Ning Fengzhi: I thought I came here to collaborate, but it turns out I'm here to sign a slave contract!

"Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

Ning Fengzhi suddenly raised his head, a terrifying light erupting from his dazed eyes as he stared fixedly at Qin Feng.

Breathing, at this very moment, ceased.

Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda! That was a dream that the ancestors of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had never reached, the deepest regret carved into their very bloodline! It was a legend that had only been mentioned in a few sparse lines in the sect's ancient texts, yet now, it had been spoken so easily by a youth not even twenty years old!

"You... what did you say?" Ning Fengzhi's voice was incredibly dry, every word sounding as if it were being squeezed out from his throat.

"I said, I can help you break the genetic defects of your family." Qin Feng stood up and looked down at him, his demeanor as calm as if he were stating a simple fact. "Seven rings is your physiological limit. But to me, that is just a program that can be modified."

"Arrogant!" Bone Douluo Gu Rong could no longer hold back, letting out an angry roar.

"Bloodline inheritance is ordained by the heavens; how can you change it just because you say so! Brat, if you dare to spread such heresy again, don't blame this old man for being impolite!"

Although Sword Douluo Chen Xin did not speak, the hand resting on his sword hilt said everything.

"Ordained by the heavens?" Qin Feng acted as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Don't talk to me about the heavens; the heavens do not conform to the law of conservation of energy."

He did not waste any more breath on these old fossils with rigid mindsets, merely giving a look to Orochimaru, who had been quietly observing from the corner.

"Doctor, show Sect Master Ning what 'genetic optimization' is."

Orochimaru let out a sinister laugh, his figure flashing and disappearing from where he stood.

The next second, a shrill wolf howl echoed from outside the workshop.

Immediately after, Orochimaru walked in dragging a half-dead Nether Wolf, tossing it casually onto the ground. It was the very one that had been crippled by the Sentry Turret earlier.

"The material is too low-grade, but it will barely suffice." Orochimaru slid several syringes filled with various colored liquids from his sleeves.

Under the horrified gazes of Ning Fengzhi, his daughter, and the two Douluo, Orochimaru skillfully injected the unknown reagents into the body of the Nether Wolf one by one.

"Sizzle..."

The Nether Wolf began to convulse violently, the fur on its body shedding at a speed visible to the naked eye, only to grow back thicker, blacker, and glossier. Its originally thin muscles began to bulge, and its bones emitted a crisp "crackling" sound.

"What is he doing?!" Ning Rongrong hid behind Ning Fengzhi in fear.

This was no healing! This was clearly some kind of evil transformation ritual!

Orochimaru ignored them, simply taking out a headpiece connected to countless wires and clamping it onto the Nether Wolf's head.

"Soul Power fluctuations are too chaotic; initiating forced stabilization."

As he pressed the switch, the Nether Wolf let out an even more painful roar, but the Soul Power within its body truly began to stabilize and flow smoothly under the intervention of an external force.

On the screen behind Qin Feng, the energy model representing the Nether Wolf showed the previously blocked and dim nodes being lit up and cleared one by one.

The entire process took less than a minute.

Orochimaru pulled out all the needles and kicked the Nether Wolf on the ground.

The wolf wobbled to its feet. The look in its eyes as it gazed at Orochimaru was no longer one of ferocity, but of pure fear and submission. Its size was a full circle larger than before, and its aura was stronger by more than just a notch.

"Soul Power Level increased by three levels." Qin Feng looked at the data on the screen and said indifferently, "Energy conduction efficiency increased by seventeen percent, muscle explosive power increased by twenty-three percent. The only side effect is a reduction in lifespan by five years."

"Trading five years of life for three levels of Soul Power. Sect Master Ning, do you think this deal is worth it?"

Ning Fengzhi stared fixedly at the reborn Nether Wolf, his body trembling slightly.

Was it worth it?

It was more than worth it!

For those Soul Masters stuck at a bottleneck with no hope of progress for the rest of their lives, let alone five years, they would flock to trade twenty years of their lifespan for a single chance at a breakthrough!

The youth before him possessed the ability to "manufacture" powerhouses in batches!

"I... I understand." Ning Fengzhi took a deep breath. He forced himself to calm down, using all the experience he had gained from a lifetime of business negotiations to reorganize his words.

