And besides, Lei Dong wouldn't casually use the Demon Emperor Palace for spatial travel nonsense; that would just be a waste of spiritual energy. In any case, this artifact could be scaled up or down, at most hidden within a storage space, relying on other modes of transport to travel.

As for spatial translocation, that was absolutely reserved for the most critical moments—for instance, sneak attacks, ambushes, or escapes.

Furthermore, the Demon Emperor Palace's absorption of spiritual energy wasn't solely for the capability of traversing space. The vast influx of spiritual energy could also sustain the Palace's defenses and attacks; provided there was a sufficient energy source, the Demon Emperor Palace could unleash terrifying combat power. Especially its defensive capabilities, which were superb; on the battlefield, it could serve as an impregnable barrier. Wounded warriors could enter to rest and recuperate without fear of enemy assault.

From this, it was clear that the Demon Emperor Palace was not merely an ostentatious palace designed for show; it was, in the truest sense, a weapon of war. Lei Dong knew that if he had possessed this Demon Emperor Palace in the Chaotic Void Dimension, he wouldn't have needed to fear the Emperor of the Dark Night at all; he could have decisively crushed him in a frontal confrontation, instead of having to resort to the elaborate scheming he employed before.

Moreover, the Demon Emperor Palace could function as an independent world where life could propagate and flourish. This was because it was partitioned into numerous spatial regions—featuring mountains, lakes, rivers, and even a small ocean—making it comparable to a miniature world.

The space within it was vastly larger than any Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land. Although the mists surrounding the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land had been cleared, they spanned only a few dozen li across. Even if Lei Dong employed massive, densely packed structures, they could only accommodate tens of thousands of people cultivating simultaneously.

The Demon Emperor Palace was different. If calculated as a continuous area, its breadth and depth measured no less than several hundred thousand li across, making it only slightly smaller than the entire Kang Province. Moreover, the spiritual energy within was so abundant that it was perfectly suited for human habitation and procreation; Lei Dong could relocate hundreds of millions of people inside and still have room.

However, Lei Dong was reluctant to move populations in casually. After all, a larger population would accelerate the consumption of spiritual energy, and ultimately, the cost of that energy expenditure would fall back upon him. If he were to relocate anyone, Lei Dong would only select those possessing Spirit Roots. Though theoretically, if both parents lacked Spirit Roots, there was still about a one-in-ten-thousand chance of bearing a child with one, the probability of producing spiritually gifted offspring drastically increased if both parents possessed Spirit Roots.

The race currently known as the Guardians of the Barbarians was a peculiar lineage, boasting an unusually high incidence of Spirit Root bearers within their ranks. Cruelly, any newborn lacking a Spirit Root was immediately cast out to feed the wild beasts. This was undoubtedly due to the extremely harsh survival conditions in the Great Desert, where an inability to cultivate meant an inability to survive. Yet, this was also an inherent process of natural selection. Of course, this harsh reality was one of the primary reasons the people of Zhao Province referred to them as the Barbarian Clan.

From the intelligence Lei Dong gleaned within the Demon Emperor Palace, the Guardian Clan was a race cultivated firsthand by the Demon Emperor Sect. This "cultivation" involved gathering a large number of Spirit Root bearers into a single tribal unit, thereby ensuring a steady stream of qualified practitioners. Most of the key talent within the Demon Emperor Sect originated from this closed community.

But after the Demon Emperor Sect was destroyed, the Guardian Clan was driven from their ancestral lands of generations of habitation, gradually losing their civilization and evolving into a savage race struggling amidst harsh conditions. The unforgiving environment also caused their population to dwindle severely. If the current Saintess, possessed of extreme wisdom and perhaps the inheritance of some special opportunity, had not managed to unite the scattered Guardian tribes into a single entity, the Guardian Clan might have slowly faded away, eventually being erased from history.

Fortunately, after years of careful development, the Guardian Clan's population had now reached three hundred thousand, virtually all possessing Spirit Root potential—an astonishing feat. Yet, it was only due to environmental constraints and limited resources that the Guardian Clan had not become overwhelmingly powerful.

Even so, the Guardian Clan was capable of inflicting absolute lethal damage upon Zhao Province.

Now that the Demon Emperor Palace was activated, Lei Dong resolved to migrate the entire Guardian Clan into it, utilizing the superior environment there to allow them to flourish. Concurrently, Lei Dong would issue orders to collect children from the human population who possessed Spirit Roots and bring them into the Demon Emperor Palace to expand his own foundation. Any individuals exhibiting top-tier aptitude would receive focused training and be inducted into units like the Hidden Dragon Army.

With Lei Dong's current strength and the Saintess’s status among the Guardians, the migration order was executed with seamless efficiency, the task completed effortlessly. The function of the Guardian Clan would now shift to producing guards and exceptionally gifted children for Lei Dong. These promising youths would undergo standardized training by Lei Dong’s Hidden Dragon Army, making it much easier for them to mature into powerhouses. Lei Dong aimed to refine and adapt the Demon Emperor's legacy to his own needs, rather than blindly replicating it.

