And so, those among the Kukaas who were aware of some of Le Dong's underlying capabilities felt their anticipation and expectations for his future grow stronger. The humble ones returned the courtesies, saying, "My Lord, you are too kind. Our clan is inherently one that guards the Holy Master; serving you is only what is proper. As for the next season of Soul Fruits, you need them far more than this old man."

Generally, Soul Fruits only matured once every hundred years. However, the interior of this spatial sacred artifact was quite unique, coupled with the Soul Tree itself, which had been growing for tens of thousands of years. According to Le Long, it now matured a crop approximately every four or five decades. Compared to the Soul Trees outside, one tree here was equivalent to two.

"The Soul Fruit will likely take another forty years to ripen; we can discuss it then," Le Dong did not press the issue. Instead, he chuckled good-naturedly at Kukaas, "Why don't the Prophet and I study the cultivation insights of Senior White Bone together? Perhaps we might achieve mutual enlightenment."

Kukaas had absolutely not expected Le Dong to be willing to share something of that nature. Amidst his shock and awe, he inwardly marveled at Le Dong's remarkably bold and generous methods.

At the same time, Kukaas reaffirmed his suspicion that Le Dong’s ambitions were likely not small. Such a person, with such ambition, and being the successor of the Demonic Emperor of the Ancient Demonic Emperor Sect—even the Prophet Kukaas could not fathom the future. Where would this man lead the Guardian Clan? Perhaps toward the path of ascension, or perhaps toward irrecoverable ruin.

Regardless of Kukaas’s internal turmoil, he accepted Le Dong’s enthusiastic invitation and returned with him to the space within the Soul Tree to pore over the cultivation insights of the White Bone Demonic Monarch. It wasn't just Kukaas; everyone Le Dong brought into this spatial artifact was granted the qualification to study the insights. However, they only received the insights corresponding to the White Bone Old Demon’s respective cultivation tiers. Higher-level insights were useless, even detrimental, if viewed prematurely.

Le Dong himself only reviewed some of the White Bone Old Demon’s cultivation notes from his peak Foundation Establishment stage up to the early Golden Core stage. He had to admit that the White Bone Old Demon was a meticulous person. Not only did he record his insights clearly and in exhaustive detail, but after achieving great mastery, he had also reviewed and repeatedly reflected upon his earlier cultivation methods from the perspective of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Perhaps he intended to summarize his path through these reflections to break through to a new tier, or perhaps he wished to pass them on to his descendants. In any case, he had traversed the path of a rogue cultivator relying entirely on himself, unlike those from major sects who had numerous elders to consult.

A continuous month spent in contemplation yielded profound gains for Le Dong. The White Bone Old Demon's background as a rogue cultivator had its advantages; lacking external guidance, his recorded attempts involved an abundance of highly thoughtful, experimental explorations. This proved immensely enlightening for Le Dong. Many previously obscure or confusing points in his own cultivation suddenly became crystal clear, especially the section detailing the White Bone Old Demon's trial of breaking through to the Golden Core realm, which was recorded with extreme detail, including numerous subjective reflections. Clearly, the breakthrough to Golden Core had cost the White Bone Demonic Monarch considerable suffering.

These records alone gave Le Dong a wealth of varied experience and understanding regarding the Golden Core breakthrough. This might add a solid ten percent to his chances of successfully advancing to the Golden Core realm. One should not underestimate this mere ten percent; it was already an extraordinary boost. Coupled with the various measures Le Dong had meticulously prepared beforehand, his overall success rate for breaking through to Golden Core was estimated to be at least ninety percent.

Though reluctant to leave the benefits offered by the spatial artifact, Le Dong decided he needed to put the matter of returning to Kang Province back on the agenda. Firstly, he had been missing for over a decade, and he worried his family would be too anxious. Secondly, without leveraging a dual cultivation session with Qi Feifei to aid his breakthrough, his success rate for reaching the Golden Core would likely fall below fifty percent.

After completing some preparatory work, Le Dong began leading his group on their departure.

A month later, a colossal airship silently traversed the skies above the Great Barren Desert, maintaining a speed of nearly three thousand li per shichen (two hours).

The sheer vastness of the Great Barren Desert somewhat exceeded Le Dong’s expectations. He had assumed that since the Barbarian tribes dwelled within it, they would be like masters of the domain. He hadn't anticipated that the Barbarians occupied only a tiny corner of the desert, struggling merely to survive. According to the Saintess Lan Qisi, if the Barbarians could sweep across the entire Great Barren Desert, why would she need to risk returning to invade Zhao Province to desperately seek the inheritance of the Divine Temple?

In reality, before the Saintess used her diplomatic skills to unify the majority of the Barbarian tribes, their existence was extremely precarious, often forcing them to launch raids into Zhao Province in a bid for survival. Now that they were united, life had become much easier. This was one of the reasons the Barbarian people held such deep respect for the Saintess.

