Yet, over the course of those fifty-odd years, even though Lei Dong's advancement in cultivation realm was slow, his personal strength had surged dramatically, yielding immense gains across the board. When he was merely at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, the strength of his spirit had already approached that of an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, barely allowing him to control a single low-tier Ghost King. Now, at the high-stage of the Golden Core realm, coupled with his unwavering dedication to strengthening his spirit, the current potency of his soul was on par with, if not surpassing, the peak early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

He could just barely manage to control two low-tier Ghost Kings. However, Lei Dong's two Ghost Kings were not quite like the typical puppet-like spectral entities. The knowledge he acquired in the Nether Domain provided him with profound inspiration.

For these past five decades, he kept the two "Ghost Generals" close by, training them alongside him, teaching them techniques from the Netherworld series, and regularly nourishing and tempering them with pure Nether Ghost Qi. As is commonly known, once an Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghost is refined, its intelligence is practically equivalent to that of some exceptional human beings. The reason they often appear somewhat slow-witted is due to being confined for extended periods in the Soul Nurturing Pagoda, leading to deviations in knowledge, experience, and independent thought.

Take Xiao You, the Heavenly Spirit Ghost from before: possessing inherent knowledge from birth, it vehemently refused to enter the Soul Nurturing Pagoda. Lei Dong, conversely, ensured they studied script, language, and read vast amounts of literature during their training breaks, engaging in all manner of critical thinking. Gradually, they developed distinct personalities.

Following this long evolutionary period of over fifty years, these two low-tier Ghost Kings were now intellectually comparable to the Ghost Generals and Ghost Kings that grew up normally within the Nether Domain. With a little more refinement, they could certainly be sent out to manage affairs independently. Lei Dong’s Nether Ghost Qi was not a trivial matter.

Possessing the Nether Body, combined with his constant refinement of the Great Nether Art, the Ghost Qi he currently manifested, while perhaps not comparable to the essence found deep within the Nine Nether Abyss, was certainly not inferior to the Nether Ghost Qi found in ordinary regions. And Nether Ghost Qi is a vital resource for promoting the evolution and strengthening of the Ghost Clan. Because of this, Lei Dong's two spectral servants advanced to an entirely new echelon in both strength and intellect over these fifty years.

Not only that, but Lei Dong also conducted a startling experiment during this period. Based on his understanding, the Ghost Clan evolved from Yin Souls, broadly classifiable into three types. The first type comprised the wild Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals that spontaneously evolved in regions dense with lingering spirits.

Lei Dong had encountered and slain many of these; subduing and employing them proved exceedingly difficult. Because these wild ghosts evolved naturally, they were essentially no different from wild demonic beasts: low in intelligence, inherently brutal, driven only by the law of the jungle. They were like unawakened savages or barbarians, largely controlled by instinct, making even communication challenging.

Only by evolving over long epochs into a Ghost King could they gain noteworthy wisdom and spiritual insight. Within the territory of the Yin Sha Sect, such a Ghost King existed, establishing a Ghost King Hall and gathering a cadre of underlings, nominally subservient to the Yin Sha Sect. The second type consisted of ghosts refined through human blood sacrifice, resembling a hybrid of pets and puppets.

They too possessed low intelligence, capable only of fighting based on instinct and executing simple commands from their master. This outcome stemmed from two factors: first, human cultivators neglected to nurture their intellect; second, even if they wished to cultivate intelligence, even spirits with the aptitude of High Grade Spirit Ghosts required nearly a century to mature. The third type was the true Ghost Clan residing in the Nether Ghost Cities.

These spectral beings formed a genuine civilization, establishing cities, nations, and powers. They engaged in trade, warfare, and diplomacy with various other races. This type of ghost was already an independent sentient species, possessing its own culture, and even civilization, in no way inferior to human cultivators or the Yaksha race.

In fact, the Ghost Clan was far from weak, ranking as one of the four most formidable races among the Nether Ghost Moths, occupying nearly half the territory of the Nether Ghost Domain. His experiences within the Nether Domain made Lei Dong realize that the intelligence of the Ghost Clan should not be underestimated. This brought forth the question: If the three forms of the Ghost Clan all evolved from Spirit Ghosts possessing spirit roots, and could all develop intelligence comparable to humans if properly guided, was it possible for him to build an army composed entirely of ghosts?

Theoretically, this was entirely achievable. For instance, if Lei Dong wished to develop within the Nether Domain, he could certainly recruit intelligent Ghost Generals as subordinates. As for their loyalty, that depended entirely on how they were led and controlled.

Just as one commands a human army—one couldn't rely solely on measures like Ghost Curses or poisons to guarantee allegiance, could one? In fact, even those methods couldn't ensure absolute loyalty; otherwise, how would the devils from the Black Iron Tower have sworn fealty to him? This very thought stirred an unrest within Lei Dong.

