Having secured the spirit stones, Lei Dong did not linger in the market town. Once outside, near the vicinity, he "cleverly" changed into a set of black tight-fitting clothes in a secluded spot. Then, maintaining his Foundation Establishment Layer One cultivation level, he followed the predetermined route, hiding and darting from place to place, moving cautiously and carefully, as if anticipating some enemy.

One, two. Three. A full three Foundation Establishment cultivators followed him from a distance. Estimating from their spiritual sense fluctuations, the strongest among them should possess the strength of around Layer Five of Foundation Establishment. Purely in terms of cultivation, he was only half a step below Lei Dong. However, the intensity of their divine senses differed vastly, allowing the leading Lei Dong to perceive the three of them trailing cautiously several li behind with relative ease. One of them had a somewhat familiar spiritual sense fluctuation; it should be Shopkeeper Chen with whom he had conducted transactions.

Seeing this, Lei Dong couldn't help but let out cold sneers. The weak are prey to the strong; this indeed remains the eternal truth. Thinking about it, how could they not be tempted and act upon it? A fat sheep carrying over one million five hundred thousand spirit stones, an easy target for their combined strength. If Lei Dong had been selling high-grade spirit ghosts while wearing the identity of an elite disciple of the Yin Sha Sect, the probability of trouble would have been much lower. But for Lei Dong, that consequence was far more fatal.

The three behind him followed Lei Dong from afar, secretly transmitting messages and cursing at how cautious this brat was. The routes he chose had nearly shaken them off several times.

The middle-aged cultivator at Foundation Establishment Layer Five was so enraged he almost wished to rush forward and kill the kid on the spot. Fortunately, they still had reservations. They were too close to the market town, and the nearer they were to the town, the more likely unexpected incidents were to occur. Many people engaged in this kind of robbery—targeting easy-to-bully fat sheep among customers. However, they always did so discreetly. If such matters were exposed, not only would the resulting damage to their reputation be unprofitable, but the Golden Core Ancestor above them would skin them alive. This forced them to be cautious, preferring to wait until they were further away and certain of success before acting. Deploying three strong Foundation Establishment cultivators against a mere Layer One Foundation Establishment cultivator was based on the philosophy: either don't act, or if you act, ensure success.

Lei Dong had guessed their intentions with about 70-80% accuracy, which is why he devised this profit-making plan. He struggled to suppress the impulse to counter-kill these three and plunder them instead. But first, he feared he might not be able to completely keep all three [The Great Demon King Finds His Little Beauty, Chapter Update]. Secondly, and more frighteningly, he worried that a Golden Core stage cultivator might be among them. Although the latter possibility was slim, if he were blocked by a Golden Core cultivator, it would certainly be disastrous. Escape would be difficult.

Thus, Lei Dong fiercely restrained his thought of counter-killing and continued to act according to his established plan. In a short while, as Lei Dong neared his hiding spot, the patience of the three pursuers behind him might have worn thin, and they began to accelerate their chase. A cold laugh echoed in Lei Dong’s mind, and he too suddenly accelerated, moving faster than them. In just a few breaths, he completely vanished from the spiritual sense range of the Foundation Establishment Layer Five cultivator.

The Layer Five cultivator's expression changed; he thought they had almost lost him again. He hurriedly urged his full power forward, expanding his spiritual sense to its absolute limit. Yet, he still could not detect any trace or sign of Lei Dong. He inwardly thought, Bad news, I really lost him this time. The three stopped concealing their movements and began to track separately. Unfortunately, after searching hundreds of li around, they found nothing.

The three Foundation Establishment cultivators were still somewhat unwilling to give up, believing Lei Dong had found a place to hide. They spent several more days constantly searching, but upon finding absolutely nothing, they could only admit failure in the pursuit—the cunning fat sheep, no, the fox, had escaped. Their confidence shattered and deeply shaken, they returned to the market town.

Ten days later, Lei Dong slowly awoke from a secret chamber he had excavated deep within an extremely concealed location. During the period of feigned death, he had almost no sensation, as if he were truly dead. Now awake, after carefully recalling the sequence of events, he checked the storage bracelet and the 1.5 million spirit stones within; a wave of sheer satisfaction washed over him. It seemed this plan was indeed nearly perfect. The only pity was that Lei Dong dared not fight back. He feared those potential, yet perhaps non-existent, Golden Core cultivators.

Lei Dong’s entire tactic was specifically designed against Golden Core cultivators. Unless that Golden Core cultivator excavated the ground for hundreds of li down a hundred zhang, finding him would be nearly impossible.

Having obtained these 1.5 million spirit stones, Lei Dong quickly traveled another seventy to eighty thousand li and arrived at another rather distant market town. He replicated the procedure, selling the next high-grade spirit ghost without incident. After successfully selling the third spirit ghost in quick succession, he made his way to the territory of the Demon Prison Sect. When he prepared to sell the fourth spirit ghost, he nearly ran into trouble.

