Chapter 38: Killing a Nascent Soul

The moment Old Ghost Qingshan sensed that aura, a trace of mad hope surged in his eyes.

That was the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit! It was his last chance!

He charged toward the slowly opening wall like a madman, completely unhinged.

"Wishful thinking."

Jiuyou's voice suddenly came from behind him.

Old Ghost Qingshan only felt something icy cold wrap around his ankle. A tremendous force yanked him backward, sending him flying before he slammed heavily into the Golden Wall behind him. A muffled crash rang out as he spat a mouthful of blood, the crimson splatter glaringly vivid against the golden surface.

"You old devil, you're dead!"

Old Ghost Qingshan roared in fury, struggling to his feet. But Jiuyou's figure had already vanished from where he stood, dashing straight for the opening in the Golden Wall—his target, too, was the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit.

"Don't even think about it!"

Old Ghost Qingshan gritted his teeth fiercely. The green leaf artifact in his hand shot out, transforming into a storm of emerald sword-rain that rained down on Jiuyou's back. At the same time, he twisted his body and transformed into a streak of green light, charging in right behind Jiuyou.

Beyond the Golden Wall lay a pitch-black cave.

The cave was enormous, its walls embedded with unknown ores that emitted a faint, eerie glow. At the deepest part of the cave, a massive disc hovered in the air, carved entirely from some unknown jade, with spiritual light swirling across its surface.

On the disc, the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit lay quietly, its entire body crystalline and radiating a dazzling seven-colored glow that bathed the entire cave in a dreamlike, enchanting radiance.

Jiuyou was incredibly fast, quickly closing in on the disc.

Seeing this, Old Ghost Qingshan's eyes blazed with ruthless determination. That was his last hope—he could not let anyone else snatch it away!

"Jiuyou, you old devil, stop right there!"

His voice came out almost hoarse, filled with despair and madness. Countless vines twisted and converged in his hands, coalescing in the blink of an eye into a massive bow and arrow. The bow's body was woven from green vines, the bowstring condensed from spiritual light, faintly exuding a heart-stopping pressure.

Old Ghost Qingshan pulled the bowstring, aiming at Jiuyou's back. Wave after wave of magical power gathered, condensing into a gigantic green arrow, its tip sharp and gleaming with a chilling light. Behind him, the faint, illusory figure of a green sea beast materialized, raising its head to the sky with a roar that shook the heavens.

He gritted his teeth, drawing the bow to a full moon. From his forehead, he forced out a large drop of essence blood, merging it into the wooden vine bow and arrow. The moment the essence blood entered the bow, the entire weapon was dyed blood-red, exuding a violent, savage aura.

Whoosh—

The blood-red, cyan-tipped arrow shot forth!

The arrow's speed was too fast for the naked eye to track. Wherever it passed, the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy was shredded to pieces. Even the void seemed to tear open with a crack, its power utterly boundless, aimed straight for Jiuyou's back.

A sudden chill shot up Jiuyou's spine, a deadly sense of crisis surging in his heart.

Almost instinctively, he pushed both the Heavenly Light Mirror and the white-jade bottle to their absolute limits.

The white-jade bottle expanded to the size of a zhang, spinning rapidly around him, layer after layer of transparent film wrapping him tightly. The Heavenly Light Mirror hovered above his head, its surface blazing with radiant light as a dark-blue barrier descended from above, enveloping his entire being.

Boom—!

The blood-red arrow slammed violently into the barrier.

The first layer of the barrier lasted only a single breath before shattering with a deafening crash. Then came the second, the third. Layer after layer of the white-jade bottle's defensive films broke under the arrow's impact, each producing a crisp, popping sound.

Jiuyou's expression shifted slightly. He immediately activated the Nether Capital Ghostfire, and a wall of dark-blue flames condensed in front of him. The blood-red arrow crashed into the fire wall, producing a harsh sizzling sound as flames and blood-light devoured each other, erupting in a blinding radiance.

