Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

The air in Qingyun City seemed much heavier.

The once bustling market was deserted and unusually quiet, with only a few crows occasionally landing on the eaves and cawing.

On both sides of the street, Blood Fiend Sect disciples dressed in blood-red short jackets and City Lord's Mansion guards clad in black iron armor stood guard every three steps and sentries every five steps, completely surrounding the Jiang family's ancestral home in the east of the city, making it seem as if even the wind could not get in.

"That young lady from the Jiang family is really composed."

On the highest watchtower of the city lord's mansion, two figures stood side by side.

The speaker was a middle-aged man with a face full of scars, Li Tu, the leader of the Blood Fiend Sect.

He had one arm bare, his muscles bulging, and a ferocious, blood-red centipede tattooed on it. With his breathing, the centipede seemed to come alive and slowly wriggled.

At this moment, he was holding two iron balls in his hand, spinning them with a clicking sound, and the light in his eyes was somewhat sinister.

Standing beside him was a middle-aged scholar dressed in an elegant long gown and sporting a long beard.

He held a feather fan in his hand, waving it gently, looking like a schoolteacher, but this man was none other than Zhao Wuji, the city lord of Qingyun City.

He was a cultivator at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and also the person with the highest cultivation level in Qingyun City.

"What good is it to stay calm?"

Zhao Wuji chuckled and pointed his feather fan at the mansion below, which was shrouded in a pale purple light.

"Although that girl activated the clan's protective formation using some unknown method, it has been in disrepair for many years and is like water without a source."

"Cut off their water and food supplies, and even a turtle will have to stick its head out obediently."

Li Tu spat and muttered, "I just can't swallow this! My cousin died under mysterious circumstances, his body was charred."

"The Jiang family must have some shady treasure! Lord Zhao, we've got a deal: the treasure is mine, and the Jiang family's territory and that girl with the special constitution are yours."

A barely perceptible glint flashed in Zhao Wuji's eyes: "Of course. This city lord has always been fair. However..."

He paused, his gaze falling on the increasingly thick dark cloud above the Jiang family's residence.

"Don't you think there's something strange about this celestial phenomenon?"

That dark cloud was not an ordinary rain cloud, but rather a rare purplish-black color, resembling a slowly rotating vortex, hovering directly above the Jiang family's residence.

Faintly, one could hear a muffled thunderous sound, like the breathing of a giant beast, coming from deep within the clouds.

Li Tu glanced up, then scoffed dismissively, "Playing tricks! Since that girl can summon lightning to kill, this cloud formation is probably caused by that treasure. The more it's like that, the more extraordinary the treasure is!"

He clenched the iron bladder in his hand, and iron filings fell through his fingers.

"We can't wait any longer! Tonight, our two families will join forces and launch a full-scale attack on the formation's core! Otherwise, others might come and snatch the treasure!"

……

Inside the Jiang family ancestral home.

The atmosphere was equally somber.

The courtyard was piled with fallen leaves that no one had swept. Several girls gathered under the veranda, anxiously watching the sky.

In the bedroom in the backyard, Jiang Yining sat cross-legged on the bed, constantly circulating her internal energy to absorb spiritual energy.

Before him lay a pile of spirit stone fragments, the last remaining possessions of the Jiang family in their storeroom.

"Click."

She picked up the last low-grade spirit stone, and a stream of mixed spiritual energy rushed into her stomach.

It's still not enough.

The little one inside her belly was like a hole that could never be filled; as the due date approached, its appetite became increasingly astonishing.

"Baby, if I had known you could eat so much, I should have stolen more food from your dad."

Jiang Yining touched her prominently protruding belly, feeling somewhat helpless.

Her face was pale, and her clothes, which had once fit her perfectly, now hung loosely on her body.

If it weren't for the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree within her dantian maintaining a delicate balance, forcibly drawing upon the spiritual energy of every plant and tree, even the air, to nourish its mother, her body would likely have collapsed long ago.

"Thump! Thump!"

Two bulges suddenly appeared on her belly, like two little fists moving inside.

"Don't rush..."

A hint of coldness flashed in Jiang Yining's eyes.

She could sense that the protective array outside the clan was being constantly eroded.

Those greedy jackals seem to have lost patience.

Tonight will likely be a night of bloodshed.

"Ning'er..."

The door was pushed open, and Old Madam Jiang walked in, leaning on her cane.

She was holding a bowl of dark, murky medicinal soup, made from the last century-old ginseng in the manor.

"Drink it while it's hot."

The old grandmother tremblingly held the bowl to Jiang Yining's lips, her eyes reddening.

"It's all Grandma's fault for being useless and unable to protect everyone... If all else fails, we'll just give them the land deed, as long as they're alive..."

Jiang Yining took the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

The scalding hot medicine slid down the esophagus into the stomach and was quickly absorbed by the fetus inside.

"grandmother."

Jiang Yining put down her bowl and reached out to tidy up the old man's gray hair at his temples.

Her movements were light, but her eyes were firm.

"Giving it to them won't help. What they want isn't just the land deed, but also our lives and the 'treasure' they believe exists."

She stood up, her huge belly protruding, and walked to the window.

A sudden gust of wind rose outside the window, and the dark cloud that had been swirling all day finally pressed down.

Large raindrops pounded against the windowpane, making a heart-stopping sound.

"Well……"

Jiang Yining clutched her stomach: "It's finally starting! Grandma, I'm going into labor!"

Madam Jiang exclaimed in alarm, "What?! Giving birth now?! How could it be so fast?!"

The child was only a little over half a month pregnant, yet the granddaughter's belly swelled up rapidly.

Madam Jiang had already guessed that the so-called immortal lord was probably a demon, since only demons would be born before ten months of age.

The poor granddaughter must have deliberately kept quiet to protect them.

"It's too early to draw conclusions about who the hunter is and who the prey is."

Jiang Yining kept touching her belly to comfort the little one who was about to be born.

"Grandmother, call everyone to the ancestral hall. No matter what noise you hear, don't come out."

"And what about you?" Old Madam Jiang asked anxiously.

Jiang Yining's lips curled into a proud smile, which seemed somewhat elusive in the dim light.

"I want all the wind and rain in the city to come and welcome my child... to cleanse him of the dust of his journey."