The remaining dozen or so Golden Core demonic birds, though still possessing formidable overall strength, were relentlessly pursued and harassed for several days by Lei Dong and his companions, who defended and counterattacked with full force. Not only did they fail to breach the flying ship, but seven or eight of the demonic birds were actually killed. A demonic beast is, after all, just a demonic beast, and the Bone-Devouring Vultures were not an especially intelligent species.

The remaining ten-plus Golden Core Vultures, seeing that the situation was unavoidable, prepared to abandon their hatred and flee. However, Lei Dong was not willing to let them go. For the sake of these demonic birds, Lei Dong had already lost two Golden Core Fierce Ghosts. He needed to recover his initial investment, and collect some interest besides. With that, he turned the ship around and led his group in a counter-pursuit of the Bone-Devouring Vultures.

A sentient race is, ultimately, incomparable to an ordinary demonic beast swarm. Within a few days, through the application of various tactics, the vulture flock was utterly routed, with only two or three managing to escape. Finally, time was spent collecting all the spoils, which amounted to quite a significant haul. If the flesh and the beast souls of the demonic birds were sold, the profit would easily reach tens of millions of spirit stones.

Of course, Lei Dong suffered heavy losses in this battle, compelling him to utilize one high-tier Golden Core beast soul and one mid-tier Golden Core beast soul. This formed two Fierce Ghosts with power roughly equivalent to late Foundation Establishment. Subsequently, they were continuously fed the flesh of Foundation Establishment demonic beasts. After consuming several hundred, they still hadn't advanced. Then, they successively devoured the flesh of more than ten Golden Core demonic birds before the Fierce Ghost that was at the late Foundation Establishment stage finally managed to advance to the initial Golden Core stage.

This level of expenditure caused everyone present to gasp in amazement. To achieve these two initial Golden Core stage Fierce Ghosts, the consumption of demonic beast flesh and souls, when converted to spirit stones, amounted to at least thirty million. It was no wonder that those who wielded the Ten Thousand Ghost Banners preferred the cannon fodder tactic, raising thousands upon thousands of ordinary Fierce Ghosts, rather than the elite mode. This was not something an ordinary Golden Core cultivator could achieve; even a Nascent Soul cultivator would have to carefully weigh the cost-benefit of pouring such resources into just two initial Golden Core stage Fierce Ghosts.

But for a magnate like Lei Dong, this was insignificant. With his current peak Foundation Establishment strength, acquiring two Golden Core-level fighting forces was undoubtedly an excellent bargain. However, it also illustrated how incredibly difficult it was for the Fierce Ghosts in the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner to advance. If it hadn't been for Lei Dong being in the trial space, where peak Foundation Establishment demonic beasts were countless, and moreover, these beasts possessed potent vitality and were deliberately suppressed from advancing—not ordinary Foundation Establishment demonic beasts—Lei Dong would never have been able to test promoting a Foundation Establishment-strength Fierce Ghost to a Golden Core-strength one.

Outside, Lei Dong would certainly have been reluctant to spend tens of millions of resources on such an endeavor. If those tens of millions of resources were recklessly thrown in without regard, they could have been used to acquire over a dozen superior-grade spirit ghosts.

Of course, historically, there were those who tried to invest heavily in the Ten Thousand Ghost Banners. But the ratio of input to output was too poor; the power of ten thousand ghosts unleashed at the Golden Core stage might not be significantly inferior to this. Moreover, this was not something a Golden Core cultivator could afford, so over time, no one continued this practice.

But Lei Dong didn't care. He wasn't short of money for the time being, and adopting a lean, elite force strategy was very advantageous when confronting high-level cultivators. Thus, he continued down this path. However, he did begin to consider that upon his return, he absolutely had to find a much finer, supreme-grade Ten Thousand Ghost Banner. This current one was bestowed upon him by his master, the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts.

Thinking of his master, Lei Dong couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. To be honest, if not for his master’s profound care for him, he would have already defected from the Yin Sha Sect or been long dead. Recalling the master’s fierce exterior masking a kind heart, and his extreme protectiveness, Lei Dong felt a comforting warmth spread through him.

After surviving the vulture crisis, the flying ship continued toward its intended destination, though with far greater caution. This Great Arid Desert was even more perilous than the earlier parts of the Endless Sea. A single misstep could spell disaster for everyone. Lei Dong never assumed he possessed the protagonist’s destiny, some kind of unkillable cockroach. Fortunately, the barbarian map provided some utility, allowing them to avoid many dangers. Along the way, despite numerous harrowing incidents, they managed to cope.

...

In the territory of Kangzhou, over the sea domain of the Eastern Sea Star Islands.

A massive flying ship, bearing a dangerously fierce silhouette, soared above the surging, magnificent ocean, trailed by more than a dozen medium and small warships.

At the bow, a tall, slender woman with a countenance like a blooming peach yet an aura as cold as ice floated gracefully. With her hands clasped behind her back, her pair of beautiful eyes stared into the distant sea. A faint, almost imperceptible Yin Sha energy coiled around her, complementing her armor—ink-black and radiating a beautiful danger—which projected an aura that warned others to keep their distance.

Behind her, on either side, stood a man and a woman, both middle-aged Golden Core cultivators, heads bowed. They wore luxurious black robes, signifying their considerable status. However, their faces at this moment were deathly pale, sweat continually trickling down, their expressions marked by profound apprehension. The remaining several dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators were all kneeling on the deck, motionless, not daring to even draw a deep breath.

