Immortality Starts With Investment

No one paid much attention to the Feather Transformation King. What truly piqued their curiosity was why the heir of the Heavenly Emperor had suddenly come to the Immortal Path. The cultivation conditions here were excellent, yet the heir never lingered long. Each visit usually meant either a great opportunity had emerged… or some woman was in trouble.

Curiosity aside, almost no one dared to probe too closely. The heir's combat power was simply too terrifying. On the Immortal Path—where great powers couldn't interfere and battles were fought at equal realms—the heir was practically synonymous with invincibility.

The few existences who might rival him at the same level were either deep within the Path or had yet to appear in the world. Now, at peak Half-Saint in the Fourth Heaven, few people in even the Fifth Realm section of the Path could suppress him.

…

Amid the crowd's quiet speculation, Ye Chen had already stepped onto the teleportation array and headed straight for the fourth realm of the Immortal Path. Light flared around the array. In an instant, he arrived.

The cultivators near the array turned to look. When they recognized him, every head bowed in awe and respect. Even back when the heir was only a King, he had already reverse-slayed a saint in the fourth realm and dominated the entire place.

Now that he had reached peak Half-Saint, no male cultivator in the fourth realm dared meet his gaze directly. The female cultivators, however, immediately straightened, lifting their chins and subtly displaying their figures. Even some who were well past their prime hastily cast divine techniques, bathing themselves in radiant divine light in hopes of catching his eye.

After all, it was common knowledge: the heir of the Heavenly Emperor had no taboos. Women of any race, those who had borne children, those whose husbands were still alive—he accepted them all without hesitation. And once a woman became his, she ascended to the heavens in a single step. So which woman wouldn't dream of receiving even a few extra glances from him?

As was his habit upon arriving in the fourth realm, Ye Chen swept his gaze around. He already had plenty of high-quality companions by his side now, but old habits died hard. What he saw this time was a group of middle-aged women sending him coy, flirtatious looks…

The corner of his mouth twitched violently.

What the hell was going on?

He didn't want to dwell on it. He had no intention of lingering even a second longer. Locking onto his direction, he shot forward like a cannonball. None of the cultivators dared try to snatch any opportunities from him—that would have been asking for trouble. Only a handful of the most curious ones, eager to watch the drama unfold, followed from a great distance.

…

Deep in a canyon.

Silence reigned.

Golden light flowed across Ling Yu's body. His vital energy manifested as divine runes that swirled and coiled around him, forming all kinds of extraordinary phenomena. The sight made the surrounding domain resemble the domain of a true deity.

Confidence filled Ling Yu's eyes. He was now only one final step away from becoming a saint. He was a direct disciple of the Martial Ancestor—the most supreme figure in the entire history of the Extreme Martial Realm. It was said that even in the Immortal Realm, the Martial Ancestor remained an invincible existence.

The Martial Ancestor had once left behind a supreme technique: Reverse Severing of the Great Dao. Becoming a saint essentially meant merging oneself further with heaven and earth, transcending the mortal to enter the sacred. Self-severing required cutting away the past, experiences, loved ones, and attachments—aligning oneself completely with the Great Dao in pursuit of a breakthrough.

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True-self ascension preserved the self and forced integration with the Dao, but the degree of fusion with heaven and earth would always fall short. As for Dao-Entrust path methods, they merely solved the issues of forgetting the past and emotional detachment; they offered little improvement in the depth of fusion with the heavens.

Reverse Severing of the Great Dao, however, belonged to an entirely different level. By borrowing a Dao-Entrust Treasure to condense a Dao-self, one positioned oneself above the heavens and earth, severing the binding Great Dao itself to achieve sainthood.

One method was submitted and sought approval from the Dao to become a saint. The other smashed down the door and forced entry. The difference in combat power after becoming a saint, as well as future potential and ceiling, was simply incomparable.

"I, Ling Yu, will never let down the expectations placed upon me. I must become an immortal and bring my parents and ancestors into the Immortal Realm…"

As he pondered his resolve, a powerful aura came roaring in from the distance.

At that moment, even Dantai Xuan and Yan Qingcheng opened their eyes. With their level of cultivation, they could roughly gauge an incoming opponent's strength from aura alone. The group that had attacked three months ago had been led by someone only on the level of the Violet Radiance Holy Son at best. Utterly beneath notice.

Dantai Xuan hadn't even bothered opening her eyes back then. But the person arriving now was different. An instinctive sense of danger rose from deep within both women. Even Ling Yu felt his hairs stand on end. His blood surged wildly, climbing higher as though in instinctive response to a mortal threat.

His pupils contracted. He rose to his feet and looked into the distance. Awe filled his heart. Was this the true depth of the cultivation world?

He had thought these two women already represented the absolute peak of prodigies in this realm. Yet there were still more terrifying existences?

No wonder the Extreme Martial Realm could never compare to the cultivation world. Throughout history, only the prodigies of the cultivation world had ever been able to claim immortal qi on the Immortal Path.

Even as shock coursed through him, blazing battle intent ignited in Ling Yu's chest. He had come here precisely to challenge the strong and carve his way up the Immortal Path. There was no need to fear someone stronger—simply defeat them.

Yan Qingcheng, sensing the familiar aura, recognized the newcomer in an instant.

Ye Chen.

The thought of his arrival stirred complex emotions in her gaze. She felt genuine guilt toward Ye Chen. Because of her father, Ye Chen had been forced to become a false heir of the Heavenly Emperor. He had drawn all the hatred and shouldered the karmic burden of the Heavenly Emperor.

Yet when they first met, far from resenting her, Ye Chen had seemed even more remorseful than she was. He had proactively gifted her countless treasures as compensation.

Yan Qingcheng even suspected that Ye Chen's notorious bad reputation in the cultivation world had been deliberately spread by her father's agents. The plan had likely been to tarnish Ye Chen so thoroughly that, when the true heir appeared, she would shine all the brighter by comparison and win universal acceptance with ease.

A good person like Ye Chen did not deserve such treatment or misunderstanding. She needed the Heavenly Will Dao-Entrust Jade herself. But she also felt that giving it to Ye Chen would be the right thing. It would at least ease some of the guilt weighing on her heart. As partial amends. After all, her father had only forbidden her from personally handing the jade over to Ye Chen. If she simply chose not to compete for it at all, that wouldn't count as giving it to him, would it?

And Dantai Xuan, hailing from the Heavenly Evolution Holy Land, was Ye Chen's senior sister—she would surely stand on his side. If neither she nor Dantai Xuan made a move, then no matter how strong this newcomer from another world appeared—even seeming to surpass the Celestial Prince in talent by a margin—he could never be Ye Chen's match. Simply staying out of it would be enough.

With that decision made, Yan Qingcheng stood up, intending to greet Ye Chen.

Dantai Xuan, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes. She remembered this Fourth Holy Son of theirs; they had crossed paths several times. She had even obtained the Northern Emperor War Chariot from him and used the Vermilion Bird spirit within it to cultivate a powerful technique.

The boy was formidable. With her Supreme Immortal Body not yet perfected, she wasn't confident she could defeat him alone. But he had a good relationship with Hua Yunfei and was notoriously generous toward female cultivators. If she asked, he might agree to step aside and not compete with her. He might even help her suppress the other two. And if he refused… well, she could first join forces with the other two to suppress him.