Immortality Starts With Investment

”The Heavenly Intention Holy Son is destined to become an immortal. You think he only has half of the Battle Secret? Hmph, he told me he also wields one of the Nine Secrets! When you meet on the Immortal Path, he’ll leave you as nothing but bones!

”Your petty tricks can’t make me submit! Why do you add another stroke to the spirit sense imprint every time it’s over? Boring. I feel nothing. Even if you try a hundred or a thousand times, you can’t shake my resolve!”

After two days, Ye Chen felt no regret. Most of the time, he stood, wielding divine techniques. Behind the two characters of his name in Yi Qingwu’s primordial spirit core, he added two more strokes, forming ”||||\.”

Now, facing Yi Qingwu’s continued defiance, Ye Chen paused, eyeing the stubborn woman with a strange look. Something felt off. This was meant to punish her, but it seemed to have no effect. Was she… addicted?

He had no love for writing. If not for punishment, he wouldn’t bother. So, he ignored her, lifting his hand to release the seal on her primordial spirit, intending to let her go. After all, the Moon Palace, an Extreme Dao Weapon, was crafted for the Broad Cold Immortal Body. Combined, they produced a wondrous effect. With his current realm, he couldn’t suppress such a weapon or truly destroy Yi Qingwu.

But what Ye Chen didn’t expect was that, once freed, Yi Qingwu didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she praised the Holy Son again, belittling Ye Chen in the process. Seeing no further reaction from him, her primordial spirit let out a cold huff and drifted back to the Moon Palace—slowly, as if daring him to intercept and continue ”writing.”

Ye Chen didn’t move.

Her primordial spirit returned to her body. The moment it merged, Yi Qingwu’s languid, weakened form, collapsed in the Moon Palace, could barely stir. Too proud to rise immediately, she lingered, catching her breath before slowly standing. Her delicate brows furrowed, her flawless face brimming with humiliation and defiance, fists clenched tightly.

Then, her graceful figure shot out of the Moon Palace, charging to suppress Ye Chen. Her voice, frail yet laced with furious shame, cried, ”Ye Chen, I’ll make you pay!”

Ye Chen’s jaw dropped. What was this woman doing? Was she rushing out of the Moon Palace to serve herself up?

As Yi Qingwu flew toward him, Ye Chen struck with a single Heaven-Destroying Hand, effortlessly capturing her. The process was too easy, meeting no real resistance. The violet-gold hand brought the pristine, ethereal Yi Qingwu before him.

Yi Qingwu’s face was icy, yet a seductive charm lingered in her eyes. Fearlessly, she glared at Ye Chen. ”You only suppressed me so easily because you branded me, weakening my strength. Next time, I’ll borrow the half-stone tablet inscribed with the Battle Secret from the Holy Son. Its killing power will be far sharper, and I’ll crush you to wash away today’s shame!”

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Ye Chen’s lips twitched. ’I didn’t trigger the brand.’ And was she really offering such a gift? He was indeed intrigued by the Battle Secret. The Nine Secrets and the Ten Vicious Treasure Techniques were the pinnacle arts of humans and myriad races, neither inherently superior—strength depended on the user.

But the Nine Secrets were the zenith of human techniques, created to counter the Ten Vicious Treasure Techniques, not imitate it. If he could obtain it, the insights would be profound. Combining it with the Ten Vicious Treasure Techniques would let him sweep the cosmos, reaching new heights.

Hearing her promise to deliver the stone tablet, Ye Chen’s gaze softened. He couldn’t kill her before, and now he had even less reason to. He’d wait for her to bring it.

Yet, staring at the flawless Holy Maiden fiancée, Ye Chen found her increasingly enigmatic. During the branding, she’d boldly declared that the Heavenly Intention Holy Son not only had half the Battle Secret but also a complete Nine Secret.

This stunned Ye Chen. The geniuses of the cultivation world were cunning, and he hadn’t taken the Holy Son seriously, especially after struggling against a mere senior brother’s avatar. But this revelation changed things. The Holy Son had kept one of the Nine Secrets hidden, unused, or Ye Chen’s senior brother would’ve noticed. Yet Yi Qingwu casually spilled this secret to him, undermining the Holy Son’s trump card and tilting the odds in Ye Chen’s favor.

Now she was offering to borrow the stone tablet for a fight? Ye Chen almost wanted to ask: ”Is the Holy Son really your fiancé? Or is he your enemy? Who betrays their betrothed like this?”

Sensing Ye Chen’s gaze, Yi Qingwu lifted her delicate chin with disdain, cold as a swan. ”Plotting something vile again? You’ve captured me, so I’m at your mercy. But know this—everything has a price. I’ll kill you myself one day! Even if I lose and you humiliate me again, my fiancé will obliterate you with the Nine Secrets, cleansing my shame.”

Ye Chen listened, his eyes tracing her flawless, divine figure. The strange feeling in his mind grew stronger. Yi Qingwu was stunning, worthy of her 2,500-fold reputation, but her thoughts were a mystery. Her arrogance, however, grated on him. What harm was there in branding her body?

Outside, the battle’s clamor intensified. Attacks struck the Two Yi Four Symbols Array, making it tremble. The Heavenly Intention Holy Land was clearly assaulting it to rescue Yi Qingwu. Ye Chen sensed the array wouldn’t hold much longer.

Elder Mo had endured for two days—impressive, but the remaining time wasn’t enough to brand her body. Stopping halfway as the array collapsed would be awkward, like a couple caught mid-act as their house crumbles, with neighbors gawking. Though Yi Qingwu was another’s fiancée, Ye Chen had no taste for such spectacles.

He waved his hand, dispersing the Hand and releasing her. Yi Qingwu frowned, wary. ”What new scheme is this?”

Ye Chen gestured toward the sky. ”The array’s about to break.”

He decided to end things here for now. Next time, he’d see if Yi Qingwu brought the stone tablet inscribed with half the Battle Secret. If she still provoked him, he’d find time to brand her body.

But Yi Qingwu’s eyes widened, her face flushed with humiliated fury. ”You’re waiting for the array to break to shame me in front of my grandmother? Even the Central Continent’s Nether God Holy Land cultivators aren’t as vile as you! I’d rather die than be humiliated—Ye Chen, I’ll fight you to the end!”

With that, she charged again. Ye Chen’s mind froze, countless question marks flooding his thoughts like garbled code.