“Of course. Without Chaos Spiritual Qi, the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array is nothing more than a useless formation,” the Artifact Spirit declared with a touch of pride. “But even in my master’s era, the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array was far from common knowledge; it was considered an extremely high-level formation.”

“Hmph. Probably just because there were too many people like your master who, upon encountering Chaos Spiritual Qi, would desperately drain it dry. It’s no wonder that we, their descendants, haven’t even tasted what Chaos Spiritual Qi is like,” Lei Dong retorted with a cold sneer, his thoughts rippling out via divine sense.

“Heh heh. Then you are free to refuse this array and allow this small remaining trace of Chaos Spiritual Qi to continue flowing to your descendants,” the Artifact Spirit mocked in return.

“I’m hardly that altruistic. Hurry up and pass the array blueprint to me,” Lei Dong urged. Though he felt a surge of indignation toward the endless resource plunder of previous generations, when the opportunity fell to him, Lei Dong was unwilling to let this pocket of Chaos Spiritual Qi slip away.

Lei Dong knew, even without the Artifact Spirit mentioning it, that Chaos Spiritual Qi was an incredibly rare treasure. This substance was the primal energy from the time before the universe’s birth, when everything was but formless chaos. Legend held that Chaos Spiritual Qi was the mother of all things, the originating energy for all life, and the very power that incubated the cosmos.

In the nascent stages of the Ning Zhou, the heavens and earth ruptured and began to spin; the clear essence ascended, and the turbid settled below. The residual Chaos Spiritual Qi scattered throughout the vast expanse of the universe. This purely random dispersal resulted in unbalanced development across different cosmic corners. A world that received a large infusion of Chaos Spiritual Qi was far more likely to birth supremely powerful and aberrant life forms, whereas worlds starved of it might only nurture weak beings.

The vast majority of worlds received virtually no Chaos Spiritual Qi at all. Consequently, those worlds were akin to dead realms, incapable of showing any sign of life. From this, it was clear that the initial birth and sustenance of life were entirely catalyzed and nurtured by Chaos Spiritual Qi. Lei Dong surmised that the original Jiuzhou World must have been one such world incredibly rich in this essence.

This was because during the ancient era, when the Jiuzhou World was still one contiguous landmass, countless tremendously powerful and freakish species emerged—the various Divine Beasts, the Primeval Giants, and even the progenitors of the Five Elements. Such magnificent beings could never have been nurtured unless they resided in a place saturated with Chaos Spiritual Qi. Furthermore, the sheer number of species that attained Divine Beast status was astonishing.

It was no wonder then that both the Immortal and Demonic clans eyed the Jiuzhou World’s abundant resources with such avarice. Lei Dong vaguely understood that the Immortal and Demonic clans’ desire to invade Jiuzhou was purely for resources, and the primary resource, above all others, was undoubtedly the Chaos Spiritual Qi. This led to the deduction that even entities as mighty as the Immortal and Demonic clans possessed an insatiable craving for it.

And Lei Dong, a mere Nascent Soul human cultivator, certainly wasn't an environmentalist; how could he possibly forgo such an opportunity? Chaos Spiritual Qi was not only immensely beneficial for cultivation and evolution, but it was also rumored to have various other uses, such as incubating Chaos-grade minerals and rare spiritual medicines.

Coincidentally, Xiao You began to muse aloud, “It’s a pity. Father said he doesn’t understand the legendary Chaos Spirit Gathering Array. Otherwise, after gathering all this Chaos Spiritual Qi, his own cultivation should be able to ascend another level.”

No sooner had Xiao You finished speaking than Lei Dong began pulling items from his spatial bracelet—materials for setting up an array, all stored within his supreme-grade storage artifact. At best, Lei Dong understood only the superficialities of formations. Fortunately, the so-called Chaos Spirit Gathering Array wasn't overly difficult to deploy. Under the Artifact Spirit’s guidance, and amidst the astonished gazes of the others, Lei Dong managed, sputtering and stumbling, to lay out a strange yet profoundly simple and mysterious formation after about an hour.

Once the final component was set, Lei Dong embedded several peak-grade Spirit Stones into the array. The formation began to rotate slowly, as if touching upon one of the universe's cryptic laws. Gradually, a semi-transparent vortex materialized. The surrounding Chaos Spiritual Qi was siphoned away from the ordinary spiritual energy and began to converge toward the vortex's center. One could almost clearly see the color at the vortex’s core deepening into a faint cyan.

“This, this array is…?” Xiao You stared at the vortex in utter amazement. “Could it be, the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array? Is it actually gathering the Chaos Spiritual Qi?”

“By chance, Senior Artifact Spirit happens to know the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array,” Lei Dong said, pleased that the formation was indeed working. “Chaos Spiritual Qi is a precious commodity; it is nearly extinct in the Six Domains and Nine Continents now.” With that, and following the Artifact Spirit's instructions, he took out an exquisite jade vial.

