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

The two pointed fox ears trembled slightly with the movement, incredibly soft.

In that instant, all questions and accusations were melted away by that one yawn.

Thump, thump.

The twenty elite soldiers behind the Grand Elder, who had initially appeared menacing, suddenly knelt down in perfect unison, their knees beating their brains. It was an instinct ingrained in their very bones, an absolute submission to the supreme Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox of the royal family.

The Grand Elder was still standing.

But it will be soon.

His legs moved as if playing a pipa, and his cloudy old eyes, which no longer held any ferocity, were now filled with the nine swaying tails.

"Nine...Nine-tailed..."

The old man's voice trembled like a leaf, his expression one of utter awe as if he had seen auspicious smoke rising from his ancestral grave, tears streaming down his face. "This...this is the young prince? Alive?"

Ye Wuhen took a step back in disgust, pulling Wu Bao closer to his chest, his tone dripping with sarcasm: "Isn't this just a rumor? What, can any random fox in your Qingqiu grow nine tails?"

"Which bastard said that!"

The elder's expression changed instantly, faster than flipping through a book.

He turned around with an air of righteous indignation, roaring at the still-stunned guards, "Who dares to slander His Highness! I'll skin them alive and make their scarves!"

The guards: "..."

Did you scold me enough along the way?

Wu Bao Jiang Tang seemed to be disturbed by the old man's loud voice. Her little mouth twitched, and her big golden eyes immediately filled with tears. Her look of being on the verge of crying was heartbreaking.

The Grand Elder was terrified.

He disregarded any semblance of dignity as an elder, his old face crinkling into a wide smile, his tone so cloying it could stretch into silk:

"Oh dear! Your Highness, don't cry! Don't cry! It's Grandpa's fault, Grandpa has a loud voice!"

He frantically tried to remove the storage ring from his hand, wishing he could empty his savings to appease the child:

"This is a piece of ancient, warm jade; please use it to warm Your Highness's hands!"

"This is deep-sea sharkskin yarn, it's so soft, it's a shame not to make clothes from it!"

"This is... Hey, Night Demon Lord, can I hug you? Just for a moment! I'd trade this thousand-year-old peach wood staff for it! I'll even let you touch the tip of its tail!"

Seeing the once arrogant Grand Elder now fawning over him like a lapdog, Ye Wuhen felt extremely pleased.

He tossed the little dumpling in his arms, looked down at the Grand Elder, and a wicked smile curled at the corner of his mouth:

"Hug? Dream on."

"Want to touch its tail? Sure."

Ye Wuhen gestured with his chin toward the mountain of monster corpses outside the city: "Clean up the trash over there first, wash your hands, and if you behave well, I'll let you brush Tangtang's fur."

The elder didn't even stammer; he grabbed his cane and jumped up, his movements so agile they didn't seem like those of a thousand-year-old monster.

"Did you all hear me?! Get to work! Anyone who dares to slack off will be banished from Qingqiu!"

Watching that group of fox spirits who had just been shouting for battle now dutifully starting to work as cleaners, Chu Anyan on the city wall pushed up his air glasses.

He calmly made a mark on the ledger:

"Twenty-one free laborers from Qingqiu, work period... to be determined."

"Big brother," Chu Anyan turned to look at Jiang Lei, who was standing beside him holding a sword and staring blankly, "Look, I told you Fifth Sister's net worth is more than all of ours combined."

……

The night breeze was cool, and the moonlight over the desolate abyss had a pale, bleak hue.

The Grand Elder of Qingqiu pressed himself against the wall, his cultivation level at the Integration Stage firmly suppressed within his body.

He has lived for thousands of years, and apart from peeping at the fox spirit next door taking a bath back then, this is the first time he has ever done something like stealing a child.

His face flushed slightly, but the thought of those nine fluffy tails immediately banished the elder's sense of shame.

That's the lifeblood of Qingqiu!

How can we eat sand in this desolate abyss?

He must be taken away! Even if it means being falsely accused, he'll accept it.

The house was right in front of me, with the windows half-closed.

The elder held his breath, and as soon as his fingers touched the window frame, a chilling coldness shot straight up from his fingertips to the top of his head.

"Don't you want your claws anymore?"

The sound, neither too loud nor too soft, exploded right next to his ear.

The elder froze, then abruptly turned his head.

Ye Wuhen was sitting on the roof beam at some point, one leg dangling and swaying, holding a whetstone in his hand, slowly rubbing the demonic blade that had killed countless people.

A slight brush, and a few sparks fly.

"Night Without Trace." The First Elder lowered his voice, his old face as black as the bottom of a pot. "Get out of the way, I owe you a favor."

"How much is your favor worth?"

Ye Wuhen blew away the iron filings from the blade, not even lifting his eyelids: "How can you compare to my daughter?"

"Don't be ungrateful!" the Grand Elder cried out, his beard trembling. "That's a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox! She must return to Qingqiu to receive her inheritance! Staying here will only ruin her!"

"fart."

Ye Wuhen chuckled and leaped down from the roof beam, landing silently, yet like a mountain blocking the window.

"That's still my daughter. I can raise her however I want. If she wants to eat dragon meat, I'll slay a dragon. If she wants to sleep in a fox pelt, I'll..."

His gaze swept over the elder, filled with malice. "I'll skin you alive."

"You arrogant brat!"

The elder was furious. He pointed his cane, and hundreds of invisible wind blades silently slashed towards Ye Wuhen.

He didn't dare use his full strength, afraid of disturbing the little master inside the house; he only wanted to drive this roadblock dog away.

Ye Wuhen was even more decisive, slashing horizontally with his demonic blade, without any fancy moves, just a pure head-on collision.

"when--!"

A muffled thud.

Although both of them tried their best to control the fluctuations of their spiritual energy, this was, after all, a clash between the strongest people of the era.

The force of the energy surged, causing the window frame to crack with a "crack".

In the still of the night, that sound was louder than a thunderbolt.

The Grand Elder's face turned deathly pale instantly.

Ye Wuhen also froze, his hand holding the knife stopping in mid-air.

The two men stared intently at the window, barely daring to breathe, their tension a hundred times greater than when facing a million-strong beast tide.

One breath, two breaths.

The rustling sound of fabric rubbing came from inside the room.

"Waaah..."

A soft groan, as if still half asleep.