“‘Climbing mountains of knives or descending into seas of boiling oil’ is unnecessary,” the Old Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts said, a cold glint in his eyes. “After this, once that Withered Bone learns the truth, both he and his disciple will surely hate our Myriad Ghost Cave to the core. Rather than waiting for him to grow powerful enough to strike us, it is better to eliminate him sooner.”

“This disciple understands.” In truth, Lei Dong already knew that Baili Yun could not be left unchecked. Since an irreconcilable, life-and-death enmity had already formed, a violent clash was inevitable sooner or later. However, his expression betrayed a hint of worry. “However, Elder Tu… I’m afraid it will be difficult to explain to him.”

“Elder Tu has already made his stance clear—acting covertly is absolutely forbidden. If anything untoward happens to Baili Yun, even if it wasn’t us, Elder Tu’s temper will not allow him to rest easy,” the Old Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts’ eyes flashed with ferocity. “But the Sect’s Grand Competition is in two years. When you meet him then, he certainly won’t let you off. It’s your chance to eliminate him. Otherwise, once he is fully established, it will be no blessing for our Myriad Ghost Cave.”

“Ancestor wants me to participate in the Grand Competition?” Lei Dong’s face stiffened, a wry smile touching his lips. “This disciple only has the paltry cultivation of the sixth layer of the Qi Refining stage, likely the lowest among all direct disciples. Isn’t this Ancestor sending me to my death?”

“Get out! Don’t think I don’t know you,” the Old Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts barked without ceremony. “If you don’t bring back a top-three finish at the Grand Competition, I’ll banish you to the desolate, bitter lands, never to return for eternity.”

“……”

Lei Dong felt a sudden urge to weep, thinking to himself that the Ancestor regarded him far too highly. Yet, though the Ancestor’s face wasn’t stern when he said it, Lei Dong knew there was no room for negotiation. He had even just offered to scale mountains of knives. To hesitate now would surely displease the Ancestor, who was his greatest backing and the very foundation of his existence in this world.

“This disciple obeys.” Lei Dong straightened his posture, speaking with solemn earnestness.

The Old Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts was quite pleased with Lei Dong’s intelligent and serious attitude, offering a few words of praise. Upon returning to the Myriad Ghost Cave, he bestowed upon Lei Dong a treasured, supreme-grade magical artifact.

Receiving that supreme-grade artifact filled Lei Dong with mixed feelings, both sweet and bitter. The sweetness lay in the fact that such an item was exceedingly rare; not many Qi Refining stage cultivators, and even fewer Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, ever obtained one. The bitterness, however, was the condition attached: he had to secure a top-three rank and had to eliminate Baili Yun. Still, Lei Dong knew he had neither the right nor the reason to refuse. This mess was one he had stirred up, and cleaning up his own tracks was his responsibility. Since resistance was futile, he might as well embrace the situation wholeheartedly.

As soon as he returned to his quarters, Lei Dong began to ponder. Those participating in the Grand Competition were the top three disciples under each ancestor; every single one would be formidable. Who knew who was hiding their true strength, and who possessed strange, fatal trinkets?

Lei Dong only had one life. He had no desire to meet an untimely end, collapsing because of some random nobody, right at the dawn of his journey. Especially since, over the past year or two, Lei Dong had focused on improving his external strength, causing his cultivation growth to slow significantly. While strong external power coupled with lower cultivation was a misleading advantage, if his cultivation was too weak, the power output of the same techniques would be drastically reduced. This was especially true for the Ghost Manipulation Art; even with high-grade ghost soldiers, insufficient personal cultivation and weak spiritual sense meant he couldn't control ghosts of too high a rank. Otherwise, even a life-bound ghost servant, if it went out of control, might turn against its master.

Lei Dong considered his greatest current advantage to be his three high-grade ghost soldiers. Although their rank wasn't high, high-grade spirit ghosts produced soldiers that advanced quickly.

However, with only two years left until the Grand Competition, Lei Dong felt the time was pressing. Enhancing the ghost soldiers’ strength could no longer rely on conventional methods; he would need to spend spirit stones to acquire the corpses of demonic beasts and wild ghost soldiers for his life-bound servants to devour and absorb.

