With the Myriad Ghost Banner brandished in hand, he executed a hand seal, unleashing hundreds of fierce ghosts that surged forth, flying in all directions under the command of his thunderous divine sense. Furthermore, pushing the Grand Netherworld Art to its extreme, the black miasma surrounding him continuously spread towards his flanks, instantly forming two ribbons of dark mist, each extending a full two li.

Having accomplished this, Lei Dong mounted the Evil Ghost Shroud and traversed the low-lying ground toward the colossal ruins at a moderate speed. The two ribbons of dark mist swept across every corner they could cover, much like a gigantic net.

One by one, the Yin Souls hidden within the ruins, as if under a spell, began to emerge from the fallen, withered trees and the depths of the rubble. They transformed into streams of wandering spirits, drunkenly following the trail of the Netherworld Ghost Qi.

Netherworld Ghost Qi possessed a strengthening effect on ghost servants and fierce ghosts alike. It was fundamentally created by mimicking the aura of the Netherworld. This type of ghostly energy naturally held a fatal attraction for the Yin Souls. They instinctively desired to absorb more of the Netherworld Ghost Qi. Cultivators of the Grand Netherworld Art, in the matter of capturing Yin Souls, certainly gained a tremendous advantage.

Lei Dong had only flown for the time it takes an incense stick to burn before the fluctuating Netherworld Ghost Qi at his flanks had 'fished' up over a hundred Yin Souls. They greedily sucked at the ghost energy while following its trace, much like a school of fish chasing their sustenance. Half an shichen later, having only traveled a few li, Lei Dong halted his movement, hovering suspended in mid-air. Hundreds of Yin Souls were now entwined within the Netherworld Ghost Qi trailing from his flanks, including two Wild Ghost Soldiers of the second or third rank.

Simultaneously, the Ghost Guards and fierce ghosts also converged from all directions. Under their driving, over a hundred Yin Souls were herded towards Lei Dong in a state of panic. Yet, the moment they scented the Netherworld Ghost Qi, they instantly became ecstatic, squeaking and cheering, completely forgetting the danger. Lei Dong gradually drew the Netherworld Ghost Qi inward, condensing it into a patch of Netherworld ground several dozen zhang square. Within this area, no fewer than five hundred Yin Souls were gathered.

Only then did Lei Dong take out the High-Grade Soul Nurturing Pagoda, executing the necessary hand seals, and collecting the Yin Souls into the tower one by one, his movements practiced and swift. In a brief moment, the entire horde of Yin Souls was completely collected. This single haul yielded a total of five hundred and thirteen souls. Lei Dong was moderately satisfied with this number, realizing that the quantity of Yin Souls within this ruin was indeed substantial.

As for the three Wild Ghost Soldiers, they were conveniently refined into the Myriad Ghost Banner.

Spreading his "wings" once more, allowing his subordinates to disperse, Lei Dong continued his slow flight upon the Evil Ghost Shroud. Concurrently, Lei Dong began the process of inspecting them one by one, batch by batch, to assess their quality. Regrettably, all five hundred-plus were Inferior Ghosts. However, statistically, this was entirely normal; the probability of encountering one Spirit Ghost in an average of ten thousand Yin Souls was not to be trifled with. Of course, every time he appraised a Yin Soul, Lei Dong's mood became slightly tense. What if he struck the jackpot through sheer luck?

After he finished appraising all five hundred-plus Inferior Ghosts and transferring them to the Soul Devouring Tower to extract their soul power and condense it into a single, crystalline Soul Bead, he felt the amount of Yin Souls caught by the Netherworld Ghost Qi was sufficient, and he paused again. His subordinates, positioned outside his flanks, continued to drive the Yin Souls towards him.

This net caught six hundred and thirty-one souls. Such a harvest brought a wave of pure elation to his heart. He continued to refine the captured Wild Ghost Soldiers into the Myriad Ghost Banner, and then, following the same procedure, proceeded to "drag the net" forward. After inspecting them all, he only gained one more Soul Bead; not a single Spirit Ghost was sighted.

The repetitive mechanical process, though somewhat tedious, was rewarding, as every Soul Bead obtained represented an asset for Lei Dong. With approximately one hundred Soul Beads, Lei Dong could birth another High-Grade Spirit Ghost. Yet, the High-Grade Spirit Ghosts he was forging this time were not for his personal use; he had other plans.

After netting seven or eight times, the sky began to faintly lighten. According to the diurnal rhythm of Yin Souls, they would retreat to extremely dark places. Even with the lure of the Netherworld Ghost Qi, efficiency would be far lower than at night. Moreover, having exerted his Netherworld Ghost Qi at its absolute maximum intensity throughout the tiring night, even Lei Dong was beginning to feel the strain.

Taking his harvest, Lei Dong found a safe place to recover his vital energy and physical strength. His Ghost Guards continued to stand guard diligently beside him, assisting in protecting him. In this first night, Lei Dong had amassed over four thousand Yin Souls, none of which were Spirit Ghosts, naturally. He had just managed to refine ten Soul Beads.

The only stroke of luck worthy of mention was luring in one Wild Ghost Guard of the second rank, which added some strength to the Myriad Ghost Banner. As for Wild Ghost Soldiers, there were more than a dozen.

