Nearly a hundred—in this brief, hundred-breath clash, fully one hundred Foundation Establishment Condors had been eliminated, reducing that massive swarm of over four hundred by a full quarter. This instantly bolstered Lei Dong’s morale, leaving him feeling exhilarated. These demon birds were exceedingly fast, comparable to ordinary Golden Core cultivators.

For the vast majority of late-stage Golden Core cultivators, encountering such a powerful flock of Bone-Devouring Condors would only lead to a desperate retreat; engaging them head-on would be unthinkable. Yet, after this entire engagement, Lei Dong’s side suffered almost no losses, while the enemy was reduced by nearly a hundred.

In Lei Dong’s divine sense, the leading contingent of Golden Core demon birds seemed thrown into disarray. One shouldn't underestimate that group of less than thirty Golden Core-level vultures; in terms of raw power, they were even stronger than the four hundred Foundation Establishment Condors. For Tao Tai Bingyun to confront that group directly would be pure folly. Lei Dong had sent her only to restrain them as much as possible, and even that relied heavily on her Winged God Wings.

Of course, everyone knew such a containment effort couldn't last. Indeed, after a mere hundred breaths, Tao Tai Bingyun was visibly beginning to lose her grip on the situation.

At this point, Lei Dong dared not delay any longer. His previous instantaneous movement had only taken him barely over a li away from the main battlefield. He immediately dispatched Gui Ci, the fastest of his subordinates, to ghost his way forward and lure the Condors. While demon beasts possessed intelligence, these Foundation Establishment-level Condors were governed primarily by avian instinct, far outweighing their intellect. In fact, aside from a few exceptional demon beasts, such as the Three-Tailed Demon Fox, most others, even at the Golden Core level with nascent sentience, didn't possess much real wisdom.

Generally, only Nascent Soul-level demon beasts had intelligence sufficient to perhaps engage in rudimentary communication with humans or other intelligent races—though even then, unless they were a specialized race, their cleverness wouldn't extend far.

Thus, Gui Ci’s utterly bewitching movements, elusive and untraceable trajectory, and the deliberate explosion of one Condor caused the enraged flock to break ranks and pursue him, intent on annihilating that hateful, unsightly creature. The majority of the remaining Condors, however, ignored Gui Ci and continued their charge toward Lei Dong and his company, still focused on their original targets.

Once the two groups of Condors had separated by more than ten li, Lei Dong gathered his subordinates and used a Shunyi (Instantaneous Movement) to plunge directly into the smaller group chasing Gui Ci. This contingent numbered only seventy or eighty, several of whom Gui Ci had already skillfully picked off through guerrilla tactics, their massive bodies plummeting stiffly from the sky.

Lei Dong and his retinue materialized suddenly, descending like tigers into a flock of sheep, engaging in a frenzied slaughter. To avoid being surrounded, the six Golden Core combatants encircled Lei Dong, led by Baolong, forming a triangular spike formation. They sliced through this smaller flock of Condors with brutal elegance. In a mere dozen breaths, more than half were eliminated. Faced with such overwhelming casualties, the remaining Condors scattered like startled birds or panicked strays, fleeing in chaos.

Foundation Establishment-level demon beasts were inherently mismatched against Golden Core combatants. If they could remain united and attack fearlessly despite losses, they might yet prevail. But once rout set in, these Foundation Establishment avians became nothing more than layers of easy pickings in the eyes of Golden Core experts. Under Lei Dong’s divine guidance, his subordinates fanned out to hunt down the fleeing beasts. In just another dozen breaths, only seven or eight escaped the pursuit, vanishing into the distance.

However, the main group, still numbering over two hundred demon birds, had already executed a sharp turn back toward the fray. Lei Dong dared not be careless; he immediately consolidated his forces and resumed a cautious, probing engagement. Subsequently, he employed the same tactic once more, dividing and annihilating another segment of the Condors. The remaining hundred and fifty or sixty seemed to have learned their lesson; no matter how Gui Ci provoked them, they refused to splinter again.

Given sufficient time, Lei Dong could certainly rely on Gui Ci’s elusive movements and inherent power to slowly wear down the entire flock. But time was running out. The Golden Core demon beasts Tao Tai Bingyun was restraining were showing significant signs of distress. Seven or eight were already breaking off, heading back to rejoin the Foundation Establishment flock. Meanwhile, another seven or eight, having broken free of restraint, had caught up to the flying ship and were assaulting it directly.

Fortunately, the flying ship’s defenses were adequate, equipped with a Fire Dragon Cannon and sufficient personnel to guard it. Those seven or eight Golden Core demon birds couldn't breach it quickly.

The most critical danger now lay with Tao Tai Bingyun and Lei Dong himself.

Although Tao Tai Bingyun was also Golden Core, her innate speed couldn't match that of these exceptionally gifted Golden Core demon birds. Her "containment" depended entirely on continuous Shunyi. Lei Dong knew well the immense exhaustion caused by repeated instantaneous movement. Even against the remaining seven or eight Golden Core beasts, she wouldn't last another hundred breaths.

As for Lei Dong, if the returning Golden Core beasts managed to merge with the Foundation Establishment flock, everything he had just done would be rendered meaningless. He considered summoning his Soul Slave but recalled their agreement: three uses, after which the slave would be released. He had already used one. The path ahead held unknown dangers, and the current situation, though perilous, hadn't reached its absolute limit. Lei Dong decided that losing a few Golden Core Fierce Ghosts or Ghost Generals would still be preferable to deploying the Soul Slave. As for breaking his word, unless absolutely forced, Lei Dong was reluctant to abandon his principles so easily.

