Chapter 454: The Economics of Immortality
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully devouring the Investment Return System, costing six million destiny value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Long Hao's Investment Return System has been devoured, Plundering +6,000,000 destiny value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Long Hao's destiny value is below 30%, his Fortune has fallen into a trough, and the probability of killing him has sharply increased!]
The notifications echoed within Shen Anyu's consciousness, not as mere sounds, but as profound shifts in his very being. He felt the six million Destiny Points drain away, a torrent of raw energy poured into a silent exchange. For a fleeting moment, there was a void, and then, with the force of a supernova, it returned, doubled back upon itself. The plunder was complete.
Within his mind's eye, he witnessed the hostile takeover. His Destiny Plundering System, a predatory entity of ruthless order and logic, had latched onto the weaker, more naive Investment Return System. He saw it as a clash of pure data—his system's code, sharp and jagged like black obsidian, mercilessly shredding the simpler, golden code of Long Hao's cheat. It wasn't a battle; it was an execution. The foreign system was disassembled, its core functions analyzed, and its essence integrated, becoming a new, seamless part of his own arsenal.
The six million Destiny Points had been the key, the price of admission to dismantle his rival's foundation. Now, that investment had paid for itself instantly. A perfect, closed loop of profit. Shen Anyu's lips curled into a satisfied smirk as he examined the new addition to his control panel.
[Investment Return]
[Function Effect: As long as an investment behavior occurs, you can receive generous returns based on the specific investment proportion...]
His eyes scanned the description, his mind already racing, processing possibilities at a speed that would melt a supercomputer. This was more than just a tool for financial gain. The function wasn't limited to investing in people or businesses; it could be applied to anything. Any existing thing.
A curious, almost whimsical thought sparked in his mind. 'For example... what if I invest in a small sapling?'
He closed his eyes, letting his imagination run wild, visualizing the process with the clarity of a god. He saw himself planting a single, fragile seed in barren earth, nourishing it with a sliver of his resources. As the sapling took root and grew, a thread of energy, faint but pure, would flow back to him. The system's description flashed again: giving aid in times of need yields more returns than adding flowers to embroidery. Planting a tree in a desert was the ultimate form of "aid in a time of need."
"If I invest in a sapling," he mused aloud, his voice a low whisper carried on the wind, "what could it possibly give me back? Make me grow taller?"
His expression was a mixture of fascination and disbelief. He delved deeper into the function's parameters, his curiosity piqued. A few moments later, his quiet contemplation erupted into a genuine, delighted shock. The return wasn't something as mundane as money or physical height.
It was Vitality. Pure Life Qi.
The very essence he needed to cultivate the Two-Aspects Life-Death Medical Scripture.
The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. Of course, the Vitality returned from a single, tiny sapling would be meager, a mere drop in the vast ocean of what he required. But Shen Anyu didn't think in small terms. His mind scaled the concept instantly, exponentially.
'One sapling is a drop. What about a thousand? Ten thousand? A million? One hundred million?'
He envisioned a desert, vast and lifeless, a sea of sand under a scorching sun. Then, he saw himself, a lone figure directing a monumental effort. Armies of workers, fleets of machines, all funded by his near-infinite wealth, transforming the landscape. The sand gives way to rich soil. Irrigation systems snake across the dunes like arteries. And then, the green tide begins. A million saplings, then ten million, then a billion, covering the barren land until the desert itself vanishes, replaced by a sprawling, vibrant forest teeming with life.
Each tree, a tiny tributary of Life Qi, would flow back to him. Combined, they would form a river, an ocean, a planetary torrent of pure Vitality flooding his meridians. The sheer scale of it was breathtaking. Accumulating small amounts into a large one… the gathered energy would be beyond imagination.
A deep, hearty laugh escaped him. He immediately pulled out his phone, his fingers flying across the screen as he dialed.
"Butler," he commanded, his voice ringing with absolute authority, "pass on my order. I want ten million mu of forest planted in the Northwest Gobi Desert. Money is not an issue. I want it done, and I want it done fast."
An operation of this magnitude was staggering. Turning a single mu of desolate Gobi into a thriving forest, factoring in manpower, saplings, water resources, and logistical support, would cost anywhere from eight to ten thousand yuan. Ten million mu would run close to one hundred billion. For any other person, any other corporation on the planet, it would be an impossible, ruinous undertaking.
