The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

The sheer size of the tracks indicated a creature of immense proportions.

And one whose strength could not be underestimated.

Jiang Chen glanced at Zhu Fuxian. Only after receiving a slight nod did he speak. “Though this is my first time witnessing it, the records state that a Meridian-Reversing Worm Mother leaves just such a trail. Whether larva, adult, or mother, as they absorb Spirit Qi and Earth Qi, they excrete impurities through pores in their scales.”

Shi Yuan’s voice was grim. “It seems the Meridian-Reversing Worm Mother is just ahead. If we can capture or kill it, half the problem is solved.”

Zhu Fuxian nodded. “This blight has two hearts: the Meridian-Reversing Worm Mother and the Spirit-Eroding Fungus King. Once both are eliminated, the disaster, at least, will be over.”

Jiang Chen’s mind caught the nuance instantly. *The disaster will be over, not the matter completely resolved.*

In other words, they still had to hunt down Rong Long of the Zhao Clan and demand a full accounting. The man had nearly orchestrated a catastrophe. Even for a senior Formation Master of the sect, there could be no impunity. A price had to be paid.

Zhu Fuxian considered for a moment. “From this point on, you two will fall back. If we encounter the Worm Mother, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator is at risk.”

“Is the mother that powerful?” Zhao Feng asked, his curiosity piqued.

Having only read about the creature in texts, Jiang Chen listened intently.

“A Meridian-Reversing Worm Mother is typically guarded by five to ten swarms of adults,” Zhu Fuxian explained. “A single swarm possesses the destructive force of an early-stage Qi Condensation cultivator. Combined, they can rival a cultivator at Qi Condensation Perfection, perhaps even touching the power of early Foundation Establishment. Furthermore, a century-old mother possesses the strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator in its own right.”

More than five swarms, plus the mother herself.

Against their combined might, Jiang Chen and Zhao Feng stood little chance.

The color drained from their faces, and they scrambled to step aside without a moment’s hesitation. Yang Zhenyue saw his cue and moved swiftly to the front, taking the lead.

The party pressed deeper into the cavern. They continued to encounter adult worms, usually in single swarms, but there were exceptions. In areas with denser crystal formations, the swarms grew larger and more numerous.

For Yang Zhenyue, a cultivator at the early Golden Core realm, they were a trivial nuisance. He didn’t even bother drawing a Spirit Weapon. With a mere lift of his hand, he commanded the surrounding Earth Qi to converge, and every last worm before him imploded in a shower of ichor and chitin.

A series of wet pops echoed through the cavern, a sound that was disturbingly satisfying.

With their path being cleared so efficiently, the group’s pace quickened.

Before long, the scenery shifted. A closer look at the cavern walls revealed not just the scars of corrosion, but intricate, scale-like patterns etched into the stone itself.

“They’re natural formations, not man-made carvings!”

Fascinated, Jiang Chen and Zhao Feng moved closer to inspect the walls.

“This is called the Dragon Scale Pattern,” Shi Yuan said, a note of regret in his voice. “It means we are approaching the very heart of the underground Spirit Vein—the Dragon Transformation Cave. The more defined these patterns, the greater the potential this Spirit Vein once held to ascend into a true Dragon Vein.”

It was clear this place had once been an incredibly auspicious site.

But now, the magnificent patterns were marred by a web of skeletal cracks. The faint golden spiritual light that once emanated from them was gone, replaced by a dull, ashen gray, as if choked by a thick shroud of dust. The warm, jade-like luster had faded to the lifeless matte of dead stone.

When Jiang Chen touched the wall, a biting cold seeped into his fingers. The once-boundless, attribute-less Spirit Qi was gone, and a faint stinging sensation pricked his skin. He tapped the rock face. It returned not the resonant chime of living stone, but the hollow crack of shattered pottery.

It was as if its very marrow had been devoured from within.

This grim scene was a clear sign: they were closing in on the Meridian-Reversing Worm Mother.

The deeper they ventured, the more numerous the adult worms became. At first, they had encountered a swarm or two every so often, rarely three. Now, a swarm of fifty—the maximum size—lay in wait every few dozen feet.

But no matter the number, for Yang Zhenyue, they were all dispatched with a casual wave. Not only was the Earth Vein Manager a Golden Core master, but his Earth Spirit Root granted him a significant boost in power while underground. The higher the realm, the greater the amplification. He crushed everything in his path with contemptuous ease.

Soon, a colossal structure loomed ahead, seemingly suspended over a deep pit. It was a grotesque, hemispherical nest, a hundred feet across, woven from countless strands of dark crimson silk, chitinous plates, and the desiccated husks of spirit crystals. It merged seamlessly with the ruined dragon-scale walls, looking like a cancerous growth that had sprouted from the rock itself.

This was undoubtedly the lair of the Meridian-Reversing Worm Mother.

Shi Yuan’s eyes glinted with cold fury. “The mother chose this place to capitalize on the last vestiges of the auspicious cave’s foundation. Even depleted, this location is superior for stabilizing a nest. It has been siphoning the residual aura of the nascent Dragon Vein to empower itself.”

But in doing so, it was ensuring the utter ruin of the Dragon Transformation Cave. Not another wisp of Spirit Qi would ever emerge from this place. The Meridian-Reversing Worm Mother was squeezing the very last drop of value from its corpse.

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes, his mind racing as he analyzed the structure.

Based on his knowledge, the nest was multi-layered. The top was the incubation zone. The once-translucent egg sacs were now coated in a grayish film. Starved of Spirit Qi, the larvae within were developing at a glacial pace; many sacs had already shriveled into lifeless husks.

The middle layer, where the crystalline formations were densest, was the mother’s personal chamber.

The lowest layer connected directly to the Dragon Transformation Cave. A thick, pulsating tube extended from the nest’s base, plunging deep into the cave’s core, still drawing something from within. Every so often, the tube would writhe obscenely.

Before they acted, Zhu Fuxian issued a reminder. “We have already agreed. This century-old Meridian-Reversing Worm Mother is ours to handle.”

Not a flicker of emotion crossed Shi Yuan’s stone-like face. “Do as you please.” He had no desire to waste time here. The sooner this was over, the sooner he could recall his projection to Xuan Yuan. The unrest there was growing worse.

Zhu Fuxian offered a faint smile. “Then let us begin.”

Without any perceptible movement from Shi Yuan, the colossal nest began to dissolve like snow in the spring sun. The grotesque structure melted away, revealing the horrors within: an enormous Worm Mother, swarms of newly hatched larvae, and rank upon rank of adult worms.

The mother was dozens of feet long and as thick as a banquet table. Its body, tapering at the head and tail, was a repulsive mass of irregular, tumorous folds. Each protrusion was studded with palm-sized, black-red scales whose edges curled like corroded iron.

At a glance, it was a grotesque mockery of the natural dragon patterns adorning the walls of the Dragon Transformation Cave.