Good heavens, how did I get hit like that! ... The Soul Devouring Tower remained in its dilapidated state. However, once Lei Dong’s divine sense merged with it, he clearly discovered an ancient, quaint, and strangely shaped small cauldron hovering inside the Tower. It was obvious that the two had merged, becoming a single entity. Yet, the Soul Devouring Tower had never come with an instruction manual; his understanding of the small cauldron was limited to its ability to refine Ghost Puppets.

Now that they were integrated, did the small cauldron inherit the ability to refine Ghost Puppets, or did it possess other functions? Lei Dong was unsure about this. Therefore, he needed to explore through various attempts to confirm the true efficacy of the current Soul Devouring Tower. Lei Dong still had quite a few remaining low-level Spirit Ghosts from his previous captures. He decided to start his experiments with these.

After another month or so, Lei Dong had finally gained a rough grasp of the Soul Devouring Tower’s current functions. Its ability to devour ghostly entities, absorb soul power, and generate Soul Pills capable of enhancing the potential of Spirit Ghosts naturally remained, without any significant change—this was the function Lei Dong relied on the most, the foundation of his very survival. As for the Ghost Puppets, Lei Dong also attempted to refine one using a High-Grade Spirit Ghost along with some other materials. It manifested as a dense, pitch-black mass brimming with malevolent aura. Once implanted into a human body and invading the divine soul, unless an antidote was consumed, the Ghost Puppet would devour the soul, leading to agonizing death.

This was also something Lei Dong desperately needed. For anyone else in this world who obtained the small cauldron, they could, at best, utilize it slightly, perhaps controlling a dozen or so early to mid-stage Golden Core cultivators. After all, it required a High-Grade Spirit Ghost for refinement, and the rarity of High-Grade Spirit Ghosts hardly needed stating. It was extremely difficult for an ordinary Golden Core cultivator to even acquire one; they were things to be met by chance.

However, Lei Dong possessed the Soul Devouring Tower. To merely use the High-Grade Spirit Ghosts he possessed to sell for money, or reward extremely loyal subordinates while having to operate cautiously, was undoubtedly a monumental waste. But now, having acquired the small cauldron and being able to mass-produce Ghost Puppets, Lei Dong possessed the genuine capital needed to rise in this world.

The only slight pity was that as a cultivator's divine soul strengthened, once they reached stages like the late Golden Core, they gained the ability to refine Ghost Puppets, which would drastically reduce the control over them. Because of this, Lei Dong had the capital to rise, but not the capital to stand at the pinnacle of this world.

Lei Dong pondered this deeply. During this month of experimentation, he tried refining Ghost Puppets using Low-Grade and Mid-Grade Spirit Ghosts, all resulting in failure; the Ghost Puppets disintegrated into smoke before their forms could even stabilize during refinement. But the High-Grade Spirit Ghost succeeded. Could this lead to the inference that using Supreme-Grade Spirit Ghosts could also refine Ghost Puppets, and that the Ghost Puppets’ effectiveness would increase significantly?

At this thought, Lei Dong’s heart began to pound slightly. If the Ghost Puppets refined using Supreme-Grade Spirit Ghosts could control late Golden Core, or even Nascent Soul stage figures? Such an experimental notion was something even someone like the White Bone Old Demon wouldn't dare to contemplate. Setting aside the fact that the Old Demon would need an extreme burst of luck to ever obtain a Supreme-Grade Spirit Ghost, even if he were lucky enough to acquire one, he would never use it to refine a Ghost Puppet, even if he knew for certain that such a puppet could control a Nascent Soul cultivator. He would rather refine it into a Ghost Servant and cultivate it into a Ghost King.

Supreme-Grade Spirit Ghosts were truly too rare; they were objects that even Nascent Soul cultivators would go mad for.

But for Lei Dong, although Supreme-Grade Spirit Ghosts were precious, they were obtainable with sufficient time. He still had unused Supreme-Grade Spirit Ghosts left. Lei Dong took one and tossed it into the small cauldron for refinement. As expected, after a burst of phantom flames, a fierce, monstrous, ink-black Ghost Puppet appeared in the Soul Devouring Tower, wandering around in panic.

Judging by its appearance alone, the quality and value of this item should far surpass the Ghost Puppet refined from a High-Grade Spirit Ghost. He could tentatively call it Supreme-Grade, or perhaps a Superior Ghost Puppet. However, Lei Dong could not confirm whether this object could truly control a Nascent Soul cultivator.

What Lei Dong did not know was that the Soul Devouring Tower was inherently a heaven-defying treasure. When the small cauldron existed independently, it indeed possessed the ability to refine Ghost Puppets, but this ability was greatly weakened. Under the fusion and support of the Soul Devouring Tower’s main body, even the Ghost Puppets refined using High-Grade Spirit Ghosts were far superior in quality to the half-baked puppets refined by the White Bone Old Demon.

Genuine High-Grade Ghost Puppets were originally intended to control Golden Core stage cultivators—whether early, late, or even peak Golden Core. Even cultivators close to the early Nascent Soul stage could not refine the Ghost Puppet within their divine souls. In short, using a High-Grade Ghost Puppet to control an early Nascent Soul cultivator was barely feasible, though doing so carried immense risk. As for the effect of the Supreme-Grade Ghost Puppet, it was even more heaven-defying: even those at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage could not refine it away.

