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

"Clang—!"

A crisp sound shattered the suffocating silence.

That wasn't the sound of a sword piercing flesh.

Instead, it was a white jade teacup that struck the spine of the Broken Heart Sword with perfect accuracy.

Tea splashed everywhere, and a few tea leaves, which had been steeped, smeared themselves onto Ji Lingxiao's handsome face, which looked as if he were facing certain death.

The sword edge deviated three inches, grazing Ji Lingxiao's shoulder and only tearing a layer of clothing.

"Ji Lingxiao, is your brain filled with mush?"

Jiang Yining stood up from the armchair, pointing with a pained expression at the broken porcelain shards on the ground.

"That's a warm jade cup I just found in the Golden Saber Sect's storeroom. There are eight in a set, and it's worthless without this one. I'll hold you accountable for this."

Ji Lingxiao was stunned.

That tragic and devastating atmosphere was instantly shattered by this cup of tea.

With tea leaves sticking out of his forehead, he looked at the woman whose eyes were only on money, and for a moment he forgot that he was supposed to harm himself to atone for his sins.

"Ningning..."

"Shut up."

Jiang Yining rolled her eyes in annoyance: "If you want to die, go die somewhere else, don't dirty my Desolate Abyss territory. Also, your robe is made of celestial silkworm silk, and I have to pay to fix it if it gets torn, you wasteful thing."

After saying that, she didn't look at Ji Lingxiao again, but turned around, her red dress like fire, and walked step by step towards Xuanjizi in mid-air.

She walked very slowly, without any fluctuations of spiritual energy or any earth-shattering pressure.

But everyone present, including the three men who were about to make a move, unconsciously made way for her.

"What? You think I'm being rude?"

Jiang Yining raised her head, her beautiful peach blossom eyes filled with mockery as she stared directly at the high and mighty Mahayana stage expert.

"Old man, you're really good at this. I can hear the sound of the abacus beads hitting your face even from down here in Yi City."

Xuanjizi's face turned ashen, and golden light around him fluctuated violently, clearly enraged: "Witch! What do you know?! I am instructing my unworthy disciple, I am doing this for the sake of all living beings..."

"The common people, the common people, did they give you money?"

Jiang Yining interrupted him directly, her clear voice echoing throughout the entire desolate abyss.

"You forced him to sever all ties with love, forced him to abandon his wife and children, forced him to turn himself into a heartless weapon—is this what you call saving the world?"

She held up a finger and pointed at Ji Lingxiao, who looked rather disheveled.

"Look closely, the person standing there is a real person with flesh and blood."

Xuanjizi, enraged, laughed coldly: "Womanly compassion! The beast tide is approaching, and countless lives will be lost! If no strong are willing to sacrifice their own interests, how can there be a greater good? He possesses innate sword bones and is nourished by heaven and earth; he should naturally shoulder this responsibility! This is the way of heaven!"

"To hell with your divine will."

Jiang Yining scoffed, her tone full of contempt.

"You're quite the moral blackmailer. Since you're so righteous, why don't you go and die?"

"I see that your Mahayana stage cultivation is not weak either. If you were to self-destruct your Nascent Soul to fill the hole left by that beast tide, the effect would definitely be better than forcing your disciple."

"you--!!"

Xuanjizi trembled with rage, pointing a finger at Jiang Yining: "This is sophistry! My lifespan is almost over..."

"That means they're afraid of dying."

Jiang Yining shrugged: "You force your apprentice to do things that you yourself can't do, and then call it 'righteousness'."

"If I were you, I would have already smashed my head against a block of tofu and died, instead of wasting air by living."

"We'll see."

Jiang Yining abruptly changed the subject, abandoning her nonchalant expression and her eyes becoming sharp as knives.

"Who told you that only by severing all emotions and love can you save the world?"

She pointed to the desolate area behind her that was under construction.

"Look at this desolate abyss. Just half a month ago, this was a lawless mass grave. And now? Caravans come and go in an endless stream, cultivators live and work in peace and contentment, and even bandits like the Golden Saber Sect, who used to make a living by robbing, are now honestly carrying bricks."

"Was this caused by Ji Lingxiao's sword strike? No."

"This is something everyone has worked hard for, bit by bit, to earn money and support their families!"

Jiang Yining stepped forward, her aura no less imposing than Xuanjizi's.

"True strength lies in fighting for what you want to protect."

"What you're forcing out of him through moral blackmail is resentment! If you really force Ji Lingxiao to kill my son and me for the sake of the so-called 'common people,' do you believe that he could become a demon tomorrow and turn into a disaster more terrifying than the beast tide?"

