It had been some time since Yelia had awoken from her deep slumber, and since then, the farm had undergone a dramatic transformation.
The density of Spirit essence inside had increased so much that it now rivaled the cultivation rooms equipped with second-order Spirit Gathering Formations found in prestigious sects.
Aksai had been impressed, though he hadn’t fully capitalized on these new upgrades just yet.
Yelia had been invaluable in communicating the changes, keeping him updated about the farm’s various facilities, which were waiting for his attention.
He knew he needed to dive into alchemy and explore the vast realm of Array Formation, but there simply hadn’t been enough time. The various tasks and dangers outside the farm kept pulling him away.
Basically, Enchanted Everwood Farm had become an ideal place for him to seclude himself to. In a modern world lingo, it was the best man cave he could hope for considering his needs at the time. The various facilities it had were like additional sections of a top-tier man cave, which were suitable for all kinds of purposes.
Still, there was something else that had piqued the Spirit farmer’s curiosity—the ability to harness the emotions of the plants within the farm.
Since Yelia’s awakening, Aksai discovered that he could harness the faint emotions emitted by the plants growing in the Enchanted Everwood Farm.
At first, he wasn’t sure how to utilize this unique energy. It wasn’t like Spirit essence, which could be directly absorbed and refined. The emotions carried a different weight, a complexity he wasn’t equipped to handle without the proper cultivation technique.
He knew there were risks, and the last thing he wanted was to end up like the corrupted druid who had originally owned a Demon Tree. That druid had used emotions—particularly negative ones—to fuel his power, and Aksai had no intention of following that dark path.
Yet, the emotions continued to accumulate.
Thanks to the presence of the Demon Tree inside the farm, the process never stopped. It was like an endless charge of energy being stored in a battery, one that Aksai hadn’t touched.
Yelia had been the first to warn him about the dangers of leaving the emotional energy untapped for too long. If the Demon Tree was the battery, then the emotions were the energy building up, and if it wasn’t used properly, it could overload and combust.
There was another factor, too—Aksai’s Blood Contract with the Demon Tree. The tree’s presence wasn’t passive. Through their bond, it had started to affect him, subtly influencing his thoughts and emotions in ways he didn’t entirely understand yet.
If left unchecked, the tree’s energy could become dangerous. It could unwittingly make Aksai walk the path of demonic cultivation by hatching a demon inside him.
Fortunately, Yelia had given him a solution.
She had suggested using the Myriad Worlds Painting as a medium to harness these emotions and channel them into his cultivation. The painting, a divine artifact with its own God Spark, was more than capable of handling intent-based powers. It could act as a bridge between the accumulated emotional energy of the Demon Tree and Aksai, allowing him to safely absorb and use it to further his cultivation.
The best part? This method was vastly different from the corrupted druid’s dark practices. Yelia had helped Aksai refine the process, altering it so that he didn’t need to rely on negative emotions.
Instead, they had tailored a new version of the technique, one that allowed Aksai to harness the faint, ambient emotions released by the plants within the farm.
Every second, the plants emitted small traces of emotion—peace, contentment, vitality—soft but powerful in their own way.
It wasn’t a violent, overwhelming process like with the corrupted druid. This was a harmonious flow, a balance between nature and spirit. It felt right, almost natural.
This type of harnessing also resonated well with Aksai’s Spirit bloodline as a druid. It was as if this was how a druid was supposed to harness emotions all along. It was as if Aksai was going back to the bloodline roots.
***
As he meditated, Aksai activated the Myriad Worlds Painting. A spectral version of the painting hovered before him like a living canvas. It was something that only he could see.
There was another spectral version of the painting that appeared inside the Enchanted Everwood Farm as well. Soft hues of light pulsed from the painting as it began to absorb the emotional energy from the farm.
Aksai could feel it—the subtle emotions weaving through the painting and into his body, like a gentle stream flowing into a vast ocean.
The energy was calming yet invigorating. It filled him with a sense of renewal, like the fresh breath of air after a storm. There was no corruption, no darkness. Just the steady, life-affirming presence of nature’s emotions, guiding his cultivation to new heights.
Aksai murmured the mantras from the Sun Moon Duality as he regulated his breathing. The moonlight around him shimmered, creating threads of silver that intertwined with the emotions from the farm, blending them into his Spirit essence.
As he cultivated, Aksai could feel the faint heartbeat of the farm echoing through him. It was as if the land itself was speaking to him, offering its quiet strength.
‘Looks like there are no problems. The method we came up with on short notice isn’t too shabby either. My lord may not seem like a genius, but he has a way of making one feel that he is.’
Yelia sighed, keeping tabs on Aksai’s condition from the Enchanted Everwood Farm.
She had been working with Aksai to find the most optimal way for him to harness the intent-based energy stored within the Demon Tree.
This energy wasn’t like normal Spirit essence; it was tied to the emotions of the plants within the farm—emotions that, while faint, could be harnessed if treated with care.
The challenge, however, lay in Aksai’s current cultivation base.
He hadn’t yet reached a high enough level to handle this mysterious power on his own, so they had to devise a way to regulate and safely channel it.