Immortality Starts With Investment

At the center of the tribulation arena.

Ye Chen looked at the man before him and could not help raising an eyebrow. The man had a resolute face with sharp, well-defined features, as if carved by a blade. He carried an innate heroic spirit and domineering aura. It was clearly the Heavenly Emperor.

The Heavenly Emperor gazed at Ye Chen, the corners of his mouth curving upward. Yet inside, he felt a slight twitch. He had just broken through and was already facing his tribulation, yet his cultivation had reached the peak of the Great Saint realm? Wasn’t this a bit too outrageous? Had this young man grown a little too strong?

In the environment of the cultivation world, he had still managed to reach this level. If he were in the Immortal Realm, he would probably be able to suppress an entire generation.

The Heavenly Emperor, who had previously felt quite confident in his own Great Saint combat strength, suddenly felt rather dull. The thought of fighting him vanished completely. If he fought Ye Chen with his current Great Saint power, he would probably be killed with a single punch.

Being beaten to death by this kid using the Heavenly Emperor Fist that he himself had created would be too humiliating. But secretly altering the data to suppress him would also be embarrassing once the kid found out later. So, it was better to avoid the fight altogether! If he didn’t fight, he couldn’t lose!

Back when he had become an immortal, his combat strength had risen another level, and he had been unrivaled under the heavens. He had even beaten back invaders from beyond. He would wait until then and fight this youngster at the same realm…

Therefore, under Ye Chen’s burning battle intent and expectant gaze, the Heavenly Emperor smiled and spoke: ”Young man, you are quite impressive… But you still need more training… Once you seize that wisp of Immortal Qi and face your immortal tribulation, come fight me then…”

Ye Chen’s eyes widened. He had waited so long for the Heavenly Emperor, only to be told to wait until he became an immortal? It felt no different from finally managing to invite the Divine Maiden out for dinner after much effort, booking the hotel room, only for her to say she wanted to go home and sleep.

Ye Chen immediately opened his mouth to speak. But the Heavenly Emperor’s imprint merely looked at the junior with a doting smile and slowly faded away…

As the imprint disappeared, Ye Chen’s Great Saint tribulation officially came to an end. Watching the tribulation clouds in the sky gradually thin out and begin to disperse, feeling the destructive aura slowly return to nothingness, Ye Chen felt a wave of emptiness.

This time, he was certain. The Heavenly Emperor had definitely realized he could not beat him at the same realm and had run away to avoid losing face. Although that could also be considered a win, Ye Chen still wanted to fight the Heavenly Emperor with real blades and spears and suppress him. Not to mention, this time the Heavenly Emperor had not even left him an imprint…

What a huge loss.

Most importantly, Ye Chen suspected the Heavenly Emperor would run away again during the next immortal tribulation. Was he really going to spend his entire life unable to complete this achievement?

Standing alone in the void, Ye Chen pondered whether he should violently farm some even more top-tier hidden techniques. That way, during the next immortal tribulation, he could hide his aura.

Perhaps then the Heavenly Emperor would have the confidence to fight him? But what realm was the Heavenly Emperor in now? It was hard to say whether he could fool him.

Ye Chen had a faint premonition that unless he encountered the Heavenly Emperor’s true body, he might never get the chance to complete this achievement in his lifetime.

While his mind wandered with messy thoughts, the people of Heavenly Evolution Holy Land arrived one after another once the tribulation dispersed to congratulate him. Ye Chen pulled his thoughts back and exchanged greetings with the Holy Master and the elders.

Holy Master Feng Baiyu exclaimed in astonishment, ”You two only exchanged a single sentence and it was over? That was way too fast!”

Ye Chen: ”???”

Ye Chen could sense that his Holy Master was no ordinary person either. His cultivation seemed all over the place—one day he was a Half-Saint, the next a Saint, and now he had reached the Great Saint realm just like him. Clearly, something was going on.

