In the next instant, when Lei Dong manifested, he was already before that group of Foundation Establishment demonic birds nearly a hundred li away. The distance between them was a mere few li, close enough that he could clearly see the dense, terrifying numbers of the demonic flock with his naked eye. While Lei Dong was formidable, without a spatial treasure like the Asura Wings, there was no hope of contending with such a massive horde of beasts.

However, at this moment, Lei Dong’s expression was cold and resolute, filled with unshakeable confidence. Unhurriedly, he first summoned the Crit Ghost General that had followed him for a long time. The General’s innate quality was no longer merely High-Grade. Over the past few years, the Soul Orbs Lei Dong had accumulated had forcefully elevated its quality to the Supreme Grade.

High-Grade and Supreme Grade—though only a single tier difference separates them, their value differs by a factor of a hundred, certainly no less valuable than the Asura King’s Wings on Lei Dong’s back. Setting aside the fluctuation in worth, a normal High-Grade Ghost General, while possessing relatively simple sentience and fighting fiercely, possessed nothing more. A Supreme Grade Ghost General, however, possessed intelligence nearly indistinguishable from an ordinary human, capable of memory retention and experience accumulation, and could communicate with its master just like a person.

As soon as the Ghost General materialized, a wisp of divine sense shot towards Lei Dong, sounding somewhat excited: "Master, the Berserk Dragon is already famished."

The Berserk Dragon, indeed. When it advanced to Supreme Grade, it had developed a noticeable level of intelligence, and Lei Dong had named it ‘Berserk Dragon.’ The reason was simple: upon its evolution, it gained an additional innate skill: Dragon Transformation. Once this skill was activated, the Berserk Dragon’s body underwent a massive change—scales enveloped it, its form becoming half-man, half-dragon, its claws razor-sharp, and its disposition overwhelmingly ferocious. It was the living embodiment of the ancient apex predator merged with a human, just as it existed in Lei Dong’s memory.

Coupled with its other two innate skills, Critical Hit and Bloodthirst, the Ghost General truly lived up to the name Berserk Dragon, possessing terrifying offensive power. Though never fully tested, it was capable of handling a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, and might even contend against a late-stage Golden Core expert. The Supreme Grade Ghost General possessed two other values far exceeding common ones: first, the immense potential to advance to Ghost King; second, its high intelligence allowed it to continuously improve its combat techniques through ongoing battle experience. These two points were precisely why a Spirit Ghost of the Supreme Grade was valued a hundred times more than the High-Grade Spirit Ghosts. Even a wealthy Nascent Soul cultivator would struggle to acquire a single Supreme Grade Spirit Ghost, even if it meant bankrupting themselves.

Lei Dong had not engaged the Berserk Dragon in any serious combat these past few years, which meant the battle-starved Berserk Dragon was indeed severely thirsty for a fight.

"Kill!" As soon as this command transmitted through Lei Dong’s divine sense, the Berserk Dragon roared with savage exhilaration. Its body twisted and warped, transforming into a terrifying figure several zhang tall, half-man and half-dragon, its entire form glowing crimson under the Bloodthirst enhancement. It streaked through the air like a faint, almost non-existent afterimage, plunging into the flock of demonic birds. Its claws seized a Bone-Gnawing Vulture of Foundation Establishment strength. With a violent tear, the vulture, which was already a formidable zhang in size, was ripped in two amidst a piercing shriek, sending gore splashing across the sky. While the Bone-Gnawing Vultures were not strictly territorial, they possessed a strong sense of their species. Though they instinctively knew the enemy before them was savage and powerful, the sight of their comrade dying horribly, coupled with their overwhelming numbers, made them charge forward with angry, mournful cries, diving toward the Berserk Dragon.

Unfortunately, the Berserk Dragon’s combat prowess was incredibly potent. Not a single Foundation Establishment Vulture could survive more than a single exchange against it. In a moment, a bloody maelstrom erupted around the Berserk Dragon like a whirlwind, with shattered vulture limbs and feathers flying everywhere. In the absence of any Golden Core level demonic birds, nothing could halt its slaughter. However, Lei Dong knew this was temporary. Numbers, at times, could create a qualitative shift. If the Berserk Dragon fought this purely head-on, it would be torn to shreds by the maddened Bone-Gnawing beasts after destroying perhaps a few dozen. These Foundation Establishment beasts were also exceptionally brutal, fighting desperately with their claws and teeth. Even with the Berserk Dragon’s decent defenses, it sustained deep gashes under their relentless assault. Yet, Lei Dong remained unruffled and calmly summoned his second Ghost General. Its predecessor was the Phantom Guard, a favorite of Lei Dong’s, skilled in stealth and critical strikes—a treasure Lei Dong often relied upon to overcome stronger foes. Previously, Lei Dong’s soul strength wasn't sufficient to sustain two Ghost Generals in battle, but now, thanks to the Soul Fruits and his own cultivation advancement, he could reliably command one mid-stage Golden Core and one early-stage Golden Core General.

