Immortality Starts With Investment

Chapter 362: Protecting the Sword Sect's Female Prodigy!

Previously, the Sword Sect had stayed neutral in the conflicts between Holy Lands, observing Ye Chen's battle with the Heavenly Intention Holy Son's avatar with detached indifference. They offered a single token word of advice, keeping themselves uninvolved.

But now, things had changed. With Ye Chen's gift of Dugu's wooden sword and his connection to Gu Yunyun, the Sword Sect had forged a deeper bond with Heavenly Evolution Holy Land.

As a faction founded by an immortal, the Sword Sect, despite lacking an immortal artifact, possessed immense heritage. The Heavenly Intention Holy Son couldn't possibly kill Ye Chen here. Thus, staying in the Sword Sect to await the outcome of the impending clash was Ye Chen's best move.

Ye Chen wasn't impatient. Having just acquired the Indestructible Scripture, he could focus on cultivation. After informing the Sword Sect elders, he settled into his master's cave abode.

The sect welcomed him warmly, their attitude effusive. Ye Chen's prodigious talent promised a future where he might vie for a wisp of immortal qi and ascend to True Immortal.

The saying "when one attains the Dao, even their pets ascend" held true, and the Sword Sect was eager to ally with such a prodigy. Despite being an outsider, Ye Chen was granted near-unrestricted access, free to roam anywhere except certain secret realms.

This suited him perfectly. If he was to stay for a while, the freedom to move about the Sword Sect would aid his search for suitable female cultivators to gift, maximizing his system's rewards.

…

After seeing off the courteous elders, Ye Chen sealed the cave and sat cross-legged, diving into cultivation. The Indestructible Scripture's text, bestowed by the system, unfurled in his mind.

"Heaven cannot bury, earth cannot destroy, the body communes with the spirit… Even if the soul perishes, the body remains unyielding, eternal, and indestructible. At its perfection, though the soul scatters, over the passage of time, it may recondense, birthing a new soul… Thus achieving true immortality!"

The scripture's vastness was overwhelming, as if born from the fabric of the cosmos itself. Its mere presence in his mind exerted immense pressure. The intricate patterns within corresponded to the body's hidden mysteries, profound beyond measure.

Ye Chen couldn't help but marvel. Even cultivating immortal scriptures hadn't felt like this. The Indestructible Scripture's rank clearly surpassed them, its complexity daunting even for him.

Yet, the greater the challenge, the richer the reward. Unruffled, Ye Chen steadied his mind and entered deep cultivation. Faint golden light flickered across his body, pulsing with his blood, shimmering in rhythm.

A week later, Ye Chen emerged. Progress on the Indestructible Scripture was slow, but he wasn't deterred. Cultivation could wait—gifting couldn't. He avoided seeking out Lin Qian's junior sister, wary of fueling false rumors that might tarnish his reputation further.

…

Though the Sword Sect couldn't rival a Holy Land, it was still a top-tier sect with plenty of talented female disciples. Ye Chen easily found one with a 300x multiplier and gifted her a spiritual fruit that enhanced physical strength.

Under her ecstatic gaze, he drifted away. The gift triggered a critical hit, and the system rewarded him with ten Golden Body Fruits—rare treasures from a Buddhist Holy Land, reserved for prodigies qualified to cultivate the Indestructible Golden Body.

Such fruits were virtually unseen in the outside world. Ye Chen figured they might accelerate his progress with the Indestructible Scripture and returned to his cave to cultivate.

A week later, he emerged in good spirits. The Golden Body Fruits had slightly boosted his cultivation speed with the Indestructible Scripture—not as effective as he'd hoped, but still useful.

After gifting another 400x female disciple, Ye Chen sought out the Sword Sect's external affairs elder, offering spirit stones to procure top-grade spiritual fruits and pills effective for body refining, ideal for gifting. Though Sword Sect disciples focused on swordsmanship, like most cultivators, they also trained their physiques, so Ye Chen had no concerns about finding recipients.

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He also visited the area above Sword Valley. The Indestructible Scripture thrived under external stress to the body, and Sword Valley, transformed by Dugu Bubai's lingering sword intent, brimmed with relentless sword qi daily.

Sword Sect cultivators, trained in the sect's sword arts, had techniques to mitigate the valley's sword qi, but Ye Chen, an outsider, would face its full brunt—exactly what he wanted to test if it could hasten his cultivation.

Spanning thousands of miles, Sword Valley was vast. Ye Chen entered near his master's cave abode. Instantly, the valley's sword qi surged toward him, assaulting his body. Closing his eyes, he circulated the Indestructible Scripture, then opened them, unimpressed. The sword qi at the valley's entrance was too weak to harm him, offering no benefit. He flew deeper.

