Such an evil and bloody thought startled Lei Dong himself. He hastily looked inward and discovered that his body had undergone earth-shaking changes. First was the physical transformation. Lei Qing felt that every life factor within him was several times sturdier than before. This was not merely something achievable by advancing from the Spirit Transformation stage to the Void Refinement level. It could be imagined that this was the divine efficacy of the Hades Body Tempering Art, causing Lei Dong’s life factors to be continuously destroyed and reborn in a very short period.

Secondly, there were changes to the Nascent Soul. During the Spirit Transformation stage, the Nascent Soul existed as a whole, neither truly real nor truly illusory. However, at this point, the Nascent Soul seemed to be composed of extremely fine particles, capable of turning into nothingness or condensing into substance. Furthermore, the current Nascent Soul could split, forming another self. This was likely the origin of some clone cultivation methods. In fact, most clone cultivation techniques could only commence at the Void Refinement level, which explained this principle.

Of course, cultivating clones would, to a certain extent, slow down the main body's advancement speed, and any harm sustained by a clone would inflict great damage on the main body as well. Consequently, not every powerhouse would choose to cultivate clones.

But what truly startled Lei Dong was that some spirit treasures hidden within his soul had vanished without a trace. For instance, Lei Dong’s Nether Flame Ghost Banner, a treasure he had painstakingly gathered materials to refine with immense effort, was gone. What chilled him to the bone, however, was the disappearance of the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda.

The Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda was the heaven-defying treasure that Lei Dong had relied upon as his foundation up to this point. It was thanks to its assistance that he possessed his current status in this lifetime. Now, the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda was far more formidable than before; so long as there was the soul of a high-level lifeform, it could endlessly decompose them into Chaos Spiritual Qi and Chaos Origin Essence for him.

Yet, it had now vanished within his soul. What a devastating blow this was to Lei Dong, who was desperate to increase his strength!

“Eh? What is this tattered banner?” Lei Dong suddenly saw a messy, dilapidated banner seemingly added within his soul and muttered under his breath.

“Tattered… tattered banner?” Unexpectedly, these words were overheard by the Nether King Banner. It exploded with its unique low and violent voice: “You—you—you actually dare call this mistress a tattered banner? You heartless bastard of a master! Why didn't you say I was tattered when I was in my prime? Do you think it was easy for me? I resisted the crushing force of the Great Void Tunnel twice for you, blocking seven bolts of heavenly lightning for you! In the end, I got hurt, broken, and ruined, and now you start looking down on me, is that it?”

A string of words rushed at Lei Dong like cannonballs, leaving him dizzy and bewildered. Dazed, he replied, “So it’s a tattered banner with an artifact spirit. Why are you in my soul? I don’t recall refining you.”

“It’s all the fault of that little slut, Tantai Bingyun, the successive inheritor of that bitch, Fairy Bibo! She used a secret art to throw me into your soul. Who would have thought that as soon as I entered your soul, before I could even enjoy any benefits, I had to block the crushing force of the Great Void Tunnel again, and then the heavenly lightning. My life is so miserable, why did I end up with a master like you?” The artifact spirit inside the Nether King Banner spoke with extreme acrimony.

So that was how it was. Lei Dong vaguely understood, but frowned and said, “Can you clean up your language? Tantai Bingyun is not someone a mere artifact spirit like you can curse.”

“I curse her? Hmph, a woman who would give away a Chaos Supreme Treasure of my caliber just to curry favor with her man—what else would you call her but a little slut? Hmph, she’s the same mold as her master, the Bibo bitch. They both specialize in putting on airs to please men, two-faced hypocrites, absolutely rotten.” The Nether King Banner roared with seemingly boundless malice.

Lei Dong’s expression turned cold, and he chided sternly, “If I hear you insult her again, I will refine away your life force and consciousness.”

“Come on then, try it! Me, a grand Chaos Supreme Treasure, should fear being refined by you? Let me tell you, when I’m in a good mood, I’ll call you master. When I’m not, I won’t even deign to look at you.” The Nether King Banner was overwhelmingly domineering, arrogantly wild: “What, not happy? Come refine me, go on, refine me… Ahhh—”

Before the Nether King Banner could finish speaking, it felt an immense divine sense pressing down and corroding it. Such a violent and oppressive divine sense was simply invisible on ordinary Void Refinement cultivators. Purely based on the pressure of the divine sense, it was likely comparable to an initial-stage Integration stage expert.

“How could the divine sense of a mere initial-stage Integration level refine me… Ah?” The Nether King Banner initially resisted, but before it could finish its sentence, it roared in extreme agony: “Such powerful suction! It hurts! Stop, please don’t devour me! I was wrong, I was wrong, alright? Master, please spare your humble servant!”

Following her screams, Lei Dong also felt a strange curiosity. His strongest point was his divine sense, yet he never recalled his divine sense having a devouring capability? During his tribulation crossing, Lei Dong had almost lost consciousness, and he retained no memory of many things.

