A Farmer's Journey To Immortality - Chapter 582: The Changed Sharang

Chapter 582: The Changed Sharang

As such, Aksai pretended not to notice her thoughts. Instead, he picked up the teacup and took a slow sip.

The familiar taste of Zinnia’s tea brought a small smile to his face. “You still make it the same way,” he said gently.

Zinnia smiled faintly. “I never forgot how you liked it, my lord.”

Aksai set the cup down and looked at her with calm eyes. “Tell me, Zinnia… what happened after I disappeared from Serenity Peak?”

Zinnia’s expression stiffened.

The question seemed to pull her back into memories she had buried for years. She looked away for a moment before speaking, her voice quiet.

“A lot changed after that day, my lord” she began.

“After the Devil’s Den incident… everything fell apart. The sects fought among themselves for a while, but later, Grand Martial Hall rose to power.

They managed to unite almost all the major martial forces of Sharang under one banner once the Tree Devils disappeared. The Hall became stronger than ever before. They built branches all over Sharang—some even hidden within regional governments and noble families.”

She paused, the flickering lamplight reflecting in her eyes. “It’s not the same world you left behind, my lord.”

Aksai leaned back slightly, thinking. “Did anyone else survive?”

Zinnia nodded slowly. “Yes. The one-eyed man and the gray-haired woman from Grand Martial Hall lived. So did Jin Jolan from the School of Flowing Winds, Wen Wei from the School of Rising Sun, and Lin Lan from the Lotus Pavilion. They were among the lucky few who managed to escape death.”

She took a slow breath before continuing. “After the incident, Jin Jolan, Wen Wei, and Lin Lan all joined the Grand Martial Hall. Together, they helped it grow even more powerful by submitting their respective schools’ martial arts techniques. But… there’s something else you should know.”

Aksai looked at her, waiting. Zinnia’s tone turned heavy.

“After the incident, the Grand Martial Hall began a massive search for your whereabouts. Many people had seen you use Spirit spells that day… and they started calling you one of the Tree Devils.

They put a huge bounty on your head, my lord. Anyone caught helping you was also branded a traitor.”

Aksai’s eyes narrowed slightly, though his expression remained calm.

Zinnia lowered her head.

“Because of that, I had to go into hiding. I couldn’t use the wealth or resources you gave me openly. I left Serenity Peak and settled here, far away from all the chaos.

I had to abandon your manor as well as all your non-moving assets in the Serenity Peak. I decided to abandon them instead of trying to find ways to liquidate those assets. I thought it was the only way to survive… the only way to honor your memory without putting others in danger.”

Aksai looked down at his teacup, his reflection trembling faintly in the liquid. “I see,” he said softly. “So that’s how things became.”

Zinnia clasped her hands together and bowed her head. “Forgive me, my lord. I… I couldn’t do anything more.”

Aksai shook his head gently. “You did more than enough, Zinnia. You lived. That’s what matters.”

Zinnia blinked, and for the first time in years, her heart felt lighter hearing his words. She smiled faintly, the lines on her face softening.

Aksai then leaned back in the chair, his fingers lightly tapping the side of the teacup. His voice was calm when he spoke, but his eyes were sharp and focused.

“Earlier, when I arrived, you called me one of the ‘old bastards’ who sent someone to your school. Who exactly were you talking about, Zinnia?”

Zinnia’s jaw tightened, and her expression darkened. She looked away for a moment, as if trying to calm herself before speaking. Her hands slowly clenched into fists on her lap.

“My lord… it’s a long story,” she said, her tone low and heavy.

“After you disappeared from Serenity Peak, I used the resources and notes you left behind. I didn’t want your efforts or your teachings to go to waste. Using the Celestial Harmony Martial Compendium you created, I continued training on my own.

Over the years, I refined my martial path and finally managed to break into the Argent Body Realm.”

She paused, her eyes distant for a moment.

“After many years passed, when the world quieted down and it seemed like the Grand Martial Hall wasn’t hunting you anymore, I thought it was safe to start over.

That’s when I founded this martial arts school. I wanted to pass on what you taught me… in a way that would keep your teachings alive.”

Aksai nodded slowly. “And then?”

Zinnia’s tone turned bitter. “Then they came. Jin Jolan and Wen Wei.”

Aksai didn’t say anything, but the faint shift in his expression showed he remembered the names.

“They found me not long after I opened this place,” Zinnia continued.

“At first, they only asked questions. They wanted to know if I knew where you were. They kept visiting every few months, watching from a distance. I thought they’d eventually stop, but they didn’t. For years, they lingered like vultures. It was complete harassment and a breach of my privacy.”

Her voice grew sharper. “When I refused to tell them anything—because I didn’t know anything—they started pressuring me for something else. The Celestial Harmony.”

Aksai’s brows lifted slightly. “My martial compendium?”

Zinnia nodded grimly. “They claimed it wasn’t yours alone. They said you used Grand Martial Hall’s techniques as a foundation for it. They called it ‘borrowed knowledge’ and said the compendium belonged to them by right.”

Her hands trembled slightly, but her voice didn’t.

“I refused, of course. That was your legacy. Even if you used an existing Martial Compendium, you built it with your own understanding, not theirs. I burned all the physical copies of the Celestial Harmony after memorising it entirely so as to not let it fall into the wrong hands. Maybe that’s why they couldn’t kill me.

But they didn’t stop there. They started targeting my school—challenging my students to duels, using underhanded tactics. Some of my best pupils were injured. A few even had their cultivation crippled in ambushes outside the city.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com