This Thousand-Year Soul Beast Is Now My Family's Power Bank!

The piercing alarm blared, drilling into everyone's eardrums as the massive screen covering the entire wall of the central control room was bathed in blood-red light.

The warning icon representing "Extreme Danger" flashed frantically, blinking over a hundred times per second.

"By my Wolf God! This energy signature... did that old hag Bibi Dong come here herself?!" Grey Wolf was so terrified he dropped the roasted sausage from his mouth, his grey fur standing on end as he frantically hammered at the control console, trying to deploy more defensive weapons.

"Space jumping... even a Titled Douluo shouldn't be capable of such technology!" Orochimaru shed his usual languor, his golden snake-like pupils fixed on the rapidly expanding purple dot on the screen, his face showing a grave expression for the first time.

Only Qin Feng remained seated steadily in the chair at the main console.

He even had the leisure to slowly finish the last sip of his hot cocoa.

"What are you panicking for?" Qin Feng set down his cup, instantly silencing the chaotic control room.

"Connect the external surveillance feed to the main screen," he commanded calmly. "And while you're at it, link it to Sect Master Ning's carriage so he can enjoy the show too."

Grey Wolf paused, confused, but executed the order immediately.

The screen split in two.

On the left, fifty kilometers outside the east gate of Nuoding City, a massive spatial rift was being forcibly torn open in the pitch-black night sky, emitting a heart-stopping purple glow.

On the right, Ning Fengzhi's luxurious carriage was shown just after pulling away from the city gates.

In the feed, Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, and Bone Douluo were standing outside the carriage, looking up in horror at the world-ending spectacle in the sky.

"Is this... divine retribution?" Ning Rongrong asked, her face deathly pale as she gripped Ning Fengzhi's sleeve tightly.

Sword Douluo Chen Xin's hand was already on his sword hilt, yet he knew that against this level of power, his blade might not even be able to pierce a sheet of paper.

Just then, an inconspicuous communicator inside the carriage suddenly broadcasted Qin Feng's lazy voice.

"Sect Master Ning, don't be in such a hurry to leave."

"The good show has only just begun."

No sooner had he spoken than—

"BOOM--!!!"

The spatial rift in the sky expanded to its limit, and a colossal object, wreathed in violent purple arcs of electricity, slammed out from the rift!

It was a massive metal construct over a hundred meters long, its exterior as ugly as a mountain of scrap metal, yet the dense array of energy engine nozzles and thick armor plating on its hull all signaled its terrifying power.

It hovered above Nuoding City, the shadow it cast covering nearly half the city.

Ning Fengzhi felt his breathing hitch.

This thing... could this thing be that madman's... weapon?

What exactly is he trying to do? Destroy Nuoding City? Or... destroy the entire Heaven Dou Empire?!

"Beep! 'Scrap King No. 2' has arrived at the designated coordinates."

"Spatial jump engine status: nominal. Energy reserves: 73%."

"Please provide instructions for the next phase."

Ning Fengzhi: "..."

Sword Douluo: "..."

Bone Douluo: "..."

After all that, it was one of their own?!

"The retrieval mission was completed well," Qin Feng said into the console microphone. "Unload the cargo to the fifth underground level, then head to outer space and stand by. Don't block the sunlight in the city."

"Command confirmed."

The massive object in the sky opened its bottom hatch slowly, and a tractor beam shot down, precisely enveloping an invisible area before quickly retracting it into the hold.

Immediately after, the engines at its rear spewed blue flames, and the massive body turned with a nimbleness that defied its size, shooting straight into the clouds and vanishing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

The sky returned to calm once more.

Ning Fengzhi stood where he was, and only when the night breeze blew did he realize his back was soaked through.

"Sect Master Ning," Qin Feng's voice sounded again, carrying a hint of playfulness. "Are you interested in coming back now to see what your mineral resources will become in the future?"

Fifteen minutes later.

Ning Fengzhi stood inside the Umbrella Corporation once again.

This time, he had no complaints; he even carried a sense of pilgrimage-like reverence.

Qin Feng did not take him to the production workshop, but instead led him directly into a high-speed elevator heading underground.

The elevator descended rapidly, its sides made of transparent reinforced glass, allowing them to see the underground structures flashing past.

The second underground level was a dense expanse of barracks and training grounds.

The third underground level was the central control room from earlier.

