Immortality Starts With Investment Chapter 1: Gift-Offering Bonding System

Silver Moon Market, Falling Cloud Mountain Range.

A piercing cold wind raged, toppling an object with a thunderous crash. The clamor snapped Ye Chen awake immediately. His weary, bloodshot eyes burst open. Looming before him was a huge alchemy furnace, still radiating heat. A lingering burnt aroma wafted faintly above it.

The chamber lay in utter disarray. Garments, medicinal herbs, and assorted vials cluttered the ground everywhere.

Gazing at the disorder, Ye Chen let out a deep sigh. It was real—he had indeed transmigrated to a different world. Three days had passed since his soul crossed over, yet he struggled to adjust to this realm or his new role. Above all, he yearned to go back home.

Back on Earth, he was just a regular office employee enjoying a stable existence.

Yet the body he now occupied belonged to an eighteen-year-old scion of a minor clan, versed somewhat in alchemy. He was meant to draw on family support, hone his pill-refining craft, and advance his cultivation.

Instead, for reasons unknown, he ended up dispatched to a store in Silver Moon Market, laboring as an alchemist to earn coin.

Issue was, his pill-concocting prowess left much to be desired. His success rate hovered at scarcely half of what a standard alchemist achieved.

Exposure as a pretender was out of the question. Serving as a market alchemist counted as a decent position amid fierce rivalry. A flop could relegate him to grueling, perilous drudgery.

His prior owner likely endured endless fretful nights, frenziedly forging pills to sharpen his abilities and meet clan demands. Exhaustion claimed his life in the end.

That moment marked Ye Chen's takeover of the body.

These burdens now fell squarely on Ye Chen. Since arriving, he experimented with alchemy, secretly hoping for hidden aptitude. But inheriting a shallow base and shoddy instruction, his recollections formed a tangled haze. After days of attempts, his results proved worse than his host's.

Ye Chen had utterly despaired. He even pondered abandoning his clan, seeking a mundane mortal town to live out his days as a mere shrine keeper.

Yet cultivation's road brimmed with peril. Countless stalled experts lingered without breakthroughs. At merely second layer of Qi Refining, decent prospects eluded Ye Chen.

Beyond the market lurked constant threats. Bandit cultivators prowled, ready to plunder—and capture spelled doom.

In essence, Ye Chen lacked even the luxury to squander his life away.

"Whatever. No more faking it..." Ye Chen grumbled to himself.

Saying so, he leaped up and flung the door wide. Since landing here, he'd barricaded himself inside, dreading detection of oddities. Now, indifference ruled. But as the door flew open, icy courtyard gusts blasted through.

A shiver gripped Ye Chen. He ducked back inside to don extra garb. Emerging once more, he spotted a figure approaching from the front yard.

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Clad in a flowing white robe paling against her flawless, glowing skin, she seemed to emit her own luminescence. Her silhouette exuded elegance. Despite the robe's modest bulk, her lithe frame and alluring contours stood out vividly.

Most captivating, though, was her visage—youthful, luminous, with delicate traits. One look from those enchanting eyes stirred tenderness and pity in any beholder.

Recognizing her at once, Ye Chen recalled her profile: a shop cultivator at third layer of Qi Refining, handling greetings and directions.

"Fellow Daoist Ye, you've finally emerged?" she greeted smilingly. "I saw you hadn't exited your room in five days and feared alchemy had worn you out. I came to see how you fared. Seeing you're fine now relieves me greatly."

Lin Ke'er's lovely countenance displayed evident relief.

Such a beauty's concern stirred Ye Chen's pulse, evoking a boy's crush: "Mom, I think I'm smitten." Yet he knew the truth—this was a classic green tea type.

From host memories, scarce quality pills emerged, yet many went to her.

The old Ye Chen, naive from cultivation-only focus pre-exile, fell for her soft words and charms here, convinced of her affection.

Thus, when Lin Ke'er offhandedly lamented low pay barely covering rent and pills, he promptly gifted her scant successes.

Lin Ke'er beamed in thanks. Thereafter, she often referenced it glowingly, lauding his skills and pill potency. The prior Ye Chen turned full simp, weekly donating more.

Reflecting now, Ye Chen felt revulsion. Barely self-sustaining, yet dispensing cultivation aids freely.

Earth Ye Chen shunned simping. With ample girlfriends, he grasped: funds serve self, not women.

Prior salary solid, he invested in fitness, trips, vehicles, properties—life buzzed vibrantly. Social posts drew floods of female admirers.

Pampering women secured no love, merely ATM status. Drained dry, they'd discard you ruthlessly.

Pathetic simp indeed—this fueled Ye Chen's disdain for his predecessor.

Lin Ke'er noted Ye Chen's atypical lack of teary gratitude to her worry.

Surprise flashed in her gaze. Still, dismissing it—last time yielding five Qi Gathering Pills—subpar or not, gratis ruled.

Cash-strapped Lin Ke'er welcomed the oddity. Eyes curving into smiles, voice honeyed, she inquired,

"Fellow Daoist Ye must have secluded long. You refined many pills during it, right?"

Envy laced her follow-up: "I truly envy Fellow Daoist Ye's alchemy gifts. Not like me..." Her tone faded sadly.

That tugged Ye Chen's pity briefly. Internally, though, he sneered coldly.

Lin Ke'er's anxiety mounted at his silence, intentions surfacing. Her innocence was a facade, clearly.

But Ye Chen wasn't the old fool. No simp here. Pills? Denied.

Over twenty Qi Gathering Pills remained from before, yet obligations meant zilch now. Consequences be damned. Self-use for cultivation trial tempted; her beauty warranted some sharing.

Exploitation? Never. Ye Chen refused simp role, cliff-dive preferable!

As retort formed, a chime echoed in his mind.

"Detecting compatible female cultivator..."

"Gift-Offering Bonding System activating..."

"Target: Lin Ke'er!"

"Gift return multiplier: Ten times!"

Thrill and bewilderment surged in Ye Chen at the announcement. Thrill for the system windfall. Yet this system's vibe felt off...