Jin Yu looked round at the remaining wolves that had now stood far away in terror before looking back at the battered one at his feet.

  Dominion point?

  Did this beast summit to me ?

  He brought up his interface

  [Dominion Protocol Interface]

  NAME: Jin Yu

  CORE ATTRIBUTE: Influence

  ATTRIBUTE POINTS:

  — DP: 1

  PHYSIQUE: 100 (Peak Essence Core Realm)

  INTERNAL STRENGTH: 110 (Initial Nascent Soul Realm)

  SPIRITUAL TECHNIQUE: Uninitialized

  QI AFFINITY: Holy Qi, ???

  CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES:

  — Sanctum Sword Technique (Peak Stage)

  — Misty Veil Technique (Peak Stage)

  — Divine Phase Technique (Beginning Stage)

  TRAIT: Invading Qi Immunity

  PASSIVE TECHNIQUE :

  — Hostile Qi Reversal

  Influence points:570,000

  BLOODLINE RECOGNIZED:

  Golden Sun Bloodline, ???

  PROGRESS TRACKER:

  — Hostile Qi Absorbed: 43%

  — Next Breakthrough: 0%

  "That's a..."

  He spotted a [?] icon at the top of the screen and tapped it.

  [Control a being with a Realm higher than you for 24 hours. 100,000 Influence Points required.]

  "Damn!"

  Jin Yu nearly tripped, despite there being nothing in his way.

  "Control...? Are you fucking serious, you points-grubbing bitc—ahem, I mean... my lovely system?"

  His eyes widened like sausages as he re-read the message, again and again.

  A grin slowly took over his face, his eyes sparkling.

  "You mean... I can control that maniac Uncle? I can make him knock his head against a—wait..."

  He paused mid-celebration, buffering like a broken scroll. Then his face dropped.

  "Damn. He's a Deity, and I'm just a pitiful Nascent Soul cultivator. With your stingy personality, who knows when I’ll reach that level."

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  Still, the thought lingered in his mind, smoldering with potential.

  Control someone stronger than me... just for a day?

  Images flickered behind his eyes—

  A prideful sect master bowing to a beggar.

  A revered elder sweeping toilets with Qi-enhanced brushes.

  A cold, arrogant genius publicly declaring their love for chickens.

  "Heh..."

  His lips curled into a devilish grin.

  "The chaos I could cause..."

  Then he sighed.

  "If only you weren’t so damn expensive."

  Sigh.

  He crouched to meet the Wolf’s eyes.

  "I was originally planning to eat you after, you know, sending your soul back to your maker."

  Another sigh. "But now you’ve submitted? Really? What a twist. It’d be unethical to eat you now."

  He frowned.

  "What am I supposed to do with you? You're injured. You can barely walk."

  "Awoo."

  The wolf let out a soft, apologetic whine and rubbed its head against his hand.

  "Wha—? Don’t act cute now. You were disdaining me earlier."

  "Awoo..."

  Another soft, remorseful sound.

  "Stop that. I can’t walk around with a wounded wolf. That’d ruin my heavenly image."

  Almost as if the system had been waiting for that cue—

  Ding!

  Additional function unlocked.

  Ding!

  Velkharra Space available.

  100,000 Influence Points required. Do you want to unlock?

  "Velkharra Space?"

  His brow furrowed. "Can I store the Wolf there?"

  No response.

  "Hello? Answer me, dummy."

  Still nothing.

  "Ugh..."

  He let out a long, tired sigh and checked his points. He had more than enough.

  "Unlock it."

  Ding!

  —100,000 Influence Points deducted.

  Velkharra Space unlocked successfully.

  His eyes lit up as he opened the interface. The Velkharra Space tab was already displayed. A [+] icon hovered above it. He tapped it.

  'Store 1 recognized slave pet.

  Alpha available to store.'

  A tiny image of the wolf popped up. He pressed it. Instantly, the Wolf vanished, as if it had never been there.

  Ding!

  Alpha successfully stored.

  Status: Healing.

  "Whoa. It can heal too? I was about to waste some pills."

  He paused. "But why only one? What if I want more pets?"

  As if reading his thoughts, a tiny [+] began blinking beside the Velkharra tab.

  Ding!

  Do you want to upgrade? 200,000 Influence Points required.

  "Woah woah woah, points-grubbing bitch!"

  He almost laughed in disdain. "The first purchase should’ve come with unlimited space!"

  As he stood, he turned toward his original path.

  "And by the way, I think it’s rude as hell not to reply when I talk to you. You mute, useless—"

  Ding!

  System Converse available.

  10,000,000 Influence Points required. Do you want to purchase?

  Ding!

  Error: Host too poor.

  Ding!

  Error 2: Level up required.

  "..."

  Jin Yu stared at the floating ‘10 million’ requirement and his pathetic IP balance.

  "Did you just low-key roast me?"

  He sighed. "Forget I even asked."

  Ahead, the smaller wolves had all vanished, fleeing after their Alpha disappeared.

  "No more time to waste."

  Just as Jin Yu was about to phase , something tugged at his thoughts.

  “Wait…”

  He tapped open the Velkharra interface again, eyes gleaming. “If it can store a living being… maybe it can store items too?”

  Without hesitation, he reached into his robe and pulled out his spatial ring. “Alright, Alpha’s in there already. Let’s see if you can handle more.”

  He held the ring out like an offering and commanded confidently, “Store spatial ring.”

  Ding!

  Invalid object. Item is not classified under permitted storage types.

  Velkharra space currently supports: Recognized Slave Beasts (Limit: 1).

  Upgrade required for additional functionalities.

  Jin Yu frowned. “Not classified? Are you blind? That ring’s been with me longer than that mutt. It’s basically branded with my soul!”

  He waved it again. “Store it.”

  Ding!

  Attempt denied.

  Host appears to misunderstand the purpose of Velkharra space.

  Current function: Beast housing and healing. Not your personal junkyard.

  Jin Yu's eyebrow twitched. “Excuse you?”

  Ding!

  If Host wishes to store items, consider not trying to stuff them into a kennel.

  A vein popped on his forehead. “You roast me one more time and I swear I’ll develop a virus cultivation technique.”

  No response.

  “Thought so.”

  Still grumbling, he brought up Alpha’s status page again.

  Status: Healing

  Duration: 6 hours remaining

  “Tsk. At least that works.” He pressed the [Retrieve] icon, and with a faint shimmer of light, the wounded Wolf appeared at his feet again. It looked slightly better, still roughed up, but more stable.

  The Alpha blinked at him and gave a soft “Awoo...”

  “Oh, don’t give me that. I’m not letting you out to cuddle. This is a test.”

  The wolf tilted its head, then promptly slumped back onto the ground, tail flicking once in acceptance.

  Jin Yu scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm. So summoning’s instant, and it doesn’t drain Qi... That could be useful in mid-fight. Or maybe a sneak attack?”

  He imagined dropping the wolf onto someone’s head from thin air and chuckled. “Beast bomb, not bad.”

  With a flick, he stored the Alpha again.

  Ding!

  Alpha successfully stored.

  Status: Healing continues. Estimated completion in 5 hours, 57 minutes.

  Satisfied, he turned his gaze forward once more.

  The space around him shimmered, and then, with a flash, he disappeared.

  He reappeared two miles away, then disappeared again. Every place he flashed into, growls echoed, but before anything could happen, he was gone.

  He phased five times before finally halting.

  What lay before him was exactly what he had expected.

  "They're under attack."