After deep consideration, he resolved to establish a ghost army. Of course, the first step was to test his theory: utilizing Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts to catalyze their evolution into Ghost Soldiers, Ghost Generals, or even Ghost Kings without resorting to immediate blood sacrifice. The reason he could conceive of and attempt this lay in an unparalleled advantage: the Soul Devouring Pagoda.

Any other cultivator who chanced upon an Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghost would instinctively attempt blood sacrifice to refine it into a ghost servant, even if they lacked the Ghost Control Art and had to switch cultivation paths. Transforming an Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghost directly into something akin to a wild Ghost Soldier without blood sacrifice was something no cultivator would even consider. This was because even within the Nether Ghost Domain, famed for its countless ghosts, Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts were rare treasures, usually nurtured carefully by Ghost Kings to become formidable commanders, much like Tu Lei, a subordinate of the previous Heavenly Ghost King.

Since those Ghost Kings could command their subordinates through normal means of rule, Lei Dong saw no reason to doubt his own ability to do the same. Previously, Lei Dong thought to maximize the utility of the Soul Devouring Pagoda by equipping trustworthy individuals with one or two Spirit Ghosts. While this undoubtedly enhanced his subordinates' power, it was too restrictive to form a large-scale force.

Scale, however, was a terrifying thing. A mere legion of several hundred thousand low-tier specters could make even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator hesitate to engage. What if the numbers reached several hundred thousand troops at the level of Ghost Guards or even Ghost Generals?

Having witnessed and even clashed with Supremacy Stage experts multiple times, Lei Dong had every reason to believe that if he commanded an army of several hundred thousand Ghost Guards, while killing a Supremacy expert might remain debatable, a lone Supremacy expert would absolutely not dare to clash head-on with such a force. Deeply wary of Supremacy Stage cultivators, and with his own strength far from capable of contending with them, Lei Dong was driven to this unorthodox strategy. Furthermore, Supremacy experts were not just formidable in personal power; with few exceptions, most were regional overlords commanding countless troops.

Take the Nether Ghost Emperor: with a single call, he could rally a terrifyingly vast army. The Yaksha King likewise had countless Yaksha subjects backing him; otherwise, even with Supremacy-level strength, being isolated would have led to his destruction countless times over. Compared to these powerful figures commanding entire races, the Yin Sha Sect was merely a tiny skiff.

Even the entirety of Kang Province, unified, could barely warrant attention. If the Ghost Clan and the Yaksha Clan were this powerful, what about the legendary Asura Clan, Purgatory Clan, or Winged God Clan? Facing these dominant races, Lei Dong knew that even if he managed to ascend to the Supremacy level by sheer luck, he would still be far from their equal.

The stronger he became, the more perilous the world appeared to Lei Dong. To firmly seize control of his own destiny, the only recourse was continuous self-strengthening. Creating a race?

A race entirely his own? For anyone else, such a notion would likely be unthinkable. But for Lei Dong, possessing an inexhaustible supply of spirit ghosts, it held a tangible possibility.

Fortunately, a contingent of Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators, controlled by Ghost Curses, were ceaselessly gathering Yin Souls, which were then uniformly transferred to Lei Dong via Qing Niangzi, eliminating the need for him to hunt for Yin Souls personally. With an endless supply of Yin Souls, there was no shortage of Spirit Ghosts. However, even using the Soul Devouring Pagoda to refine Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts demanded an enormous quantity of Yin Souls.

Typically, tens of millions of Yin Souls yielded only about two dozen Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts. These Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts needed to be allocated to trusted kin and subordinates, and also refined into Supreme Grade Ghost Curses to control key figures. Consequently, Lei Dong’s stock of Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts remained critically low.

Lei Dong issued orders to expand the Yin Soul hunt until he possessed fifty Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts and five hundred High Grade Spirit Ghosts. He then prepared several dedicated layers within his Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, breaching them to begin testing his first batch of the spectral army. The appearance of those five hundred High Grade Spirit Ghosts was part of Lei Dong’s strategy.

While theoretically, fifty Ghost Kings could relatively easily defeat five hundred Ghost Generals—both consuming the same amount of Yin Souls to create—on the surface, this comparison seemed unbalanced. However, an army composed purely of Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts was too extravagant for Lei Dong in the short term. Because, without forcing premature growth, simply allowing them to mature naturally, an Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghost would require centuries to cultivate to the Ghost King level, enduring attrition and potential death along the way.

If he couldn't quickly form a considerable and numerically superior fighting force, not just a group of Ultimate Grade Spirit Ghosts, but even a host of Heavenly Spirit Ghosts would become mere fodder for others. Although it was difficult for High Grade Spirit Ghosts to ascend to the Ghost King level, achieving the Ghost General rank was relatively easy, allowing for rapid scale accumulation. If space hadn't been a constraint, Lei Dong would have included five thousand Mid Grade Spirit Ghosts to fill the ranks.

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