A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

’Haitin should have received my message by now. I hope everything goes well and Humeyin gets to come here.’

Aksai thought to himself as he looked around, seemingly busy with his own affairs.

He had many plans related to the upcoming chaos that was about to unfold in the subcontinent. But he currently lacked a powerhouse like him on the Emerald Cove Island. Without a late-stage Lord present on the island, Aksai could never execute some of the necessary tasks.

Thus, Aksai decided to make use of the betrothal. In the past, he had tried not to associate himself with Humeyin directly. Most of it was due to Nuya’s presence in his life.

Aksai had really thought that he could become a dao partner with Nuya. However, she left. As such, Aksai decided to move on too with his life. And since he was going to be practical about it, he decided to go with the best option– the arranged marriage with Humeyin.

As for Humeyin’s curse, Aksai had some plans. And these plans required the Void Gu’s contribution.

’One step at a time. I can’t just do nothing but wait for Humeyin to show up.’

Aksai let go of his stray thoughts for a bit. At this point, he stood on a wide wooden platform overlooking one of the newest sections inside the Enchanted Everwood Farm.

The isolated space stretched for longer than usual. This was the result of the artifact’s devouring of the real space of Dadangar World. Yelia had basically robbed Aksai’s new homeworld of its fertile land and replaced it with a dead land that was not used by the artifact.

Rows upon rows of carefully arranged habitats covered the land below. Some looked like ordinary farms filled with Spirit herbs and trees. Others looked completely unnatural, as if they belonged to different worlds entirely.

This was the Gu Insect Farm.

After looting Arkaal’s hidden base and taking away all of its resources, Aksai had devoted a large portion of the Enchanted Everwood Farm’s isolated dimension to the cultivation of Gu insects.

The Gu farm had not been placed near the alchemy workshops, talisman creation halls, or artifact crafting facilities.

Instead, it occupied its own separate region.

Several layers of barriers and Spirit arrays surrounded the entire area.

The barriers were not only meant for security.

Many Gu insects required highly specialized environments to survive and reproduce. If these conditions mixed with the rest of the farm, they could easily damage Spirit herbs or interfere with other cultivation facilities.

Yelia floated beside Aksai with a pleased smile.

She looked proud of her work.

"My liege, the entire Gu Farm has now been completely integrated into the Enchanted Everwood Farm."

Aksai nodded.

His eyes swept across the distant fields.

"What changes did you make?"

Yelia smiled wider.

"A lot."

She pointed toward a dark valley far away. The entire valley was covered in thick black mist.

Not a single ray of sunlight could enter.

"That area is for Shadow Moth Gu."

Aksai remembered seeing them in Arkaal’s records. The tiny moths fed on darkness itself. Their powder could be used to create concealment pills, stealth talismans, and hiding formations.

Yelia continued.

"In Arkaal’s farm, the darkness was created artificially using ordinary arrays. I improved it by creating a permanent Night Domain using the Farm’s spatial abilities."

Aksai was once again fascinated by what his ancestral artifact could do. He had thought that he already knew most of the things about his farm. But it turned out that the farm could still do a lot of stuff.

The dark valley appeared much more stable than before.

Nearby stood another isolated section. This one looked like a frozen wasteland.

Ice covered the ground. Snow continuously fell from an artificial sky.

Countless blue crystal flowers grew across the frozen land.

Yelia pointed at it.

"That is for Frost Shell Gu."

Aksai recognized the species.

These Gu insects produced shells made from condensed ice essence. Their shells were often used in defensive artifacts and cold-attributed cultivation techniques.

"The original habitat needed constant maintenance," Yelia explained. "Now the environment maintains itself."

Aksai nodded slowly. That alone would save countless resources.

This was the reason Aksai had started to focus more on cultivating the Spirit resources inside his isolated space than his farmlands on the Emerald Cove Island. Although the island’s farms had their own uses, they could never compare to what Aksai’s special farm could do. Twice the results with half the effort.

Aksai walked ahead with various thoughts running through his mind. Further away stood an enormous swamp. The air above it shimmered with green poisonous vapors.

Even late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators would hesitate to enter.

"This area houses Venom Reed Gu."

Yelia explained patiently.

"They feed on poison-rich plants and help produce concentrated poison essences."

