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

Xuan Zhenzi stroked his short golden beard and narrowed his small eyes. He scrutinized the broken disc on the ground from every angle, his face full of disapproval.

”Making it all so mysterious... what use could a pile of scrap metal possibly be?”

With that, he transformed into a streak of fine golden light and darted straight into the broken array disc. In an instant, the dim fragments lit up with a faint golden radiance. Shadows swayed within the cave as an undercurrent of runes drifted into view. A moment later, the golden light faded, and Xuan Zhenzi’s tiny figure shot back out, hovering in midair once more.

”It should be a Teleportation Array. Can Ancestor see if it can be repaired?” Jiuyou asked. His expression was calm; he had long prepared himself for any outcome.

Xuan Zhenzi nodded, then slowly shook his head, his expression growing solemn. ”The structural patterns do resemble a Teleportation Array, but its grade is far too high and profound. I can only grasp the surface; I can’t see through the entire formation’s logic. With more than half the runes destroyed and the foundation crippled, I might not be able to fix it even if I spent days meticulously deducing it. I can’t make any guarantees.”

He scanned the deep, dark cave, his brow furrowing slightly. ”Furthermore, the aura in this place is bizarre. There’s an indescribable wrongness to it. Given your usually cautious nature, do you really want to stay here and mess around with this?”

Jiuyou’s expression remained unchanged, his tone steady and firm. ”Ancestor, just focus on deducing and repairing it. I will handle any minor external matters alone. This is no small thing—it involves a hidden opportunity to ascend to the Upper Realm. It is worth a try.”

He knew very well that despite Xuan Zhenzi having lived for eons and possessing a transcendent perspective, the one thing the ancestral spirit could never remain calm about was an opportunity to ascend, shatter the realm, and transcend the Heavenly Dao. There was no way he would easily pass up such a colossal bait.

Sure enough, Xuan Zhenzi’s expression changed instantly. His small eyes snapped wide open, his face filled with shock and urgency. ”What did you say? This place hides a secret of the Upper Realm? Why didn’t you mention something so important earlier! Wait right here, let me investigate it again in detail!”

Before his voice even faded, he transformed back into a blinding streak of golden light and shot ferociously into the array disc’s remains.In the next instant, the broken disc fragments on the ground erupted with golden brilliance. Dazzling streams of light flooded the dark cave as dense, overlapping runes lit up, pulsing bright and dim. The entire space began to tremble slightly. Clearly, Xuan Zhenzi was giving it his all, thoroughly inspecting the texture of the runes to deduce the array’s origin.

Jiuyou stood to the side, his expression completely tranquil. He paced slowly around the cave a few times before finally finding a clean rock to sit on. Raising a hand, he drew out an Ember Moon Sword, his fingertips slowly wiping its sharp edge. His gaze seemed fixed on the blade, but in reality, it never left the glowing remains of the array disc for even a second. His mind remained on constant guard, never relaxing in the slightest.

A long while later, the golden light in the cave suddenly fell into chaos.

The disc fragments hovering in midair trembled violently. Countless incomplete runes fluttered and crossed paths, looking as if they were trying to piece themselves together and become whole again. But every time the lines were on the verge of connecting, an inexplicable repulsive force would push them apart.

Suddenly, a blinding burst of golden light exploded!

The spiritual light on all the fragments extinguished entirely. They plummeted to the ground utterly devoid of power, kicking up layers of dust as they reverted to a pile of useless scrap.

Jiuyou furrowed his brows, immediately standing up and stepping forward.

Right at that moment, Xuan Zhenzi’s figure shot out from the debris. His tiny face was filled with bewilderment and confusion, his expression bizarre in the extreme. He stared straight at the approaching Jiuyou with such a strange look that it sparked a sliver of surprise in Jiuyou’s heart.

”What’s wrong?” Jiuyou asked in a deep voice.

Xuan Zhenzi pointed at the scrap on the ground, his tone tinged with lingering fear and anger. ”I should be asking you! Who told you this was a Teleportation Array? Just now, I forcefully deduced and repaired it according to Teleportation Array principles, and the runes nearly went berserk in reverse! If I hadn’t stopped in time and decisively cut off the influx of spiritual energy, that backlash alone would have been enough to blast this entire cave into ash!”

