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

”Oh, so Pavilion Master Dong went to the Blood Abyss Sect.”

Jiuyou chuckled softly, his voice betraying no emotion.

”Heh. I do indeed have a major piece of business to discuss with Pavilion Master Dong.”

Since he couldn’t find Dong Yanwei, having a ”nice little chat” with his clansmen wasn’t a bad alternative. As it happened, he didn’t know the way to the Dong Family Compound, yet Dong Yanwei’s darling daughter was volunteering to guide him. Since she was being so enthusiastic, it would be rude to refuse.

”That sounds perfect. I was just planning a trip to the Dong Family myself, and I’ve even prepared a ’great gift’ for you, fairy.”

Hearing this, Dong Bingyi remained outwardly unfazed, but she secretly rolled her eyes.

’Playing hard to get?’

She had seen this trick too many times. The young man in the blue robes was certainly handsome, but his words were dripping with calculated routine. The slight favor he had finally managed to win back vanished completely.

Still, he was here for business. She made a gesture of invitation, her tone polite but entirely devoid of warmth.

”Please follow me, Fellow Daoist.”With that, she turned and headed straight for the main doors, completely ignoring Jiuyou.

Jiuyou trailed behind at a leisurely pace. His gaze swept over her slender back, his eyes calm and dead.

A moment later, a blue and a green streak of escape light shot into the sky. Leaving Thousand Leaf City, they headed straight east. The escape lights tore through the firmament, vanishing over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

...

Deep within an endless mountain range, countless peaks thrust upward, teeming with vibrant greenery.

Spiritual energy was so dense it hung in the air like fog, and beasts roamed through the forests. Occasionally, cultivators in uniform blood-red robes flew low overhead, their expressions solemn. No one would ever suspect that such a lush, spiritual sanctuary housed the mountain gates of the Blood Abyss Sect, a titan of the demonic path.

Of course, this was merely a facade.

Crossing these peaks led to a steep cliff where the reek of blood assaulted the senses. Deep within the chasm beyond, several bizarre, towering mountains stood in isolated arrogance. Rivers of blood wound across their summits, carrying unrecognizable chunks of flesh that gleamed with a grotesque light under the sun.

Deep inside one of these massive peaks, two middle-aged men sat facing each other in a pitch-black pavilion.

”Fellow Daoist Dong, is this true?”

A man in blood-red robes kept his voice low, his gaze sharp.

”If what you say is true, how did you know we needed this item? By all rights, this matter is absolutely confidential. Aside from the Nascent Soul cultivators of our sect, it’s impossible for outsiders to know.”

He stood up abruptly. A bloody aura surged behind him, sending a massive shockwave expanding in all directions and crashing against the surrounding rocks with a deafening boom.

”Did you murder Elder Youluo of our sect? And you actually dare to come alone to the Blood Abyss Sect’s territory? You’re courting death!”

The man in white sitting across from him simply waved his hand at a leisurely pace, as if brushing away a layer of dust.

Dong Yanwei picked up his teacup and gently blew on the surface, his expression impossibly calm.

”Fellow Daoist Sun, why put on such an act? If memory serves, Youluo wasn’t even part of your faction, was he? With him dead, you people should be thrilled.”

He set down the teacup and looked up at the other man.

”As for how I know about this, that’s not your concern. Even if you kill me right now, I’ve already hidden the Spirit Velvet away. You know perfectly well how important that item is to you.”

He paused, lowering his voice a fraction.

”This deal—are we making it or not?”

The blood-robed cultivator stared dead at him, as if trying to pry some flaw from Dong Yanwei’s face. Yet the pavilion master remained unruffled, showing not a sliver of guilt. His bloodshot eyes darted back and forth before he finally gave a heavy nod.

”Deal.”

A moment later, both men tucked away their jade slips and storage pouches.

”Since that’s settled, it was a pleasure doing business with you. I have matters to attend to, so I will take my leave.”

Dong Yanwei cupped his fists in farewell. In the blink of an eye, he dissolved into a breeze and vanished from the pavilion.

The blood-robed cultivator sneered as he watched the receding escape light.

”So what if you got the map? The Blood Abyss Sect has been plotting this for a thousand years. Did you really think you could just wedge your way in?”

He turned around, his eyes cold and dark as he gazed at the winding river of blood deep within the chasm.

Far away, Dong Yanwei’s escape light was speeding back toward Thousand Leaf City.

...

