The name "King Chi Gui"? That name instantly surfaced in Lei Dong's mind. Before coming to this Purgatory Domain, Lei Dong had at least done some preliminary research on its powerful figures. Especially since Chi Wei, before her death, had mentioned she was the daughter of King Chi Mian, though Lei Dong hadn't paid much heed at the time. Lei Dong was also well aware that her residence was far from here, yet she had arrived at the Heart of the Molten Lake so quickly. Could it be that King Chi Gui possessed some special means to learn of Chi Wei's demise and location instantly, allowing her to arrive at such speed?

Lei Dong frowned slightly. If his guess was correct, it meant King Chi Gui was an extremely formidable Soul Transformation stage expert. The simple intelligence gathered about King Chi Gui also described her as possessing outer beauty but wielding ruthlessly cruel methods, one who never let even a minor grievance go unavenged. Most importantly, the scant information indicated that this woman was not only immensely powerful, ranking highly among the Kings of the Purgatory Domain, but was also unparalleled in tracking and hunting, moving with astonishing speed. Prey targeted by her rarely escaped her grasp.

For Lei Dong at this current stage, an enemy who was powerful but weak in evasion and tracking would be manageable. However, experts like King Chi Mian, who excelled in speed, were precisely what gave Lei Dong headaches; it was disadvantageous whether confronting them or attempting escape.

Flee immediately?

This thought was instantly discarded from Lei Dong's mind. Setting aside the question of how far Lei Dong could flee given King Chi Gui’s evasion speed and tracking skills, the lurking, watchful Purgatory Demon King made Lei Dong even more wary. The only relief regarding the Purgatory Demon King was that the entity seemed rather concerned about the Flame Essence Soul, which was why it hadn't immediately killed him, seemingly intending instead to use King Chi Gui's hand to exert intense pressure on him. Therefore, the Purgatory Demon King would never allow him to leave easily.

Seeing Lei Dong’s deep frown from a distance, the Purgatory Demon King's profound voice echoed in his ears: “Heh heh, kid, have you figured it out? Let me tell you the truth, King Chi Gui is likely less than half an hour away from this place; you won't escape even if you try. Hand over the Flame Essence Soul obediently, and on account of that old ghost You Ming, I will resolve your current predicament for you. When you came to the Purgatory Domain, you must have heard of my reputation from the humans—I always keep my word.”

Half an hour? Lei Dong’s eyes brightened slightly. He bowed respectfully toward the mid-air and spoke loudly, “Thank you for your kind intentions, Senior. This junior wishes to try and resist on his own first. If I truly cannot defeat Senior Chi Gui and my life is in danger, this junior will naturally seek help from you.”

“Fight King Chi Gui?” The Purgatory Demon King chuckled sinisterly, “It’s not that I look down on you, but how can a mere Nascent Soul intermediate cultivator like you contend with King Chi Gui? With that motley crew of strange, weak, and disorganized ghostly soldiers? Or perhaps with that broken puppet you salvaged from some scrap heap? However, since you have the leisure and the courage, I won’t bother interfering. Don’t even think I’ll rescue you at the critical moment. I want the Flame Essence Soul from King Chi Gui anyway, which saves me some trouble.”

“Thank you for fulfilling my wish, Senior.” Lei Dong spoke respectfully once more. Politeness costs nothing. Such deference to a Demon King level figure might not earn him favor, but it certainly wouldn't invite his ill will. At worst, it would prevent the Demon King from losing his temper and swatting him dead just because he seemed disrespectful.

“Fulfilling your wish? I haven't fulfilled anything for you, but I do admire your courage. I'll give you a chance: if you can truly resist King Chi Gui single-handedly and survive, I will no longer use force to compel you to hand over the Flame Essence Soul.” The Purgatory Demon King’s seemingly forthright voice continued to drift into Lei Dong’s ears, fading further away: “I have matters to attend to and must leave now. You enjoy King Chi Gui’s tender affection and gentleness, as placid as water, boy. I certainly won’t be able to partake. Hahahaha. I hope when I return, you haven’t been sucked dry into a husk, kid.”

A faint smile touched the corner of Lei Dong’s mouth. This Purgatory Demon King was indeed an interesting paramount expert, just as the rumors suggested. King Chi Gui’s tender affection and gentleness, as placid as water? Uh, heh heh… The tension was mostly dispelled by that joke.

“Half an hour, perhaps that’s enough.” Lei Dong composed himself, glancing at the puppet that still had over a dozen parts needing repair. His eyes shone with fighting spirit. A ripple of intent passed through his spiritual sense, transmitting to Ghost Thorn.

Ghost Thorn listened intently, then after a long moment, knelt solemnly on one knee in salute: “Master, this subordinate will exert every effort and hold back King Chi Gui even unto death.”

