Chapter 41: Ascending to True Immortal!

After much coaxing and persuasion, Lady Yin finally managed to get Nezha to turn his back once more. Nezha immediately resumed his barrage of questions, forgetting the previous unpleasantness. His ability to forget was purely a child’s innocence—especially when it came to his own mother.

“Mother, why does Father always look so stern whenever he sees me? I don’t owe him any money, but the more he treats me like this, the more I want to go out and cause trouble and pick fights.”

Such was Nezha’s fiery temper—destined to be the greatest rebel in Heaven.

Lady Yin was taken aback for a moment, then replied, “Your father never mentioned it to me. I’ll ask him later, but maybe it’s because you’re always misbehaving and getting into trouble, Nezha.”

“It’s not that. Even before I started causing trouble, Father was always like this,” Nezha retorted.

“He treats your elder brothers the same way,” Lady Yin defended her husband.

“But he’s smiled at them before. He’s never smiled at me.”

“Maybe you’ve exasperated him one too many times.”

“Hmph! I don’t care. He’s not my father. He even said himself he has no son like me!” Nezha huffed.

“Silly child, don’t say such nonsense! If he’s not your father, then who is?” Lady Yin gently tapped Nezha.

“Anyone else would do—just not him,” Nezha stubbornly replied.

“If it weren’t for your father pleading with the king for you, you might not even be alive now. Try not to upset him so much; he does care about you,” Lady Yin said earnestly.

Nezha pouted and, for once, didn’t argue. He might be a child and not understand everything, but he wasn’t a fool. He could tell who cared for him and who didn’t.

He could only muster a feeble defense: “My master would have saved me too.”

At the mention of his master yet again, Lady Yin’s rare anger flared. She scolded Nezha, “Always talking about your master! If your master truly cared for you, would he still not have shown up after all this time?”

“But Master doesn’t know I’m in trouble,” Nezha mumbled helplessly.

“You may not know your master’s abilities, but do you really think he’d ignore you if he truly saw you as his disciple? Would he have missed you getting into trouble? Don’t mention your master in front of me again!” Lady Yin’s emotions surged.

She was increasingly regretting ever entrusting Nezha to Master Taiyi.

Nezha’s eyelids drooped. Whether from fatigue or a lack of will to argue further, he softly said to his mother, “Mother, I’m sleepy.”

Sleepy again? Hadn’t he just woken up? Lady Yin was puzzled. Could Nezha have been left with some lingering illness? But she didn’t realize that, by normal standards, Nezha was still just a child. When his powers had supported him, he’d naturally been full of energy, but now that they’d been taken away, he was no different from any other child. It was natural for children to be drowsy.

“Then let Mother take you back to your room to rest.” Lady Yin gently lifted Nezha into her arms, her heart sighing—since Nezha had returned from training, she hadn’t held him like this in a long time.

This only deepened her resentment toward Master Taiyi.

“I want to hear a story—the one about Shennong tasting a hundred herbs. I want to hear it again.”

“All right, all right, Mother will tell it to you again,” Lady Yin replied dotingly.

...

After she had finally lulled Nezha to sleep and stepped out of the room, she found her husband waiting outside.

“Is he asleep?” Li Jing asked coolly.

Lady Yin nodded, a little exasperated. “You and your son—two of a kind, both stubborn as mules. Would it kill either of you to lower your heads just a little?”

“Lower my head for what? What did I do wrong?” Li Jing raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yes, yes, whatever the great General Li says is right, whatever he does is never wrong,” Lady Yin teased.

“I’m not so capable. Only the king is always right,” Li Jing replied, distancing himself.

He couldn’t be sure their conversation wouldn’t be overheard by Jiang Yuan, so he made a point of praising the king.

Lady Yin shot him a reproachful look, wondering if her husband wasn’t being a bit too cautious. But she said nothing more.

“By the way, Nezha wanted me to ask you: why do you always look so stern whenever you see him?” Lady Yin asked curiously.

“He asked that?” Li Jing looked at her calmly.

“Never mind who asked, I’m curious too,” Lady Yin said with a wave of her hand.

“No reason. He’s always getting into trouble,” Li Jing said offhandedly.

“Oh.” Lady Yin knew that couldn’t be the real reason, but she didn’t press further.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yuan, having returned to the guest quarters, didn’t immediately rest. Instead, he summoned the system for a serious discussion about life, ideals, and the changes in his hometown.

“Hey, you useless system, get out here—I’ve got business to discuss,” Jiang Yuan called out arrogantly.

“Here I am, Host. What would you like to trade?” The system appeared promptly, knowing that Jiang Yuan currently possessed quite a lot of Tyrant Points and magical treasures.

This was a true big spender—a prime opportunity to cash in.

“How many Tyrant Points would it take for me to break through from Primordial Immortal to Profound Immortal?” Jiang Yuan asked grandly.

“Since you’re only at the early stage of Primordial Immortal, it will cost 199 Tyrant Points,” the system replied.

“That’s not expensive. Go ahead and make the transaction,” Jiang Yuan waved his hand. After all, it had cost him 50 points just to reach Celestial Immortal—this was a bargain.

“Ding! Transaction successful. Host has advanced to Profound Immortal. 199 Tyrant Points deducted. Current Tyrant Points: 311!”

Jiang Yuan instantly felt a mysterious energy surge through him, sharpening his soul and making his eyes gleam with strange light. His aura soared higher and higher!

In no time, his cultivation had reached the Profound Immortal realm.

Gaining so much without effort, Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but wonder: what would others think if they knew he could advance so easily, as if eating or drinking?

If it were someone else, he’d never stand for it—he’d want to beat them up. But since it was himself, it was only natural. A genius like him ought to cultivate with such ease.

“How much would it cost me to advance to Golden Immortal?” Jiang Yuan asked, testing the system.

He realized his earlier attitude might make the system think he was easy money—this wouldn’t do. The system’s knife was always sharpest for repeat customers.

“Not much. Since you’re at the early Profound Immortal stage, and considering you’re a regular...” the system began.

Here it comes—the system’s about to fleece me again, Jiang Yuan thought, already preparing a string of curses.

“So, just 299 Tyrant Points,” the system concluded.

“You damn system—are you trying to rip me off again?” Jiang Yuan blurted without thinking.

But then, 299 points didn’t seem so bad. He had just advanced to Profound Immortal; naturally, the price for reaching True Immortal would be higher. It seemed fair.

“???” The system was baffled—did this host bite everyone he met?

Jiang Yuan coughed awkwardly. “I spoke too fast—when I want to curse the system, it just comes out. Just consider it directed at the version of you that’ll cheat me in the future.”

So I’m to be cursed in advance? What, am I wrong not to fleece you?

The system now fully appreciated Jiang Yuan’s shameless character.

“299 Tyrant Points—no problem. Let’s make the transaction,” Jiang Yuan hurriedly changed the subject.

“Ding! Transaction successful. Host has advanced to True Immortal. 299 Tyrant Points deducted. Current Tyrant Points: 12!”

The sensation was the same as before, only even more intense. Jiang Yuan’s expression could be summed up in a single word: exhilaration!