Immortality Starts With Investment

Chapter 741: I Want to Protect You for a Lifetime!

After a long while, the exceptionally resilient Yao Yuezhi finally recovered. Gazing at Ye Chen, her eyes brimmed with tangled emotions. Though the sudden surge had left her a bit uncomfortable, how could Yao Yuezhi blame him?

Ye Chen harbored no ill intentions at all. He simply wanted to restore her cave heaven as swiftly as possible. That sentiment moved her to her very core. Turning her inner sight to her domain, in that momentary daze, its scale had exploded to two thousand li—and it continued to expand.

"Enough, truly enough..."

"Brother, stop—please think of yourself!"

Yao Yuezhi teetered on the edge of tears, her voice cracking with emotion as she begged him to halt. But Ye Chen remained silent...

...

In that manner, another two hours passed. Yao Yuezhi's cave heaven reached five thousand li across. Her urgency mounted. Gaining five thousand li meant she had drawn at least fifty thousand from Ye Chen. His domain had already lost half—any more, and immortality would slip from his grasp forever.

Yao Yuezhi's voice grew hoarse, her plea all the more heartrending. "Brother, really—it's enough... your little sister can't take more. Please, have mercy and let me rest a bit, alright?"

Yet even in her most pitiable state, Ye Chen kept his eyes shut, silent. He even figured that since she could string together so many words, she had adapted to this level. Her tenacity proved astonishing; he couldn't afford to waste it.

Ye Chen summoned another surge of his inner essence, unleashing it in a torrent. Before long, Yao Yuezhi drifted into a haze, words failing her entirely.

...

Another two hours elapsed just like that.

Yao Yuezhi's aura had climbed several folds in that span, now nearing her former peak. But tears rimmed her eyes, red and raw. Those clear emerald depths now swam with sorrow. Her frail, trembling form seemed on the verge of collapse.

At last, Yao Yuezhi could hold back no longer; tears traced down her cheeks like dew rolling off lotus leaves—crystalline and heartbreakingly beautiful. Her resilience proved formidable indeed, bolstered by her cultivation's near-return to its peak; she had fully adapted to the influx of cave heaven essence by now.

Yet as Yao Yuezhi gazed upon her domain, nearing ten thousand li in scale, not a flicker of joy stirred within her—only sorrow. For every ten thousand li she gained, it meant Ye Chen had lost a hundred thousand. A hundred thousand li—that was his entirety. She suspected that the very moment he learned of her shattered cave heaven, Ye Chen had already steeled himself to forsake his immortal path if it meant restoring hers! Once she fully recovered, he would stand utterly drained, his cultivation plummeting from the third heaven to the second, advancement forever barred.

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The thought deepened her grief as she looked upon Ye Chen. In her heart, she vowed then and there. No matter how vast the gulf in their cultivations grew in the future, Ye Chen would remain her one and only man. She would bear him a son and a daughter. She would stay by his side eternally. Ye Chen had given her everything. She would never betray that.

As she bit her lip in silent oath, Ye Chen noted her steady state and knew she could take more. Though he couldn't fathom why she wept, he guessed it stemmed from overwhelming bliss. Seasoned companions knew well: some women, when joy peaked too fiercely, lost control of their tears. It happened often enough. So Ye Chen paid it little mind, merely asking, "Yuezhi, are you ready?"

At his words, Yao Yuezhi assumed he meant to yield his last scraps of essence, pushing her formally past ten thousand li. They had come this far—refusal held no point now. So Yao Yuezhi nodded gravely. "Brother, I'm ready! You've been so good to me. In the future, I'll never let you down!"

Yao Yuezhi held back one more line, lest it bruise Ye Chen's pride. And that was: In the days ahead, I'll guard you with all I have—no one will ever harm you.

Ye Chen, hearing her readiness, nodded at once. In the next breath, the Armament Secret stirred the Qiankun Cauldron at her core. The cauldron's spin hit its zenith then, whirling like a tempest. At the same instant, the cave heaven essence drawn from Ye Chen's body erupted anew in a cataclysmic flood.

In that moment, Yao Yuezhi registered nothing before her emerald eyes rolled back, whites gleaming. Her delicate frame jolted rigid, toppling backward. She nearly blacked out entirely.

Without Ye Chen to catch her, Yao Yuezhi would have crashed to the floor. Only after a long while did she regain a shred of awareness, her gaze falling on the cauldron's frenzied blur. Then to her domain, now breached ten thousand li and still unfurling. And to the essence pouring ceaselessly through the four channels—each strand at least twice as potent as before.

Yao Yuezhi's still-foggy mind swirled with utter bewilderment. This was simply inconceivable! Why hadn't Ye Chen's cave heaven run dry yet? Shouldn't she have drained him completely by now? After all, no one in the cultivation world could breach the hundred-thousand-li limit. It was an ironclad rule! Even in ancient times, a prodigy with an immortal physique had tried to shatter it—and failed. Rumor held that the Heavenly Emperor himself had attempted the feat, only to fall short in the end. So why did Ye Chen still possess cave heaven essence?

Yao Yuezhi stared at him in dazed confusion. Ye Chen caught her puzzlement and smiled, explaining gently, "I told you before—my essence runs deep. You might need to endure a bit longer..."

Yao Yuezhi felt utterly numb, as if the world had gone still. Her beautiful eyes locked on Ye Chen, brimming with disbelief. By now, she had pieced it together: Ye Chen had undoubtedly broken through the hundred-thousand-li barrier. The revelation stunned her. From antiquity to the present, no one had ever achieved such a thing. His potential soared beyond imagination—perhaps unmatched in history. Once he truly matured, crushing Celestial Prince and the Seven-Crowned King would come effortlessly. Yet even so, Ye Chen squandered his essence without hesitation, all to restore her.

She gazed at him, her voice quivering. "Brother, enough—I've already surpassed ten thousand li, back at my peak limit!"

Ye Chen shook his head solemnly. "Ten thousand li? That's no limit. Yuezhi, close your eyes and just feel it. This time, I'll help you exceed the boundary—straight to a hundred thousand!"

In the next instant, Ye Chen's cave heaven essence erupted once more. Yao Yuezhi jolted in shock at his words—he meant to push her to a hundred thousand li? How much of his essence would that consume? Even if he'd shattered the limit, how far beyond could he have gone?

She opened her mouth to dissuade him, to beg him not to squander his foundation so recklessly. But before a single word escaped, Yao Yuezhi's eyes rolled back, leaving her speechless. Tears welled in them, and she teetered on the brink of unconsciousness...