The lower he descended, the fiercer the sword qi grew. After plunging ten thousand meters, he paused. Here, each strand of sword qi matched a full-strength strike from a Nascent Soul sword cultivator. Without defending, it could slice his skin, leaving faint blood lines.

But before blood could flow, the wounds healed. Ye Chen sat cross-legged in midair, circulating the Indestructible Scripture. Soon, a trace of joy crossed his face—it worked. His cultivation speed had increased. Sword Valley was indeed perfect for refining the Indestructible Scripture.

Another week passed, and Ye Chen emerged from the valley. His tall frame subtly transformed, a faint dark golden sheen shimmering beneath his fair skin, though barely noticeable.

The external affairs elder delivered the body-refining treasures Ye Chen had requested—some from the Sword Sect's treasury to curry favor, others acquired externally, all exceptional for Nascent Soul cultivators.

With treasures in hand, Ye Chen was generous. He didn't bother seeking high-multiplier recipients; anyone around 300x who caught his eye received a gift. After gifting, he flew back to Sword Valley's depths to resume cultivating the Indestructible Scripture. As his progress deepened, so did his descent—ten thousand meters, twenty thousand, thirty thousand…

At thirty thousand meters, the sword qi in Sword Valley grew terrifying, equivalent to a full-strength strike from a Deity Transformation sword cultivator. Such a commotion couldn't escape the Sword Sect's notice. The elders, previously stirred by the wooden sword, watched Ye Chen, seated calmly amidst the onslaught, with astonishment.

The sword intent in the valley wasn't ordinary—it carried traces of Dugu's unparalleled sword will, capable of slicing through nearly anything. Typical defensive spiritual treasures were suppressed here, their efficacy diminished.

Yet the Fourth Holy Son, a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, withstood it without raising a defense? When the sword qi struck him, a faint metallic clang echoed, as if striking iron.

Sword qi that could cleave a Nascent Soul in two or gravely wound a Deity Transformation cultivator left only shallow blood lines on Ye Chen's body, which healed almost instantly. His defensive prowess was staggering.

The elders exchanged glances, shaken. They admitted that, in their youth, facing an opponent like Ye Chen would have been hopeless. Their sword techniques would barely scratch him, and any minor injuries would heal in a blink. How could anyone fight that?

"This technique of the Fourth Holy Son hasn't even reached minor completion, yet it's already this terrifying. What kind of body-refining method is this?" one elder mused.

"Could it be the Buddhist Holy Land's Indestructible Golden Body?" another speculated.

"Impossible! How could the Indestructible Golden Body leak outside?" a third countered.

"Why not? I've looked into this Fourth Holy Son. He's a true child of destiny," the first elder insisted. "He wields three of the Ten Vicious Treasure Techniques, and after his battle with the Heavenly Intention Holy Son's avatar was recorded, great experts confirmed he likely mastered the complete True Dragon Treasure Technique.

"That's not all—he possesses Black Yellow Primordial Essence, coveted even by Mahayana cultivators and rare among immortals. His cultivation scripture is likely the Great Emperor Scripture, an immortal scripture from the fallen Great Zhou Dynasty, renowned as the pinnacle of offensive power. With such treasures, is it so strange he might have the Indestructible Golden Body?"

The skeptical elder fell silent. If these claims were true, Ye Chen possessing the Buddhist Holy Land's Indestructible Golden Body seemed not just plausible but fitting.

"But why does the Fourth Holy Son keep gifting our sect's female prodigies?" an elder frowned. "And always with precious items."

The others nodded. The topic was widely discussed in the Sword Sect. Ye Chen's generosity was startling—gifting treasures like the Arhat Fruit, worth thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones, without a second thought. It was bafflingly extravagant.

"I've heard about this," the informed elder continued. "The Fourth Holy Son excels in every way, except for an insatiable appetite for female cultivators. Before his rise, he was a minor clan disciple, sent to toil in a market's alchemy shop, barely surviving. Yet he still brought back three maidservants.

"At Green Cloud Sect, he won over his senior sister and formed a bond with his master, Gu Yunyun, our sect leader. Back then, it was just speculation, but after he crossed thousands of miles, killed the Heavenly Intention prodigy, and showed his devotion, their relationship is undeniable.

"Later, as a guest elder at Divine Will Sect, he took their grand elder and her niece to the Holy Land. Even the Great Chu Dynasty's princess resides on his Ascendant Peak. Wherever he goes, he entangles with female cultivators. These gifts to our disciples are likely for the same reason."

The elders' mouths twitched. "No way! Our sect's talent pool is already thin. We can't let him take them all!" one protested.

"For his talent's sake, he can take three at most," another conceded. "But the heavenly spirit root disciples and those with exceptional physiques? No chance. Send the Outer Affairs Peak a mission—dispatch those prodigies on tasks. They don't return until the Fourth Holy Son leaves!"