Immortality Starts With Investment [XIANXIA LITRPG]

Despite the enemy's heightened vigilance, An Miaoli's strength surpassed their imagination. Seizing an opportunity, she slew another early-Nascent Soul elder from Heavenly Nether Sect and gravely wounded a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. Had the late-Nascent Soul powerhouse not intervened swiftly, she might have refined the latter as well.

Thereafter, the enemy grew even warier. As Nascent Soul cultivators, none were fools. The moment An Miaoli prepared to emerge, they ceased their spells and retreated a hundred miles, giving her no openings. The late-Nascent Soul cultivator from Heavenly Nether Sect stopped attacking directly, instead keeping a vigilant eye on her, ready to intercept.

An Miaoli's opportunities dried up, her fearsome display significantly slowed the enemy's progress in breaking the array. They had to divide their attention between assaulting the array and guarding against her ambushes, now down two Nascent Souls.

This extended the array's endurance beyond a month, rekindling hope within Divine Will Sect. If they could provoke Tian Mingzi into losing patience and attacking personally, they might unleash the Primordial Chaos Force to wound or even kill him. Without their Deity Transformation leader, the remaining Nascent Souls, leaderless, might hesitate to continue, especially with An Miaoli's deterrence.

Yet, hope was dashed. Tian Mingzi, atop the skyship, merely cast a cold, indifferent glance, silent as an aloof netherworld sovereign. Even the death of a second Heavenly Nether Sect Nascent Soul elder failed to stir him. He showed no intent to act, unconcerned about leaving his sect vulnerable or potential enemies uniting against him. His patience was unnerving.

The calmer he remained, the deeper Divine Will Sect's despair grew. Without harming the Deity Transformation cultivator, their fate was sealed: annihilation.

Twenty-odd days flashed by. The sect's array teetered on the brink, trembling violently under attacks. Cracks appeared in its materials, signaling it was nearing its limit. It would fall within days.

Panic gripped the disciples. Once proud members of a great sect, envied and confident, they now faced extinction alongside their sect—a bitter pill to swallow. Even the elders, staring death in the face, struggled to stay composed.

The Ancestor gnashed his teeth. "While we can still unleash the Primordial Chaos Force, let's give that old monster a shot!"

An Miaoli shook her head. "He's too far. A Deity Transformation cultivator has countless ways to dodge—it'd be hard to even graze him."

The Ancestor sighed. He didn't fear death; he feared not taking enemies with him. An Miaoli felt a pang of despair. Her recent breakthrough left her reliant on Ye Chen's gifted immortal scripture, allowing her to merely hold her own against a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Against a Deity Transformation powerhouse? She could only smile bitterly.

The Ancestor, ever the radical, hatched a plan. "If we can't kill that Deity Transformation old ghost, let's take out a few Nascent Souls. We can't rest until we fire the Primordial Chaos Force. You draw out a few Nascent Souls, especially the late-stage one. At the last moment, use your Wind-Thunder Wings to escape, and I'll trigger the array to unleash the force, killing as many as we can. We may die, but we'll drag some down with us."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

An Miaoli shook her head without hesitation. She wasn't afraid of death. If Ye Chen weren't in seclusion here, she'd back the Ancestor's plan—dying while inflicting maximum damage on the enemy would be a worthy trade. But her gaze drifted to Quiet Wonder Peak, to Ye Chen's seclusion site.

She wanted to wait, to buy more time until Ye Chen emerged. She didn't expect him to fight a Deity Transformation cultivator, but with his small world and enigmatic abilities, he could likely escape alive. If he could take An Yuyi with him, even better.

Without An Miaoli's support, the Ancestor sighed regretfully, following her gaze to Ye Chen's seclusion site. "Why's he taking so long? You formed a high-grade Immortal Soul in half a year. Even if he's forming a top-grade one, it should be about time!"

No one knew. Interrupting a major realm breakthrough was unthinkable—it would ruin the attempt. Besides, Ye Chen's seclusion site was fortified with a top-grade array, impervious to entry.

Time trickled by. Five more days passed, and the sect's array grew increasingly frail, on the verge of collapse. Heavenly Nether Sect's elders stayed miles away, bombarding from a distance, while the late-Nascent Soul elder vanished entirely. The Ancestor sighed—clearly, they were wary of the Primordial Chaos Force.

Gazing at the dimming, teetering array, he sighed again. Launching the Primordial Chaos Force was now impossible. The array could last half an hour at most. The Ancestor steeled himself to detonate his Nascent Soul, hoping to take at least one enemy with him. Ancestor Liu, meanwhile, withdrew into despair, feeling his death would be utterly stifling.

At that moment, the Ancestor and Ancestor Liu's faces changed drastically, their gazes shooting to the sky. The growing crowd of distant onlookers widened their eyes, holding their breath.

Tian Mingzi, who had sat silently at the prow of the skyship, stood up. His black hair whipped wildly in the wind, his robe billowing fiercely. Behind him loomed a colossal, indistinct figure of nether qi, like a true lord of the underworld gazing down on mortals. The mere sight of this phantom made hearts skip and legs tremble.

This was the hallmark of a Deity Transformation cultivator's most terrifying ability: Heavenly Law Manifestation. Even unactivated, its mere silhouette inspired dread. When fully unleashed, it could overturn mountains, sunder seas, and annihilate all.

Under countless awestruck gazes, Tian Mingzi regarded the array indifferently, calmly raising a hand. From nearly a hundred miles away, he clenched his fist toward Divine Will Sect. The heavens and earth around the sect seemed to compress. The array, which could have held for another half-hour, shattered with a deafening explosion. Entire mountain ranges collapsed in its wake.

It was as if doomsday had descended upon Divine Will Sect.

The distant onlookers felt their hearts stop. Was this the power of a Deity Transformation cultivator? A single move, and it was truly world-ending. Terrifying beyond words.

...

Within Divine Will Sect, on Quiet Wonder Peak, Ye Chen's cave abode was shielded by an array emanating a peculiar force, preserving the peak unscathed. Inside, Ye Chen remained in seclusion, his body resonating with thunderous sounds, signaling a profound transformation. His breakthrough was still ongoing.

Before him, a token etched with a yin-yang fish floated, rising and falling. The moment Divine Will Sect's gate array shattered, a surge of energy activated the token—the Holy Son token from Heavenly Evolution Holy Land. This was Ye Chen's contingency. If Heavenly Nether Sect attacked before his breakthrough, overwhelming Divine Will Sect and breaching the gate, the token would activate automatically.

As it did, a strange fluctuation rippled from Ye Chen's cave, reaching far into the distance...