As Lei Dong retreated along the predetermined route, his currently robust Divine Soul suddenly shuddered. A hair-raising feeling surged up, as if he had become the prey targeted by an unparalleled ferocious beast.

A Golden Core cultivator. That was Lei Dong's only thought at that moment. The terror—this feeling was truly terrifying. Lei Dong suppressed the impulse to flee at his fastest speed because he knew that once he exploded into speed, the Golden Core cultivator would surely do the same. At that point, what chance would Lei Dong have of escaping? He continued according to plan, step by step, only erupting in speed at the very last moment.

Taking advantage of the Golden Core cultivator's momentary shock as he prepared to give chase, Lei Dong had already completely vanished. After spending two or three days searching fruitlessly, the Golden Core cultivator became enraged. After leveling a small hill, he left resentfully. At that time, Lei Dong, of course, did not know what had happened. He remained in a completely sealed, narrow chamber buried a full hundred zhang underground.

The moment he awoke, without a second thought, he immediately consumed another Death Simulation Pill and continued his ten-day slumber. Thus, after twenty days, Lei Dong finally felt somewhat reassured. He cautiously emerged from his hidden sanctuary and began to speed away. Only after traveling over ten thousand li did Lei Dong manage to calm his wildly pounding heart. Damn it, caution truly was never misplaced; who would have thought that feigning the strength of only Layer One Foundation Establishment would actually draw out a Golden Core cultivator? However, he soon plunged into ecstasy. Being startled by the Golden Core cultivator seemed to have loosened the bottleneck period that had held him back for quite some time. A very strange sensation suddenly arose in his heart, an indistinct urge to find a place to enter seclusion and attempt to break through to the next stage.

Lei Dong, having experienced bottlenecks many times, had some understanding of this impulse—it was the peculiar sensation indicating an opportunity to break through the Gui Wu barrier. Without another word, while the feeling persisted, Lei Dong immediately found an extremely secluded spot, releasing his Ghost Guards to protect him. He then swallowed a costly Heaven Spirit Pill and began his attempt at breakthrough.

One day passed, then two. It wasn't until the third day that Lei Dong stood up from his seated posture, his face beaming with joy. A layer of grime, residue from cleansing the marrow and washing the bones after a successful breakthrough, coated his body. Even he hadn't expected that facing the intense pressure from the Golden Core cultivator would cause him to suddenly shatter the bottleneck barrier, advancing to Foundation Establishment Layer Six.

Lei Dong knew how fortunate it was for someone of his aptitude to advance even one layer. Of course, it was also possible that his bottleneck this time wasn't too severe, perhaps benefiting from the lingering effects of the Heart Washing Fruit used in the previous layer.

He was getting closer to the Golden Core stage. The thought of achieving the Great Dao of the Golden Core, increasing his lifespan to four or five hundred years, and possessing such formidable strength that he wouldn't have to hawk spirit ghosts like a mouse, constantly hiding and living in fear, filled him with heady relief. But quickly, he suppressed this sense of complacency. After all, he was not yet a Golden Core cultivator, only Foundation Establishment Layer Six.

Through his various maneuvers, Lei Dong had accumulated over six million spirit stones. Now that the goal of cultivating to Foundation Establishment Layer Six was achieved, advancing to Layer Seven within the remaining year and a half seemed highly unrealistic. Therefore, the immediate priority was to convert all these six million-plus spirit stones into his own strength and then deal with Huangfu Ce.

For a cultivator, cultivation level and techniques are certainly important, but without powerful auxiliary equipment, they are simply asking to be bullied. Relying on external tools to oppress others might be morally questionable, but in a fight for life and death, Lei Dong would gladly crush someone to death using spirit stones directly.

Lei Dong had carefully considered who should purchase items for him. Appearing himself was highly unsuitable. If he disguised himself, he would inevitably be fearful and overly restricted, just as he was now. But if he used his true identity to purchase things, while safe, it was likely that Huangfu Ce would discover it soon, losing the element of surprise and mystery. Lei Dong had long decided that he absolutely would not appear before anyone from the Yin Sha Sect until the day of the decisive duel.

Selling high-grade spirit ghosts was unavoidable, as he could not entrust his greatest secret to others. As for spending money to buy items, Lei Dong had already identified an excellent candidate. He spent some time traveling near the territory of the Yin-Yang Harmonious Union Sect.

Several days later, in a desolate, uninhabited mountain valley.

Qi Feifei, dressed in a red gown, had clearly taken great pains to dress up, appearing exceptionally charming and alluring. Her eyes were bright and shimmering with a hint of blossoming passion. Unseen for several years, she had clearly become even more beautiful and alluring, ripe as a juicy peach, making one's mouth water. In fact, Qi Feifei had lived quite splendidly and satisfyingly these past few years. Bringing back two Heart Washing Fruits had made her already lofty status even more unshakeable.

……(To be continued. For future developments, please log in to Qidian for more chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!)

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