In those two days, the total value of salvaged goods from the mountain of corpses and sea of blood indeed reached 3.6 million fourth-tier Beast Cores, exactly as Chai Zhou had estimated.

The approximate losses suffered by the three cities of Tao Yun were also tallied. A total of over 3,800 Cloud Ships had sunk, meaning scarcely one in ten survived.

Calculating based on a minimum of four hundred soldiers per three-tusked Cloud Ship, at least 1.4 million elite soldiers had been massacred by the spirit beasts here.

The only thing that caused the assembled company great regret was that Yue Guanyun, Feng Nu, and Xiong Ba were all gone—no sign of life, no bodies recovered. No one knew if they had escaped or perished.

However, Zong Shou didn't particularly care. He hadn't expected his arrangement to manage to hold onto those three.

A City Lord governing several provinces always had trump cards and reserves. Even if they couldn't defeat the seventh-tier spirit beasts, escaping was not an issue for them.

After leaving the now-plundered Beast Tomb, the flotilla did not divert to any other location.

At this moment, every single vessel was packed to the brim with precious materials from the beast corpses. With everyone anxious that 'night brings many dreams' and fearing any sudden complication, there was unanimous agreement: they could not afford any further delay beneath the Cloud Sea.

Zong Shou was also somewhat worried about what malicious schemes Yue Guanyun and the others might hatch upon their return. These men were all cunning veterans; they had only fallen into his trap due to momentary carelessness. Once they recovered, they might certainly devise countermeasures. Therefore, he acquiesced to the general will and ordered a return at full speed.

In truth, being below the Cloud Sea offered more than just hunting spirit beasts; it was also an opportunity for military training, allowing the soldiers to be tempered in the crucible of life-and-death combat, leading to countless promotions annually. But at present, they clearly lacked the time and the necessary conditions, especially since the arrows they had been relying on were completely expended, and provisions had been jettisoned to clear space for more beast corpses.

On the return journey, although the ships were several times heavier due to the cargo, their speed had not slowed much. All vessels were utilizing Beast Cores almost without regard for cost, spurring the Floating Array into maximum acceleration.

Zong Shou no longer stayed in his personal chambers; that space had now been claimed by Xuanyuan Yiren.

The grand palace within the ship, which had cost him a fortune to decorate anew, had been completely transformed into Xuanyuan Yiren’s alchemy chamber. The countless materials obtained from the Beast Tomb this time were things even the Danquan Sect possessed rarely. This made Xuanyuan Yiren impatient to try refining some extremely rare spiritual elixirs.

For an entire day, that area was wreathed in pungent smoke, and Xuanyuan Yiren strictly forbade him from observing, lest he become distracted.

Consequently, Zong Shou was forced to spend the entire day out on the deck.

Beneath the vast Canopy Umbrella, Zong Shou crunched down with a 'k'cha' sound, chewing a pill the size of a longan in his mouth into powder. Immediately, a sensation of cool sweetness flooded his mouth, accompanied by an intensely penetrating fragrance that utterly intoxicated his senses. His soul power then surged powerfully, leaving his spirit unusually vigorous.

Excited yet clear-headed, Zong Shou managed to perfectly merge these two entirely disparate states.

Looking at the few soul stones in his hand, his gaze became even sharper, as if he could completely discern the composition and flaws of the beast souls within.

These were specifically selected from countless soul stones—the beast soul stones of the Broken Cliff Bear.

At this moment, Zong Shou was preparing to elevate the rank of his guardian spirit beast, nicknamed 'Xiao Yao.'

In life, Xiao Yao had been a sixth-tier beast. After being refined into a Soul Beast, its rank had dropped to the fifth tier. It was originally a Silver-Eyed Bear, mutated from a Broken Cliff Bear.

What Zong Shou needed to do now was select suitable kindred beast soul stones and use secret arts to make Xiao Yao devour them. Naturally, there was a certain requirement for quantity; stones of the same tier generally should not exceed twenty times the amount, while only three transcendent-tier stones were needed for an extraordinary boost.

The advancement of a Soul Beast was inherently that simple. If one had sufficient wealth and personal control, raising the rank was a trivial matter.

However, the Broken Cliff Bear soul stones he obtained in the Beast Tomb this time included over one hundred sixth-tier stones, and even two seventh-tier ones. Thus, he intended to strive for perfection, with the minimum goal being to allow it to reawaken its consciousness.

"Zong Shou, what you just ate—was that an Ice Essence Soul Intent Pill?"

The person asking was Zhao Yanran, as she glanced toward the table beside Zong Shou. A small medicine bottle rested there. Zong Shou took one about every fifteen minutes.

Previously, Zhao Yanran hadn't paid much attention, until she noticed the color and aroma of the pill closely resembled the famous elixir from the Danquan Sect, prompting her to focus.

Zong Shou, currently feeling a profound coolness in his chest and abdomen—one of the side effects of the Ice Essence Soul Intent Pill—felt the chill vanish the moment a burst of lightning-like energy erupted internally, replaced by a comfortable warmth.

Upon hearing the question, he looked up with slight astonishment: "You recognize this medicine?"