Jiuyou was stunned, his face revealing shock and doubt. ”This isn’t a Teleportation Array?”

In that instant, countless questions flooded his mind. If this disc wasn’t a Teleportation Array, then a thousand years ago, how had that Ten-Thousand-Year Longevity-Increasing Fruit appeared out of thin air to land here? What was the true purpose of this broken array disc that had survived across the ages?

”Of course not.” Xuan Zhenzi quickly calmed his emotions and nodded firmly. As he carefully parsed the residual aura of the array runes, he slowly added, ”Judging by the remaining lines and structural power, this is an ancient conversion array. In the past, it must have been used to intercept and transform other special energies within the secret realm for alternate uses. It’s just that so much time has passed, and it was intentionally destroyed long ago, completely ruining its function.”

”A conversion array...”

Jiuyou softly repeated the words, repeatedly chewing over their profound implications. His dust-covered memories suddenly cleared, and everything instantly made sense.

He finally understood the entire cause and effect. Taking the Ten-Thousand-Year Longevity-Increasing Fruit back then had seemed like a chance encounter, but in reality, a hidden mechanism had been at play. If no one had plucked that fruit, this conversion array would have continued running, endlessly extracting the fruit’s origin essence to maintain the Blood Demon’s seal. As a result, the Blood Demon would never have been able to break free of its shackles, all the subsequent events would not have happened, and countless cultivators and mortals would not have died.

But now, everything was in the past. If he hadn’t had that fruit back then, he would have died. Even if he could do it all over again, Jiuyou would still choose the exact same path.

Jiuyou reined in his thoughts and considered another angle. If an abandoned conversion array could still serve as a landing point for a spiritual fruit, it proved that this cave was far from as simple as it looked on the surface. There had to be another mystery hidden beneath it.

With that thought in mind, Jiuyou hesitated no longer. His divine sense roared outward, piercing straight through the rocky surface and probing deep underground.

In the blink of an eye, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes!

Beneath the surface, there was indeed an incredibly concealed, heavily layered ancient array foundation. It was perfectly hidden by the rock layers—a brilliant design that ordinary cultivators would never be able to detect.

Jiuyou took action immediately. Spiritual energy surged from his fingertips, stripping away layers of dirt and stone. As the rock continued to peel away, a complete, magnificent ancient array was fully revealed.

Only now did he realize that the entire cave had actually been built directly on top of this grand array. It borrowed the array’s spiritual mechanics to gather qi and nourish spirits, remaining hidden and unknown for a thousand years.

”That’s right. This is what you were actually looking for.”

Xuan Zhenzi floated down, casually collecting the useless fragments of the conversion array from the ground, intending to carefully study the ancient runes during his free time later. He bent over and meticulously inspected the underground array. His tense expression slowly relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief. ”This underground Teleportation Array is perfectly preserved without a single flaw. It’s completely different from that ruined array just now.”

He looked up at Jiuyou with a solemn expression. ”Are you absolutely sure this array connects to an Upper Realm opportunity? Where does this complete grand Teleportation Array ultimately lead?”

Jiuyou remained silent for a moment before stepping into the very center of the grand array. With a shift in his thoughts, he instantly activated the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring. Vast, pure spiritual energy poured endlessly into the array’s foundation.

The ancient array, dormant for a thousand years, revived in an instant. Densely packed, archaic runes lit up one after another. Golden light swirled and spread outward in layers, blanketing the underground along the array’s paths, and a blinding spiritual radiance slowly filled the dark cave.

”Hey! You haven’t answered my question!” Xuan Zhenzi pressed, seeing him remain silent.

Jiuyou’s gaze was cold and tranquil, completely unruffled. He said faintly, ”Ancestor will naturally know soon enough.”

Xuan Zhenzi gave a dissatisfied snort. Looking at the glowing grand array, he blurred into golden light and swept back into the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring, muttering under his breath, ”You brat, always acting so mysterious...”

Within the cave, the array’s spiritual light grew increasingly blinding. The grand Teleportation Array, silent for a millennium, was now fully awake.

Before the teleportation, Jiuyou handed over all the array-setting materials he had on him to Xuan Zhenzi. Xuan Zhenzi was confused at first, but after hearing Jiuyou’s explanation, a smile of sudden realization spread across his face.