A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

Chapter 626: Celestial Wrath Over Red Springs

Aksai looked Reymon in the eyes as he spoke further.

“You offered an honorable duel from a place of strength. You might not have realized it, but that offer came from your pride. Do you think only you have the right to keep your honor?

“I have spent my life avoiding fights whenever I can. I have humbled myself again and again, even at the cost of my pride. Yet my enemies keep asking for more — here and in my home.

“It’s always the same story, where people do whatever they want just because they believe what they’re doing is more important than anything else in the world. People act for their own selfish reasons and then try to justify those actions by saying they did it for the greater good.

“I’m not saying you’re wrong for trying to unify the martial world. But don’t expect me to bend to your will, because I don’t give a damn about your definition of the greater good. And don’t expect me to flee either — I’m tired of running.”

He paused, and the wind grew louder, the first distant roll of thunder answering him. The gray clouds overhead now moved like a living thing.

“So no,” Aksai continued. “I will not run this time. Today, I will not give up my Dao Heart to preserve my pride at the feet of others. I try to avoid conflict, yes. But there are moments when a man must stand. This is one of those moments.”

Swoosh. Zoom. Rumble.

As his last words faded, the clouds began to roll faster. A deeper rumble swept through the square.

Reymon finally noticed that something was off.

A strange heaviness filled the air, pressing down on his chest until his heartbeat stuttered. He looked up, frowning, and for the first time realized what was happening above the city.

The once-clear afternoon sky had turned dark, but not in a normal way. The clouds had gathered only above the cityscape, swirling in thick, rolling waves.

A chill ran down his spine. The gray clouds were no longer gray — they had turned almost black, ink-like, moving in circles until the shape of an eye formed at their center. Yet there was no hint of rain. No moisture in the air. Just the constant rumble of thunder that refused to stop. It felt as though the heavens were growling.

The rumbling grew louder, and flashes of light began to flicker within the dark clouds. Then the lightning showed itself — bright, silver veins tearing through the sky, so close that the entire city below glowed white for a heartbeat.

The winds picked up at once, howling through the streets, shaking loose banners, rooftops, and the nerves of everyone who saw it.

Even the mortals and low-level martial artists outside the city walls sensed it. A primal fear took hold of them — something instinctive.

Screams filled the air as people started grabbing what they could and running away from Red Springs. Wagons overturned, children cried, and chaos spread through the plains outside the walls.

Reymon looked back at Aksai. His pupils shrank as realization struck him like a blade. The ominous premonition in his chest flared into pure dread.

“You… are you trying to break through into the next realm?” he asked, his voice trembling. He looked up again at the swirling clouds, remembering old texts and cryptic notes — fragments from a corrupted druid’s diary he had once seized. His throat went dry.

Aksai opened his eyes, calm and unbothered. “Indeed,” he said simply.

Reymon’s face twisted in disbelief. “How? That’s impossible! Sharang’s Wordly Laws don’t allow anyone beyond the Foundation Establishment realm to exist here. How can you trigger a breakthrough?”

Aksai’s lips curved into a faint smile. “You’re partly right. One cannot enter Sharang if they’ve already reached the Core Formation realm. But there’s no rule against breaking through while being inside Sharang.”

With that, Aksai closed his eyes again. The green demon snake that had been resting around his arm uncoiled and slithered to the front, its scales glimmering faintly. It raised its head, tongue flickering in and out, watching Reymon and his warriors. Its small body radiated a dangerous, invisible pressure.

Reymon’s eyes darted around. His warriors were restless, shifting uneasily, whispering among themselves. Some looked to the sky; others stared at Aksai with growing fear.

None of them understood what was happening, but they all felt it — a dreadful, suffocating energy gathering above.

A streak of lightning tore across the sky, followed by a deafening boom that made the ground tremble. The flash was so close that Reymon’s vision blurred for a second. Sweat rolled down his face as his instincts screamed at him.

“Run…” he muttered under his breath, backing away from Aksai. His voice was barely a whisper, but fear made it shake. “Run away…”

Then he turned around suddenly, his voice exploding with Qi as he roared, “Run! Run away from that madman!”

He abandoned his horse and dashed toward the far end of the street. The rest of his warriors looked at one another in confusion for a heartbeat — then, as another bolt of lightning split the sky and scorched the ground not far from where they stood, they too began to run.

Aksai heard Reymon’s order echo through the streets as thousands of footsteps thundered away from the city square. But he didn’t open his eyes.

“Too late,” he murmured softly, his voice barely audible under the rumbling sky.

He didn’t move. He didn’t even try to stop the fleeing warriors with roots and vines of the Demon Tree. His mind had gone far beyond the noise of the mortal world. Every bit of his focus was locked on what was happening within him — his breakthrough.

His body glowed faintly, threads of golden and green energy swirling around him like mist. The air around him trembled, filled with invisible pressure that made even the strongest martial artists’ hearts pound.

He had already passed through the first two stages of the Core Formation breakthrough — the Pain Penance and the Dejection Demon.

Only the Celestial Wrath remained.

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