Immortality Starts With Investment

”Congratulations to the host for successfully gifting an item…”

”Gift: Pure Origin!”

”Four-thousand-five-hundred-fold feedback in progress…”

”Detected that the gift is extremely important to the recipient, triggering intense emotional fluctuations…”

”Top-notch critical hit feedback triggered!”

”Feedback: origin…”

”Primordial Chaos Supreme Body completion increased to two ten-thousandths!”

Looking at the system prompt, Ye Chen felt a vast, surging power awaken within his body. A silent, astonishing transformation was taking place. Flesh, bones, blood, innate divine abilities…

Everything was quietly growing under the influence of this force. And it didn’t stop there. Even his primordial spirit, his cave heaven, and the newly born Immortal Spiritual Roots within him received subtle yet profound enhancements…

Ye Chen could clearly sense his Qi becoming denser, his perception of heaven and earth growing sharper. His affinity with the laws of time deepened. His understanding of the entire world seemed to undergo an earth-shattering shift simply because the Primordial Chaos Supreme Body had grown stronger.

A long while later, Ye Chen slowly opened his eyes. Shock flickered in his gaze. The Primordial Chaos Supreme Body truly deserved its reputation as a physique above even immortal physiques. At merely two ten-thousandths completion, it had already bolstered nearly every aspect of him. His already unimaginable battle power had risen to an entirely new level.

When the transformation finally concluded, Ye Chen opened his eyes once more. Within his pupils seemed to shimmer scenes of the beginning of heaven and earth, of chaos giving birth to all things. He was satisfied with the current two ten-thousandths completion.

But clearly, achieving such a massive leap again in the future would be difficult. After all, he had nearly wiped out the entire young generation of prodigies from the myriad races. He had also slain quite a few Saint Spirits.

As for Great Saint Wen Tailai and the other Saint Kings and Saints who had reached such realms, they had all once been prodigy-level figures of their generations. Their origin was hardly inferior to that of someone like the Holy Celestial. Such existences were only going to become scarcer.

Moreover, after showing his full might this time, even if he continued fishing aggressively, far fewer would take the bait. So Ye Chen estimated that completing the Primordial Chaos Supreme Body before ascending to immortality would be nearly impossible. Only after reaching the Immortal Realm and starting anew—or if prodigies from foreign domains came to deliver themselves—might there be a chance!

…

Ye Chen gathered his thoughts and turned toward his fiancée. By now, Yi Qingwu had regained some composure. Her usual aloof, noble aura had returned. Only the slight swelling of her abdomen showed that she hadn’t yet fully digested the origin.

”Whether I refine the origin now is my own business. You’re not Ying Tiansheng—what right do you have to tell me what to do?”

Yi Qingwu’s voice rang out like immortal music, clearly displeased at the idea of refining the origin immediately. She wanted Ye Chen to keep increasing his speed. Though he had said he would stay and wait for her to emerge from seclusion, Yi Qingwu was truly reluctant to part with him.

Originally, she had felt a little upset about Ye Chen’s ambiguous interactions with various clan leader wives, about how he gave Sacred Spiritual Root to Lan Nuo just to win a beauty’s smile. When she learned he had returned to the Great Yan Continent, Yi Qingwu had assumed that after so long apart, he would come to her first. She had even prepared various whips and researched new binding techniques.

Yet upon returning to the Great Yan Continent, Ye Chen had immediately gone to the Heavenly Desire Sect to find those unchaste female cultivators. That had left her quite dissatisfied. But now, she had figured everything out. Everything Ye Chen did was because he feared she wouldn’t have enough origin—so he kept fishing, drawing enemies to him.

For example, going to the Heavenly Desire Sect—It was precisely because the sect was too weak that enemies dared to attack. If Ye Chen had come straight to Heavenly Intention Holy Land, with an immortal artifact suppressing the area, who would have the courage to cause trouble?

In short, having understood it all, Yi Qingwu sank into deep, overwhelming emotion. She couldn’t bear to be separated from him. Her mind even recalled what her own Holy Master had said about becoming Dao companions. If Ye Chen brought it up this time, she decided she would reluctantly agree.

…

Hearing his fiancée continue her provocations, Ye Chen did not take the bait. He genuinely wanted to see the exact change in her multiplier once she achieved the complete Acquired Chaos Body.

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”The origin hasn’t been fully refined yet—every second, a small amount is dissipating. Go cultivate quickly. In the future, we will have endless time together. There’s no need to rush everything into one day or one night.”

Ye Chen spoke softly, gently urging her to begin refining at once. His obvious concern for her cultivation moved Yi Qingwu deeply.

”When you arrived this time, did the Holy Master mention anything about becoming Dao companions? Did you agree?”

Yi Qingwu asked, feigning indifference. Ye Chen smiled at once. If Yi Qingwu had truly been willing, she would have said nothing and simply let things happen naturally. The fact that she deliberately brought it up…

Clearly, she was worried that formalizing the relationship would limit the variety of their ”play,” so she was hinting for him to refuse. Thus, Ye Chen shook his head immediately.

”Rest assured—I refused very firmly.”

It was a lie, but he could simply inform the Holy Master later.

Yi Qingwu’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.

He refused? Ye Chen actually refused to become Dao companions with her?

Ye Chen clearly loved her. So why refuse? Why reject?

