... But since the deed was done, it was done. This time, the killing was swift, silencing the two seductive maidens as well. Their flesh, blood, and very souls were completely devoured, and the perpetrator had fled in time. In the short term, the Ghost Fiend Ancestor shouldn't know his son was dead. Even if he did find out, he wouldn't likely suspect him. After all, his movements while capturing Yin Souls were discreet; he never approached or spoke to anyone.

With these thoughts settled, the tension in Lei Dong's chest finally eased. He swallowed a Qi Condensing Pill and began cultivating, settling into meditation to restore his true essence. Half a day later, when Lei Dong opened his eyes, spiritual energy surged, and the true essence within him felt subtly restless and unable to be suppressed. He was both startled and delighted. Delighted because this felt exactly like the precursor signs of a breakthrough spoken of in legends. Startled, however, because breaking through in the wilderness—who knew how safe that would be?

After a brief assessment, he decided to proceed with the breakthrough immediately. Such a stirring of sensation and intuition was a rare opportunity. If he missed this one, who knew when the next would arrive? Furthermore, although the Earth Spirit Pill was a miraculous elixir with no side effects, taking such a special and potent medicine always induced some resistance; a second dose would never be as effective as the first. Having used the Earth Spirit Pill five times already, if he encountered a difficult bottleneck later on, the pill might not be able to guarantee breaking the shackles.

Once the decision was made, he immediately ordered the three Ghost Soldiers to heighten their vigilance, ordering them to strike down anyone attempting to breach the cave. He, meanwhile, stilled his mind, placing a Spirit Stone in his palm, swallowing a Foundation Cultivating Pill, and began his breathing exercises without haste or impatience. Gradually, all distracting thoughts receded, and his entire being slipped into a state of self-forgetfulness.

After an unknowable period, when he reopened his eyes, his mind was utterly clear, and his entire body felt as relaxed and comfortable as if emerging from a hot bath in the depth of winter—utterly ethereal. A quick check confirmed it: he had indeed advanced from the stagnant Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation to the Sixth. Great joy filled his heart.

It was a pity that there was no way to bathe in this place; the bone-cleansing and marrow-washing effect that followed every promotion was always a source of both elation and annoyance.

After resting briefly, letting the initial euphoria settle, he began to examine his recent gains. First, the spoils from the two women. Perhaps because they had been allied with that decadent young master, they hadn't been entirely poor. In terms of pills, equipment, and spirit stones combined, it amounted to roughly a thousand Spirit Stones.

It took some effort to erase the trace of spiritual imprint left by the ugly youth’s refining process on his storage belt. Opening it up for inspection, the heart that had just calmed down began to pound wildly again. This time, it wasn't surprise, but sheer terror. Setting aside the ten Gui Yuan Pills neatly contained in a jade vial and ignoring the miscellaneous items, just the five Demonic Thunderbolts, quietly resting in a corner of the belt, faintly emitting a cold, eerie glow, were enough to break out a cold sweat across Lei Dong's entire body.

Back when he first joined the sect, he had seen the skinny junior brother from the Myriad Ghost Cave use a Demonic Thunder as a trick to kill someone stronger than himself—not just kill, but blast them into pieces. The memory remained vividly impressed upon him even now. Because of this, Lei Dong had learned about the Demonic Thunder, a single-use magical artifact. It was formed by condensing vast amounts of malevolent Qi and crafted through various complex means—a consumable. Due to the cumbersome process and inherent danger, it could only be forged by high-level cultivators. Consequently, although the item possessed formidable power, few ever put it up for sale. The few that were successfully refined were treated as precious treasures for self-defense.

Of course, they weren't entirely unavailable; one could exchange for one at the sect for a cost of a thousand contribution points. In a private transaction, a hundred Spirit Stones would certainly not suffice. Therefore, the Demonic Thunder was generally reserved for absolute emergencies.

As for these five bolts, they were clearly refined using Yin Sha, meaning they could be called Yin Sha Thunders. Among the various Demonic Thunders, the Yin Sha Thunder’s explosive power wasn't the absolute strongest, but it was among the most dreaded. The reason was simple: while various Sha energies could cause significant physical harm, Yin Sha was the most insidious; soft, subtle, and deceptive, once a large amount invaded the body, it was incredibly difficult to eradicate, slowly eroding a person's life like a dull knife.

