It took several hours, even for a peak Nascent Soul existence, for Thunder-Moving and the artifact spirit of the Netherworld Demon Dragon to completely suppress him and strip him of his consciousness. At this moment, the profound formations etched onto the Spectre Banner activated fully, continuously forging rules into the Nascent Soul.

Refining the Undying Demon Venerable truly cost Thunder-Moving a great deal of effort. It took several full days to finally forge him into the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost. Thunder-Moving’s power was entirely depleted by the time this object was complete. As soon as it took shape, Thunder-Moving sent a divine thought to summon it forth from the Spectre Banner.

Its physical size hadn't changed significantly, but its exterior had undergone a complete overhaul.

From the cannon barrel to the distended belly, its surface was sheathed in a layer of thick black armor plating, solid and resiliently elastic. Especially the barrel, which represented its attack—it looked heavy and profound, yet exuded a suffocating sense of danger.

Thunder-Moving observed its aura; it was peculiar, possessing an aura that seemed to surpass the peak Golden Core, yet also contained vestiges of the Nascent Soul level, as if suspended between the two.

Ah-Chou, who had leveled up to a mid-tier Ghost King after devouring the flesh and blood of the Demon King, slashed fiercely at the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost under Thunder-Moving's mental command.

Amidst the flashing black blade light, the heavy body of the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost was struck and sent flying seven or eight zhang. A half-foot-deep gash had been carved into its armor plating, but in the next instant, the unique ethereal form characteristic of the Ghost Clan took effect, and the wound healed at a visibly rapid pace. In barely ten breaths, the gash vanished entirely.

“Good, a fine treasure,” Thunder-Moving let out a deep breath and laughed. Ah-Chou’s strike just now, though only utilizing three or four tenths of its strength, was not something a Golden Core level entity could withstand. This allowed him to preliminarily determine that this Great-Belly Cannon Ghost, refined from the Undying Demon Venerable’s Nascent Soul, surely surpassed the Golden Core tier by far.

Moreover, the defensive performance of this Great-Belly Cannon Ghost far exceeded Thunder-Moving’s initial expectations. When designing this type of soldier, Thunder-Moving had sacrificed all other capabilities, focusing entirely on the cannon barrel and the great belly. All designs revolved around how to allow it to launch a single strike with the most powerful Netherworld Shell possible.

This design seemed to neglect defense, but in reality, the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost performed quite well defensively. The reasoning was simple: whether it was the belly or the barrel, Thunder-Moving had to push their flexibility and hardness to the absolute extreme. Otherwise, the belly would either burst under the strain of the Netherworld Ghost Qi, or the barrel would crack apart the moment the Nether-Fire shell was launched.

In this way, its defense was indirectly enhanced. Of course, its speed was frankly unimpressive. Thunder-Moving had it test-fly for a lap; although it appeared light and swift, in reality, it was not much faster than an average mid-tier Golden Core cultivator, falling far short of its established level. Fortunately, speed was not what Thunder-Moving pursued for the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost; maximizing its firepower was his true requirement. But this time, Thunder-Moving refrained from having it test its cannon on Xuan Yuanzi. This was Thunder-Moving's secret weapon, and judging by the power of the Golden Core Cannon Ghosts, the destructive capability of this new cannon ghost would definitely be astonishing.

Time was running short; Little You could maintain the Netherworld Black Fiend Formation for three more months at most. And Xuan Yuanzi was likely waiting painstakingly for the moment Little You could no longer hold on. For the time being, Thunder-Moving paused his research and development on ghost soldiers, instead shifting his focus to mass-producing practical troop types.

Over the next two months, Thunder-Moving worked day and night, painstakingly forging batch after batch of ghost soldiers. His first priority was not the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost, but the Suicide Ghost. This troop type seemed wasteful—it was destroyed entirely after one explosion, and it was easily shot down remotely when closing in on the enemy. Unlike the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost, it could not be used repeatedly.

However, the destructive power generated by a single Suicide Ghost explosion was fully three times that of a Great-Belly Cannon Ghost, and they were extremely fast. This made them the most cost-effective troop for engagements against cultivators like those at the Soul Transformation stage. The cost was necessary, but if the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost was heavy artillery, the Suicide Ghost was essentially a missile. Of course, Thunder-Moving was not yet extravagant enough to use high-grade or supreme-grade spirit ghosts to forge Suicide Ghosts. No matter how potent they were, they were consumables.

The Great-Belly Cannon Ghost, which pleasantly surprised Thunder-Moving, was the centerpiece of this battle. The Cannon Ghosts were formidable, and those utilizing the Netherworld Black Fiend Formation as cover were even stronger. Because they could unleash the full power of the Great-Belly Cannon Ghost without fear of being hunted down by the enemy.

With Thunder-Moving’s focused effort, he forged a total of fifty thousand Beginner Suicide Ghosts, thirty thousand Beginner Great-Belly Cannon Ghosts, and thirty thousand Beginner Qi-Storing Ghosts.

