Immortality Starts With Investment

Ye Chen arrived with astonishing speed. He had already begun freezing the surrounding space, preventing any escape. Yet before he could do anything else, the man simply offered up the Heavenly Position Spiritual Herb.

This… This was far too fake. The onlookers remained motionless, and the one who had taken the spirit grass handed it over willingly… Whoever orchestrated this plot had put in zero effort. The script was blatantly obvious.

Ye Chen slowly descended in front of the man, frowning as he studied him. Only after a long moment did he raise his hand and take the Heavenly Position Spiritual Herb. Its leaves glowed with soft, luminous spiritual light. Even the Heavenly Heart imprint within him stirred faintly.

The reaction wasn’t particularly strong. After all, his own Heavenly Heart imprint was of an immortal grade; his speed at refining Heavenly Position laws far surpassed ordinary cultivators. The assistance this Heavenly Position Spiritual Herb could provide him was minimal. It could almost be called negligible. But it was genuine.

The cultivator before Ye Chen trembled under his gaze. He had briefly considered using the teleportation talisman to flee. Yet recalling the Heavenly Emperor’s heir’s usual style—once targeted, even temporary escape would only delay the inevitable—he realized running would likely lead to a worse end.

Moreover, Ye Chen had countless methods. He might be caught in no time. So he chose to surrender decisively. He feared giving Ye Chen even the slightest pretext to kill him with a single slap. Being frowned at now only confirmed that his decision had been correct. The Heavenly Emperor’s heir was clearly only hesitating because he lacked a justifiable reason to strike.

”Holy Son Ye, I harvested the Heavenly Position Spiritual Herb with extreme care. Not the slightest damage was done… I’ll take my leave now…”

The man spoke cautiously, then hurriedly flew toward the distance.

But at that moment, the earth shook violently. Countless boulders shattered across the landscape. An aura of terrifying intensity erupted, rising like heavenly pillars that enveloped the entire region. The oppressive pressure nearly suffocated every Saint King present. Even their Heavenly Heart imprints fell silent under its weight.

The fleeing cultivator’s face filled with despair. He had already lowered himself so much—yet the Heavenly Emperor’s heir still refused to let him go?

That killing intent was too heavy. Wasn’t it said that so long as one didn’t provoke the Heavenly Emperor’s heir and gave him no reason to act, he would restrain himself?

Ye Chen sensed the formation rising around him and felt its terrifying power. He merely raised an eyebrow. To deal with him, they had even brought out a Quasi-Immortal Array? The Quasi-Immortal Array was nearly flawless. Even when Ye Chen activated the Array Secret, he couldn’t immediately spot any weakness. However, the one controlling it lacked sufficient strength and had activated it too slowly—leaving plenty of openings.

Ye Chen had more than enough ways to escape with ease. Yet he did not flee. He simply extended a finger and sent the previous Saint King flying—perfectly out of the array’s range. Then, with keen interest, he turned to watch the rapidly activating grand formation.

This was his first time encountering a complete Quasi-Immortal Array. Naturally, he wanted to experience it properly. Under the control of such weaklings, it could never display its full might and posed almost no threat to him. Otherwise, if top existences like the Eight-Crowned King ever caught him off guard with a Quasi-Immortal Array in the future, he might actually be thrown into disarray for a moment.

Ye Chen waited calmly and at ease.

Outside, the watching cultivators stared wide-eyed.

What was happening?

Many reacted quickly and understood at once. Someone was ambushing the Heavenly Emperor’s heir. Or rather, the Heavenly Position Spiritual Herb had been placed here specifically to lure him in. The Heavenly Emperor’s heir had likely noticed. Yet in the end, he hadn’t resisted and had stepped into the trap.

At that realization, the onlookers felt lingering fear. What kind of audacious force dared scheme against the Heavenly Emperor’s heir? Thankfully, they hadn’t let greed take over earlier—otherwise, they might have died without ever knowing how.

As the grand formation fully unfolded before their eyes, they stared even harder. The octagonal array radiated such chilling power that even its mere leaking aura made them shiver. Faintly visible within were eight terrifying thunder pillars, each crackling with awe-inspiring lightning. Only a Quasi-Immortal Array could unleash such majesty.

The revelation sent shockwaves through the crowd. Quasi-Immortal Arrays required incomparably precious materials and demanded array masters of the highest caliber. Their value rivaled that of supreme Extreme Dao Weapons. They were exceedingly rare—many holy lands couldn’t even produce one. What power had deployed a Quasi-Immortal Array?

They clearly intended to kill the Heavenly Emperor’s heir. Initially, no one had believed such a plot could succeed. After all, even when the Heavenly Emperor’s heir had been at the Saint realm—gravely wounded and on the brink of death—he had still swept through hordes of Saint Kings.

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Now that he had advanced to Saint King, he was naturally even more dominant. He could likely contend with Great Saints. In the Sixth Realm, who could possibly scheme against him?

Yet the appearance of a Quasi-Immortal Array shifted the balance entirely. Everyone knew just how terrifying such an array could be. This time, the Heavenly Emperor’s heir might truly be in danger…

Within the grand formation.

Once the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Immortal-Locking Array was fully activated, the four burst into wild joy. From four different directions, they slowly revealed themselves, fixing their gazes on Ye Chen trapped at the center.

”Heavenly Emperor’s heir, your rise has been too swift—your temperament ultimately falls short. Lacking patience, you’ve walked right into the trap! Humans will always be humans—far inferior to us myriad races.”

