Immortality Starts With Investment

Even though he had just been blasted apart by Ye Chen and resurrected, and all the Quasi-Immortal arrays he had prepared earlier had exploded, the Exiled Immortal's face showed no trace of fear—only even colder, deeper killing intent.

He walked toward Ye Chen step by step.

With every step he took, the Eighth Realm trembled. His aura grew increasingly violent. The already fearsome presence around him surged like a boiling sea.

Countless laws that had almost solidified into substance circled his body, growing denser and denser. The divine light shining from him became more and more dazzling, making him look like an immortal spirit.

Everyone was stunned.

Why was the Exiled Immortal still getting stronger? Was this some kind of secret technique? Or an unparalleled divine art from the Other Domain?

But a Great Emperor noticed something was wrong and widened his eyes in shock.

"This… This isn't a secret technique or a divine art… the Exiled Immortal is advancing to the Quasi-Immortal realm!"

The moment those words fell, the entire scene fell deathly silent. The Exiled Immortal was actually attempting to break through to Quasi-Immortal on the spot? He intended to break through in the middle of the battle?

This was extremely rare. After all, breaking through was a major event—especially breaking through to Quasi-Immortal. Fusing one's world with a black hole was extremely dangerous. The slightest carelessness could cause the violent black hole to destroy one's own world. After that, one would not only fail to reach Quasi-Immortal but might even drop out of the Great Emperor realm entirely and regress.

Therefore, breaking through in the middle of battle was almost legendary. If they were in the Heavenly Emperor's heir's position, they would have charged forward immediately to kill the Exiled Immortal while he was vulnerable. Even if the Exiled Immortal could block the attack, he would be distracted, and the slightest slip could cause him to fall from the realm completely and become an ant.

But in the next moment, a terrifying rumbling sound erupted from within the Exiled Immortal's body, as if rivers and seas were overturning or an earth dragon was turning over.

A massive black hole emerged around him. All the laws that had solidified into substance were sucked into it, devoured and refined.

A Great Emperor cried out in horror, "It's too late… It's already too late… His internal world and black hole had already begun fusing long ago. The most dangerous step was already completed. Now he is merely finishing the process. In fact, it can be said that the world has already advanced! It cannot be interrupted at all…"

The moment these words were spoken, the cultivators present grew even more shocked.

As a formation master, the Exiled Immortal was naturally skilled in deduction. Could this entire sequence also have been within his calculations?

He had deliberately remained at the Great Emperor realm to lure the Heavenly Emperor's heir into coming to him. Once he realized he could not suppress Ye Chen, he would directly advance to Quasi-Immortal and crush him.

Although a Quasi-Immortal could not normally enter the Eighth Realm, one who broke through inside it could stay for three days to stabilize their realm.

This scheme was simply invincible. He truly deserved to be called the Exiled Immortal from the Other Domain. He had opened everyone's eyes.

As expected, none of these top existences was simple. How could they possibly fall or be defeated so easily?

The Exiled Immortal's aura surged once more, becoming countless times more terrifying than before. Just by standing there, the surrounding void continuously shattered and collapsed. It was as if the entire world could no longer bear his presence.

Yet the Exiled Immortal's face was exceptionally gloomy, and his killing intent surged like an endless tide.

The reason was simple. His World-Destroying Black Hole was too violent. Only by slowly fusing it could he achieve perfection without damaging his world's foundation.

But now he had been forced to accelerate the process. One-tenth of his internal world had already been shattered by the leaking destructive power of the black hole.

For his future potential, this loss was enormous. When he eventually became a true immortal and his world advanced into a universe, the damage would be even greater. His chances of achieving the Immortal King realm had shrunk dramatically. Surpassing his monstrous elder brother had become almost impossible. And all of this was because of Ye Chen. This youth had obstructed his path and damaged his potential. He must die!

He stared fixedly at Ye Chen as if looking at a corpse.

His aura continued to climb. After all, advancing to Quasi-Immortal brought too many transformations. As the final realm before becoming an immortal, the improvement was incomparably massive. When he took his last step and stood still, only ten thousand meters away from Ye Chen, his aura had become deep as an abyss and turbulent as a sea. His eyes looked down coldly upon everything, as if the entire Eighth Realm could be overturned with a single thought from him.

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"Ye Chen, you deserve to die! But not only you—everything connected to you, I will destroy…Whether it is Heavenly Evolution Holy Land or Heavenly Intention Holy Land, the Lan Clan or the Heavenly Emperor Hall. I promise you, every person and every matter related to you will be erased. Every trace of you will be wiped away!"

The Exiled Immortal stood there like a god issuing a decree. Every word carried the weight of ten thousand jun, as if imbued with the laws themselves. The pressure turned Great Emperors pale and made the Great Saints cough up blood.

This made everyone understand that although the Exiled Immortal had only just entered the Quasi-Immortal realm, his combat strength had already reached the absolute peak of this world. The old Quasi-Immortals from the top families were not even on the same level as the Exiled Immortal before them.

The onlookers' awe reached its zenith at this moment. They all felt that the Heavenly Emperor's heir might finally capsize this time… His undefeated record was about to be broken. And this defeat would completely remove his name from the Immortal Path.

Everyone turned their eyes toward Ye Chen, wanting to know how he would react. Would he flee and seek a slim chance of survival? Or would he fight with everything he had and attempt to battle a top Quasi-Immortal while separated by an entire major realm?

Under everyone's gaze, Ye Chen merely curled the corner of his lips. There was no smile in his eyes as he spoke indifferently, "Is that all?"

