... The moment the ugly youth saw that he had actually summoned a Ghost Soldier, and upon closer inspection, realized it was a Rank Six Ghost Soldier, he couldn't help but flinch. Anger immediately surfaced in his expression, and he spat out a curse: "Insolent whelp, why are you summoning a Ghost Soldier? Are you plotting rebellion?" A Rank Six Ghost Soldier posed a genuine threat to him.

"No, no, I made a mistake, I used the wrong hand seals in my panic," Lei Dong pleaded, his face pale as chalk, on the verge of tears. "Senior Brother, I beg you, spare me. I will erase the spirit-mark immediately."

"Hurry up then. Keep dawdling and I'll kill you," the ugly youth felt a wave of relief, seeing the pathetic state of this whelp. They were both men; why must this boy cling to life so desperately?

"Yes, yes, I’ll hurry, hurry to send you to your death," Lei Dong’s lips curled into a sudden, wicked smile.

"What?" The sheer psychological whiplash made the ugly youth think he misheard. His head instinctively lunged forward.

Phut—a dull thud echoed as flesh was brutally pierced. A Ghost Soldier, hideous in form and wielding twin spikes, materialized behind the ugly youth. The spikes, one aimed high and one low, were already buried halfway into his body, followed by a violent twist. Almost simultaneously, the ugly youth shrieked in agony.

Based on Lei Dong’s experience with summoning Ghost Soldiers, the Shadow Ghost Soldiers excelled at stealth and assassination; their true power couldn't be unleashed with mere blade and shield coordination. Weapons condensed from soul energy possessed sufficient impact but lacked true sharpness and hardness. Therefore, Lei Dong had specifically armed his three Ghost Soldiers differently, equipping them with custom-forged magical artifacts. Though not quite Mid-Grade, they were nonetheless the best of the Low-Grade implements.

The twin spikes used by the Shadow, for instance, were not only razor-sharp but could also violently inject Yin Sha (Nether Malice) into the host body upon penetration. Once inside, the Yin Sha would diffuse into countless fine threads, relentlessly hunting the blood vessels, meridians, and soul. Contact wouldn't cause immediate death, but it would induce a chilling, cold pain that made the victim tremble violently. Most crucially, it significantly weakened the afflicted person’s power.

Sssla—the Bloodthirsty Ghost Soldier unleashed its specialized Bloodthirst Art almost at the same instant. A blood-red shadow flashed through the void, savage and howling mournfully, cleaving towards the target.

It had to be admitted that the ugly youth possessed some genuine strength. In less than half a breath of time between the ambush and the attack, he managed to react. A peculiar shield, intricately carved with fierce demons and grotesque figures, suddenly appeared, staunchly blocking the Bloodthirsty Ghost Soldier’s ferocious strike. Waves of impact energy rippled outward from the collision.

Lei Dong knew clearly that if this man managed to recover from the surprise attack and stabilize himself to counter, relying on his Evil Ghost Shroud and other unknown artifacts and spells, he might actually cause Lei Dong’s plan to capsize. Lei Dong already had a complete execution plan finalized. As soon as Lei Dong had roared about accepting death, he had already summoned the final, third Ghost Soldier.

"Hiss~~~ Zzzzt~" The Shrieking Ghost Soldier immediately unleashed its ultimate technique: the Ghost Wail.

A series of high-pitched, grating screeches assaulted the air. Even Lei Dong felt his spirit waver and his qi and blood become restless, let alone the male and two female companions whom the Shrieking Ghost Soldier specifically targeted. The two women had reacted relatively quickly; upon sensing danger, they had just begun to urge their artifacts for escape when the horrific, terrified howl struck them, nearly throwing them off their flying artifact. For a moment, their consciousness scattered, their minds filled only with the sound of the wail, rendering them unable to concentrate their spiritual senses.

This sequence of attacks, while slow in description, actually took no more than one and a half breaths of time in total. The ugly youth, having blocked the Bloodthirsty Ghost Soldier’s blow, was already preparing to weave a specific hand seal. However, he was interrupted by the Ghost Wail, the echo ringing incessantly in his ears and mind, causing him such intense pain that he momentarily forgot what he was supposed to do.

Simultaneously, the Shadow Ghost Soldier violently plunged its twin spikes deeper into his body. Even with the physical fortitude of a sixth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator, bolstered by instinctive true qi guarding his body, he suffered another critical blow. The intense pain cleared his spiritual aperture just as the Bloodthirsty Ghost Soldier’s blade and the Shrieking Ghost Soldier’s projectile simultaneously struck deep within him.

