nearby also paused momentarily, sensing that their supervisor was focused.

After nearly half a minute, Arkaal finally spoke.

"My liege... ordinary poison bombs can be done relatively easily. But the Poison Gu Bombs..."

Arkaal hesitated.

"They would be much harder."

Aksai gestured for him to continue.

Arkaal slowly explained.

"Gu insects are living creatures. They require stable environments to remain healthy. If sealed inside disposable bomb containers for too long, most poison Gu would either weaken or die before activation."

Aksai listened quietly. He also agreed with Arkaal’s assessment, but he merely wanted to see how the reborn Woodland Fiend would solve this problem.

Arkaal rubbed his chin before continuing.

"I can make use of some special array disks and alchemical products. But even if I successfully create functioning Poison Gu Bombs, the Gu insects released from inside them would not survive for long."

"At best..."

He paused briefly.

"Perhaps several minutes."

"Five minutes if conditions are favorable."

"After that, the Gu insects would die naturally."

Aksai remained thoughtful.

Arkaal then added something else.

"There is another issue. These bombs themselves would have an expiration period."

Aksai raised an eyebrow.

"How long?"

Arkaal answered immediately.

"About three months, even with the best spatial techniques deployed at our level. After that, the sealed Gu insects inside would begin deteriorating. The bombs would become useless irrespective of whether they were used or not."

A brief silence followed.

Then—

Aksai smiled. Although Arkaal felt that he had imposed too many limitations on something Aksai wanted, for Aksai himself, it was more than enough.

"That is perfectly fine."

Arkaal looked slightly surprised.

Aksai chuckled before explaining.

"I do not need permanent stockpiles. Three months is already more than enough. I just have to be a bit more proactive in using them. That is all."

He looked directly into Arkaal’s eyes seriously before speaking in a stern tone.

"Anyway, proceed with both projects. Regular poison bombs and Poison Gu Bombs."

Arkaal nodded immediately.

"As you command."

Aksai began thinking further. Then he casually waved his hand.

Several spectral notifications immediately appeared before him as Nuri connected with the Enchanted Everwood Farm systems.

Resource allocation charts began floating in front of Aksai.

He spoke calmly.

"Nuri."

A soft mechanical voice echoed inside his head.

[ Awaiting instruction. ]

"Increase resource allocation for alchemy projects by forty percent."

[ Confirmed. ]

"Redirect all Fourth-Order poison resources harvested from the Gu Farm directly toward laboratory access. Use the stockpile as well if necessary."

[ Confirmed. ]

"Allocate additional poison herbs from secondary cultivation fields."

[ Confirmed. ]

Arkaal almost couldn’t hide his joyful expression. For a researcher solely dedicated to their crafts, the biggest concern was always having sufficient funds and resources. As long as they had both, such researchers would be willing to dance naked in their labs just to please their benefactors.

Aksai then turned toward the workers nearby.

He pointed toward several Sentient Fiends standing beside the furnace.

"You four."

The Sentient Fiends immediately straightened.

"You are reassigned to laboratory support."

The creatures nodded instantly.

Then Aksai looked toward two nearby Woodland Fiends organizing Spirit herbs.

"You two as well."

"Assist Arkaal full-time from now on."

The Woodland Fiends immediately bowed.

Arkaal finally couldn’t hide his joy and almost laughed out loud like a mad scientist. In the end, he still couldn’t hold back a suppressed chuckle. Aksai had practically doubled his workforce in less than a minute.

Then Aksai looked back at him.

"Cover that smile of yours. I don’t want to see how white your teeth are. And do not hold back while experimenting."

"Failure is acceptable. Wasted resources are also acceptable. But results..."

His eyes gleamed faintly.

"Results are mandatory. There should always be results and a learning curve based on those results. You are allowed to make mistakes. Just not the same mistakes."

Arkaal’s expression became serious upon hearing this. He wiped the smile off his face and nodded grimly.

"I understand, my liege."

