Lei Dong had long planned to acquire Soul Transformation Puppets from the Pluto Hall, so naturally, he had factored this particular scene into his calculations. He had already prepared a female primordial spirit, waiting for the female artifact spirit to fall into the trap.

The female artifact spirit, upon hearing this, immediately responded with a voice full of both surprise and delight: "Give it to me, give it to me."

Lei Dong couldn't help but want to slap her. He had clearly stated earlier that the spoils of war painstakingly acquired were his, implying he intended to extort her. Yet, she directly demanded it? Did she take him for a fool?

It was only Silver Eighteen, having once been a member of the Ghost Clan and possessing much experience, who felt a sense of embarrassment on the artifact spirit's behalf. Fortunately, being a puppet, even if his primordial spirit flushed, it couldn't be reflected on his face.

He could only cough twice and use a secret technique to communicate with the female artifact spirit, conveying Lei Dong's true intention to extort her.

"Lei Dong, aren't you being a bit too shameless?" The female artifact spirit finally understood Lei Dong's idea and shrieked with grief and indignation: "I already gave you ten thousand war-damaged puppets and eight hundred spirit pills just now; what more do you want?"

A naive woman, Lei Dong sighed inwardly. Yet, he adopted an appearance of righteous indignation: "I already stated the terms of our trade, and I have faithfully honored my promise. Therefore, I ask you not to be unreasonable. Our transaction did not involve me providing you with a suitable primordial spirit. If you want a primordial spirit, it's not impossible, but you must offer something that truly tempts me. Otherwise, why should I give you the treasures I worked so hard to obtain? If you have the ability, you can go out and capture one yourself." Lei Dong made his objective perfectly clear, lest this self-important female artifact spirit misunderstand, or pretend to misunderstand. He couldn't be bothered playing games with her.

"You—you are simply a vampire." The female artifact spirit was furious. However, the situation dictated her actions, and she could only choose to compromise: "Tell me, what price must I pay to obtain that primordial spirit of yours? Let me tell you in advance, we don't have many war-damaged puppets left."

So often, this is how things are. If Lei Dong hadn't revealed the method by which she could truly possess life, perhaps the female artifact spirit wouldn't have cared about a female primordial spirit at all. But now, a female primordial spirit was practically a priceless treasure in her eyes. She had gained hope, making her intensely eager, unable to refuse the matter. And she truly lacked the means to venture out and capture a female primordial spirit herself.

"My demands are very simple; I have enough war-damaged puppets, I don't need any more," Lei Dong continued his lion's share without hesitation: "One hundred thousand catties of Chaos Metal, and one thousand mature Chaos Spirit Herbs."

Hiss~

Even Silver Eighteen, who had followed Pluto and witnessed countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures, couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath. As for Lei Hu, Gui Ci, and the others, they all widened their eyes, unable to believe the terrifying extent of their boss's audacity.

One hundred thousand catties of Chaos Metal? Heavens! That was Chaos Metal, not some scrap like refined iron or copper essence. And one thousand mature Chaos Spirit Herbs—those were things on the level of Chaos Golden Lotuses. Forget one thousand; even a single mature one would cause a Soul Transformation expert to fight desperately to seize it.

Ruthless, utterly ruthless.

"Impossible, that's too much," the female artifact spirit was stunned into screaming: "These are all resources painstakingly collected by His Highness Pluto; I cannot give them all to you."

Lei Dong was instantly amused. That tone suggested that the Pluto Hall indeed possessed such things. Otherwise, she certainly wouldn't have shrieked in that manner. Lei Dong felt a flicker of admiration for Pluto; as expected of Pluto, he managed to collect such vast resources.

Even in ancient times, Chaos Spirit Herbs and Chaos Metal were not commonplace things you could just pick up anywhere.

"Well, you don't have to give them if you don't want to," Lei Dong smiled nonchalantly: "Business failed, friendship remains; I shall take my leave now, and you can stay here and slowly suffer." Though he spoke this way, Lei Dong had already made up his mind: if this foolish girl refused the trade, he would have to resort to force. Wealth moves men's hearts, and Lei Dong was not one to show undue mercy.

To let such colossal resources slip away would be a complete disservice to Lei Dong's reputation. After all, he had built his wealth and achieved his current status entirely through systematic robbery. Even if the Pluto Hall had some hidden defenses, he wasn't afraid; at worst, he could summon some troops from the (Hidden Dragon Army) later to completely flatten the Pluto Hall.

If Lei Dong hadn't told her the method of seizing a body, the female artifact spirit might have tolerated it, having endured years of loneliness already. But now, she suddenly felt she had endured enough of this endless isolation, enough of being trapped in the Pluto Hall and unable to leave. The puppets were fine; when not in use, they were dormant.

Only she, throughout the ages, had waited silently, so very silently. In the past, she had the Chaos Tower artifact spirit to keep her company. But now, that spirit had also been taken by that brat Lei. Was she to continue suffering endlessly in this misery?

