Immortality Starts With Investment

The three myriad race female cultivators—who had just been trash-talking Ye Chen—froze in place the moment they spotted him approaching. All three stood at the Mahayana, with one even at the third level. They weren’t peerless prodigies by any stretch, but they carried some renown among the myriad races. Even so, as Ye Chen drew nearer, they held their breath, a flicker of unease stirring within. Had he overheard their jabs at the Heavenly Emperor’s heir?

The thought left all three feeling a twinge of guilt. After all, Ye Chen was the sort who could swindle and slaughter peak Half-Saints without breaking a sweat. He operated on an entirely different plane from them.

As he closed the distance, the middle woman—broad-framed and voluptuous, her fox-like eyes sharp—rose to her feet. Her voice carried a forced steadiness as she spoke. ”Heavenly Emperor’s heir, what do you want? This is the Myriad Races Immortal City—no private duels allowed!”

Ye Chen offered a gentle smile at once. ”Miss, you’ve got it all wrong. I just thought your face looked familiar, like we’d crossed paths before. So I came over to say hello. Perhaps you’ve watched one of my battles?”

The woman blinked in surprise. Then disdain deepened in her heart. She had never spectated any of Ye Chen’s fights—in fact, she’d only emerged from seclusion a month ago upon breaking through to the King realm. How could she possibly have met him? Ye Chen must have simply found her attractive and cooked up this lame excuse.

Her features hardened into icy aloofness. ”I’ve never laid eyes on the Heavenly Emperor’s heir before. And I know all about your... reputation and ways. So, please leave. I’m not like Luo Bingling or Yao Yuezhi—those women too weak-willed to know better.”

Ye Chen’s lips curved faintly as he nodded. ”Miss, you’re mistaken. I truly just mixed you up with someone else. Take this as my apology, a gift for you! Farewell.”

With a casual reach into his cave heaven, Ye Chen withdrew the items and arranged them in a neat row mid-air. He gave the woman one last calm nod. Then, without a hint of reluctance, he turned and strode away.

The woman scoffed inwardly. ”I don’t accept random gifts from strangers. Heavenly Emperor’s heir, you’d best take them back!”

She’d heard tales of Ye Chen’s lavish generosity, but her standing in the Heavenly Fox Clan ran high enough. She hardly needed some token apology. His swift departure smacked of the classic feint to pique interest anyway. Still, rumors painted the Heavenly Emperor’s heir as discerning to a fault—only the finest caught his eye. That much sparked a quiet swell of pride in her chest. But the next instant, gasps of shock erupted from her two companions.

The woman focused her gaze at once, finally discerning what Ye Chen had left hovering in the air. Her pupils contracted sharply as she drew in a sharp, icy breath.

”This is Starlight Spirit Celery!”

”Starlight Spirit Celery grows only on select celestial bodies, making it exceedingly rare. It resonates with stellar power and, when refined into pills, aids cultivators in breaking through bottlenecks!”

”Not only that, but planting it in one’s cave heaven reportedly infuses vast spiritual essence while nurturing fragments of stellar force. This lends the domain greater vitality, greatly accelerating the host’s cultivation speed.”

”As the cultivation world fades into decline, even Starlight Spirit Celery grows scarcer. Each stalk fetches hundreds of thousands of top-grade spirit stones!”

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”Ten whole stalks—that’s a million top-grade spirit stones! The Heavenly Emperor’s heir is far too lavish; a mere apology runs him a fortune?”

Her two companions traded words in a frenzy, their envy bordering on madness.

The woman herself reeled from the shock. She had just broken through to the King realm and desperately needed resources to bolster her cave heaven’s foundation. Her clan had subsidized her with five hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones—a veritable fortune. Yet Ye Chen, upon their first encounter, had gifted her spirit plants worth a million.

This...

The woman fell silent. In that moment, she suddenly understood Luo Bingling and Yao Yuezhi—highborn daughters of the War God and Heavenly Demon Clans—why they would lower themselves to a mere human’s side. This man was truly magnanimous.

