Immortality Starts With Investment

The monkey never expected that the Heavenly Emperor’s heir would so casually pull out the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod. Feeling the terrifying supreme dao might pressing down from above, it immediately grew excited and reached out to grab it. Yet Ye Chen looked at the monkey with a strange expression and withdrew the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod.

”You’re just going to reach out like that?”

The monkey froze for a moment. But it wasn’t stupid. It quickly understood Ye Chen’s meaning and spoke up at once.

”Our Holy Prince said that this artifact originally belonged to our Victorious Fighting Ape clan!”

Ye Chen couldn’t help but laugh. The guy had really come empty-handed.

Ye Chen immediately put away the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod, glanced at the monkey, and couldn’t even be bothered to speak. He turned and prepared to leave.

Seeing Ye Chen’s actions, the monkey spoke seriously.

”Our Holy Prince said that if you, the Heavenly Emperor’s heir, do not voluntarily return it, he will come personally to take it! Our Holy Prince is the son of a Quasi-Immortal. Back then, his father was only one step away from achieving immortality. The Holy Prince’s talent far surpasses his father’s by countless times. He has now reached the peak of the third heaven of the Mahayana realm—a peak King! If the Holy Prince arrives in person, the scene might become quite unsightly. Heavenly Emperor’s heir, you wouldn’t want your invincible reputation to be shattered just like that, would you?”

Hearing this, Ye Chen’s eyes instantly lit up.

The son of a Quasi-Immortal? That origin source must be incredibly powerful.

Ye Chen had been worrying earlier that he had been too dominant, scaring everyone off so no one dared come deliver their heads anymore. Yet in the blink of an eye, here one was.

If this monkey wasn’t bragging... a Quasi-Immortal who had been just one step from immortality must have had heaven-defying talent. And his son was even greater. That origin source might be stronger than all the previous ones combined.

”Where is he?”

Ye Chen asked proactively. It was mainly because the Primordial Chaos Supreme Body was simply too outrageous. After cultivating for so long, Ye Chen had deeply experienced just how formidable it was. He couldn’t wait to actively seek out targets, harvest them, and trigger the gift critical strikes to increase the completeness of his Body.

”Our Holy Prince is currently in the third realm of the Immortal Path!”

The monkey declared proudly.

Ye Chen immediately frowned. The Immortal Path again. Going there and back would waste a lot of time. His cultivation speed was so fast now, and he had already prepared the divine materials needed for his breakthrough to the King realm. In that case, it would be better to stay in the holy land and develop steadily. He could just wait for that monkey to come deliver his head himself.

Besides, acting too aggressive or eager wouldn’t be good for harvesting enemy origin sources in the future. So, he would wait for the monkey to come. When the time came, he would even hold back a little. Fight for a few days and nights, making it look to outsiders like a hard-fought victory. That way, more people would dare to challenge him in the future.

With that thought, Ye Chen waved his hand.

”In that case, have your Holy Prince come here personally!”

As his words fell, Ye Chen no longer bothered to look at the monkey and drifted away gracefully. The monkey wasn’t surprised by Ye Chen’s reaction. In fact, the Victorious Fighting Ape clan had planned all along to use Ye Chen to establish their prestige and forge the Holy Prince’s invincible reputation.

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After all, a genius like the Heavenly Emperor’s heir would never be easily intimidated. But the monkey had absolute confidence in their Holy Prince. His talent didn’t merely surpass his father’s—it could stand shoulder to shoulder with the ancestor of the Fighting Ape clan, the Victorious Fighting Emperor. He had inherited every bit of a Sacred Buddha’s gifts. With such talent, he was destined to achieve immortality in this era and sweep away all enemies. Even the Heavenly Emperor’s heir was nothing more than a worthless chicken or a fragile tile!

Thinking of this, a smug smile appeared on the monkey’s face. It glanced disdainfully at the gates of the Heavenly Evolution Holy Land. Then it departed with a thunderous boom.

...

