Of course, Lei Dong hadn't taken the materials—apart from the Chaos Essence Iron—for nothing. The resources transported to Kang Prefecture alone were valued at over a hundred million. He immediately allocated a batch of elixirs from his own stores, valued at thirty million in Kang Prefecture, to the Earth Giant tribe. He clearly laid out to the Stone Chief that this included the risks of transport, the costs of sale in Kang Prefecture, and the profit margins for both Lei Dong and his subordinates, balanced against the various costs, risks, and profits involved in purchasing elixirs and transporting them back to the Earth Giants' territory. The transaction was perfectly fair.

This was not Lei Dong deceiving the Earth Giants; it was genuinely and absolutely fair. Given Lei Dong’s "benevolence" toward the Earth Giants, the magnanimous Stone Chief was willing to gift the entire batch of resources to Lei Dong. However, Lei Dong refused, proposing a transaction instead. Firstly, favors always ran out; mutual benefit was the most enduring and reliable covenant. Secondly, the Earth Giant tribe desperately needed elixirs to enhance their warriors' combat strength, especially the Stone Chief, who needed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage as soon as possible to truly establish their standing. Under any consideration of reason or emotion, Lei Dong had to conduct the exchange this way. Although the Earth Giants weren't intellectually gifted, they were certainly not fools.

Under the long-term prospect of significant benefits, even if the means by which Lei Dong befriended the Earth Giants were eventually revealed, it would not affect the larger situation. As for the Chaos Essence Iron, Lei Dong plainly stated its extraordinary value and asked the Stone Chief to gift it to him alone. Deeply indebted to Lei Dong for his manifold benefits and convinced that Lei Dong was a brother worth befriending, the Chief agreed without a second thought, even knowing that the value of this single item might surpass all the other materials combined.

After spending some time with the Earth Giants, the sporadic beast tides in various regions gradually subsided. Lei Dong set off once more, leaving behind Qian Luo and Black Iron Tower, two Golden Core subordinates, to assist the Earth Giant tribe. With the aid of these two humans, the Earth Giant settlement was expected to enter a period of vigorous development. Utilizing the supplementary maps provided by the Earth Giants, the airship flew low over the ground, accompanied by twenty Earth Giants who had joined Lei Dong and were clearing the path below. After several months, Lei Dong and his entourage finally reached the outer edge of the Hengduan Mountain Range aboard their flying vessel. The Earth Giant tribe had long resided in the Great Barren Desert and was intimately familiar with its terrain. Furthermore, ordinary monstrous beasts dared not provoke the Earth Giants when they traveled in organized formations. Even beasts capable of wiping them out would hesitate, as the Earth Giants lived in settlements numbering from a few hundred to several thousand or tens of thousands.

Although the Earth Giants appeared clumsy, their marching speed was not slower than Lei Dong's airship. Their massive forms covered ten zhang with every stride, and coupled with their innate proficiency in Earth Evasion techniques, their travel speed was swift. The Hengduan Mountain Range was a perilous place, fraught with dangerous peaks, treacherous valleys, and rampant monstrous beasts. Fortunately, the widest part of the range was only a little over ten thousand li across. The group retracted their airship, hushed their breaths, and proceeded with extreme caution, spending several sunrises to traverse the mountains, minimizing risk. It was largely uneventful, save for a few scares. Occasionally, they encountered reckless beast hordes, which were easily torn apart by the combined assault of the Earth Giants.

Almost simultaneously.

A tall, powerfully built bald man, radiating brilliant golden light and an imposing aura that deterred direct gazes, knitted his thick eyebrows and roared, "Sky Demon, your audacity knows no bounds! You dare trespass upon the territory of the Vajra Temple and bully the weak to slay my disciples. Today, I, this Venerable One, demand an explanation, or else…" His voice was resonant and powerful, imbued with an inexpressible majesty that instantly filled those of lower cultivation with dread, forbidding them to stand against him. This man was the Venerable Fumo, a Supreme Elder of the Vajra Temple, possessing Nascent Soul stage cultivation. He had been famous for a long time, known since his youth for his fervent hatred of evil, and countless demonic cultivators had perished by his hand.

Behind Venerable Fumo followed eighteen Vajra Temple battle monks, their bodies lacquered like sheets of gold foil, each radiating an aura no weaker than his, possessing Golden Core stage strength. These were the renowned Eighteen Arhats of the Vajra Temple. Once they formed the Arhat Array, even a Nascent Soul cultivator trapped within would find escape difficult for some time.

"Hmph."

The Sky Demon scoffed dismissively, yet that cold snort caused the Arhats to startle, their minds rippling with unrest.

Clad in a black robe, constantly shrouded in swirling demonic energy, she floated in the air with hands clasped behind her back. The beautiful face beneath the black mist gazed coldly at Venerable Fumo, speaking slowly, "Old man Fumo, you've lived a long life yet still fail to grasp the principle that good and evil cannot coexist. My power is immense; slaying a few of your disciples is entirely justified by the Heavenly Canon. If you are unsatisfied, feel free to retaliate."

