A Farmer's Journey To Immortality - Chapter 801: Being Impressed by an Undying Cockroach

After warning Aksai about a potential trap, Serya’s mental connection faded completely.

She had fallen asleep.

Aksai froze in his steps. The relaxed expression on his face disappeared instantly. His gaze slowly shifted toward Arkaal’s skeleton once again. This time, his eyes had become extremely cautious.

’Damn it,’ Aksai cursed inwardly.

His frustration almost became visible on his face.

’And here I thought I had won against this old monster. Are all late-stage Lords this troublesome? Even death can’t seem to stop him. What the hell am I supposed to do now?’

Aksai stared at Arkaal’s motionless skeleton carefully. For a brief moment, the thought of escaping crossed his mind.

After all, the sealed chamber was no longer impossible to break open now that both Qishan and Arkaal were supposedly dead or weakened. With Nuri’s help, no formation was too tough to break. But then again, would he be given the necessary time to decipher the formation?

Running away was indeed an option.

However—

Aksai quickly forced himself to calm down. His thoughts rapidly became rational again.

’Wait,’ he thought carefully. ’Serya said this is his last survival trick. That means the old man is probably pretending to be dead while waiting for me to lower my guard.’

A faint cold light appeared in Aksai’s eyes.

’And since I already know about the trap… why not use it against him instead?’

The decision was made instantly. The next moment, Aksai suddenly slapped his own forehead loudly.

“Ah! I almost forgot that I need to be back home by tomorrow,” he muttered rather loudly.

His voice echoed through the chamber. The words sounded casual and careless, as if he truly believed the danger had already passed.

Then he resumed walking again. This time, his pace became slightly faster. It looked as though he simply wanted to finish things quickly and leave.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Aksai eventually reached Arkaal’s corpse. At this point, the old man’s body looked horrifying. Most of the flesh had already melted away. Only a partly exposed skeleton remained.

Some vital organs could still be seen hanging inside the open ribcage. The stopped heart rested there quietly like a dead lump of rotten flesh.

Aksai slowly bent down. His hand moved toward the storage ring still hanging loosely on Arkaal’s bony finger.

And right at that moment—

Thump!

The dead heart inside the exposed ribcage suddenly restarted. Aksai’s eyes sharpened instantly.

Boom!

Arkaal’s nearly skeletal body exploded into motion. The dead old man’s eyes snapped open viciously.

“Die!”

A murderous roar escaped his throat. A dadao suddenly appeared in his hand from his storage ring. The blade swung toward Aksai’s neck at terrifying speed.

The attack was sudden, fast, and brutal. Arkaal had truly been waiting for this exact moment.

Unfortunately for him, Aksai had already been prepared. The instant Arkaal moved, a cold light flashed through Aksai’s hand.

Stab!

A Celestial Shard knife pierced directly into Arkaal’s exposed heart before the old man’s strike could fully land. The sharp blade sank deep into the rotten organ.

Arkaal’s eyes widened instantly. Aksai’s small weapon carried terrifying sealing and destructive properties, as it was coated with his Aurous Qi. The moment it pierced his heart, the little remaining life force inside him became chaotic.

But Aksai did not stop there.

The next moment, he inhaled sharply. One of his three Innate Cubes lit up inside his Dantian.

Then—

Whoooosh!

A massive stream of fire burst out from Aksai’s mouth.

Innate Spirit Spell:

Fire Breath.

The flames exploded directly onto Arkaal’s body at point-blank range. The already rotten skeleton was instantly swallowed by blazing fire.

“AAAAAAARGHH!”

Arkaal released a horrifying scream. The fire rapidly spread through his dried flesh and exposed bones. At the same time, the Celestial Shard knife continued destroying his remaining vitality from within.

Crack.

Crack.

His bones started splitting apart under the heat. Arkaal tried to continue swinging his dadao desperately.

But his body no longer listened properly.

The second death came too quickly.

This time, Aksai gave him no chance to struggle further. The flames kept burning fiercely while Aksai continued pushing Spirit essence into the Celestial Shard knife without hesitation.

Arkaal’s final desperate ambush had completely failed.

Aksai did not relax even after Arkaal’s scream faded away. The flames continued burning fiercely around the old man’s body.

Fire spread through the exposed bones and rotten flesh without mercy. The smell of burnt poison and decayed meat quickly filled the chamber.

Arkaal’s skeletal figure trembled violently inside the flames. The remaining flesh hanging from his ribs melted away bit by bit. His bones cracked repeatedly under the heat. The poisoned marrow inside them hissed like boiling oil.

