A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

Chapter 588: Reymon Seablaze

The Grand Martial Hall’s Grand Master Reymon Seablaze turned slowly, his movements calm and steady.

As he faced the kneeling elders, the light from the golden runes along the hall walls revealed his full figure.

He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a solid frame built from years of battle and training. His dark brown hair was neatly tied behind his head, with a few loose strands falling over his forehead. His eyes were light blue—cold and piercing, yet calm like the surface of a deep ocean.

A long, pale scar ran down the right side of his neck. His fingers brushed against it out of habit, the gesture slow and thoughtful. The scar continued below his collar, disappearing beneath the high neckline of his dark robe. No one knew how far it went, but whispers among the Hall members said it stretched across his back.

For someone who led the entire Grand Martial Hall, Reymon’s clothes were surprisingly simple—dark, clean, and without any signs of luxury. Yet his presence alone carried an authority that none dared to question.

His late-stage golden Qi reserves gave him a potent aura that was quiet but immense, like a vast sea that could swallow storms without a ripple.

Though he appeared to be in his early forties, Reymon was already over a hundred years old. His Aurous-level Qi cultivation had preserved his youth, keeping his body strong and his face unlined.

But there was something else in his presence—something deeper than mere Qi, a silent power that had otherworldly origins. Plus, the countless battles he fought gave him valuable experiences.

He looked at the kneeling elders for a few moments before speaking, his tone calm yet slightly cold. “Which Aurous-level techniques were given to the testers this time?”

One of the elders, a man with a covered right eye, bowed lower before answering.

“My liege, the first tester used the Vermilion Blood Sacrifice Art, while the second tester used the Demonic Dragon Soul Armor Technique. Both are imperfect Aurous-grade techniques that we obtained recently. They were refined and stabilized to the best of our ability before this test, following your instructions.”

Reymon nodded slowly, his expression unreadable. He rubbed the scar on his neck again, lost in thought. “I see… Tell me more about the first one,” he said after a moment.

A gray-haired woman elder stepped forward, her posture stiff but respectful. “My liege,” she began carefully, “the Vermilion Blood Sacrifice Art pushes the body to its absolute limits by consuming a large amount of existing Qi as fuel to refine the Qi itself. It’s like using the flame of an oil lamp to purify the oil inside it. The more Qi one has, the more this technique can refine it.”

She paused, glancing briefly at Reymon before continuing. “Of course, such a method requires a vast reserve of Argent Qi, which is why we prepared the tester in advance with Qi-rich food, potions, and other resources. In theory, it should have produced a clean and powerful Aurous foundation…”

Her voice trailed off, and she hesitated. “But something went wrong. The tester’s Qi turned impure during the breakthrough. We studied the technique thoroughly beforehand, yet I can’t explain how impurities still appeared. I accept full responsibility if any error occurred under my supervision,” she finished softly, bowing her head.

Reymon didn’t reply right away. His blue eyes studied her quietly, unreadable as ever. He finally spoke in a neutral tone, “You have not failed. It is the technique that remains flawed.”

Then he turned his gaze toward the one-eyed elder. “What about the Demonic Dragon Soul Armor Technique?”

The man lifted his head slightly, still kneeling. “My liege,” he said, “the technique demands that the user integrate the blood essence of a high-rank draconic creature into their body. If this process isn’t performed perfectly, the result is either death or permanent damage to the cultivation foundation. It is a very dangerous path.”

He took a breath and continued.

“However, the manual itself shows no inherent flaws. It’s more complete than any other Aurous technique we’ve studied recently. But—”

“But?” Reymon looked at the one-eyed elder intently. The latter took a deep breath before speaking freely.

“But the problem lies in its core requirement—the blood essence of a dragon. Our world has no known draconic creatures except in myths and legends.

So, we used the essence of a high-grade serpent-type Qi Beast as an alternative. We refined it many times and adjusted the formula according to what we had.”

He sighed, lowering his head again. “But even with all that, it didn’t work as intended. As you can see, the tester survived but the Qi foundation formed was imperfect. His breakthrough succeeded only partially.”

Reymon’s eyes drifted toward the two exhausted cultivators sitting cross-legged at the far end of the hall. Their bodies still glowed faintly with unstable golden light, a trace of silvery Qi flickering underneath. He said nothing for a while, his gaze sharp and distant.

The silence stretched across the hall. Then Reymon finally spoke, his tone quiet but clear enough for every elder to hear.

“So… even with all the resources of the Grand Martial Hall, we are still chasing perfection through broken paths.”

His fingers brushed against his neck scar one more time. His eyes narrowed as he turned the question over in his mind. He looked back at the kneeling elders and asked in a low voice, “Where did you get these techniques from? Are they the ones you obtained from that stubborn woman, Zinnia?”

The one-eyed man bowed his head and answered, “Yes, my liege. They were delivered by Zinnia after her exchange with one of our Hall elders.”

“Hm.” Reymon stood silent for a moment, then said, “Bring me the manuals related to those two techniques.”

One of the elders at the back moved quickly. He left the hall and returned in a few breaths with two wrapped manuals from the Grand Martial Hall library. He placed them on the floor before Reymon with hands that trembled slightly.

Reymon picked up the first book and opened it carefully. He read slowly, his long fingers tracing the Martial Intent Diagrams and lines of ink. He then set it down and took the second manual, scanning through the passages and formation patterns with the same steady calm.

The hall felt colder as he studied. Even the two testers in the circle shivered slightly as their uncertain glow faded.

After a long silence, Reymon looked up and spoke, his voice quiet but firm. “These manuals—though they walk the path of Qi—contain origins that are not of our world.”

The elders exchanged uneasy looks. The one-eyed man swallowed and forced out, “My liege, they were indeed brought by Zinnia. She claimed they came from a hidden cave she found.”

Reymon’s face did not change. He folded the manuals closed and placed them on his palm for a moment as if weighing them. Then he set them down and turned his gaze on the elders. “Very well. It is time to act.”

A hush fell over the hall. The gray-haired woman straightened, a mix of confusion and intrigue showing on her face.

Reymon continued, calm but cold. “You have my permission to strike at Zinnia. Destroy her school if you must. Break her instructors, scatter her students, and force her to hand over every Aurous-level technique she possesses.”

The gray-haired woman’s lips parted. She opened her mouth to argue, then shut it again. Her fingers twisted in her sleeves, and for a moment she looked as if she had something to say.

Reymon watched her closely. He stepped forward, and his voice sharpened ever so slightly.

“Tch, tch, tch. After all these years, you still doubt me. Never mind. Let me guess—you wanted to ask why I would turn on someone who’s cooperating with us, didn’t you? Why kill a hen that keeps giving us golden eggs, right?”

The woman’s face went pale. She nodded slowly, unable to meet his eyes.

Reymon let a faint, almost humorless smile move across his face. He folded his hands behind his back and paced slowly in front of the bowed elders. The hall was quiet except for the soft sound of his boots on the stone floor.

“Because that stubborn woman did not obtain these manuals by ordinary means,” he said, his voice low and steady. “Such techniques don’t exist in our world naturally. Even though the manuals try to hide it, there are concepts within them that are simply—for the lack of a better word—unnatural to us Sharangians.

“The one who altered these manuals to blend with Sharang’s concepts is very clever. He expanded key Qi theories and fused them together to fill the gaps left by removing the otherworldly principles, which would be seen as anomalies in our eyes.

“But those tricks won’t work on me. It’s clear to me that she did not craft them from Sharang’s traditions. Almost no one born here can create such things. The most likely scenario is that someone else gave them to her—someone foreign to Sharang.”

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