Of course, Lei Dong hadn't truly intended to devour that mysterious artifact spirit. Hearing her plea, he relaxed the pressure of his divine sense. However, he remained very puzzled, muttering to himself, “How could I possess a devouring function?”

“M-Master.” An extremely faint voice echoed within Lei Dong’s soul.

“Mei Xiang?” Following the sound, Lei Dong used his internal vision and discovered Mei Xiang huddled in the deepest corner of his soul. Mei Xiang no longer possessed the loli appearance she had as the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda.

Instead, she appeared as a mere wisp of smoke, resembling a remnant soul. Her delicate form flickered in and out of existence, seeming liable to dissipate at any moment.

Although he had once threatened to erase Mei Xiang, Lei Dong still held some goodwill towards this artifact spirit who had recently served him diligently, working hard to decompose the Chaos Spiritual Qi and Chaos Origin Essence. He certainly didn't want to see her die, so he transformed his true essence into a strand of Nether Ghost Qi and nourished her with it.

Nether Ghost Qi was inherently vital energy, extremely beneficial to all soul-like lives. As expected, nourished by Lei Dong’s extremely pure Nether Ghost Qi, Mei Xiang’s image managed to solidify slightly.

“What happened? Where is your main body, the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda?” Lei Dong seized this clue and urgently asked.

“M-Master, it was her! She threatened me to go out and block the heavenly lightning for Master. A-and… as a result, the heavenly lightning was blocked, but my main body was destroyed,” Mei Xiang cried out, agitated and on the verge of tears.

Hearing this, Lei Dong felt as if struck by lightning. The Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda was actually destroyed while blocking the heavenly lightning? If it were merely missing, it would be better for Lei Dong, as there would be hope of finding it. But to be utterly destroyed—this was absolutely a colossal blow to Lei Dong.

For a moment, Lei Dong’s face turned pitch black. He stared fixedly at the tattered banner in his soul, menacingly asking via divine thought fluctuations: “I ask you, who gave you the gall to threaten my spirit treasure into blocking the heavenly lightning?”

The Nether King Banner adopted an indifferent tone: “Master, so what if your lousy spirit treasures are destroyed? With me—er, this servant—by your side, wouldn't I be better than those trash spirit treasures?”

Lei Dong felt an overwhelming urge to curse. Trash spirit treasures, trash your mother! My Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda was a heaven-defying Chaos Supreme Treasure, a treasure that would make even the Three Realms Supreme Beings grow red-eyed with madness! Consider this: if the Three Realms Supreme Beings truly had the ability to refine souls into Chaos Spiritual Qi and Origin Essence, why would they fight tooth and nail over a mere piece of Chaos Origin Essence?

From this, it could be deduced that his Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda was absolutely the unique peerless treasure in the entire universe; no price would be too high to exchange for it. The destruction of other items was not a major issue; some were already obsolete. Even if the Nether Flame Ghost Banner was destroyed, Lei Dong would only feel a momentary pang of heartache.

But the shattering of the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda sent Lei Dong into a full-blown frenzy. With a ferocious expression, he transmitted his divine thought fluctuations: “I don’t care what you are. Since you dared to destroy my Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda, you can just go die.” Lei Dong once again mobilized his divine sense to devour and refine her.

“Ah~ Master, spare me! I—this servant will never dare again!” The Nether King Banner felt its very life being sucked away, bit by bit, by an incomparably mysterious force. That terror was truly absolute.

“Whether you dare or not, it’s already done.” Lei Dong furiously intensified the pressure of his divine sense: “I will completely devour and erase you, you idiotic woman! How dare you destroy my Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda! I want you to be its burial offering!”

“Hey, hey, little lady, put in a good word for me! I really didn’t mean it,” the Nether King Banner shrieked on the verge of death: “I’ll pay, I’ll pay for it, what’s the big deal?”

“M-Master. She—she is the Nether—the Nether King Banner. My old master, the Nether King’s most beloved Chaos Supreme Treasure.” Mei Xiang, crouching in the corner of Lei Dong’s soul, actually began to plead for the Nether King Banner.

“The Nether King Banner?” Lei Dong paused abruptly upon hearing the name: “Are you really the Nether King Banner?” The force he applied slightly relaxed.

“Yes, yes, this lady is the Nether King Banner, the invincible Chaos Supreme Treasure of the world!” The Nether King Banner began to flaunt again, its solidified demeanor blooming: “Listen, Master, you’ve struck gold. It’s just some broken junk anyway. With me helping you, I guarantee I’ll be more useful than any spirit treasure. However, you’ve angered me now, unless you help me lick…”

If she hadn't mentioned it, it wouldn't have mattered, but bringing it up only ignited another surge of rage in Lei Dong: “I don’t care if you’re the Nether King Banner or the Nether God Banner, die for me and be the burial offering for the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda!”

……(To be continued)RQ