Chapter 11: The Dragon's Nasdaq

——Where souls become currency, and every transaction bleeds

The temple stank of burnt copper and desperation. Pilgrims lined up beneath the marble-carved effigy of "The Lady of Infinite Debt"—Qing Yuan's likeness draped in chains of frozen blood, one hand offering coins, the other clutching a dragon's severed horn.

"Bless me with debt, Holy Ledger-Mistress!" A merchant pressed his forehead to the altar. "Let my rivals' ships sink in dragonfire!"

The statue's eyes glowed. A coin materialized in his palm—etched with Lin Feng's snarling visage.

*Interest rate: 20% per lunar cycle.*

*Collateral: Firstborn's laughter.*

The man wept with gratitude. Behind him, three stockbrokers from the Heavenly Path Consortium exchanged nervous glances. Their briefcases of soul contracts suddenly felt inadequate.

Lin Feng—or the being that had been Lin Feng—hovered above Dragonforge Citadel. The land below warped under his gaze: mountains became vaults, rivers flowed with liquid gold, and screaming trees bore fruit shaped like human hearts. The Dragon Stock Exchange was open.

*"Offer: 1x Eternal Spring (contains 5,000 civilian souls)."*

*"Bid: 3x Frostforged Colossi (lightly used)."*

Qing Yuan's ghostly voice buzzed in his skull. *"We're getting low on Karmic Liquidity. Time to short the Sainted markets."*

He raised a hand. The frozen corpse of Sky-Spire City shuddered, its ruins reknitting into a trading floor where damned souls scurried like ants. A familiar figure stood at the center—Kael, now wearing the Lady's sigil as a pendant.

"Your cultists are overleveraged," Kael said, tossing a bag of screaming coins onto the counter. "I want to borrow against *this.*"

Inside the bag: his son's preserved eyeball, still reflecting Lin Feng's claws from that fateful day.

Qing Yuan materialized, her spectral form flickering with ticker-tape data streams. "Collateral accepted." She produced a contract written on dragonhide. "Sign here to pledge all post-resurrection parental rights."

Kael's pen hovered. "If I default..."

"Junior becomes our indentured spirit." Lin Feng's voice vibrated through the floor. "Standard terms."

The ground erupted. Mech-worshippers from the Support Group burst through, weapons charged with Heavenly Merchant tech.

"Don't!" Kael shouted—too late.

The lead mercenary fired a Karmic Repossession Torpedo. It curved toward Lin Feng... then imploded into a black hole that sucked in every bullet, scream, and drop of sweat.

*"Market correction,"* Qing Yuan purred as the attackers aged into dust. *"Bearish today, aren't we?"*

The Heavenly Merchant manifested atop a mountain of coin-skulls. *"You're diluting my brand."* He snapped his fingers.

Every Dragon Stock Exchange trader clutched their chests as contracts burned through skin. "Breach of non-compete clause," the Merchant tutted. *"Penalty: immediate foreclosure."*

Kael grabbed his son's eyeball—now bleeding black ichor. "Revoke the deal! I don't want—"

"Too late." Qing Yuan's ghost merged with Lin Feng. Their fused form grew scales made of scrolling stock prices. "We're leveraging *your* despair."

The citadel shook. From the eyeball rose a spectral boy—Kael's son, fused with frostfire and stock algorithms.

"Papa?" The boy's voice echoed with Lin Feng's growl. "Let's play *liquidate the saints*."

The Merchant finally looked uneasy. "This... exceeds agreed terms."

"Terms change." The fused Lin/Qing entity snapped their claws. The boy-ghost lunged, tearing a chunk from the Merchant's holographic form. Data-stream blood sprayed across the exchange floor.

*"Cease! I'll revoke your—"*

"Too late." Kael stepped forward, his eyes now matching the Lady's effigy. "You shouldn't have monetized orphans."

The Dragon Stock Exchange collapsed inward, consuming the Merchant's projection in a whirlpool of debt and dragonfire. When the chaos cleared, only three things remained:

1. A cracked coin with the Merchant's screaming face.

2. Kael's son—alive, human, and utterly ordinary.

3. A billowing banner where the altar once stood:

**COMING SOON

Initial Public Offering: GODHOOD (Limited Shares)**