Only once everything had settled did Lei Dong feel a faint sense of shock. As expected of a Foundation Establishment level demonic beast, its strength was formidable; although the battle was brief, it had left the surrounding dozens of zhang of rocks and trees a complete wreck. After taking a heavy blow from the Centipede Demon, the Shadow Ghost Soldier’s form had become somewhat ethereal and indistinct, clearly having suffered significant damage. Lei Dong hastily retrieved it and placed it within the High-Grade Soul Nurturing Pagoda for nourishment.

As for the flesh and blood of this Centipede Demon, Lei Dong pondered for a moment before recalling the Phantom Ghost Guard. Instead, he summoned the Critical Hit Ghost Soldier, letting it alone devour the flesh and blood of this Foundation Establishment level demonic beast. He believed that given its quality, devouring just two or three more would allow it to similarly advance to the Ghost Guard level. Although, given Lei Dong's current Divine Sense strength, it was difficult to command two Ghost Guards simultaneously without the stimulation of special elixirs. However, depending on the situation, using different Ghost Guards yielded better results than the current arrangement.

Soon, amidst cheerful ghostly cries, the Critical Hit Ghost Soldier completely devoured the Centipede Demon, shell and meat alike. Only at the demand of Lei Dong's Divine Sense did it leave the centipede's head behind, to be used as proof for claiming his reward upon return.

After cleaning the battlefield, Lei Dong cautiously recalled the Critical Hit Ghost Soldier and brought out the Phantom Ghost Guard again. This troublesome switching back and forth left Lei Dong slightly speechless. The root cause was simply his insufficient cultivation and consequently weak Divine Sense. If his cultivation reached the tenth layer of Qi Refining, combined with his continued practice of the Spirit Forging Art, he should then be able to barely command two first-tier Ghost Guards.

Areas inhabited by demonic beasts often harbored rare treasures. Guarded by the Phantom Ghost Guard, Lei Dong took a brief moment to recover before cautiously exploring the surroundings. After spending several hours, he finally located a Centipede Fruit vine, bearing several dozen bright red Centipede Fruits emitting a dizzying, intoxicating fragrance, in a cave entrance on a cliff face. This vine was several hundred years old. Within a radius of several li nearby, there wasn't even a single young centipede; clearly, this was the Centipede Demon's private domain.

Lei Dong was inwardly delighted and quickly took out a cool jade box inscribed with talisman patterns, placing the Centipede Fruits inside one by one. After considerable effort, he also excavated the entire vine, roots and all, and placed it in another talismanic jade box. While the Centipede Fruits were of decent quality, they would at most fetch a thousand spirit stones. The truly valuable item was the several-hundred-year-old Centipede Fruit vine, which he estimated couldn't be sold for less than five or six thousand spirit stones.

This was because, if the vine were successfully transplanted and carefully nurtured, it would bring him a profit of around a thousand spirit stones every ten or so years. For immortal cultivation families or sects that valued lineage, this was undoubtedly a worthwhile long-term investment. However, Lei Dong had no intention of looking that far ahead; waiting fifty or sixty years to break even was absolutely not his style.

Considering everything, the spoils from this trip were indeed substantial. The weight pressing on Lei Dong’s heart seemed to ease slightly; if every subsequent mission yielded such rewards, he might even gather enough resources to cultivate to the eleventh layer of the Qi Refining stage.

However, such achievements were only possible because Lei Dong relied on having a High-Grade Ghost Guard and the Annihilation Dharma Wheel. For ordinary cultivators, let alone an eighth-layer Qi Refining disciple, even a typical twelfth-layer disciple might not survive an encounter with that Centipede Demon. Thus, the Ghost Control Art, while powerful, was not something most people could afford to dabble in. Either one needed support from an ancestor with limitless wealth, or, like Old Ancestor Wan Gui, one had to be extremely fortunate in the Qi Refining stage to capture an Ultimate or High-Grade Spirit Ghost. Lei Dong could wield the Ghost Control Art to this extent only by virtue of the Soul Devouring Pagoda. His current advantages were entirely concentrated in that pagoda.

After wasting another day searching near the Centipede Demon's lair and finding almost nothing, Lei Dong was unwilling to waste more time. He urged the Ghost Barrier, which was enveloped in ominous ghost qi and thick black mist, toward his next destination.