In the end, after piercing through six layers of defense, that heavily essence-blood-fueled full-power strike finally exhausted itself and dissipated.

Jiuyou's figure swayed slightly, but he steadied himself. He glanced down at the white-jade bottle—its spiritual light had dimmed noticeably, showing significant consumption.

"Impressive technique."

Jiuyou turned around, his gaze cold and venomous as he stared at Old Ghost Qingshan, his voice hoarse.

"But unfortunately, not enough."

The moment the words left his mouth, his figure shot forward, taking the initiative to charge at Old Ghost Qingshan.

At this moment, Jiuyou held nothing back.

The Nether Capital Gate opened behind him with a resounding boom, and countless ghostly souls and skeletons poured out in a tidal wave, surging toward Old Ghost Qingshan.

The Nether Capital Ghostfire condensed in his palms, forming one dark-blue fire dragon after another, roaring as they charged at his opponent.

The Cyan Chains continuously emerged from the thick mist like countless spirit snakes, slithering from every direction to bind Old Ghost Qingshan.

Jiuyou seemed to pour out all the magical power within him—technique after technique, blow after blow—smothering Old Ghost Qingshan until he could barely breathe.

Old Ghost Qingshan's face turned deathly pale. He had already expended a massive amount of essence blood trying to stop Jiuyou earlier, and now his entire aura was weak and unstable. He could only muster every ounce of strength to defend himself.

His green leaf artifact danced through the air, transforming into a storm of emerald sword-rain that shattered each approaching skull-head one by one.

The Mountain Artifact hovered above his head, blocking wave after wave of Nether Capital Ghostfire attacks. Vines grew wildly around him, weaving into layers of barriers to resist the entangling Cyan Chains.

But in the end, he was already a spent arrow. The earlier arrow had consumed far too much of his essence blood and magical power. Now, facing Jiuyou's storm-like onslaught, he could only barely hold on, retreating step by step.

"You... you old devil, aren't you afraid of exhausting your magical power?!"

Old Ghost Qingshan roared in shock and fury.

"What's wrong, old man? Regretting it now? Too late!"

Jiuyou sneered coldly, his attacks growing even more ferocious.

The two battled fiercely within the cave. Spiritual light splashed everywhere, explosions thundering nonstop. The ores on the cave walls trembled and fell in showers, while deep craters were blasted into the ground.

Finally, Jiuyou seized an opening. A Cyan Chain pierced through Old Ghost Qingshan's defenses, viciously impaling his right shoulder.

Old Ghost Qingshan let out a miserable scream, his artifact faltering in his hand.

How could Jiuyou let such an opportunity slip? His figure flickered, instantly appearing before Old Ghost Qingshan. He struck out with a palm, Nether Capital Ghostfire gathering in his palm, and slammed it heavily into Old Ghost Qingshan's chest.

Boom—!

Old Ghost Qingshan was sent flying backward, the clothes on his chest burned to ashes, his flesh charred black. Blood gushed from his mouth as he crashed into the cave wall, creating a massive crater in the stone.

"Old ghost, time to die!"

Jiuyou pressed his advantage mercilessly. Nether Capital Ghostfire gathered once more in his hand, and a dark-blue beam shot from his palm, aimed straight for Old Ghost Qingshan's head.

Old Ghost Qingshan's eyes were filled with despair and unwillingness, but he no longer had the strength to resist.

Boom—!

The beam pierced through his head. His body crashed to the ground, completely lifeless.

Suddenly.

A green light shot out from the corpse—Old Ghost Qingshan's Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul was only the size of a palm, its face identical to Old Ghost Qingshan's. Now, it was filled with madness, its eyes radiating absolute determination. Without a moment's hesitation, it flew straight toward the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit resting on the disc at the deepest part of the cave!

"Jiuyou, you old devil!"

Old Ghost Qingshan's voice came from the Nascent Soul, hoarse and piercing.

"This old man's lifespan is nearly at an end. This Life-Extending Fruit is my only hope—today, even if I'm left with just my Nascent Soul, I will gamble everything!"

