It was clear that while this grand strategy had encountered some minor setbacks, its overall objective had been achieved. Any stragglers caught in the Great Purge were merely surface blemishes, ultimately insignificant. Having wiped out three major sects in one go, the spoils collected at the scene alone were valued at over forty billion spirit stones, with the Supreme Sect undoubtedly contributing a considerable portion.

Following the Demon of Blood's counsel, the Supreme Elders of the Yin Sha Sect immediately finalized a list of the spoils, allocating forty percent to the Netherworld Ghost Realm and thirty percent to the Yaksha Clan. The Yin Sha Sect retained the remaining thirty percent. The rationale was simple: the other two parties were powerful allies. Although this operation had relied on favors or the prevailing tide of events, favors were finite resources. Only profit was eternal, and only allies driven by profit were the most steadfast. Such a vast sum of resources, while substantial even for an emperor as wealthy as the Netherworld Ghost Emperor, represented an immense asset, and for the Yaksha Clan, it was an even heavier gift.

The three factions mobilizing together, attacking in concert, and then dividing the spoils would obviously forge a deep friendship between the three powers. Moreover, if the war treasure wasn't distributed, the Ghost Emperor and the Yaksha King might not complain, but it was difficult to guarantee that their subordinates wouldn't harbor resentment.

This distribution was clearly a scenario where everyone rejoiced, laying an excellent foundation for future cooperation.

The Yin Sha Sect gaining thirty percent—do not scoff at that mere fraction; it represented resources worth over ten billion spirit stones. Setting aside fixed assets that were hard to liquidate quickly, the entire headquarters of the Yin Sha Sect held resources barely exceeding this amount. This effectively doubled the resource holdings of the Yin Sha Sect. In the days to come, the Yin Sha Sect was poised for rapid development. As for the barbarian army brought by Lan Qisi, the Yin Sha Sect also placed great importance upon them. Upon learning of the barbarians’ scarcity in various elixirs and pills, they directly supplied resources worth several billion spirit stones dedicated solely to tonics. Pills and elixirs were priceless to the barbarians struggling to survive in the Great Barren Desert. They were never short of warriors, but due to the limited supply of medicinal resources, they could usually only rely on innate talent for cultivation. Now, with such a massive influx of medicinal resources, some barbarian disciples with superior aptitude would see their strength advance by leaps and bounds in the near future.

As a result, the barbarian generals, who had initially grumbled about having to campaign far afield under Saintess Lan Qisi's command, were now utterly awestruck by her.

Cultivation certainly emphasized natural talent, yet resources were indispensable and extremely important. When resources were tight in the past, the sect's assets were mostly channeled toward core disciples. Disciples of ordinary aptitude could only scavenge the leftovers. But if resources were abundant enough to afford better treatment even for ordinary disciples, the sect's overall strength would see a considerable boost.

Take Lei Dong, for instance. His innate talent was not exceptional, but through relentless investment of resources, he managed to turn the impossible into reality, advancing to the Nascent Soul stage. He had truly stepped into the ranks of high-tier cultivators in the Nine Provinces. Of course, even within the Yin Sha Sect, no one was aware that Lei Dong had reached the Nascent Soul stage.

This was because upon his return to the Yin Sha Sect, Lei Dong maintained an exceedingly low profile, utilizing the Zhou Tian Zang Ri Jue technique to conceal his cultivation, keeping it masked at the Golden Core level.

Otherwise, being an Elder of the Supreme Council would have been an undeniable certainty for Lei Dong.

After briefly reviewing the myriad trivial matters of the Yin Sha Sect, Lei Dong bid farewell to his busy wife, Ding Wanyan, and piloted a small flying vessel alone toward the Great Barren Desert. Previously, Lei Dong dared not fly the vessel directly across the towering, sheer-cut Hengduan Mountains. After all, the terrain within the mountains was complex, and the movement of demonic beasts was unpredictable; one never knew what corner might harbor a Nascent Soul-level beast.

However, Lei Dong had now advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, with Ghost Thorn and Ah Chou attending to him on either side. Ordinary Nascent Soul beasts no longer warranted his concern. He even hoped some foolhardy Nascent Soul beast would dare challenge him, offering a chance to pocket a small fortune, and thus he swaggered across the Hengduan Mountains. Whether it was the luck of the Nascent Soul beasts or Lei Dong’s misfortune, he encountered not even half a Nascent Soul beast after crossing the mountains.

The small flying vessel was less than ten zhang long, but its speed was considerable. Its streamlined shape sliced through the air, resembling a flat boat gliding across the vast Great Barren Desert.

The continent where Lei Dong was located was actually renowned for the Great Barren, belonging to the Great Barren Continent among the Nine Provinces. The so-called Kang Province and Zhao Province merely occupied two corners of the Great Barren Continent by virtue of their natural defenses. Zhao Province was slightly more miserable, as its natural barriers were less formidable, frequently enduring impacts from beast tides and barbarian tides. Kang Province was somewhat better off in this regard.

