Immortality Starts With Investment

"You should pick your strongest to come out! Trash can't even spark my interest."

As he spoke, Ye Chen glanced with a half-smile at the War God Clan semi-saint standing at the very front, the one who had been the most eager and vocal.

Hearing this, the semi-saint felt Ye Chen's gaze land on him. Blood surged to his head; his body swelled with rage. The vertical pupil at his brow quivered violently, as though ready to spew endless murderous malice in the next instant. He glared with bulging eyes and roared coldly, "Why are you looking at me? You calling me trash?"

Ye Chen quickly waved his hand, his expression earnest as he explained, "No, no... don't misunderstand! I wasn't targeting you."

The War God Clan expert's face immediately lit with a smug smirk, thinking Ye Chen wouldn't dare be so arrogant after all.

But before that smile could fully bloom, Ye Chen's voice drifted out again, leisurely and calm.

"I meant everyone here..." Ye Chen lifted his chin slightly, utterly serious as he enunciated each word of the second half, "is trash..."

The instant the words left his mouth, dead silence blanketed the field—quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Countless onlookers stared in shock, eyes wide, mouths agape, faces etched with disbelief. They knew the Heavenly Emperor's heir had always been arrogant. But they never imagined that, even with his cave heaven in trouble, his attitude would grow even more brazen.

To outright declare that these thirty-plus semi-saints—the cream of the myriad races—were all trash. This was arrogance without limits. The assembled prodigies froze for a brief moment. Then fury erupted across every face.

Ye Chen dared to belittle them so openly? Even at his peak, he should have shown some caution. And now, in his weakened state? Who gave him the guts?

Killing intent exploded from the crowd like a tidal wave, soaring into the heavens. The sheer momentum cleared the skies for thousands of miles and even seemed to make the distant immortal city tremble faintly.

Amid the rising tension, the War God Clan semi-saint who had been at the forefront—desperate to claim the first strike—seized the moment. His figure blurred as he shot forward like a cannonball. "You dare call me trash?"

With a furious roar, the vertical pupil at his brow snapped open. A blinding divine beam lanced out like lightning.

His own speed reached its utmost limit, arriving before Ye Chen almost simultaneously with the light.

Seeing the War God semi-saint strike first, the other prodigies—seething with rage—could only swallow their frustration. After all, the human faction was powerful.

On the surface, rules still had to be followed. They would wait for the swarm, then ruthlessly crush Ye Chen. Make him pay dearly for his insolent words. And that wait would not be long. All they needed was for Luo Bingling to initiate the group fight.

...

Facing the incoming divine beam and the War God semi-saint himself, Ye Chen held back from killing outright. If he ended the man with one punch, what if the others fled in fear?

The rest hadn't attacked yet—he needed a legitimate reason to pursue and eliminate them all. So he had to wait for Luo Bingling to start the chaos.

Thus, Ye Chen merely extended a single finger, spiritual qiflowing gently. In an instant, a divine light barrier unfolded before him like an opening umbrella, steady and unyielding. It effortlessly blocked the War God semi-saint's terrifying assault.

The semi-saint narrowed his eyes. That body—only marginally inferior to the Heavenly Emperor's son—unleashed a frenzy of strikes. His brow pupil opened fully, as though linking to some mysterious realm, connecting to a fearsome nether domain.

Streams of eerie light poured forth, augmenting him further. His frame grew even more massive and terrifying. Every movement carried staggering might; the void cracked like fragile paper beneath his fists and feet, as if the heavens and earth could barely contain his rampaging form. He cut an imposing figure, reminiscent of the Holy Prince in his prime. Yet even unleashing his full arsenal, he could not breach the barrier Ye Chen had casually raised.

A chill gripped the War God Clan semi-saint's heart as he finally grasped the vast gulf between them. Even a starving camel was bigger than a horse.

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The Heavenly Emperor's heir possessed astonishing talent. Despite his depleted cave heaven origin, he himself was no match. Inflicting even the slightest injury seemed as difficult as ascending to heaven. But it hardly mattered. He wasn't fighting alone.

Once everyone swarmed, the heir would surely be overwhelmed. If he could seize the moment to land a fatal blow—combined with the merit of striking first—he could claim twenty percent of the resources all to himself.

With this in mind, he ceased his futile expenditure of physical strength. Though he continued the pretense of furious assault, his power had already diminished greatly. At the same time, his gaze stealthily flicked toward Luo Bingling, a barely perceptible gleam of anticipation in his eyes.

Ye Chen's lips curved upward as well, his peripheral vision sweeping over her. The horde of eager prodigies itching to strike also monitored Luo Bingling with divine sense. She was the key to this battle. Everyone awaited her move to ignite the chaos.

Yet Luo Bingling herself, clad in resplendent golden armor that blazed with light and concealed nothing, charged straight toward the battlefield like a meteor.

