A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

Yelia spoke, her voice calm but tinged with sorrow.

"Lord Amel… he… he.. Eventually agreed to his master's command and abandoned the idea of surrendering the artifact.

Instead, he planned to use the Myriad Worlds Painting to help some of his fellow disciples escape the sect, taking the artifact and the Enchanted Everwood Farm with him.

He wanted to preserve the talented seeds of Holy Land Torel. With the potential escape, he also hoped to draw the Immortal's attention away from the sect and give the remaining disciples a chance to survive."

She paused, her expression darkening.

"But… It was too late. By the time Lord Amel could act on his plan, the sect was already in ruins. Most of the disciples and elders were dead. The Immortal's rampage continued unabated, and the bloodshed only stopped when the Immortal finally concluded that the artifact was no longer in this world.

"As for Lord Amel… his whereabouts after that remained a mystery to the dying sect elders and disciples. My sister only knew that he took the Myriad Worlds Painting and the Enchanted Everwood Farm with him. His ultimate fate is unknown, even to me."

Aksai's chest tightened as Yelia's words sank in. The fall of Holy Land Torel was not just a tragedy—it was a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. To think that a single Immortal, driven by greed, could bring about such devastation was almost too much to comprehend.

Velia spoke next, her tone soft but resolute.

"That is why the Myriad Worlds Painting and the Enchanted Everwood Farm eventually ended up in your possession, lord Aksai. Somehow, Lord Amel's efforts ensured their survival, passing them down through time until they reached you."

Yelia added, her voice quiet but purposeful.

"Lord Amel understood that keeping the artifact for himself would only draw the Immortal's relentless attention to him.

He also knew that giving the Myriad Worlds Painting to a prominent Spirit cultivator or a powerful organization would paint an even bigger target on them. On the other hand, handing it to ordinary Spirit cultivators wasn't an option either, as they lacked the strength and means to protect it.

Thus, he decided to entrust the painting to the mortal faction of his clan, who lived on the periphery of the sect's dimensional boundaries.

The abandoned houses you saw when you first entered Holy Land Torel once belonged to these mortal factions of various druid clans. The Everwood clan was one of them.

Lord Amel gave the painting to the Everwood clan elders and entrusted them with the task of protecting it with their lives. He instructed them to move far away from Holy Land Torel's influence so the Immortal would not be able to target them.

He also left them specific instructions: the painting could only be used by a descendant with talent in Spirit cultivation. To ensure this, Lord Amel provided the Everwood clan with a method to activate the painting. This method was to be passed down orally across generations, ensuring its secrecy and safety.

The preparations that he made for himself were turned into inheritances for a future descendent worthy enough in the Everwood Clan to inherit the artifact."

Yelia's words carried the weight of centuries of sacrifice and foresight. Aksai felt a deep sense of responsibility settle over him, understanding for the first time the lengths his ancestors had gone to protect the artifact.

Even his poor old man had played his role in passing down the family legacy to him. Of course, by the time it was his father's turn to pass down the painting to Aksai, nobody in the Everwood clan knew where they came from or what was the history behind the painting.

"I… I see," Aksai murmured, the weight of understanding settling over him.

Many of his questions about how a seemingly simple Spirit farmer clan had come to possess the Myriad Worlds Painting were now answered.

It wasn't that his clan lacked a background—it was that they had lost their roots when the Holy Land Torel was destroyed.

The fact that only the mortal descendants of the Everwood clan had survived the tragedy explained why their strength had diminished with each passing generation.

One could say that only those with the weakest Spirit cultivation talent from the Everwood clan had survived. Or rather… It was only because they were weak that they had survived.

One could say that it was one hell of an irony for the weak to survive in a catastrophe where the strong perished in droves. The weak had their own ways to survive in such cases.

This was how the mortal descendants of the Everwood clan came to be seen as mere Spirit farmers by the pompous elite in later eras.

Stripped of their privileges when they were expelled from the Holy Land Torel, they had no choice but to survive by using the only thing they had left—their knowledge of basic wood-element Spirit spells.

Over time, they became synonymous with humble Spirit farmers in the Dadangar Subcontinent.

"I… I'm surprised the Everwood clan managed to keep the painting in the family, especially with such a madman hunting it with such ferocity," Aksai finally said, exhaling a deep sigh.

"This was also planned by Lord Amel himself," Yelia replied.

"The fact that he entrusted the painting to the mortal descendants of the Everwood clan was a secret known only to me—until now. Lord Amel never shared this information with anyone else, not even the surviving sect elders, to ensure the painting would remain safe within the Everwood clan.

By entrusting it to mortal descendants with no cultivation bases, he ensured that the painting would remain hidden, far from the prying eyes of powerful cultivators. Lord Amel then disappeared from everyone's sight—including mine."

"What happened to that mad Immortal?" Aksai asked, his gaze fixed on Velia.

Velia pursed her lips, her expression darkening slightly before she spoke.

"That brat Amel's guess was correct. That demon didn't bother looking for the painting among mortals.

After all, what sane Spirit cultivator would hand such a logic-defying artifact to mortals—especially those who couldn't even use it themselves? It simply didn't occur to him that anyone would be 'stupid' enough to hide the artifact in such a way.

"On top of that," Velia continued, "as we've already mentioned, the artifact's original Spirit signature was altered when the sect elders assisted lord Amel in merging it with the Enchanted Everwood Farm. This made it nearly impossible to detect, even with the methods available to the Immortal.

The sect master's foresight proved true. Eventually, Dadangar's slumbering World Will awakened. The World Will began actively suppressing the Immortal's cultivation base. That demon, sensing the growing danger, decided to flee. He left Dadangar after concluding that the artifact was no longer in this world.

"This is how the entire Dadangar World narrowly survived the tragedy," Velia finished, her voice carrying a mix of bitterness and relief.