…… Of course, even if the intelligence had miscalculated Lei Dong’s true strength, the overall power of the Emperor of the Dark Night was still formidable. Thus, Lei Dong was exceptionally well-prepared for this engagement. In terms of God Transformation stage powerhouses, Lei Dong’s side numbered over one hundred and ten, surpassing the Emperor of the Dark Night by more than thirty—a considerable advantage.

As for the Void Refinement stage experts on both sides, Lei Dong also fielded three, appearing to be evenly matched. However, among those captured by the Heart-Snatching Demon was a Asura woman at the middle stage of Void Refinement. Just considering the gap between the middle and early stages of God Transformation would suggest that this Asura woman could likely handle a two-on-one situation without much trouble. Even the three experts like the King of Radiance were no pushovers, but in a pure one-on-one confrontation, they might truly be no match for that Asura woman, even controlled as she was by the Heart-Snatching Demon.

Given this, Lei Dong had prepared numerous auxiliary measures for this campaign. For instance, there was the Sanctuary of the Winged God Clan. Originally, the Holy Spirit of the Sanctuary had fallen into a deep slumber after its battle with Lei Dong. However, Lei Dong had placed the artifact within a Grotto-Heaven Paradise, utilizing its Time Law array and inundating it with vast amounts of Chaos Spiritual Energy. This item quickly recovered its strength.

Naturally, outsiders could not control this sacred relic of the Winged God Clan. The current controller was the King of Adjudication, who had always maintained a good reputation and considerable prestige within the clan. Moreover, only someone of the King of Adjudication’s caliber could truly integrate the remaining Winged God Clan warriors for Lei Dong’s use. Furthermore, given the King of Adjudication’s character, she would never baselessly betray the interests of the Winged God Clan to appease Lei Dong.

Lei Dong, for his part, had no intention of overly exploiting the Winged God Clan. In his future vision, he required allies in many areas. If a traditional powerhouse like the Winged God Clan could become a solid ally, it would be hugely beneficial to Lei Dong. Additionally, Lei Dong could not afford to project the image of a warmonger or a conqueror. Such an attitude would not only cause allies to feel aversion but would also incite countless enemies to unite against him. Lei Dong wasn't so arrogant as to believe he could confront the entirety of the Three Realms, Six Domains, and Nine Continents armed with only a few heaven-defying supreme treasures.

Although the Winged God Clan currently stood to gain little from Lei Dong and were still in a phase of atonement through meritorious service, the King of Adjudication herself had accrued substantial deserved benefits through various accomplishments. By leveraging certain Chaos Crystals and her own efforts, she managed to elevate her cultivation to the high stage of God Transformation while simultaneously solidifying her authority within the Winged God Clan.

This meant that, relying on her outstanding personal combat prowess combined with the Sanctuary, she could even spar fiercely with experts at the Void Refinement stage.

The Scepter Totem, temporarily controlled by Berys, who had advanced to the middle stage of God Transformation, also possessed considerable might. When operating at full power, it could at least manage to tie down one Void Refinement expert.

Perhaps the most fearsome asset was Ding Wanyan. Within this chaotic alien space, apart from the Heart-Snatching Demon and Chaos Spiritual Energy, the most abundant substance was Yin Fiend Qi. Wanyan possessed the innate Yin Fiend Body and cultivated the corresponding Grand Yin Fiend Art. In areas saturated with Yin Fiend Qi, her combat power could increase by at least several tiers. The stronger the ambient Yin Fiend Qi, the greater her strength would be proportionally.

What's more, she could utilize the Yin Fiend Qi she had collected to refine incredibly potent Yin Fiend Heavenly Lightning. However, since her cultivation breakthrough to the God Transformation stage, the ordinary Yin Fiend Heavenly Lightning no longer impressed her. Instead, she had begun innovating, condensing and tempering a terrifying substance known as the Extreme Yin Fiend Lightning.

Vast quantities of Yin Fiend Qi, once purified and refined by her, could be forged into the Extreme Yin Fiend Lightning. The destructive power of this lightning was extraordinary; the explosion’s killing range within a dozen feet of the center rivaled the full-force strike of an early God Transformation expert. Nascent Soul experts of slightly lesser strength, if unable to defend fully, might be obliterated directly by a single bolt of Extreme Yin Fiend Lightning.

Even an early God Transformation expert would likely sustain some injury if they took a direct hit.

Of course, a substance this terrifying meant that even Ding Wanyan, who had thoroughly mastered the Grand Yin Fiend Art and possessed the innate Yin Fiend Body, could not forge them rapidly. Despite her diligence in refining them so far, she had only managed to amass one hundred pieces.

If this level of firepower were put up for sale, a single piece could fetch tens of millions of spiritual stones. Truly worthy of her innate Yin Fiend Body, coupled with the fortuitous cultivation of the supremely compatible Grand Yin Fiend Art.

Excluding Lei Dong’s unique, heaven-defying treasure like the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda—which allowed him to manufacture peak-grade spirit ghosts—Ding Wanyan, based solely on her ability to refine the Extreme Yin Fiend Lightning, could already be considered a veritable money-making machine. This was, naturally, because the Yin Fiend Qi in this chaotic alien space was likely even more abundant than the Chaos Spiritual Energy. In the Six Domains and Nine Continents, finding such massive quantities of pure Yin Fiend resources would be exceptionally difficult.

