116: Just after locking up the dragon, the First Emperor overturned the table?

Inside the Sky Court guild channel, the boisterous cheers almost solidified into a tangible presence.

"Boss is awesome!!!" Mad Blade's roar was deafening. "My dragon's HP is almost 300,000 now! I feel like it could blow down a mountain with one breath!"

"Stop bragging," Gourmet Supplier said, circling a Void Soul-Devouring Dragon, a small brush covered in secret sauce in his hand, his face full of infatuation. "Look, the vortex in its eye socket is barely turning; it's clearly overfed. Boss, I suggest we feed them some of my newly developed Hawthorn-flavored Dragon Power Pills to stimulate their appetite and strengthen their spleen!"

Miao Shou Sheng Hua, meanwhile, was frantically recording data on a crystal tablet, muttering to himself, "Incredible, the life essenceDevour conversion rate exceeds ninety percent. This is a mobile energy black hole! Boss..."

His voice suddenly trailed off, and the channel instantly grew a little quieter.

"Does this thing... have no upper limit?"

"If we keep feeding them like this, will there be a day... when it even dares to take a bite out of our Phoenix Fortress?"

This question, like a cold needle, pierced through the festive atmosphere.

Yes, indeed. These monsters that devoured rules and fed on souls were too strong, so strong that they began to cause unease. Their loyalty was entirely based on Lin Feng's ability to provide "food." What would happen when "food" could no longer satisfy their appetite?

Lin Feng sat on his throne, observing the sudden change in everyone's reactions in the channel, his expression unperturbed. He had considered this question long ago. He never believed in absolute loyalty, only in absolute control.

"Upper limit?" Lin Feng's voice rang out calmly, yet with an undeniable power that instantly soothed everyone's hearts. "The upper limit is me."

He lightly tapped his fingertip, and the fusion altar interface unfolded before him. A Slave Contract, hidden at the bottom of the warehouse, an energy crystal scraped from a Void Soul-Devouring Dragon, and an epic-grade Mental Steel Seal scroll were casually thrown in.

On the altar, there were no earth-shshattering phenomena, but a silent clash at the level of laws! The black runes representing "enslavement" fiercely resisted the void crystal representing "devouring," while the Mental Steel Seal transformed into golden chains of order, attempting to forcibly bind the two. The energy became violent for a moment, as if it could explode at any second.

Lin Feng's eyes narrowed slightly, and his vast mental power, like an invisible giant hand, forcefully pressed down! "In my name, fuse!"

In an instant, all conflicts were forcibly appeased, blended, and reshaped. A moment later, a cluster of runes glowing with a faint blue light, like shackles, quietly floated.

[Item Name: Soul Shackles (Mythic · Unique)]

[Item Effect: Can be used on "Soul Devouring" type units. After use, the target unit will be soul-bound to your main base.]

[Trait 1 · Feeder]: 1% of all attribute bonuses gained by the target unit through "Soul Devouring" will be synchronously converted into permanent health and armor for your main base.

[Trait 2 · Chain Break]: You can unilaterally sever the link at any time. After the link is severed, all stacked attributes gained by the target unit through "Soul Devouring" will instantly be reset to zero, and it will fall into permanent "Weakness."]

[Note: I grant you power, and I can also reclaim it at any time.]

When these item attributes were shared in the guild channel, everyone who had been wary earlier collectively gasped.

Five Elements Reversal: "This... this is..."

Mad Blade: "Holy crap! Boss, you've put insurance on the dragon! And it's the kind that only pays you, not them!"

Gourmet Supplier: "I get it! This is called 'the self-cultivation of a farmer'! Not only do you have to make the pigs fat, but you also have to put a lock on the pigsty door to prevent them from running out in the middle of the night to root up other people's cabbages!"

Lin Feng ignored their banter. With a thought, he directly copied the Soul Shackles mark a dozen times and precisely imprinted them deep into the soul of every Void Soul-Devouring Dragon.

