However, the rest of the spoils were considerable; Lei Dong couldn't even be bothered to count the total number of Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts he had slain. He only knew that, under his deliberate control, the three Ghost Guards had all reached the peak of the Three Extremes simultaneously. Next, Lei Dong planned to focus on cultivating the Critical Strike Ghost Guard as his primary combatant, raising it to the Fourth Level or even higher. As for the Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger, its strength remained stuck at the first layer of the Foundation Establishment stage. This was because, unlike his intrinsic Ghost Guards, its assimilation and growth were not as rapid; however, its advantage lay in stability. Lei Dong had prepared a vast hoard of nascent souls from Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts for it. He was confident that over the next few years, its strength would gradually increase, possibly even surpassing Lei Dong himself.

If a Ghost Guard of the same rank were to engage the Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger, even if the Tiger's soul-devouring attribute did not specifically counter the Ghost Guard, the same-ranked Guard would absolutely not be a match for it. Of course, if that particular Ghost Guard had been transformed from a Supreme Grade Spiritual Ghost or a Heavenly Spirit Ghost, the outcome might be different. In short, a fully matured Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger would be immensely beneficial to Lei Dong's combat capabilities. This was precisely why the value of a single cub of the Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger could cause such psychological imbalance and profound regret in figures on the level of the Myriad Ghost Ancestor.

When Lei Dong emerged from the teleportation array, dragging Qi Feifei along, he was immediately struck by an intense wave of heat. Opening his eyes, he saw a scene resembling a fiery hell: lakes formed entirely of magma, the molten rock churning incessantly, occasionally spewing a jet of lava that sent searing waves sweeping over them. In the far distance, a volcano was erupting, belching rolling plumes of thick smoke and surging firelight, forming a towering column that pierced the sky.

The entire world was bathed in a dim, reddish hue, much like the purgatory described in ancient texts. Of course, Lei Dong was certain this was no true Purgatory; the genuine article was not a place where a Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself could casually wander. That realm was inhabited by countless supremely powerful life forms. A Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't even manage a fraction of the distance before being reduced to ashes or becoming a meal for some terrifying entity—a place of certain death.

Without needing Lei Dong’s command, Qi Feifei immediately focused her senses to probe the surroundings. After a short while, she opened her eyes, knitting her brows. "There seems to be someone over a thousand li to the southeast. But the environment here is too harsh, Feifei cannot confirm."

"Let's approach slowly and take a look," Lei Dong decided. Since there were others present, he couldn't casually separate from Qi Feifei. Even if not for her sake, he had to consider his own. After all, Qi Feifei represented a pre-reserved spiritual medicine for him, his greatest reliance for breaking through to the Golden Core stage in this life.

The two each mounted their escape light, moving unhurriedly toward the southeast.

"Bang!"

A river of magma, several zhang wide, erupted without warning, soaring a hundred zhang high, nearly striking them both squarely. It was only due to their extremely swift reactions and rapid evasive maneuvers that they avoided this fountain of lava, whether natural disaster or man-made catastrophe. Spots of magma rained down like a meteor shower, fiercely sprinkling everywhere. They each summoned light shields around themselves, letting the droplets of the fiery rain strike the shields, causing hissing sounds as wisps of green smoke curled upward. Lei Dong's expression remained relatively steady, but Qi Feifei was clearly shaken, her face pale.

Before Lei Dong could extend his divine sense downwards, the pool of magma covering several hundred zhang square below began to churn violently. Streams of molten rock shot upwards like jets from an underground spring, whistling as they continuously fired toward the sky. This forced Lei Dong and Qi Feifei to constantly shift their positions in mid-air, struggling to dodge the continuous blasts of magma.

"Forget it, let's retreat." Lei Dong had initially intended to see what kind of monster lay below, harboring a bit of curiosity, but seeing the churning spread across dozens of zhang square, he realized this thing was not to be trifled with. He called out to Qi Feifei to get away first.

Qi Feifei also sensed danger approaching. The two dared not pilot their escape lights in a straight line. After all, the magma jets were incredibly fast; although the escape lights were swift, maneuvering to avoid them was difficult, making it easy to be hit squarely. Furthermore, in this purgatory-like environment, as in other restricted areas, they could not fly higher than a hundred zhang, forced instead to skim low over the terrain.

However, just as they dodged ten zhang away, a colossal entity burst forth from the magma beneath them, shooting out of the molten rock in the blink of an eye. The creature stood fully fifteen to twenty zhang tall. In Lei Dong’s previous life, this would be equivalent to a skyscraper. It possessed human-like arms and legs, but its entire physique was tremendously stocky and powerful, its muscles bulging like formations of solid rock, utterly lacking the look of flesh and blood. Moreover, its entire body was enveloped in intensely burning flames; every movement unleashed surging firelight and oppressive heat waves. It resembled a savage, ferocious beast standing upright on two legs.

"Flame Giant?" Lei Dong muttered in disbelief, though not entirely certain. He had seen records of similar life forms in miscellaneous texts before. At the time, he had felt a mixture of disdain and incredulity. But seeing it now, he instinctively felt this creature was far larger and more imposing than he had imagined.