Sssla—a chilling, spectral flying sword shot into his heart like a cold rainbow, ending his life instantly. Even then, his eyes remained wide open, staring in disbelief as he was felled by the opponent’s thunderous means within a mere second or two.

"Spare me, I am willing to become your concubine."

The two alluring young women had just woken from their daze only to see their usually proud and haughty young master brutally hacked to death. Their faces turned ashen, and they immediately began to beg for mercy. It was their misfortune to have attached themselves to this ugly youth, whose background was clearly very special. As long as Lei Dong wasn't utterly mad, there was no possibility of leaving them alive.

With a cold snort, the chilling flying sword, still smeared with the ugly young master’s blood, curved around and lunged towards the two women. The three Ghost Soldiers let out excited, muffled cheers, interwoven with the girls' terrified screams.

... In less than a few dozen breaths, the phantom form transformed into a black streak, skimming across the ground like a fleeting shadow. Only after flying for several dozen li did it execute a sharp turn behind a small mountain, shooting straight towards the heavens and accelerating away into the distance at maximum speed. After flying for more than ten thousand li over an entire day and night, Lei Dong finally forced the flying sword to land in a desolate mountain valley. He located a small cave, used his Spirit Probing Art to ensure it was safe, and then slipped inside.

Stationing the three Ghost Soldiers discreetly outside the entrance to maintain a silent watch, Lei Dong’s intensely vigilant and tense expression finally eased. He collapsed onto a stone, sweat having soaked him countless times, leaving him clammy and utterly uncomfortable. But the exhaustion weighing heaviest was mental: a prolonged, lingering dread. Before they died, the two alluring maidens had screamed the ugly youth’s true identity.

That boy wasn't some core disciple; he was the biological son of the Ghost Fiend Ancestor of the Ghost Fiend Manor. Lei Dong had vaguely heard rumors of this long ago. Apparently, the Ghost Fiend Ancestor had been quite ugly in his youth and not very popular. Consequently, he poured all his focus into cultivation, never marrying or having children until after reaching the Golden Core stage, at which point he unleashed his might and took dozens of wives and concubines.

However, there existed a natural law, a rule of Heaven and Earth. The more powerful and formidable a life form—be it a human cultivator or any other creature—the drastically lower its reproductive success rate tends to be, whereas lower-level creatures or mortals often possess robust fertility. Simply put, if an ordinary mortal with normal faculties married dozens of wives, wouldn't he be surrounded by descendants?

But cultivators were different. They focused on drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper and evolve themselves. In the terms of Lei Dong's previous life, this was a process of continuous genetic refinement and change. Simultaneously, they fundamentally differentiated themselves from mortals. If both husband and wife were cultivators of comparable levels, things might be slightly better, but if one was a mortal, the chance of conception would drop to an appalling low. Even if both were cultivators, the probability of pregnancy remained incredibly rare. This was a law of nature, a choice made by natural evolution. Procreation inherently carried the meaning of continuing life and vesting hope in the future. Cultivating immortality, conversely, was walking the path toward existing as long as Heaven and Earth themselves, theoretically negating the need for descendants to carry on one's legacy.

From this, one could deduce that even casting a wide net, while yielding fewer fish, would eventually bring some catch. The Ghost Fiend Ancestor did have several children. But just because the Ancestor possessed the spiritual roots for cultivation didn't mean all his offspring did. Among the few children he managed to father, only that ugly youth possessed spiritual roots, and surprisingly decent ones at that. This, too, was a matter of favorable odds, largely because the majority of his dozens of concubines possessed some degree of spiritual root themselves. Furthermore, the ugly youth bore a striking resemblance to the Ghost Fiend Ancestor in his youth: equally short, with a nose pointed toward the sky—carved from the same mold.

It was precisely because of this resemblance that the Ghost Fiend Ancestor doted on this ugly son to an extreme degree, supplying him with an endless stream of cultivation resources. This upbringing gradually fostered the ugly youth’s personality of arrogance and total disdain for others.

This was why Lei Dong was so intensely anxious after killing the boy. If the Ghost Fiend Ancestor ever learned that he had eliminated his most beloved son, even the Ten Thousand Ghost Ancestor might not be able to protect him. After all, the deceased was a son, not some ordinary disciple. Nevertheless, Lei Dong felt no regret for the killing. Even if given a second chance, Lei Dong would dispatch him again. Otherwise, regardless of how subservient Lei Dong might have acted, the ugly youth's arrogance and haughtiness would never have allowed him to leave peacefully.