Lei Dong once again sought an audience with the Old Ancestor of the Myriad Ghosts' Cave, having visited several times in quick succession. Each time, his pretext was to seek instruction on cultivation techniques. The Old Ancestor held Lei Dong in high regard and never tired of his requests. Incidentally, Lei Dong would also subtly, intentionally or not, bring up the matter of Huangfu Ce, careful not to display outright opposition in front of the Old Ancestor. Instead, he offered oblique analyses suggesting that Huangfu Ce's willingness to marry into the Myriad Ghosts' Cave might conceal some conspiracy.

However, the Old Ancestor did agree with Lei Dong’s notion of a plot, though he believed that within the entire Yinsha Sect, Huangfu Ce was indeed a peerless talent. But being associated with the Heavenly Demon Palace was his mistake. Furthermore, Huangfu Ce was a man consumed by ambition for power. Within the Heavenly Demon Palace, there was Yang Mu, a direct disciple already in the Core Formation stage, and below him, Dongfang Fu, a prodigy of extraordinary genius. The future master of the Heavenly Demon Palace would never fall to Huangfu Ce. If he achieved Great Perfection in Core Formation and attempted to establish his own sect, without a century of painstaking effort, he would merely serve as a backdrop.

The Old Ancestor further elaborated that, to his knowledge, the Heavenly Demon Lord inherently cared little for power, only reluctantly taking charge of the Heavenly Demon Palace due to the great kindness bestowed upon him by his own Master. Now that he had advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, sooner or later he would pass on his position to either Yang Mu or Dongfang Fu. Of course, Huangfu Ce had some slim chance, but it was unlikely.

Precisely for this reason, Yang Mu was willing to personally propose marriage. Firstly, it was to eliminate a competitor for himself; secondly, it was to win over the increasingly influential ally that was the Myriad Ghosts' Cave. This was because Yang Mu, like Huangfu Ce, was deeply enamored with authority.

Hearing the Old Ancestor's analysis laid out so clearly, Lei Dong remained perplexed. Why would the Old Ancestor, knowing full well that Huangfu Ce was drawn by the power of the Myriad Ghosts' Cave, still be so inclined to consider the match?

Regarding this issue, the Old Ancestor chose silence, instead assigning Lei Dong a task: to report to the Yinsha Sect Headquarters and assist with preparations for the Nascent Soul celebration, as headquarters reported a shortage of disciples designated for welcoming guests.

Lei Dong dared not delay a task personally assigned by the Old Ancestor.

However, he first paid a visit to Zhao Baiwan, procuring several wooden beads emitting the scent of sandalwood, along with fresh corpses of several high-level Qi Refining or first to second-layer Foundation Establishment demonic beasts.

The black wooden beads were called Soul-Sealing Spheres. They served only one purpose: capturing solitary wandering souls and malevolent spirits. This function was somewhat analogous to the Soul Nurturing Pagoda’s ability to capture yin souls, but with a significant difference: the Soul Nurturing Pagoda captured low-combat-power yin souls and served primarily to store Ghost Servants, nourishing and enhancing their capabilities.

The greatest function of the Soul-Sealing Sphere was capturing entities like Wild Ghost Soldiers or Wild Ghost Guards. These creatures needed to be beaten near death before being sealed within the spheres. The overwhelming majority of the purpose for doing so was resale.

For instance, Lei Dong had a tremendous need for these. The Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger he raised was naturally nourished by these wild ghosts and souls. The stronger the ghost souls it consumed, the faster it grew. Moreover, Wild Ghost Soldiers and Guards could be refined into the Myriad Ghost Banner, significantly boosting its combat prowess. Regarding this item, Lei Dong only wished he had more, never less.

Unfortunately, they were quite expensive. A sealed first-level Wild Ghost Guard alone cost upwards of a thousand spirit stones, with prices escalating higher for superior ranks. But Lei Dong had no choice; he had to rapidly enhance his strength and become more formidable.

As for demonic beast flesh and blood, that was sustenance for his Natal Ghost Servants. Although Natal Ghost Servants could also advance by devouring other wild ghosts, progression through consuming the flesh and blood of same-tiered demonic beasts or cultivators was undeniably faster. Not to mention, those Wild Ghost Guards had more versatile uses in Lei Dong’s hands—refining the Myriad Ghost Banner or feeding the Shadow Tiger all required such material.

