Immortality Starts With Investment

Chapter 709: Why Is Ye Chen Taking So Long This Time?

Outside, the fall of the Holy Prince and Prince Lu Ya caused a storm that shook the world. The Heir of the Heavenly Emperor's reputation grew ever more invincible. People were already comparing him to that generation's Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo who had crushed all opposition. Because Ye Chen truly was too heaven-defying.

Toyed with the Holy Prince, caught a supreme Extreme Dao Weapon bare-handed, and killed Lu Ya twice. This kind of strength no longer meant merely unrivaled in his generation. Even among the previous generation, few could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him. Thus, Ye Chen's legend of invincibility spread farther and farther.

But Ye Chen himself couldn't care less. After returning to Heavenly Evolution Holy Land, he settled down to cultivate in peace. With the Dao Cauldron and Enlightenment Tea Tree, progress was terrifyingly fast. He also rapidly mastered the complete Stasis, Array, and Foresight Secrets. He had already begun planning: once he broke through to the Third Heaven of Mahayana, he would repair his two supreme Extreme Dao Weapons.

During this time, Ye Chen tested Luo Bingling again. He gifted her another precious, feedback-eligible treasure. After all, her attitude had changed a lot. And she already had a four-thousand-times multiplier—worth a try. But something absurd happened. Still no crit. Not even a flicker.

This…

Ye Chen looked at her, utterly helpless. But after this gift, he finally gave up all hope of ever getting a crit from Luo Bingling. He even started thinking: maybe just take her as a proper Dao companion. He had already kissed and tasted everything. And trained her this well. He definitely couldn't let her go to benefit someone else. Turning her into a Dao companion would actually yield more.

With the dao companion bonus, four thousand times would become eight thousand. And gift cooldown would drop to one day. She could become a ruthless, emotionless feedback machine.

But something Ye Chen never expected happened. After one session of turning cherries into big cherries and hinting at going further, Luo Bingling rejected him without a second's hesitation.

This…

Ye Chen was rendered speechless by her. But he never forced anyone. If she didn't want to, so be it. And just like that, half a year flashed by in perfect calm. Ye Chen's cultivation reached the absolute peak of the Second Heaven. He formally entered seclusion in his cave abode, preparing to break through to the Third Heaven.

…

Outside Ye Chen's secluded cave abode, Luo Bingling's face was filled with shock. Ye Chen… was simply too fast. This was the Mahayana stage! In roughly two and a half years, he was about to cross the entire Second Heaven and charge toward the Third. This was beyond absurd.

The Dao Cauldron alone wasn't enough. There had to be the Enlightenment Tea Tree too. Even combined, she still felt it wasn't sufficient. Ye Chen probably had other treasures that accelerated cultivation. This only made her anticipation grow.

But Luo Bingling wasn't anxious. She had Ye Chen completely in her grasp now. In the past, she had always been the one taking the initiative. Yet not long ago, Ye Chen had actually wanted to go all the way.

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What did that mean? It meant Ye Chen was utterly enchanted by her, desperate to possess her completely. Men were all the same: when they truly loved someone, they wanted every inch, inside and out.

So from now on, all she had to do was keep dangling the bait. She was certain that to win her fully, Ye Chen would slowly hand over the Dao Cauldron, the Enlightenment Tea Tree, and every other cultivation-accelerating treasure he owned.

It sounded unbelievable. Those things were priceless. But the Stasis Secret and similar treasures were equally valuable—comparable to supreme Extreme Dao Weapons—and hadn't Ye Chen given them away without blinking?

Handing her immortal artifacts later would only be logical. As for whether she would let him succeed after getting them? Of course not. Everything she had done before was for the Dao Cauldron. A little waist, a little foot—mere flesh, meaningless. But her chastity was sacred. How could she truly give it to a mere human like Ye Chen? Dream on…

Thinking of how the hunter had become the hunted, Luo Bingling couldn't stop smiling. And soon, she herself would break through. Every day felt like she had an unlimited supply of Dao Charm Pills. Plus, not long ago, Ye Chen had gifted her an extremely rare top-tier spiritual root that had nearly gone extinct in the cultivation world. Planting it in her cave-heaven had brought tremendous feedback.

So even though War God Clan members cultivated slowly in the Mahayana stage, after all this time, she could feel the moment of breakthrough approaching. She was ready to step into mid-Third Heaven…

…

Ye Chen had no idea Luo Bingling already believed she had him completely hooked and planned to string him along. At this moment, he sat cross-legged in his cave abode with utmost seriousness, preparing for true seclusion.

Piles of spatial divine stones lay scattered around him. He released his domain. It instantly shifted, swallowing every single stone. He circulated his technique. The originally illusory domain began to flow, undergoing the transformation from illusory to real.

His domain already contained eight divine abilities; it had always been monstrous. Turning it real required terrifying amounts of energy. Not only did it consume even more spatial divine stones, the demand for spiritual qi was astronomical.

Ye Chen feared draining the entire holy land dry, so he stopped drawing from the outside. Instead, he directly opened his inner world's treasury. Mountains of top-grade spirit stones towered within. These were the fruits of years of painstaking accumulation. Now he spent them like water, smashing mountain after mountain into his domain. Just this process alone lasted a full half-month.

And half a month later, the instant his domain officially began converting into a cave-heaven, Ye Chen unhesitatingly fused the fragments of his inner world with it…

In that moment, an even greater upheaval occurred. These were genuine world fragments, precious beyond imagination. Some holy lands that possessed them would turn them into blessed lands for the sect. No one would extravagantly use them as nourishment to forge a personal cave-heaven.

Yet Ye Chen did exactly that. It was the height of extravagance. After all, downgrading a small world into a cave-heaven was an immense waste. But Ye Chen didn't care. He slowly, carefully merged his cave-heaven with the inner world fragments. This was an enormous project. The process was arduous and intricate; it would consume vast amounts of time.

Yet Ye Chen felt no impatience. He calmly controlled the fusion, letting it proceed gradually. He could feel it. As the fusion deepened, his strength rose steadily. Terrifying cave-heaven power was constantly being born. He believed that once the fusion completed and the cave-heaven was truly forged, he would officially break through to the Third Heaven. His strength would soar once more.

…

Time loses meaning in the mountains. In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen had been in seclusion for two full years.

Luo Bingling, who had been eagerly waiting to reel in her hooked fish, now stared in utter confusion.

"Wasn't Ye Chen always super fast before? Why is it taking so long this time?"