Needless to say, Lei Dong knew he stood no chance against it, even with Qi Feifei assisting. Its sheer size alone could crush them. Not to mention, the Giant race was notoriously famous for its terrifying strength.

"Hurry!" Lei Dong stated with solemn gravity, letting out a sharp command.

Neither dared to delay. One transformed into countless faint ghost shadows, vanishing in a rush. The other was enveloped in red mist, floating ethereally, covering ten zhang within a single breath. With their lives at stake, both seemed to have pushed their potential to the absolute limit. From a distance, one would see a black mist and a red mist moving like fish in the ocean—fast and agile. Although Lei Dong's combat power far exceeded Qi Feifei's, their escape speeds were nearly matched; upon closer comparison, Qi Feifei was slightly faster.

The Flame Giant saw the two small figures desperately fleeing and roared in anger, slamming a hand onto the surface of the magma. Its movement was akin to a human slapping the water while swimming.

But under that giant, fan-like hand, a massive curtain of molten rock formed, swiftly rushing toward Lei Dong and Qi Feifei, blanketing the sky. Their protective shields could withstand a light rain of fire, but how could they endure the coverage of such a terrifying curtain of lava? Even the sheer impact force could shatter their shields, let alone the immeasurable heat of the overwhelming volume of molten material clinging to them.

Lei Dong roared violently, abruptly stopping mid-air. Ghostly Nether Qi erupted from his entire body, surging toward the oncoming curtain of magma. His high-grade artifact, the Spiritual Mist Shield, and the Profound Yin Shield were fully activated. In this moment of crisis, Qi Feifei did not flee randomly; instead, she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Lei Dong, her delicate face filled with gravity. Similarly, a magical shield manifested before her, and the peach-red mist surrounding her condensed into a sheet, with a red sash weaving under her mental control to cover several zhang in front of them both.

Almost simultaneously, Qi Feifei subtly twisted her body and darted directly into Lei Dong's embrace, positioning herself in front of him. Yet, her expression remained completely unchanged.

Lei Dong did not foolishly push her away because he understood that Qi Feifei was not acting impulsively or staging a dramatic self-sacrifice. Rather, in this moment of extreme peril, her mind functioned with exceptional clarity, and she knew how to best ensure her survival. In this intimate closeness, combining their defensive techniques offered a greater chance of living. She also wisely avoided hiding behind Lei Dong; while the effect might be similar, it would surely displease him. Moreover, their souls were currently merged—if Lei Dong died, how could she, as the enslaved party, possibly survive?

At this point, Lei Dong couldn't help but admire Qi Feifei's quick thinking and understanding of survival. It was just as when she was cornered, knowing her end was near and unable to resist, she wisely chose to exchange her Yin Core for her life. A temporary loss of freedom, yielding the Yin Core to Lei Dong, ultimately granted her a chance to live. Having the prospect of freedom was infinitely better than immediate annihilation.

Though the description takes time, the lava curtain raised by the Flame Giant reached them in a flash, a solid sheet of reddish-orange, exuding the intense, scorching aura of the netherworld. At such close range, even with their light shields protecting them, the intense heat caused both their hairs to instantly dry out and curl.

"Up!" Lei Dong bellowed. He drove the Netherworld Great Art to its extreme, his surrounding Ghost Qi churning into a massive black pillar, striking the corner of the magma curtain nearest to them.

The extremely yang and scorching magma met the bitterly yin Netherworld Ghost Qi head-on, erupting in crackling sounds, with white mist swirling. Lei Dong's Netherworld Great Art immediately collapsed under the pressure, unable to hold. Seeing this, Qi Feifei cried out sharply and, mimicking Lei Dong, condensed her red mist into a pillar, merging it with the Netherworld Ghost Qi, twisting them together to resist jointly. Although they managed to disperse a significant portion of the magma, they were still steadily forced back.

Qi Feifei violently spat out a mouthful of blood, and her red sash instantly surged in power, moving to form a defensive wall.

Riiip.

The intensely hot magma, momentarily checked, instantly ignited the red sash into a blazing inferno, continuing its downward cascade. Bang, the Spiritual Mist Shield, which had expanded to several zhang, was shattered. Immediately following that, Qi Feifei's spiritual shield cracked. However, having endured this layered defense, the section of the incoming magma directly facing them was dispersed considerably, its color dimmed, and its heat significantly reduced.

The two huddled together, simultaneously boosting their respective elemental auras, desperately resisting the encroaching lava. At the same time, a semi-transparent Ghost Guard materialized before them. The Ice Ghost Guard appeared, and the surrounding air immediately turned frigid; its Ice Curse shot toward the wall of magma. Although the Ice Ghost Guard's frost was powerful, it was incomparable to the magma, only managing to siphon off a considerable amount of its force.

The Ice Ghost Guard immediately contracted its form and retreated into Qi Feifei's arms.

"Aaaaaah!" Lei Dong roared furiously, once again pushing the Netherworld Great Art to its limit. Qi Feifei's red mist also roared to life. As the black and red merged into one, the entire magma curtain finally swept past them...

...RA

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