Barely an hour later, the blue and green lights descended into the sky above a small city built against a mountain range.

The city was not massive, but it was exquisitely luxurious. Tens of thousands of buildings housed a mix of mortals and cultivators. Streets crisscrossed among rows of shops, with spiritual lights and human voices weaving together into a bustling scene.

However, the spiritual energy in the city itself wasn’t particularly dense; most of it had been drawn deep into the mountains. Dozens of grand estates sat nestled there, faintly exuding the auras of over a hundred cultivators.

Far off in the sky, the green light stopped first, hovering above the city.

Dong Bingyi emerged from the glow, her face as cold as ice. She pointed at the settlement below, her tone indifferent but carrying an involuntary trace of pride. As a child of the Dong Family, arrogance was a natural part of her character.

”Fellow Daoist, this is the Spirit Medicine Mountains. And this is Dong Family City. Everyone living in this city belongs to my Dong Family. For hundreds of thousands of li around, no one dares cause trouble here.”

She paused, turning her head to look at the figure in blue.

”By the way, I still don’t know your name, Fellow Daoist, or which sect you belong to. As for the business...”

She never finished her sentence.

A large, slender hand suddenly clamped down over the crown of her head.

Five fingers tightened, locking around her skull like an iron hoop.

A biting chill poured in through the palm, instantly freezing every meridian in her body. Her magic power stagnated, her spiritual energy collapsing completely. Dangled in midair by that hand, she hung limp like a puppet with cut strings. A tearing agony ripped through her neck as her body swayed helplessly in the air.

All color vanished from her delicate face, leaving her deathly pale. She struggled to speak, but her throat could only squeeze out a garbled whimper.

Only now did she finally realize: she hadn’t brought a business deal back with her. She had led a ravenous beast straight through her family’s front door.

”S-Senior... wait...”

Her voice was delicate, now so weak it sounded like it could shatter at any second. She was the pearl of the Dong Family, the dream Dao companion of countless prodigies. She had enjoyed a life of supreme luxury, with endless cultivation resources funneled her way.

She didn’t want to die. She hadn’t finished her nascent soul formation yet, she hadn’t left Dayong, she hadn’t visited the Outer Sea... she didn’t want to die. Her voice was unimaginably tragic.

”Please let me go... don’t kill me... I beg you...”

Before the words faded.

That merciless hand violently squeezed.

Crunch—

A dull thud rang out.

Her skull was forcefully crushed to pieces. Red and white matter burst through the gaps between his fingers, splattering over her green robes and slowly sliding down the fabric. The headless corpse stiffened in the air for a fraction of a second before plummeting lifelessly toward the ground.

Crash.

The corpse smashed into the middle of the city street below, tearing into pieces. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, instantly crushing a passing mortal to death.

Chaos erupted in the city. People screamed, scattered, or stood frozen in place, staring at the mangled remains on the ground, unable to speak for a long time.

A face that had been so beautiful only moments ago was now nothing but a puddle of gore.

Jiuyou hovered high in the sky, his face completely expressionless. He glanced down at his hand, casually flicked off the sticking gore, and wiped a smear of blood from his cheek. When he spoke, his tone was thoroughly polite.

”How is it? Do you like this great gift of mine? I prepared it for you myself, you know. Heh.”

It was a pity about her beautiful skin. However, this woman’s cultivation base was too low and her foundation too unstable; she wasn’t worth his time. Although he possessed a cultivation manual for Plundering Yin to Supplement Yang—looted from the Black Fiend Island couple—engaging in dual cultivation with a Golden Core Cultivator who had only reached her realm by popping pills simply wasn’t worth the effort.

Fortunately, the woman had guided him here without a hitch, saving him quite a bit of trouble.

His gaze grew ice-cold once again as he looked down at the panicking city below.

A Giant Bronze Gate materialized, stretching across the sky above the city. Thick, rolling mist, carrying a bone-piercing chill, cascaded downward.

From within the fog, the incessant, blood-curdling shrieks of countless Nether Soul Puppets rose and fell. They sounded like departed spirits crawling out from the abyss of hell, heralding the city’s impending doom.

Down in the streets, cries, screams, and desperate pleas for mercy all blurred together, only to be swallowed layer by layer by the encroaching frost.

Standing with his hands behind his back, Jiuyou looked down upon the falling city. He listened to the beautiful wails of countless people, his eyes remaining as still and dead as a stagnant pool.