It must be because of other women. Everyone knew Ye Chen had many women around him. But he had never formally taken anyone as a Dao companion.

Therefore, the first official ceremony carried great significance—whoever received it would hold a special place. By refusing outright, Ye Chen was signaling that some other woman ranked higher in his heart than she did.

Who could it be? His grand master? Or perhaps An Miaoli from Heavenly Evolution Holy Land? Or maybe Lan Nuo, the heavy-pupiled Sacred Spiritual Root from Central Continent?

As for Luo Bingling and the others, they didn’t even appear in Yi Qingwu’s mind.

In that instant, countless thoughts and possibilities flashed through her head.

A long silence passed. Finally, Yi Qingwu spoke in a flat tone: ”Good that you refused. It saves them from constantly sending my grandmother to persuade me… You may leave now. I’m going into seclusion. There’s no need for you to wait. Just go.”

With those words, Ye Chen was momentarily stunned. Just moments ago, his fiancée had worn an expression of reluctance, seemingly hoping he would take the hint and stay. How had her attitude changed so suddenly? And she clearly wasn’t speaking in reverse. She actively summoned a curtain of moon-hua and pushed against his back, urging him out.

Ye Chen didn’t resist. He had just stepped out of the cave abode and turned to say a few parting words—telling her to cultivate well—But before he could speak, the cave doors slammed shut with a thunderous boom. The entire Divine Maiden Peak trembled twice. Even the mountain-protecting array was momentarily triggered from the sheer force.

Ye Chen stood there, utterly confused. His fiancée… was angry?

After a moment of reflection, he roughly understood. It was most likely because of what he said about refusing. His fiancée was tsundere to the core—she actually wanted to become Dao companions.

But if she wanted it, why not just say so directly? Why suddenly get so furious?

The way women thought was sometimes truly impossible to understand—even for cultivators. Still, as long as he figured out why she was angry, the problem would be easy to solve.

Ye Chen immediately flew toward the Heavenly Intention Holy Hall. His own Holy Master was currently chatting amiably with the other side. When Ye Chen announced his intention to take Yi Qingwu as his Dao companion, the hall fell silent for a heartbeat. Then smiles bloomed across every face.

Ye Chen wished to marry their Holy Maiden. At the same time, he presented a storage ring as the betrothal gift. The cultivation world did not follow the custom of dowries. But both sides would exchange valuable gifts.

The Heavenly Intention Holy Master was naturally overjoyed and paid little attention to the gift at first. Heavenly Intention Holy Land had its principles. Whatever Ye Chen offered, they would return something of equal—or greater—value. No, they would return double. Ye Chen deserved such serious treatment. But when the Holy Master’s divine sense swept into the storage ring and saw the contents, his expression froze instantly…

Did this kid want to empty the entire treasury of Heavenly Intention Holy Land? Ninety-nine high-grade Extreme Dao Weapons—what was that supposed to mean? And beyond that, there were countless top-tier heavenly materials, earthly treasures, spirit plants, spirit items… Even a ginseng fruit capable of extending life by three hundred and sixty years…

In short, the Holy Master’s hands trembled as he held the ring.

…

In the days that followed, Heavenly Intention Holy Land became exceptionally lively. Everyone knew that Ye Chen wished to take their Holy Maiden as his Dao companion. And that he had presented an astronomical betrothal gift.

Ninety-nine high-grade Extreme Dao Weapons—that alone was absurd. Many holy lands didn’t even have that many among their Mahayana cultivators. There were also various priceless heavenly treasures, each worth an unimaginable fortune.

As for the ginseng fruit, no word of it leaked outside. But even without that, the sheer extravagance left outsiders stunned, while countless people envied, envied, and hated Yi Qingwu.

To offer so many treasures as a betrothal gift…It proved beyond doubt that the Heavenly Emperor’s heir truly loved the Heavenly Intention Holy Maiden. It was simply too enviable.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen waited patiently for Yi Qingwu to emerge from seclusion. Such a grand gesture should be enough to calm his fiancée’s anger. As for whether they became Dao companions—that would depend entirely on her wishes.

Ye Chen himself didn’t particularly care. In his previous life on Earth, he had never wanted to marry. Marriage came with responsibilities, and if one encountered someone with bad intentions, they might get manipulated while also losing half their assets. Even the wealthiest people on Earth suffered greatly in divorce.

But the cultivation world had no such complications. He didn’t need to worry about nonsense like splitting cultivation bases in a divorce. It was mainly about emotional value. And he could provide that. Perhaps because he had given her too much origin this time, two and a half months passed, and Yi Qingwu still had not finished refining and emerged.

Ye Chen had anticipated this. After all, forming a complete Acquired Chaos Body would naturally require more time. But just then, the Conferred God List stirred. This meant one of the names inscribed upon it was reaching out to him.

Currently, the only name on the list was the Demon-Exterminating Great Saint. Calculating the days, it had been exactly three months. It seemed the Great Saint had dealt with Alkaid.

Last he heard, Alkaid had been researching ways to further advance his Acquired Chaos Body. Ye Chen was quite curious to see the result. Through the Conferred God List, he sensed that the Demon-Exterminating Great Saint was nearby.

Ye Chen rose silently and drifted out of Heavenly Intention Holy Land without a sound. Soon, he met the Demon-Exterminating Great Saint. But upon seeing the old man’s appearance, the corners of Ye Chen’s mouth twitched...