Jade vials were excellent at isolating spiritual energy, most commonly used for storing various medicinal pills. Even the freshest rare treasures would lose their spiritual energy only very slowly if stored in a jade box.

Lei Dong formed a hand seal and spoke the command to collect. The jade vial floated slowly upward, its mouth aimed precisely at the center of the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array. A thin wisp of faint cyan Chaos Spiritual Qi, like curling smoke, drifted into the vial’s opening. Though the amount of Chaos Spiritual Qi seemed significant, it took a full quarter of an hour of collection before only a small jade vial was filled.

Now, this vial was saturated with extremely valuable Chaos Spiritual Qi. If sold, even a cultivator at the Soul Transformation stage would fight desperately to obtain it. There were many supreme treasures in the world, but heavenly materials that could significantly aid a Soul Transformation expert were exceedingly rare—the Water of Life and the Netherworld Essence were two such items. But the Chaos Spiritual Qi was exceptional in its preciousness.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Lei Dong’s mind. If he were to trade this Chaos Spiritual Qi for the Water of Life with the Winged God clan, its value might be comparable. But in the next instant, Lei Dong dismissed the naive idea. Indeed, Chaos Spiritual Qi held immense value, perhaps even surpassing the Water of Life. However, among the Winged God clan, those possessing the Divine Water of Life were invariably their royalty, each one a peerless expert at the Soul Transformation level. If Lei Dong dared to approach their territory to trade, how could those self-important Winged God Kings possibly agree to a fair exchange? They would certainly demand both the Divine Water of Life and the Chaos Spiritual Qi.

This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak; without strength, one didn’t even have the standing to negotiate fairly. The so-called fair trade was entirely predicated on the parties involved having relatively equal strength. In his many years navigating this world, Lei Dong had witnessed and heard countless tales of the powerful bullying the weak.

When those with lesser power stumbled upon some incredibly precious heavenly treasure by sheer luck, if they weren't cautious, that fortune often turned into disaster.

For the sake of a rare treasure, slaughtering an entire clan was not an unheard-of event.

It was slightly regrettable that the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array Lei Dong set up was rudimentary; at best, it could only draw in Chaos Spiritual Qi from a ten-mile radius. And the concentration here wasn't overly dense. After filling just two small jade vials, not a single trace of cyan could be seen within the vortex at the array’s center.

Watching Lei Dong pocket both vials of Chaos Spiritual Qi, the ten Ghost King guards, though envious and showing clear longing, dared not utter a single word. None were fools; Chaos Spiritual Qi was not the common Red Fiery Blood Mist Essence found outside. The former was a treasure rarely seen in the world, while the latter, with enough drive, luck, and daring, could be collected in large quantities—it was a common commodity.

Even a fool knew Lei Dong would never share such a valuable item with them. Thus, though disappointed, the Ghost Kings immediately reverted to their usual blank expressions, pretending they had seen nothing and heard nothing. Of course, they believed their caution was aimed at Lei Long, Lei Dong’s formidable sworn brother. Ever since Lei Dong began harvesting the Chaos Spiritual Qi, the usually carefree Lei Long had grown stern, his authoritative eyes constantly sweeping over the ten Ghost Kings to prevent any of them from being blinded by greed and causing trouble.

In truth, wealth could move the heart. Loyalty, after all, was merely a matter of insufficient bargaining chips for betrayal, or perhaps, an inability to afford the consequences. If Lei Long hadn't been present, those ten Ghost King guards might well have succumbed to temptation and attempted plunder. But under the current circumstances, they couldn't bear the potential repercussions. While the ten Ghost Kings represented a formidable collective force, against a Soul Transformation stage expert, they were still utterly insignificant—the gap in power was too vast.

Lei Dong was generous, but not to the extent of sharing Chaos Spiritual Qi with a retinue of Ghost King guards. Among those present, only Xiao You and Lei Long were worthy of sharing such an extremely precious substance. Nevertheless, he couldn't entirely disregard the guards. So, he said genially, “I believe you all are intelligent people who understand the gravity of the situation. All the Chaos Spiritual Qi collected this time will be shared only between Xiao You and Lei Long. However, to compensate for your contribution, we three will not claim any share of the Red Fiery Blood Mist Essence we gathered earlier.”

“Thank you for your generosity, Young Master Lei,” the guard captain replied immediately, bowing respectfully. “In fact, Young Master need not explain. That the Princess receives Chaos Spiritual Qi is already more than enough to satisfy us. We understand our station and status; we would never harbor any improper thoughts regarding the Chaos Spiritual Qi.” This guard captain was quite astute; he fully grasped that if his earlier response had carried any hint of resentment or unwillingness, the subsequent outcome might have been dire. Therefore, it was far better to secure tangible benefits than to gain nothing at all.

“Very good,” Lei Dong stated calmly. “We will proceed further inside, striving to collect more Chaos Spiritual Qi. What we obtained just now is insufficient for everyone.”