Ultimately, Lei Dong risked tossing in the Nascent Soul of a demonic beast. The resulting Chaos Spiritual Qi was astonishingly about a hundred times that produced by ten thousand Qi Refining stage beings. In other words, only a thousand Nascent Soul stage beings would be needed to forge a single Chaos Crystal.

This outcome energized Lei Dong. Annihilating a billion Qi Refining stage lives just to craft one Chaos Crystal had placed an immense psychological burden upon him. However, if a thousand Nascent Soul stage beings could suffice, the task became far less daunting. To put it bluntly, even harvesting the Nascent Souls from the newly subdued White Armor Army, numbering less than a thousand, and tossing them into the refining furnace would yield a substantial amount of Chaos Spiritual Qi—enough for at least one Chaos Crystal.

Lei Dong knew little about the value and origin of the Chaos Crystal, so he consulted Mei Xiang. The result left him quite speechless.

At the genesis of the universe, when everything was primordial chaos, Chaos Spiritual Qi was exceedingly abundant. But as the cosmos gradually took form, ninety-nine percent of that Qi was consumed. What remained was distributed across the myriad worlds in an irregular pattern.

Chaos Spiritual Qi was not only crucial for the formation of worlds but also the key to the evolution and strengthening of living beings. The more powerful an entity became, the deeper its craving for Chaos Spiritual Qi. Consequently, some highly evolved beings possessing considerable intellect began consciously plundering this resource for their own use, the Immortal Clan and the Demon Clan being prime examples of such raiders.

For the sake of acquiring Chaos Spiritual Qi, they could effortlessly destroy world after world.

A critical aspect of hoarding this natural resource was how to store the excess Chaos Spiritual Qi. The common method involved using a Chaos Spirit Gathering Array to condense the scattered Qi into masses, which were then refined into solid crystals for storage.

These solid crystals were named Chaos Crystals. Naturally, besides artificially forging them, Chaos Crystals could also form spontaneously in locations where Chaos Spiritual Qi was exceptionally dense. However, whether artificial or natural, a Chaos Crystal was undoubtedly a substance saturated with immense Chaos Spiritual Qi. They were precious beyond measure wherever they appeared, proving immensely beneficial for spurring the evolution and growth of living beings.

It was precisely the advent of the Chaos Spirit Gathering Array and the popularization of Chaos Crystal refinement techniques that led to the exceptionally rapid depletion of Chaos Spiritual Qi. As a result, this resource—said to have only been generated at the dawn of the universe—had become a rarity in the Six Domains and Nine Continents by the present day.

Similarly, as time advanced, the value of the Chaos Crystal, a non-renewable resource, would only soar higher. Even in the era when the King of Hell lived—a time when Chaos Spiritual Qi was countless times more plentiful than now—a single Chaos Crystal commanded an astronomical price. Back then, even a low-grade Chaos Crystal could be traded for a Congenital Spirit Treasure, or perhaps be used to hire a Void Refining stage expert for a decade. Ultimately, that single crystal was exchangeable for nearly two hundred Heavenly Spirit Stones.

This realization left Lei Dong speechless. It explained why the ancient great powers often treated ordinary spirit stones as negligible, only recognizing items of the Heavenly Spirit Stone caliber. They would casually employ arrays powered by Heavenly Spirit Stones.

Of course, these were the market values from the King of Hell’s era. Now, many circumstances differed vastly. As for the exchange rates within the Three Realms, he had no way of knowing. But one thing was certain: the value of the Chaos Crystal, this precious, non-renewable resource, could only climb; a depreciation was nearly impossible.

Once Lei Dong grasped the true worth of the Chaos Crystal, his desire became insatiable. A thousand Nascent Souls—if he acted ruthlessly, he could manage it.

What truly pleased him was the observation that higher-tiered entities yielded significantly more Chaos Spiritual Qi upon decomposition and reduction. Take, for instance, ten thousand Golden Core beings versus a thousand Nascent Soul beings. Theoretically, the combined fighting strength of ten thousand Golden Cores far exceeded that of a thousand Nascent Souls by a large margin.

Yet, the Chaos Spiritual Qi they produced was roughly equivalent. This demonstrated that the output was not absolutely tied to overall combat power. The deciding factor was the degree of evolutionary progression in the species. The higher the evolution, the greater the geometric multiplication factor when annihilating and reducing them back into Chaos Spiritual Qi. Based on calculation, perhaps only ten Spirit Essences of the Soul Transformation level would be required to successfully forge one Chaos Crystal.

Naturally, even if Lei Dong’s estimation proved correct, he would not risk using Soul Transformation stage Spirit Essences to refine Chaos Crystals under the current circumstances.

Furthermore, Lei Dong inquired of Mei Xiang regarding the principles behind the Chaos Pagoda’s consumption of souls to restore Chaos Spiritual Qi, and the nature of the Chaos Origin. However, on this point, Mei Xiang was evasive and unclear. It seemed the King of Hell had not imparted the underlying principles to the Pagoda Spirit Mei Xiang, leaving her aware of the what but ignorant of the why.

