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

Deep within Coldwind Island, a stone platform covered in obscure runic seals stood in an underground cavern.

Two men and one woman, all Golden Core cultivators, stood atop the platform with anxious expressions, their fingertips glowing with spiritual energy as they relentlessly bombarded the seals with various spells, desperate to break the formation and escape.

”Can you feel it? Your companions are already dead. If you want to live, listen to me. Once I get out, I’ll take you all and flee together. This is your only path to survival.”

A voice suddenly echoed from the void, its tone filled with rage and terror, yet tinged with a hint of excitement at the prospect of imminent escape. The complex emotion in that voice weighed heavily on the three cultivators’ hearts.

”Grand Ancestor Jiuyou of Soul Wraith Island—you should know that name. This island is his private domain, personally sealed with his own restrictions. If he catches you, you’ll suffer the ultimate torment of soul extraction and refinement, never to reincarnate, your very souls utterly annihilated!”

At those words, the three dared not pause for even a moment, their movements quickening as they poured out their magical power. Rocks and debris rained down inside the cavern, the entire mountain trembling in response. The light of the runic seals on the stone platform grew dimmer by the second, on the verge of collapse.

Among the three cultivators, the blue-robed woman formed a sword seal with her fingers, commanding a small azure sword to hack relentlessly at the seal runes on the surrounding rock walls. But the formation was too intricate, and with no understanding of formations herself, she could only attack wildly with minimal effect.

Beside her stood a burly man in black robes, wielding a pitch-black broadsword. His attacks were fierce and domineering—clearly a body cultivator—and he was the strongest of the three, a Mid-Golden Core cultivator with the most profound magical power.

Finally, there was the white-robed youth, his features delicate, with sharp brows and starry eyes. His hands flew through spell seals with blinding speed, each strike landing precisely on the formation’s key runes. He was clearly an expert in formation arts, and the linchpin of their escape.

”The formation will break soon. Once the seals shatter, we flee immediately! Jiuyou’s primary target will surely be that eighth-rank great demon sealed beneath us. Let that beast hold off Grand Ancestor Jiuyou while we make our escape!”

The white-robed youth sent a telepathic message to the other two. Without a moment’s hesitation, they both nodded, apparently already regarding him as their pillar of strength.

From beginning to end, none of them had believed a single word from the demon beast in the void. After decades of struggle in the world of immortal cultivation, no one would entrust their life to a suppressed eighth-rank great demon.

Just then, the white-robed youth’s gaze suddenly sharpened, locking onto a shadowy corner of the cavern where a faint, ghostly light was emanating—the formation’s final core node.

He changed his hand seals again, and a white folding fan shot out from his sleeve. Spinning at high speed in midair, it transformed into a small cyclone, hurtling straight toward that node.

”Right there—break!”

With a low shout, the cyclone slammed into the seal rune, and the core seal shattered with a resounding crack.

In that instant, the entire mountain quaked violently. All remaining runes on the stone platform went dark in an instant. A deep, rumbling roar echoed from beneath the earth, and a terrifying aura began to rise, as if some colossal entity was about to burst forth from the ground.

Before the three could even steady themselves, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air, followed by the burly man’s blood-curdling scream.

”Urgh...”

The white-robed youth and the blue-robed woman looked up to find a dark cyan chain impaling the burly man straight through his abdomen. Bizarre cyan flames instantly engulfed his entire body, the speed so fast they had no time to react.

The sudden horror left the two paralyzed with terror, their will to resist completely shattered.

The blue-robed woman, her mind blank with fear, instinctively looked toward the stone platform, her voice filled with despair.

”Senior demon beast... save me! Please, save me!”

The white-robed youth cursed inwardly, but with death closing in, he abandoned all thought of the blue-robed woman. Pouring out his spiritual power, he turned into a streak of white light and shot toward the cave entrance at full speed.

At that very moment, the earth split apart with a thunderous roar, the entire mountain exploding outward. A massive turtle, its body hundreds of feet in size, slowly emerged from beneath the ground—the eighth-rank great demon Frostshell Tortoise, suppressed by Jiuyou for centuries.

The Frostshell Tortoise radiated chilling cold. The moment it appeared, the ground around it was instantly covered in a thick layer of ice. It swept its gaze over the scene without pausing, its body flashing with blue light before transforming into a streak of light, fleeing without looking back.

”Hahaha! I’m finally free! Why the hell should I save you lot of ants? Die here, every last one of you!”

The Frostshell Tortoise’s wild laughter still echoed in the air.

The blue-robed woman, trapped at the scene, was instantly entangled by several dark cyan chains. No matter how she struggled with all her magical power, she couldn’t break free. In the blink of an eye, she was torn into a pulp, her very soul devoured by the chains, utterly annihilated.

Meanwhile, in the sky.

A mass of dark cyan mist suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking the Frostshell Tortoise’s escape route. A sinister, cackling laugh drifted out from within the mist.

”Turtle brother, where are you off to in such a hurry? How about this old man gives you a send-off?”

The cyan mist slowly dissipated, revealing Jiuyou’s figure. Cyan flames blazed fiercely around him, his gaze icy and piercing. Blue light flickered in his eyes as the chains wrapped around his body swayed slightly, coiled and ready to strike.

His eyes swept across the distance, instantly locking onto the fleeing streak of white light. His gaze brimmed with killing intent and disdain. He let out a cold sneer.

”Do you really think you can come and go from my Coldwind Island as you please?”

With those words, Jiuyou raised a hand, and a massive bronze gate, dozens of feet in size, materialized behind him. Within the gate, chilling light radiated in all directions, accompanied by the wails of countless ghosts, as if thousands of tormented souls were struggling and screaming inside.

”Go!”

Jiuyou’s voice was hoarse as he pointed a finger in the direction of the fleeing white-robed youth. A mere Early Golden Core cultivator—his Soul Wraith Puppet would be more than enough to destroy him.

From within the bronze gate, two sharp, piercing howls erupted. Two cyan skeletons wrapped in tattered cloth shot out, each exuding a pressure comparable to a Late Golden Core cultivator.

With another howl, the two skeletons tore after the white streak of light with lightning speed, leaving only faint cyan trails in the sky.

The Frostshell Tortoise, watching from afar, took several steps back, its massive body trembling. Its gaze was locked onto Jiuyou—more precisely, onto the bronze gate behind him—its turtle eyes filled with terror.

”The Nether Capital Gate? And it’s stronger than it was a hundred years ago. How many more living beings have you refined? And those two skeletons—they were your Soul Wraith Island’s Golden Core elders from a century ago. You actually turned them into Soul Wraith Puppets! You madman!”

”Hahaha!”

Jiuyou burst into laughter, his voice dripping with cold. He stepped slowly toward the Frostshell Tortoise, and with each step, the space around him twisted slightly.

He suppressed the murderous intent in his eyes and began to calculate inwardly.

This Frostshell Tortoise, though on its last legs, was still an eighth-rank demon beast. If he could bring it under his control, Soul Wraith Island would gain a temporary Nascent Soul-level combat force. Twenty years from now, at Heavenly Abyss Mountain...

With that thought, he slowly extended two fingers. His voice was low but carried the overwhelming pressure unique to a Nascent Soul cultivator as he spoke word by word.

”Turtle brother, this lord offers you two choices.”

”First: open your soul, let this lord plant a spiritual mark, and join my Soul Wraith Island from now on as my guardian beast.”

At this point, Jiuyou’s tone turned bone-chilling. His extended hand clenched into a fist, and his vast Nascent Soul magical power instantly swept across the area. The sea below, shaken by this force, erupted in towering waves as the surface churned violently.

”Second: die right here!”