The Asura, utterly horrified, struggled violently, yet all the tremendous strength he prided himself on proved useless against this ghostly claw formed from highly condensed Nether Ghost Qi. Not only was the claw incredibly sturdy, but it also possessed the ability to dissipate force.

This Nether Ghost Claw, exhibiting such powerful control, was not merely due to Lei Dong’s increased strength; it was because Lei Dong had infused a strand of the Indestructible Law within it. With the blessing of the Indestructible Law, breaking free from the Nether Ghost Claw was no simple feat.

Lei Dong’s gaze turned cold as he silently materialized before the Asura and unhesitatingly seized his head. As the Devouring power activated, a vortex instantly formed around the Asura's head. The Nascent Soul of the Void Refinement stage was brutally dragged out within that vortex, where it was refined bit by bit. Eventually, it dissolved into fine wisps of Chaos Spiritual Qi and Chaos Origin, continuously pouring into Lei Dong’s meridians before finally condensing in his lower abdomen, the Dantian.

That Asura was truly terrified beyond measure, having initially assumed this late-stage Soul Transformation brat was mere soft prey to be easily molded or crushed. Who would have guessed that in the blink of an eye, he would transform into a man-eating demon king, his Nascent Soul being torn apart and decomposed piece by piece. The Asura could only cry out in agonizing pleas: "My Emperor, I beg you, spare my life. I am willing to join your ranks and serve you like a dog or a horse. I can use my Nascent Soul to swear..."

"Ah!"

Amidst agonizing screams, Lei Dong coldly completed the assimilation. Inspecting himself internally, he discovered a large mass of pure Chaos Spiritual Qi, along with a small wisp of golden Chaos Origin, now present in his Dantian. Truly worthy of a Void Refinement Nascent Soul; the Chaos Spiritual Qi derived from just this early-stage Void Refinement Nascent Soul was enough to condense a Chaos Crystal. And with just a few hundred more wisps of that Chaos Origin, a true Chaos Origin could be formed directly.

Beneath his cold exterior, Lei Dong secretly let out a huge sigh of relief. It seemed that even though the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda was damaged, he had completely absorbed it, integrating it entirely into himself. Other things could be ignored; as long as the function of the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda hadn't been extinguished, that was the greatest fortune right now.

Since the effect of devouring and dissolving the Nascent Soul was not lost, the next course of action was clear: an order must be issued that the Nascent Souls of all enemies must be captured. As for the corpse of the Void Refinement Asura—withered and dead after losing its Nascent Soul—Lei Dong held not the slightest interest. He merely waved his hand, signaling a group of ravenous Fierce Ghost Army soldiers to step forward and devour its flesh and blood. For the ghost soldiers, whose strength only reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, the chance to feast on the flesh and blood of a Void Refinement stage being was an honor and an ecstatic experience; even a tiny portion would benefit them immensely.

As for the spoils of war, the army would naturally have specialists to collect and manage them.

Simultaneously, Lei Dong turned his attention to the other Void Refinement powerhouses; he held no desire to exert himself against those at the Soul Transformation stage. Just as Lei Dong was directing his subordinates to lure a Void Refinement expert closer, he was startled to discover something else within his Dantian besides the Chaos Origin and Spiritual Qi.

It was a unique strand of Divine Soul message. Lei Dong’s divine sense probed into it, and after a brief examination, he realized it was a sequence of Life Factors. This understanding presented itself naturally in his mind. After a moment’s pause, he surmised this knowledge originated from the Demon Emperor’s legacy.

The Demon Emperor, throughout his long existence, had dabbled in many things. Though not achieving ultimate mastery in every field, he possessed substantial knowledge in most areas. This vast accumulation of knowledge had likely been transmitted to Lei Dong through the inheritance.

What Lei Dong was particularly grateful to Demon Emperor Yan Chixing for was that in his legacy, he had almost completely refrained from imposing his worldview or brainwashing Lei Dong. Most things were neutral, allowing Lei Dong to contemplate and decide for himself.

The Life Factor sequence was paramount to existence. Higher Demons were skilled in this, which is why they concealed the Life Factor sequence within their Divine Souls. Once a successful body-snatching occurred, they would rapidly replicate their Life Factor sequence, allowing the victim to become a true Higher Demon in a very short time.

This also explained why the Higher Demons were such a terrifying race; their Nascent Souls, which they called 'Essence Souls,' were exceptionally skilled at fleeing and stealth. Often, even if the Demon body was destroyed, their soul could not be eliminated. Before long, the Demon would possess a new body and return for revenge.

The Asura Wings were a treasure Lei Dong had used for self-preservation when he was very young, maneuvering between great powers. Although this item had long been obsolete and was thrown out by the unscrupulous Ming Ji to block a Heavenly Tribulation during his Void Refinement crossing, Lei Dong greatly missed the days when he possessed those wings, which had brought him countless benefits. Even the foundation of his current understanding of the Law of Space was initiated by those wings.

