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

"Grandmother, don't worry, I'm fine. I just refined a longevity pill to extend your life."

"But these medicinal herbs are extremely difficult to collect, and others may not believe it, which could bring disaster."

Jiang Yining grasped Old Madam Jiang's hand and solemnly said, "You must keep this a secret for me."

"We told everyone that I used a secret family technique that was forbidden to us, trading my life for yours, to buy you some more time."

"This matter of the elixir must never be mentioned to anyone, including my second aunt and the others."

Madam Jiang was extremely intelligent and immediately understood the seriousness of the matter.

She nodded emphatically: "Grandmother understands!"

After a while, the door opened.

When everyone saw the sprightly and upright Madam Jiang sitting on the bed, they were all stunned and thought they were hallucinating.

"mother!"

"Madam!"

"This...how is this possible?!"

Situ Kong was the most shocked; he had clearly concluded...

"It's Ningning..."

Holding Jiang Yining's hand, Old Madam Jiang's eyes reddened. Following the story her granddaughter had taught her, she said, half-truthfully, "It was this child who used a forbidden technique from our Jiang family, sacrificing her own lifespan to extend my life!"

What?!

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Jiang Yining.

Seeing her extremely weak appearance, everyone believed it instantly!

It wasn't a serious illness after all; it was... it was the depletion of my lifespan!

"Ningning! How could you be so silly!"

Aunt Jiang rushed over, crying.

"The city lord's actions are righteous!"

The cultivators of the Golden Saber Sect who had been subdued were completely won over.

Ye Wuhen and Situ Kong exchanged a glance, both feeling shocked and heartbroken.

Life for life...

This woman could do this to her own family.

You must understand that in the world of cultivation, the strong prey on the weak, and every moment a cultivator cultivates is a struggle against fate.

The elder in the family simply passed away after his normal lifespan had expired.

Most people wouldn't go to such lengths to try and keep someone in this situation.

Amidst the astonished and moved gazes of the crowd, Jiang Yining simply smiled faintly, as if she had done something insignificant.

Soon, the news that Jiang Yining had used a forbidden family technique to prolong her grandmother's life spread like wildfire throughout the entire Desolate Abyss overnight.

The way everyone looked at her changed from awe to burning fervor and worship.

In the cultivation world, selfish and self-serving people are as numerous as hairs on a cow. In order to survive, it is not uncommon for fathers and sons to kill each other and brothers to turn against each other.

It's unheard of for someone like Jiang Yining to sacrifice her precious lifespan to save a mortal elder.

In a short time, Jiang Yining's reputation in the Desolate Abyss reached its peak.

The Jiang family members showed concern and care, fearing that Jiang Yining's "deficient" body might suffer some further mishap.

Jiang Yining accepted this calmly, spending her days either dealing with the affairs of the desolate abyss or resting with her eyes closed, soothing the two increasingly mischievous little ones in her womb.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, in the training ground, demonic energy and spiritual light intertwined, and explosions rang out incessantly.

"You need to use your waist to generate power when you punch! Is that some kind of embroidery?"

Ye Wuhen raised an eyebrow and pointed at a member of the Jiang family. His aura was overwhelming, and he had actually recovered to the mid-stage of the Void Refinement realm. With every move he made, the earth-shattering demonic pressure of the Demon Lord returned.

The tribesman being addressed, far from being afraid, was instead filled with excitement: "Thank you for your guidance, Demon Lord!"

On the other side, Situ Kong was instructing Jiang Wensi on his swordsmanship.

He was still waving his feather fan, looking like a sage, but a lingering melancholy hung between his brows.

His cultivation level was locked at the Nascent Soul stage by the golden curse seal descended by the Heavenly Dao, and no matter how he cultivated, he could not advance even a fraction further.

"Blind Situ, would you like me to loosen your muscles and bones?"

After finishing the "teaching" here, Ye Wuhen strolled over to Situ Kong, looking down at him with undisguised sarcasm on his lips.

He had tasted enough the bitterness of a tiger fallen into the plains.

Now that the tables have turned, he naturally wants to get his revenge tenfold.

