Ding Wanyan

After leaving the Spirit Ghost Pavilion, he strolled along the street for a while. Returning to the inn, he changed into a different set of clothes, then leisurely walked into another shop specializing in various fine magic tools. Half an hour later, Lei Dong walked out with a calm expression. He went straight out of this market, mounted Phantom, and shot into the clouds. After making a small loop and finding no one following him, he turned direction and flew toward the Myriad Ghost Cave.

Only then did a satisfied smile appear on Lei Dong's face. The middle-grade spirit ghost had sold for a considerable price, netting him a small fortune. Unfortunately, these thousand-plus spirit stones hadn't even warmed his pocket before they were nearly all spent again. The upper-grade Soul Nurturing Pagoda that Lei Dong had his eye on was priced at one thousand one hundred. After much haggling, he finally bought it for one thousand, though he did manage to get a storage bracelet worth several dozen spirit stones thrown in as a bonus.

Compared to the generally high prices of flying magic tools, the Soul Nurturing Pagoda, which didn't have as much demand, was much more affordable. Even the upper-grade Soul Nurturing Pagoda that Lei Dong had acquired cost only a mere thousand spirit stones. This pleasantly surprised Lei Dong, who had originally planned to settle for a middle-grade one. This was the first upper-grade magic item he had obtained in his life, even if it was an upper-grade Soul Nurturing Pagoda that many wouldn't choose as their first option. But combined with the Soul Devouring Pagoda for creating spirit ghosts, this upper-grade Soul Nurturing Pagoda would be extremely suitable for Lei Dong's use.

Unlike the entry-level Soul Nurturing Pagoda he currently held, the effects of this upper-grade one were very powerful. A low-grade first-level ghost soldier, even if it didn't devour any flesh, blood, or yin souls, could easily advance to the second level after being nurtured in this pagoda for a year. As for a middle-grade first-level ghost soldier, it would probably naturally advance in just three or four months.

This undoubtedly saved Lei Dong a great deal of time and effort. He only needed to go home and perform the blood sacrifice on the remaining two middle-grade spirit ghosts one by one, then he could peacefully go into closed-door cultivation. The advancement speed of his three middle-grade ghost soldiers probably wouldn't be slower than his own. At most, every two months, he would just need to replace the spirit stone in the Soul Nurturing Pagoda. Of course, not adding a spirit stone was also possible, but the nurturing effect would be much worse. Moreover, going a long time without adding spirit stones would gradually weaken the efficacy of the main material, Soul Wood, eventually turning it into waste. Previously, because that old Soul Nurturing Pagoda had little value, Lei Dong couldn't be bothered to waste spirit stones on it.

The journey wasn't entirely without thrilling incidents. A few unknown cultivators, upon seeing Lei Dong flying on his sword, each drove their own magic tools to try and catch up. Perhaps with good intentions, perhaps with ill. But Lei Dong paid them no mind, directly driving Phantom to its maximum speed. In no time, he had shaken them off so completely they couldn't even be seen.

A normal flying magic tool that could travel a thousand li in an hour cost at least one to two thousand spirit stones, which was no small sum. Some poorer cultivators, even upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, might not be able to afford a flying magic tool of such speed. It was for this reason that Lei Dong was willing to buy this Phantom, which consumed spirit stones so excessively.

Afterwards, he would find a safe place to rest during the day, and at night, he would fly using Phantom, which had a nighttime concealment effect. Lei Dong returned safely to the Myriad Ghost Cave, having encountered some danger but ultimately unharmed.

Entering his living quarters, he checked the door message board. All the messages were from Chen Ge and Wei Hua. Because Lei Dong had spent too much time capturing spirit ghosts, Chen Ge had already successfully advanced to the third layer of Qi Refining a month or so ago. Even Wei Hua was now at the peak of the second layer of Qi Refining, diligently trying to break through to the next level.

There were also various other bits of news, such as Senior Sister Ding Wanyan having reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining, and Zuo Chao being at the fourth layer. Another more significant matter was that perhaps Zhou Minghua, spurred on by some stimulus, had been silently cultivating in seclusion and had actually caught up from behind, also advancing to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

Furthermore, Chen Ge repeatedly urged him not to run around anymore and to cultivate quickly. There were only a little over ten months until the Three Year Small Competition for new disciples. Zhou Minghua would definitely try every means to humiliate them in that competition.

Truly worthy of being a personal disciple of the ancestor, rated as having excellent talent. Hearing about Zhou Minghua's cultivation level, Lei Dong felt a bit stifled. However, since he had already offended him, he had no regrets.

Although his talent was very good, Lei Dong was no pushover either. Moreover, he possessed a heaven-defying treasure that would drive even the Myriad Ghost Ancestor insane with desire. As long as his three ghost soldiers' levels increased, even if Zhou Minghua reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining by then, so what? Four against one, let's see how he plays it out.

