It was unclear how long it had been before Lei Dong slowly got to his feet, his entire body aching. Even with his incredibly robust demonic physique, simultaneously contending with the finest champions from both the Immortal and Demonic clans had proven nearly too much for him.

The Queen of Torment and Fairy Canglan also awoke with soft moans, both clinging to Lei Dong’s body. Although both forms were exquisitely perfect and intoxicating, sparking a renewed desire in Lei Dong, having regained some rationality and dissipated the desire built up over a long period, his awareness and self-control were vastly different now. Forcing down his urges left him with a throbbing headache; having engaged with women from both the Immortal and Demonic clans, he dreaded figuring out how to explain it to Wan Yan later.

However, Lei Dong had always been a man of resolute character; since the deed was done, there was no point in regret. Given his nature, disposing of them to destroy the evidence was equally out of the question.

"Master, you're awake? Are you feeling better?" Ming Ji adopted the appearance of an obedient handmaiden. Though soulless, she flew over, mimicking the actions of a sentient being as she pretended to massage his back and legs; regrettably, her form was ethereal, capable only of the pretense.

"Hmph." Lei Dong shot her a cold glare. "This is the last time. If you dare use dark arts to seduce me again while I’m out of control, I will consume you without a second word. Ming Ji, watch yourself."

Seeing his icy gaze, Ming Ji shuddered deeply, realizing Lei Dong was not joking. She quickly lowered her head, adopting a pitiable look. "Yes, this servant guarantees there will be no next time." In her heart, however, she mused, The objective has been achieved, why would there ever be a next time?

The two women from the Immortal and Demonic clans also awoke. Upon seeing Lei Dong, their expressions differed. The Queen of Torment looked utterly satisfied, clinging to him with the familiar taste of pleasure lingering: "Master, your servant begs for affection. If the Master is still unsatisfied, I can summon my legion of Demonesses to serve you."

Fairy Canglan was far more bashful, her cheeks still faintly flushed. But her eyes, shimmering and moist, gazed at Lei Dong with a look of demure willingness, as if awaiting his pleasure. This intense battle had utterly conquered her, both soul and body, under Lei Dong’s dominance.

"Put on your demonic armor. Get to work and secure all the spoils of war we've collected," Lei Dong commanded, glaring coldly at the Queen of Torment. "Also, continue exploring this Crystal Ancient Clan temple. I estimate the Crystal Ancient Clan surely has hidden spatial chambers. We must clean them out, every last one, and leave this place as soon as possible. Do not deploy your Demoness Legion; too many mouths mean our affairs must remain secret."

Seeing Lei Dong’s stern reprimand, the Queen of Torment dared not linger sweetly. She swiftly rose with gravity, donned her armor, and diligently set about her tasks. Fairy Canglan also struggled to rise to assist, yet the constitution of the Immortal race was clearly inferior to the Demonic race, though they possessed superior Divine Sense power. Having been tormented by both the Whip of Torment and Lei Dong, her body remained frail. Lei Dong tossed her two Chaos Crystals and a Primordial Spirit Condensation Pill, his attitude visibly softer toward her than the Queen of Torment, his voice losing some of its chill and gaining warmth: "You must have spare clothes in your storage ring, yes? Put them on, then rest here for a while. Meditate, recover your vital energy. Though what happened this time was not entirely my intention, since it is done, we must proceed as if it were intended."

Fairy Canglan hadn't expected Lei Dong to utter such words, and immediately, a strange brilliance ignited in her eyes. Although deep within her soul lay Lei Dong's spiritual imprint, which subjected her emotions and body to his control, his genuine concern made her feel a comforting warmth spread through her heart. Blushing deeply, she nodded obediently. Although her spatial ring held excellent healing elixirs and Chaos Crystals, she wisely refrained from using them at that moment.

After settling these minor matters, Lei Dong finally rose to begin his own work, unleashing his vast and boundless Divine Sense to continue probing the ruins of the Crystal Ancient Clan temple. While the materials from the previously discovered hidden treasure chamber were dazzling enough to blind one, Lei Dong instinctively felt that the treasures here should far exceed that initial haul.

After all, the defensive capabilities here were formidable, including a full six War Puppets of the Integration Stage, ranked Yellow Pinnacle grade. What Lei Dong most desired was not mere materials, but the manufacturing methods for those Gold-grade War Puppets.

Fortunately, the defenses within the temple had been neutralized earlier, allowing Lei Dong and the others to search slowly. The reason they didn't dispatch their subordinates from the Armament Space to save time was simple: fear that if those subordinates discovered the wealth, they would immediately embezzle it. While those admitted to the Armament Space were all trusted loyalists, facing immense fortunes, they might still betray their master.

