A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

Chapter 514: “Retreat? It’s Too Late Now.”

The lady elder’s instincts screamed at her, louder than they ever had before.

This wasn’t just a drifting cultivator enjoying a meal. Something about Aksai didn’t feel human at that moment—not truly.

How could he read her mind like a real demon? How could he survive her near-perfect assassination attempt without using any sort of defensive Spirit spell?

It hadn’t even been a minute since she had come face-to-face with Aksai, and she was already filled with so many questions about him. And this was before Aksai had even made a move. This was clearly not a good start for them.

She took a slow step back, her dagger still in hand, but her grip had tightened.

The other three elders, still across the fire, had noticed her failed attack by now—but they hadn’t moved yet. They were watching closely.

Aksai reached for another skewer of meat and took a bite, chewing slowly.

The fire crackled again. And the cold silence stretched.

The lady elder silently retreated from behind Aksai and reappeared next to her peers without making a sound. She wore the same cold, expressionless face as before, but her eyes betrayed her calm.

There was something different about her gaze now—sharper, more restless. She kept her eyes fixed on Aksai, like someone watching a snake they almost stepped on.

“Something isn’t right about that man,” she said in a low, serious voice.

Her three peers turned toward her with frowns on their faces. One of them opened his mouth to speak, but she raised a hand to stop him.

“The technique he used to block my attack didn’t use Spirit essence,” she continued, her voice steady but firm. “And he could read my immediate thoughts. That’s not something a Foundation Building cultivator can do. Not even with a high-grade artifact or forbidden Spirit spell.”

“You’re right,” Aksai said suddenly from the other side of the fire.

All four of them turned toward him at once. He was still sitting calmly, cleaning his hands with a cloth as if he hadn’t just spoken something that should have been impossible to hear.

A bright smile spread across his face as he looked at them.

“The defensive technique I used belongs to a Qi-based civilization,” he said, as if explaining something simple to a group of children. “It works differently from how we use Spirit essence. As long as I have Qi flowing through my body, you won’t be able to harm me with an assassination like the one you just tried.”

He pulled out a wide, round wine jar from his storage ring and poured a clear liquid into a small white cup. The smell of the wine spread through the air, sweet and heavy, like it had been aged for decades.

Of course, this was his own wine– Bacchus’ Blessing that he had produced on Emerald Cove. The same wine that had earned him massive amounts of Spirit stones after selling it in the White Mountain City’s auction events.

He took a sip, then continued speaking.

“As for the mind reading,” he said, pausing to enjoy the wine, “that comes from another civilization altogether. One that uses Aether essence instead of Spirit or Qi. I have visited two foreign worlds so far and picked up a thing or two from those places. You see, I had a recent breakthrough in my Aether cultivation, which now lets me read surface-level thoughts from those around me.”

The four elders didn’t speak, but their eyes had become sharp and cautious.

“Of course,” Aksai added, “there are limits. I can’t read deep thoughts, or if someone’s mind is too cluttered, or if they’re actively guarding against intrusion. But even with those limits, I can feel the fear starting to build in you.”

His eyes moved to the lady elder, and he lifted his cup toward her like he was offering a toast.

“And you,” he said, pointing at her with the rim of the cup, “you’re already thinking about retreating. You plan to slip into the shadows again, observe me from a distance, and call for backup from the Iron Mountain Sect, right?”

He sighed after another sip, his voice filled with false regret.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”

The four sect elders tensed. A low wind rustled the dry grass around the fire, and the forest beyond felt darker somehow.

“The reason I told you all this,” Aksai said slowly, setting his cup down beside him, “is because I know this information won’t spread.”

He leaned forward just slightly, his smile turning sharp at the edges. His eyes gleamed with something cold beneath the surface.

“Do you know how I’ll make sure of that?”

The fire cracked softly, sending a few sparks into the night.

Aksai’s grin widened.

“I’ll make sure not a single one of you walks away from this place.”

“Retreat!” the lady elder shouted without hesitation, her voice cutting through the tense silence like a sharp blade.

Before the other three elders could react—before they could even question her decision—she was already gone.

A flicker of light wrapped around her figure as she vanished from sight, using her movement-type Spirit spell to dart away from Aksai, back in the direction they had come from.

The other three elders looked at each other, frowns creasing their masked faces. Her sudden retreat had taken them by surprise. None of them had sensed an immediate threat.

To them, the man still sitting by the fire didn’t look like he was about to attack. But even though they thought the lady elder might be overreacting, they didn’t argue. She was the strongest and most experienced among them. And she was the one leading this mission.

Without a word, they followed her, each activating their own movement techniques.

But they hadn’t even reached the edge of the clearing when it happened.

The ground around Aksai cracked open as thick wooden vines burst out of the earth like wild snakes. Aksai didn’t even stand up.

He simply remained seated, still smiling faintly.

“I already told you. It’s too late now.”

The Name of the Wind was Patrick Rothfuss’ college project.

He spent 14 years polishing it before it was published.

Source: .com, updated by novlove.com

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!