By rights, given Lei Dong's background and current status, he would have absolutely no interest in teaching a lesson to some low-ranking lackey or minor cultivator lurking in the dregs of society. However, once someone crossed his path, he didn't bother with trivialities. He ordered the Ghost Guards to take the boat back for the mute girl. By the time they reached the shore, the sky was just beginning to lighten vaguely, but a group of more than a dozen sturdy young men had already piloted their own boats and were waiting near the harbor. They were likely doing this to prevent the mute girl from secretly hiding the Gold Spirit Fish. Thus, Lei Dong moved forward to intercept them.

However, catching the faint light of the eastern dawn, he clearly saw that besides the mute girl, there were three other people on the boat. He paused for a moment, then immediately cursed with menacing ferocity, "Who the hell are you people?"

Lei Dong couldn't be bothered wasting breath on these mortals who possessed no fighting capability. Although his injuries hadn't fully healed, he could manage to exert himself minimally now. The Netherworld Great Art surged to life, and rolling waves of black ghostly energy enveloped all dozen-plus men instantly. Naturally, the mute girl and the middle-aged man were also wrapped up. Finding a secluded spot by a cliff edge, he withdrew the black mist, and the group tumbled out, crashing heavily and nearly breaking every bone. The mute girl and the middle-aged scholar, however, received special consideration and were completely unharmed.

Lei Dong’s expression was grim as he brandished the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner. He unleashed over a hundred fierce ghosts, each one bearing fangs and claws, circling the group with chilling screeches, occasionally revealing ferocious and vicious looks. This sight terrified the fishmongers into a pale, paralyzed heap on the ground. In truth, if Lei Dong hadn't intentionally held back, the fierce ghosts would have already swarmed forward to devour their flesh and blood.

"Immortal Lord, Immortal Lord, spare us! We will never dare again, never!" Under the might displayed by Lei Dong, the leader, though his legs felt like jelly, hadn't completely collapsed yet. His face was ashen as he begged for mercy.

"Hmph~" Lei Dong truly couldn't stand the pointless chatter. He reached out with a Netherworld Ghost Claw, capturing the leader, and pressed his palm directly onto the crown of his head, initiating the Soul-Sifting Technique. Although Lei Dong was still recovering from his injuries, using the Soul-Sifting Technique on a mere mortal was quite easy. After the man's agonizing groan subsided, Lei Dong withdrew his palm. The man's eyes were now rolled back, his breathing shallow and ragged.

Lei Dong already knew everything he needed from the man's mind. The rest of this garbage was naturally useless to keep around. With a cold wave of his hand, the more than one hundred fierce ghosts, long suppressed, surged forward with excited, squealing cries. Their phantom claws slashed out, tearing large gashes in the men's bodies. As blood gushed out, the dense swarm of fierce ghosts pounced, happily devouring their fill.

In a mere few dozen breaths, the dozen-plus men were torn and swallowed until not even a single bone remained. The hundred-plus fierce ghosts, each one glowing scarlet within the blackness, returned to the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner in utter satisfaction. The mute girl covered her mouth, watching the entire spectacle in stark terror. As for the middle-aged scholar, he had already been shaken so badly his legs trembled, causing him to slump onto the ground, wanting to vomit but not daring to.

"Only with strength can you avoid being bullied," Lei Dong murmured, stroking the mute girl's hair as he spoke. He cast a cold glance at the middle-aged scholar: "From today onward, you will teach her calligraphy and text for ten hours every day. I want you to be able to decipher most characters within three months. If you fail, the fate of those men just now will be your example. Mute girl, you won't need to go out fishing anymore; the Ghost Guards will catch the Gold Spirit Fish for you." Having him witness the scene was also a method to caution the old fellow, lest he contemplate any misdeeds.

Honestly, Lei Dong was quite intrigued by the Gold Spirit Fish himself. Consuming this item regularly could accelerate one's cultivation speed. Even if it had limited use for him, it would be extremely beneficial for the mute girl. Originally, Lei Dong had intended only to repay her kindness by ensuring she had food, clothing, and some means of self-preservation. However, the mute girl's mysterious physique and outstanding aptitude had piqued Lei Dong's considerable interest in her.

In this world, going it alone would always prove insufficient. Even the most formidable individual, having cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage, could still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers in a group attack if they couldn't win a one-on-one fight. With her potential, the mute girl might one day become his right and left arm. A talent of this caliber wasn't something one stumbled upon casually.

From that boy's memories, Lei Dong gleaned a rough picture. These fishmongers were an organization, numbering at least several hundred, who lorded over this island. Behind them lurked a cultivation family on Whale-Crouch Island, five hundred li away. Perhaps because that boy was merely a flunky, he knew little about the cultivation family itself. Each time, only two so-called Immortal Lords would arrive once a month to collect rare treasures like the Gold Spirit Fish. Half a month had already passed since the last collection, meaning two cultivators would arrive again in another half a month.

Lei Dong knew that such menial tasks would never warrant the dispatch of elite family members wasting their precious time and energy. He simply needed to wait by the riverside for the right opportunity, and they would come to him. He had considered venturing to Whale-Crouch Island under the cover of night, but rather than risk it, it was better to wait for the errand-boy 'Immortal Lords' to deliver themselves into the trap. After all, he could gauge the island's true strength through them. If their power was lacking, he could destroy them outright. If there were Golden Core cultivators, he could simply retreat. This tactic offered both offense and defense, making it the most prudent choice.