The onlookers frowned at the sight.

Why was the War God Clan's princess suddenly entering the fray? Against whom would she strike?

As a member of the War God Clan, logic suggested she would aid her kinsman and deal Ye Chen a killing blow. But she was also the Heavenly Emperor's heir's woman. Rumors claimed Ye Chen had an uncanny knack for handling women—all those around him devoted to the death. By that measure, betrayal seemed unlikely. Thus, Luo Bingling might be rushing to assist Ye Chen against the War God semi-saint.

For a moment, no one could discern her intent. Regardless, caution was warranted. Myriad races spectators shouted warnings, urging the semi-saint to beware.

Human onlookers, though disappointed by Ye Chen's "aiding the enemy" at the auction and his willingness to sabotage his invincible path for a woman, refused to watch him fall to a sneak attack. They too called out reminders for him to stay alert.

But to everyone's jaw-dropping astonishment, the two combatants seemed lost in some trance of single-minded focus. Utterly immersed in their duel, they turned deaf ears to the outside clamor—not even bothering to glance back.

Thus, under the crowd's watchful eyes, Luo Bingling strode into the battlefield as though it were empty, drawing ever closer to the pair. Under the War God semi-saint's expectant gaze, she approached his side exactly as planned.

Joy surged in his heart. He readied himself to "suffer" her sneak attack and feign injury. Then he would hurl himself backward, letting others take the front line. Preserving his strength perfectly. When the swarm had worn Ye Chen down, he could swoop in for the killing blow and snatch the final merit.

At this moment, the semi-saint deliberately turned his back to her, leaving his rear wide open. In his view, all Luo Bingling needed was a casual strike to trigger the chaos. Soon after, he sensed a force homologous to his own vertical pupil surging quietly behind him.

The corners of his mouth lifted involuntarily. It was in the bag!

But in the next instant, he stared in stunned horror as the terrifying divine beam from Luo Bingling's pupil grazed past him. The War God semi-saint froze solid, his smile stiffening into shock. He whipped his head around, staring fixedly at Luo Bingling.

You're that close and you still miss? What else can you even do? No wonder the clan gave up on you and poured everything into the divine son. You're truly beyond saving!

Even though Luo Bingling's strike hadn't landed on him, he had still been "sneak-attacked" in the end.

Just as the War God semi-saint opened his mouth to bellow that he had been ambushed—that Ye Chen had no honor and everyone should swarm him—Ye Chen's voice rang out first.

"You are truly despicable and shameless! You already outnumber me in a wheel battle, yet you still send someone to sneak-attack me, gravely wounding me..."

"..."

The semi-saint's lines stolen, he whipped his head back in stunned silence. Ye Chen... gravely wounded? Then he saw it: Ye Chen's hand appeared to have been struck by the divine beam.

A single drop of blood, squeezed out by Ye Chen himself, hovered in midair. Had Ye Chen not acted quickly, the wound would likely have healed before even that drop could emerge.

Humans called a scratch like this a grave injury?

But this was hardly the time for nitpicking details. A faint unease stirred in the semi-saint's heart.

Ye Chen had just shouted the exact words he himself had prepared!

Over on Ye Chen's side, killing intent now boiled like a volcano on the verge of eruption. He roared in fury, "Since you myriad races prodigies forsake all honor—sneak-attacking me in what was meant to be a fair spar, intent on my death—then from this moment, I will show no mercy..."

The words barely faded when Ye Chen unleashed a punch. Dominance radiated from it, as though manifesting the cycle of sun and moon. Heaven and earth shifted color, as if the Heavenly Emperor himself had descended.

Before this fist, the War God semi-saint felt every hair on his body stand on end. Terror born from the depths of his soul flooded him. In this life-or-death instant, he pushed his bloodline and spiritual qicirculation to their absolute limits. Every cell in his body ignited, potential exploding in full. All to block this horrifying strike. Yet all struggle proved futile.

Boom...

A heaven-shaking explosion resounded.

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, the War God semi-saint who had struck first departed this world with exceptional serenity.

Immediately after, Ye Chen manifested a massive hand, seizing Luo Bingling in one grasp. He opened the gateway to his cave heaven and flung her inside in an instant. His voice chilled the air: "No woman has ever dared betray me. We'll settle accounts later."

Then, beneath the dumbfounded, horrified stares of countless onlookers, Ye Chen's figure blurred as he charged straight toward the assembled myriad races' prodigies. The prodigies themselves—who still hadn't processed what had happened—stood momentarily stunned.

Wasn't the plan for Luo Bingling to launch the sneak attack and start the swarm? Then they would rush Ye Chen en masse? How had it reversed so completely—Ye Chen now barreling toward them with murderous momentum?

This was utterly upside-down!