The Nascent Soul's flight speed was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it had already covered several tens of zhang, heading straight for the fruit radiating its seven-colored glow.

Seeing this, a cold light flashed in Jiuyou's eyes.

"Stop dreaming. Today, you won't escape death!"

Without a moment's delay, his figure blurred, transforming into a pitch-black streak of light as he gave full chase. Though the earlier battle had drained him significantly, he had prepared well. His magical power was somewhat depleted but far from exhausted.

Old Ghost Qingshan's Nascent Soul desperately pushed its flight speed to the limit. But this Nascent Soul of his was already dilapidated from age, and the destruction of his physical body had dealt it a severe blow. Its speed was far inferior to before. Jiuyou was closing the distance rapidly.

As Jiuyou drew closer and closer, Old Ghost Qingshan's heart grew frantic. The Nascent Soul's body blazed with green light—it was actually burning its own Nascent Soul source power to boost its speed!

"Get out of my way!"

He screamed, even as he fled, mobilizing his remaining magical power. Several green vines grew out of the void, twisting toward Jiuyou to entangle him.

Jiuyou snorted coldly. Nether Capital Ghostfire exploded around him, and the vines, before they could even get close, were frozen into ice shards, shattering inch by inch. His speed didn't decrease in the slightest—in fact, it grew even faster.

"Old ghost, you're a spent arrow. Still trying to put up a desperate fight?"

Jiuyou's voice was as cold as a blade.

Old Ghost Qingshan ignored him completely, charging desperately toward the disc. As the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit grew nearer, a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.

Just as he was about to touch the fruit.

"Nether Soul Devourer!"

Jiuyou's deep voice echoed through the cave.

Behind him, the space suddenly tore open. A massive vertical pupil materialized out of thin air. That pupil stared coldly down at Old Ghost Qingshan's Nascent Soul, and an invisible, devouring force surged out from within it, like an enormous, formless hand, gripping the Nascent Soul tightly.

"No—!"

Old Ghost Qingshan's Nascent Soul let out a despairing roar, struggling with all its might. But it could not break free from that devouring force. Its Nascent Soul was merely a few zhang away from the Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit, yet it could no longer advance a single inch.

Under the pulling force, the Nascent Soul twisted and deformed. Its spiritual light grew dimmer and dimmer, until finally, it was swallowed whole by that vertical pupil, disappearing without a trace.

Jiuyou felt that pure Nascent Soul power surging into his body, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.

The cave fell into silence.

Jiuyou took a deep breath, walking slowly to the disc. The Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit lay there quietly, radiating its tempting seven-colored glow.

He reached out, his fingertips trembling slightly, carefully picking the fruit. Taking out a specially made jade box from his Storage Pouch, he placed the fruit inside, pasted several Spirit-Suppressing Talismans on it, sealing it layer upon layer. Only after confirming everything was secure did he tuck it away into the deepest part of his Storage Pouch.

"Hahaha—"

Jiuyou burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the cave.

"Old Ghost Qingshan, in the end, you still ended up in this old man's hands. I have to thank you, actually—without you, I might never have discovered the location of this Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit."

He paused, a flicker of dark light flashing in his eyes.

"Once I return, I'll refine your Nascent Soul, consume this Ten-Thousand-Year Life-Extending Fruit, and with that Supreme Grade Spirit Stone... I will definitely break through to Mid-Nascent Soul! And perhaps, even reaching Late Nascent Soul in the future isn't out of the question!"

He took another deep breath, slowly suppressing the turbulent emotions within him, his eyes full of calculation.

Suddenly, Jiuyou's heart jumped.

Nether Capital Ghostfire abruptly flared in his palm, the dark-blue flames flickering, casting his face in alternating light and shadow. He whipped his head around, staring at some direction deep within the cave, a sharp gleam flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

The corners of his mouth slowly rose, curling into a faint, barely perceptible smile.

"Good, very good, absolutely perfect. Truly, double happiness has come knocking, haha—"

His laughter echoed through the cave, gradually fading into the darkness.