The fourth underground level was Orochimaru's Biological Laboratory, where one could vaguely see giant incubation tanks and some dismembered soul beast specimens, causing Ning Rongrong to let out another low gasp.

Finally, the elevator stopped at the fifth underground level.

"Ding."

The moment the elevator doors opened, a peculiar scent—a mixture of ozone, high-concentration nutrient solution, and the musk of some biological entity—rushed out to meet them.

The sight before him caused Ning Fengzhi, the wealthiest man on the continent who had seen his fair share of grand spectacles, to completely lose his ability to think.

This was an incredibly vast underground space, with a dome reaching a hundred meters in height.

In the center of the space, a giant lizard over six meters in length was being held in place by countless thick metal supports and energy conduits, all attached to a massive life-support apparatus.

It was that thousand-year spirit beast, the Thunder Tyrannosaurus!

It was not dead.

Its chest was still rising and falling rhythmically, but its limbs and head were firmly locked down by heavy alloys.

Countless wires, thicker than a human arm, were connected to its body like parasitic vines from every direction; in particular, the thunder sac where it stored its lightning power was densely packed with energy-extraction probes.

Blue-purple electric arcs jumped incessantly between its scales and the wires, emitting a "zizzing" sound.

These currents flowed along the wires, gathering into rows of giant battery banks that stood like mountain ranges all around.

The entire underground space hummed with the vibration caused by this massive electrical current.

This was no laboratory.

This was a... power plant!

A biological nuclear power station that used a living thousand-year spirit beast as its core!

"This... this..." Ning Fengzhi pointed at the still-breathing Thunder Tyrannosaurus, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

He had always assumed that Qin Feng had captured this spirit beast for its spirit ring and spirit bone.

But he could never have dreamed that Qin Feng was actually... keeping it as livestock!

"Spectacular, isn't it?" Qin Feng spread his arms wide, as if showing off his proudest masterpiece.

"Sect Master Ning, tell me, what is the value of a spirit beast?"

"It's... it's the spirit ring and spirit bone, it's the powerful strength..." Ning Fengzhi answered subconsciously.

"Wrong!" Qin Feng denied it flatly.

"You kill a thousand-year spirit beast and get one spirit ring and one spirit bone. That is a one-time deal. Its value is squeezed dry in that very instant."

Qin Feng pointed at the Thunder Tyrannosaurus, his eyes burning with fanaticism.

"But me? I only need to perform a minor surgery, implant a life-support system, and provide enough nutrient solution. For the next fifty years, it will provide my base with over one hundred thousand kilowatts of stable electricity, twenty-four hours a day, without interruption!"

"One spirit ring versus fifty years of massive energy. Sect Master Ning, you tell me, which one has more value?"

"This is called sustainable development, and also... an ecological cycle!"

Qin Feng walked over to Ning Fengzhi and patted him on the shoulder, his voice filled with disdain for the rules of this world.

"You spirit masters are like a bunch of primitive people who drink blood and eat raw meat. You guard mountains of gold, yet you only know how to chip off a few crumbs and then congratulate yourselves."

"But what I am going to do is move the entire mountain of gold into my factory and smelt it into whatever I desire!"

Ning Fengzhi stared blankly at the Thunder Tyrannosaurus that was currently "generating electricity," then looked at Qin Feng's young yet fanatical face.

His worldview was, at this moment, completely crushed and then reshaped.

So... this is how spirit beasts could be used?

So... the hunting they took such pride in was, in the face of true civilization, so primitive and laughable?

He suddenly understood.

Qin Feng didn't want his mines, nor his money.

What he wanted was the resources of the entire world!

And the agreement he had signed was not a deed of servitude.

It was a ticket... to board the ark of a new era!

"I understand... I understand completely!" A light never seen before erupted in Ning Fengzhi's eyes. He bowed deeply to Qin Feng, his attitude respectful to the extreme.

"Boss Qin! No... Master! From this day forward, I, Ning Fengzhi, am your most loyal mine manager! Wherever you point, I shall dig!"

Just then, the communicator at Ning Fengzhi's waist rang again.

It was the voice of a guard stationed at the factory entrance, cold and robotic.

"Report to Boss, a message has arrived from the city gates."

"Martial Soul Hall, Platinum Bishop Salas, accompanied by the other two members of the Golden Generation, has arrived outside Nuoding City."

"Their convoy is attempting to force their way into the city."

"They have been blocked by our city gate guards."