Presently, the Chieftain brought his entourage to rendezvous with the tribesmen who had initially retreated. Not daring to delay even for a moment, they traveled cautiously southward, covering hundreds of thousands of li before reaching another migratory base of the Earthling tribe. Along the way, Lei Dong spared no effort in winning the favor of the Earth Giant clan. Between the life-saving grace he offered and his own forthright, bold, and generous nature, coupled with his formidable strength, his relationship with the Earth Giants grew closer by the day.

Lei Dong’s generosity was evident in his liberal gifting of elixirs. After confirming that the healing medicines suitable for humans were also quite effective on the Earth Giants’ injuries, Lei Dong began experimenting by feeding them various elixirs that accelerated cultivation. As expected, these Earth Giants, being naturally exceptional beings, all experienced a marked increase in strength far surpassing their usual rate after ingesting the pills. This tactic was, of course, learned from Lan Qisi, who had used similar methods to gradually befriend an entire tribe. However, Lei Dong clearly held a superior advantage because he had essentially "saved" this Earth Giant tribe. Furthermore, as a male, he found it easier to connect with the Earth Giants. The effect of the elixirs sent the Earth Giant tribe, which rarely interacted with humans, into an uproar. The Earth Giant clan understood cultivation, but their progress was agonizingly slow. Only by sheer luck, finding some Heaven and Earth spiritual objects, could their strength suddenly surge. But natural treasures were exceedingly rare, things to be found only by chance. How could they compare to elixirs, which were purely manufactured by humans?

Many Earth Giants coveted the elixirs, and when they shamelessly begged Lei Dong for them, he refused no one. After all, having come from Zhaozhou, he carried a vast supply of elixirs with him. This ensured that the Earth Giants, having benefited greatly, were exceedingly friendly toward Lei Dong.

Soon after, the Earth Giants "unintentionally" learned that these elixirs were precious beyond their wildest imaginations. While this revelation stunned them, it simultaneously filled each of them with guilt toward Lei Dong. The Earth Giants were a race that valued repaying kindness and would readily face great peril for their friends and brothers. Owing a debt, especially to a brother who had saved them, made many of the Earth Giants profoundly uneasy.

Lei Dong, however, declared with immense magnanimity that he cared nothing for his wealth when it came to friends. He promised that once he returned to Kangzhou and established a firm footing, he could continue supplying the Earth Giant clan with elixirs. This only deepened the tribe's gratitude and admiration for Lei Dong, while simultaneously intensifying their feelings of indebtedness.

At this opportune moment, Lei Dong seized the chance for a deep discussion with the tribe’s Chieftain—that forthright, high-stage Golden Core Earth Giant. Lei Dong framed every point from the Earth Giants’ perspective, discussing their living conditions, their future, and the overall destiny and regulations of the Earth Giant race. After thoroughly impressing the simple-minded Chieftain, Yan Shi, to the point of complete awe, he also managed to persuade Chieftain Yan Shi to entrust the entire future planning of this branch of the Earth Giant tribe completely into Lei Dong’s hands.

In Yan Shi’s view, Lei Dong seemed like a messenger sent by their ancient ancestors to lead the Giant race back to their former peak of glory. This accomplishment was far greater than the cooperative agreement Lan Qisi had managed to strike with that tribe after many years. Given the Earth Giants' nature, once Chieftain Yan Shi gave such a promise, convincing them to collectively die for Lei Dong would have been just as easy.

Quickly, Lei Dong used his persuasive skills to display a brilliant future for this Earth Giant tribe—a future where the Giant race would return to the ranks of supreme races. The hot-blooded and straightforward Earth Giants were deeply shaken and moved by the vision Lei Dong painted for them; they looked as though they had found a faith and a life’s purpose, their gazes exceptionally resolute.

Lei Dong’s true objective, naturally, extended beyond just this single tribe of Earth Giants; he aimed for the entire Earth Giant race.

The first major step was to unify the entire Earth Giant race and establish a territory entirely dedicated to their survival and proliferation.

However, much work remained before this goal could be achieved. First, the overall strength of the entire tribe needed enhancement, followed by the gradual assimilation of other Earth Giant tribes. Increasing strength was where elixirs proved an excellent solution. But to realize the intended goal, a truly massive quantity of elixirs was required. Although Lei Dong slapped his chest and vowed he could travel everywhere to gather elixirs for the Earth Giants, the tribe, whose trust had grown into outright worship, would never allow their brother to suffer such a disadvantage. They insisted on finding other ways; they wanted to earn the elixirs themselves.

Soon, Lei Dong laid out his plan. The Great Desolation, that vast region birthing countless powerful monstrous beasts, contained a substantial amount of Heaven and Earth spiritual objects. Therefore, collecting various spiritual objects and delivering them in bulk to Lei Dong to sell in the human world became an outstanding source of income. These "Heaven and Earth spiritual objects" were not limited to spiritual herbs and fruits; they included monster cores, vital blood, hides, sharp claws, tendons, bones, wings, or even specific parts of rare beasts—all highly valuable. Furthermore, elemental essences, metallic ores, and special timbers were also considered valuable commodities.