In theory, when refining those divine souls to generate Chaos Spiritual Qi, a trace of Chaos Origin should also be produced. But perhaps because this Chaos Origin was so exceedingly scarce that it remained undetectable for the time being, Lei Dong had to postpone investigation into this matter.

Upon learning that the Chaos Crystal, condensed from Chaos Spiritual Qi, was immensely helpful for cultivation, Lei Dong’s heart burned with excitement. Although the conditions for extracting Chaos Crystals were incredibly demanding, it was still better than nothing. Perhaps this was the first time since the creation of the heavens and earth that someone had succeeded in attempting to decompose and reduce living beings rich in life energy to extract Chaos Spiritual Qi.

Because of this, Lei Dong temporarily shelved any plans to probe the ambitions and actions of the current Abyss Lord, deciding instead to focus intently on consolidation and diligently strengthening his own power. Otherwise, acting rashly like the King of Dawn and seeking cooperation with others—forget about consuming them—it would be an act of extreme luck if he himself wasn't swallowed whole, bones and all.

Lei Dong already possessed a considerable reserve of Heavenly Spirit Stones. Coupled with the spoils from the recent war, selling off some captured assets would suffice for the next round of comprehensive strength improvement. But before that, Lei Dong needed to resolve the situation in the Light Domain.

The Dawn Continent, theoretically, had been subdued by Lei Dong. The King of Dawn had surrendered, and the White Armor Army, controlled by his Soul Refining Banner, now belonged to Lei Dong. In a short span, Lei Dong had completely taken over Dawn Main City, that ancient Sky City steeped in history.

Moreover, within Dawn Main City, Lei Dong’s sworn brother, Lei Long, had already assisted him in completing the first wave of purges. All Winged Human Guard units and garrison personnel harboring the slightest dissent were included in this sweep.

The flesh and blood of these individuals were fed to Lei Dong’s Fierce Ghost Army. Their souls were collected and channeled into the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda, transforming into those wisps of Chaos Spiritual Qi. As for those who remained alive but were willing to swear allegiance to a new master and participate in this operation—the nominal leader being the Winged Sky Walker—they were force-fed Ghost Gu to ensure control. As long as these individuals failed to break through to the Soul Transformation stage, their lives remained entirely within Lei Dong's grasp.

Having asserted control over Dawn Main City with decisive measures, Lei Dong’s next move was not to engage the three main wandering forces outside. Instead, he immediately dispatched all his various divisions and armies, guided by the White Armor Army, to swiftly secure the major strongholds across the Dawn Continent.

These "strongholds," of course, were not fortifications built in treacherous terrain like those in mortal kingdoms. But the principle was the same: they controlled vital routes of passage. Every stronghold guarded an ancient teleportation array on the Dawn Continent.

These ancient arrays either linked to other domains or served as direct passages to other continents within the Light Domain. Lei Dong had to station troops in these locations; otherwise, capturing the Dawn Continent would have been pointless.

Once all the strongholds were secured, the three major forces became trapped, mere fish in a barrel for Lei Dong to manipulate as he saw fit. First, he would demand surrender. Those who refused would serve as stepping stones for Lei Dong’s various armies. In the end, not even their souls could escape, as those divine souls were now extremely vital resources for Lei Dong.

With the major situation settled, Lei Dong lingered no longer in the Light Domain. Accompanied by a few ghost servants and his beloved pets, he disguised himself and traveled low-key back to Kang Province, heading straight for the Yaksha Sea.

Observing all due etiquette, he paid his respects to the venerable Senior Yaksha King, presenting him with a bottle of Life Divine Water as thanks for the care provided to Tian Mo over the years. Although Lei Dong's status was now vastly different from before—not to mention his massive influence, Lei Dong himself had ascended to the ranks of peak powerhouses.

Yet, Lei Dong maintained the demeanor of a junior, showing utmost respect to the Yaksha King. After all, the Yaksha King was the first Soul Transformation senior he had ever met and had provided immense support and care over time. Given Lei Dong's commitment to never forgetting his roots, his respect for the Yaksha King was naturally abundant and sincere.

The Yaksha King was overjoyed to unexpectedly receive a bottle of Life Divine Water. While his strength was not among the absolute strongest of the Soul Transformation realm, he had been stalled at the peak of the early Soul Transformation stage for many years. Despite exhausting numerous methods, he had failed to break through to the middle Soul Transformation stage, as rare heavenly materials conducive to the advancement of Soul Transformation experts were exceedingly scarce. Even if such treasures existed, they might not fall to the Yaksha King’s lot.

The Life Divine Water, however, was a treasure renowned for its excellent properties in cleansing the divine souls of Soul Transformation experts. While this substance couldn't guarantee the Yaksha King’s breakthrough, using it as the main ingredient, combined with other precious rare materials and elixirs, could at least boost his chances of success by one or two tenths during the breakthrough attempt—which was excellent. Even if the breakthrough failed, for a first-time user, this substance provided profound tempering to the divine soul, laying a much deeper foundation for the next attempt.

Lei Dong stood once more before Tian Mo, who lay encased within the Li Water Soul’s embrace, suspended like a body in a transparent coffin outside the boundary of the Azure Wave Illusion, and his emotions swelled with intensity.

……(To be continued……RQ