The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality Chapter 61

Jiang Chen's gains this time were quite decent.

He had acquired a fragment of a high-level cultivation art, the [Green Lotus Art], and a brewing recipe for a wine superior to Spirit Wine, the [Golden Wine].

Just after stepping out of the trading house, however, he sensed someone following him.

As is well known, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage activates one's spiritual sense. It extends roughly ten zhang in radius from the user, allowing them to perceive anything within range.

After some thought, Jiang Chen simply headed toward more crowded areas.

Unexpectedly, the pursuer clung to him like a bone-deep maggot. No matter where he went, they followed, impossible to shake off.

"Senior Brother Wang, where is this kid going?"

"Should we keep following?"

"He came out of the trading house; he must have bought something good!"

"I get what you mean. Let's continue!"

The ones tailing Jiang Chen were none other than Wang Hu and his group. They happened to see Jiang Chen leaving the [Green City Trading House] and had been following him ever since.

At that moment, Jiang Chen suddenly turned toward Green City's north gate.

Wang Hu and the others exchanged glances and immediately followed.

Soon, they all arrived outside the north gate. There were many gathering points here, with monster-hunting teams everywhere. Some were waiting for people, while others were actively recruiting.

"Fellow Daoist, care to join a monster hunt?" a female cultivator approached.

Jiang Chen ignored her, directly taking out a Paper Crane and soaring into the air.

Before long, he reached the outskirts of the Dark Forest. Although monsters occasionally emerged from here, it was mostly safe.

"Still following?" Jiang Chen hid among the leaves, looking back in the direction he came from.

Soon, a Paper Crane approached. Four people stood crowded upon it. Three were unfamiliar, but one was very recognizable.

"It's actually Wang Hu?" Jiang Chen was quite surprised.

He had thought his pursuers would be money-grubbing rogue cultivators. He never expected that, in a sense, they were "one of his own." All were from the same immortal sect, and Wang Hu was even from the Spirit Farm.

The bald man among the four mocked, "A mere Spirit Farmer dares to explore the Dark Forest alone?"

Wang Hu sneered coldly. "Perfect timing for us to make our move!"

He had long wanted to cause trouble for Jiang Chen, but the other had stayed inside the Spirit Farm without coming out, leaving no opportunity. Unexpectedly, this time he found his chance at the rogue cultivator market district. Even better, the target had voluntarily entered the Dark Forest.

If he died here, there would be no need to bury the body; monsters would devour it soon enough.

This wasn't the first time Wang Hu and his group had done such a thing; they had already gotten several fellow disciples killed this way. They knew well that even if the immortal sect investigated the deaths, without evidence, it would come to nothing.

Just as the four were excitedly fantasizing about dividing the spoils, several whooshing sounds cut through the air.

From the dense foliage ahead, numerous black iron vines flew out.

Fortunately, Wang Hu and his group had combat experience and reacted swiftly, immediately channeling their spiritual energy.

One controlled vines, one slashed out with metallic energy, and one formed an earthen shield, easily blocking the incoming black iron vines.

Wang Hu couldn't help but taunt, "Is this all you've got for an ambush?"

From within the leaves, Jiang Chen seemed to respond: "Of course not."

The next second, the Paper Crane violently shook.

The four looked down and instantly turned pale as ghosts. It turned out that the black iron vines weren't just attacking them; they were also targeting the Paper Crane beneath their feet.

This thing was merely paper imbued with flight capability, with no protective formations installed whatsoever. With one or two people, it might have been barely controllable, but there were four of them crammed on it.

Instantly, the two people standing at the very edge fell off.

One was the Earth Spirit Root cultivator who had just formed the earthen shield; the other was the Metal Spirit Root cultivator who had just slashed with metallic energy.

The Earth Spirit Root cultivator fared better; as a body cultivator by nature, his resistance to blows was strong. The Metal Spirit Root cultivator suffered terribly, flailing helplessly in mid-air.

With a thud, one cratered into the ground. The other broke bones and snapped tendons.

