A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

Chapter 657: Tremendous Progress in Aether Cultivation Path P2

Aksai guessed it was only because the ghost’s soul had held such a massive amount of Aether essence.

After all, the ghost had been very close to becoming a Nascent Soul King in his prime. Plus, he had lived a very long life, gaining all kinds of experiences.

It was only because his Spirit Core had been damaged—and because he had underestimated Aksai—that he ended up getting defeated.

It was also due to the ghost’s damaged Spirit Core that Loken had only been able to bring out the power of an initial-stage Core Formation realm, making him a pseudo Core Formation Lord that was nothing more than a paper tiger in front of a true Core Formation realm Spirit cultivator.

“All of this is good news. But—”

Aksai’s smile then slowly faded. The glow of joy in his eyes dimmed as a heavy thought settled in his chest. Inside the quiet space of his Mind Palace, his expression turned grim, as if a cold shadow had passed over him.

He looked at the floating streams of Aether essence around him, but now the sight brought him no comfort. The memory of what had just happened gave him chills deep inside his sense of being.

He had come too close. Far too close.

Aksai let out a slow breath, even though his Aether form didn’t need air. His hands curled slightly, and he felt a strange feeling on his formless forehead—almost like sweat.

If it hadn’t been for the Neural Link Fabric. If it hadn’t been for his Aether cultivation path. If it hadn’t been for the Aether Wisp, the Bloodfiend soul artifact, or the green-haired snake girl.

He would have lost control of everything.

He would have been pushed into the corner of his own mind, forced to watch another being use his body while he struggled as a powerless guest—a second-class citizen in the place that was supposed to belong only to him.

Aksai closed his eyes and replayed the fight in his thoughts.

“I really shouldn’t take this incident lightly. I was almost beaten by a pseudo Core Formation Lord who didn’t even have access to decent third-order Spirit spells,” he muttered to himself.

“That Third Supreme of the Kalingoot had a borrowed Spirit Core that could barely help him use a third-order artifact. Even his body hadn’t gone through the Pain Penance test. His mortal body shouldn’t have even been able to handle third-order Spirit essence. As such, he was limited by how many 3rd Order Spirit spells he could unleash, bringing down his danger levels by several levels.”

His fingers tightened.

“And yet… he almost turned me into a puppet inside my own body. All because of that ghost hiding inside him. Rather, because I underestimated a Spirit cultivator just because his cultivation base was lower than mine.”

Aksai’s voice lowered to a whisper filled with disbelief and frustration.

“Was I too careless? Or too proud to see the danger? Why didn’t I check properly, even after I sensed something was wrong with that Core Formation Lord?”

The silence that followed was heavy.

He stared at the ground of his Mind Palace, his heart sinking deeper.

“If a pseudo Core Formation Lord could threaten me like this… then what would happen if I met a true Core Formation expert?” he asked himself quietly. “Someone with decades… even centuries of experience in that realm?”

The thought alone made the cold sweat on his formless forehead feel even more real.

Aksai stood there in the silence of his Mind Palace, feeling a rare sense of fear—one that did not weaken him, but sharpened him. This mistake would not be repeated.

The Spirit farmer didn’t waste a second. He spoke into the empty air.

“Neural Link Fabric, find me the most effective way to prevent something like this from happening again.”

His careful nature didn’t allow him to deal with such a crucial problem at a later date. The response came at once, calm and matter-of-fact as always.

[Master, you can use your Aether Beast to handle all soul-related matters from now on. The soul-related Spirit spells you currently have need only a bit of adjustment. Once modified, they will become Aether Spells, which can be used directly by your Aether Wisp without you acting as the middle man.]

Aksai nodded slowly, his eyes drifting toward the shadowy outline of the giant turtle-like beast resting far below in the Aether Essence Sea.

“So you want me to turn the Verdant Elder into something like a firewall?”

[That’s right, master.]

The tone of the Neural Link Fabric remained patient and instructive.

[Think of another person’s consciousness as a harmful cookie or a virus trying to slip into your system and take control. Entering someone else’s consciousness without protection is similar to browsing the internet without any antivirus or firewall.]

[As you grow stronger, your enemies will grow stronger too. They will have more hidden methods, and some will attack your consciousness when you are at your weakest—just like what happened now.]

Aksai’s jaw tightened slightly as he listened.

[The only practical solution is to make your Aether Beast your first line of defence. Let Verdant Elder execute all soul-related techniques from now on—Soul Possession, Soul Searching, everything. Access the target’s memories only through the Aether Beast. If there are traps hidden in their souls, the damage will fall on the Aether Beast instead of you.]

Aksai considered the advice carefully. It made sense. It was simple, direct, and effective. But another thought rose in his mind, sharp and unsettling.

“And what happens if I lose control of my own Aether Wisp?”

The Neural Link Fabric answered without hesitation.

[Master, Aether Beasts are replaceable in nature. Even if you were to remove the Verdant Elder right now, your Aether cultivation would not fall. It would only pause. The moment you acquire another Aether Beast, the progress will continue from where it stopped.]

A short pause followed before the fabric added:

[We can also create a failsafe inside the Aether Beast. If anything goes wrong—if the beast becomes corrupted or slips out of control—you will be able to erase it with a single thought. No struggle. No risks.]

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