Behind the Sky Demon was only one person: Wei Feifei, whose former glory had been restored. However, at this moment, Qi Feifei was utterly horrified. Given her level of cultivation, any single Arhat could crush her effortlessly. Their boundless, dazzling auras pressed down on her, leaving her too terrified to move. If not for the Sky Demon supporting her from the front, she might not even possess the strength to remain suspended in the air.

"Good, good." Venerable Fumo was deeply angered, the golden light around him intensifying. He roared, "Today, I shall see the true strength of you, the new demonic prodigy who reached Golden Core at fifty and Nascent Soul at one hundred and fifty. Eighteen Arhats, heed my command: Deploy the Demon-Subduing Arhat Array!"

"We obey your command, Venerable One!"

The Eighteen Arhats roared their assent and moved in unison. They danced in the air like ten beams of golden light, swiftly coalescing into an intricate Arhat Array, spinning in an attempt to trap the Sky Demon.

"Step back." The Sky Demon lightly flicked her sleeve, sending Qi Feifei tumbling backward. The Sky Demon herself, however, remained perfectly calm; facing one of the Vajra Temple's strongest battle formations, the Demon-Subduing Arhat Array, she advanced rather than retreated. In an instant, she unleashed the peerless aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator. As the Sky Demon mobilized, black clouds rolled in, engulfing the heavens. Within mere breaths, the area spanning a hundred li was saturated with dense, inky black Sky Demon energy, instantly turning day into night. The Sky Demon’s figure seemed to merge with this energy, becoming formless and intangible, making her movements impossible to track.

The golden light emanating from the Eighteen Arhats appeared like faint, scattered stars within the boundless demonic miasma.

"This is impossible." Venerable Fumo was also enveloped by the overwhelming demonic energy, but his radiance shone like a blazing sun, magnificent and dazzling, constantly melting away the encroaching darkness. However, his formerly imposing expression turned ugly, filled with disbelief: "Peak early-stage Nascent Soul—this is absolutely impossible." The aura the Sky Demon currently displayed far surpassed Venerable Fumo's expectations. He had assumed that while the Sky Demon was formidable and possessed extraordinary aptitude, having only ascended to Nascent Soul decades prior, merely stabilizing at the early stage would be commendable. Yet, unexpectedly, she was already nearing the mid-stage of Nascent Soul.

Venerable Fumo was unaware that after Lei Dong disappeared, the Sky Demon had gone alone to the Yaksha territory and caused a huge disturbance with the Yaksha King. The Yaksha King was left dizzy and frustrated. Partly because he felt he owed Lei Dong, and partly due to some old ties with the Sky Demon, the Yaksha King was forced to present the Sky Demon with a batch of rare treasures to placate her slightly. However, the Sky Demon had also learned some effective means of blackmail and extortion from Lei Dong, managing to borrow the Essence of Flowing Water—a supreme cultivation treasure of the Yaksha clan—for three years.

The Essence of Flowing Water, a treasure rarely seen in the world, can improve physique and accelerate cultivation when used. However, for every year it is used, it requires a century of nurturing in the deepest, most water-element-rich regions of the ocean to recover. This alone caused the Yaksha King immense heartache. In addition, she secured three years of cultivation access rights for Lei Dong, though she intended to use this privilege only when his cultivation reached a higher level.

The Sky Demon ceased her disruption not merely because of the substantial gains. Firstly, she knew Lei Dong was not actually dead. Secondly, if she pushed further, she risked destroying the existing goodwill with the Yaksha clan. The principle Lei Dong casually imparted—that the child who cries gets the milk—had benefited the Sky Demon greatly. Similarly, those from the Heavenly Sound Palace who visited, because they did not cause trouble, received only minimal consolation compensation.

Having miscalculated the Sky Demon's strength, the Eighteen Arhats suffered a major blow immediately upon engagement. While the Arhat Array was powerful enough to suppress ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators temporarily, what kind of person was the Sky Demon to allow herself to be suppressed by a mere group of Golden Core cultivators? She first materialized a giant Sky Demon Hand, several zhang across, which grasped one Arhat. With a single squeeze, the powerful Arhat’s golden body shattered, his Golden Core and divine soul exploding simultaneously.

Immediately following, the Sky Demon unleashed a flurry of punches, and within mere breaths, another Arhat was beaten into a pulp in mid-air. With the death of these two Arhats, the array's effectiveness instantly broke. The remaining sixteen Arhats, though possessing respectable Golden Core strength, were now merely at the Golden Core combat level.

When Venerable Fumo recovered his senses and saw that his forces had lost two Arhats in the blink of an eye, he roared in fury. He rushed forward to rescue them, his body blazing with golden light, dissolving the pervasive Sky Demon energy as he sorrowfully and angrily struck the Sky Demon with a punch. A phantom-like fist, several zhang wide, shone with brilliant gold, resembling a dazzling meteor tearing through the dark night.

The Sky Demon, unable to evade completely, drew upon the surrounding mass of Sky Demon energy and struck back with a punch.

The black and gold fists collided violently, sending torrents of impact waves sweeping outward like raging tidal surges. Both grunted faintly and were thrown back nearly a li. A trace of blood appeared at the corner of the Sky Demon’s mouth, and her brow twitched slightly. She inwardly conceded that she had underestimated Venerable Fumo; he was indeed a renowned figure.

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