Completely casting aside the pressure brought by Zhou Minghua, Lei Dong replied to some messages one by one. Then he began his closed-door cultivation. First, of course, he performed the blood sacrifice on the remaining two middle-grade spirit ghosts, refining them into ghost servants. Lei Dong couldn't help but feel that middle-grade spirit ghosts were indeed much stronger than low-grade ones. After one blood sacrifice each, both reached the peak of the first level, almost at the second level. After refining the first one and tossing it into the Soul Nurturing Pagoda, before Lei Dong had even finished resting to refine the second, the first had already advanced to the second level...

Additionally, both ghost soldiers had comprehended spells. The first was Ghost Howl, a type of group spell that could temporarily cause fear in those with weaker willpower, dispersing their fighting spirit. The second had comprehended the relatively rare Escape Technique. Unless the opponent's mind power and spiritual sense were far stronger than the ghost soldier using Escape Technique, it would be extremely difficult to detect the invisible ghost soldier. This peculiar spell was quite useful, whether for sneak attacks or doing other things.

Of course, each comprehending one spell could only be considered slightly above average luck. After all, the probability of middle-grade ghost soldiers comprehending a talent spell during the blood sacrifice was still quite high. There was even a chance of comprehending two spells at once, but that stroke of luck hadn't happened. This was one of the main reasons why middle-grade spirit ghosts were priced far higher than low-grade ones and were so sought after.

Performing the blood sacrifice on these two spirit ghosts consumed another two months. However, during the better part of the year spent constantly dealing with spirit ghosts, he hadn't relaxed his cultivation during rest periods. At this point, although Lei Dong's cultivation level was far from reaching the third layer of Qi Refining, he was close to the middle of the second layer. Now, there was only about a year left until the Three Year Small Competition.

With no more time to waste, Lei Dong immediately began quiet, focused closed-door meditation. Fortunately, he still had over a hundred spirit stones left, so he temporarily lacked neither Lesser Vitality Pills nor spirit stones for meditation.

Time passes swiftly in cultivation; days and months flew by, and the Three Year Small Competition for new disciples arrived in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Lei Dong slowly opened his eyes. His pitch-black pupils were even more lively and profound than before. He got up, washed and tidied himself, then put on a brand new black-and-red Junior Disciple Uniform. With high spirits, he headed toward the Martial Arts Hall of the Myriad Ghost Cave.

Half a year ago, Lei Dong had already charged straight to the third layer of Qi Refining. But he also knew that even with the remaining six months of utmost effort, he couldn't possibly advance to the fourth layer. Therefore, he instead increased his training in the Spirit Forging Art, tempering and strengthening his mind power and spiritual sense. Through unremitting effort, Lei Dong's spiritual sense had now far surpassed that of an ordinary third-layer Qi Refining cultivator, likely reaching the level of an ordinary early fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivator's spiritual sense. However, this was also because new junior disciples rarely spent a lot of time cultivating the Spirit Forging Art to refine their spiritual sense. The further one goes, the harder advancement becomes, and many people start to branch out horizontally, simply increasing their combat power.

The reason he judged his own mind power and spiritual sense to be at the level of an ordinary fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivator was also because of his three ghost soldiers. One had already crossed into the fourth level, while the other two were at the peak of the third level. Yet he, merely a third-layer Qi Refining cultivator, could simultaneously command three ghost soldiers of this level with ease. This was likely something an ordinary fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator couldn't do.

He leisurely strolled into the Martial Arts Hall and found that over thirty fellow senior and junior brothers and sisters from the same cohort had already all arrived. Three years had passed. Unlike back then, when some were older and some younger, now they were all uniformly young men and women. Even the youngest, Zuo Chao, was now a spirited youth.

Most had formed small circles, gathering in groups of twos and threes. It seemed that only Ding Wanyan stood alone by a pillar, her surroundings cold and empty. Whether it was because of her unsociable nature or her status and position that made others afraid to approach was unclear.

Chen Ge saw Lei Dong and waved for him to come over. But Lei Dong, after giving him a look, turned and walked straight toward Ding Wanyan. He stopped only when he was about a zhang away from her. Under Ding Wanyan's cold gaze, he respectfully bowed and said, "Lei Dong pays respects to Senior Sister Ding."

Because Lei Dong's expression was solemn and his eyes were straight ahead, Ding Wanyan's icy gaze softened slightly. She nodded indifferently, "Junior Brother Lei, good." However, judging by her slightly furrowed brow, she had probably already forgotten who Lei Dong was.

Lei Dong saw her expression but didn't mind. A simple, light smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He bowed again and said earnestly, "This Lei Mou has come today to thank Senior Sister for speaking up for us. You said good words on behalf of us three junior brothers in front of the ancestor."

Ding Wanyan was slightly startled for a moment, then gradually remembered who this junior brother was. Her expression thawed another half degree. She nodded lightly, "It was a trivial matter, not worth mentioning."

Not only Chen Ge and Wei Hua in the distance, but all the other senior and junior brothers and sisters were staring dumbfounded as Lei Dong shamelessly struck up a conversation with their proud and untouchable Senior Sister Ding in their eyes. The most exaggerated part was that Senior Sister Ding even spoke to him amiably.

(Newcomer, new book. Needs the enthusiastic votes of brothers and sisters~ Thank you~)

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