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

The blood-red lake water shimmered eerily under the moonlight, a thin layer of blood mist floated on its surface, and it smelled pungent and sweet.

Ye Wuhen walked barefoot into the lake step by step.

His elaborate red robes spread out in the water, like a giant blood lotus blooming on the road to the underworld.

"What are you still standing there for?"

He turned around and looked at Jiang Yining, who was standing on the shore with a pale face, his voice carrying a hint of impatience and cold urging.

Jiang Yining clenched her fist inside her sleeve, her nails digging deep into her palm, leaving several deep red crescent-shaped marks.

A thought popped into her mind: this might be a trap, but it could also be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the metallic taste in her throat, and forced a submissive, even slightly shy, smile onto her face.

She slowly took off her shoes and socks, rolled up her trouser legs to reveal a section of her fair calves, and stepped into the icy lake water.

The lake water had barely reached her ankles when a chilling, piercing demonic aura crept into her skin, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

This water holds the resentment of countless living beings.

"Your Excellency, the water is cold." She walked up to Ye Wuhen, lowered her head, and spoke in a voice as soft as a feather, trying to cover up the stiffness in her body.

"Cool?" Ye Wuhen sneered, his laughter full of contempt. "How could you mortals withstand my blood pool? Come here."

He spread his arms wide, like an evil god waiting for a sacrifice, looking as if he was waiting for her to serve him.

Jiang Yining gritted her teeth and forced herself to step forward.

Every step felt like walking on a knife's edge.

Her hands, trembling almost imperceptibly, untied the belt around his waist.

The jewel-encrusted, luxurious belt felt unusually heavy in her hands.

Then came layers upon layers of red outer robes.

The silky fabric slid through her fingertips, and the cool touch made her arms break out in tiny goosebumps.

When the outer robe finally slipped off his shoulders, revealing his strong yet scarred upper body, Jiang Yining's breath caught in her throat for a moment.

The scars—claw marks, sword wounds, and burns from magic—were layered together, like a cruel battle map etched on his sickly pale skin.

She saw it.

On his left chest, near his heart, was a strange, blood-red lotus flower mark.

The mark didn't resemble a tattoo; rather, it looked as if it had grown out of flesh and blood. The edges of the petals shimmered with a faint golden light, pulsating slightly with his heartbeat.

At this moment, the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree in her dantian stirred restlessly, and a greedy desire surged into her mind through her meridians.

[That's it! That's right there! His lifeblood! His very essence! Drain him! Drain him completely!]

Shenmu's childlike voice was filled with unprecedented excitement and eagerness.

Jiang Yining forcibly mobilized her spiritual power to suppress the almost out-of-control agitation in her dantian.

Her fingers continued downwards, reaching to remove his last layer of inner clothing.

My fingertips were icy cold and almost bloodless.

However, just as her fingertips were about to touch the warm skin on his chest...

Ye Wuhen suddenly grabbed her hand.

His hands were cold, like a block of ice that had stood for millennia, and his strength was terrifying. His five fingers were like iron clamps, squeezing Jiang Yining's wrist until the bones were cracking.

"What do you want to do?"

His eerie phoenix eyes were fixed on her, no longer filled with playful mockery, but with icy vigilance and undisguised killing intent.

"I……"

Jiang Yining felt a chill run down her spine, but her face showed only confusion and innocence.

She forced her eyes to fill with tears, looking fragile and pitiful. "This concubine...this concubine only wanted to undress Your Majesty..."

"Really?" Ye Wuhen leaned closer to her, his nose almost touching her face.

He scrutinized her eyes closely, like a viper studying its prey, seemingly trying to find a flaw in the slightest tremor of her pupils.

The two were so close that Jiang Yining could even see his long eyelashes and her own panicked face reflected in his eyes.

It was very quiet for a moment.

The only sounds in the air were the surging of the lake water and the intertwined breathing of the two people.

Jiang Yining felt like her heart was about to jump out of her throat.

She knew that if she revealed even the slightest flaw, the man in front of her would probably snap her neck without hesitation.

In this suffocating standoff.

"Mother!"

A clear, slightly anxious child's voice, like a sharp sword, pierced the deathly silence.

Jiang Lei had somehow gotten off the beast-drawn carriage. He stood by the lake, clutching the black iron sword that was taller than him, looking at them with a wary yet angry gaze.

Ye Wuhen's attention was drawn to the shout.

He glanced back at the boy who was protecting his mother like a little leopard, the murderous intent in his eyes slowly fading, replaced by a wicked sense of amusement.

"It seems your little guard is quite worried about you."

He released Jiang Yining's hand, revealing a clear red mark around her wrist, a shocking sight.

He leaned lazily against the rocks by the lake, his posture languid, as if the man who had just been filled with murderous intent was just an illusion.

"Fine, I'm in a good mood today, I won't hold it against you."

He pointed to a large rock on the shore, which was still stained with the blood of a demonic cultivator.

"Go, sit there, and watch me cultivate."

"Don't close your eyes, don't get distracted."

"If I find out you're looking elsewhere..."

He stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth, his smile cruel.

"I will gouge out your eyeballs and use them as ingredients for making medicinal wine."

Jiang Yining dared not disobey and could only silently retreat to the shore and sit down on a rock not far from the lake.

The cold stone made her shiver.

Jiang Lei immediately ran to her side, his small body blocking her way, like a young wolf guarding its food, watching Ye Wuhen in the lake warily.

And the second baby in the cradle opened its eyes at that moment.

Those large, clear black and white eyes were like two of the purest obsidian.

His chubby little hands were drawing something in the air.

If Jiang Yining could see this now, she would find that what he drew was the trajectory of the demonic energy circulating around Ye Wuhen's body, and even some of the smallest details were exactly the same.

This newborn baby is actually... analyzing the Demon Lord's cultivation technique!

To him, Ye Wuhen was neither an enemy nor a pervert.

Rather, it is an extremely interesting and worthy "sample" for study.

Ye Wuhen ignored the mother and her two children on the shore.

He closed his eyes, formed a hand seal, and slowly sank into the blood-red lake.

The lake water began to churn violently, with blood-red bubbles bubbling up. The demonic energy of the entire lake transformed into visible black and red threads, frantically converging towards his location.

Jiang Yining understood that he was using the blood pool to cultivate.

And this is perhaps when he is least on guard.

She glanced at her eldest child, who was intently protecting her, and then at her second child, who was "doing research" in the cradle. A bold plan gradually took shape in her mind.

Perhaps... she doesn't need to do it herself.

She lowered her head, leaned close to Jiang Lei's ear, and whispered a few words in a voice only the two of them could hear.

After listening, Jiang Lei was stunned for a moment, a hint of hesitation flashing in his obsidian-like eyes, but when he saw the determination in his mother's eyes, he nodded heavily.

"Mother, don't worry."

Then, holding the black iron sword, he turned and glanced at the center of the lake. His small figure, like a raccoon dog, silently slipped into the nearby woods.

Jiang Yining, on the other hand, turned her gaze back to the calm blood lake.

She took out a small, jet-black bead from her sleeve.

That was the "Concealing Breath Bead" she found in Chu Jinglan's storage ring. It could perfectly conceal all of one's aura, making it difficult to detect even with divine sense.

The night leaves no trace.

Don't you like playing games?

Today, I'll play a good game with you.

She clutched the Concealing Breath Bead tightly in her hand.

Let's see who ends up outmaneuvering whom in the end.