Naturally, Lei Dong could hunt himself, capturing those demonic beasts and wild ghosts personally. But overall, the efficiency was too poor, and it consumed too much time. An occasional hunt was fine, but prolonged pursuit severely impacted the advancement of his own cultivation. After all, this world was not replete with Wild Ghost Guards and demonic beasts simply waiting to be caught and slain. Even actively searching, securing one or two specimens per month was considered excellent.

With that time, Lei Dong found it far more profitable to use his mind to earn spirit stones through other means.

In truth, what Lei Dong most desired to acquire was a massive quantity of Inferior Ghosts. Yet, he dared not. Because nowhere in this world would anyone spend significant sums of spirit stones stockpiling vast numbers of Inferior Ghosts. Acquiring too few served little purpose and saved negligible time. But if he spent vast amounts of spirit stones purchasing hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of them, it would inevitably invite suspicion: Why would this Lei Dong hoard so many Inferior Ghosts? It was too abnormal. And human imagination is endless; it was difficult to guarantee that someone wouldn't start speculating about certain possibilities.

Even a mere vague rumor could prove fatal to him. For exceedingly powerful figures, if greed was piqued and they harbored even a slightly strong suspicion, they might just act first and ask later. By then, regret would be useless, and defense impossible.

Consequently, despite Lei Dong's intense desire to acquire a massive cache of Inferior Ghosts, he fiercely restrained this greedy impulse. Acting that way would be far too conspicuous and would ignite speculation.

Harnessing the Evil Ghost Shroud, pushing it to its maximum speed, his body enveloped in a layer of black mist, swirling amidst gusts of chilling wind.

As for his Senior Sister, she had been dispatched to the headquarters several days prior. After all, under the banner of the 'Twin Heroes of Yin and Sha,' she needed to make appearances to demonstrate the might of the Yinsha Sect. Never mind that her cultivation was only at the peak of the second layer of Foundation Establishment; coupled with the fact that she had only cultivated for fifteen years, this detail was somewhat terrifying. Furthermore, her cultivation and strength were already substantial—countless people spent their entire lives unable to breach Foundation Establishment, ending in obscurity.

Flying through the air, Lei Dong felt somewhat downcast. He had hoped to perhaps acquire some High-Grade Spirit Artifacts through Zhao Baiwan. But unexpectedly, Zhao Baiwan could only provide a rough valuation for a High-Grade Spirit Artifact: upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand, with the cheapest starting there. Moreover, unlike High-Grade Magical Artifacts, High-Grade Spirit Artifacts were exceedingly rare due to scarce materials and complex refinement processes. Even grandmasters of the forging world had low success rates during crafting. This scarcity meant that when one occasionally appeared at an auction, its price would soar to astronomical heights.

Furthermore, the cultivation techniques Lei Dong had envisioned acquiring were also exceedingly difficult to obtain. The Yinsha Sect was one of the world's supreme sects; its various series of techniques were already considered top-tier methods. While some scattered techniques and arts not belonging to any major sect appeared in auctions, most proved disappointingly weak. Even if, by rare chance, a truly powerful one surfaced, its maximum potential was comparable only to the Yinsha Sect's own magical arts—and the price for such items was certainly not something Zhao Baiwan could procure.

Therefore, Lei Dong temporarily abandoned those thoughts. He resolved to focus wholeheartedly on following his Senior Brothers to Black Tiger Stockade after this grand ceremony to amass wealth. That potential profit share of at least five hundred thousand spirit stones would be enough for him to splurge for a considerable time and perhaps even purchase one or two High-Grade Spirit Artifacts.

After several days of travel, Lei Dong finally flew above the Yinsha Sect Headquarters. He dared not emulate the Old Ancestor by brazenly flying directly into the sect grounds. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself did so, the result would, at minimum, be disciplinary action according to sect rules.

He dutifully descended outside the sect boundaries. Only after declaring his credentials, stating his purpose, and undergoing identity verification was Lei Dong permitted entry, whereupon he proceeded to the Reincarnation Hall, the designated location for internal preparations for the celebration.

Compared to the sect's decennial grand ceremony last time, this event was clearly more vibrant. Along the way, Lei Dong truly broadened his horizons. Although the grand ceremony was still some time away, representatives from minor sects and immortal cultivation families had already begun arriving sequentially. They dared not adopt the posturing of the major sects, waiting until the eve or the very day of the event to display their sect's prestige.

From the dense streams of oddly shaped, multicolored lights flashing across the low sky, Lei Dong finally grasped the true extent of the Yinsha Sect's power. A single Nascent Soul celebration was enough to draw Foundation Establishment cultivators, and even Golden Core Sect Masters, from all corners of the world, compelling them to travel for a year or two just to offer congratulations.