Immortality Starts With Investment

”I refuse to accept this!”

The unwillingness and indignation in the Little Stone Sovereign’s voice were palpable to all. Such was the fate of most Holy Spirits. Each possessed the potential for perfection.

Yet before emergence, they were helpless. The slightest mishap forced premature birth—eternal imperfection, forever barred from immortality. But this only deepened outsiders’ awe for the Holy Spirit Clan’s terror.

A deficient one was already this formidable. What heights would a perfect specimen reach?

...

The onlookers felt profound pity. Some even ached with sympathy.

Ye Chen, however, remained unmoved. The Holy Spirit Clan had luck enough. Even deficient, they stood at the pinnacle—nearly all reaching Mahayana. He had started with mere third-grade spiritual roots. Breaking through a minor realm in Qi Refinement had taken him one or two years. Seeing a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he had to call them ”ancestor.”

Where could he go to air his grievances? Did they need a guaranteed ascension slot just to be satisfied? And these spectators—pitying the Little Stone Sovereign?

Stronger than you, longer-lived than you.

Yet you feel sorry for him, lament his misfortune?

Laughable.

Slaves pitying their masters—exactly this.

As the Little Stone Sovereign roared, seven-colored divine light blazed from his stone frame. Endless divine flames surged, like boiling magma. Cracks healed in an instant; the obliterated half of his body cracked and reformed rapidly. Like a dragon stretching its limbs.

In blinks, he stood restored. Now, his stone body pulsed with power, treasure light flowing. He radiated ferocious killing intent.

At the same moment, an ancient, weathered three-meter stone sword materialized abruptly from the void, grasped in his hand. Pitch-black as ink, it matched his body’s material perfectly. The blade gleamed with edge and chill, killing aura manifesting tangibly.

This startled everyone. Legends spoke of Holy Spirits blessed with extreme fortune—accompanied by natal weapons gestated alongside them.

Clearly, this stone sword was one such. It already exuded the presence of a high-grade Extreme Dao weapon. This deepened the crowd’s empathy for the Little Stone Sovereign’s resentment. Had he gestated undisturbed, not only would he have emerged at quasi-immortal realm, this sword might have become a supreme Extreme Dao weapon. A supreme Extreme Dao weapon of the same origin, birthed together—what terror would its might hold? Likely rivaling a quasi-immortal martial emperor.

At this thought, countless hearts could only sigh in regret for him.

...

Swish!

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Cloaked in boundless heaven-and-earth essence, the Little Stone Sovereign exploded forward. Stone sword in hand, he teleported-like from above, cleaving down at Ye Chen.

The massive blade rent heaven and earth—like a world-shaking thunderbolt, edge fully bared. In his grasp, the sword complemented him perfectly, unleashing every ounce of potential. Its power far surpassed an ordinary high-grade Extreme Dao weapon in another’s hands.

Ye Chen regarded the descending sword with calm indifference. Earlier, curious to test his physique’s limits against the Little Stone Sovereign, he had refrained from the Nine Secrets or other arts. Only the Heavenly Emperor Fist—to gauge the quality. The result had pleased him. The opponent couldn’t even scratch him.

Of course, this Little Stone Sovereign proved resilient too. Against the full terror of his physical might, a single punch had left half the stone body intact.

Impressive. But that was all.

Ye Chen had no intention of lingering. Having slain so many prodigies, Myriad Races Immortal City was no longer safe. Otherwise, assassinations would plague him daily. Better to end this quickly and hit the road—to find Lan Nuo. Stay with her a while, deliver the gifts, then return to the Great Yan Continent for his fiancée.

By then, his realm should reach the third-heaven peak. Visit the divine maiden once more—have her and the Heavenly Desire Sect Master assist his cultivation together. Then break through directly.

Perfect!

Ye Chen’s figure blurred as the Battle Secret and Multiplier Secret activated simultaneously. He charged forward with his bare body, not even summoning the Heavenly Emperor Sword—meeting the attack empty-handed.

Yet everyone saw it clearly. His fists gleamed like molten gold, radiant and blinding. They carried a momentum that suppressed heaven and earth as they smashed upward.

Under countless unblinking gazes, Ye Chen’s golden fists collided with the Little Stone Sovereign’s stone sword.

The next instant, a thunderous crack exploded—like the sky splitting apart. The colossal stone sword—naturally forged by heaven and earth, terrifying beyond measure—shattered under Ye Chen’s punch.

The entire tip snapped off, hurtling away in fragments. Then Ye Chen invoked the Armament Secret.

At the moment the Little Stone Sovereign froze in shock, Ye Chen effortlessly seized the weapon.

In a mere flash, the Little Stone Sovereign’s natal divine armament changed owners.

Ye Chen glanced at the stone sword in his hand with faint regret. It bore innate divine patterns, unrefined by secondary crafting—a rare treasure. Perfect for gifting; the feedback would be extraordinary. A pity he had struck too hard earlier.

”You...”

Fury consumed the Little Stone Sovereign. Losing his natal weapon was unbearable. For a human, it would be like having a long-pursued goddess snatched away after finally winning her. Especially since Ye Chen gazed at the sword with such pity. It enraged him further.

Yet in the next moment, something even more unacceptable occurred. A radiant cascade like an inverted galactic river flashed. The Heavenly Emperor’s heir before him wielded his own natal weapon, as though possessed by a war god. He swung it backhanded, momentum overwhelming. His stone sword, in Ye Chen’s grasp, proved even more terrifying than in his own.

The Little Stone Sovereign dared not block directly. Though his stone face betrayed no expression, terror filled his eyes. He flashed away at extreme speed, desperate to evade the fatal strike. But it was futile.

Against a numerical monster like Ye Chen—who overpowered in every aspect—how could the Little Stone Sovereign escape? Especially since Ye Chen commanded the supreme immortal scripture sword arts.

This swing dragged endless laws and order god chains, wreathed in boundless divine light—like lively serpents. Even a wisp of its aura held power to cleave heaven and earth. Before this unimaginably shocking sword, the Little Stone Sovereign had no counter.

”Ah...”

In the end, the blade cleaved him at the waist. An unwilling roar tore through the skies. His lower stone body exploded outright. The upper half struggled like a cornered beast, desperate to flee. But Ye Chen granted no such chance. He swept the broken-tipped greatsword again, smashing down with the flat.

Boom...

The Little Stone Sovereign’s head and upper torso shattered in a thunderous blast. Signs of resurgence lingered. Destruction force surged in Ye Chen’s eyes. Annihilating light swept the entire battlefield.

Moments later, silence finally descended. The entire field fell so quiet that a pin drop would echo.