What truly made Lei Dong’s blood boil was that just as his faction convened for the meeting to strategize against the Emperor of the Dark Night, they discovered the inexplicable addition of a God Transformation-level combatant to their ranks.

It was a God Transformation-level puppet from the Myriad Puppet Sect, one that no one had ever seen before. This in itself wasn't shocking; Lei Dong had never believed that a place like the Myriad Puppet Sect would only possess a mere two God Transformation puppets, given that their sect specialized in crafting artifacts of that level.

But what caused Lei Dong to stare blankly, spitting up blood, was that the controller of the God Transformation puppet was none other than his old acquaintance, Li Chuchu, the young miss with whom he shared a complicated history.

It turned out that Young Miss Li Chuchu had long ago followed her ancestor, Elder Li, into the ranks of the Myriad Puppet Sect. Because the Myriad Puppet Sect members excelled at mechanical arts, relying mostly on controlling puppets or flying vessels in combat, Lei Dong had never noticed that Li Chuchu was stealthily tagging along with the group.

Though Li Chuchu was only at the peak Golden Core stage when they first entered the chaotic alien space, that was manageable. The most terrifying revelation was that this Li Chuchu had been secretly invited by Ding Wanyan. Furthermore, Wanyan had been periodically slipping her precious cultivation resources, including Chaos Crystals, and even allowed her to disguise herself and cultivate within the Grotto-Heaven Paradise.

Li Chuchu was already a woman of prodigious genius. To be using Chaos Crystals at the peak Golden Core stage, bolstered by aid from Wanyan and others, supported by Elder Li, and benefiting from the Grotto-Heaven Paradise—after cultivating diligently in seclusion for only a few decades, her cultivation skyrocketed without hindrance, soaring directly to the early stage of God Transformation.

Her divine sense was also exceptionally strong. Elder Li never stinted on heavenly materials and earthly treasures that could enhance her divine sense, even trading for a vial of Life Divine Water from the King of Adjudication.

As a result, Li Chuchu, quietly cultivating, had boosted her strength to the early God Transformation stage. Then, with an air of haughty confidence, she appeared at the meeting, controlling a several-zhang-tall God Transformation puppet, presenting herself as a peak master and frightening Lei Dong so badly that his eyeballs nearly popped out.

As the miserable-looking Lei Dong began secretly transmitting questions to Wanyan about what game she was playing, Wanyan transmitted back: "As the primary wife of the Lei family, I must naturally consider the continuation of the Lei lineage. You know that as our cultivation rises, it becomes increasingly difficult to conceive offspring. And I refuse to allow some stray cat or dog, or some emotionless woman, to enter our faction. But Sister Chuchu not only has an impeccable background and outstanding lineage, her aptitude is in no way inferior to ours, and most importantly, she is deeply devoted to you, husband. Lei Dong, you took everything and refuse to take responsibility, so I, as the head wife, must follow behind you and clean up your messes. Moreover, that incident was clearly your fault for using unscrupulous means against Chuchu for your own ends. Don't tell me you truly intend to let down such a fine girl for her entire life?"

Lei Dong could only offer a bitter smile. To claim he felt no shred of emotion for Li Chuchu would be outright fabrication. Lei Dong knew he carried significant guilt toward her. After all, the methods he had used against her were decidedly dishonorable, bordering on deceiving her affections. Of course, Lei Dong hadn't expected Elder Li to send her back either. The elder probably wished for his great-granddaughter to be entangled with Lei Dong right now, as it would be vastly advantageous for the Myriad Puppet Sect, or even his own Li family.

Still, the die was cast; complaining was useless for Lei Dong. Li Chuchu’s sudden rise in power was, ultimately, a good thing for him. After all, even if her combat experience might be lacking, her own early God Transformation strength, coupled with a matching early God Transformation puppet, meant she could gain the upper hand against a hostile early God Transformation expert fighting alone.

In the current situation, the more high-end fighting strength they possessed, the better.

Following Mei'er's calculated strategy, a battle of baiting and counter-baiting soon erupted under Lei Dong's sudden offensive. Just as the Emperor of the Dark Night believed his scheme had succeeded and he smugly summoned his elite forces from the confiscated Blood Fiend Command Token—thinking Lei Dong's group had walked into a trap to die—

Lei Dong also made his move, holding the equally confiscated Treasure Trove Pagoda aloft and unleashing his own elites, rushing forward without a word. Since matters had reached this point, Lei Dong had no room for hesitation; he only wished to dispatch the Emperor of the Dark Night quickly to minimize their own losses. Losing even a single God Transformation expert would cause Lei Dong immense heartache.

"Damn it!" Upon seeing Lei Dong’s side fielding over a hundred God Transformation experts and three Void Refinement masters, the eyes of the Emperor of the Dark Night nearly bulged out of his head. Beyond the grief and agony from being betrayed by Mei'er, there was overwhelming, sheer terror. Just how had that brat Lei Dong mustered so much high-level power? Not to mention the sudden appearance of the Void Refinement masters, even the number of God Transformation experts was double what he had estimated.

But at this juncture, the Emperor of the Dark Night had no chance to reconsider. With both sides having committed their elites, it was a fight to the death.