With Nascent Soul strength, one could survive venturing into the Great Barren Desert. Naturally, if one encountered several Nascent Soul beasts by bad luck, immediate retreat would be necessary, and survival would be questionable.

Lei Dong possessed a jade slip map, compiled mostly from the accumulated knowledge of the barbarian and Earth Giant races over many years, along with the experience gained from repeated crossings of the Great Barren Desert. This was an invaluable resource; following the map, even a small group of Golden Core cultivators stood a high chance of traversing the desert.

But for the current Lei Dong, such caution was unnecessary. With his current power, as long as he didn't encounter a Soul Transformation stage existence, he could charge straight through. He sat cross-legged and relaxed at the prow of the small vessel, sinking his divine sense into the jade slip, studying with interest the areas marked as dangerous and forbidden on the map.

Most of these places were either concentrations of Golden Core demonic beasts or lairs occupied by Nascent Soul beasts. Many zones hadn't even had their beasts identified, marked only as Extremely Dangerous. Clearly, no one who had seen what resided there had ever returned alive.

Lei Dong was quite tempted by these regions.

The Great Barren Continent was named for this boundless, desolate expanse. This indicated the sheer scale of the Great Barren Desert. From this, one could infer how much hidden treasure and wealth lay concealed within. To Lei Dong, this place was purely an untouched virgin territory, brimming with opportunity everywhere.

Of course, cultivators from Kang and Zhao Provinces recognized these opportunities. However, the Great Barren Desert was simply too perilous; even a Nascent Soul cultivator risked demise if careless. And any cultivator who reached the Nascent Soul stage had endured countless hardships, climbing over the corpses of countless others. They all held esteemed positions, so such risky endeavors were not undertaken lightly.

In earlier times, there were ambitious experts who attempted to develop the Great Barren Desert. But to date, none had succeeded. They might establish a foothold for a time, but eventually, they would be completely engulfed by the desert. This was because the Great Barren Desert not only harbored various powerful demonic beasts but, most terrifyingly, was occasionally swept by sudden beast tides.

Beast tides were phenomena that even the Earth Giant race feared like the plague, retreating three steps away; how much more so for humans? Among humans, Nascent Soul cultivators were few. Over time, no Nascent Soul cultivator was willing to abandon their noble status and privileges to risk their lives in the Great Barren Desert.

But for Lei Dong, these dangerous zones marked on the map of the Great Barren Desert were like individual treasure vaults. This time, Lei Dong did not follow the convoluted and lengthy safe route. Instead, he charted a new course for himself—a perfectly straight line aimed directly at the Earth Giant Rock Tribe.

This new route was nearly two-thirds shorter than the original. A journey estimated to take a year before would only require four to five months by flying directly.

The only issue was that this path required traversing three highly perilous zones marked as dangerous, and one area marked as extremely dangerous.

Powered by spirit stones and driven by its core formation array, the small vessel quietly sliced through the sky, hurtling across the vast Great Barren Desert. Looking down, the scene was spectacular—sometimes soaring mountain ranges, sometimes scorched yellow sands, and sometimes wilderness swamps seemingly eager to devour intruders.

Suddenly, deep within a massive swamp spanning ten thousand li, a monster covered in thick, coarse hide slowly emerged. The creature was so immense that its head alone was thirty to forty zhang long. Its two eyes, each the size of a water vat, were half-open, staring vaguely at the sky. Its target was none other than the small flying vessel carrying Lei Dong.

Just as the vessel passed overhead, the monster suddenly spewed forth a ball of light, crackling with energy, aimed straight at the craft.

Having entered a region marked as Extremely Dangerous, Lei Dong was not one to be careless! After days of dedicated cultivation, his power was completely stabilized at the initial stage of Nascent Soul. However, the might of his divine sense was already approaching that of a slightly weaker late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. His boundless divine sense enveloped a radius of several dozen li, functioning like an all-weather radar centered on him. Within this range, while he might not perceive the rustle of leaves, any movement slightly larger than that would clearly register in his Nascent Soul core.

The moment the monster launched its attack, Lei Dong reacted instantly, maneuvering the small vessel to flash sharply to the left, evading the ball of light.

Who knew that the light ball, sizzling like thunder and lightning, suddenly exploded near the vessel, sending electric tendrils like snakes lashing towards the craft.

With a loud boom, the flying vessel's not-so-weak defensive shield was instantly shattered, and the hull itself was torn in two, plummeting from mid-air.

"A formidable foe," Lei Dong exclaimed, enveloped by a murky white Profound Yin Shield, flying out of the wreckage like a meteor. With a cursory glance using his divine sense, he chuckled, "It's a rare Thunder Divine Crocodile. A fine specimen, truly fine."