Aksai slowly nodded and smiled faintly. He had to admit that this Woodland Fiend of his was becoming more and more like a person completely devoted to his craft. It was a complete transformation from Arkaal’s former self.

Or....

It was as if this had always been Arkaal’s true nature, and it was his former master who had turned him into some kind of evil and scheming cultivator who was forced to play mind games within the royal faction all the time.

Here is the grammar-corrected version with sentence flow improved while preserving your tone, style, and characterization:

Perhaps Arkaal had always been waiting for someone like Aksai to lead him instead of his previous master, who only kept him around for his own benefit. He had to die once before his fate finally took a turn for the better.

It was not that Aksai didn’t make use of Arkaal. He too had assigned Arkaal many tasks and demanded hard work from him. However, Aksai was at least willing to provide him with resources, and his demands were reasonable as well.

The targets he set for Arkaal were difficult but not impossible to acheive. It was as if Aksai could already see and deduce the kind of results his experiments are going to produce even before he started them. What kind of genuis was Aksai? No wonder Arkaal lost despite holding seemingly all the advantages.

For Arkaal, who previously had to do everything by himself for his master’s sake while constantly trying to meet unreasonable standards, the working environment created by Asksai quite refreshing. After all, the royal faction was, in essence, a hidden faction. It operated under too many limitations. It was suffocating to conduct resource-intensive experiments there.

However, the Enchanted Everwood Farm was nothing short of paradise for Arkaal. He had almost everything he needed, a dedicated alchemy lab, and capable assistants who would listen to his every command and follow it to a T.

Thanks to Aksai, Arkaal also had access to many tomes and Jade Slips from the Heavenly Poison Sect that he had never seen before. He was also given the freedom to study books and scrolls containing knowledge that Arkaal could faintly guess had otherworldly origins.

How had Aksai come to possess such knowledge without ever visiting the Eternal Sea?

Arkaal did not know.

However, the reborn Fiend was smart enough not to ask such questions.

Plus, his new boss was also quite generous and easy to get along with. He was intelligent enough to understand the intricacies behind various alchemy arts. Such a person was naturally admired by Arkaal a lot.

Even without needing an explanation, Arkaal could tell that Aksai was almost as capable as him in the field of alchemy, if not more. A simple discussion on various recipes was enough for Arkaal to come up with such an obvious deduction.

Of course, Aksai had the help of Nuri while he discussed such topics with Arkaal. However, the fiend himself didn’t know that.

Arkaal believed that the only reason he had been given a free hand to oversee the alchemy division of the Enchanted Everwood Farm was because Aksai simply did not have the time to invest in it personally. Thus, he had to cherish the responsibility given to him.

Arkaal felt that he should repay the favor and the investment placed in him by working twice as hard as before. Only this way could he broaden his horizons in the field of alchemy in future.

And if Aksai ever reached the Eternal Sea in the future, as his subordinate, Arkaal too would get to see that fabled and ever-chaotic region with his own eyes. Perhaps, he could gain access to a broader knowledge related to his field there.

At the same time, he also feared something else.

What if Aksai found a better alchemy expert than him one day?

What if he killed that person, turned them into a Woodland Fiend, and replaced Arkaal entirely if he became even slightly lazy?

Arkaal couldn’t allow something like that to happen.

He had already died once.

He understood the value of life and having a purpose to live for far better than anyone who had never experienced death.

As such, he had to surpass Aksai’s expectations.

Not knowing what his alchemy-maniac Fiend was thinking, Aksai looked around the laboratory one final time before walking toward the exit.

Behind him, Arkaal had already started giving orders.

The newly assigned Sentient Fiends rushed toward the storage chambers.

The Woodland Fiends began preparing ingredient trays.

The massive alchemy furnace reignited once more.

The laboratory came alive again.

Aksai smiled faintly while walking away.

The stronger his enemies became, the more creative he would need to be.

And if the future demanded poison rain, toxic battlefields, and swarms of weaponized Gu insects...

Then so be it.

He would prepare accordingly.