But since the man was one of his own, Ye Chen did not mind the secrets. Moreover, after so many years of friendship, Feng Baiyu had long earned his complete trust.

So Ye Chen spoke up and shared his guess that the Heavenly Emperor had avoided the fight. He had encountered the Heavenly Emperor so many times, yet they had never actually fought. The one time he had raised his fist, the Heavenly Emperor had claimed he had something urgent to do—blocking someone’s gate.

Feng Baiyu raised an eyebrow at the words. An existence like the Heavenly Emperor would leave behind traces full of spirit even after death. But claiming he had gone to block a gate? He probably would not lie about that.

Could it be that the Heavenly Emperor had not died? Then why had he never returned after leaving? And whose gate was he blocking? The Other Domain? Impossible. If he were blocking the Other Domain, everyone would know about it. So, where exactly had the Heavenly Emperor gone to block a gate? Could it be that, aside from the Other Domain, the Immortal Realm still had enemies?

Stolen novel; please report.

The more Feng Baiyu thought about it, the uglier his expression became. Still, he offered Ye Chen a brief explanation: ”The Heavenly Emperor has a dark heart. Although he acts with great boldness, he sometimes does things without restraint. I suspect it’s exactly as you guessed—he realized he couldn’t beat you at the same realm, so he refused to fight…

”But the Heavenly Emperor was not always a top existence who shone brilliantly from the start. He fought his way up, constantly surpassing his own limits. The further he went, the more terrifying he became. When he first entered the Immortal Realm, he was suppressed by the realm’s proud geniuses, only to crush them all later. He is the kind of absurd existence who can lose countless times, but the moment you lose once, you can never beat him again.

”So you still need to work hard. If you ever fall behind him in any realm, the Heavenly Emperor will definitely give you a good lecture and say that all those times he avoided fighting were to protect your Dao heart, yet you still failed to improve… In short, he owes so many grudges that many heavenly prodigies of his generation gnashed their teeth at him and were still cursing him on their deathbeds.”

”…”

Listening to his Holy Master, Ye Chen’s mouth twitched… This Heavenly Emperor really had a rather nasty personality.

However…Ye Chen was very confident. No matter how absurd the Heavenly Emperor was, he could never surpass him in any future realm. Therefore, he would never lose even once.

The Heavenly Emperor would have to keep avoiding fights in the future. At least until the day their true bodies finally met…

…

Feng Baiyu seemed to be in low spirits. He did not linger on the topic of the Heavenly Emperor and simply asked Ye Chen whether he planned to head out again. The elders were extremely enthusiastic. They all said they were bored from closed-door cultivation and wanted to go outside for a walk.

After thinking for a moment, Ye Chen nodded. He had been full of battle intent, only for the Heavenly Emperor to leave the moment he appeared. It left him feeling restless and unsatisfied.

Now that he had reached the peak of the Great Saint realm, it was time to head to the Immortal Path and kill the Exiled Immortal. If he could not fight the Heavenly Emperor, he would fight the Exiled Immortal instead. The man had targeted him time and time again. He should have slapped him to death long ago.

Since the Exiled Immortal was the reincarnation of a true immortal from the Other Domain, the density of his origin would definitely not disappoint. He could deliver another batch of origin energy to his fiancée.

Besides that, Ye Chen was also somewhat curious about the Other Domain. After all, once he reached the Immortal Realm, he would definitely be affected by them. It was better to understand them early and prepare in advance.

The cultivation world’s descriptions of the Other Domain were always vague. They only said it was a greater world even more terrifying than the Immortal Realm, without providing any further details.

Ever since the Jianmu Tree had been severed, there had been no more sources of information. Before killing this Exiled Immortal from the Other Domain, he could question him properly.

Ye Chen directly informed Feng Baiyu of his plan. He would rest and stabilize his cultivation in Heavenly Evolution Holy Land for half a month first. After that, he would set off for the Immortal Path. But on the way, he would stop by Heavenly Intention Holy Land for a few days to rest and reorganize.

