Immortality Starts With Investment

The mention of Heavenly Nether Sect sent shivers through Divine Will Sect. Despite the vast distance, its fearsome reputation echoed across Great Yan Continent.

The Divine Will Ancestor’s face darkened. Though he’d anticipated this, the reality of their arrival weighed heavily.

”Ancestor, what do we do?” the Sect Master asked, voice laced with worry.

The Ancestor rolled his eyes irritably. ”What do we do? We fight, obviously. Or do you want to hand me over to atone for their Young Master’s death? Maybe offer your life tablets while you’re at it?”

The Sect Master fell silent, head bowed.

The Ancestor snorted, turning to An Miaoli and the Magic Peak Master. ”They’re arrogant, sending just one. Let’s see if we can take him down. Heavenly Nether Sect is strong, but they only have one late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Kill him, and our lives get easier.”

He pinned his hopes on An Miaoli. With her high-grade Immortal Soul, her combat power was likely exceptional, perhaps as heaven-defying as Ye Chen’s.

An Miaoli and the Magic Peak Master were taken aback. Three early-Nascent Soul cultivators challenging a late-Nascent Soul? Wasn’t that reckless? But recalling the Ancestor’s feat of killing a mid-Nascent Soul while in the early stage, they realized he had late-stage combat power. With him leading and them assisting, they might stand a chance. Their gazes sharpened with resolve.

Soon, the sect’s mountain gate array unleashed a dazzling beam of divine light, terrifying in its might, but the Heavenly Nether Sect elder blocked it with a raised hand. Unfazed, he grinned cruelly. ”Stubborn fools. Await your doom.”

He’d hoped to intimidate them into surrendering the culprit, seizing control of the array, and then slaughtering them. Since they were clever enough to resist, he wouldn’t force it. The array was beyond his ability to break, but when the Sect Master arrived, no array would hold.

At that moment, an old man charged forth, laughing maniacally, followed by two early-Nascent Soul auras. The Heavenly Nether Sect elder frowned. Reinforcements? But three early-stage cultivators? Surely a trap.

The Ancestor attacked, his sleeves whipping up two spiritual qi dragons. The Magic Peak Master unleashed a sea of divine fire, as if to incinerate all. An Miaoli delicately wielded her techniques, bombarding the elder’s surroundings with mystical arts. Divine light flared, the scene awe-inspiring.

For a moment, the Heavenly Nether Sect elder seemed suppressed, thrilling the watching Divine Will Sect elders. But he soon realized there was no ambush—he’d overthought it. Dropping his restraint, he struck with full force, intent on killing the trio.

The tide turned swiftly. Within a hundred breaths, the Ancestor and Magic Peak Master were battered half to death. An Miaoli held the elder off briefly, buying time to retreat into the array.

The late-Nascent Soul cultivator from Heavenly Nether Sect didn’t approach the mountain gate array, merely sneering, ”Await your doom!” With that, he departed.

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A deathly silence fell over Divine Will Sect. In the grand hall, the Divine Will Ancestor, poisoned by nether qi, was pale and weakened. The Magic Peak Master’s body was half-shattered. Had An Miaoli not unleashed the True Phoenix Treasure Technique and techniques from the Eternal Cosmos Sutra to hold off the enemy, neither might have returned alive. The elders looked at An Miaoli with increased reverence, but their gazes toward the Ancestor held confusion.

The Magic Peak Master’s weakness was understandable—no one had expected him to break through. But the Ancestor’s performance was baffling. Hadn’t he previously killed a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator across a minor realm? Why did he seem barely stronger than the Magic Peak Master now? No one dared voice or ask, burying their doubts.

The Ancestor, embarrassed, chose to seclude himself to heal. The Magic Peak Master did the same, leaving An Miaoli to manage the sect. She issued brief orders, prioritizing the evacuation of their people from Divine Will City. With the mountain gate’s safety in question, the city had to be abandoned.

After handling matters, An Miaoli returned to Quiet Wonder Peak, glancing at Ye Chen’s seclusion site. She suspected the truth: the mid-Nascent Soul Heavenly Nether Sect elder was likely killed by Ye Chen.

At that moment, An Yuyi emerged from her own seclusion, overjoyed to see her aunt’s Nascent Soul breakthrough. She recounted the day she was in danger—how the Ancestor arrived but couldn’t win, and they huddled in the defensive array, trembling. At the critical moment, Ye Chen arrived, cloaked in seven-colored divine light, golden wings blazing, swiftly crushing the enemy.

An Miaoli’s expression confirmed her suspicions. She patted An Yuyi’s head. ”In a few days, the sect will send a group of seeds away. You’ll go with them.”

Heavenly Nether Sect was terrifying. Despite the Ancestor’s tough stance, he’d been preparing an escape route.

An Yuyi frowned. ”Aunt, you’re staying, and Senior Brother Ye Chen is still in seclusion. I’m not leaving. If we die, we die together!”

Her resolve was unshakable. An Miaoli glanced at Ye Chen’s seclusion site, smiling bitterly. Earlier, when the trio failed against the Heavenly Nether Sect elder, the Ancestor had transmitted to her, urging her to lead others away to preserve the sect’s legacy. She knew it was the best option, but Ye Chen was still in seclusion, uncontactable. If the mountain gate fell, he’d be doomed mid-breakthrough. How could she abandon him?

Yet the power gap was vast. If Heavenly Nether Sect’s Deity Transformation Sect Master attacked with other Nascent Soul elders, the gate wouldn’t hold a month. It was a hopeless situation.

An Miaoli tried to persuade An Yuyi further, but the younger woman gazed hopefully at Ye Chen’s cave abode. ”Aunt, I think you’re being too pessimistic. As long as we hold out until Senior Brother achieves Nascent Soul and emerges, everything will turn around. He could kill a Nascent Soul as a Golden Core—once he’s Nascent Soul, he can surely kill a Deity Transformation cultivator. Even if he can’t, it’d be a fair fight, right?”

An Miaoli shook her head inwardly at her niece’s naivety. The higher the cultivation realm, the wider the gap between stages, making cross-realm battles increasingly difficult. Ye Chen facing a Deity Transformation cultivator—a full major realm above—was unthinkable. But she didn’t voice this. She was determined to protect Ye Chen until the end. As long as she lived, no one would disturb his seclusion.

An Yuyi, however, was young with a bright future. If the situation grew dire, An Miaoli resolved to seal her niece’s spiritual qi and force her to leave. For now, she’d focus on cultivating the Eternal Cosmos Sutra. The recent battle had deepened her appreciation of its power. Freshly broken through to Nascent Soul, she’d held off a late-Nascent Soul cultivator using its techniques. With a few years to master it and condense the Cosmic Furnace, her combat power could soar, perhaps allowing her to slay mid-Nascent Soul foes or repel late-stage ones as an early-stage cultivator.

Regrettably, time was short.

As An Miaoli pondered, An Yuyi hugged her arm, eyes sparkling with anticipation. ”Aunt, why haven’t you become Dao partners with Senior Brother Ye Chen?”

An Miaoli’s delicate brows furrowed at the question.