A Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff Delivered to the Door

And so.

Leng Yaozhu used her authority as Vice Pagoda Master to pull up nearly every spirit stored within the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.

The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, a century-level beast capable of tearing apart thousand-year soul beasts, and a thousand-year-level beast capable of rivaling ten-thousand-year ones.

The Blazing Fire Dragon, a sub-dragon species possessing a trace of the Fire Dragon King's bloodline, its dragon breath capable of melting gold and severing iron.

The Ice Crystal Phoenix, overlord of the Far North, its wings capable of freezing ten miles when fully unfurled.

The Hell Spirit Cat, the pinnacle of speed, legend saying it could traverse shadows once cultivated to its peak.

One by one, top-tier spirits that would trigger bloody storms in the outside world were displayed in rotation on the screen.

Luo Yang watched with great focus.

But every single time, he slowly shook his head.

"Not enough."

"A bit lacking."

"Still not it."

Leng Yaozhu's hands, operating the console, gradually began to go numb.

She had already displayed seventy-three top-tier spirits, which was nearly the entire collection of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters over the past century.

Yet, Luo Yang was not satisfied with a single one!

"You have gone through almost every top-tier spirit in the Virtual Ecological Library," Leng Yaozhu said, looking at Luo Yang with a hint of helplessness. "Have you still not found one that satisfies you?"

Luo Yang also furrowed his brows slightly and shook his head slowly.

Most of these spirits were merely "decent," yet they fell far short of the "perfect" or "ultimate" standard he held in his heart.

If there truly were no better options, perhaps he would have to reconsider that... "sycophant" giant ape?

"BOOM--!!!"

Just then, the entire Spirit Pagoda shook violently!

Dust rained down from the ceiling of the Testing Chamber, and the soul guidance lamps flickered unsteadily. From afar, the faint sounds of beast roars and screams echoed, the chaos drawing closer.

"What is happening?" Blood Eight instantly entered a combat state, shielding Luo Yang.

Leng Yaozhu's expression shifted. Just as she was about to contact the control center, the door to the Testing Chamber was shoved open violently.

A middle-aged man in a Spirit Pagoda uniform rushed in, his face deathly pale and his voice trembling.

"Your Highness Heavenly Phoenix! It's bad! The soul beasts in the Confinement Layer... they've all broken out!"

"What?!"

Leng Yaozhu rose abruptly.

At the same time, in the Spirit Pagoda's soul beast confinement area.

This place, which should have been an orderly zone of cages, had now been reduced to ruins.

Alloy-forged cages had been torn open by brute force, and the ground was covered in claw marks and bloodstains. The air was thick with the stench of soul beasts and violent fluctuations of soul power.

Dozens of Spirit Pagoda staff members were scrambling in a panic to control the situation, forcing the escaping soul beasts back into their cages.

But even more beasts were still struggling and roaring.

And at the center of all this chaos stood a youth dressed in luxurious soul master robes.

Qiangu Zhangting.

This standout of the younger generation of the Qiangu Family had a face ashen with rage, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked.

At twelve years old, he was already a four-ring Soul Ancestor, a genius among his peers. He had come to the Soul Prohibition Layer today specifically to obtain his fourth soul ring.

With his cultivation as a four-ring Soul Ancestor, absorbing a suitable ten-thousand-year spirit was a matter of course.

But not long ago, he had accidentally discovered an extremely rare thousand-year soul beast: a Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff!

Though this beast only possessed thousand-year cultivation, it was gifted with extraordinary talent and fierce nature, and it possessed a domineering aura that faintly resonated with his inherited martial soul, the Coiling Dragon Staff.

On a whim, he decided to "condescend" to form a spirit contract with this thousand-year soul beast, intending to increase its age later through the Spirit Ascension Platform.

Everything should have gone smoothly.

But who could have imagined...

That damned beast had feigned submission during the contract process, only to erupt and escape the moment he let his guard down! Not only did it smash open its own cage, but it also used its claws to destroy the Imprisonment Array for the entire area!

A humiliating disgrace—he, Qiangu Zhangting, had actually been played by a beast!

"A bunch of trash!" Qiangu Zhangting roared at his subordinates. "You couldn't even keep watch over a single thousand-year soul beast!"

The staff members were struck dumb, none daring to respond.

Qiangu Zhangting suppressed his fury and said coldly, "Where did it run to?"

"B-back to the Young Master," a supervisor replied, voice trembling. "Monitoring shows... the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff headed to the upper levels. The specific direction seems to be the testing area."

