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

It was already past midnight when the traitor was dealt with.

The snow fell heavier and heavier in the desolate abyss, as if trying to bury all the filth in the world.

A biting wind howled from the top-floor observation deck of the Tianji Pavilion.

Situ Kong sat alone in the center of the Tai Chi diagram.

He did not light the lamp.

But the ancient Xuanwu tortoise shell floating in front of him emitted an eerie red light, making his already pale face appear even more bloodless.

"Cough cough..."

Situ Kong covered his mouth and let out a suppressed cough.

Crimson blood seeped between his fingers.

But he didn't care at all, casually wiping his white clothes, his blind eyes, which should have been blind, were now staring at the cracks on the tortoise shell.

Those are celestial patterns.

He has been working on the simulation for the past few days.

Although we had previously deduced that the chances of survival lay with Jiang Yining, we still didn't know exactly how to do it.

As the master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, he had glimpsed too many heavenly secrets in his life, and had already suffered the backlash, with little time left in his lifespan.

This time, however, Situ Kong did not hesitate to burn off ten years of his original lifespan to forcefully break through the fog of heavenly secrets.

"puff!"

Another mouthful of blood spurted onto the tortoise shell.

The tortoise shell trembled, making a crisp "crack" sound, and shattered completely into powder.

But before the powder hit the ground, several large golden ancient seal characters flashed and disappeared in the void.

[Ten deaths without chance of survival]

Situ Kong's hand trembled slightly.

A dead end.

The Protoss's strength far exceeded their imagination. This wave was just a test. Once the real cross-realm attack arrives, the Floating Cloud Realm's current power will be no match for it.

"Is... there really no way out at all?"

Situ Kong was unwilling to accept this. He was not afraid of death. He had lived for so many years and he had long since had enough.

But how long did his woman and his son live?

They haven't had a chance to properly see the world before they've been struggling to survive.

"Let's calculate it later!"

A glint of madness flashed in Situ Kong's eyes.

He suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the Bagua plate in the air.

"I offer my century of cultivation as a sacrifice to the heavens, hoping for a glimmer of hope!"

Boom!

A clap of thunder suddenly sounded in the sky.

A bolt of purple lightning struck straight towards the observatory; it was divine punishment for those who had spied on the secrets of heaven!

Situ Kong neither dodged nor avoided the lightning, and took the blow head-on.

The skin was torn open and the flesh was ripped apart, with a burnt smell permeating the air.

But he laughed.

Because in the instant the lightning dissipated, he saw two extremely faint words in the gap of that seemingly inescapable dead end.

【parting】

Life is fading away? What does that mean?

Could it be Ji Lingxiao, who has already left?

Or should we scatter and escape? Or must someone make a sacrifice to draw away that inevitable calamity?

Situ Kong stared blankly as the two words vanished.

Gathering together would make them too conspicuous and could lead to their capture.

Only by spreading the "spark" or... by someone going to the source and severing the cause and effect.

"Crunch—"

The heavy stone doors of the observatory were pushed open.

A tiny head peeked in.

It was Jiang Jingzhi, still half-asleep.

"Daddy, why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Mother really knows you. She made a calming soup and asked me to bring you a bowl."

The little guy carefully stepped over the threshold, carrying a porcelain bowl bigger than his face.

Situ Kong was startled.

He quickly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, waved his sleeve to dispel the bloody smell in the air, and put on a lazy smile.

"Oh dear, it's my wife and children who truly care about their father."

Situ Kong turned around, using the darkness to conceal the terrifying lightning wound on his body.

Jiang Jingzhi walked over, handed the soup bowl to Situ Kong, and then naturally climbed into his arms, finding a comfortable spot to snuggle against him.

"Father, please take care."

"You've been secretly coughing up blood these past few days. I'm really worried that you'll ruin your health and there won't be anyone to earn money for me in the future."

The little guy was stubborn, but his little hand gently pressed against Situ Kong's chest, and a warm spiritual energy flowed into his palm.

That is the unique celestial secret of the Four Treasures.

He was treating his father's injuries.

Situ Kong's eyes welled up with tears, and he almost couldn't hold back his emotions.

The child takes after him.

She's sharp-tongued but soft-hearted; she clearly cares deeply, but insists it's all for money.

"Don't worry, Dad's got a strong will. The King of Hell thinks I'm too greedy and won't dare take me."