Zhao Yanran’s heart immediately tightened. It truly was that pill! The Ice Essence Soul Intent Pill, a third-tier creation whose effects rivaled a fourth-tier elixir, was famous throughout the Cloud Realm; any cultivator would recognize it. Moreover, judging by the situation, these were clearly of exceptional quality.

Zong Shou had been taking one nearly every two minutes, treating them like common sweets—an absolute waste of a supreme spiritual elixir.

Then, Zong Shou shook the bottle in front of her, "Want one?"

Zhao Yanran's desire instantly flared, and even Xuan Yunlan’s delicate eyebrows lifted slightly. A single elixir of this grade could bring immense benefits; who wouldn't want one?

But in the next instant, Zong Shou chuckled, put the bottle away, and tossed it toward Ruoshui, saying, "These are very expensive. If I just gave them to you, Yiren would likely scold me. It’s better to trade for them. Xue'er, Zhang! These things taste so good—"

Chuxue gaped, then an ice-blue pill dropped into her mouth. It was indeed incomparably sweet. She looked pleadingly and flatteringly at Ruoshui. Ruoshui let out a helpless laugh, pinching Chuxue’s delicate nose. One couldn't eat too much of this without sufficient cultivation.

Zhao Yanran’s eyes twitched uncontrollably. Why did Zong Shou have to be so irritating?

She secretly envied his incredible luck. Looking at the Ice Essence Soul Intent Pills, the residual heat was still dissipating, meaning they had clearly been refined recently, likely using materials sourced from the Beast Tomb. It was almost certain that Xuanyuan Yiren had made them. Having an fiancée who was a peerless Alchemist meant he would never lack elixirs in the future.

If only she weren't born female, she would definitely try to snatch them!

After teasing Zhao Yanran for a while, Zong Shou refocused his mind and picked up a talisman brush, beginning to draw symbols on the soul stones.

Just as he grew absorbed, his brow suddenly twitched, and he looked toward the distance. There, perhaps ten thousand zhang away, several indistinct vessels were emerging from the thick fog.

Zong Shou’s eyes narrowed slightly. He wondered if this was the counterattack from Yue Guanyun and the others. Their speed was truly astonishing!

Soon after, countless Cloud Ships gradually materialized before his eyes. Their momentum was immense, numbering six or seven thousand in total.

Most of the ships were dilapidated, patched together with materials sourced from unknown places, giving them a strange appearance that suggested they might fall apart at any second. The warriors aboard were similar: armor and weapons were mismatched, yet every one exuded a fierce aura.

"—These are Wind Raiders!"

Zong Shou’s tension eased slightly. Not all inhabitants of the Cloud Sea were human.

They were descendants of criminals exiled by successive dynasties, who had managed to survive in this harsh environment. They were collectively known as the 'Sin Folk.' Some formed gangs, roaming beneath the Cloud Sea to plunder fleets, darting in and out of the black mists, sometimes even assaulting the Cloud Sea for resources. They arrived with the wind and left with the wind, elusive, hence their name, Wind Raiders.

However, these people were not included in the covenant among the major sects forbidding them from killing one another.

Shaking his head slightly, Zong Shou signaled Gu Liekong with a gesture not to show mercy. Gu Liekong understood, and moments later, over a thousand warships had neatly formed a battle formation. Just as the scattered Raider ships charged toward them—the Eight Hundred Yuan Destruction Crossbows were fired again!

The entire area was illuminated by a blinding white light, making every detail visible. And in an instant, nearly six hundred of the more than seven thousand Cloud Ships exploded, plummeting downward.

The battlefield fell into an instantaneous, dead silence, after which the Wind Raider fleet erupted into chaos, scattering madly in all directions.

"It must just be a coincidence. If they knew you had eight hundred Yuan Destruction Spirit Crossbows, they would flee as far as possible. Yue Guanyun and Xiong Ba wouldn't have made such a futile effort."

Zhao Yanran's tone immediately turned cold and sarcastic: "A mere rabble—why the big fuss? Did you really need to deploy the Yuan Destruction Crossbows? What’s even stranger is that this overall commander shows no mercy in his actions, yet harbors pity in his heart—"

Zong Shou merely snorted, too lazy to reply. Then, catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly spotted several dozen ships where the figures were all snow-haired, their bodies robust and vigorous, even surpassing the Iron Tiger Clan.

"Are those the Snow Lion Clan of the Lion Branch?"

Zong Shou's brow suddenly lifted, recalling something from his memory. He stood up abruptly: "Pursue them! Try to do it without them noticing—"

Gu Liekong in the distance paused, slightly confused. Hiding the tracks of over a thousand Cloud Ships was not easy. Nevertheless, he relayed the order. Just as nearly all the Wind Raider vessels had fled far away, the entire fleet abruptly changed course.

Ling Faku and Zong Ling immediately began their arts, causing masses of black mist to spread, concealing the entire fleet within the fog.

The Snow Lion Clan warships ahead seemed genuinely to be fleeing in panic. They hadn't thoroughly checked behind them along the way, instead plunging directly into a mountain range characterized by undulating peaks.

Moments later, a 'city' several thousand zhang high, built upon a mountain summit, appeared before their eyes.