Immortality Starts With Investment

”Fellow Daoist, this truly won’t work!”

”Fellow Daoist, it’s not about the price at all!”

”Friend, the Qiankun Cauldron holds special value to our clan.”

”It was forged from creation spirit liquid—unique throughout the entire cultivation world!”

”Our ancestor, the Divine Silkworm Emperor, crafted it with his own hands.”

”This, this... sigh. Brother Ye, it seems you truly desire the Qiankun Cauldron, but I alone can’t make the call. Like this: I’ll go consult our ancestor on your behalf...”

The Divine Silkworm Clan’s patriarch had never once entertained selling the Qiankun Cauldron at the outset. After all, it stood as a relic left by their ancestor.

Moreover, it could mend shattered cave heavens, drawing occasional cultivators whose domains had suffered damage; they paid hefty resources for repairs. That made it a steady, long-term revenue stream. But Ye Chen’s bids had stunned him—both in their extravagance and the heir’s evident wealth.

High-grade Extreme Dao Weapons carried immense value, too. Even their Divine Silkworm Clan, after all these years, possessed scarcely more than a dozen. And Ye Chen? Under the patriarch’s deliberate probing, he had escalated all the way to an offer of twenty high-grade Extreme Dao Weapons. What did that signify?

In terms of raw worth, it nearly rivaled the clan’s own treasury. From then on, every slightly stronger elder could wield one. The boost to their collective combat strength would prove monumental.

Yet by now, Ye Chen’s face betrayed real pain, his increments lacking their earlier conviction. The patriarch knew they had reached the limit. Any further pressure, and Ye Chen could scarcely up the ante. In any case, he felt genuinely tempted.

After all, few in his clan suffered cave heaven damage anymore, and alternatives existed for mending them beyond the Qiankun Cauldron. Though a high-grade Extreme Dao Weapon, it didn’t excel in battle anyway. Exchanging it for twenty of equal grade? That would catapult the Divine Silkworm Clan’s power skyward.

All told, the patriarch’s heart truly stirred this time. But he revealed nothing, instead bidding Ye Chen and his companion to wait while he sought the ancestor’s counsel.

...

Once the Divine Silkworm patriarch departed, Yao Yuekong gazed at Ye Chen with a tangle of emotions. He felt surprise—though not utter shock—at Ye Chen’s hoard of Extreme Dao Weapons.

After all, Ye Chen had claimed the Heavenly Emperor’s treasury. The Emperor had wrought endless havoc back then, slaying without mercy and amassing such arms in abundance; it stood to reason. What moved Yao Yuekong more was Ye Chen’s sacrifice. He truly cherished his sister that deeply.

The patriarch harbored the same thoughts. Even as he inwardly cursed the Heavenly Emperor for his past villainy and hoarding such treasures, he contacted the ancestor. Upon meeting the elder, he swiftly reported the Heavenly Emperor’s heir’s bid for the Qiankun Cauldron.

”Twenty high-grade Extreme Dao Weapons? That’s quite the offer! After all, the cultivation world edges ever closer to decline. Once this Immortal Path concludes, we’ll enter the Age of Dharma’s End. By then, cultivation will grow ever harder, resources ever scarcer—the entire world will descend into chaos, flames of war everywhere.

”Stockpiling a massive hoard of high-grade Extreme Dao Weapons would benefit our clan immensely. Many races hoard spirit stones, treasures—we’ll hoard Extreme Dao Weapons. When the time comes, we’ll just raid them outright!

”The Qiankun Cauldron may be an ancestral relic, but our ancestor would surely prefer to see our Divine Silkworm Clan thrive and endure the full span of the Dharma’s End. So, we can greenlight this deal.”

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The ancestor gave his approval. A smile crept across the patriarch’s face. But the ancestor continued, ”These terms aren’t quite enough, though. I’ve observed that the Heavenly Emperor’s heir isn’t a fool. He must have a special need for the Qiankun Cauldron to bid so extravagantly.

”For an ordinary shattered cave heaven, borrowing it for repairs would suffice—yet he insists on outright purchase. Given his past actions, it’s likely one of his women whose cave heaven core has met with disaster, requiring the cauldron as a full replacement. So, drive a harder bargain—throw in that Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod! Once the Dharma’s End arrives, we’ll charge straight at those monkeys with it in hand...

