The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Jiang Chen stood at the doorway, waving as he watched her leave. “Pleasure doing business! Safe travels!”

Ruo Qunshuang clutched this month’s cultivation resources tightly to her chest. As she walked along the field ridge, she heard his cheerful farewell and glanced back. *Father warned me never to reveal the secret of the Nine Curves Treasure Vault until I reached the Golden Core stage,* she thought, a complicated emotion flickering in her eyes. *But… Senior Brother Jiang really seems like a good person!*

Soon, her figure disappeared into the distance.

Jiang Chen returned inside, idly tossing the two jade pendants in his hand. “The authentic Earth-grade water-attribute cultivation art and spell were definitely handed over to the Immortal Sect. What I have here are almost certainly copies.”

Not that it mattered to him.

For anyone else, gaining the right to even browse Earth-grade techniques required the exalted status of a core disciple. Otherwise, the standard process applied: grind for contribution points, submit them, and then exchange.

A single Earth-grade art or spell cost a staggering 10,000 contribution points. A regular disciple would have to work for a decade just to afford one.

Now? He had bypassed the tedious search and saved a monumental fortune in points. It was the ultimate two-for-one deal.

Without hesitation, Jiang Chen sent his spiritual sense into the larger jade pendant. A deluge of information flooded his mind.

*Drawing upon the conceptual ebb and flow of the tides, this art is divided into nine layers. It progressively deepens the cultivator’s mastery over the form, force, and momentum of water, elevating them from merely controlling water to achieving absolute dominion over it.*

Jiang Chen rapidly memorized the intricacies before picking up the smaller pendant. As his spiritual sense pierced it, the detailed schematics of a spell unfolded.

**Overturning Sea Seal**

*A spell utilizing hand seals to command water, divided into six distinct mudras corresponding to water’s six states: Gathering, Swirling, Compressing, Freezing, Returning, and Exploding.*

However, to unleash its true catastrophic potential, it had to be paired with the Nine Curves Tide Generating Art.

Jiang Chen nodded in satisfaction. “Both the art and the spell are genuine Earth-grade.”

Mastering the Overturning Sea Seal required a foundation in the Nine Curves Tide Generating Art. Once he conquered this Earth-grade technique, his manipulation of water would reach an unprecedented, god-like tier.

But there was no rush. Earth-grade techniques were notoriously complex; they weren’t something he could instantly digest.

With a flick of his wrist, he stored the pendants in his spatial ring and headed down to the second level of his basement. “The Bone Sword Orb is too one-dimensional. I need to engineer a proprietary attack method.”

As the old saying went: *You might be dead on your feet, but you’d better have a killer trick up your sleeve.*

He soon arrived at the underground artifact forging room.

Jiang Chen already had a blueprint mapped out in his mind. He would reverse-engineer Qin Hao’s Sunflower Heart Sword Nest, optimizing it with the materials he had on hand.

Moments later, a sunflower and a small green gourd sat on his workbench.

The sunflower was a gift from Wang Ze. Naturally, it couldn’t compare to Qin Hao’s monstrous, human-sized variant. This one was barely the length of an adult’s arm.

But for Jiang Chen’s purposes, it was perfectly adequate.

His blueprint was simple yet efficient: First, refine the small green gourd into a Geng Gourd Sword Gall. The gourd naturally possessed three layers of spiral air cavities, each capable of storing ten streams of Geng Metal Sword Qi.

Next, he would engrave Devouring Spirit Patterns to seal the sword qi and passively siphon metal Spirit Qi from the atmosphere, creating a self-replenishing ammunition reserve.

Then came the sunflower. He would forge it into a miniaturized Sunflower Heart Sword Nest. The center would be hollowed out into a concave, honeycomb-like payload bay capable of holding thirty-six fingernail-sized sword orbs.

The genius of his design lay in the ergonomics. He planned to warp the stem into a ring-shaped grip and carve Spirit Gathering Patterns directly into the handle. Upon injecting spiritual power, the flower petals would spin like a rotary mechanism—the more power he pumped in, the faster the RPM.

Using the gourd as the kinetic core, he would dismantle the sword nest into six interlocking segments, mounting them around the gourd’s muzzle. The stem would coil around the gourd’s base to form a sturdy tactical grip.