Leveraging the Demon Emperor’s research into Life Factor sequences, Lei Dong quickly located the segment within that Asura’s Life Factors related to wings. Lei Dong peeled this segment away and instinctively absorbed it into his body.

He infused it with Chaos True Essence and continuously catalyzed the process. His own Life Factors were constantly dying while new ones were generated. A miraculous event unfolded: two lumps gradually swelled on Lei Dong’s back. However, they were blocked by the Black Emperor Armor and could not stretch out.

Fortunately, the Black Emperor Armor was of a higher grade and could automatically adapt within a certain range. Under Lei Dong’s mental command, two openings instantly formed on the back flanks of the Black Emperor Armor. Pa-pa. Two flamboyant black wings extended from Lei Dong’s back, rising high, creating an imposing and overwhelmingly dominant appearance.

These black wings did not belong to the Asura race; they were a pair grown by Lei Dong using his own Life Factors, their strength and power equal to Lei Dong’s own hands and feet, fully aligned with his current mid-stage Void Refinement power.

Upon the pair of dark, flamboyant wings, which spanned seven or eight zhang when fully unfurled, there naturally grew faint golden and profoundly mysterious patterns, resembling array runes. Lei Dong understood that these patterns were the manifestation of his comprehension and mastery over the Law of Space, fully expressed upon those wings.

At this moment, Lei Dong controlled the wings as if they were an innate part of his body, like limbs or thoughts. Without needing conscious command, a gentle flap of the wings tore open space, instantly transporting Lei Dong dozens of li away.

At this point, Lei Dong regained some of the feeling he had during his Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages. He was extremely satisfied with the efficacy of these wings, finding them more agile and easier to control than the original Asura Wings.

Moreover, when not in use, Lei Dong could completely retract them back into his body, and the Black Emperor Armor would autonomously mend the openings.

Having accomplished this, just then, the boys from the Hidden Dragon Army brought back a crimson Purgatory Demon. This Purgatory Demon bore a striking resemblance—about seventy to eighty percent—to the Purgatory Demon King in appearance. Clearly, this was a Void Refinement stage Purgatory Demon.

However, Lei Dong was unsure whether this Demon’s strength surpassed or fell short of the Purgatory Demon King's.

Soon, Lei Dong understood the difference. Although this Void Refinement Purgatory Demon looked like the Purgatory Demon King, there was a fundamental distinction. Firstly, it was evident in the aura of dominance. The Purgatory Demon King, as a regional overlord, possessed a bold and straightforward nature overlaid with an incomparably dominant aura of "who dares to challenge me."

But this Purgatory Demon, after being subdued by Lei Dong, hadn't even truly lost yet before it spread its wings and fled. And when captured by Lei Dong and its soul consumed, it too displayed expressions and words begging for mercy.

This was the tragedy of being a subordinate; beneath a sun that must constantly be looked up to, it was naturally impossible to cultivate that peerless dominance and backbone. But the Purgatory Demon King was different; at least, with his self-respect and arrogance, even when facing absolute despair and intense agony, he would never stoop to groveling.

After devouring this Void Refinement Purgatory Demon, Lei Dong again obtained a large mass of Chaos Spiritual Qi and a small wisp of Chaos Origin, along with a strand of the Purgatory Demon race’s Life Factor. The Purgatory Demon race was the absolute master of flame among all Demon races; based purely on innate comprehension of fire, they could rival the Vermilion Bird of the Monster Spirit Realm. This Void Refinement Purgatory Demon had just unleashed flames of the quality of Nine Sun True Fire.

Without hesitation, Lei Dong consumed its Life Factor sequence, analyzing a portion of its innate control over flames and integrating it into his own Life Factors.

The fire element often held many incredibly potent spells. Lei Dong’s own Chaos True Essence was the foundation of all attributes, capable of transforming into any elemental cultivation method. However, Lei Dong’s own comprehension and understanding of the Law of Fire were too shallow. Learning and grasping it would require immense time and experience.

But the Purgatory Demon was the darling of fire, naturally capable of rapidly grasping all manner of flames. Their bloodline also contained various inherited flame spells integrated within. Inheritance, in this context, meant embedding memories and knowledge regarding innate spells into the Life Factor sequence, which would be accessed by descendants as the sequence was unlocked. However, if the bloodline was impure, portions of these Life Factor sequences would be missing, leading to a significant degradation in the inheritance.

Lei Dong began to understand why the Demon Emperor possessed such rich knowledge concerning Life Factor sequences. How to pass down human knowledge to the next generation via the Imperial Demon Seed was the ultimate research topic for the entire Demon Emperor Sect. Clearly, they had succeeded. And this method of transmission appeared to be derived from the bloodline inheritance of monsters and certain other races.