"Boss Qin, your technology is recognized by my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Now, we can discuss the price of our cooperation." He regained the composure of a sect master. "Whether you want Gold Soul Coins or rare heavenly treasures, as long as my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has them, we can satisfy you."

He wanted to regain the initiative in the negotiation.

However, Qin Feng simply shook his head.

He pulled a freshly printed document from the printer nearby and tossed it in front of Ning Fengzhi.

At the top of the document, several bold, black characters were shocking to behold.

Resource Exchange and Technology Transfer Agreement

"Gold Soul Coins? That kind of thing is just waste paper to me." Qin Feng shoved his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. "What I want is very simple."

"Article One of the agreement: From the date of signing this agreement, all rare metal mines under the name of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect located within the Heaven Dou Empire, including but not limited to Mithril, Deep Silver, Cold Iron, and Star Steel... all ownership, mining rights, and control shall be transferred to the Umbrella Corporation free of charge."

"Boom!"

Ning Fengzhi felt his brain explode.

He had expected the other party to be greedy, but he never imagined that the other party didn't want a portion—they wanted everything!

That wasn't money! That was the lifeblood of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! It was the foundation of their status as the richest in the continent!

"You're dreaming!" Ning Rongrong was the first to scream. "If we give all the mines to you, what will our sect eat? What will we drink? This is robbery!"

"Qin Feng! Don't go too far!" Gu Rong's Soul Power had completely erupted, nine Soul Rings spiraling up from beneath his feet. The terrifying pressure caused the metal components of the entire workshop to hum and vibrate.

Ning Fengzhi's face was so dark it could drip water. "Boss Qin, this joke is not funny at all."

"I never joke." Qin Feng completely ignored the two murderous auras, simply walking back to the console at a leisurely pace to pick up the tablet.

He tapped his finger lightly on the screen.

An incredibly complex, magnificent, three-dimensional structural diagram filled with divine and geometric beauty was projected into mid-air.

It was a nine-story pagoda composed of countless energy circuits and rune nodes. Each level was interlocked, and every line seemed to contain the profound truths of heaven and earth.

"This is... the eighth soul ring load-bearing structural diagram of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

Qin Feng's voice was like a devil's whisper.

"Look here," he pointed to a complex energy hub in the diagram, "the reason your bloodline can only bear seven rings is that at this node, energy overload leads to the self-collapse of the genetic chain. My solution is to construct a 'Bypass Recoil Energy Buffer Matrix' to channel excess energy into the eight extraordinary meridians, then store and release it through three hundred and sixty 'Micro Soul Power Capacitors'."

"In this way, it not only solves the load-bearing problem of the eighth ring, but also allows your total soul power to exceed that of soul masters at the same level by thirty percent."

Qin Feng had only nonchalantly explained less than one ten-thousandth of the principles, yet it left Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and Gu Rong listening in a state of intoxication.

It was a form of higher-dimensional knowledge they had never encountered before.

It was not a miracle, but it was something they yearned for even more than a miracle!

Ning Fengzhi's breathing became incredibly heavy.

He stared at the blueprint like a man dying of thirst in the desert who had just seen an endless oasis.

He knew that if he obtained this, he would no longer be just Ning Fengzhi; he would become the greatest sect master in the history of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! He would personally usher in a brand new era!

But the price... was the century-old foundation of the sect.

"Father..." Ning Rongrong watched her father's distraught appearance, feeling terrified.

Ning Fengzhi stood there, motionless, his heart locked in a fierce internal struggle.

On one side was the ancestral foundation, and on the other was the future of his family and supreme glory.

How should he choose?

"Sect Master Ning, my time is very precious." Qin Feng's voice rang out again, shattering Ning Fengzhi's struggle.

He turned off the holographic projection, and the beautiful blueprint vanished into the air, leaving a sense of emptiness in Ning Fengzhi's heart.

"My next research project requires a special metal called 'Vibranium' to manufacture the energy core. This metal is only found in associated ores deep within the Earth's crust, and the difficulty of mining it is extreme."

Qin Feng walked up to Ning Fengzhi, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"I have studied the mineral vein maps of the Heaven Dou Empire, and your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect happens to hold the three largest Vibranium veins."

"If you are unwilling to cooperate..."

Qin Feng paused, a playful smile appearing on his face.

"Then I will have no choice but to go talk to someone else."

"For example... Martial Soul Hall? I hear that Pope Bibi Dong has been very interested in new technology lately."