The moment these words rang out, everyone's hearts jolted. The Exiled Immortal had already become a Quasi-Immortal. Yet the Heavenly Emperor's heir remained completely unafraid, still as arrogant as ever.

This was too shocking.

Did the Heavenly Emperor's heir still have trump cards? Or was he merely putting on a brave front?

Everyone watched with even greater focus.

Under countless staring eyes, Ye Chen simply raised his hand once more. The Exiled Immortal's advancement to Quasi-Immortal had indeed surprised Ye Chen a little. But that was all.

Ye Chen had never fought a Quasi-Immortal before, not because he lacked confidence, but simply because he preferred to play it safe.

However, that did not mean he could not kill one. It did not even mean it would be difficult. Today, he would find out!

Boom… boom… boom…

Ye Chen's aura surged violently at this moment. Inside his Primordial Ancestral World, seemingly endless world power surged forth. It influenced the greater world and bolstered Ye Chen himself.

The Heavenly Emperor Scripture operated at full power simultaneously. Power so thick it was almost solid roared through his meridians like raging rivers.

In addition, Ye Chen's heart began to beat with fierce, powerful thumps.

"Boom… boom… boom…"

Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, Ye Chen's aura climbed to an unimaginable height. Golden light on his raised palm blazed so brightly that it seemed to set the void itself on fire. If the previous punch had been the great sun exploding, then this one was ten suns descending upon the world, intent on destroying everything.

Everyone's eyes widened once more. They had not expected that when the Heavenly Emperor's heir had killed the Exiled Immortal earlier, he still had not used his full strength.

This was simply unbelievable. The Heavenly Emperor's heir had not gone all out yet. And he was only a Great Saint!

The Exiled Immortal narrowed his eyes as well. Looking at Ye Chen, whose aura had grown even more terrifying and made even his own heart tighten, a trace of fear rose in his chest. But along with that fear came overwhelming rage. It reminded him of the humiliation he had felt when facing his monstrous elder brother.

No matter how hard he tried, even when he became one of the top students at the War God Academy, he had still been completely suppressed before his brother. But that was his own brother—a terrifying existence born with Immortal King ancestral blood, a supreme prodigy of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths whom even the ancestors sighed at and admitted they could not compare to.

Yet Ye Chen was nothing but a mere lower-realm native. What was he? How dare he make him feel fear!

The Exiled Immortal stared at Ye Chen with a cold smile. "You are indeed very strong… Even in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, you would be considered a one-of-a-kind existence. If you entered the Immortal Realm, you could even become the next Heavenly Emperor, achieve the peak of the Immortal King realm, and single-handedly hold the Emperor Dao! But this ends here…"

The Exiled Immortal slowly raised his hand. A massive, boundless world gate that looked like the Door of Destruction slowly emerged. When it opened, destructive power from within the world surged out, instantly dyeing half the sky black…

Everyone could tell that this was a world with an astonishing foundation. But what did the Exiled Immortal intend to do? Was he planning to use his own world to grind Ye Chen to death?

Once a cultivator reached the Quasi-Immortal realm and fused their world with their black hole, it meant they had truly gained full combat capability. They could directly trap their enemy inside their world and obliterate them.

However, in the next moment, everyone's pupils shrank violently. Because from within the cave heaven, a black shadow burst out…

The moment it appeared, its vast and mighty aura collapsed a million miles of void. Cultivators below the Great Emperor realm could not even look directly at the black shadow; merely glancing at it caused blood to flow from their eyes.

Great Emperor realm cultivators trembled all over. They looked up in terror, then simultaneously sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

"Immortal artifact!"

"It's an immortal artifact!"

"The Exiled Immortal actually has an immortal artifact inside his world!"

The slowly floating black shadow was a two-zhang-long battle halberd. Its entire body was pitch-black and gleamed with a cold luster. Countless immortal patterns were engraved upon it, clearly forged from the highest-grade black-gold immortal crystal.

On the halberd blade, dense and complicated patterns faintly glowed with a faint blue light. Most terrifying of all were the few spots of fresh red on the blade, like flowing blood droplets. Just sensing the aura within those blood drops made everyone's bodies tremble, and their faces turn deathly pale. That had to be immortal blood. Only immortal blood could retain such mighty power after countless years.

When the battle halberd fully emerged from the Exiled Immortal's internal world, the spiritual qi of the entire Eighth Realm fell into frenzy. Like a surging flood, it rushed toward the halberd.

Around the halberd, massive tornadoes formed. The halberd seemed to possess intelligence. After appearing, it trembled lightly and emitted a low, majestic hum. The humming sound seemed to come from the ninth heaven and also from the ninth underworld at the same time. It echoed through every corner of the Eighth Realm of the Immortal Path. Even cultivators in the Seventh and Ninth Realms faintly heard the reverberation in their ears.

"This… this is the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Halberd, the immortal artifact that once belonged to Alkaid Holy Land! It is said that a true immortal once wielded this Halberd and slaughtered several immortals! But later it was said to have been lost on the battlefield and suspected to have been taken by the Heavenly Emperor. Now it seems that was not the case. Alkaid Holy Land had been hiding it all along and gave it to the Exiled Immortal…"

Someone revealed the origin of the artifact and guessed why the Exiled Immortal possessed an immortal artifact. Clearly, after the death of Alkaid's Holy Son, Alkaid Holy Land had fully submitted to the Exiled Immortal. They had even offered up an immortal artifact…