Lei Dong's motives were simple. First, he wanted to legitimize one of the Top Grade Spirit Ghosts in his possession. With Tantai Bingyun present, he could use her to spread word of it. That would bolster his reputation and secure his standing in the Yin Sha Sect, earning him even greater favor. After so many years away, Lei Dong had learned this much: alone, a person was easy to bully. No matter how strong you were, you couldn't stand against a crowd. With the Yin Sha Sect—the sect that had sheltered him since childhood—backing him, Lei Dong felt he had good reason to make this move.
Second, he wanted to strengthen the fighting power of his fiercely loyal teammates. After testing them again and again over the past few years, Lei Dong had found them all worth cultivating. They had good character, didn't nitpick over every little thing, and were respectful and loyal to him. On top of that, they all had decent aptitude—at least far better than his own. Of course, Lei Dong had always believed that loyalty and character mattered most. As for aptitude, if it really wasn't good enough, he could simply bury them in resources. With Top Grade Spirit Ghosts to serve as cover, he could provide them with Upper Grade Spirit Ghosts openly and without exposing himself.
Over the following stretch of time, Lei Dong led everyone through the surrounding markets and cities where cultivators gathered, covering more than a hundred thousand li. On the one hand, he secretly sold Upper Grade Spirit Ghosts to various merchants for around 1.5 million Spirit Stones apiece. Then, when those merchants held auctions, he bought the ghosts back for roughly 2 million each. At first glance, Lei Dong seemed to have lost half a million on every sale.