The thirty thousand Beginner Qi-Storing Ghosts, in particular, consumed an immense amount of Netherworld Ghost Qi to fully charge them. For an ordinary person, achieving this level of sustained exertion would likely be impossible. Fortunately, Thunder-Moving had habitually used the Demon Emperor Transformation during his previous cultivation to wring out all the true essence in his body, so his body was accustomed to this level of pressure, allowing him to barely persevere. But the results were fruitful: the thirty thousand Qi Ghosts could allow each Great-Belly Cannon Ghost to fire ten Nether-Fire shells.

As for other troop types, Thunder-Moving put no effort into forging them yet; they were unsuitable for this level of battlefield.

With all preparations complete, Little You had maintained the Netherworld Black Fiend Formation until it was on the verge of collapse; in her words, she could maintain it for one more month at most.

One month was sufficient.

The first batch, numbering ten Suicide Ghosts, flew out of the Black Fiend Formation, each maintaining a distance of several tens of zhang, flying unhurriedly towards Xuan Yuanzi at a normal speed.

Xuan Yuanzi, who had already been tortured into a state of extreme alarm, reacted immediately. He was not seeing these Suicide Ghosts for the first time. He held these small specters in great dread—they were fast, and their self-detonation power was considerable.

A mere ten ghosts, aligned in a single line, but this line spanned several hundred zhang. This gave Xuan Yuanzi a severe headache. Such spaced-out targets obviously could not be engaged with high-power spells; the cost-effectiveness was unacceptable for Xuan Yuanzi.

But if they managed to close the distance and detonate, even if he was prepared enough to endure it, the expenditure would still be significant.

Thus, Xuan Yuanzi faced a choice: either evade, or utilize low-cost techniques like Finger Strength to eliminate them one by one via precise strikes. But he was acutely aware of how cunning the young man named Lei was, and he would certainly not be allowed an easy time. Calculating the time and energy expenditure, that Netherworld Black Fiend Formation should also be nearing its limit soon, right? Hmph, once this formation collapsed, it would be the end for that young man Lei; this venerable master would let him know what it means to wish for death.

This was Xuan Yuanzi’s final psychological comfort; if not for this thought sustaining him through nearly two years of constant harassment, he would have long since rushed in to fight desperately.

Just as predicted, Thunder-Moving would not let him rest easy. After the first row of Suicide Ghosts flew out tens of zhang, the second row of ten followed closely, still flying at a steady pace. Another tens of zhang later, another ten Suicide Ghosts appeared. Judging by the momentum, it seemed as if they would continue endlessly.

Xuan Yuanzi inwardly cursed his bad luck and hastily flicked his finger remotely. A slender streak of white Finger Strength whistled away, moving so fast it was almost impossible to react to or evade.

As expected, the targeted Suicide Ghost exploded abruptly in mid-air, its shockwave reaching over ten zhang away.

But before Xuan Yuanzi could savor his success, the remaining Suicide Ghosts began to accelerate their charge. Upon acceleration, the speed of the Suicide Ghosts multiplied several times over, covering twenty zhang every single breath. At only a few li away, they could reach Xuan Yuanzi in twenty breaths at most.

But Xuan Yuanzi was no weakling; despite his terrible condition, he was still a Soul Transformation stage cultivator. His well-maintained fingers flickered, launching streaks of Finger Strength capable of piercing rock and refined iron with hissing shrieks.

Boom, boom, boom. Despite the extreme speed of the Suicide Ghosts, they were accurately pinpointed and killed one by one under Xuan Yuanzi's monstrous divine sense and reaction speed. However, the frequency at which the Suicide Ghosts deployed also began to increase. The rows behind them started to accelerate directly into the charge. And the distance between each row was now reduced to twenty zhang.

Calculated this way, it meant that every breath, a fresh wave of fearless Suicide Ghosts burst forth. Unceasing, as if endless.

Even Xuan Yuanzi, however mighty, had his limits. With low energy consumption, high speed, and decent power, he could unleash at most seven or eight strikes of his Finger Strength per breath. As more and more Suicide Ghosts appeared, under immense psychological pressure, his hit rate began to drop.

Moreover, Thunder-Moving also began precise command. The leading several dozen Suicide Ghosts, under Thunder-Moving’s exact direction, started executing tactical evasion maneuvers, slightly weaving within small ranges while moving at top speed. Although this slightly reduced their velocity, it made Xuan Yuanzi’s hit rate even lower.

Of course, if Xuan Yuanzi dared to go all out and unleash a wide-area spell, he could guarantee annihilating all remaining Suicide Ghosts. But he dared not, and more importantly, he could not afford the resulting expenditure.

Simultaneously, Thunder-Moving’s Great-Belly Cannon Ghost array also began to assert its power. The Great-Belly Cannon Ghosts started emerging from the Netherworld Black Fiend Formation in units of one hundred to launch bombardments. A volley from a hundred Great-Belly Cannon Ghosts was tremendously fierce.

Hearing the roars and watching the Nether-Fire shells descend like a meteor shower, Xuan Yuanzi cursed inwardly. He dared not endure the impact; only a fool would. He immediately abandoned attacking the Suicide Ghosts and tore open space, teleporting to another location. This teleportation spanned eight or nine li. Normally, Xuan Yuanzi would find this effortless, but this time, he felt a faint strain.