"Ah!" The Metal Spirit Root cultivator let out a heart-rending scream.

"Good thing I'm tough enough!" The Earth Spirit Root cultivator struggled to climb out of the crater.

But at that moment, the weeds on the ground began writhing madly. In an instant, they transformed into dozens of black iron vines, giving the cultivators no chance to catch their breath. They pierced them through like pincushions, killing them on the spot.

Still on the Paper Crane, Wang Hu and the other Water Spirit Root cultivator weren't safe either, though they hadn't fallen.

Seeing they were now only five meters from the ground, dense clusters of black iron vines shot out again from the leaves opposite.

"Sorry," Wang Hu said, then leaped down, decisively abandoning the Paper Crane.

While in the air, he swung both hands. Two thick vines flew out, entangling two nearby large trees. His whole body swung like a pendulum, oscillating up and down about three meters above the ground. A close call, but safe enough.

"You son of a bitch!" The Water Spirit Root cultivator, seeing this, cursed furiously.

He tried to control the Paper Crane, but it bore Wang Hu's imprint. Ultimately, both man and crane crashed into a large tree ahead.

Fortunately, he was protected by a water bubble, which blocked most of the damage. But just as he sighed in relief, a rustling sound came from above.

He looked up and saw the familiar black iron vines again.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

The water bubble was already weakened from the previous impact. Moreover, these were black iron vines formed by a triple-layered [Vine Bind], each possessing hundreds of jin of piercing force.

The water bubble popped with a crack. The man immediately fell silent.

"Dammit!" Wang Hu landed on the ground, his face dark as thunderclouds.

The whole process hadn't exceeded ten seconds, yet three companions had died horribly one after another. And he didn't even know who the ambusher was. He had never been so passive before.

Suddenly, movement came from ahead.

Wang Hu immediately looked over. When he saw clearly who it was, he felt like he had been struck by lightning.

Jiang Chen!

Wang Hu had never once considered the ambusher could be Jiang Chen. After all, in anyone's eyes, the other was merely a mediocre Spirit Farmer at best. Besides farming, he had no other skills whatsoever. Having hidden for nearly three years before leaving the Spirit Farm showed how cowardly he was supposed to be.

Jiang Chen brushed leaves off his clothes, then revealed an indifferent gaze, looking at Wang Hu as if he were already dead. "Now you know why I never called you Senior Brother."

"You actually reached Foundation Establishment!" Wang Hu felt sheer terror creep over him.

Only by reaching Foundation Establishment could one kill them like slaughtering dogs.

In three years, he himself was only at the Qi Condensation perfection stage, yet the other was already at Foundation Establishment. This person was too terrifying. Hidden too deeply.

Jiang Chen couldn't be bothered with talk and immediately waved his hand.

Instantly, over a hundred black iron vines emerged. They writhed like venomous snakes, exuding a dangerous aura.

Wang Hu couldn't move, paralyzed by... sheer fright.

The next moment, the black iron vines swarmed over. Wang Hu turned into pulped mush, blood splattering everywhere.

Next, Jiang Chen controlled the black iron vines to shred all the corpses until they were indistinguishable from the soil. Then, he began inventorying the four people's storage pouches.

The good stuff was truly plentiful.

There were over a dozen spirit artifacts alone—things like sword pellets, shields, and the like. There were over a dozen bottles of elixirs: Body Strengthening Pills, Qi Condensing Pills, everything was present.

Over eight hundred jin of Tier-1 Spirit Rice. Over three hundred jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice.

The spirit plants he recognized alone totaled a value exceeding ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones. Not to mention the many unrecognized ones.

As for Spirit Stones, there were even more.

He even found a high-level spell technique in Wang Hu's storage pouch: the fragment of [Forest Stealth] he had originally wanted to purchase.

Seeing so many things, Jiang Chen couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I finally understand the saying, 'A horse grows fat not on night grass alone; a man grows rich not on honest wealth alone.' Now I'm rich!!!"