"At that time, you shouldn't worry about saving the common people; you should first think about how to survive the sword of your mad disciple."

The audience was silent.

Even Chu Jinglan stopped fanning himself, his eyes sparkling with admiration.

Ye Wuhen's heterochromatic eyes were full of admiration: "Well said! If I were forced to save someone, I would kill the entire family of the person who forced me."

Xuanjizi was rendered speechless by the rebuttal.

He looked at the woman in red standing on the ground and felt panic for the first time.

It wasn't because of strength, but because of the clarity and formidable power that emanated from the very core of their being.

He had never seen such power in any other cultivator.

"You...you..."

Xuanjizi's hands trembled: "Even if you are eloquent, you cannot change the facts! The Blood Moon Beast Tide is no small matter; if no one breaks through the boundary and ascends..."

"With a different sword intent, I too can ascend to immortality."

A deep voice interrupted Xuanjizi's explanation.

Ji Lingxiao, who had been silent all along, reached out and wiped the tea leaves off his face. His movements were slow and deliberate, yet they exuded an unprecedented sense of ease.

Those eyes, once as cold and lifeless as ice, now seemed to have melted a thousand years of accumulated snow, reflecting Jiang Yining's red figure with astonishing brightness.

"Master."

Ji Lingxiao looked at the old man in mid-air, his tone calm, without the previous struggle and pain.

"Ningning is right, I am a person, not a sword."

"I cultivate the path of ruthlessness, severing the seven emotions and cutting off the six desires. My cultivation has indeed progressed by leaps and bounds, but I have never felt joy, and I don't even know why I draw my sword."

He looked down at the Broken Heart Sword in his hand.

The sword was still trembling slightly, as if it were cheering and jumping for joy.

"Until I met her, until I had the child."

Ji Lingxiao's lips curled into a very faint smile, somewhat stiff, but sincere: "I now understand that a sword is not only for killing, but also for protecting."

"To protect the people I want to protect, and to protect this noisy but warm home."

"If we can't even protect our own homes, what's the point of saving the world?"

boom--!!

An unprecedented sword intent erupted from Ji Lingxiao's body.

It is no longer that cold, piercing, and despairing state of detachment from worldly desires.

Rather, it is a warm, passionate, and vibrant sword intent, full of life and the warmth of everyday life!

The sword intent soared into the sky, directly scattering the dark clouds in the sky, and even the golden light of Xuanjizi's decree was forced back several feet.

Mid-stage of Fusion, Late-stage of Fusion, Mahayana... Early stage!

"This is……"

Xuanjizi's pupils contracted sharply: "You actually broke through the Path of Ruthlessness and entered the Realm of Supreme Emotion?!"

In the cultivation world, there are countless sword cultivators, and the ruthless path is powerful and easy to cultivate.

The path to true feelings, which is to follow one's heart and express one's true feelings, seems simple, but the simpler it is, the harder it is to break through.

But this requires immense courage and opportunity; many people spend their entire lives without ever even getting close to it.

Ji Lingxiao actually broke through his cultivation level at this moment because of a woman!

"Master."

Ji Lingxiao sheathed his sword and bowed deeply to Xuanjizi.

"If the beast tide comes, I will go, not for the sake of the common people, but simply because I want to go."

"This is the disciple's way."

After saying that, he straightened up and turned to walk towards Jiang Yining.

Without the slightest hesitation, without the slightest lingering attachment.

He stood half a step behind Jiang Yining, like the most loyal knight.

"Ningning."

Xuanjizi, suspended in mid-air, looked at this scene and seemed to have aged ten years.

He looked at his once most prized disciple, who now had none of the aloofness of a Sword Master.

However, that newly born, deeply affectionate sword intent was more solid and sharper than the previous ruthless sword intent, and even faintly touched the threshold of ascension.

Could it be... that I was really wrong?

"That's enough...that's enough..."

Xuanjizi sighed and withdrew the decree from the sky.

"It's no use for me to force you any further."

He gave Jiang Yining a deep look, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Little girl, you're right. Perhaps there isn't just one path in this world."

After saying this, Xuanjizi waved his sleeve and led the Lingxiao Sword Sect members away.

His silhouette looked somewhat desolate, but it also seemed as if he had let go of some heavy burdens.

The crisis is over.

A deafening cheer erupted from above and below the desolate abyss.

Those rogue cultivators and Golden Saber Sect disciples who were originally terrified now looked at Jiang Yining as if she were a goddess.

Even a powerful cultivator at the Mahayana stage was driven away by the insults!

Is there anything that Ancestor Jiang can't do?!