Several days later, he arrived at a desolate, desert-like location. This time, the target was a Foundation Establishment level Cliff Lizard. He was somewhat lucky this time, taking only two days to locate and eliminate it, though he gained no other extra spoils of war.

Thus, a full month passed in this manner.

The Ghost Barrier drifted through the sky like a mass of black mist, carrying him in lonely flight. Lei Dong, meanwhile, was admiring the scenery.

It was a colossal mountain range coiled upon the earth like a divine dragon—magnificent, towering, and inspiring awe. This was the world-renowned Hengduan Mountain Range, also known as the Celestial Veins. Even though Lei Dong was a thousand li away, he could vaguely sense the imposing aura it constantly emitted. Of course, what Lei Dong saw was merely a small corner of the Celestial Veins. The majesty of the entire range far exceeded human imagination. For a disciple at the Qi Refining stage like Lei Dong, it was the ultimate forbidden zone—a place with a high probability of never returning from.

Consequently, despite hearing that the Celestial Veins held countless rare materials and treasures, Lei Dong dared not even entertain such thoughts. Lei Dong never considered himself someone with nine lives; others entering the Celestial Veins died, while he would enter, survive, and become prosperous. Even if someone explicitly told him he had a fifty percent chance of surviving and gaining immense benefits, Lei Dong would still steer far clear of that place. Life was singular; it could not be squandered carelessly.

The only reason Lei Dong approached within a thousand li of the Celestial Veins was because an offshoot branch of the mountain range extended outwards for several thousand li, effectively cutting across his path. To bypass this branch, named the Great Green Mountain Range, would require an additional thirty to forty thousand li of unnecessary detours involving numerous twists and turns. For an ordinary mountain range, Lei Dong could have simply flown over the top, merely ascending higher.

However, the Great Green Mountain Range was clearly marked as extremely dangerous on his map jade slips, making Lei Dong absolutely unwilling to take the shortcut. The previous place, Evil Dragon Valley, was named as such but only contained centipedes. But the Great Green Mountains, spanning thousands of li and lacking "mountain" in their name, actually housed a true dragon within—a Flood Dragon whose power rivaled that of a Peerless expert at the Nascent Soul stage.

Fortunately, this Flood Dragon’s lair was within the sphere of influence of the Yin Sha Sect, and they had an agreement: mutual non-aggression and non-subordination. The dragon was forbidden from leaving the Great Green Mountains without cause to attack Yin Sha Sect disciples, and conversely, Yin Sha Sect disciples were not allowed to casually enter the Great Green Mountains area. If the Yin Sha Sect was attacked by an enemy, the Flood Dragon could not stand idly by and had to jointly resist the foe.

Therefore, even if forced at sword point, Lei Dong would not dare fly over the Great Green Mountains. It might be fine, but if anything went wrong, it would be a matter of life and death.

Many years ago, due to a massive geological shift, the Great Green Mountain Range, as a branch line, had completely fractured from the main Hengduan Mountains, forming a vast and open canyon corridor. Over countless years of evolution, this corridor widened to several hundred li, within which mortals had established several cities and countless scattered small villages.

Whether it was the Great Green Mountains or the Hengduan Mountains, despite being extremely dangerous, mortals still managed to settle and survive at the foothills. Demonic beasts tended to inhabit the deeper regions, and they were not as numerous as people might imagine. Living at the foot of the mountains provided abundant natural resources for a good life. As for ordinary fierce beasts, experienced hunters could cooperate to deal with them.

Lei Dong needed to pass through this several-hundred-li-wide canyon corridor. After traveling two to three thousand li, he could save tens of thousands of li in travel distance. Of course, this canyon corridor was also marked as very safe on the map. Otherwise, Lei Dong would rather take the detour of tens of thousands of li.

Arriving here, he was now only a hundred li or so from the Celestial Veins. Their majestic, cloud-piercing height stirred Lei Dong’s emotions, his state of mind opening up and becoming refreshed. He flew quietly, and just as he skimmed past a small hill densely covered in a sea of bamboo, he suddenly spotted a cloud of blood mist, like a shooting star, flying in from an unknown direction with a long, blood-red flame tail, crashing down into the bamboo grove on the hill.

Though it was just a fleeting glimpse, Lei Dong couldn't help but startle, letting out a low cry: "Blood Evasion Art?"