After emptying out the Guardian Clan, Lei Dong turned his attention toward the Pluto Hall. Reaching it required traversing the Deep Abyss of Nine Hells, the bottom of the Styx Valley, and the Outer Void. These locations would have been exceedingly dangerous for the former Lei Dong. But now, being at the middle stage of Soul Transformation, and equipped with Lei Hu and the Zhen Ye Artifact, danger was virtually nonexistent; the journey was akin to a mere outing.

In the Deep Abyss of Nine Hells and the Outer Void, it was true that Soul Transformation level demonic beasts occasionally appeared. However, as long as no Void Refinement level entities showed up, Lei Dong had no fear whatsoever. He reached the exterior of the Pluto Hall as if strolling through scenic mountains.

Lei Dong contacted the silver Soul Transformation puppet stationed at the Pluto Hall. When the puppet emerged and saw that Lei Dong had unexpectedly reached the middle stage of Soul Transformation, it was left utterly speechless. How long had it been dormant? For Lei Dong to ascend to the middle stage of Soul Transformation already!

Influenced by the Artifact Spirit of the Pluto Hall, the silver puppet had initially regarded Lei Dong as the Hall’s successor. However, until the formal succession was complete, Lei Dong could not exercise authority. Amidst copious politeness, Lei Dong was invited inside the Pluto Hall, where he proceeded to inquire about the purpose of the "Young Master's" visit via the silver puppet.

Lei Dong had not come here to reminisce with the puppet; he was seeking resource support. The former Lord of Pluto had been a paramount, supreme powerhouse, and his Pluto Hall was stocked with countless invaluable heavenly treasures, such as Innate Spirit Pills.

Although Lei Dong had never explored the Three Realms in depth, he had gleaned from fragments of Yu Ya’s memory that even in the Demon Realm, Innate Spirit Pills were incredibly precious. After all, refining any Innate Spirit Pill required an Innate Spirit Herb as the catalyst, and Innate Spirit Herbs were exceedingly rare.

This held true for the current Three Realms, but the Pluto Hall was different. This hall had been the former base of the Lord of Pluto, who existed in the very early era, equivalent to the late Ancient Period. Heavenly treasures from that time were far less scarce than they were now. Innate Spirit Herbs, Spirit Pills, and Innate Ore materials were all readily available.

These resources were precisely what Lei Dong sought. Yet, he valued the puppets even more. After all, Lei Dong now possessed the means to repair Soul Transformation puppets, and even forging them only required accumulating a bit more experience.

The Pluto Hall housed a vast number of battle-damaged Soul Transformation puppets. If he could acquire even a fraction of those, he could establish an entire army of Soul Transformation puppets. If Lei Dong had to gather and forge the resources for Soul Transformation puppets on his own, it would be extremely difficult. The Myriad Puppet Sect, despite its long dominance, had accumulated immense wealth, yet could only boast three Soul Transformation puppets in total, and all of those were only at the early stage! This was because refining puppets of this caliber invariably required significant amounts of Innate Ore. Innate materials were not just for forging puppets; various other Innate artifacts and battle armors required them too.

While the Chaotic Void Dimension was rich in chaotic spiritual energy, it had already been mined by the Demon Race, meaning any Innate materials occasionally recovered were few in number.

Therefore, attempting to build a Soul Transformation puppet legion solely through his own efforts was sheer fantasy for Lei Dong. His focus, naturally, landed upon the Pluto Hall.

However, Lei Dong had already experienced the Artifact Spirit of the Pluto Hall's stinginess. Despite constantly proclaiming Lei Dong as the successor, it was profoundly miserly. Before arriving, Lei Dong had made preparations: if persuasion failed, he would resort to force. After all, the Pluto Hall only housed four Soul Transformation puppets in total—two at the initial stage and two at the middle stage.

When Lei Dong stated his purpose, the silver puppet paused, seemingly receiving instruction from the Pluto Hall's Artifact Spirit. After a long moment, it slowly shook its head: “Brother Lei, although you are designated as the successor to the Pluto Hall, you are not authorized to utilize its resources before completing your mission and officially becoming the Hall's master. However, given your status and current strength, we will provide some support. Twenty damaged puppets—that is our absolute limit.” As the silver puppet spoke, it felt a pang of embarrassment; presenting the inheritor with only broken puppets truly made it blush.

Lei Dong let out a laugh born of anger, his voice turning cold: “Twenty damaged puppets? Do you still consider me the heir to the Pluto Hall? I traveled all this way just to be dismissed like a beggar?” Back when Lei Dong was only at the middle stage of Nascent Soul, he lacked the capital to turn hostile. Now, at the middle stage of Soul Transformation, his cultivation was incomparably formidable, and he certainly did not fear the outwardly strong but inwardly hollow Pluto Hall.