Feng Baiyu rolled his eyes when he heard that. Heavenly Evolution Holy Land’s route to the Central Continent did not pass by Heavenly Intention Holy Land at all. He could not be bothered to ask why Ye Chen wanted to go there.

As for killing a peak Great Emperor realm Exiled Immortal? Feng Baiyu had originally wanted to dissuade him. After all, the Other Domain were truly terrifying and far more than just a single world. The reincarnated prodigies from there were definitely not simple. But when he remembered that even the Heavenly Emperor had refused to fight Ye Chen at the same realm, Feng Baiyu felt there was no point in trying to persuade him.

Let him go…

Without further delay, Feng Baiyu went to make arrangements for the journey and select suitable elders from the enthusiastic crowd.

However, as Ye Chen grew stronger and stronger, many elders no longer even qualified to act as his Dao protectors. After all, Ye Chen was fiercer than even the Great Emperor realm elders. Who would be protecting whom? This was also a rather headache-inducing problem.

Ye Chen drifted down gently from the sky. After chatting with Senior An for a while, he sat down beside her to regulate his breathing and stabilize his cultivation.

During this time, An Yuyi also came over. She was still as youthful and energetic as ever. Her cultivation had already reached the second layer of the Mahayana.

Thanks to Senior An, Ye Chen had always shown her special favor and poured a great deal of resources into her. Even after all these years, An Yuyi still retained her childlike face.

Seven days later, Ye Chen finally rose and bid farewell to Senior An and the reluctant An Yuyi, leaving behind a large pile of treasures suitable for Mahayana stage cultivation. With these, she could basically advance straight to the Saint King realm.

Once everything was settled, Ye Chen headed to Elder Lin’s cave mansion. Elder Lin had mentioned earlier that she had a surprise for him.

Now that his sage time had passed, Ye Chen was quite looking forward to it. He guessed that Elder Lin might have developed a new application for the demonic patterns…

However, when he arrived at Elder Lin’s cave mansion and saw the ”surprise” she had prepared, he was momentarily stunned.

It was Li Feihuang.

The once arrogant and proud Li Feihuang had changed a great deal over the years.

At the same time, the system chimed. It informed him that Li Feihuang’s multiplier had reached three thousand times.

Li Feihuang’s heart pounded violently. She looked at Ye Chen with obvious nervousness. ”Holy Son, I…”

Ye Chen knew exactly what she was struggling with. But with his current vision, he no longer cared about such things. Besides, his attitude toward Li Feihuang had always been purely for the sake of gifting; he had never mixed any emotions into it. There was even less reason to make things difficult for her now.

So Ye Chen reached out on his own initiative and pulled her into his arms. ”Let the past stay in the past. It doesn’t matter anymore…”

Li Feihuang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes reddened, and tears slid down her cheeks. Deep in her heart, however, she still felt bitter. Because she knew that giving herself to Ye Chen now was completely different from giving herself to him back then, although both were free offerings, they were not the same at all. But what was missed was missed forever.

Li Feihuang no longer hesitated. Together with her master, Lin Qingtan, she took Ye Chen’s arms from both sides and walked with him toward the depths of the cave mansion.

At first, Li Feihuang felt somewhat uneasy. But Ye Chen was very gentle, and her master guided her attentively. Soon, she gradually entered the right state.

One possessed an ice-like physique, the other a fire-like physique. Their clash brought Ye Chen completely different sensations. It felt as if his mind had been lifted straight to the ninth heaven.

Yet the surprise Elder Lin brought him was not limited to that. She had once again developed a new use for the demonic patterns, and its practicality was extremely high.

However, when Ye Chen looked at Li Feihuang suspended in mid-air by the demonic patterns, his expression turned a little strange… This scene somehow felt eerily similar to certain anime he had watched in his previous life.