A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

A spike of water burst from the Verdant Elder's mouth, aimed at the bear that had just landed a fire slash.

The bear dodged, but not fast enough. The water spike scraped across its side, leaving a deep wound. Blood spilled onto the ground.

Then came the snake tail. It whipped forward like a blur.

The snake head at the tip hissed, eyes glowing red. It struck with terrifying speed and bit into the shoulder of one of the male bears, who had just used a windshield Spirit spell.

It turned out that the snake head's offensive was greater than the bear's defensive measures. The shield shattered. Flesh tore.

The bear screamed, trying to pull away. But the snake's jaws were locked. With a violent twist, the snake ripped off a chunk of the bear's flesh. The bear dropped to the ground, struggling.

Then the snake head opened wide again—and flames burst from its mouth.

It was a fire-element Spirit spell that worked like a flamethrower. The burning fire hit the wounded bear full force. The smell of burning fur and flesh filled the air.

The bear didn't move again. One of the ten had fallen.

The other bears roared in rage. The earth trembled as three of them stomped at once, releasing a combined earth spell. Giant stone pillars rose from the ground, crashing toward the Verdant Elder from all sides.

He pulled into his shell. The rocks slammed into him, but his body didn't budge.

When he came out again, his eyes were wild. His tail lashed again. The snake hissed, ready for the next attack.

Just when the nine remaining bears regrouped and charged again, the Verdant Elder lowered his stance and released a low, deep growl.

Aksai, watching from the tree, saw the ground around the giant tortoise pulse with wood-element energy. The soil cracked, and thick roots twisted outward, followed by buzzing sounds that quickly filled the dome.

From those roots, dozens of giant woodland bees burst out. Each bee was the size of a wild dog, with thick stingers and glowing green-and-red eyes. Their wings beat fast, and trails of hot air followed them as they took to the sky.

But these weren't just any bees.

The Verdant Elder roared again, and flames surged from his mouth. The flames didn't attack the bears directly—they merged with the bees.

Now, each bee shimmered with fire. Their stingers burned. Their wings left trails of sparks.

And as they flew toward the bears, Aksai noticed something peculiar. These bees were not made to survive. They were made to explode.

The first bee slammed into a female bear and burst into a fiery blast. The impact threw the bear back with a pained cry. More bees followed, diving like arrows. One hit a wind and water barrier and exploded on contact. Another broke through an earth wall and set the grass ablaze.

It was chaos.

The bears fought back. Water spells rained down. Wind blades cut some of the bees in half. Ice walls held the swarms back. But there were too many of them. And they didn't stop.

In the middle of the chaos, the Verdant Elder moved.

To Aksai's shock, the massive demon beast didn't just stay in place like before or attack the bears. He moved fast—too fast for something so big. His legs pounded the ground as he charged toward the bear corpse he had just killed earlier.

He reached it in seconds.

And then—he began to eat. Not bite. Not nibble. But devour.

The bear's flesh was torn apart with sharp, heavy bites. The snake tail helped too, tearing and pulling chunks into the Verdant Elder's mouth. Blood splattered on the ground. Bones cracked.

'Was he that hungry? Is he starving? No… that's not it.'

Aksai stared in stunned silence. The image of the slow, lazy turtle he once read about was gone. This was something else entirely. Something cruel and clever.

The bees continued their attack. One after another, they exploded near the bears. Two more bears were caught in the chain blasts.

One was crushed under a falling tree that had been lit on fire. The other was stung by three bees at once before being swallowed in a massive flame burst.

That left seven.

The rest roared in fury and pain, combining their Spirit spells in desperation. Ice storms swirled with wind, smashing the bees mid-air. Earth shields formed barriers. Water washed over the flames.

Finally, the last bee exploded. Silence returned for a moment, broken only by the sound of heavy breathing.

Aksai's eyes returned to the Verdant Elder. The tortoise was still chewing, his face stained red. When he finished the last bite, he placed a heavy claw on the ground. His shell glowed.

The Essence Equation runes etched over it began to glow as if they had come to life.

A strange pulse of energy spread around him. It was a unique inherent Spirit spell. One that worked from the inside.

This was a beastly bloodline Spirit spell that the mutated hybrid Verdant Elder was born with.

The dead bear's body had already been absorbed, but now the Verdant Elder's own body began to change. Cracks on his shell sealed up. Burns on his leg faded. His breathing steadied.

He was healing. Not just healing—getting stronger.

He was digesting the Spirit essence of the bear and using it to refill his strength.

By the time the seven surviving bears got done with the suicidal woodland bees and turned toward him again, growling and scarred, the Verdant Elder looked like he hadn't even fought yet.

He raised his head, eyes glowing once more with red fire.

Round two was about to begin.

***

Aksai remained hidden inside the tree, his breath shallow and his eyes wide. What he was witnessing was far beyond anything he had expected.

At first, he had thought that the bear would be the one at a disadvantage.

The way the Verdant Elder had created the cage of vines and fog had made it seem like everything was under his control. The trap was clever and brutal, and it looked like the turtle-beast had planned everything from the start.

But then the bears had surprised him. Ten of them had charged out of the cave, along with their mates and cubs. They had clearly seen through the Verdant Elder's hunting patterns and were lying in wait for this exact moment.

Aksai realized that the hunter had walked right into the prey's trap.

And for a while, it did look like the bears had the upper hand. Their Spirit spells worked in perfect coordination, and their numbers gave them strength. The forest shook with their roars and the clash of spells.

Aksai almost thought the fight was over despite the fact that the Verdant Elder was closer to the 3rd Order beastly Spirit cultivation than any of the demon bears.

But once again, the Verdant Elder turned the situation around.

The mutated turtle demon beast had lost a lot of Spirit Essence while summoning over a dozen woodland bees. Aksai had felt that depletion through his Qi Sense.

Yet, the moment the Verdant Elder finished devouring one of the dead bears, his energy surged back to life. His wounds sealed, and his limbs moved with renewed strength.

And then, he charged.

***

Round two began just as quickly.

With a loud beastly cry, the Verdant Elder rushed forward. His heavy body shook the ground.

From his front claws, sharp rocks jutted out as he used an earth-element Spirit spell to create a moving wall of stone. At the same time, jets of high-pressure water burst out from beneath his feet, pushing him faster, guiding his charge like arrows in flight.

The bears met his charge with fury.

They fought back hard. Earth spikes rose from the ground and slammed into the Verdant Elder's side. One bear leapt up and slammed its paws on the turtle's neck with a loud roar.

The impact sent dark green blood flying, staining the grass. The wound was deep—it hit something important. A strange gurgling sound came from the Verdant Elder's throat, and Aksai could tell that part of its voice had been damaged.

Then came the second bear, charging with full force. It slammed into the Verdant Elder's side, pushing him off balance. The giant tortoise was dragged across the ground, his shell scraping over stone and root. He finally crashed into a hill of dirt and leaves, his body hidden in a cloud of dust and grime.

The bears roared and prepared to finish the job. Their paws sparked with Spirit energy. But when the dust cleared… the Verdant Elder was gone.

Aksai blinked.

"He... where.... he... he went underground?" Aksai whispered to himself.

He had used an earth-element spell to dive beneath the ground at the last moment. The bears were caught off guard. They roared and spread their Spirit Senses, but it was too late.

A moment later, the ground burst open again—but not where they expected.

The Verdant Elder had resurfaced beside the two bear corpses, the ones killed by the woodland bees earlier.

He didn't waste a moment.

With a quick earth-element spell, he formed a dome-shaped barrier around himself. It was simple, but strong enough to buy him a few seconds.

And then the Verdant Elder started to devour the bears' bodies once again.