It seemed that Arkaal wanted to pretend to be dead once again. But Aksai did not give him any more chances.

“AAAAARGHHH!”

The old man let out another painful scream. His empty eye sockets glowed faintly with hatred and unwillingness.

However, Aksai was far from stopping.

He raised his hand again and released another wave of flames. The fire swallowed Arkaal’s remains entirely. Bones blackened rapidly before turning into ash. The poison hidden inside the skeleton burned together with the body.

Aksai stared at the burning corpse carefully while keeping his guard up. He did not trust old monsters like Arkaal anymore. Not after everything that had happened inside this cave.

Only after every single piece of flesh was burned away did Aksai finally stop using Fire Breath.

The chamber became quiet again.

A pile of black ash remained where Arkaal once stood. Even the poison aura around the corpse had weakened greatly. At first glance, it truly looked like everything was over.

But Aksai narrowed his eyes.

“No,” he muttered softly. “Not yet.”

The next moment, he closed his eyes briefly and connected his consciousness to another presence inside his Mind Palace. A faint ripple spread through the chamber. Then space distorted quietly behind him.

A massive ethereal figure slowly emerged from the distortion.

Verdant Elder.

The giant tortoise-like Aether Beast appeared silently behind Aksai. Bluish purple light flowed gently across its transparent shell like streams of water.

Countless glowing vines moved slowly around its body like living roots. Ancient runes flickered faintly across its shell while dense Aether Essence spread through the chamber.

The moment Verdant Elder appeared, the atmosphere changed completely. Aksai immediately pointed toward the pile of ashes calmly.

“Trap the soul before it escapes.”

Verdant Elder’s glowing eyes lit up softly.

The next moment, the giant tortoise opened its mouth slightly and released a deep humming sound.

Hummmmmm.

Blue light spread outward rapidly.

A massive barrier instantly covered the entire chamber. Transparent walls of Aether Essence sealed every direction completely. The air itself seemed to freeze under the pressure.

Then the glowing vines around Verdant Elder suddenly shot forward.

Whoosh!

The vines rushed toward empty space above the ashes. At first, there seemed to be nothing there. But the moment the vines reached that area, a violent struggle suddenly erupted.

The empty space twisted unnaturally. A vague humanoid outline appeared for a brief moment before turning blurry again.

A soul.

Arkaal’s soul had truly been hiding there all along. It seemed that Arkal had made use of some special resources in order to strengthen his soul, making it manifest itself even after his fleshly death.

Of course, this was in preparation to achieve a breakthrough into the Nascent Soul realm. Unfortunately for him, Aksai wanted to kill him and keep on killing him until he had no control over himself.

“You little bastard!” Arkaal’s furious voice echoed through the chamber. “How did you find me?!”

The soul struggled violently while trying to escape. Its transparent body flickered constantly like smoke. However, the barrier deployed by Verdant Elder blocked every escape route completely.

The blue vines wrapped tightly around the soul one after another. Arkaal screamed furiously as the vines restrained him.

“No! Let me go!”

His soul released waves of some form of special poison essence desperately. Dark green smoke exploded around him as he tried tearing apart the vines. However, Verdant Elder was an Aether Beast that was made using the concepts of the Aether World Acarnis. Ordinary and even extraordinary poison methods from Dadangar World barely affected it at all.

The giant tortoise slowly opened its mouth wider. The vines immediately began dragging Arkaal’s struggling soul toward it.

“No! NOOO!”

Arkaal fought madly. His transparent hands clawed at the air while his soul twisted violently. But the vines only tightened further around him. Eventually, the soul was dragged completely in front of Verdant Elder.

Then—

Swallow.

The giant tortoise devoured the soul whole.

Arkaal’s screams echoed briefly from inside Verdant Elder’s ethereal body. The giant shell glowed brighter for a few moments as the soul struggled desperately within. This was the soul of a late-stage Core Formation Lord who was only a few steps away from breaking into the 4th Spirit realm. Even his soul was this powerful.

However, Verdant Elder remained completely calm. Bluish purple Aether runes slowly spread across its shell while the struggling inside gradually weakened.

Aksai quietly watched the process without interrupting. He could sense Verdant Elder suppressing the soul completely. The Aether Beast slowly tamed Arkaal’s soul inside its body layer by layer until the resistance finally disappeared.

’Hmmm. How many times did I have to kill this cockroach today? Haaah! Not going to lie… I…. I’m mildly impressed to the point of being inspired.’