Finally, the junction between the gourd and the flower would be heavily inscribed with a matrix of runes: Sun Gathering Patterns, Qi Locking Talismans, Spinning Strike Talismans, Acceleration Patterns, Penetration Patterns, and more.

Wasting no time, Jiang Chen ignited his Crimson Flame, roasting the small gourd to purge its internal plant impurities.

Channeling metal spiritual power to his fingertips, he meticulously polished the inner walls, coating them in a thin, metallic film until they gleamed with a cold, bluish-white luster.

During the final refinement phase, the gourd miraculously birthed five natural spirit patterns on his very first attempt.

Jiang Chen nodded, pleased with the efficiency. He took up his engraving knife and carved three longitudinal, spiral air cavities deep inside the gourd.

The first layer sat near the muzzle, optimizing the ejection of sword qi.

The second layer occupied the midsection, acting as a stabilizing chamber.

The third layer rested at the base, serving as a high-pressure magazine for the most condensed sword qi.

With the chambers formed, he etched Devouring Spirit Patterns at the junctions. The intricate, crisscrossing lines were dotted with microscopic spirit-absorbing nodes.

Once the circuitry was complete, he flooded the gourd with metal spiritual power from his Qi Sea. The artifact hummed, radiating a brilliant silvery-white light as it began to autonomously generate Geng Metal Sword Qi.

Next, he processed the sunflower. He gutted the core seeds, gently seared the edges with Crimson Flame, and molded the center with fire spiritual power, compressing it into a concave honeycomb payload.

To his surprise, this component also yielded five natural spirit patterns.

Wielding his engraving knife once more, Jiang Chen carved Sun Gathering Patterns into the thirty-six honeycomb slots, allowing the weapon to passively absorb solar radiation to boost its kinetic output.

He then warped the stem into a ring-shaped grip, etched Spirit Gathering Patterns into it, and submerged the entire assembly in a vat of Green Wood Liquid to temper.

A rhythmic series of clinking and clanging soon echoed through the workshop.

Although Jiang Chen possessed a single Bone Sword Orb, the new Sunflower Heart Sword Nest required thirty-six projectiles. He had to mass-produce some filler ammunition.

Once the Green Wood Liquid had sufficiently softened the sword nest, Jiang Chen sliced it into six symmetrical rotary barrels, mounting them in a perfect circle around the Geng Gourd Sword Gall’s muzzle.

Using hair-thin gold wire, he bound, lashed, and secured the assembly, anchoring it all to the ring-shaped grip at the base.

Both the gourd and the sword nest possessed five spirit patterns each. Since he had already used two slots for the Sun Gathering and Devouring Spirit Patterns, he had eight remaining.

He ruthlessly optimized the weapon’s lethality, inscribing Spirit Gathering, Spinning Strike, Acceleration, Penetration, Melting Fire, Splitting Metal, Qi Locking, and Spirit Conversion.

The final rune—Spirit Conversion—was the linchpin of his design.

If he exhausted his metal spiritual power, the weapon could seamlessly transition to other elemental energy sources. This not only guaranteed sustained suppressive fire but also allowed him to dynamically alter the weapon’s elemental payload and tactical effects.

Naturally, alternative elements wouldn’t match the sheer armor-piercing lethality of Geng Metal Sword Qi, but versatility was survival.

Finally, after hours of relentless engineering, Jiang Chen’s brand-new Spirit Weapon was complete.

It measured roughly twenty inches long. The small green gourd served as the receiver, while the six-barreled Sunflower Heart Sword Nest crowned the muzzle.

At a glance, it looked as though the gourd was wearing a bizarre, metallic sunflower crown.

Jiang Chen’s figure blurred, instantly teleporting from the forging room into his personal spatial realm.

He hefted the weapon, his left hand supporting the forward barrel assembly and his right hand locking onto the rear ring-shaped grip. With a thought, he surged metal spiritual power from his Qi Sea directly into the chamber.

The Spirit Gathering Patterns flared to life. Instantly, the Sunflower Heart Sword Nest began to spin.

As Geng Metal Sword Qi flooded the thirty-six sword orbs, the grip emitted a sharp, mechanical *clack-clack*. The rotating sword nest spun up into a deafening, kinetic whine, culminating in the rhythmic, mechanical roar of blue flames spitting absolute death!