Lei Dong's purpose in this action was simple. Firstly, it was to legitimize the exquisite spectral beast he possessed in his hands—especially with Bantai Bingyun present at the scene. He could fully utilize her for external promotion of his own top-tier spirit beast. This would solidify his reputation and standing within Yinsha Sect, making him more valued by the sect. Having spent so many years abroad, Lei Dong had come to deeply understand that an individual traveling alone was easily vulnerable. No matter how powerful one's strength might be, it couldn't withstand a gang of people. With Yinsha Sect—a faction he'd grown up within from childhood—as his backing, Lei Dong felt this support remained indispensable.

Secondly, naturally, it was to enhance the combat abilities for his loyal squad members who had been steadfast to him. Through several years of trials, Lei Dong had discovered these teammates were excellent trainees—not only possessing decent character and refraining from petty squabbles, but also showing genuine respect and loyalty towards him. Moreover, their cultivation potential far exceeded his own. Yet Lei Dong always maintained that loyalty and moral integrity remained the most vital factors. As for talent—if it truly proved insufficient—one could simply pour resources into them. With the cover of having an exquisite spirit beast as a decoy, he could quite justifiably legitimize acquiring superior spectral beasts for them without exposing himself.

In the following period, Lei Dong led his group through dozens of thousands of miles across local markets and cities filled with cultivators. While secretly selling superior-grade spirit beasts to merchants at approximately 150,000 spirit stones per piece, he would later outbid their auctions at around two million each. Though this superficially appeared as a loss of half a million spirits,

The actual result placed him in relatively safe territory.

Legitimately acquiring these without exposing the possibility of possessing an inverse artifact proved mutually beneficial. In fact, it wasn't truly a loss since those superior spirit beasts were essentially obtained for free. From beginning to end, Lei Dong had quietly sold twenty such beasts, eventually reacquiring twelve through collective auction purchases. Qian Luo, Tu Guan, Qing Nangzi, and Old Zhao each received two apiece. The remaining four would be returned home—two meant for Wan Yan and Qing'er, while a couple could secretly slip to his brother. Through this maneuvering, Lei Dong actually earned several million spirit stones.

Rare superior-grade spectral beasts that others struggled to obtain were practically as abundant as market cabbages in Lei Dong's possession. His five exquisite-grade spirit beasts had other reserved purposes—unlike the others, he never needed to refine them unnecessarily. In fact, even when requiring a top-tier beast himself, he could simply use soul pearls to promote his ghost generals through violent impacts without needing re-cultivation.

Covering dozens of thousands of miles across regions over half a year's time, Lei Dong's operation consumed significant duration yet attracted minimal suspicion. While some astute observers might find the sudden surge in superior spirit beasts suspicious, the sheer scale of operations rendered any investigation futile.

Though his squad members also noticed an unusual abundance of superior-grade beasts emerging, none questioned it deeply. They simply assumed their leader had paid for information to locate selling points and led them there accordingly. The process proceeded smoothly as expected, ultimately resulting in everyone acquiring two apiece. During this period, Lei Dong extensively searched auction houses and spell-specialized shops across regions for cultivation methods similar to spirit-summoning techniques. Unfortunately most such techniques proved abysmally weak—only the Ghost Sect's spirit-summoning techniques in Zhaozhou showed any merit worth noting.

Intelligence gathered from various sources suggested the Ghost Sect's spirit-summoning formulas might not actually lag behind Yinsha Sect's methods. Their system contained its own unique approach to enhancing spectral creatures' abilities. This wasn't surprising since within Yinsha Sect, the Yuming Great Method merely represented one among many powerful cultivation techniques. Yinsha Sect was a veritable repository of knowledge, with its true founding method likely being the Yinsha Great Technique itself.

This Ghost Sect however had made spirit-summoning their fundamental core—especially after further investigations, Lei Dong became increasingly intrigued by their Tianshou Great Method. Yet any sect, even minor ones, maintained strict control over such core techniques. For a powerful faction like Ghost Sect—even if inferior to Yinsha Sect—they certainly wouldn't lack robust defenses for protecting their central formulas.

