Immortality Starts With Investment

Chapter 268: Self-Destruction

”Why flee?”

Su Yuxuanʼs delicate face was icy as she dodged the massive hand with dreamlike grace, slipping through at the last moment. She shot toward the edge of Champion Kingʼs mansion, confusion swirling in her heart.

Why run now? Sheʼd long noticed his interest in her, but so what? Plenty lusted after her. A few deflections, grab the goods in a couple of days, and bolt—easy. Even if she skipped the imperial aura infusion, sheʼd at least secure the Nether Kingʼs Gall first. Why escape so abruptly?

Manjusakaʼs stern voice echoed in her mind. ”Heʼs inherited the Northern Emperorʼs legacy! The Northern Emperor loved crafting jade beauties—using secret techniques and arrays to refine womenʼs flesh into jade statues, immobile except for their eyes, with their spiritual sense eternally trapped. I saw it myself. I spotted those array patterns in the hall. Stop scheming and flee the capital now!”

Su Yuxuanʼs face paled. Flesh turned to jade, yet conscious forever? Cultivators are sick. By comparison, Senior Brotherʼs foot fetish seemed tame. Without hesitation, she accelerated, racing for the mansionʼs perimeter.

The mansionʼs array flared to life, but Su Yuxuan didnʼt flinch. Her eyes gleamed with divine runes, and a beam of light blasted a gap in the array. She was a heartbeat from escaping when a surprised voice came from the hall: ”Interesting…”

Her expression shifted. Outside the array, a flame-wreathed ancient war chariot roared from the void, slamming into her. Unable to dodge, she was hurled back into the mansion, her face now deathly white.

Gritting her teeth, her heart glowed with divine light, rapidly healing her injuries. Champion King emerged, hovering atop the chariot, gazing down imperiously. ”I chose you, yet you not only refuse to offer yourself but dally with another man. Tonight, Iʼll refine you. Tomorrow, youʼll join me on the battlefield atop my chariot.”

With that, he threw a punch, its unmatched might shaking the mansion as if he ruled the heavens.

Su Yuxuanʼs eyes shot a beam of destructive light, barely countering it. Champion King smirked, unfazed, unleashing a barrage of punches, his spiritual power vast as a starry river, unstoppable. Despite her arsenal of techniques and the Exquisite Heartʼs constant regeneration, it wasnʼt fully hers, limiting its power. Her face paled further, her strength waning.

”Run!” Manjusaka urged desperately. As a mere soul, weakened by her premature awakening due to Ye Chen, she could offer little help. ”You wonʼt escape if you donʼt go now!”

Su Yuxuanʼs face was grim as she unleashed a blood sea, aiming to engulf Champion King. She spun, her eyes flashing to blast another gap in the mansionʼs array, darting toward escape. But the blood sea that had trapped Wang Lun couldnʼt touch Champion King—his divine flames roared, dissolving it instantly.

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He drove his war chariot forward, its momentum poised to crush her.

”Master, what do I do?” Su Yuxuanʼs voice trembled. Champion Kingʼs power was beyond comprehension.

Manjusaka, frantic after years of bonding with Su Yuxuan as her disciple, urged, ”Self-detonate your Golden Core…”

Su Yuxuanʼs eyes widened. A Golden Core was a cultivatorʼs lifeblood—only in absolute desperation would anyone consider such a sacrifice. She balked, but the thought of Champion Kingʼs fate for her—trapped as a jade statue, conscious yet immobile—was unbearable. He was too strong; she had no other way out.

Decisive by nature, Su Yuxuan raised her hand. A radiant, near-perfect golden core shot forth. Champion King, ever impassive, narrowed his eyes at its brilliance. The core swelled rapidly, then exploded with a cataclysmic boom, its force shaking the void.

The mansionʼs array shattered under the impact, half its structures razed to rubble. A ninth-grade Golden Coreʼs detonation was devastating—even Champion King had to retreat. His chariot halted, divine flames flaring to shield him from the chaotic shockwaves.

After dozens of breaths, the explosionʼs chaos subsided. Unscathed, Champion King scanned the ruins coldly. Su Yuxuan was gone. His mansion lay in tatters, half his subordinates dead or injured.

Several rushed forward. ”Lord, she detonated her core—her strengthʼs a fraction of what it was. She canʼt have gone far. Weʼll hunt her down.”

Champion King shook his head calmly. ”Without her core, sheʼs unworthy of being a jade beauty. Find her and kill her.”

With that, he steered his chariot toward the mansionʼs depths. His subordinates gazed at his retreating figure with godlike reverence. Even such a terrifying attack hadnʼt scratched him—truly a prodigy straight out of ancient legends.

…

Su Yuxuanʼs face was deathly pale, teetering on the edge of collapse. Her body was carried by a soul force, fleeing relentlessly. The detonation of her Golden Core—her cultivatorʼs foundation—had inflicted unimaginable damage. It didnʼt just sever her path to immortality; it eroded her lifespanʼs very essence. Already short on longevity, she was now frail to the extreme.

”Find a place to heal and stabilize your injuries. Then weʼll seek a new Golden Core,” Manjusaka said, her voice heavy with a sigh as she guided Su Yuxuanʼs escape. ”The Boundless Demon Sectʼs Elder devised the Core Plundering Technique, which can refine anotherʼs Golden Core into your own. But itʼs flawed—even a ninth-grade core degrades to third or fourth grade after refining. And since itʼs not your own, it merely sustains Golden Core cultivation. Advancing further? Near impossible.”

Su Yuxuan, despite her ashen complexion and feeble voice, managed a weak laugh. ”Survivingʼs enough. Better than being a jade statue. Letʼs head to the Wang residence to find Senior Brother. Right now, the whole capitalʼs only safe by his side. As for a core, heʼll definitely help. Wang Lun has a ninth-grade core—Iʼll ask Senior Brother to take him down. Pity Champion Kingʼs too strong; Senior Brother might not beat him. Otherwise, Iʼd want his core. Li Feihuangʼs would do too, but Senior Brother probably wouldnʼt hurt her.”

Manjusaka was stunned. Even after losing her core, Su Yuxuanʼs spirits were unshaken. She hesitated about seeking Ye Chen but, given their dire straits—Su Yuxuanʼs strength a fraction of its former self, and her own soul form barely matching Golden Core power—theyʼd need Ye Chen to secure a high-grade core.

With a shift in direction, Manjusaka whisked Su Yuxuan toward the Wang residence.

…