Before, she had dismissed Ye Chen as all show and no substance. Now, reconsidering, everything felt utterly transformed. The Heavenly Emperor’s heir carried a singular charm. If she could become his woman, would she even need to strive along the Immortal Path?

The thought filled her with profound regret. She peered ahead at once, but Ye Chen’s figure had long vanished from sight. A deep melancholy settled over her.

...

Meanwhile, a system prompt echoed in Ye Chen’s mind.

”Gift: Starlight Spirit Celery!”

”...”

”Three-thousand-fold feedback in progress!”

”Critical hit reward triggered!”

”Feedback: One hundred stalks of Starlight Divine Celery!”

”Starlight Divine Celery: After two hundred thousand years of growth, Starlight Spirit Celery births sentience and evolves into this form. Drastically bolsters cave heaven foundations, wards off heart demons, heightens breakthrough efficiency, and strengthens soul power. It can also substitute as core material in many stellar array formations, autonomously emanating moonlight essence...”

Upon reviewing the feedback, Ye Chen arched a brow, a smile tugging at his lips. The Starlight Divine Celery ranked among the pinnacle spirit materials just shy of immortal roots. And it had burst forth just like that. Planting it in his cave heaven would surely yield substantial gains.

From there, Ye Chen’s mood soared even higher. He wandered the Myriad Races Immortal City with keen interest alongside Yao Yuekong.

Yao Yuekong, walking at Ye Chen’s side, wore a complicated expression. He had always assumed that Ye Chen’s hold over so many female cultivators stemmed from some extraordinary prowess. But from what he’d just witnessed, where were the skills? It was all brute-force spirit stone bombardment.

That woman, upon accepting the gift, would likely fill her thoughts with nothing but this brother-in-law of hers. Every waking moment spent yearning for their next encounter. Such a tactic—ordinary folk could never master it. Truly, never.

...

The pair strolled on like that. Before long, they arrived at the gates of a racial outpost aglow with seven-colored radiance. Even from outside, spiritual energy misted thickly, marking it as anything but ordinary. The interior evoked a lush rainforest, exuding an air of serene comfort.

”This is the Peacock Clan’s outpost. Brother-in-law, care to see the Little Peacock King? I can have someone announce us.”

Yao Yuekong offered the introduction. Ye Chen raised a brow at that, the Little Peacock King’s mother’s parting transmission flashing through his mind at once. So he shook his head without a second thought.

Truth be told, even if that Yan Ruyu stood there right now, Ye Chen wouldn’t seek her out. The gulf in their cultivations remained far too vast, after all. He couldn’t possibly offer a fitting gift. The meeting would serve no purpose. This round of gifting had wrapped up anyway, with fine yields.

Ye Chen planned to return and plant the feedback spirit herbs properly. That thought summoned Lu Jing’s image to his mind. His handmaiden had always longed to trail at his heels, slacking away in his cave heaven. Now, though, that suited him perfectly. When tasks arose, she could tend the spirit plants and rear spirit beasts. In idle times, he could give her a proper prod—toss her into the Dao Cauldron or the Nine Transformations Heavenly Furnace for a refining session, lifting both her cultivation and talents in tandem. On this trip back to Greater Yan Continent, he’d bring Lu Jing along.

Ye Chen followed Yao Yuekong back to the Heavenly Demon Clan’s outpost and resumed his secluded cultivation.

...

Meanwhile, within the Peacock Clan’s grounds, a servant reported that Ye Chen and Yao Yuekong had passed by without entering that day. The Little Peacock King pursed his lips.

Ye Chen’s womanizing ways were legendary—he must have designs on his aunt. With her absence, it made sense the man couldn’t be bothered.

The Little Peacock King’s mother stirred faintly at the news. Her thoughts wandered to who-knew-where, a delicate blush coloring her cheeks...