Immortality Starts With Investment

As Ye Chen shouted, he casually cast several Fireball spells, sending them crashing into the outer walls of the nearby courtyard. The explosions rattled the surroundings, and the walls crumbled in succession.

The commotion was huge. The cultivators in the courtyards nearby were all startled by the sudden uproar. They hadn’t expected such a disturbance in this usually peaceful area.

Even the middle-aged man, who lay on the ground, dazed from pain, was stunned by Ye Chen’s actions. He knew Ye Chen would call for help, but he had thought Ye Chen would contact the elders of the Ye family to deal with the Jin siblings. He didn’t expect Ye Chen to directly summon the Enforcement Team. As for the crumbling walls, the middle-aged man understood why he did so.

Silver Moon Market was entirely under the control of the Mo family. All the cultivators who resided here had to pay rent for the property. Every tree and every bit of landscaping was subject to compensation if damaged.

With such widespread destruction, someone would need to reimburse the Mo family for the losses. The middle-aged man, already on the brink of death and with only a few low-grade spirit stones left, couldn’t care less.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen, as the victim and a family disciple, wasn’t someone the Mo family would bother with. The only logical choice was for the Mo family to go after the Jin siblings, making Ye Chen’s actions seem even more calculated.

This Ye Chen was certainly making a scene. The rumors of him being a ”simp” were completely misleading.

The middle-aged man, although grievously wounded, couldn’t help but feel a twisted sense of satisfaction. With such a big ruckus, it was only a matter of time before cultivators from the Mo family arrived.

Sure enough, within moments, several figures appeared. All of them were in the late stages of Qi Refining, their faces serious as they took in the sight before them.

When they saw the middle-aged man reduced to a dismembered husk, none of their expressions changed. But when they surveyed the ravaged street and the damaged courtyards, their brows furrowed in displeasure.

The Mo family collected rent, but they also bore responsibility for the property’s upkeep. Renting out homes that were then damaged for no reason meant they had to pay for repairs.

The cost of the repairs would be no small sum, and the state of the family’s finances made the cultivators’ expressions grow increasingly somber.

The leader of the group, standing at the forefront, turned to Ye Chen and asked, ”What happened here?”

Ye Chen cupped his hands lightly and greeted, ”Greetings, Senior. I am Ye Chen, a disciple of the Ye family. My father is Ye Tianhe.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, ”This person suddenly attacked me, and I managed to fight back by a stroke of luck.”

The cultivators glanced at Ye Chen, who looked completely unharmed, and then at the middle-aged man, who had been reduced to a dismembered corpse on the ground. Their expressions twitched.

”Stroke of luck?” they thought, their eyes narrowing in disbelief. The situation was clearly not what he claimed.

However, once they knew that Ye Chen was from the Ye family, their attitudes softened considerably. In the cultivation world, one’s background mattered just as much as strength. They had heard of the Ye family, and Ye Tianhe’s name wasn’t unknown either. With that connection, they had less interest in making an issue out of the fight itself. But the matter of compensation for the Mo family’s losses had to be addressed.

The leader of the group fixed his gaze on the middle-aged man. ”Anyone who dares to act violently in Silver Moon Market, whether they strike or incite others, is guilty of a capital offense.”

He stepped forward and continued, ”Speak quickly, and we’ll put an end to your suffering.”

The middle-aged man, writhing in pain, was beyond caring about self-preservation at this point. With no hesitation, he began spilling everything. He recounted the events in full, detailing how they had killed many people in the mountains, including several family disciples. He knew his life was already forfeit, and he figured it was better to reveal everything than die with a secret. In his desperate state, he even added, ”But that wall, that was his doing….”

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His eyes turned to Ye Chen, the bitterness evident in his voice. ”I was already lying on the ground, my limbs severed, while he kept shouting for help and kept bombing the surroundings with Fireball spells! It was all him.”

The middle-aged man harbored deep resentment toward Jin Wuqing, but he was just as eager to make Ye Chen’s situation more complicated. If he was going to die, he might as well cause some trouble for the person who had made him suffer.

Ye Chen’s lips twitched as he realized the man’s betrayal. He suddenly felt extremely awkward. He had only wanted to stir things up, give the Mo family some incentive to take action, so they wouldn’t overlook his own troubles. But now, he hadn’t thought things through properly and had been exposed on the spot.

This was a bit too embarrassing!

