Immortality Starts With Investment

Luo Bingling grew even angrier at Yao Yuezhi’s words. Fine, Ye Chen didn’t give the treasure to her—so be it. But this Yao Yuezhi actually pointed it out on purpose, saying she’d share a portion with her and asking Ye Chen not to be mad! This was pure humiliation. It was as if the one who had let Ye Chen touch her waist for two years, feeding and being fed, wasn’t her but Yao Yuezhi!

Luo Bingling’s fists clenched so hard they creaked. She wanted nothing more than to explode Yao Yuezhi right there. She had disliked her before. Now she hated her even more.

Ye Chen raised a brow at the words. He couldn’t help glancing at Luo Bingling and sighing inwardly.

Look at this girl’s acting! ”Big Brother Ye” came out sweet as honey, twisting and turning in the air. Then look at you—forcing out a single love line gave you goosebumps. With acting this bad, how are you going to walk the immortal path? Learn from her properly.

Meanwhile, Yao Yuezhi was clearly doing it on purpose. Since she had acknowledged Ye Chen’s strength, she naturally had to suppress the women around him and fight for a good position. And she was very interested in the Dao Cauldron too. Who would complain about cultivating too fast?

Yao Yuezhi blinked her beautiful eyes at Ye Chen, those jade-green pupils exceptionally clear.

Ye Chen didn’t respond immediately. Whether this ”sworn little sister” could be a real one depended entirely on the next feedback—and whether it satisfied him. If the return was astonishing, she’d be a dear little sister. If it was the same as Luo Bingling’s level…then just a sworn sister. And in the next moment, the system prompt rang in Ye Chen’s mind:

”Congratulations, Host—gift successfully delivered…”

”Gift: Stasis Secret Fragment!”

”5,000× feedback in progress…”

”Detecting extreme emotional fluctuation in recipient due to gift’s importance…”

”Maximum critical hit triggered!”

”Feedback: Complete Stasis Secret + Founder’s Insights!”

”Feedback: Complete Array Secret + Founder’s Insights!”

”Feedback: Complete Foresight Secret + Founder’s Insights!”

”Stasis Secret: Supreme time treasure technique. Can slow enemy time, accelerate own time. At great accomplishment, can lock an enemy’s state with temporal power, preventing wounds from healing…”

”Array Secret: Supreme divine rune path. Turns all divine runes to personal use. Massively boosts talisman crafting, array formation, weapon refining, and pill concocting. At Mahayana, can comprehend the mysteries of divine runes and seize enemy talismans, arrays, and artifacts with a single thought…”

”Foresight Secret: Supreme divination art. Can glimpse the future at the cost of origin essence and lifespan. Occasionally, the heart will spontaneously foresee events related to oneself or those close. Overusing heavenly secrets may incur heavenly punishment, damage fortune, and bring misfortune in old age. Use with extreme caution!”

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Looking at the system prompts, Ye Chen’s eyes practically blazed. He had expected a lot, but a max critical hit still filled him with joy. And this five-thousand-times Yao Yuezhi really delivered. A single fragment had directly turned into three complete Nine Secrets!

The Stasis Secret needed no introduction. Once cultivators reached the Fourth Heaven and became Semi-Saints, they grasped the laws of time. But it was only entry-level: they could accelerate their own cultivation inside their cave-heaven, yet they could not apply it to others. It was basically useless in actual combat.

The Stasis Secret, however, far surpassed the Semi-Saint level. It could act directly on enemies. Slowing their personal time flow—not just movement speed, but casting speed, reaction speed, everything. The degree of weakening was unimaginable. At full mastery, it could even lock an enemy’s state with temporal power.

The later stages of cultivation were dominated by monstrous regeneration. Almost everyone had top-tier healing treasure techniques, plus the Trinity of body, qi, and spirit made self-recovery absurd. Killing cleanly grew harder and harder. You injure an opponent, and they heal in the blink of an eye. Some, like Lu Ya, could even revive after death. But with the Stasis Secret locking their state, no matter if they took pills, relied on constitution, or used supreme healing arts—they would remain half-crippled. A divine skill.

The Array Secret was equally extraordinary. Arrays, talismans, weapon refining—these were essential arts for any cultivator. Even immortals used them. Mastering the Array Secret meant reaching the absolute peak in all three. With a wave, a random mountain could become a world-ending killing array. The most ordinary talisman could erupt with power rivaling immortal arts. Same materials, weapons thirty percent stronger. And you could even seize enemy arrays for your own use. Paired with his Armament Secret, snatching enemy weapons would be even easier. Another divine skill.

Repairing the Heavenly Emperor War Chariot would now be child’s play. The benefits were endless. As for the Foresight Secret, Ye Chen had heard of it long ago. The Heavenly Evolution Immortal Scripture was derived from half the Foresight Secret, created by Heavenly Evolution True Immortal. But Ye Chen had always been too lazy to study the scripture. Now that he had the complete Foresight Secret, cultivating it properly and divining a few things could be interesting.

For example, where exactly had his ”father” in the cultivation world, Ye Tianhe, gone? But divination consumed origin essence and lifespan. Though he had plenty, better not to waste it. Not to mention it could harm fortune and bring misfortune in old age.

Fortune was ethereal, yet undeniably crucial. So apart from divining his father’s whereabouts later, Ye Chen had no intention of using the Foresight Secret for anything else. But the Foresight Secret’s other effect caught him completely off guard. There was a chance it would spontaneously foresee crises that might befall him or those close to him. No cost at all, pure intuition.

For Ye Chen, this was an absolute divine skill. If he could know in advance when someone close to him was in danger? Priceless. Best of all, it was completely free, a passive of the Foresight Secret. And Ye Chen loved free stuff the most.

…

All in all, he was genuinely thrilled with Yao Yuezhi’s feedback rewards. Three complete Nine Secrets in one go. Plus the five he already had (Armament, Battle, Multiplier, Healing, Movement), that made eight. Only one away from collecting all nine: the first secret, the Front Secret.

The cultivation world had always whispered that uniting the Nine Secrets would birth a terrifying art, far surpassing any immortal scripture, with power beyond imagination. The Heavenly Emperor had tried, but failed to gather them all before ascending, a lifelong regret. Whether he completed the set in the Immortal Realm afterward, no one knew. If Ye Chen met him again during a tribulation, he planned to ask. And casually mention that he himself had already collected eight.

Thinking of this, Ye Chen’s gaze toward Yao Yuezhi grew even gentler. No matter how much tea this girl brewed or what intentions she harbored in approaching him, just for this max critical hit alone, this sworn little sister was officially locked in.

Yao Yuezhi felt Ye Chen’s direct, burning gaze. Her pretty face flushed crimson; even her ears turned red. Joy, shyness, and a hint of playful reproach filled her eyes.

”Big Brother Ye… what are you going to do?”