A Farmer's Journey To Immortality - Chapter 603

Chapter 603: Zinnia’s Abandonment Issues

The more the trio of Argent artists watched, the clearer it became — this wasn’t a battle anymore. It was a massacre.

Jin clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. “We… we can’t fight him. Not unless he tires himself out,” he said quietly.

Neither Wen nor Lin replied. Their throats felt dry, their minds blank. Words couldn’t describe what they were seeing.

For the first time, the three teachers — once proud members of the Grand Martial Hall — truly understood why Aksai had once carried the highest bounty in all of Sharang.

The thick smell of blood and burning Qi filled the air. From every direction, thorn-covered vines slithered like snakes, tearing through soil, stone, flesh, and bones, looking for new prey.

One of the Aurous Artist elders of the Grand Martial Hall swung his sword wildly, cutting through the blood-soaked vines that tried to pierce his chest. His robes were torn, and several wounds bled freely down his arms.

Even though the Devil’s Den Aksai had manifested was only of the 2nd Order in scale, it was still far too much for ordinary Aurous Artists to handle. It was not that Aksai’s Devil’s Den was too strong for the current Aurous Artists. It was that they themselves were far too weak.

After all, becoming an Aurous Artist didn’t necessarily mean that one’s martial arts techniques would automatically improve with the realm itself.

The Aurous Artists were indeed much stronger than Argent artists in terms of raw power, but most of them failed to perfectly utilize their golden Qi, which could be imbued with elemental powers.

As a result, most beginner-level Aurous Artists continued using the same martial arts techniques they had practiced before their breakthrough, merely empowering them with golden Qi instead of transforming the techniques to make full use of their new realm.

It was like running programs designed for Windows 98 on hardware built for Windows 11. Even though the hardware was far superior, the programs themselves needed to evolve to match the new generation of technology.

For example, this particular elder was a genuine Aurous Artist whom Reymon had recently cultivated within the Grand Martial Hall using the Golden Rebirth Fruit. However, his martial arts had yet to catch up with his realm.

After all, the Grand Martial Hall was already focused on creating perfected Aurous-level Qi cultivation techniques. How could they have time to upgrade existing martial arts by developing suitable Qi Flow Templates for Aurous Artists?

As such, every Aurous Artist had to find their own way to enhance their techniques, and it was common for them to spend decades refining their martial arts to match their current level.

Now, this elder was breathing hard, sweat mixing with blood on his face. The ground around him was littered with the broken corpses of his disciples — only for those same corpses to rise again as vine-covered monsters.

With each passing second, Aksai’s side was becoming stronger. The demonic farmer was not only reaping lives on the battlefield but also cultivating his own force by turning every fallen into a tree zombie.

This was the true dreadful aspect of the Devil’s Den. Someone who controlled the Devil’s Den would only keep growing stronger. Especially so when they had multiple enemies to deal with.

The elder roared in frustration and turned his furious gaze toward Jin Jolan, Wen Wei, and Lin Lan who stood frozen on the edge of the battlefield, staring in disbelief.

“You fools!” the elder shouted, his voice breaking through the noise of battle. “If you don’t have the guts to face that demon Aksai, then do something useful! Take his maid as hostage! Attack that bitch named Zinnia!”

His words struck the trio like a whip. Jin, Wen, and Lin snapped out of their trance. Their fear turned into a burning anger that quickly twisted into hatred.

All three turned toward Zinnia, who stood alone in the middle of the battlefield.

***

Meanwhile, in the middle of the battlefield stood a lone figure with perplexed emotions.

Zinnia’s white robes were splattered with blood. She wasn’t fighting — only staring at Aksai in silence. Her heart was heavy with emotions she couldn’t name.

‘My lord, what have you become?’

She was afraid. Afraid of the power Aksai had unleashed — the kind of power that could twist life and death together into something unnatural. But along with that fear came gratitude. He was fighting the entire Grand Martial Hall to protect her.

And somewhere deep inside, she felt small, useless, and ashamed.

Compared to Aksai, she was nothing. Even after reaching the Aurous stage, her strength was a flickering candle beside his storm. She knew she couldn’t have survived a moment here without him.

‘He… he doesn’t need me. Will… will he leave me here once again?’

The thought of being left behind by him — once again — made her chest ache.

She clenched her fists, trying to steady herself, unaware that danger was already rushing toward her.

The three Argent artists had made their move while ZInnia was distracted. They had fought a tough fight on their way to their target. At this point, their faces were pale, their robes torn, and blood dripped from several wounds, but their eyes burned with determination.

They dodged the flying weapons and lashed out with bursts of Qi to clear the way. Each swing of their blade or fist destroyed a few vines, but at a heavy cost — the forbidden life essence they were burning was eating away at their strength.

Yet they didn’t stop. Inch by inch, they forced their way toward Zinnia.

Jin Jolan led the charge. His teeth were clenched, his eyes filled with madness. Blood trickled down his chin, but he didn’t care. When he was only a few meters away from Zinnia, he spat out a mouthful of blood and shouted, “Bitch! Let me cut your legs real quick!”

Zinnia’s eyes widened. She froze for half a heartbeat — shocked that they would actually try to take her hostage. Then anger flooded her veins. She cursed herself for losing focus, for letting her emotions cloud her senses. She gathered her Qi, ready to meet Jin head-on.

But before she could move, the spatial fabric around her twisted.

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AN: The term Qi-flow template was first used in chapter 265.