Before dawn fully broke, based on the information gleaned from the Soul-Sifting Technique, Lei Dong decided to inconvenience himself by wiping out the entire petty organization that used to terrorize the locals—feeding them all to the fierce ghosts in his Ten Thousand Ghost Banner. This wasn't due to any chivalrous spirit on Lei Dong's part; he simply feared that any survivors might flee to Whale-Crouch Island to report back, thus complicating his plan.

The swift passage of half a month flew by. During this time, Lei Dong intensified his healing efforts, aided by the Gold Spirit Fish and the high-grade elixirs he possessed. The injuries sustained during the 'Wrath of the Sea God' had healed to about seventy or eighty percent. Calculating carefully, today was precisely the day the cultivators were expected to arrive for their collection. Lei Dong had little interest in the other spoils confiscated from the fishmongers and planned to discard them later. However, the dozen or so Gold Spirit Fish provided him with considerable gustatory pleasure.

Following the intelligence acquired through the Soul-Sifting Technique, Lei Dong stealthily positioned himself at the rendezvous point—a desolate yet flat cliff face along the coast. Perhaps those cultivators disdained being seen by mortals and gossiped about. They arrived with their usual punctuality. Not long after Lei Dong had concealed himself, he sensed two streams of escaping light slowly approaching in the sky.

The lights were mottled and impure in color, and their slow speed made Lei Dong increasingly impatient. Finally, the two arrogant cultivators landed on the clifftop. They looked left and right, finding no welcoming party whatsoever, and their expressions immediately soured. Just as they were about to curse loudly, the Fierce Howling Ghost Guard suddenly materialized behind them. A ghostly roar erupted, and a wave of air blasted outward, startling the two Qi Refining cultivators into unconsciousness on the spot.

Lei Dong was somewhat speechless concerning these two so-called 'Immortal Lords.' One was at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, the other at the fifth. Cultivators of this level could only put on airs in front of mortals. To a cultivator like Lei Dong, they were no different from ants, beings easily crushed with a casual gesture. Not bothering with preliminary interrogation, Lei Dong placed his palm on the head of the fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator and directly employed the Soul-Sifting Technique.

A cultivator's soul, even for someone at the Qi Refining stage, was far stronger than a mortal's. Sifting this man's soul required significantly more effort than what he had expended on the mortal half a month prior. A moment later, clarity dawned in Lei Dong's eyes. Although this man was only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, a cultivator was a cultivator after all; his knowledge and understanding of the world far surpassed that of a mortal.

Lei Dong now understood that the sea region he currently occupied was indeed not near the Star Island cluster in the East Sea, but a place called the Chaotic Archipelago. The Chaotic Archipelago consisted of a vast cluster of islands situated in a sea area that was neither exceedingly large nor small, forming a narrow stretch. Its longest dimension was about a hundred thousand li, and its widest point spanned sixty to seventy thousand li.

Lei Dong's current location was in the outer reaches of the Chaotic Archipelago, specifically its desolate frontier zone. Further out, the islands became increasingly sparse, with perhaps only one small island encountered every tens of thousands of li. To the east, west, and north of the Chaotic Archipelago, after traversing a gap of several hundred thousand li where the islands were sparse and virtually uninhabited, lay a region called the Boundless Sea. No one knew the end of the Boundless Sea, nor did anyone possess the ability to explore it, as the deeper one ventured, the more powerful the demonic beasts gathered. Even a Golden Core cultivator entering there would meet a fate of no return. As for Nascent Soul cultivators, in the memories of the soul he sifted, Golden Core was already the absolute zenith of power; he had almost no impression of Nascent Soul cultivators.

Indeed, when Lei Dong himself was in the Qi Refining stage, he rarely heard news of Nascent Soul cultivators, as his own cultivation level limited his understanding of the wider world.

Traveling south from the Chaotic Archipelago, crossing a vast expanse of empty sea spanning tens of thousands of li, one would reach a place called Zhao Prefecture. The fourth-layer cultivator had never been to Zhao Prefecture. He only knew that Zhao Prefecture was vast and its cultivators were very powerful. Beyond that, he had no concept whatsoever. This fourth-layer cultivator's sphere of activity was limited to a radius of a few thousand li around Whale-Crouch Island.

This jumble of miscellaneous information made Lei Dong frown repeatedly. It seemed the 'Wrath of the Sea God' had tossed him quite far away. Finding the path home should be his paramount priority. As for the so-called Zhao Prefecture, Lei Dong had never even heard of it in his entire life. The only thing that offered him slight consolation was that the cultivation family on Whale-Crouch Island wasn't overwhelmingly powerful—they had three Foundation Establishment cultivators but no Golden Core masters.

Against Foundation Establishment cultivators, Lei Dong possessed sufficient self-confidence. It wasn't that there were absolutely no Foundation Establishment cultivators who could defeat him in this world, but such individuals were exceedingly rare—fewer than one in a hundred, perhaps even one in a thousand.