No, she didn't want to spend another day living like this. Seeing Lei Dong about to leave, she grew anxious: "Wait, Lei Dong, can you ask for less? What you demand is too much; we only have a little over one hundred thousand catties of Chaos Metal."

"Not one bit less," Lei Dong adopted an obstinate stance, acting as if he had the female artifact spirit cornered, and sneered: "It was very arduous for me to capture that female primordial spirit."

Arduous your dead head, Lei Dong thought. With his current strength, killing a female Soul Transformation expert was as easy as breathing! The female artifact spirit was furious, but the current Lei Dong was her lifeline; miss this chance, and there wouldn't be another. She immediately yielded: "I cannot give you that much Chaos Metal, only fifty thousand catties. As for the Chaos Spirit Herbs, I can give you two thousand stalks to compensate for your losses."

Cough, cough. Even Lei Dong was momentarily dumbfounded. Chaos Spirit Herbs were usually more precious than Chaos Metal. Did this woman mix up priorities? But Lei Dong quickly understood. During the long years the Pluto Hall operated in secret, they must have been continuously cultivating Chaos Spirit Herbs. Accumulated over tens of millions or hundreds of millions of years, the quantity wouldn't be small. Since they only had puppets, they had no immediate use for the herbs.

A base established by a supreme Pluto like this certainly wouldn't be simple. It must possess its own contained dimension, a medicinal garden for cultivating Chaos Spirit Herbs.

The sheer quantity accumulated over time would indeed be staggering. Cultivating Chaos Spirit Herbs naturally requires Chaos Spiritual Qi. Lei Dong even suspected that the scarcity of Chaos Spiritual Qi in this remote, outer void might be due to the machinations of the Pluto Hall itself.

Using Chaos Spiritual Qi to cultivate spirit herbs is not putting the cart before the horse; quite the opposite. Using Chaos Spiritual Qi to grow Chaos Spirit Herbs, then refining them into various spirit pills to temper the body, increase cultivation, or recover during battle, is the true path of kings.

Lei Dong was currently forced to use large amounts of Chaos Spiritual Qi directly for cultivation due to his lack of deep foundation. When everyone's cultivation is low, the effect is considerable. But clearly, it was a waste.

Once one reaches the Void Refining level or higher, using Chaos Spiritual Qi for direct cultivation becomes purely a method of burning money. Pills refined from Chaos Spirit Herbs, containing complementary medicinal properties, offer far greater benefits than direct cultivation using the Qi alone.

Furthermore, if injured in battle or depleted of true essence, consuming a Chaos Crystal for replenishment is not only wasteful but also slow. However, the Innate Spirit Gathering Pills Lei Dong currently held used only one or two Chaos Spirit Herbs as the main catalyst, supplemented by other herbs, resulting in pills of extraordinary efficacy.

Even a severely wounded Soul Transformation expert whose true essence is exhausted can rapidly heal most injuries and quickly replenish their depleted true essence after swallowing an Innate Spirit Gathering Pill. Moreover, these pills even possess the function of breaking through bottlenecks.

Imagine two Soul Transformation experts of similar strength fighting until both are completely spent. If one possesses such an Innate Spirit Gathering Pill, the victor is immediately obvious.

Eight hundred Innate Spirit Gathering Pills, plus two thousand Chaos Spirit Herbs—this was truly a colossal fortune for Lei Dong. It was enough to bring about a quantum leap in the strength of his subordinates. Additionally, fifty thousand catties of Chaos Metal was a monumental resource.

Chaos Metal can be used to forge various Chaos Spirit Treasures, whether weapons or armor, significantly enhancing the power of experts. Innate Spirit Treasures are classified by quality. Generally, spirit treasures with even a small admixture of Chaos Metal claim to be Innate Spirit Treasures.

But in reality, the gap between Innate Spirit Treasures is vast. Most people in this world use the lowest grade of Innate Spirit Treasures. Only some great clans possess mid-grade Innate Spirit Treasures passed down through generations. For instance, Ming Feng's Thousand Feather Tail Plume could be considered a mid-grade treasure. The weapons wielded by King Judgement, such as the Sword of Radiance, are also mid-grade treasures. Of course, the Blazing Sword of the Purgatorial Demon Clan counts as well. Even Lei Dong's Netherflame Ghost Banner is a mid-grade Innate Spirit Treasure.

However, apart from Lei Dong's Netherflame Ghost Banner, the Innate Spirit Treasures held by others were mostly inherited from their ancestors across generations. Few new ones were forged, solely due to the scarcity of Chaos Metal.

Lei Dong dared not imagine how many Innate Spirit Treasures could be forged from the fifty thousand catties of Chaos Metal extorted in this single go. But he knew that if all fifty thousand catties were smelted into Innate Spirit Treasures, the strength of his faction would surge dramatically.