Next, Lei Dong took inventory of his assets. Aside from the few supreme-grade artifacts he personally used, which were non-negotiable, there were several decent items taken from the spoils of the nouveau riche Wu Qianqiu’s storage belt and artifacts. Though some were damaged during combat, their quality meant they could still fetch a good price.

Coupled with the artifacts Lei Dong had retired, everything was handed over to Zhao Baiwan for appraisal and disposal. In the end, this yielded over ten thousand spirit stones, added to his existing savings and the stones found in the nouveau riche’s storage belt. In total, the sum reached over twenty-five thousand spirit stones, making him quite wealthy among Qi Refining stage cultivators. Even many poorer Foundation Establishment cultivators might not have this much liquid spirit stone cash on hand.

After clearing out these miscellaneous items, Lei Dong simultaneously announced to the Myriad Ghost Cave that he was purchasing demonic beast corpses and wild ghost soldiers. Typically, a first-level wild ghost soldier or a complete demonic beast corpse cost about one spirit stone. Even a second-level one was only around three. However, a fifth-level ordinary demonic beast corpse was much pricier, often requiring thirty to fifty spirits.

Anything higher commanded exponentially higher prices. But for feeding ghost soldiers, the higher the rank, the more beneficial the sustenance.

Lei Dong specifically allocated ten thousand spirit stones solely for acquiring these wild ghost soldiers and demonic beast corpses, purely for cultivating his ghost army. This was an extremely lavish method of raising ghosts; those with fewer spirit stones simply couldn’t sustain it. Only the truly extravagant would do this. While Lei Dong dared not sell his high-grade spirit ghosts, he could occasionally trade mid-grade ones. He didn't lack small amounts of money, but he certainly needed large sums.

Based on estimates, the blood food and soul materials purchased with these ten thousand spirit stones would be enough for the three high-grade ghost soldiers to advance to the twelfth level, and for the three mid-grade ghost soldiers to reach at least level ten. Furthermore, the cost for the high-grade soldiers to reach level twelve would be significantly less than for the three mid-grade spirit ghosts.

The reason for this division was that Lei Dong needed the three mid-grade spirit ghosts for camouflage and subterfuge. The three high-grade spirit ghosts were his true trump cards, never to be used unless absolutely necessary.

Through Zhao Baiwan, he then spent five thousand spirit stones to acquire one Earth Spirit Pill, prepared for any bottleneck period. Another five thousand spirit stones were used to purchase a complete stock of the rare Creation Pills sufficient for two years of use, highly effective for Qi Refining cultivators and yielding perhaps double the results of the common Essence Cultivation Pill, though costing more than ten times as much. This was a treasure for wealthy cultivators seeking to accelerate their progress. The final five thousand spirit stones were used to forge a complete set of equipment from superior materials for all six life-bound ghost soldiers, capable of significantly boosting their combat prowess.

Two years flashed by.

The batch of Creation Pills, the single Earth Spirit Pill, and the meager ten mid-grade spirit stones were all completely exhausted. And Lei Dong had benefited immensely. In these mere two years, given his aptitude and the massive expenditure of spirit stones on resources, he had forcefully advanced from the sixth layer of the Qi Refining stage to the early eighth layer. This rate of advancement, one layer per year, was slightly faster than Zuo Chao’s. However, the total resources he consumed were tens of times more than Zuo Chao’s. Especially that Earth Spirit Pill, which forcefully pushed Lei Dong past the bottleneck at the peak of the seventh layer straight into the eighth. This highlighted the difference in natural talent; Zuo Chao, though not comparable to Ding Wanyan, could cultivate at a decent pace using Essence Cultivation Pills and low-grade spirit stones, rarely encountering bottlenecks.

While satisfied with his cultivation speed, Lei Dong was simultaneously shocked by the terrifying pace at which he burned through resources. Still, if he could only reach the Foundation Establishment stage, and eventually the Golden Core stage, he wouldn't bat an eye even if he had to consume the resources of the entire world. The only thing that made him smile ruefully was the realization that, for this lifetime, he would probably have to be a brigand. Otherwise, relying on conventional effort to earn spirit stones for cultivation, he would never reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

(Ha, seeing so many great masters on the recommendation list asking for votes in single chapters is quite pleasing. The Great Demon Lord has now been squeezed to fifteenth place, and the pursuers behind are fierce. Brothers and sisters, please help brother smash those recommendation votes fiercely and hold our position on the front page! There will still be three updates tomorrow~)