Lei Dong obtaining both the main Soul Devouring Tower and the accessory Ghost Puppet Cauldron resulted in a power far greater than simply one plus one. This entity was enough to grant anyone the opportunity to defy heaven and change fate.

However, Lei Dong had only refined High-Grade and Supreme-Grade Ghost Puppets so far, and there was no suitable person nearby for testing. He had no choice but to temporarily store them in Soul Sealing Orbs and save them for a future opportunity. Still, being able to refine a well-formed Ghost Puppet using a Supreme-Grade Spirit Ghost filled Lei Dong with hidden anticipation.

As for other functions, Lei Dong had not yet managed to discover them; perhaps he needed to acquire other accessories first.

On this day, just as Lei Dong was about to delve deeper into the profound mysteries of the Mystic Bones—which were no less esoteric than the Netherworld Sutra—a shrill alarm suddenly blared. Frowning, his expression turning solemn, he flashed out and landed on the deck of the flying vessel.

Almost simultaneously, several figures shot out from their respective quiet rooms and appeared on the deck.

“Young Master, we are being targeted by a pack of demonic beasts,” Qian Luo, who was on duty, said, holding the now fully materialized Yuan Xing Bi Lu, his face looking quite grim. “It’s unclear exactly what kind of beasts, but judging by the oppressive aura, the leader should be a late Golden Core demonic beast.” Qian Luo now formally addressed Lei Dong as Young Master. The others were also gradually finding this title somewhat suitable for Lei Dong.

Late Golden Core? Lei Dong’s heart relaxed slightly, and he spoke with a hint of impatience, “Just late Golden Core? What’s there to fear?”

Although the others remained serious, they clearly relaxed a little. Indeed, while late Golden Core was formidable, their own combat strength was not to be underestimated.

Qian Luo’s face was still somewhat pale, and he forced a wry smile, “There are a great many of them.”

A large number? Lei Dong jolted, quickly retrieving Yuan Xing Bi Lu and projecting his divine sense outward. Although Lei Dong’s cultivation was lower than Qian Luo’s, his divine soul strength far surpassed Qian Luo’s. Consequently, when using Yuan Xing Bi Lu, his detection range reached nearly ten li. It was better not to probe, but once he did, Lei Dong was genuinely startled.

Indeed, there were quite a few...

Within Lei Dong’s divine sense range, there were fully several hundred signatures. The weakest was around the Foundation Establishment stage, and the strongest reached late Golden Core. Moreover, this was a group of flying demonic beasts; otherwise, ordinary Foundation Establishment beasts couldn't fly, and certainly not this fast.

While the majority were Foundation Establishment beasts, there were still twenty to thirty Golden Core beasts. If the two sides clashed head-on, perhaps Lei Dong’s side could win, but it would likely be a pyrrhic victory. No wonder Qian Luo looked so grim.

“Full speed ahead,” Lei Dong commanded without hesitation. “Everyone, remain vigilant and prepare for battle.”

The flying vessel’s speed gradually began to increase. During normal sustained flight, the vessel usually maintained only about eighty percent of its performance to conserve energy. Now, operating at full throttle, it quickly reached the vessel’s maximum speed, and the speed continued to climb. Soon, the hull began to tremble, the speed reaching its absolute limit, exceeding normal operational parameters, approaching four thousand li per hour.

“They should be the notorious vicious birds from the desert, the Bone-Devouring Vultures,” the stout, strong barbarian guide, Tu Lei, a man with early Golden Core strength, stated after taking Yuan Xing Bi Lu, his expression equally grave. “These vicious birds tend to move in groups, wander around, have weak territorial concepts, and prefer migration. However, this bird is abnormally ferocious, often preying on herds of beasts, leaving absolutely no scraps behind. Hundreds of them—this must be a medium-sized Bone-Devouring Vulture flock.”

Because the area they were currently traversing was somewhat familiar to the barbarians, Tu Lei had done his best to navigate around the territories of some ferocious demonic beasts. Being targeted like this by a pack of beasts of considerable strength made him feel awkward and embarrassed.

Fortunately, the ordinary Bone-Devouring Vultures were beginning to fall behind as the flying vessel blasted forward. Only the Golden Core level beasts were still rapidly closing in, especially the leader, who was flying the fastest. Flying avian beasts were truly difficult to deal with, their speed being terrifyingly fast. They soon approached within twenty to thirty li. If they were entangled by this pack, and the vessel couldn't maintain speed, the lives of everyone onboard would be in jeopardy.

“Qian Luo, you take command of guarding the vessel; focus on defense. Absolutely do not let the ship be destroyed, or our journey home will be extremely difficult,” Lei Dong instructed, glancing at Tantai Bingyun. “Bingyun, use your Winged God Wings to tie up those Golden Core beasts; I will take care of slaughtering those hundreds of Foundation Establishment ones.”

Lei Dong had been with Tantai Bingyun for nearly six years now, causing her to gradually accept the reality and settle contentedly alongside him. Their time together was quite comforting and happy. However, now that they were nearing home, various conflicts were likely to erupt, leaving Tantai Bingyun’s heart in turmoil.

“Be careful.”

They spoke these words almost simultaneously, both unfurling their wings and vanishing into the sky. Yet, in each other’s eyes, they recognized trust and sincere concern.

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