“Promise me, Ghost Thorn, you must return alive. I lost Ah Chou while fleeing and don't wish to lose you as well.” Lei Dong sighed softly, a trace of sorrow surfacing in his eyes. “Back then, I was just a Qi Refining stage junior cultivator struggling to survive, and it was with your help that I got through. Now Ah Chou is gone, and I don't want you to be gone too. I only hope that we, master and subordinate, can journey on together until neither of us can move any further.”

In his eyes, which appeared sinister and terrifying to outsiders, traces of gratitude and deep affection emerged: “Master, this subordinate promises you, I will certainly return alive to serve you, walking this path together until you are unrivaled under heaven and perish alongside the cosmos.” With that, his small frame dissolved into a wisp of light mist, drifting away ethereally.

The assembled horde of ghost soldiers, especially the large group of suicide ghosts, followed him out en masse. Their objective, naturally, was not to kill King Chi Gui, but to employ delaying tactics to buy time for their master. After Ghost Thorn departed, Lei Dong dared not delay any further. Maintaining his air of supreme command, he swept up the remaining components and plunged them into the ceaselessly swirling Six Yang Fire.

Over these few short days, although Lei Dong’s spiritual sense had not grown stronger, his experience in repairing parts had increased dramatically. Refining and repairing several components simultaneously was dangerous and taxing, but it was his only option and way out. To improve efficiency and stability, Lei Dong chose to place his complete trust in Ghost Thorn, sealing off his six senses entirely while refining.

At this moment, in his eyes, his heart, and his mind, there was only one objective: to complete the repair of the parts.

Time raced by. Half an hour passed, then an hour. It took a full three hours before Lei Dong finally finished repairing the last component. Then, Lei Dong assembled the final crucial component onto the puppet. All the arrays within the puppet body suddenly connected as one, and one array after another ignited on their own.

Zhen Yao, the original Arena Spirit that had long infiltrated the puppet's core, activated his divine sense, igniting the concealed activation points of the arrays within the parts, forming a unified whole.

Simultaneously, Lei Dong let out a huge sigh of relief, lifting the seal on his six senses. Everything returned to normal: sight, hearing, sensation, and the thick scent of sulfur in his nostrils—all flooded back. Before Lei Dong could fully adjust, a deafening boom echoed as a wall extremely close by was blasted apart.

Ghost Thorn’s thin, short body was hurled out like a cannonball, crashing straight into a distant wall and gouging out a massive pit.

“Hiss, hiss, a mere peak Ghost King dares to act presumptuously before this King? You truly don't know what's good for you.” A delicate and exquisite young woman, resembling a girl next door but exuding an overwhelmingly dominant aura, drifted out gracefully. As her words fell, she noticed the presence of others in the wide open space. Her sharp, cold gaze swept towards Lei Dong, and instantly, her icy pupils constricted, her face immediately contorting into an expression of rage and hatred: “It’s you? Nascent Soul intermediate stage? Hiss, hiss, it really is you, feigning weakness to trick others and kill my daughter Chi Wei while pretending to be a Golden Core cultivator?”

Lei Dong ignored her, instead grasping at the void to rescue Ghost Thorn. He activated the Netherworld Grand Technique, pouring pure ghost energy into his body. Ghost Thorn’s form was already flickering, almost on the verge of dissipating. It was clear how severe his injuries were, standing only a hair's breadth from death.

After receiving Lei Dong’s extremely pure ghost energy, the near-fading Ghost Thorn’s spirit suddenly rallied, murmuring weakly, “Master, this subordinate is incompetent. I failed to intercept King Chi Gui, and I caused most of the Master’s ghost soldiers to be lost in vain.”

“It’s fine, you’ve done more than enough.” Lei Dong continuously channeled ghost energy into him, stating gravely, “Rest assured, I will avenge you. The next battle is for me and Zhen Yao. Enter the Soul Nurturing Tower and rest well.”

“Hiss, hiss, audacious little brat.” King Chi Gui, resembling the delicate young woman, suddenly materialized a snake-shaped whip in her hand and lashed it out with a sharp pa sound. The whip grew instantly without wind, and a storm of overlapping whip shadows attacked Lei Dong.

But Lei Dong did not move.

With a whoosh, a colossal figure materialized before Lei Dong in a flash of light. The giant palm clamped down, finding the true body amidst the layered whip shadows. Instantly, the sky-filling whip shadows vanished entirely, leaving only the tail of the whip grasped in the giant hand. That figure was naturally Zhen Yao, who had just taken control of the Soul Transformation puppet.

“Hmph, a mere mongrel Red Refinement Divine Snake, daring to act so arrogantly before this old man.” Zhen Yao sneered with unfathomable depth: “Utterly presumptuous.”

“Hiss~ A Soul Transformation level puppet?” King Chi Gui had naturally seen the motionless puppet upon entering, but she never expected it to possess such terrifying strength. She immediately felt a shock in her heart.