Ye Chen awkwardly explained, ”I was too nervous and couldn’t control myself.…”

The Mo family cultivators exchanged complex glances, clearly aware of Ye Chen’s reputation. They had even made fun of him while eating and drinking. If anyone like him had appeared in the Mo family, he would have had his legs broken on the spot. But now, they were face to face with the real deal, and all this mess was because of a woman.

Despite the rumors, Ye Chen didn’t seem as foolish as they had expected… though he wasn’t exactly impressive either.

As for the fact that Ye Chen, at the fourth level of Qi Refining, had killed a fifth-level cultivator, it didn’t surprise them much. After all, loose cultivators had to scrape by with whatever they could find, so they were oftentimes weaker.

One of the Mo family cultivators, a man with a cold expression, directly crushed the middle-aged man’s head under his foot. He then proceeded to search the corpse. After a moment, he pulled out an empty storage bag, a low-grade magic tool throwing dart, a pair of magic tool shoes, and a few miscellaneous pills. Nothing too remarkable, but still decent.

The man collected the items and then, with a half-smile, handed the storage bag to Ye Chen. ”Young friend, according to Mo family rules, since this person attacked you and you subdued him, everything on his body is now yours.”

He paused and added, ”Take it, and don’t worry. As for the Jin family siblings, we’ll deal with them immediately.”

Ye Chen felt a wave of relief. Though they hadn’t commented on the collapsed wall, it seemed they believed his explanation. But he also understood that he needed to be sensible. Besides, he had no interest in these lowly trinkets.

He took the storage bag but left the magic tools untouched, smiling as he said, ”I could use a storage bag, so I’ll take it.”

”As for the rest, consider it compensation for the wall,” he added, gesturing with a shrug. ”Although it was an accident, it still happened because of me.”

The Mo family cultivators nodded in satisfaction, clearly pleased with Ye Chen’s sensibility. Without saying more, they turned and walked away, leaving the corpse behind without any hesitation.

All four were at the peak of Qi Refining, at least at the seventh level. It was clear that the Mo family was immensely powerful. Their strength wasn’t just in their cultivation but also in the authority they wielded over Silver Moon Market. They were no ordinary family, certainly capable of controlling such a vast business and keeping things in order.

Without them, Silver Moon Market would have descended into chaos long ago.

Ye Chen briefly considered following them to see what happened next, but then remembered that Jin Wuqing had a sister who was also at the peak of Qi Refining. He quickly dismissed the thought. If a fight broke out, it could get messy, and he didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire. Besides, with four Mo family cultivators at the peak of Qi Refining, there was no real risk.

Feeling at ease, Ye Chen put away the storage bag and headed back to his shop. He didn’t particularly need the storage bag, but it would make a nice gift for Lin Ke’er. Who knows if it could even yield a nice reward in return? He could sell it after he doubled its value, making several medium-grade spirit stones in the process.

...

That night, Ye Chen couldn’t help but reflect on the harsh reality of the cultivation world. All this trouble, just for a woman. People were already trying to kill him over it. Back on Earth, such conflicts would barely escalate into a simple fight. Couldn’t people just embrace peace and cooperate for mutual benefit?

As he thought about it, Ye Chen’s mind wandered to the Jin siblings. He wondered if they had been sent away yet. Though it was Jin Wuqing who had tried to kill him, it didn’t necessarily involve his sister. But with her brother in trouble, it was only natural that she would seek revenge.

Ye Chen didn’t want to be the target of a Qi Refining cultivator hidden in the dark, so he hoped that both siblings would leave this world together. He didn’t want them to suffer the pain of having death separate them. There was no other explanation. He was simply that soft-hearted.

...

The next day, guests arrived early at Ye Chen’s shop. They were from the Mo family. After all, Ye Chen was the victim of the attack, and they had to give him an explanation. If large families felt too unsafe, they might stop doing business here. If that happened, Silver Moon Market would dry up, and the Mo family’s income would take a hit.

”Fellow Daoist Ye, Jin Wuqing is dead!”

Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

But the Mo cultivator quickly added, ”However, Jin Zhaodi practiced a sinister escape technique. Though severely wounded, she managed to flee into the mountains.”

Ye Chen’s heart sank.

Damn it! Four against two, and you still let one get away? If you couldn’t even manage to take care of the Jin siblings and send them off properly, what can you even do?

With a Qi Refining stage cultivator still on the loose, Ye Chen started to panic. He even began to think that perhaps it was time to send word to his father, asking to be taken away from here before things escalated any further.