Immortality Starts With Investment

For cultivators, even innate Divine Abilities or special physiques aren’t fully mastered at once. They require insight, practice, and personal understanding to unlock unique applications. The same physique varies by wielder, much like identical techniques yield different results. Take Heavy Pupils: in the Heavenly Emperor’s golden era, with prodigies and top physiques abounding, Heavy Pupils weren’t the pinnacle.

Yet, one rose above, outpacing peers, the only foe the Emperor couldn’t fully suppress before immortality. This shows physique strength matters, but mastery is key. Excelling in harnessing a physique or bloodline yields extraordinary combat power.

Ye Chen’s physiques were a patchwork, too many to fully explore. He used their basic forms, never pushing limits—his rapid progress left little time for deep mastery, prioritizing cultivation gains instead.

Now, the system’s rewards flooded his mind, sparking joy. The 4,000x multiplier’s grandeur, though less than Yan Qingcheng’s, was still staggering. A single ancient Heavy Pupil insight triggered rewards: Ancient Stone Immortal King, Heavenly Emperor, No-Beginning Immortal King, and Yin-Yang Divine Monarch’s complete insights.

Save for the Emperor, Ye Chen didn’t know these names, but their titles screamed otherworldly power, likely titans in the immortal realm. Their insights would elevate his mastery of Heavy Pupils, Supreme Heart, Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo, and Yin-Yang Dao Sea to unimaginable heights, their power reaching absurd levels.

This gift to Lan Nuo left Ye Chen ecstatic. Initially, her posturing annoyed him—without the 4,000x, he’d have wanted to smack her. Now, her flair seemed… adorable. His earlier feigned deference felt awkward, but now? She deserved to be hyped up. No amount of praise was too much. If critical hits kept coming, he’d gladly crown her the cultivation world’s top prodigy.

Ye Chen gleefully absorbed the vast insights. The Heavenly Emperor’s Supreme Heart mastery, beyond basics like Hand of Heaven and Heaven’s Calamity Light, unearthed reincarnation-related power, capable of countering the Hand instantly.

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At quasi-immortal, fully mastering the Supreme Heart, this reincarnation force could manipulate time, aging foes into oblivion with one strike—terrifying just to imagine.

Even more, post-immortality, the Supreme Heart might unlock a passive ability, boosting combat power several to tens of times, akin to the All-Word Secret’s effect. The mere thought was absurd.

Beyond the Supreme Heart, Ye Chen’s Heavy Pupils, Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo, and Yin-Yang Dao Sea each revealed unique marvels. For instance, channeling all power into Heavy Pupils could unleash a terrifying divine beam, alongside myriad Heavy Pupil divine arts with boundless applications.

The Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo offered faster cultivation, stronger Dao techniques, and methods closer to the Dao’s essence. Various physique explosion techniques and the Yin-Yang Dao Sea followed suit. This wave of gains was unimaginable, pushing Ye Chen’s already absurd combat power to defy the heavens. Fleeing foes like Alkaid Holy Son no longer mattered. His only rival now was the same-realm Heavenly Emperor. During his next Mahayana tribulation, he’d spar with the Emperor’s imprint to test his hard-earned limits.

…

Like a diligent bee, Ye Chen savored the predecessors’ insights. Lan Nuo, too, absorbed the ancient Heavy Pupil’s wisdom, her understanding soaring into a new realm. Her combat power rose at least 30%, with even greater potential at Mahayana.

Confident now, she no longer feared instant defeat. She planned to block Ye Chen’s first strike gracefully, then concede—not surrender, but praise his strength, admit a slight gap, claim insights from the clash, and propose a rematch at Mahayana. This would highlight her strength without suspicion. Smirking inwardly, she quickly hid it.

A week passed in a blink.

As the system’s cooldown ended, Ye Chen opened his eyes, divine light bursting like stars, his terrifying aura unleashed to prove his recovery.

Onlookers, waiting patiently, buzzed with anticipation for the clash of this era’s top prodigies. They retreated, fearing the fallout, while external Mahayana powers readied to protect their prodigies—such elites’ battle ripples could rival Mahayana strength.

…

Under countless eyes, Lan Nuo rose, her gaze calm, exuding a prodigy aura without a word. But inwardly, she panicked. Moments ago, she’d felt confident to block a strike with flair. Now, face-to-face with Ye Chen’s overwhelming aura—like a stream meeting the ocean, a leaf facing a forest—she saw reality. No rematch. She just wanted to go home to Great-Great-Grandma.