But for Shen Anyu, it was nothing. With the Cashback function, he could simply channel the funds through one of his loyal heroines. The money would be spent, the forest would be planted, and every last yuan would flow right back to him, likely with a profit. The investment behavior would still be his, fulfilling the system's condition.
Any problem money could solve wasn't a problem at all.
"Haha," he chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "I'm afraid the ancient founder of the Two-Aspects Life-Death Medical Scripture never, in his wildest dreams, imagined someone could play the game like this."
The corners of his mouth were stuck in a permanent upward curve. Just moments ago, he had been pondering the difficult, time-consuming task of gathering Life Qi. Now, with the acquisition of a single system function, the problem was solved. It was a perfect, elegant solution that had arrived at the exact moment he needed it.
And the symmetry was beautiful. Life Qi from planting trees. By extension, Death Qi could be obtained through logging. Life and Death, growth and decay, all managed on a balance sheet.
'If I turn all the world's deserts into oases... will I establish a Nascent Soul on the spot?'
'No spiritual energy in the air? Cultivation progress slowing down? Pathetic.'
'Watch my Money Power bend the laws of the universe.'
His mood was soaring. He cast a final, dismissive glance across the distance at Long Hao. The poor fool. He was still standing there, utterly oblivious, unaware that the very foundation of his power, the system that was his ticket to greatness, had been ripped out from under him.
Shen Anyu's Void Breaking Divine Eye saw more than just the man. He saw the metaphysical ruin. Long Hao's aura of fortune, once a brilliant, roaring bonfire, had been reduced to a flickering, sputtering candle. The tens of millions of destiny value he once held, a treasure that could grow and compound, was now a pathetic million and change, stagnant and decaying. The vibrant threads of his fate were now frayed and dull.
He wasn't surprised that Long Hao still registered as a Child of Destiny. The Investment System was only one part of his identity. He was also a Reborn individual, his memories of the future a treasure trove of information.
"I originally planned to cast a long line and catch a big fish," Shen Anyu mused, his voice laced with cold amusement. "Let him grow fat on his luck before I harvested it all. But now... plans have changed." With the method of immortal cultivation in his hands, it was only a matter of time before he mastered a Soul Searching spell. When that time came, he would simply crack open Long Hao's mind like a nut and extract every last secret—every future opportunity, every hidden powerhouse, every pivotal event.
"For now, I'll let you live a little longer. Cherish these final moments of ignorance, Long Hao. They're the last peaceful ones you'll ever have."
With a final, predatory smile, Shen Anyu took one last look at his prey. His form shimmered, blurring at the edges like a heat haze, before dissolving completely into the light and shadow, leaving no trace he was ever there.
A moment ago, his phone had buzzed. It was a message from Xu Ruoshui.
Her cat could do a backflip, she'd said. She wanted him to come and see.
A cat that could do a backflip? Such a rare and wondrous sight… Shen Anyu naturally had to go and investigate personally.
[Name: Shen Anyu]
[Age: 25]
[Cultivation: Heavenly Human Early Stage]
[Abilities: Ultra Divine Rank Love Infinite Teleport, Ultra Divine Rank Sharing, Divine Steel Body, Heavenly Secret Qi Observation Technique, Void Breaking Divine Eye, God-level Telekinesis, Divine-grade Perception, Divine Medical Skill, Divine Poison Skill, Divine Invisibility Technique, Divine Transformation Technique, God-Tier Soul Shield, Divine Soul Swapping Technique, Divine Hacker, Divine Music, Divine Cooking Skill, Divine Lightning Ability, Divine Wind Ability, Divine Gold Ability, Divine Wood Ability, Divine Water Ability, Divine Fire Ability, Divine Earth Ability, Divine Dark Ability, Divine Light Ability, Divine Swordsmanship, Divine Marksmanship, Divine Leg Techniques, Divine Veteran Driver, Divine Bartending, God-level Blood Curse Technique, Tian Yuan Secret Technique, Extraordinary Ventriloquism, Extraordinary Speech, Extraordinary Yoga, Extraordinary Hypnosis...]