The Testing Chamber?

Qiangu Zhangting's eyes turned cold.

It seemed Leng Yaozhu had guests there today.

Heh, perfect.

If that beast hurt someone, the responsibility wouldn't fall on him; after all, a spirit beast riot was merely an "accidental occurrence."

"Pursue."

Qiangu Zhangting waved his hand, his voice frigid.

"Even if you have to turn the Spirit Pagoda upside down, you will bring that damned Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff back to me!"

Once he caught that beast, he would make sure it learned exactly what price it had to pay for playing him, Qiangu Zhangting, for a fool!

A spirit beast riot in the Confinement Layer!

Leng Yaozhu's beautiful face was instantly covered in frost.

This was by no means a trivial matter.

The Spirit Pagoda's Confinement Layer held hundreds of live spirit beasts, including fierce specimens with thousand-year cultivation levels, and even several ten-thousand-year spirit beasts acting as "treasures of the vault."

Once these spirit beasts completely lost control within the tower, the resulting destruction would be catastrophic.

"The cause," Leng Yaozhu's voice was as cold as ice. "Who did this?"

The middle-aged man who had come to report shivered, his voice trembling as he spoke: "It, it was Young Pagoda Master Qiangu... He wanted to contract a thousand-year Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff, but the beast feigned submission, then broke free mid-ritual and destroyed the Imprisonment Array for half the sector..."

"Qiangu Zhangting?" Leng Yaozhu sneered.

Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and the children of rats can dig holes, yet this generation of the Qiangu Family had produced an anomaly.

Qiangu Dieting, a quasi-god powerhouse, had single-handedly pushed the family to the pinnacle of power within the Spirit Pagoda.

Qiangu Dongfeng, while not as strong as his father in cultivation, had surpassed him in political maneuvering, managing the Qiangu family's influence like an iron fortress.

But when it came to Qiangu Zhangting's generation...

A look of undisguised contempt flashed through the depths of Leng Yaozhu's eyes.

Despite being piled high with family resources, he had barely reached the four-ring level by the age of fourteen. Fickle-minded and arrogant, such a piece of trash didn't even deserve a second glance from her.

Her gaze drifted unconsciously toward Luo Yang at her side.

Six years old, no awakened spirit rings, yet already possessing Spirit Connection Realm mental power and an innate Martial Soul domain.

This was a true genius.

"Aunt Leng," Luo Yang suddenly spoke up. "That thousand-year spirit beast that escaped... what species is it exactly?"

"You tell him," Leng Yaozhu said, looking at the middle-aged man.

"It, it is a Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff, thousand-year cultivation," the man hurriedly replied.

Luo Yang's eyes lit up.

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was a pure monster of raw stats.

It ignored all dragon-type pressure and could go head-to-head with a Title Douluo once it reached the ten-thousand-year level.

On the way to the Spirit Pagoda, this spirit beast had been one of his most desired choices.

"Are you interested?" Leng Yaozhu keenly captured the change in his expression.

Luo Yang nodded candidly: "But this is the spirit beast Qiangu Zhangting has his eyes on."

"Pagoda Master Leng, does the Spirit Pagoda have any other Golden-Haired Lion Mastiffs?" Blood Eight interjected.

In her view, Luo Yang's talent deserved the very best.

Leng Yaozhu pondered for a moment and shook her head: "Golden-Haired Lion Mastiffs are rare by nature. According to current records, the Spirit Pagoda headquarters only has this one."

A trace of regret flashed in Luo Yang's eyes.

It seemed he wasn't fated to have this spirit beast.

However—

"Since you like it," Leng Yaozhu suddenly spoke, a sharp light flashing in her crimson eyes, "Aunt Leng will get this Lion Mastiff for you."

Blood Eight was slightly stunned.

Stealing a spirit beast from Qiangu Zhangting's hands?

This woman's regard for Luo Yang seemed to exceed her expectations.

"This... wouldn't that be inappropriate?" Luo Yang hesitated.

"What is inappropriate about it?" Leng Yaozhu sneered. "The spirit beast riot started because of him. Given the losses caused to the Spirit Pagoda, even if Pagoda Master Qiangu himself were to intervene, he would still be grounded for half a year. No matter what, he has no qualifications to absorb this Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff."

She left one thing unsaid: in Qiangu Zhangting's hands, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff would simply be a waste of a heavenly treasure.

No sooner had she finished speaking—

"Bang—!"

The door to the Testing Chamber was violently smashed open.

A giant beast covered in golden fur charged inside.