Enchanted Everwood farm. Dadangar.
Aksai sat cross-legged under the imposing canopy of the demon tree, his eyes closed in deep meditation.
The tree had grown significantly over the years, its trunk now a massive, gnarled pillar of dark wood.
The serpentine wood vines that hung from its branches had thickened to the point where they resembled small tree trunks themselves, twisting and curling through the air like petrified serpents.
The thick foliage of dark gray leaves, interspersed with occasional blood-red ones, created a dense, ominous canopy above.
The ground beneath the tree was a tangled web of roots, some of which were intermittently visible above the soil, snaking their way across the island’s surface.
These roots had spread throughout Emerald Cove Island, penetrating deep into the earth and covering the entire landmass. At this point, Aksai could go anywhere on the Emerald Cove without his bloodline purification process getting disrupted. He could also cover the entire island with the Devil’s Den at a moment’s notice.
The gray fog that had only covered only the Shamrock Peak could be seen all around Emerald Peak. Sometimes, the Devil’s Den could be seen covering the entire island like a giant gray dome.
Aksai’s cover for the existence of the Devil’s Den had been perfect. As such, everyone on the island assumed the gray fog to be a part of Aksai’s defensive-type Array Formation, which was not completely wrong. It was just that they would feel a subtle form of suppression every time the Devil’s Den was manifested around them.
***
The demon tree’s growth had been spectacular.
Aksai had benefited a lot by using Spatial Anchoring to make use the aura produced by the 2nd-order Spirit vein of the island.
The demon tree was not the only success story for a certain Spirit farmer.
Amidst the demon tree’s roots were the vines of the Flesh Pumpkins. The flesh-producing vines that Aksai had created by accident had also leveled up, thanks to his endless research into the bloodline experiments.
The Flesh Pumpkins at this point were a sight to behold—large, bulbous fruits with the appearance of tender, fresh flesh on the outside, exuding a faint, unsettling glow. Each one was bigger than before, averaging around 100 pounds, far larger than any regular pumpkin meant for mortal consumption.
Each of these pumpkins could be turned into igloo houses or dwarves’ abodes with the kind of size they boasted. Their outer surfaces occasionally pulsed with various types of Essence Equations, creating a mysterious and almost hypnotic effect.
The Flesh Pumpkin vines sprawled across the ground, their leaves and fruits forming a thick, almost impenetrable carpet that concealed the soil beneath. Some of the Flesh Pumpkins had been pierced by the wood vines of the demon tree.
Yet, instead of withering, these pumpkins thrived, their life force suctioned by the tree regulated to allow continuous replenishment from their parent vines. This delicate balance ensured the Flesh Pumpkins didn’t die while providing the demon tree with a constant supply of vital life force. In return, the demon tree provided the flesh pumpkin vines with a funneled life force.
It was as if the demon tree was multiplying the life force it had robbed from the Flesh Pumpkin vines before giving it back to the source as a form of repayment of the original amount. This kind of method obviously benefited the demon tree more. However, it also ensured that the Flesh Pumpkin vines didn’t die because of the consistent life force extraction. On the contrary, the vines thrived after being subjected to such a cycle.
The symbiotic relationship between the demon tree and the Flesh Pumpkin vines had created a self-sustaining ecosystem, flourishing without the need for Aksai’s intervention.
Of course, this was the result of the Spirit horticulture Aksai had learned from old man Jiren. Since the man had already relocated to Emerald Cove, Aksai met with his old friend occasionally to discuss matters related to Spirit horticulture and the ways to establish ecosystems.
Jiren wasn’t aware of what Aksai was up to. However, he taught Aksai everything he could before finally passing down his legacy knowledge.
The old man had given up on becoming a Foundation Building Expert after all and had only a few years to live. As such, he didn’t hesitate in passing everything he learned from his own experience to Aksai, finding solace in the fact that his knowledge finally had an inheritor in the form of a Foundation Building Expert like Aksai.
Aksai used this knowledge in his bloodline experiments to come up with new and improved variants of the Flesh Pumpkin vines. He had also developed some flesh-eating carnivorous plants and trees using the genetic sequences of the demon tree as the base, giving birth to a new batch of tree monsters.
***
The last few years were pretty productive for Aksai.
He accomplished many things in the field of research and experiments. Except for his body cultivation path, he had progressed in every field.
His skills in various Spirit cultivation arts had also leveled up. However, his multi-faceted progress didn’t mean that he had ignored his SPirit cultivation as well.
The Spirit farmer sat calmly in the center of this living network, his back against the rough bark of the demon tree. His eyes were closed, his breathing steady and deep.
A thick wood vine connected to his tailbone, channeling a portion of the life force from the Flesh Pumpkins into him. This constant influx of energy allowed him to maintain a state of heightened meditation, his mind diving deep into the mysteries of Spirit cultivation and Aether cultivation.
The air was heavy with the scent of earth and the faint metallic tang of blood from the Flesh Pumpkins. The occasional rustle of leaves and the soft hum of Essence Equations fleshing over the pumpkins added to the eerie, yet tranquil ambiance.
Upon closer inspection, Aksai was seen sitting in the circle made by the Brain Bonsai trees. These genetically modified trees had also ranked up, enabling Aksai to get more brain power from them.
The Brain Bonsai trees enabled Aksai to decode various mysteries using the demonic technique he had obtained from the Bloodfiend manual. They were still relevant to him after turning into Foundation Building Expert, which spoke volumes about how useful they were to him.
Aksai had been pondering over the mind cultivation after Aron’s last visit to Everwood farm a few days ago. Using the processing powers of the Brain Bonsai formation, he studied the research Aron had handed to him, which he obtained from New Dawn.
Aksai had been in deep meditation for a few days after he gave Aron some instructions before sending the guy back to Acarnis. His presence under the demon tree was one of serene control, a master in harmony with his environment.
After a while, he ended his Spirit cultivation and opened his eyes. He flicked his fingers and summoned an AetherTech shard on his right palm.
“This… this is it,” he murmured to himself as pulled out his consciousness from the AetherTech shard.