[Items: Divine Rank Storage Ring, Divine Resurrection Stone, Divine Soul Ring, Nascent Soul True Scripture Two-Aspects Life-Death Medical Scripture Legacy Jade Slip, 9 hundred-year zhu fruits, one Heavenly Human Breakthrough Pill, son of destiny identifier, Golden Infinite Bullet Gatling, Invisibility Cloak, Qinghong Sword, Yitian Sword, 61 bottles of Dingyan Pill, 97 bottles of Essence Nourishing Pill, 90 bottles of Qi Nourishing Pill, 66 bottles of Vitality Pill, 276 nanometer monitoring robots, 237 Grandmaster Guards, 941 Innate Guards, Supreme Shemale, Ring of the Heart of the Sky, several Cannons...]
[Destiny Value: 8,608,897]
[Title: Great Villain of Destiny]
[System Store] [Cashback] [Accumulated Draw Ultra Divine] [Investment Return]
…
Meanwhile, in a luxurious villa in the prestigious Tangquan No. 1 district.
Xu Ruoshui and Xu Ruoxue had moved back from the main Xu family estate. The official reason was for privacy, but the real reason was simple: Shen Anyu owned a villa just a few doors down. They both yearned to be closer to him, to exist in his orbit, even if he was rarely there. Young Master Shen treated the four seas as his home, a different bed for every night of the week, a ghost who appeared and disappeared at will.
"Hubby, I'm waiting for you," Xu Ruoshui murmured into her phone, her voice dripping with honey.
She ended the call, and the professional smile she maintained for business melted away, replaced by one of genuine, pure joy. Her eyes, bright and clear, curved into beautiful crescents, her entire face lit with a sweet, radiant glow. He was coming. He was actually coming.
A moment later, her full, rosy lips jutted out in an adorable pout. "You bad guy," she grumbled to the empty room. "You only come when I call you. I wonder which vixen you were tangled up with just now."
Her playful complaint was tinged with a real, sharp pang of jealousy, an insecurity that was always lurking beneath her confident exterior. Saying this, she reached down and stroked the fluffy Ragdoll cat curled up on the sofa beside her. A sly, cunning glint, a stark contrast to her usually gentle and graceful demeanor, appeared in her eyes.
"Xiao Bai," she cooed, scratching the cat behind its ears. "Can you really do a backflip?"
"Meow~" the pristine white cat responded, blinking its innocent, sapphire-blue eyes.
A soft sigh escaped Xu Ruoshui's lips. "If I want to keep his heart, a trick like this is the only way." She knew she was just one of many, a beautiful flower in an ever-expanding garden. To stand out, to capture even a sliver of his attention for an evening, required creativity. She pursed her red lips, her mind made up.
Having steeled her resolve, she gracefully rose from the couch and padded silently toward her younger sister's bedroom.
She pushed the door open to find Xu Ruoxue still fast asleep, despite the sun streaming through the windows. Her sleeping posture was a disaster. The silk blanket was kicked down to her waist, and her thin nightdress had ridden up, revealing an expanse of creamy, snow-white skin on her chest that seemed to spill from the fabric.
Xu Ruoshui's eyes flickered down to her own chest, then back to her sister. A wave of indignation washed over her.
"She's two years younger than me," she muttered under her breath, a hint of envy in her tone. "How is she bigger than me?"
Unable to resist the impulse, she reached out and gave her sister's exposed thigh a firm, stinging slap.
"Ah! That hurts! Sister, what are you doing?!" Xu Ruoxue yelped, jolting awake and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"What time do you think it is? The sun is going to set and you're still in bed."
"Aiya, just let me sleep a little longer," Ruoxue whined, her voice thick with drowsiness. "It's not like there's anything important to do anyway." She was like a lazy, pampered Persian cat. With a groan, she flopped over, turning her back to her sister and preparing to drift off again.
Xu Ruoshui watched her for a moment, then turned to leave, her voice casual, almost bored.
"Well, if you say so. You keep sleeping, then. Shen Anyu will be here soon. I guess I'll have to spend some quality time with him, just the two of us."
The effect was instantaneous.
Xu Ruoxue shot up in bed as if struck by lightning, the blankets flying, her eyes wide and suddenly alert.
Xu Ruoxue immediately scrambled up...
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