While his Soulsoul Extraction Technique could extract some memories from others' souls, trying to uncover an entire cultivation method this way was sheer fantasy. The technique only yielded fragmented memory bits, incapable of containing complete methods. Indeed such limitations were natural—otherwise no sect could ever protect its secrets. Just imagine if any elder with a spiritual cultivation wanted another's techniques—they'd simply extract the soul from lower disciples and obtain everything! How chaotic would that make the world?

After numerous failed attempts at various approaches, Lei Dong exhausted all options without success. Joining Ghost Sect was impossible since they wouldn't accept outsiders with unknown backgrounds. For top-tier sects like Yinsha or Ghost—where lineage was meticulously recorded from birth through generations—midlife joiners were strictly barred unless under exceptional circumstances. New initiates had to be recruited young, thoroughly vetted down to their ancestral names.

Though the squad members understood something about Lei Dong's goals, they knew this was an impossible task even for Qian Luo—a gold core expert who would certainly not gain acceptance if trying to join Ghost Sect midway. At best he might become a subordinate force attached to their sect like a noble family faction.

After months of fruitless effort, Lei Dong finally gave up in frustration. Attempting to steal Ghost Sect's techniques proved far too difficult. With an exasperated sigh, he decided to settle for acquiring some decent spirit-summoning formulas for everyone temporarily instead. But as all knew well—these generic formulas produced spectral servants with power paling in comparison to his methods. While Lei Dong could almost achieve perfect synchronization with his spectral beasts through mere thoughts, let alone the formidable auxiliary abilities of Yuming Great Method.

Just when Lei Dong had resigned himself and began planning his return journey to Kangzhou, Shangguan Hong secretly approached him furtively, his face flushed as he hesitated awkwardly. When Lei Dong finally lost patience and glared threateningly at him, Shangguan Hong mumbled out: "Boss...I actually have a way to obtain Tianshou Great Method and Ghost Dance Technique."

This revelation left Lei Dong momentarily stunned—equal parts exhilarated and furious. "Are you mad? You dare toy with me like this? What is this plan of yours?" he roared.

Shangguan Hong, usually the smooth-talking showoff type, now became uncharacteristically fussy and nervous after stuttering for several moments before finally revealing the truth. Originally from Zhaozhou's prominent Shangguan Clan because of his excellent talent and naturally handsome features since childhood, he had enjoyed immense favor within his family's hierarchy. As a vassal to one of Zhaozhou's top forces yet powerful on its own merits, the Shangguans were already household names across the region.

This status bred in him extreme arrogance, self-obsession, and conceit. He believed himself exceptional, constantly provoking disputes and chasing romantic entanglements—though his charms earned him considerable success among women until Wen Xiaoxue appeared.

With her, he encountered unprecedented humiliation. Not only did she outmatch him both in talent and combat strength (easily defeating two to three of him), but after becoming involved with her, she enforced strict monogamy policies on him. Initially finding this amusing novelty, Shanggu'nan soon discovered Wen Xiaoxue's fiery temperament beneath her gentle name—beating him regularly for his past philandering. This proved unbearable for the spoiled. Worse yet was when she demanded marriage and clan membership.

What made things truly horrifying happened next: Wen Xiaoxue boldly visited his family estate, meeting all his elders including the patriarch himself. Her boldness in handling Shangguan Hong impressed everyone so much that the family unexpectedly approved their union.

After this shocking turn, Shangguan abruptly ran away from home vowing to build his own path through strength alone—thus leading him to the chaotic sea region where he encountered Qian Luo and Lei Dong.

Upon hearing this tale, Lei Dong burst into laughter. "So it wasn't just me who had experienced being tamed by a woman's dominance," he chuckled, feeling an unexpected sense of relief and balance in his heart.