Without hesitation, Lei Dong first elevated the Phantom Guard’s quality to Supreme Grade. Then, using the flesh and soul essence of several peak Foundation Establishment demonic beasts, he advanced it to an early-stage Ghost General. Likewise, upon achieving Supreme Grade quality, it gained a measure of sentience and an additional innate skill, Shadow Flicker. When activated, this allowed it to temporarily boost its speed by two to three times, combining with its original talents to create an assassination machine. A careless mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, caught completely unaware, might very well be killed by it.

Lei Dong made no attempt to hide his fondness for this general and renamed it Ghost Thorn.

Following Lei Dong’s tradition, Ghost Thorn manifested already in a state of invisibility. Similarly, it transmitted a strong desire for battle to Lei Dong. Coincidentally, dozens of the Bone-Gnawing Vulture flock had broken off and were hurtling toward Lei Dong. Before they had covered half the distance, the leading Foundation Establishment Coal Peak Demonic Bird inexplicably exploded into a cloud of blood mist, vanishing without even a chance to cry out.

Only as the other vultures erupted into instinctive, furious shrieks did Ghost Thorn’s figure slowly become visible. However, aided by its terrifying speed—a speed the vultures could only gaze upon hopelessly—it zipped around the flock almost in a flickering motion. Using its twin spikes, it killed a vulture every two or three strikes. Before the vultures could close in, Ghost Thorn zipped out of the encirclement again, seeking the next ambush opportunity. Almost every few breaths, it managed to find a chance to eliminate one more vulture.

This was Ghost Thorn’s specialty. If it were only these few dozen vultures, even if it managed to wipe them out one by one, they would be unable to counterattack and destroy Ghost Thorn. This would only change if their numbers increased several times over, reaching a point where Ghost Thorn could no longer maintain its hit-and-run strategy.

But Lei Dong possessed far more capabilities than just these two forces now. The Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger, whose power reached the peak of the mid-stage Golden Core, along with the three early-stage Golden Core vengeful spirits from the Myriad Ghost Banner, all materialized onto the battlefield. On Lei Dong’s side, not counting Lei Dong himself, they now commanded a total of six Golden Core level combatants. Led by the Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger, they charged toward the dozens of isolated vultures, sweeping them away like an autumn wind. As the fierce engagement commenced, the subordinates, absorbing the Nether Ghost Qi released by Lei Dong’s Netherworld Banner, experienced yet another surge in strength, becoming even more savage in their slaughter. Furthermore, under Lei Dong’s command, this group of Golden Core subordinates had begun to coordinate their efforts, making it difficult for the vulture swarm to surround and annihilate them.

Naturally, Lei Dong understood that if this turned into a prolonged, all-out brawl, he might win, but it would certainly be a pyrrhic victory, with a definite possibility of total annihilation. The number of Bone-Gnawing Vultures was simply too great, easily exceeding four hundred.

In just a few dozen breaths, dozens of vultures were eliminated. But due to the enemy’s overwhelming numerical advantage, Lei Dong’s forces began to sustain injuries, especially the Berserk Dragon, which bore the brunt of the main assault. While enjoying the thrill of killing, it also suffered numerous lacerations. Although these wounds vanished quickly under the influence of the Nether Ghost Qi and its own abilities, the fact remained that the Berserk Dragon’s aura was weakening. In less than a minute, the Berserk Dragon was likely to face a critical situation; it had already shifted automatically from offense to defense, surrounded by a dense swarm of Bone-Gnawing Vultures.

However, under the sustained pressure of five Golden Core combatants, the scattered group of dozens of vultures was nearly wiped out; only two or three terrified stragglers managed to flee in panic.

"Charge toward the Berserk Dragon’s position," Lei Dong commanded. The five Golden Core fighters formed a tactical wedge, led by the Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger. As the Tiger rushed toward the Berserk Dragon, it spat out a sphere of light the size of a washbasin, which struck a vulture dead-on without needing to aim. The violent explosion obliterated the vulture, and the intense shockwave sent the flock within a dozen zhang flying backward.

They forcefully ripped a small gap in the vultures’ encirclement.

Almost simultaneously, Lei Dong’s Black Dragon’s Roar blasted forth, helping the Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger expand the breach. Under Lei Dong’s mental direction, the Berserk Dragon also let out a furious roar and charged headlong toward its allies. Vultures were torn to shreds one by one under its immense strength and claws.

What takes a long time to describe took only about ten breaths in reality. Leveraging the extreme combat efficiency of their Golden Core elites, the two groups quickly converged. Without hesitation, taking advantage of the opened gap in the vulture cordon, they charged outward together. Lei Dong, for his part, controlled his Crimson Refining Flying Sword to provide distant support. If small groups of vultures tried to engage him, he avoided entanglement completely, using instant movement to flash away.

Once Lei Dong’s Golden Core subordinates had regrouped, Lei Dong—shielded by the Profound Yin Shield and enveloped by the Indestructible Spirit Shield—joined them amidst a flurry of afterimages. Since his subordinates were surrounded by demonic birds, Lei Dong dared not use instant movement inside the fray. Any slight error in positioning, if he were caught and entangled by such a large number of beasts, would make escape extremely difficult.

Relying on his superior Ghost Shadow Evasion technique, Lei Dong finally managed to reunite with his six subordinates. Without the slightest delay, he enveloped them in the Nether Ghost Qi, spread his wings, and executed an instant teleportation, temporarily withdrawing from the battle.

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