Aksai knew their value, thanks to the study materials Arkaal had "permanently lent" to him.

Many poison cultivators used them to refine toxins. Some alchemists also used them as ingredients when creating antidotes. After all, poison and medicine often came from the same source.

The two continued walking. As they moved deeper into the Gu Farm, Aksai noticed something else.

The workers maintaining the place were no longer the stiff dolls Arkaal had relied upon. Instead, Sentient Fiends could be seen everywhere.

Some carried resources. Some monitored Gu populations. Others adjusted environmental conditions by operating on the isolated array systems.

Their movements were smooth and intelligent. Much more efficient than ordinary constructs.

Yelia followed Aksai’s gaze.

"I replaced all of Arkaal’s maintenance dolls. They were highly inefficient for our operations."

Aksai chuckled.

"Kekeke. That much is obvious. But it seems we are running out "raw materials" needed for the production of the Sentient Fiends. Guess I’ll soon have to hunt some nuisances.

Anyway... good work."

Yelia nodded before speaking further.

"That would be indeed better, my liege. We do require more Fiends at the time. I have not used Woodland Fiends because they can be used elsewhere.

"But our stock of Sentient Fiends is running low. Even though the Woodland Fiends are an upgraded version of the Sentient Fiends, the "cost" of making them makes them unsuitable for our farming needs.

The Sentient Fiends can adapt and make decisions on their own. They learn from experience. That much is enough. These fiends don’t need battle capabilities that the Woodland Fiends have by default."

She pointed toward a group of fiends carefully relocating several Gu insects from one habitat to another.

"Those workers have already optimized feeding schedules and breeding cycles without any orders from me."

Aksai raised an eyebrow.

"Group automation and intelligence sharing combined?"

"Yes."

Yelia smiled.

"The Farm’s intelligence network allows them to share information."

Aksai immediately understood the advantage.

Every improvement discovered by one worker would spread to all the others. The efficiency gains would continue growing over time.

The two eventually arrived before a massive glass-like dome. Inside it grew countless rare Spirit plants.

Millions of Gu insects moved among the vegetation. The entire ecosystem functioned perfectly.

Yelia crossed her arms.

"This is my favorite improvement."

Aksai looked curious.

"Why?"

"The Farm itself now helps the Gu insects evolve."

Aksai blinked.

Yelia laughed softly after seeing his reaction.

"It is not a direct evolution."

She pointed toward the ground.

"The spatial arrays subtly adjust environmental conditions. The healthiest Gu insects receive better habitats, while weaker bloodlines are naturally filtered out.

"I used the basic principles of the Gu cultivation in a different way, something that you thought of randomly. Thanks to you robbing Arkaal’s entire apothecary, I also studied the Gu insect farming from the start.

"I combined that knowledge with the operational findings we had regarding other ecosystems that currently exist in our farmland. The result is what you see in front of you right now."

Aksai stared at the dome.

That sounded simple. Or rather... too technical to be seen as something related to farms. But it was actually incredible and completely feasible for anyone who either had amazing cognitive abilities or assistants like Yelia and Nuri.

The potential of Gu farming in the Enchanted Everwood Farm was tremendous. It meant the entire Gu Farm was slowly improving the quality of its insect populations without requiring constant intervention.

Even Arkaal would probably be shocked if he saw it. Yelia seemed to read his thoughts.

"My liege, forget about Arkaal. Even that old fart Poison Gu King would never have imagined this."

She looked around proudly.

"They treated a Gu Farm as a collection of habitats."

Her smile widened.

"But the Enchanted Everwood Farm treats the entire Gu Farm as a living ecosystem. One section depends on the other. And this dependency forms a link."

Aksai nodded slowly.

He could already see the long-term benefits.

Years from now, the Gu insects raised here would likely be superior to any naturally cultivated population.

As the two continued their inspection, several habitats stretched into the distance.

The Gu Farm had become one of the most valuable sections of the Enchanted Everwood Farm. And this was only the beginning.

Once Aksai fully mastered Gu cultivation and combined it with his alchemy, farming, druidic blessings, and the mysterious Void Gu under his control, the farm’s future growth would become difficult for anyone in Dadangar Subcontinent to imagine.