Buzz—all the massive bodies of the Soul-Devouring Dragons trembled slightly, and deep within the hollow vortexes of their skulls, a trace of reverence for the Phoenix Fortress, originating from the deepest part of their souls, appeared.

After all this was done, Lin Feng leaned back on his throne. He looked at the group of "demons and monsters" who had completely relaxed, and spoke casually. "Alright, the insurance is done."

"Now, it's time to prepare for the next war."

"First Emperor will not remain silent forever. Bring out your gains from last night, and your most valuable items, and let me see them."

"Let me see if your 'value' is enough to qualify for a real war."

As soon as these words were uttered, everyone in the channel felt a chill in their hearts, then immediately understood. This was not the Boss asking for "tributes." This was a pre-war roll call! This was an assessment of each of their war potentials!

Mad Blade was the first to respond, his voice thunderous: "Boss is right! Without Boss, I would have been gone last night! This is my prized possession, the [Legendary Blueprint: Berserk Blood Battle Axe]! It can be used by hero units, and its attacks have splash damage and lifesteal!"

Yi didn't speak, but simply traded three identical blueprints—[Epic Building: Hawk Eye Sentry Tower]. Its effect was to link with the main defensive tower and share its range.

For a time, the atmosphere in the guild channel was solemn, and everyone traded their most core assets to Lin Feng, awaiting the final storm.

Lin Feng looked at the dazzling array of "tributes" in the warehouse, feeling pleased. Although most of them were trash, this attitude was what he wanted.

Just as the Sky Court was in a solemn and actively preparing for war atmosphere, a cold, majestic blood-red announcement, like a thunderbolt from the nine heavens, suddenly exploded on everyone's screens!

[First Sequence Battlefield Final Announcement:]

["Hunting Ceremony" has ended early.]

[Lord Great Qin · First Emperor, using the national fortune of Great Qin as a sacrifice, has awakened the End-level War Weapon—[Twelve Golden Men · World-Suppressing Grand Array]!]

[Warning: World rules are being forcibly rewritten!]

[Warning: Peace protection period has been forcibly terminated!]

[New rule "Ragnarok" officially activated:]

[1. All PVE content is permanently closed.]

[2. There will no longer be a "Friendly" option between lords; all lords not in the same guild are hostile units.]

[3. Killing hostile lord units or destroying their buildings will grant "War Points." Points will be settled daily, and the lowest-ranked will suffer "Divine Punishment."]

[4. After a lord dies, they will revive at a random location after 24 hours and lose 50% of their current War Points.]

At the end of the announcement was an Edict of the Son of Heaven, personally issued by First Emperor, burning with golden flames.

[Edict of the Son of Heaven: The Sky Court guild has defied the will of Heaven and is unforgivable! Effective immediately, anyone who kills any member of the Sky Court guild will receive an additional tenfold War Points and gain the protection of Great Qin Dragon Luck (all attributes increased by 10% for 24 hours)!]

Boom!!! The entire First Sequence Battlefield went completely insane!

Insane! First Emperor, the emperor who had been ground into the dirt by Tian Ze, had flipped the table! He used a near-suicidal method to instantly switch the entire world's game rules from "tower defense development" to "bloody deathmatch" mode!

Moreover, he had placed a super bounty worth ten times the points on every single head in the Sky Court! At this moment, the Sky Court was no longer a lofty myth. They had become the fattest, most tempting piece of meat in the eyes of the entire world!

In the Sky Court guild channel, the previously high-spirited atmosphere instantly fell silent.

Mad Blade, who had just been clamoring about his "great blade being thirsty for blood," now had a silent ID avatar, as if his throat had been choked.

Gourmet Supplier's ladle dropped into the pot with a jarring clatter.

After a full ten seconds, Miao Shou Sheng Hua finally sent a message in a trembling, dreamlike voice.

Miao Shou Sheng Hua: "We... are... being hunted by the whole world?"

That one sentence made everyone feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.