For the ugly youth’s storage belt to contain a full five Yin Sha Thunders—how could this not make Lei Dong break out in a cold sweat? If he had hesitated even slightly in his attack, the youth might have completely turned the tables. He estimated that if caught off guard, he could perhaps manage one or two Demonic Thunders, but five, plus ten Gui Yuan Pills—in a war of attrition, he would surely be the one to die. No wonder the ugly youth had been so arrogant and disregarded him; his capital was indeed extraordinary.

The mere value of the Gui Yuan Pills and the Yin Sha Thunders easily exceeded a thousand Spirit Stones. The harvest in the storage belt was far from over. Over a thousand Spirit Stones lay neatly arranged in one corner of the belt's internal space, and beside them rested a crystalline jade box. With a thought, Lei Dong retrieved the box and opened it. Inside, he saw ten transparent stones, their spiritual energy pure and abundant, flowing visibly like liquid light across their surfaces, neatly stacked within.

Mid-grade Spirit Stones? Joy surged through Lei Dong again. He had only heard rumors of Mid-grade Spirit Stones, never actually seen one. Theoretically, a single Mid-grade Spirit Stone contained at most about ten times the spiritual energy of a low-grade one. However, the value of a Mid-grade Stone often exceeded that of a low-grade one by a hundredfold, or even more. The reason was easy to understand: holding a spirit stone while cultivating speeds up the process. But low-grade stones contained less spirit energy, and it was somewhat impure; while effective for increasing cultivation speed, they couldn't significantly boost it.

Mid-grade stones, however, far surpassed low-grade stones in both the purity and quantity of their spiritual energy. For the same amount of cultivation time, drawing energy from Mid-grade Stones was far more efficient than using low-grade ones. For a cultivator, struggling against the heavens for life, time was life. Furthermore, some extremely powerful magical artifacts or spirit artifacts could barely be driven by low-grade spirit stones; even if forced, the energy would be depleted after only a few uses. This explained why Mid-grade Spirit Stones were so sought after, each one valued at over a hundred Spirit Stones.

Truly a fat sheep, Lei Dong thought, completely forgetting the youth’s status as the Ghost Fiend Ancestor’s beloved son. He wished he could slaughter a few more of this type.

Besides these, there were other miscellaneous pills, such as Foundation Cultivating Pills and Qi Condensing Pills; their value was not worth mentioning.

But the most valuable items this fat sheep possessed were not the ones listed above. They were a shield, a sword, and a banner—the Evil Ghost Banner. There was no need to elaborate on the banner; it was just that. From any angle, the Evil Ghost Banner’s value was no less than that of a high-grade flying artifact. High-grade flying artifacts usually cost upwards of ten thousand Spirit Stones. Moreover, if the Evil Ghost Banner continued to capture the souls of stronger cultivators for further refining, its quality would continue to increase—truly a rare treasure.

Then there was the shield, that strange, oddly shaped shield engraved with numerous fierce ghosts and demons. It had easily withstood the full-power strike of a Sixth-Tier Bloodthirsty Ghost Soldier’s Bloodlust technique without showing even a scratch. How could it be ordinary? Lei Dong couldn't appraise its exact grade, but he presumed it was at least a high-grade magical artifact level.

Finally, there was the sword. Poor fat sheep, he never even had the chance to show off this sword before death. The Ghost Fire Sword—another familiar and deeply memorable offensive magical artifact. This sword appeared frequently during the Decade Grand Competition of the sect. Those who could participate in that competition were usually the elite disciples from various Caves and Mansions. This showed that the Ghost Fire Sword, one of the signature flying swords of the Yin Sha Sect, clearly possessed unique and considerable power.

Especially this specific Ghost Fire Sword before him; the faint, flowing Ghost Fire was dense and pure, clearly indicating extremely high quality, tempered through countless purifications. The blade itself was intricately designed, the ornate carvings of Yin and Yang striking. Touching it, it felt cold and heavy, the chill subtly piercing the skin straight to the marrow.

While Lei Dong couldn't confirm its true quality, he had seen Mid-grade flying swords, and this Ghost Fire Sword was far superior in every aspect. Therefore, Lei Dong roughly estimated that this sword was at least in the realm of a high-grade offensive magical artifact.

A second-generation rich kid, indeed. Lei Dong truly felt the sentiment. After fighting tooth and nail, all he possessed worth mentioning was the Soul Nurturing Pagoda, which was high-grade. This fellow, everything he owned, was high-grade. Truly, comparing oneself to others made one furious. A pity that all these things were now in Lei Dong’s hands, and the ugly youth was beyond enjoying them. Amidst his musings, an intense surge of private satisfaction welled up inside him~

...