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

Soon, Jiuyou and Saint Teacher Mo ascended to the surface together in the stone room. After finalizing their arrangements, Jiuyou departed alone. Saint Teacher Mo stood there by himself, his expression complicated. A long time passed before he let out a soft sigh, shook his head slightly, and turned away.

That night, when the rest of the Northern Wilderness Alliance learned what had happened, the nine surviving Holy Masters instantly broke into a chaotic argument, hurling accusations at Saint Teacher Mo for what he had done.

Ultimately, the older Holy Masters saw to the heart of the issue: what made the Sacred Relic a Sacred Relic was not just its status as a Spirit Treasure, but the fact that it had once protected the millions of people of the Northern Plains.

The Northern Plains were at their lowest point—ceding territory, paying reparations, and retreating time and time again. Oppressed by the Demonic Path until they could hardly breathe, they gained nothing from keeping the Purple Gold Furnace. But handing it over to that senior would buy protection and prosperity for the Northern Plains. In that sense, the Sacred Relic was still serving its purpose.

Naturally, there were dissenting voices, with some cursing them as shortsighted. But the Northern Plains no longer had the time to cling to their pride. If they merely guarded this old artifact and clung to their so-called faith, it would not be long before they were devoured entirely, torn apart and reduced to a mere name. To break free from their current predicament, they had to make necessary sacrifices.

Saint Teacher Mo let out a long sigh, his voice weathered but every word crisp and clear.

”The cultivators of the Demonic Path are treacherous and cunning,” he said. ”We may have signed a temporary non-aggression treaty, but none of you should have forgotten the lessons of thousands of years ago. At any moment, they could drag the millions of people of the Northern Plains back into hell. Rather than gambling on their mercy, we should take this risk ourselves. We can use the Sacred Relic to forge a connection with that living Deity Transformation master. It could guarantee a thousand years of peace for the Northern Plains. If need be, I will bear this sin alone. I am willing to sacrifice everything, even my own tribe. As long as we have the backing of a Deity Transformation master, the Demonic Path of Ganzhou will not dare lay their poisonous hands on the Northern Plains again. We have suffered enough. We cannot let our people continue to suffer just because of your stubbornness.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

”The Sacred Relic? Is that all you see? Can you not see the piles of bones on the distant battlefields? Can you not see the countless shattered tribes and broken families? Has this dead object truly led the Northern Plains out of our misery? Has it brought us prosperity? Has it stopped foreign enemies from invading us? Has it made us stop fearing the encroachment of yin energy from the Land of the Extreme North? No, it has not. That is why I made such a selfish decision and bet everything on this. If I wagered wrong, I alone will be the eternal sinner of the Northern Plains.”

Saint Teacher Mo had taken the entire burden onto his own shoulders. The great hall remained silent for a long time; no one spoke up to answer him. They lacked his courage, and they lacked his foresight. Saint Teacher Mo was the most senior among them, and everyone could hear the heavy weight behind his words.It was true. The Northern Plains no longer had the time to act willfully. The Demonic Path forces that had pushed south would not hesitate the next time they returned, and the entire Northern Plains would once again be dragged into a living purgatory. A biting dog does not bark.

The hot-tempered Saint Teacher Ma immediately slammed the table and stood up. His stance was absolute, leaving no room for argument.

”I agree! Saint Teacher Mo is right. We cannot drag this out any longer!”

Following that, Saint Teacher Bao, Saint Teacher Hua, and the rest of the Holy Masters spoke up one by one to state their positions. Although Saint Teacher Mo’s actions had been underhanded and he had not informed them in advance, his motives were for the sake of the Northern Plains. And this was the best way out the Northern Plains could currently find.

As Holy Masters, it naturally made no sense for them to let Saint Teacher Mo shoulder such a heavy burden all by himself.

”Interesting. Truly interesting.”

Jiuyou stood alone on the mountain peak, a golden longsword hovering beneath him. Between his slender fingers, he toyed with a palm-sized golden furnace. Under his control, the furnace transformed into a radiant three-legged golden crow that let out a long cry. Spewing raging flames from its beak, the bird flew in circles around his fingertips.

This was only an Imitation Spirit Treasure, possessing merely one or two divine abilities of a true Spirit Treasure. The Purple Gold Furnace stored a special type of flame that moved like a cloud of fiery smoke when released, making it incredibly difficult to defend against. If it clung to the surface of the body, it would sear flesh and skin; if inhaled, it would incinerate a cultivator’s physical body and even their divine soul from the inside out.

The attributes of this spiritual flame were exceedingly similar to the Nine Yang True Fire, and its power was in no way inferior to a sliver of the Nine Yang True Fire’s origin. It just could not compare to the actual, complete Nine Yang True Fire. However, the Purple Gold Furnace possessed another divine ability: it could devour and fuse with other spiritual fires, thereby birthing an even more powerful spiritual flame.

Jiuyou had already tested this earlier. He had directly extracted that wisp of the Nine Yang True Fire’s origin from the Golden Sun Mountain. With his current realm, the ancient treasure known as the Golden Sun Mountain was gradually becoming unworthy of his attention, so he figured he might as well use it for an experiment.

That wisp of Nine Yang True Fire was quickly devoured by the Purple Gold Furnace. The two flames entangled and fused within the furnace, their aura climbing steadily higher.

However, the fusion would still require a certain amount of time. It could not be rushed.

Jiuyou was secretly astonished, but he also had to admit that he still did not know where the Purple Gold Furnace’s absolute limits lay. How many types of spiritual fire it could accommodate, and what tier of flames it could withstand—these were things he had no way of knowing for now.

He stored the furnace away, shifting his gaze from his fingertips to the vast, boundless world in the distance.

If he could smelt all the myriad spiritual fires of the world into it, then perhaps even an existence above Deity Transformation would have to fear it.

A few days later, Jiuyou left the Northern Plains and traveled to Ganzhou, heading straight for the mountain gate of the Blood Abyss Sect.

Back in the day, he had not dared to intrude so recklessly, only able to lie in wait nearby and ambush isolated Nascent Soul elders. But now, looking at those restrictive arrays, he only had a cold sneer for them.

The moment he struck, the worldly origin qi surged in reverse, the laws resonated, and all living things went dormant. Those restrictive arrays buried deep underground were forcefully ripped open like a piece of old cloth being torn apart. Divine light tore through the void. Wherever it passed, sword light swept out and blood splattered, as wails of agony rang out one after another from all over the mountain gate.

Dozens of stronger blood-red escape lights flared to life from the depths of the Blood Abyss Sect, fleeing in all different directions. They were the elders who had realized something was wrong.

Jiuyou’s gaze swept over them. He raised his hand and locked down the entire space. All the spiritual qi fell under his control, transforming into a massive, invisible hand that crushed downward. One palm strike per person, one muffled thud per palm strike. In the span of a few breaths, not a single one of the thirty-odd Nascent Soul cultivators survived. The entire Blood Abyss Sect was painted with another layer of blood, turning into a sea of gore filled with floating corpses.

In the distance, rogue cultivators spotted the commotion from afar, but no one dared approach to investigate. They merely lowered their heads and hurried away.

Jiuyou stood atop the ruins of the Blood Abyss Sect, looking around.

”What’s the matter?” he said calmly. ”Has this fellow Daoist not seen enough yet?”