Humans in both Zhaozhou and Kangzhou coveted the abundance of spiritual treasures within the Great Desolation. However, the Great Desolation was even more perilous than the Endless Sea, teeming with innumerable monstrous beasts and flying creatures, along with intelligent tribal races akin to the Earth Giants. Even Nascent Soul cultivators dared not claim they could emerge alive once inside. Thus, while humans coveted the resources, they were utterly helpless regarding them.

If a powerful race that had evolved and survived for countless generations in that locale could assist in gathering these spiritual objects, it would represent an immeasurable profit for Lei Dong.

Befriending and supporting this Earth Giant tribe, allowing it to continuously expand its strength and gradually claim more resources in the Great Desolation, was one of Lei Dong’s core strategies.

Among the list of valuable resources Lei Dong provided for collection, this Earth Giant clan surprisingly held a store of inventory, mostly consisting of ores and timbers with strong spiritual fluctuations that the Earth Giants themselves could not absorb, along with elemental essences of every kind other than Earth Essence. They also possessed a small portion of monster materials, mostly recent catches, as the Earth Giants consumed any part of a monster for food.

Upon inspecting the goods provided by Chieftain Yan Shi, Lei Dong was momentarily stunned, followed by a wave of overwhelming delight. Although the majority of the materials were mid-to-low-grade refining ores, their sheer volume made up for it. Minerals like Black Iron, Mithril, and Profound Silver were excellent components for crafting various spirit artifacts, magic treasures, puppets, flying ship parts, and armor.

Just from these mid-to-low-grade materials, Lei Dong estimated he could sell them in Kangzhou for forty to fifty million spirit stones. There were also a small number of high-grade refining materials, such as Fire Thunder Essence Gold and Star Shine Stone. Though their quantity was limited, their value relative to the lower-grade materials was significant. The small pile of Star Shine Stone alone weighed over two tons, the ores peppered with glittering black specks, intensely dazzling. Lei Dong estimated this heap of Star Shine Ore could yield tens of jin of pure Star Shine Stone, with the value of these stones alone exceeding ten million spirit stones.

Consequently, despite their scarcity, the high-grade materials totaled nearly forty to fifty million spirit stones. After all, using these advanced materials in conjunction with skilled artifact refiners had a high probability of yielding magic treasures of superior quality and power, perhaps even top-tier treasures.

What surprised and overjoyed Lei Dong even more was another material: a lump of Chaos Essence Iron ore. After examining it for some time, Lei Dong finally recognized it as the exceedingly rare, supreme-grade refining material, Chaos Essence Iron—a substance legendary to have formed only when the heavens and earth were first born from chaos. Though this single piece could only refine a dozen or so jin of Chaos Essence Iron, this substance was the material needed to forge Innate Spirit Treasures. Any material born only at the dawn of creation was classified as a "Innate Material."

Spirit Treasures were the possessions used by Nascent Soul cultivators. However, in this era of scarce resources, it was already remarkable for most Nascent Soul cultivators to possess even one or two Spirit Treasures. The two Unicor Clan Elders Lei Dong had slain had left him a total of four Spirit Treasures, all of ordinary quality. But Innate Spirit Treasures were incomparably stronger than common ones.

It was said that in the ancient era, because Innate Materials were plentiful, Innate Spirit Treasures were also numerous. But with the long ages of tribal wars, treasures were constantly damaged, and Innate Materials—being non-renewable—grew increasingly scarce under those circumstances. To the point where Innate Materials were now exceptionally rare. The surviving Innate Spirit Treasures were even more elusive, attainable only by fate.

In his younger, less knowledgeable days, Lei Dong now recalled that his master's Spirit Treasure, the Nether River Chart, possessed extraordinary power and might very well be an Innate Spirit Treasure. After all, a normal Golden Core cultivator would find it extremely difficult to refine and wield an ordinary Spirit Treasure. Only an Innate Spirit Treasure could potentially be wielded clumsily without full refinement. And judging by his master’s strength at the time, she probably couldn't activate even one percent of the Nether River Chart’s might. Of course, this was merely Lei Dong’s speculation.

Thinking of this, Lei Dong felt a touch of emotion; his master seemed to be an extremely fortunate individual, possessing not only a supreme-grade Spirit Ghost but potentially an Innate Spirit Treasure as well. However, it was fortunate that his master was a core member of the Yin Sha Sect and disliked ostentation. Otherwise, a single Innate Spirit Treasure would surely have attracted the covetous eyes of Nascent Soul cultivators.

Lei Dong could not estimate the value of the Chaos Essence Iron; it was certainly not something to be sold, keeping it for his own use was the best option.

Besides Earth Essence, there were also substantial amounts of essences from other elements. These elemental essences could not only be smelted into spirit artifacts and magic treasures to enhance their power through artifact refinement techniques but could also be used when cultivating techniques specific to that element, accelerating the cultivation speed—all invaluable items of considerable worth.

Choosing to befriend the Earth Giant race, Lei Dong reflected, had truly been the most profitable investment he had ever made.