This location was no Nether Domain like the Heart Demon Hall; the quality was incomparable. But since Lei Dong’s primary target was the Inferior Ghosts, he felt no real disappointment. After all, he was fully aware of his own ordinary luck.

When night fell, Lei Dong rose from his meditation. He returned to the ruined Yin Land to scavenge for more Yin Souls. A so-called Yin Land was a place highly suitable for Yin Souls to congregate and survive.

Lei Dong was perfectly clear on the formation of Yin Lands. If too many people died in the same place in a short span of time, a large amount of Yin Qi would accumulate. The denser the Yin Qi became, the faster people would die, creating a vicious cycle. Over time, the location would transform into a Yin Land. This city ruin, which must have housed countless people, succumbed to a plague, leading to too many deaths in a short period, thus forming a large Yin Land.

Once the Yin Land formed, Yin Souls would gather there and refuse to disperse. The more Yin Souls present, the stronger the Yin Qi. Even Yin Souls wandering nearby would slowly gravitate toward this life-sustaining Yin Land. Yin Souls emitted Yin Qi themselves, and this Yin Qi, in turn, nourished the Yin Souls, preventing their dissipation.

Additionally, battlefields where excessive casualties remained unmanaged could also become Yin Lands. Yin Lands varied in size, with the largest spanning tens or even hundreds of thousands of li. The smaller ones [Update from Great Demon Head, Little Mei], might only cover the area of a single house. The former were usually termed Nether Domains, while the latter were called Yin Residences.

For some Nether Domains, cultivators of Lei Dong’s level dared not enter; even Golden Core cultivators, venturing too deep rashly, would face uncertainty about surviving. As for Yin Residences, they usually hosted only one or two, never exceeding ten, Yin Souls.

This ruin, spanning dozens of li across, was, at most, a small to medium-sized Yin Land. Moreover, its history was not long enough, and countless cultivators had explored it already, making it a 'familiar' place. It was only rumored to have once produced a Ghost General, who was subsequently slain.

Lei Dong felt absolutely no fear of encountering major danger.

The second day, Lei Dong’s luck was slightly worse than the first, yielding only nine Soul Beads.

Day followed day. After a few days, the number of captured Yin Souls decreased further. Lei Dong then moved to another location. There were many similar Yin Lands within this small kingdom spanning several thousand li.

Time flew, and two months passed. During these two months, Lei Dong encountered no significant dangers. The most powerful Ghost Guard he met possessed a strength equivalent to the ninth rank. However, under the combined assault of Lei Dong’s three seventh-rank Ghost Guards and the fifth-layer Foundation Establishment Soul Devouring Shadow Tiger, it was dispatched easily in a short time. After carefully contemplating certain matters, Lei Dong allowed his Ghostly Guards to devour that great tonic.

Lei Dong made a rough tally: over the span of two months, he had captured approximately one hundred and seventy thousand Inferior Ghosts, among which were thirteen Low-Grade Spirit Ghosts. As for Middle-Grade Spirit Ghosts, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of any, which left Lei Dong speechless. If not for the Soul Devouring Tower, he felt his entire life would have been over, doomed to linger at the bottom rungs of the cultivation world. The reason was simple: without powerful Spirit Ghosts, he could never stand out, nor could he feign weakness to seize resources from others. It would be impossible to draw the attention of his Ancestor or Senior Sister. Items like High-Grade Magical Artifacts or the Annihilation Wheel would remain entirely out of reach during his Qi Refining stage.

It was only after obtaining the "first pot of gold" from Middle-Grade Spirit Ghosts, and then High-Grade Spirit Ghosts, that Lei Dong was able to climb to his current level of strength step by step.

The Myriad Ghost Banner, however, had seen excellent replenishment. After long deliberation, Lei Dong kicked out the cannon fodder ghosts. The Myriad Ghost Banner now contained eighteen Soul Guard-level fierce ghosts and around three hundred Soul Soldier-level fierce ghosts. Although the total number was still in the hundreds, its overall might had more than doubled compared to before. This improvement was due to Lei Dong's decision to pursue an entirely quality-focused route, capitalizing on his divine sense strength far surpassing cultivators of the same rank. If he had the opportunity, Lei Dong would indeed wish to replace all the Soul Soldiers with Soul Guards. While his current divine sense strength could only support a maximum of forty or fifty Soul Guard fierce ghosts in the Myriad Ghost Banner, each one was formidable on its own. Forty or fifty gathered together would still possess a certain scale effect, and their power should not be weak. Most importantly, they were harder to kill; they wouldn't be obliterated by a mere burst of Qi or a flash of fire.

Deep down, Lei Dong was something of a perfectionist; he disliked watching large numbers of his subordinates die off after every minor skirmish.

The Inferior Ghosts captured over these two months yielded a total of over four hundred Soul Beads for Lei Dong. He casually selected four Low-Grade Spirit Ghosts and began to elevate them uniformly. He was confident that before long, these four fortunate Low-Grade Spirit Ghosts would become Ghost Generals capable of stirring the winds and clouds in the future.

The next task was to sell them off one by one, converting them into substantial spiritual stone capital. However, Lei Dong knew that selling High-Grade Spirit Ghosts would present him with a significant problem: security. Having finally reached this stage and possessing unique advantages over other cultivators, Lei Dong knew his life was precious. Without a sufficiently safe plan, he would rather go rob people within the sphere of influence of the Heavenly Sound Palace.