Immortality Starts With Investment

Yi Qingwu’s body stood under the Moon Palace’s protection. Though her primordial spirit was detained, destroying it would only lead to her revival within the Moon Palace. It was indeed a tricky situation. But Ye Chen smiled.

If he couldn’t kill her, he’d imprint her soul instead. During his soul communion with Fan Qinghe, she had taught him the Heavenly Desire Sect’s soul communion technique, along with other spiritual sense arts. One such technique was perfect for planting a ”safe passage” imprint on Yi Qingwu’s soul.

It wouldn’t make her fully obedient, but it would bind her spirit to his will. With a thought, he could suppress her soul, crippling her combat strength. Over time, it could subtly influence her mind, leaving her at his mercy. For someone as proud as Yi Qingwu, who had planned to enslave him, this would be a humiliation worse than death.

Calmly, Ye Chen raised his hand to place the spiritual sense imprint on her detained spirit. Despite its weakened state and lack of resistance, moonlight flowed around her, imbued with a strange quality that repelled his imprint. Ye Chen raised an eyebrow.

Yi Qingwu’s spirit smirked proudly, her celestial voice ringing out. ”A mere Nascent Soul, no matter how strong your spiritual sense, has no right to imprint my primordial soul. You can’t touch me. In the future, I’ll repay today’s humiliation tenfold.”

Her arrogance was unshaken, even as a captive. She was confident—her soul’s destruction would only lead to revival in the Moon Palace, and if Ye Chen spared it, her grandmother would soon break the array to save her. Either way, she was untouchable. Defeating her meant nothing.

Ye Chen couldn’t stand her smug attitude and sneered. ”I suggest you drop your defenses and let me place the imprint. You might not handle what comes next.”

Her spirit’s lips curled, her radiant smile laced with mockery. ”Go ahead and try.”

She was convinced he had no means to make her yield. Ye Chen chuckled. ”Holy Maiden, you chose this. Don’t blame me.”

Seeing his smile, Yi Qingwu felt a flicker of unease but reassured herself of her invincibility. She fortified her spiritual sense defenses, blocking any imprint. Ye Chen silently activated his technique. A wisp of spiritual sense shot from his brow, forming a shadowy figure that drifted toward her.

She scoffed, dismissing it. But her expression shifted as his spiritual sense, imbued with a mysterious method, pierced her defenses, touching the core of her spirit. The strange power began to sway her mind, her eyes growing hazy. Snapping back, panic flashed in her gaze. ”The Heavenly Desire Sect’s soul communion technique?”

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Ye Chen’s spiritual sense was absurdly powerful. She’d dismissed the rumors of him being Fan Qinghe’s protector as false, never considering this possibility. Yet here he was, using that technique.

The Heavenly Desire Sect, though not a Holy Land, had a profound soul communion art, far surpassing typical spiritual sense techniques. Through it, their spirits could merge, rendering her defenses useless and allowing him to easily place an imprint. Whether it was the imprint or the union itself, Yi Qingwu couldn’t accept either.

In that moment, she knew Ye Chen wasn’t bluffing.

The pride in Yi Qingwu’s eyes finally vanished. She looked at Ye Chen, her voice soft as celestial bells, unusually gentle. ”Ye Chen, it’s better to resolve enmity than deepen it. The immortal path ahead is fierce, with the Central Continent’s prodigies shining like stars. Why not join forces and vie for the immortal path together?”

Ye Chen laughed, continuing to channel the soul communion technique, breaking through her resistance while replying coldly, ”Too late.”

Rejected outright, Yi Qingwu’s heart churned. Feeling Ye Chen’s progress accelerate, her eyes flickered with haziness, as if teetering on the edge of an abyss. She trembled, unable to accept this. She was the fiancée of Heavenly Intention’s Holy Son.

Biting her lip, she said, ”The Battle Secret was an insight from the Holy Son, not a scripture, so I can’t pass it to you. The Moon Palace is my Yi family’s heirloom, impossible to give up. But I can share a wondrous technique from the Moon Palace’s immortal scriptures. Can we call it even?”

Saying this humiliated her proud heart, tantamount to bowing to Ye Chen. Yet he only laughed, too lazy to respond, relentlessly attacking her primordial spirit. Her expression shifted completely.

”I’m Heavenly Intention Holy Son’s fiancée,” she snapped. ”He’s in seclusion, cultivating a complete inheritance. Once he breaks through to Unity, he’ll be the top of the Great Yan Continent’s younger generation—neither Hua Yunfei nor Yao’s Holy Son will match him. If you persist, he’ll kill you!”

She invoked Heavenly Intention’s Holy Son to deter him, feeling the growing danger.

But Ye Chen’s lips curled, not in fear but excitement. Normally, he wasn’t like this, but in this battle, he couldn’t let Yi Qingwu walk away unscathed. She was nearing Unity—a future threat. If he couldn’t kill her, he had to seize this chance to imprint her soul, ensuring she’d never threaten him again.

Yi Qingwu panicked. Mentioning her fiancé only seemed to excite Ye Chen further, defying her expectations. Her eyes flickered between clarity and haze, her distant body growing weak.

”Ye Chen, I beg you, stop!” she pleaded, a rare act for a prideful prodigy. ”I’ll find a way to give you the half-Battle Secret!” Her near-begging words would shock the Great Yan Continent if heard.

But Ye Chen was unmoved, sensing he was moments from breaching her spirit’s core. Yi Qingwu’s starry eyes grew hazy, her lashes trembling, her face etched with unwillingness, teetering on surrender.

”Ye Chen, stop the technique now!” she quavered. ”I’ll drop my defenses and let you place the imprint!”

Choosing the lesser evil, an imprint was humiliating and binding, but she could avoid him in the future. A soul communion, however, would haunt her forever, making it impossible to face her Holy Son. Ye Chen ignored her, suspecting a ploy to stall. He wouldn’t be fooled.

The next moment, her spirit’s core gave way. His spiritual sense merged with her primordial spirit in the void, unhindered, entwining completely.