“Wastrels. With so many of you, you couldn't even stop a mere initial Golden Core stage cultivator? And you let him escape?” The woman’s expression was icy, her voice brimming with an indescribable, malevolent Yin Sha ferocity.

“Reporting to Commander,” the middle-aged man and woman immediately knelt in terror, trembling, “That bald donkey was too cunning. He fled into the territory of the Yaksha tribe…” They were genuinely terrified. Under normal circumstances, the Commander might have shown some leniency. But whenever the ship approached the Yaksha territory, the Commander’s temper became extraordinarily volatile.

“Hmph, I don’t want your explanations.” The woman snorted coldly. “Within one month, if I don’t see that bald donkey’s head, you all go back to the headquarters’ Penal Hall to receive your punishment.”

“Yes, Commander.” The two dared not explain further, quickly agreeing before flying back to their respective warships and setting course to pursue the target within the Yaksha domain. Yet, they harbored no resentment in their hearts. Despite her young age, this woman was already notorious in Kangzhou, known as the Blood Asura. In the mere decade or so since her formal debut, she had killed countless righteous cultivators. Especially in the last few years, her methods had grown increasingly ruthless; throughout her career, she had killed over a dozen Golden Core cultivators. A year ago, with only peak initial Golden Core cultivation, she decisively slew a late Golden Core cultivator who was highly respected among the rogue cultivators affiliated with the Heavenly Sound Palace. This catapulted her already considerable fame to unprecedented heights, establishing her demonic might.

This reputation made the so-called righteous faction hate her to the core. Such prestige commanded both their reverence and their fear.

The woman, however, stared coldly at that stretch of sea, harboring only one thought: Yaksha tribe, Yaksha tribe. If my husband is truly gone, I, Ding Wanyan, will one day slaughter your entire clan. And the Heavenly Sound Palace—you all just wait.

This woman was none other than Ding Wanyan, Lei Dong’s wife, whom he had not seen for over a decade.

“Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law,” a young woman clad in exquisite black armor flew out from the warship and stood gracefully beside Ding Wanyan. Her expression was filled with incessant concern as she comforted her, “Stop worrying. Brother is blessed with good fortune; he won’t meet disaster.” Even as she said this, however, she herself was losing confidence.

“Qing’er, I know what I’m doing.” Ding Wanyan’s expression softened slightly upon seeing her, her voice growing much gentler. “You are about to advance to late Foundation Establishment. You shouldn't be lingering out at sea anymore. Go back to the Ten Thousand Ghost Cave and enter proper seclusion.”

“Sister-in-law, why don’t you come back with me?” Ding Qing’er was deeply worried about Ding Wanyan’s current state and said softly, “I think if Brother returns, he won’t like seeing Sister-in-law like this.”

In the early days after Lei Dong vanished over ten years ago, Ding Wanyan had remained firm in her belief that he was not dead. This was not only due to the Heavenly Demon’s revelation but because she trusted Lei Dong’s capabilities. However, as the time of his disappearance stretched longer, and after learning that the Yaksha King had forced Lei Dong and Tantai Bingyun to destroy that so-called Sea God’s Wrath, her confidence waned severely.

The Ding Wanyan of today was no longer the naive girl who first ventured out. Through various intelligence reports and documents, she was certainly aware of the terrifying power of the Sea God’s Wrath—a force capable of devastating heaven and earth, against which even a Nascent Soul cultivator could not escape death. Not to mention that her husband was only at the mid Foundation Establishment stage then. The longer time passed, the deeper her despair grew, and her hatred for the Heavenly Sound Palace and the Yaksha tribe, who caused all this, became consuming. Unfortunately, the sect currently lacked the power to wage war against the Yaksha tribe, so she channeled all her rage toward the Heavenly Sound Palace and its allies.

When she made her debut, the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts personally visited the sect headquarters to strong-arm treasures for Ding Wanyan. In fact, even without his advocacy, the Yin Sha Sect held incomparable regard for Ding Wanyan. Firstly, her innate talent was exceedingly rare; based on this aptitude alone, she had a definite chance of achieving the Nascent Soul stage in the future. Secondly, and most importantly, the current Grand Elder of the Yin Sha Sect, the Yin Sha Demonic Venerable, possessed the Yin Sha Body.

The Yin Sha Demonic Venerable was not only an old monster at the Nascent Soul stage who primarily cultivated Yin Sha, but he was also a natural Yin Sha Body. The Yin Sha Body was extremely rare, and it was even rarer for someone to join the Yin Sha Sect and happen to cultivate Yin Sha. The reason was simple: a Yin Sha Body was not evident until one began cultivating Yin Sha.

Currently, there were only three people in the Yin Sha Sect who possessed the Yin Sha Body: the Yin Sha Demonic Venerable, Ding Wanyan, and one Elder at the Golden Core stage. However, that Elder’s talent was far inferior to Ding Wanyan’s; the Golden Core stage was his limit. Consequently, the Yin Sha Demonic Venerable highly valued Ding Wanyan, often offering guidance and eventually taking her as a disciple.

With the Yin Sha Demonic Venerable as such a powerful backer, Ding Wanyan’s equipment when she debuted could hardly be ordinary!

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