”Those filthy apes cost our clan the Nine Transformations Heavenly Furnace. Without that loss, every one of us could have soared like dragons—at minimum, reaching the sixth transformation. We’d have claimed the throne as the foremost among myriad races long ago. Damn them—truly damn them all!”

The mention of the Victorious Fighting Ape Clan stirred particular loathing in the patriarch. Yet he worried that upping the price might scare Ye Chen off. After all, it was a supreme Extreme Dao Weapon.

The ancestor chuckled. ”Unless my read is off, that Heavenly Emperor’s heir—however displeased—will surely acquiesce. He truly cares for his women, after all. The Heavenly Emperor was no saint himself. This time, I’ll make his descendant bleed a little.”

The patriarch received his orders and departed at once.

...

”What? The Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod? I’m only trading for a high-grade Extreme Dao Weapon here—offering twenty of equal grade is already an astronomical sum. But a supreme Extreme Dao Weapon? Its value is incalculable—likely worth far more than a hundred high-grade ones combined. This is blatant extortion, and I must decline! Let’s call this off, then!”

Ye Chen had anticipated the patriarch’s return with a counteroffer—no one played the fool in these games.

Yao Yuekong watched from the side, so Ye Chen rose and paced a few steps, feigning outrage!

The slower Ye Chen’s strides, the more the patriarch marveled at the old adage: the ginger grows spicier with age. The ancestor’s insight proved razor-sharp; he had pierced straight to Ye Chen’s unyielding resolve.

”Fellow Daoist, you wouldn’t want one of your cherished beauties to suffer a shattered cave heaven core, her immortal path severed forever, would you?”

The patriarch drawled leisurely.

Ye Chen sneered inwardly, though his face betrayed shock—pupils contracting in feigned alarm.

The patriarch said nothing, merely offering a faint smile.

Ye Chen’s features twisted in reluctance, but he soon sighed and halted his steps.

Yao Yuekong, a burly giant of a man with broad shoulders and a rugged frame, watched the scene unfold with reddening eyes. His brother-in-law had truly sacrificed far too much!

Seeing Ye Chen yield in the negotiation, the patriarch brimmed with ecstatic joy.

Ye Chen still held the Heavenly Emperor Sword, another supreme Extreme Dao Weapon.

But as the patriarch opened his mouth to press further—managing only a single word—he sensed the killing intent surging from Ye Chen’s body. It chilled him to the bone in an instant. He understood then: any more greed, and the deal would shatter irreparably.

Not only would he lose the supreme Extreme Dao Weapon and those twenty high-grade ones, but the clan would forge an eternal enmity with Ye Chen. By then, every clansman in the Third or Fourth Heaven might fall to his blade. After all, this man before him had just conned and slain three peak Half-Saints from the Undying Celestial Phoenix Clan.

At that very moment, the ancestor’s voice echoed in the patriarch’s mind: ”Don’t get greedy. Securing the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod is plenty.”

The patriarch nodded hastily. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a pale blue miniature cauldron, extraordinarily translucent, as if carved from divine jade. The moment the small cauldron appeared, a peculiar aura wafted through the hall.

Yao Yuekong’s face lit up with unrestrained delight at once. The Qiankun Cauldron—they had truly obtained it.

On Ye Chen’s side, he flicked his wrist, and twenty-one streaks of light burst from his cave heaven. Twenty high-grade Extreme Dao Weapons in full, plus one supreme. Their mingled killing auras pressed down heavily, filling the room with immense pressure on everyone present. An ordinary cultivator might go a lifetime without witnessing so many Extreme Dao Weapons gathered together. The sheer spectacle proved utterly breathtaking.

Deep within clan territory, the patriarch feared no backlash; he handed over the Qiankun Cauldron first.

Ye Chen caught it with a sweeping grasp and refined it via the Armament Secret, claiming ownership in a heartbeat. Once he confirmed all was in order, he turned with a darkened expression and stormed out.

The patriarch grinned ear to ear. ”Fellow Daoist Ye, you’re always welcome to visit again.”

This round, he’d thoroughly fleeced the Heavenly Emperor’s heir—the man had taken a massive bath. Meanwhile, the Divine Silkworm Clan’s strength had surged dramatically. What a bloody windfall.

As Ye Chen strode toward the exit, though, the corners of his mouth soon curled upward in a grin of equal satisfaction. With the Qiankun Cauldron secured, it equated to at least one immortal artifact in the bag! It might even be the Divine Silkworm Clan’s famed Nine Transformations Heavenly Furnace. This deal was the real bloody jackpot!