A Farmer's Journey To Immortality - Chapter 412

Chapter 412: Using Body Cultivation Path to Clear the 7th Stage
Despite the chaos of each elemental zone, none of them seemed to touch him directly.

It was as if he were encased in an invisible barrier, keeping the raw power of the elements at bay.

“Where in the world am I?” Aksai murmured, eyes narrowing as he took in the surroundings.

The island felt barren and alive at the same time. At the heart of this suspended landscape stood a stairway, carved from smooth, white stone that seemed to shimmer under the celestial light.

The stairs were broad, each step carved with runes that glowed faintly. There were a hundred in total, leading up to an apex that vanished into a beam of light, as if touching the heavens.

Aksai stood at the edge of the island, the void stretching out behind him like an abyss. He took a cautious step forward, feet pressing into the ground that felt solid despite the surreal environment.

“These elements feel real to me. But why don’t I feel their presence?”

As he moved closer to the stairway, he marveled at how the elements didn’t impact him. The snow didn’t chill, the flames didn’t burn, and the winds whispered around him without harm.

“Is this some kind of illusion?” he wondered aloud, tracing the invisible boundary that seemed to separate him from the raging elements.

His fingers met nothing, only empty air. He pivoted to face the stairway that loomed before him, standing as if it had been waiting centuries for someone to approach.

“Do I just need to take these stairs? How is that a test?” he muttered, skepticism lacing his words. The runes on the first step pulsed faintly, as if to challenge him.

“Let’s give it a try first.”

As Aksai stood on the first stair, the air around him seemed to thrum with an oppressive heat, and he quickly realized that this was no ordinary trial. His druidic transformation activated on its own, a reflexive response from his body recognizing the sudden surge of elemental energy.

“I….. I can’t cast any spell?”

He clenched his fists as a surge of panic crept up his spine—the familiar, comforting pulse of his Spirit cultivation base was completely absent. It felt as though someone had switched off a vital part of his existence.

His Spirit essence reserves were sealed tight, locked away beyond his reach. He could neither draw on them nor use any of his spells, and the realization made his chest tighten.

He looked around, half-expecting a trick or a mechanism he might have missed, but all he saw were the vivid, unyielding elements raging around him. The flames that flickered across the section of the island blazed more fiercely, their heat now palpable, making the air shimmer and distort.

It was as if the elemental energies encasing the island were all channeled into the stairway he now stood on.

“Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy,” Aksai muttered, a bead of sweat running down his temple. The heat was already unbearable when he had just begun to climb the stairs.

The neutral voice had warned him that the challenge would be timed and measured by his endurance, but it hadn’t mentioned the sheer ferocity he was now feeling. He took a breath, preparing himself for what he knew would be an uphill battle—literally and figuratively—and stepped onto the second stair.

The heat intensified immediately, searing into his skin as though invisible flames licked at him. His breath caught as a wave of pain rolled over his body, making his muscles tighten involuntarily.

The bark-like essence of his druid transformation, a protective layer he could summon around himself, shimmered into view. Dark, jagged lines resembling the texture of ancient trees crept up his arms and torso, forming a barrier against the heat.

But even that wasn’t enough. The heat seeped through, relentless, and he felt his skin flush a deep red. Tiny blisters began to form, stinging as if a swarm of fire ants had decided to feast on him.

“This… this is bad,” Aksai hissed through clenched teeth. He glanced up at the hourglass that appeared in front of him, now dropping sand with a steady, merciless pace. Time was moving, and he had no choice but to press on.

With a resigned groan, he stepped onto the third stair. The moment his foot landed, the temperature spiked, and it felt like he’d stepped into an inferno. He could almost hear a roar in his ears, the sound of flames crackling and surging around him, though none were visible.

The flame energy intensified, making the section of the island alight with a vibrant glow. His bark-like essence flared, trying to shield him, but cracks appeared along its surface, tiny splinters of dark essence peeling away as though it were burning to ash.

His body trembled, sweat pouring down in rivulets that evaporated before reaching his chest. Each breath was like inhaling molten air, searing his throat and lungs. He forced himself to stay focused, moving step by agonizing step.

By the time he reached the fifth stair, the phantom flames were no longer just heat—they were pain, deep and gnawing, spreading like wildfire beneath his skin. His vision blurred, the edges darkening as exhaustion set in.

Aksai’s teeth were gritted so tightly that his jaw ached, but he didn’t dare unclench them for fear of screaming like a helpless cat lady. The sixth stair was a blur, a desperate push of muscle memory and sheer willpower.

When he finally set foot on the seventh stair, his knees buckled, and he almost dropped down.

Every inch of him screamed for relief. The bark-like essence around him flickered and dimmed, almost translucent now, like the ghost of a protection that could barely hold.

His skin was raw, a deep, angry red, and the blisters on his arms had burst, leaving him shivering from the stinging pain of exposed skin. He looked as if a Scandinavian local from his previous world had been exposed to the harshest form of sunburn in Africa.

“Seven stairs… I can only climb the first seven stairs… Is… is that it? Is this my limit?”

The Spirit farmer asked himself, his voice barely audible over the roar of his racing heartbeat.

His chest rose and fell rapidly, each breath like a bellows fanning the fire inside him. He looked up at the stairs stretching into the distance, mocking him with their endlessness.

Yelia remained silent, observing Aksai’s struggle with an unreadable expression. She could tell he was testing his limits, and she respected his decision to find his own way through this trial.

If he chose to retreat now, she would have accepted it. But Aksai’s resolve was deeper than that. The thought of quitting never crossed his mind.

This was basically because he didn’t think that he would come back to test his limits anytime soon after his exit from the Holy Land Torel. Because he wasn’t planning to explore mysterious realms like these in the future, he might as well do his best at this point.

He took a moment to gather himself, ignoring the blistering pain coursing through his body and focusing on the faint yet steady pulse of power that still resided within him.

Aksai’s thoughts raced as he assessed his options.

The green cores of the woodland creatures? Useless here.

The Heretic Talismans he had painstakingly saved? Equally irrelevant.

His Soul Artifact? It was powerful, but without a suitable Soul Song to wield against these invisible elemental forces, it was of no help.

“I… I don’t think I have anything that can help me give…no…. Wait! Celestial Harmony! The cultivation path of Sharang!”

Suddenly, a spark of realization hit him. His body cultivation path. The Argent Realm Body Cultivation wasn’t just for show—it was a testament to his grueling physical training and endurance.

Though his Spirit cultivation was sealed, his body cultivation remained active, pulsing with the silvery Qi that symbolized his hard-earned strength.

Without wasting another second, Aksai took a deep, controlled breath, centering himself. He stabilized his druid transformation, the bark-like essence glimmering weakly around him, and channeled his silvery Qi. A faint silver glow wrapped around his body, forming a protective layer that shimmered like molten metal.

Almost instantly, the searing heat that had been torturing him seemed to recede. The stifling sensation of being cooked alive lessened to a tolerable warmth.

“I… I can finally breathe!”

Relief washed over Aksai as he felt his skin cool, the pain ebbing slightly. Though the oven-like heat still radiated around him, it no longer felt like it was peeling the flesh from his bones.