As for making them charge to the front during battle while holding back the spoils of war, though it sounded devoid of basic human rights, in this world, the strongest fist has always ruled. Especially among the Demonic kings, subordinates were little more than war tools, perhaps allowed to scavenge scraps after the fighting. It was harsh, but it was the reality.

The style of this temple bore only a superficial resemblance to Lei Dong’s Demonic Emperor Palace; the layout was entirely different. Thus, Lei Dong couldn't rely on shortcuts here, only proceeding step-by-step, using the acuity of his Divine Sense to detect structural variations in every space. The Crystal Ancient Clan was an immensely powerful and arguably magnificent race; their mastery of Spatial Law was terrifyingly profound. Consequently, using spatial structure to build hidden chambers for storage made them exceedingly difficult to locate.

Furthermore, while the temple appeared modest from the exterior, its internal space was mystically intricate, utilizing space to its absolute limit. The temple contained a self-contained dimension, meaning a thorough exploration would take more than a day or two.

In a little over a month, Lei Dong and the Queen of Torment separately discovered another hidden spatial treasure chamber, acquiring Chaos materials of extremely high value. Such immense profit left Lei Dong somewhat stunned by the wealth of the Crystal Ancient Clan.

In truth, the Crystal Ancient Clan's fortune was only natural. They were an inherently powerful race that had inflicted heavy losses even upon the High-ranking Demonic races. Perhaps they had been traversing the heavens and earth since the cosmos was still in its chaotic state. The abundance of Chaos resources then was undoubtedly vastly different from now. While these Chaos materials seemed precious and rare in the current era, they were merely commonplace resources shortly after the cosmos was shaped.

However, by this point, almost all internal spaces had been thoroughly scoured. Any hidden chambers were likely found. Despite the rich harvest, Lei Dong felt a slight disappointment; the Gold-grade War Puppets he most desired remained undiscovered.

Just as Lei Dong began to lose hope, Fairy Canglan, having completed her physical recuperation and dedicated herself to the search, made a new breakthrough. Leveraging her knowledge of formation arrays and meticulous analysis of the Crystal Ancient Clan ruins' structure, she hypothesized that there must be a central control nexus somewhere within the entire temple.

Yet, after searching every space so far, they hadn't found anything resembling a central control point. Therefore, she recalculated, and after repeated deductions, she finally located a seemingly ordinary passage that possessed the faintest anomaly.

She immediately used a pulse of Divine Sense to summon both Lei Dong and the Queen of Torment. The three convened in that unremarkable corridor—a type of passage that numbered tens of thousands within the temple.

In the past month, Lei Dong had also heeded Ming Ji's advice, meeting with the two women periodically to reinforce the imprints in their souls while he still had the time. Such matters were best handled early; only when the soul imprint reached an indelible state could he relax vigilance. Lei Dong knew he had to comply; otherwise, if the spiritual imprints in their souls faded, they might turn against him. Then, whether to kill them or not would become a dire question.

Lei Dong was quite exasperated by this necessity. Fortunately, his demonic body possessed considerable fortitude in this regard, or he couldn't withstand such exploitation. This, in turn, limited the scope of applying such dark arts. If he wished to amass an entire legion of beautiful women using only spiritual imprint sorcery, even if he were ten times stronger in this aspect, he would be utterly exhausted, perhaps to the point of depletion.

The Queen of Torment dispersed her Divine Sense, meticulously sweeping the area, before frowning. "Canglan, haven't you been completely dazed by the Master's favor? This space shows absolutely no anomaly." Calling her Canglan was under strict orders from Lei Dong; otherwise, when the Queen of Torment became agitated, she tended to resort to calling her vile names like 'bitch' or 'slut.' However, the Queen of Torment was extremely dissatisfied with Canglan, as the Master clearly favored her more.

"Master, your Divine Sense is the purest among us." Canglan now fully regarded Lei Dong as her sovereign and completely ignored the Queen of Torment, especially harboring deep resentment for the fact that the Whip of Torment had drastically altered her temperament—she presented herself to Lei Dong with only pure innocence. "Please sense that spot, Master, and see if there is any anomaly?"

Lei Dong followed the direction of Canglan’s Divine Sense and focused his perception on that specific location for a moment before suddenly realizing: "How incredibly potent the Crystal Ancient Clan is! They've hidden a spatial fissure so cleverly, even using a thread of Time Law to compensate for the subtle difference in airflow velocity caused by the fissure."

... (To be continued)