Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the dust began to settle, and the once chaotic battleground fell silent.
The scent of blood and gore permeated the air, mingling with the wild forest’s breath.
Fortunately, Aksai had opted for a circuitous route to approach Wuyum County. Otherwise, the scale of the battle would surely have attracted the attention of the regular merchant caravans traversing Wilben City’s common routes.
Bloodied and bruised but mostly fine, Aksai stood amidst the carnage, his chest heaving with exertion as he surveyed the aftermath of the conflict.
Haisha Lakir and Lian Lakir’s team lay scattered across the forest floor, their mangled bodies leaking blood and internal organs from the ferocious battle.
“It’s… It’s finally over,” Aksai muttered, using his shoulders to wipe off the blood that Haisha’s grievously injured body had splattered on him, unable to use his hands which were even bloodier.
Warmed by the blood of his fallen foes, Aksai felt as if he had bathed in warm water. At this point, he resembled nothing short of a demonic cultivator who had just completed a sacrificial ritual.
“It… it was a close call. This battle would have certainly claimed my life if I had been just a tad bit careless with my timing or my use of the trump cards,” Aksai reflected inwardly before taking a deep breath.
Lian Lakir wasn’t an easy opponent to deal with despite Aksai’s advantages. From the way the Blood Bakshi fought with Haisha and his men, they were all veteran cultivators who had faced their fair share of struggles.
While Aksai might have managed to escape from Haisha using his talismans, he wouldn’t have been able to kill him if Lian’s force hadn’t worn down his side. Likewise, he wouldn’t have been able to handle Lian and his men if Haisha’s team hadn’t kept them in check.
Standing amidst the wreckage of the battlefield, Aksai knew he had narrowly escaped death by the skin of his teeth. Yet, despite the odds stacked against him, he had emerged victorious.
The battle, from Aksai manipulating Lian into breaking the siege to his leap into the air and lastly the clash in which Aksai stretched his fight with Lian, lasted only two minutes. The real showdown, post-revelation of the Scarecrow puppets, lasted under ten seconds.
Thus, not much time had passed since Aksai’s confrontation with Lian and his subordinates. Nevertheless, Aksai dared not lower his guard.
Swiftly, he sent all the corpses and their belongings into the Everwood farm, cleansing the battlefield with a simple fire-element Spirit Essence spell. Satisfied that all was in order, Aksai departed, unwilling to risk encountering potential backup forces from his enemies.
Aksai did not enter Wuyum County directly. He took a detour, finding a safe spot in the forest before entering the Everwood farm. Exhausted, he collapsed on the ground, his bloody body beginning to sweat profusely.
Swoosh.
Upon arriving in a safe and familiar place, Aksai lay flat on the ground to catch his breath. Countless thoughts raced through his mind as he realized that the region of the Dadangar five-kingdom subcontinent he was living in was soon to experience the greatest unrest in a decade.
Aware of the impending chaos, Aksai knew it was crucial to reach his rental farm.
But he didn’t rush to Wuyum County. Before concerning himself with others’ safety, he needed to ensure his own.
After freshening up on the farm, cleaning off the blood, and changing his clothes, Aksai began his Basic Greenwood Tantra practice to calm his affected Spirit Essence Pathways and replenish his lost Spirit Essence.
[ Automated cultivation concluded.
Mode optimized for Spirit Essence recovery. Current Spirit Essence reserves: 70%.
Runtime: 3 hours and 27 minutes. ]
A message from the neural link fabric interrupted his deep meditation, prompting him to open his eyes. He retrieved pieces of dried meat he had stored in advance and consumed them voraciously, hastening the replenishment of his qi.
There was a method in Qi Fusion Arts that allowed Aksai to digest his food much faster and extract Qi from it with greater efficiency. This was the fastest way to replenish his Qi.
After another half hour, Aksai felt he had somewhat returned to his peak state. Earlier, he had used recovery-type talismans to address the grave injuries he had sustained. As for the minor injuries, Aksai could only heal them slowly over a few hours.
“As long as I have this Everwood farm, I can repel any dangers that might come my way,” Aksai breathed a sigh of relief as he looked around, feeling safe within the confines of the isolated domain. A smile graced Aksai’s face as he made his way to the lifeless corpses of his enemies.
“I severely ruined two out of three Scarecrow puppets in this fight. Thankfully, I can make more of them now,” Aksai mumbled as he examined Lian’s largely intact body.
The battle had been brutal. Both Haisha and the Blood Bakshi’s sides had launched several Spirit spells at each other. In the end, Aksai’s Scarecrow puppets and he had damaged the bodies of his enemies.
“Time to check the loot,” Aksai thought to himself as he walked up to Lian’s body, which lay under the twilight sky of the Everwood farm. He hoped that even in death, Lian could provide him with valuable resources to aid him in the tough times ahead.
Aksai’s Spirit Essence materialized and effortlessly retrieved the storage ring worn by the scion of the Lakir family, landing it in his palm. With his superior Spirit Sense, it didn’t take long for Aksai to erase Lian’s spiritual imprint. Once done, he delved inside and extracted everything of interest stored within.
Aksai’s eyes gleamed as he discovered an emerald green jade slip nestled within a carved wooden box inside Lian’s storage ring.
Retrieving the jade slip, he sent his Spirit Sense to inspect its contents. He could hardly believe his luck when he realized what the jade slip contained – something he had practically given up hope of obtaining.
[ Complete manual of Stellar Greenwood Tantra found. Copying the contents onto the auxiliary memory storage. Current progress: 25%. ]
Aksai couldn’t help but smile when he realized that Lian had practically paved the road of his Spirit cultivation with his huge contribution. He slapped his hands together and then offered a silent prayer so that Lian’s soul could find its peace.
He wasn’t completely sure if Lian’s soul would appreciate the prayer from the guy who was responsible for his death. However, such a minuscule dilemma didn’t stop Aksai from doing what he thought was right.
Deep down in his heart, Aksai believed that he was a good person, a simple Spirit farmer who was always grateful for the blessings that came his way.
If the very first object Aksai had found in Lian’s storage ring was this precious, what other pleasant surprises awaited him? Aksai couldn’t wait to find out.
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AN: Stellar Greenwood Tantra was first mentioned in chapter 23.