Meanwhile, on Ye Chen’s side. He didn’t pay much attention to that Holy Prince. Just another fool coming to deliver his origin on a platter. However, after the incidents with the Dao Cauldron and the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod, Ye Chen discovered a new way to fish for prey. He could reveal some supreme Extreme Dao Weapons and deliberately let them be known. That way, if the descendants or heirs of their original owners were still around, they would surely covet them. Those who came with sincerity could trade for them.

Ye Chen could launder the Extreme Dao Weapons that couldn’t trigger gift criticals, reaping massive benefits. As for those like the Holy Prince who wanted to seize them by force, Ye Chen would feel no psychological burden harvesting their origin sources. This way, he could focus on cultivating in peace while waiting for enemies to come knocking.

Luo Bingling was still in seclusion. Senior An and Elder Lin hadn’t entered seclusion yet either. Without Senior An, An Yuyi’s appeal was somewhat lacking. So, midway through, Ye Chen took some time to visit his fiancée and sparred with her for two weeks.

What shocked Ye Chen was this: His fiancée seemed to think that without Luo Bingling present, things weren’t stimulating enough. This time, she actually took out the soul of the Heavenly Intention Holy Son and offered it to him as a gift.

Ye Chen truly hadn’t expected that the Heavenly Intention Holy Son’s soul was still intact. But he didn’t have such outrageous fetishes. Calling out a few times could be considered a bit of fun, but having a man standing on the sidelines—no, even a man’s soul—was unacceptable. So he directly rinsed the Heavenly Intention Holy Son’s soul with Yellow Spring water. After washing away its consciousness, he tossed it into the Human Emperor Banner. Then, with fierce intensity, he pinned his fiancée down in the Yellow Spring water, suppressed and ”educated” her thoroughly before drifting away.

Just like that, half a year passed in a flash.

Inside the Holy Son’s residence, Ye Chen’s aura suddenly surged! Divine light flowed across his body, as if a god had descended. When he opened his eyes, a hint of a smile appeared in his profound pupils, deep as a starry sea. He had reached the mid-stage of the second heaven of the Mahayana realm. To advance a small realm in just half a year was absolutely astonishing and world-shaking.

But just as Ye Chen planned to stabilize his realm and continue his seclusion, the entire Holy Son Peak shuddered violently. Then, the spiritual Qi of the entire Heavenly Evolution Holy Land converged, forming a massive vortex in the sky that poured into a certain spot on the peak.

At the same time, a terrifying aura began to rise. It carried an overwhelming momentum, as if a sovereign was gazing down upon the world.

A smile curved Ye Chen’s lips. Such a huge commotion—it was clearly Luo Bingling breaking through to the King realm. A newly formed cave-heaven would naturally devour and exhale the world’s spiritual Qi. Judging by the disturbance caused by her breakthrough, the cave-heaven she had forged was definitely enormous in scale.

The deeper the accumulation, the larger the cave-heaven. The larger the cave-heaven, the stronger the power. From this, it seemed the Minor Space Technique had indeed been remarkably effective.

Ye Chen waited patiently.

Three days later.

The phenomenon of Luo Bingling devouring the world’s spiritual Qi finally ceased. Moments later, accompanied by a satisfied, light hum that echoed through the air.

Luo Bingling emerged from her cave abode, clad in golden armor that gleamed brilliantly, her purple hair flowing wildly, her perfect slender waist accentuated. She appeared radiant and exhilarated.

Previously, despite being a full major realm above Ye Chen, her combat strength had been far inferior, leaving her somewhat frustrated. Now, having broken through to the third heaven, her power had multiplied countless times. Her cave-heaven’s scale was outrageously vast—no smaller than those of the divine sons in her clan. If she faced Ye Chen now, she could absolutely fight him on equal footing.

Thinking of this, Luo Bingling grew even happier. But when she caught sight of Ye Chen standing there with a smile on his face, her eyes widened in shock...

”You... how are you already at the mid-stage of the second heaven?”

Staring at Ye Chen’s current cultivation level, Luo Bingling was utterly dumbfounded...