Situ Kong didn't even lift his eyelids, and lightly waved his feather fan: "No need for the Demon Lord to worry. Fighting and killing is uncivilized. This Pavilion Master is now studying the Heavenly Dao, which is beyond the comprehension of a brute like you."

"Ha, the Way of Heaven?"

Ye Wuhen chuckled, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "I think you're so overwhelmed by the Heavenly Dao that you can't get up, are you? Should I go talk to Ningning and ask her to let you get some more rest tonight?"

Situ Kong paused in his fanning, his face instantly turning as black as the bottom of a pot.

This madman! He always brings up the very thing he shouldn't have said!

Ever since Ye Wuhen recovered his cultivation, he has been showing off in front of him every day how "passionate" and "proactive" Jiang Yining is towards him, which has made him so angry that he almost lost his Dao heart.

Just as the two were about to start arguing again, a crisp sound of an abacus rang out.

Erbao Chu Anyan walked over expressionlessly, carrying his golden abacus that was taller than him: "Uncle Ye, Uncle Situ, according to Article 37 of the 'Wilderness Employee Code of Conduct,' chatting and fighting during working hours will each result in a deduction of 100 work points."

The arrogance on Ye Wuhen's face froze instantly.

Situ Kong immediately put on a smiling face, bent down and pinched Chu Anyan's cheek: "Our Anyan is so sensible, unlike some people, who are so vulgar."

"Uncle Situ, the fifth rule of the family is that it is forbidden to lay a hand on a manager. Ten more work points will be deducted."

Chu Anyan coldly slapped his hand away.

Situ Kong's smile froze.

In this eerie silence, the sky suddenly darkened without warning.

It wasn't that dark clouds were obscuring the sun, but rather that it was like ink being dripped into clear water, creating an eerie stain. The blood-red moon shadow appeared and disappeared in the daytime, exuding an ominous aura that sent chills down one's spine.

"What happened?"

"Why is it dark?"

Everyone in the desolate abyss stopped what they were doing and looked up at the sky with surprise and uncertainty.

Jiang Yining suddenly stood up, disregarding her heavy body, and strode out of the hall.

Looking up, one could see that the sky to the west of the desolate abyss looked like a tattered cloth riddled with worms, torn open by an invisible giant hand, leaving a dark crack thousands of feet long!

"Everyone! Return to base! Activate Level 1 combat readiness!"

Jiang Yining shouted sharply, her voice carrying throughout the city through her spiritual power.

hum-

A pale golden light curtain instantly rose up, enveloping the entire desolate abyss.

Tear!

With a loud bang, it was as if a huge canvas had been forcibly torn apart.

Behind that crack lay chaotic spatial turbulence and endless crimson.

Immediately afterwards, countless monsters surged out of the crack like a flood bursting its banks!

Those demonic beasts had bloodshot eyes and varied in shape. The lowest cultivation level among them was at the Golden Core stage, and there were even a few terrifying auras of the Void Refinement stage mixed in!

"roar--!"

A three-headed demonic wolf at the early stage of the Void Refinement realm was the first to rush out of the crack. Its scarlet eyes instantly locked onto the main city of the Desolate Abyss, where the spiritual energy was most abundant. It opened its blood-red maw, and three dark energy balls the size of millstones roared and smashed towards the city's protective array.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The defensive array shook violently, and ripples appeared on the light screen.

"roar!"

Immediately afterwards, a two-headed demonic ape, as large as a mountain, squeezed out of the crack, and the void trembled with each step it took.

Following behind was a bone dragon engulfed in ghostly flames, and a giant toad with three eyes...

"One, two, three, four, five..."

Situ Kong, standing on the city wall, froze in his tracks.

"Five... Nascent Soul stage demonic beasts."

In the past, the best that could be achieved during a beast tide was having a single demon king at the Integration Stage in charge.

But this time, there were five right from the start!

In the entire Floating Cloud Realm, there are no more than twenty powerful beings at the Integration Stage or above.

Now, the desolate abyss alone is facing an attack from five monsters of the same level!

"Is this... a reckoning by Heaven?"

Situ Kong muttered to himself, his fingers frantically calculating in his sleeve.

The divination indicates: Ten deaths with no chance of survival.