Immortality Starts With Investment

Fourth Realm of the Immortal Path.

With the arrival of the Little Peacock King, two Heavenly Demon Semi-Saints, and Yao Yuekong, another fierce battle erupted. Though the Little Peacock King had only just broken through to early Fourth Heaven, with the five-colored divine light at his command, its effects were extraordinarily profound. Even facing a peak Semi-Saint, he held his ground without showing defeat. Every dao and law he wielded was mastered to perfection.

For a time, light of five colors flashed, explosions thundered without end. He fully displayed the bearing of a supreme genius. But while he could stall one, the two Heavenly Demon Semi-Saints could not. One mid, one late—they were completely outmatched, beaten down relentlessly. Faced with the phoenix flames that seemed to incinerate everything, they could only dodge. Death seemed imminent at any moment.

But at that instant, a portal opened at the secret realm’s entrance. A delicate figure in a white dress, graceful as a willow in the wind, shot out. The girl was incredibly fast. She charged straight at the Undying Celestial Phoenix Semi-Saint about to deliver a killing blow, and threw a punch. Her fist was tiny—one slightly larger hand could completely envelop it.

Yet the Semi-Saint’s expression changed drastically. He could feel the terrifying power hidden within that willow-like body. He immediately tried to evade. But she was too fast—he couldn’t dodge. Then he realized what was wrong. It wasn’t that he was too slow. It was that the flow of time around him had been altered.

”The Stasis Secret!”

The Semi-Saint reacted instantly. In that moment, phoenix flames covered his entire body. Divine fire surged, burning fiercely, purging the strange power affecting his surroundings. The Stasis Secret no longer influenced him. But the girl had already seized the opening. She appeared before him, and her jade-like little hand smashed down. Half the Semi-Saint’s head exploded without the slightest resistance.

The scene made everyone’s brows shoot up. The Heavenly Demon Body’s physical strength was indeed terrifying. But in the next instant, divine flames blazed, and the Semi-Saint’s head regenerated perfectly. A cold sneer appeared on his face. ”That all?”

The next moment, endless divine fire transformed into a true phoenix, crashing toward the girl. The girl was, of course, Yao Yuezhi. Her expression was grave, tinged with regret. She had already gained initial mastery of the Stasis Secret. Worthy of its reputation as one of the Nine Secrets’ supreme arts. It was extraordinarily powerful. But unfortunately, she only had a fragment—less than a tenth of its true effect.

The opponent’s Celestial Phoenix flames easily dispelled its influence. This left Yao Yuezhi able to use the Stasis Secret only on herself, barely holding her own against a peak Semi-Saint. They wanted to escape while they still could, but discovered the entire void had been sealed. There was no way out.

The Little Peacock King was tying down one. Yao Yuezhi was stalling another. The remaining one was facing two alone. But the Undying Celestial Phoenix Clan was practically royalty among the myriad races. Their bloodline was truly apex. Even if these three weren’t the clan’s most terrifying geniuses, their combat power was monstrous.

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The one fighting two on one quickly beheaded one of the Heavenly Demon Semi-Saints with divine fire, burning both body and soul to ash. The last remaining Heavenly Demon Semi-Saint was no match either. As for Yao Yuekong, a mere Third Heaven King, he was completely useless here.

The trio’s terrifying might turned Yao Yuezhi and the others pale. They were genius. At equal realm, even against the Undying Celestial Phoenix Clan, they were confident they could win. But they were two minor realms apart. Holding on was already their limit. If the third freed himself, all hope would be lost. And now the void was sealed—they couldn’t escape.

Yao Yuezhi instantly transmitted: everyone retreat into the secret realm! But at that moment, the last Heavenly Demon Semi-Saint was engulfed in divine fire, unable to flee. A heart-wrenching scream rang out as he turned to ash in the blink of an eye. Yet the now-free Undying Celestial Phoenix Semi-Saint did not join his comrades. Instead, he sneered and turned toward Yao Yuekong.

”A lowly ninth-rate clan like the Heavenly Demon Clan—before the Heavenly Emperor’s era, you weren’t even qualified to sit at the main table of our Undying Celestial Phoenix banquets. Let alone in the Heavenly Emperor’s era, when even the Prince’s attendants were princesses of various clans. Your clan was granted this honor, yet you dared refuse? Your entire race will be exterminated in the future!”

Laughing coldly, he reached out with a flaming hand toward Yao Yuekong. The gap between them was more than a major realm. If caught, Yao Yuekong would die without a doubt.

Yao Yuezhi’s jade-green eyes blazed with fury. She instantly moved to save her brother. Though she had bullied him since childhood, their sibling bond was genuine.

Just as Yao Yuekong had rushed here without hesitation despite his weakness, she could not watch her brother die. She truly was grateful to Ye Chen for sparing him. But the moment she tried to rescue him, her opponent blocked her path.

Wreathed in divine flames, he guarded against her Stasis Secret, face full of mocking laughter: ”If we weren’t keeping you alive as bait for the Heir of the Heavenly Emperor, you’d already be dead. And you still think you can save someone else? Since you refuse to be the Prince’s attendant and chose to betray him, watch closely as your brother and your entire clan perish because of you!”

Yao Yuezhi clenched her silver teeth, determination flashing in her eyes. In the next instant, a cave-heaven portal opened behind her with a boom, swallowing her opponent and temporarily trapping him. Then she pushed the Stasis Secret to its limit, her speed reaching the absolute extreme.

In the nick of time, she grabbed Yao Yuekong and hurled him into the secret realm. But Yao Yuekong, who had narrowly escaped death, felt no relief. Instead, his eyes bulged, bloodshot with horror: ”Yuezhi, your cave-heaven…”

The Little Peacock King on the side panicked as well. Using one’s cave-heaven to trap an enemy could buy a moment, but it risked catastrophic retaliation. If the cave-heaven shattered, Yao Yuezhi would fall back to the Second Heaven of Mahayana, her future ruined—she would never break through again.

Yao Yuezhi forced a smile. ”It’s fine. Inside my cave-heaven, I used the Stasis Secret stele as the core and set up a peerless killing array. I’ll release it now—no damage will be done.”

But the next moment, her face went deathly pale. Her cave-heaven trembled violently. Mountains collapsed, earth split, divine fire ravaged everything… Because the killing array inside her cave-heaven had never been completed. It could only hold the enemy for a few breaths.

Yao Yuezhi helped the Little Peacock King retreat into the secret realm as well, while desperately trying to recall her cave-heaven. When it finally retracted and the three hid inside the secret realm, the three Undying Celestial Phoenix Semi-Saints did not pursue. They only watched with cold sneers.

Yao Yuezhi’s face was ashen. She heard the sound of collapse within her body. In the next instant, her realm—which had only just reached Semi-Saint a little over a year ago—plummeted explosively.