After all, with Lei Dong's resources, cultivating either Ghost Generals or Golden Core Fierce Ghosts wasn't excessively difficult. Of course, Shadow Tiger was his treasure and could not be easily sacrificed.

These thoughts crystallized in an instant. He immediately directed his six Golden Core combatants to form a sharp arrowhead and bore down into the remaining Condor cluster. Simultaneously, Lei Dong swallowed elixirs and gripped a top-grade spirit stone, rapidly restoring his True Qi. With a composed expression, he fought within the encirclement, using Chi Lian, his top-grade spirit artifact, to hack at the Golden Core demon birds.

Lei Dong’s main body was at the peak of Foundation Establishment, and the Chi Lian flying sword had been his soul-forged treasure for a long time, making it an exceedingly rare top-grade spirit artifact with considerable power. Though these Foundation Establishment beasts were exceptionally fast, their defensive capabilities were not overwhelmingly strong. Utilizing his advantages, just two or three flashes of crimson light were often enough to dispatch one.

Protected by his subordinates, he needed no regard for defense, focusing purely on offense. In terms of sheer destructive power, Lei Dong was now nearly on par with an average Golden Core Fierce Ghost. As for deploying the two Foundation Establishment puppets or the Black Dragon from the Black Dragon Banner, at Lei Dong's current strength, they would only provide negligible assistance.

You Ming once again demonstrated its notable effectiveness, especially in supporting his ghost-type subordinates. It not only stimulated their combat prowess but also slowly restored their injuries and strength.

Stab, pierce, retreat, and stab again. After a few rounds, the air was thick with blood and gore. The weakest Golden Core Fierce Ghost was ripped away from the main engagement by the Condor swarm and quickly annihilated under their frenzied assault. The remaining Golden Cores were all heavily scarred and weakened. Only the Soul-Devouring Shadow Tiger, a formidable beast already at the peak of mid-Golden Core, fought with increasing ferocity, ignoring the bloody gashes that exposed bone. Nevertheless, under this savage onslaught, more than half of the hundred-plus Foundation Establishment demon birds were slaughtered. The survivors wailed and fled in all directions, completely drained of fighting spirit; even if the seven or eight Golden Cores returned, rallying the remnants would be impossible.

Having achieved his objective of eliminating over four hundred Foundation Establishment demon beasts, Lei Dong, though sustaining heavy losses himself, immediately gathered his subordinates and used consecutive Shunyi jumps to reach the vicinity of the flying ship.

Though Tao Tai Bingyun had been fully occupied with her containment role, she had kept constant watch on Lei Dong’s progress. Seeing him succeed, a huge weight lifted from her heart. By this point, she too was nearing her limit. Without hesitation, she too used Shunyi to return to the flying ship.

At the ship, the seven Golden Core demon birds were furiously attacking the vessel, whose protective shield was already flickering precariously. Qian Luo had summoned two High-Grade Ghost Generals, along with Han Chao, Black Iron Pagoda, Green Lady, Shangguan Hong, Zhao Ge, and Mute Girl, among others. Aided by the flying ship's support, they managed to fight the attackers to a stalemate for the moment.

Seeing Lei Dong and Zhan Tai Bingyun appear one after the other, Qian Luo and the others’ morale soared. Though Lei Dong and Tao Tai Bingyun were both nearing exhaustion, they strained themselves to send out their Golden Core subordinates to engage the Golden Core demon birds. Lei Dong still had five left; though weakened and battered, they could still fight marginally. As for Tao Tai’s Hong Luan and her puppets, they were completely unharmed—true fresh reinforcements.

A total of twelve Golden Core-level combatants, plus a contingent of well-equipped Foundation Establishment cultivators at peak level—the fate of this reasonably strong group of Golden Core demon birds was already sealed.

Boom! As a High-Grade spirit stone was consumed, the Fire Dragon Cannon roared to life, blasting one demon bird black, which was then violently dispatched by Black Iron Pagoda. Qian Luo, Han Chao, and the others, bristling with pent-up fury, unleashed their power, coordinating to surround and kill the Golden Core attackers. Even peak Foundation Establishment cultivators like Green Lady contributed, perfectly coordinating their attacks with the Golden Core powerhouses to slay the enemy. Having followed Lei Dong for so long, they possessed exquisite spirit artifacts, and their near-Perfect Core cultivation ensured their techniques packed a significant punch.

With a piercing ghostly shriek, another Golden Core Fierce Ghost perished. However, under the desperate, all-out assault, only one of the seven Golden Core demon birds sustained a severe injury and fled. The remaining six were destroyed in a short time. After rapidly collecting the spoils, everyone boarded the flying ship and continued their flight forward.

Fortunately, the Golden Core demon beasts possessed a degree of intelligence. The eight that Tao Tai had initially separated, sensing the slaughter of their comrades, dared not approach alone. Instead, they waited for the last group of demon birds to converge before daring to attack the flying ship in superior numbers, driven by an inexplicable hatred.

(Using these chapters to solidify and clarify the combat power comparisons across different tiers. Please cast your recommendation votes!) (Requesting guaranteed monthly tickets!) If you haven't had enough, check out which chapters the hottest alternative novels have updated! ┊┊ ┊┊ ┊┊ ┊┊ ┊┊ ┊┊ ┊┊U