The perilous nature of the Great Barren Desert also surpassed Le Dong’s anticipation. Indeed, the fact that it could compel the Barbarians to willingly strike out against the powerful Zhao Province gave one pause to consider the inherent dangers of the desert. Fortunately, the Barbarians had struggled to survive there for tens of thousands of years. Although their current territory was small, over that long span, the tribe had produced numerous powerful figures who explored and searched the Great Barren Desert. As a result, the current Barbarian maps, while not encompassing the entire region, could accurately chart about forty to fifty percent of the area. This proved immensely convenient for Le Dong. He declined Lan Qisi’s offer to mobilize tribal warriors for escort duties; in fact, Le Dong left Lan Qisi behind among the Barbarians, secretly instructing her to consolidate support among the people for his eventual subjugation of the entire tribe. Although Lan Qisi was reluctant and wished to remain by Le Dong’s side as an attendant, she could not defy his direct order.

Consequently, aboard this airship, aside from a single Barbarian guide possessing Golden Core level strength, there was only Le Dong’s core retinue.

Danger lurked everywhere in the Great Barren Desert, rife with countless vicious and deadly zones. Thankfully, they had the Barbarian maps. Navigating by them, even if it meant taking significant detours, allowed them to bypass these perilous areas one by one. This increased their safety but also vastly extended the travel time.

The initial estimate for traversing the entire Great Barren Desert to reach the other side of the Tianji Mountain Range in Kang Province was a straight-line distance of roughly three million li. But with all the winding detours, the journey would not be less than ten million li. Even for Le Dong, who had gradually grown accustomed to the vastness of this world, this distance was staggering. Ten million li! Even with the airship running non-stop, it would take over a year.

If any unforeseen incident caused further delays in the middle of this stretch...

Le Dong felt speechless. It was no wonder that exchanges between Kang Province and Zhao Province, though existing, were so infrequent. The spiritual stones consumed just for the airship journey alone amounted to an astronomical figure. Fortunately, Le Dong currently lacked little else besides spirit stones. Moreover, before leaving, he had stocked up on precious elixirs, which were relatively cheaper in Zhao Province, meaning he could make a tidy profit upon reaching Kang Province, more than enough to cover the expenses incurred along the way.

Cultivators were all in a race against their lifespan, beings who defied fate to alter their destiny. While their lifespans far exceeded those of mortals, those with any ambition would not waste their time and energy unduly. Therefore, aboard the large airship, apart from the one-month rotation schedule for guards, most occupants were either cultivating or studying techniques.

Le Dong’s cultivation had reached a bottleneck; further diligent practice yielded little benefit. He therefore focused the majority of his energy on comprehending techniques.

The Profound Bone Art, being a cultivation method inherited by the White Bone Demonic Monarch from ancient times, was truly miraculous in Le Dong’s view. However, what brought Le Dong the most ecstatic joy recently was not this Profound Bone Art, but the artifact he found within the White Bone Old Demon’s storage bracelet. Although Le Dong had a vague premonition that this item might be connected to him, he never imagined it would have such a profound relationship. After retrieving the item from the old demon’s bracelet, the intense reaction compelled him to immediately suppress the matter, revealing it to no one.

Yes, it was the Soul Devouring Pagoda, the very artifact Le Dong relied upon most in his life.

The item left by the White Bone Old Demon was a simple, ancient-looking small cauldron. However, Le Dong had been unable to sense it while it remained inside the storage bracelet. This made Le Dong count himself lucky that the rudimentary storage bag he took from the old demon previously had been too low-grade to fully block the vague, faint sensation he had felt.

Le Dong was even more fortunate that he had forced the old demon to surrender this object; otherwise, he might have missed out on this small cauldron entirely. Of course, the reason the White Bone Old Demon had surrendered it so readily was twofold: his life was at stake, and to him, this object was merely useful for refining Ghost Guus. Since Ghost Guus required high-grade malicious spirits—materials that were difficult to acquire—and could only control cultivators at the early to middle Golden Core stages, its utility was not particularly great.

If the old demon had known this item was part of a heaven-defying ultimate treasure, matters likely would not have been so simple. Unfortunately, after nearly eight hundred years of research since obtaining the cauldron, the White Bone Old Demon had failed to discover any other use for it, thus deeming it a near-useless burden.

Le Dong was unaware that this cauldron and the White Bone Old Demon’s Profound Bone Art both originated from the same source. The White Bone Old Demon had only stumbled upon this treasure accidentally when he was nearly a hundred years old. It was with this item’s aid that his cultivation rapidly advanced, eventually allowing him to reach the Nascent Soul stage. Naturally, he had obtained it too late. Had he acquired it in his twenties, when his physical body was at its peak vigor, he might truly have had a chance to strive for the next tier.

Le Dong outwardly studied the Profound Bone Art, but secretly, he was painstakingly erasing the residual soul imprint left by the White Bone Old Demon. This object was too heaven-defying, tied to Le Dong’s deepest secrets. Therefore, he never considered allowing anyone else to handle it. Fortunately, Le Dong’s soul strength was already comparable to that of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, and the White Bone Old Demon’s connection to the item had been severed when his Nascent Soul was sealed. Thus, the progress was slow, but with Le Dong’s relentless effort, he was gradually eradicating the imprint.

Finally, a month slipped by. Le Dong had completely wiped away the soul imprint. When he placed the Soul Devouring Pagoda next to the small cauldron, the Pagoda erupted with brilliant light and slowly absorbed the cauldron within.

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