I, a Demonic Nascent Soul Patriarch, Begin by Snatching a Cheat

A flicker of terror crossed Frostshell Tortoise’s face, but not a trace of hesitation. Its gaze turned savage in an instant, fixating on Jiuyou. It snorted in contempt, its tone saturated with deep-seated hatred.

“You sealed me for a hundred years, forcing me to eke out an existence in this sunless underworld, and now you expect me to call you master? Dream on!”

He paused, voice growing even angrier.

“Do you think I’d believe your lies? You despicable human, don’t think I’m ignorant. Once you plant that soul mark, my life and death will be at your whim. You speak so grandly, but all you want is to use me. When I’m no longer useful, you’ll kill me without a second thought!”

The last sentence tore from his throat with everything he had, a bellow that shook the heavens and echoed for hundreds of miles.

Before his words finished, Frostshell Tortoise suddenly opened its huge mouth. Spiritual light furiously converged inside, and a several-zhang-wide beam of chilling ice blasted forth, carrying a freezing force that could immobilize anything. It surged straight toward Jiuyou.

Jiuyou stood unmoving, neither avoiding nor yielding, expression placid and indifferent. Contempt glinted in his eyes as he gave a cold snort.

“I advised you kindly, yet you struck first, playing for a final desperate move. In that case, do not blame me if I show no mercy and kill you!”

No sooner had he spoken than he lifted his right hand slightly. From the Nether Capital Gate behind him, flames flared intensely. Roars rose and fell within the gate, as if countless ferocious creatures were concealed inside. Pairs of glacial eyes pierced outward, locking onto Frostshell Tortoise.

The next moment, skulls the color of cyan shot out one after another, like a sea of skeletons. Each opened a huge maw, bodies wreathed in roaring cyan flame, and charged boldly into the ice beam to intercept it head-on.

The first skull crashed into the beam and shattered instantly; the second and third were wiped away in the same instant. Yet the cyan-flame skulls kept coming, wave after wave, their numbers swelling. Layer upon layer of interception finally forced the once-unstoppable ice beam to be blocked and its power steadily diminished.

“How is this possible?”

Frostshell Tortoise cried out in alarm, its voice already edging toward weakness. Doubt and retreat surged in its heart. It tried to pull back and flee, but the moment had passed.

Then the cyan-flame skulls that had surged forward suddenly merged together. The massive skull continued to swell until it reached a hundred zhang in size. In its hollow eye sockets, cyan flames roared up. The giant maw opened and swallowed the remaining ice beam into its belly. It then shifted direction with colossal ferocity and charged straight for Frostshell Tortoise.

The enormous skull moved like lightning. Frostshell Tortoise, already drained by the spirit-sealing formation, was stiff and sluggish, unable to react or dodge. It was struck squarely by the skull.

With a dull, thunderous crash, Frostshell Tortoise’s huge body was slammed back onto Coldwind Island, crashing to the ground on its back, all four legs flailing, emitting a piercing, miserable scream. Its breath instantly withered to a pitiful state.

Now its voice was weak and near-broken, yet there was not a shred of regret—only bitter unwillingness and rage.

“Damn it! I was so close, only one step away from escaping; in the end I still couldn’t do it!”

Frostshell Tortoise struggled desperately to prop itself up, but its meridians were exhausted and not a drop of strength remained. It could only lie there, paralyzed.

Jiuyou gave it no respite. He quickly formed hand seals, and a gigantic five-fingered claw of freezing flame materialized in midair, pierced with bone-chilling cold, then smashed down toward Frostshell Tortoise. An icy smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

“If you obediently submit, perhaps you could live for decades more. Since you are stubborn, today I will kill you to seize your beast pill. This trip will not have been in vain.”

No sooner had he spoken than the flaming claw came down with a roar. Dust billowed and stones flew in all directions. Coldwind Island shook violently, fissures cracking the ground into jagged rifts.

Nether Soul Devourer!

Jiuyou’s voice dropped low yet carried murderous intent that spread in all directions.

The instant he finished speaking, space behind him warped and tore open into a pitch-black rift shaped like a vertical pupil, coldly gazing down upon everything on Coldwind Island. The Nether Capital Gate flew backward and completely merged into that spatial giant eye.

As the two fused, the spatial giant eye seemed to awaken. The eyeball rotated slightly and then transformed into a cyan vortex, spinning rapidly.

Strangely, the vortex spun ever more violently, yet no gust of wind rose, the sea below remained unnervingly calm, and the dead trees onshore did not stir. Only an invisible consuming force quietly spread outward.

At that moment, within Frostshell Tortoise’s huge belly, a spiritual light flashed. A pale-blue light orb floated up slowly. Inside the orb coiled a mini Frostshell Tortoise formed from condensed spiritual energy, identical to the original. This was Frostshell Tortoise’s natal soul.

The soul writhed wildly, pouring out every ounce of strength, trying to flee.

But the moment the light orb moved, an invisible, massive pulling force locked onto it. No matter how it struggled, it could not budge even a fraction; it could not escape this terrifying suction.

“Devour!”

Jiuyou roared and clenched his hand into a fist. The rotation speed of the cyan giant eye behind him skyrocketed, and the devouring force surged by leaps and bounds.

“No!!!”

Frostshell Tortoise’s natal soul gave a despairing scream, pouring out its last effort to struggle, but it was utterly useless. Its form twisted and contorted under the pulling force, and in a single instant, the cyan giant eye swallowed it completely, leaving not a trace behind.

Jiuyou quietly felt the pure strength of an eighth-rank demon beast’s natal soul flood into his body. He pressed his palm down slightly and his face revealed a look of satisfaction, as if savoring the finest delicacy.

“Delicious, truly delicious! An eighth-rank demon beast’s natal soul tastes far better than those Golden Core cultivators’—a high-level beast’s soul is a far richer feast!”

He licked his cracked lips, his face still written with lingering satisfaction. Suddenly his expression changed. His spirit stirred sharply and his gaze shot like a blade straight to the island’s boundary.

“A Nascent Soul cultivator’s aura?”

At that boundary, an overwhelmingly powerful aura suddenly burst forth. With a single strike, it utterly annihilated the two Late Golden Core Nether Soul Puppets that had been chasing him, without hesitation.

Jiuyou’s eyes narrowed and his mind raced.

“This is a Nascent Soul cultivator’s presence—no, this is the aura of a Nascent Soul talisman! I didn’t expect that young Golden Core to hide such a treasure. Could he be the disciple of some Nascent Soul old devil, out training?”

His thoughts flickered, but Jiuyou’s movements did not stop; if anything, they grew swifter.

He waved his hand and a cyan iron chain tore through the air, penetrating Frostshell Tortoise’s corpse and extracting the beast pill from its belly. He seized it in one hand. Then his body dissolved into a dense wisp of ghostly mist and shot toward where the powerful aura had erupted.

“No matter what faction you’re from, since you dared trespass into my domain and ruin my affairs, you must pay a bitter price!”

The ghost mist moved at incredible speed and vanished from above Coldwind Island in a flash, leaving behind a scene of ruin—the air still heavy with blood and an eerie cold—testimony to the brutal clash that had just taken place.