In Ye Chen’s line of sight, a burly purple-haired man spoke slowly.

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow. Staring at the purple hair and the casual racial disdain in the opening words, the man reminded him exactly of the old Luo Bingling. No need to guess his identity. The War God Clan’s Divine Son.

As for the talk of insufficient temperament, lack of patience, and falling into a trap, Ye Chen didn’t understand, nor did he care to. He remained silent. His gaze swept over the other three—all peak Saint Kings.

But his eyes lingered on the voluptuous woman among them. Her appearance was stunning, the fully ripened kind of beauty. Her looks were flawless, almost dripping with allure. Her face felt vaguely familiar. Then he remembered: back when he had spared a minor figure from the Divine Silkworm Clan, the man had shown him a portrait of their Clan Madam. It was her. Yet she looked even more captivating than the image.

Ye Chen arched a brow. ”Divine Silkworm Clan’s Clan Madam?”

The expressions of all four shifted slightly. They hadn’t expected that even trapped in a Quasi-Immortal Array, Ye Chen’s first words would be directed at a woman…

The War God Clan’s Divine Son seethed with rage at being ignored. The others felt secret regret. Such supreme talent and backing, yet obsessed with women—what a waste. If they had been given his gifts, they would surely have done far better.

The Divine Silkworm Clan Madam said nothing. The four knew better than to drag things out. They immediately poured all their power into the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Immortal-Locking Array.

Boom—boom—boom…

Inside the formation, the eight thunder pillars—each like a pillar holding up the heavens—shook violently. Above each pillar appeared a dragon pearl. Endless thunder cascaded down, transforming the area into a domain of lightning.

The War God Clan’s Divine Son sneered coldly. The array could suppress a cultivator’s combat power. At Ye Chen’s Saint King realm, once suppressed, his strength would likely plummet to Saint—or even lower. That was the terror of a Quasi-Immortal Array.

Yet Ye Chen merely called out once. After seeing the Divine Silkworm Clan Madam, his gaze held no heat—only faint disappointment. Because the system had given no response. That meant she was not a gift recipient.

Still, Ye Chen wasn’t ready to give up entirely. He wondered inwardly whether the Divine Silkworm Nine Transformations Scripture had no effect, or whether this Clan Madam had already undergone her transformation and was now past her prime… In any case, since they had met, he could ask a few more questions before killing her.

…

The four sneered inwardly, waiting for Ye Chen’s aura to weaken under the suppression. But the moment the suppressive force descended, Ye Chen’s physique circulated naturally and shook it off completely—unaffected in the slightest.

Ye Chen felt quite satisfied. His Primordial Chaos Supreme Body truly lived up to its name. It was nearly immune to all negative effects. At the very least, no Quasi-Immortal Array could touch it.

Yet as the suppression arrived, eight chains forged entirely of thunder shot out from the pillars. Each chain resembled a terrifying apocalyptic thunder dragon. The chain heads took the form of dragon skulls. Even without reaching peak power, they could bind a Great Emperor and render escape impossible.

Yet as the eight chains lunged toward him, battle intent flared in Ye Chen’s eyes. Then, under the four’s incredulous stares, he charged straight forward to meet them.

In his hands, the Heavenly Emperor Fist erupted. With every strike, six illusory universes appeared—resembling the six paths of reincarnation, their momentum soaring to the heavens. Every movement carried absolute dominance. It was as though cosmic tides had been unleashed, capable of annihilating everything.

Boom—boom—boom…

Ye Chen’s fists collided with the eight chains. Each impact produced earth-shattering roars. Despite the chains’ overwhelming momentum, none could approach within half a meter of Ye Chen.

The four stared at Ye Chen’s surging vitality in shock. Even an ordinary Great Emperor would struggle to resist these chains—yet Ye Chen matched them blow for blow? This was beyond belief.

But it also planted deep terror in their hearts. They had to kill Ye Chen. If he escaped the Quasi-Immortal Array, their fates needed no explanation. Immediately, the four pushed their power to the absolute limit.

At the array’s apex, endless tribulation light flickered. Destructive tribulation clouds gathered layer upon layer. Bolts of Nine Heavens Divine Thunder—each capable of slaying a Great Saint—crashed down relentlessly.

Yet Ye Chen said nothing. He simply continued to swing both fists. Endless fist shadows turned the space around him into a vacuum.

The Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, dense as a rainstorm, exploded harmlessly the instant they neared Ye Chen—dissipating into nothingness.

At this moment, Ye Chen resembled a god warring against heaven and earth—bathing in thunder, sweeping aside all opposition.

The four grew more and more horrified as they watched.

This… This was a Saint King? The Quasi-Immortal Array’s suppression had no effect. The Immortal-Locking Chains couldn’t restrain him in the slightest. Even the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder scattered beneath his fist shadows. You’re telling me this performance belongs to a Saint King? Then what were the four of them? Ants?

In this instant, they felt greater terror than they had ever felt facing the Exiled Immortal. After all, even the Exiled Immortal at the Saint King realm hadn’t been this outrageous. They frantically poured more power into the array, desperate to draw out deeper strength and erase Ye Chen.

Then suddenly, all four shuddered. After yet another clash, one chain exploded apart… Immediately after, the others reached their limit as well. One after another, they shattered. Even the thunder pillars they connected to now bore dense networks of cracks—as though they could no longer bear the strain and were on the verge of collapse… And those were the core of the Quasi-Immortal Array!

The terrified quartet began to seriously question their entire existence…