Situ Kong rubbed his son's head and took a sip of soup.

It was bitter, but he found it sweeter than any fine wine or nectar in the world.

"Sibao, let me give you a gift."

Situ Kong suddenly put down the bowl and took out an ordinary-looking copper coin from his pocket.

However, this copper coin is engraved with extremely complex array patterns, faintly exuding an ancient and desolate aura.

This is the treasure-dropping golden coin, a keepsake passed down through the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion for a thousand years.

"What is this? It doesn't look worth much." Jiang Jingzhi curled her lips in disdain.

"This is good stuff."

Situ Kong grabbed Jiang Jingzhi's small hand, solemnly placed the copper coin into her palm, and then squeezed it tightly.

hum!

A faint light flashed, and the copper coin instantly disappeared into Jiang Jingzhi's body.

"This is the key to Dad's 'secret stash' of money he's saved up over the years."

Situ Kong hugged him and said, "As long as you carry this with you, wherever you go in the future, you will be able to turn bad luck into good and misfortune into good fortune."

"And... whenever you miss your father, just hold it, and he'll feel it."

In fact, Situ Kong had already placed a damage transfer array on this magic weapon.

If Jiang Jingzhi were to encounter a fatal attack, this copper coin would shield him from the calamity and transfer the damage to Situ Kong.

"real?"

Jiang Jingzhi's eyes lit up, and she immediately began to sense the copper coins in her body.

"How many spirit stones are in there? Is there a hundred million?"

Situ Kong tapped him on the forehead, laughing and scolding, "All you ever think about is money, money, money! Can't you be a little more ambitious?"

"Money is what makes you successful!" Jiang Jingzhi said confidently.

The father and son were bickering on the observatory, their laughter sounding especially warm in the cold wind.

Looking at his son in his arms, who was grinning from ear to ear, Situ Kong's tenderness gradually turned into resolute determination.

Separation is a source of life.

Since Heaven intends to cut off our path, then I will use this wretched life to carve out a path for you.

The next day, at dawn, Situ Kong, dressed in white, though his expression was deathly pale, pushed open Jiang Yining's door.

He groped his way to the table, his fingertips trembling as he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a pale, jade-like collarbone, his voice low and hoarse.

"Ningning, my fighting ability is poor."

"My cultivation level is insufficient to unleash my full combat potential, so... why don't you absorb my cultivation?"

"This way, you'll have a better chance of surviving the upcoming battle against the Protoss."

Jiang Yining was doing her makeup in front of the mirror when she heard this and her hand holding the jade comb suddenly stopped. When she turned around, a storm was already brewing in her eyes.

"Situ Kong, what do you take me for? A carnivorous vulture?"

She took a few steps to stand in front of him, grabbed his cold wrist, and saw that his pulse was so weak it was alarming, but it only fueled the violent desire in her heart.

This guy is making wild guesses again!

"Want to die? Did you even ask me?"

With a soft tearing sound, Situ Kong's neat white robes were violently ripped open by an external force, revealing large areas of skin that appeared excessively pale due to years of lack of sunlight.

Jiang Yining leaned over and pressed the man, who was spouting nonsense, heavily onto the soft brocade couch. The scent of wood instantly filled the entire space.

"Since you're going to give it to me, I'll take it myself, but how I take it is up to me."

Her cool fingertips slid slowly down his Adam's apple, sending a shiver down his spine as if an electric current were coursing through his parched veins.

An unnatural flush appeared on Situ Kong's originally lifeless face, and although his lifeless eyes could not be seen, they flickered frantically due to the magnified sensation of touch.

"Ningning... my arrangement was the best way."

The unfinished words were swallowed by her leaning down; the plundering between her lips and teeth carried a punitive ferocity, yet it transformed into tender affection when she touched his trembling lips.

The curtains moved without wind, hanging down in layers, enveloping the two intertwined figures in a hazy, ambiguous light and shadow.

Jiang Yining fell silent. The primal power of the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree within her body transformed into countless invisible tentacles, gently yet forcefully probing into his Qi Sea.

That's not plunder, but giving back.

A surge of vitality flowed through their pressed skin, like a trickle flowing into a river, forcefully clearing away the blockages and dryness in his meridians caused by his voyeuristic pursuit of celestial secrets.

"Well……"

Situ Kong let out a muffled groan of unbearable discomfort. The feeling of being healed by warm tentacles deep in his soul made his pale fingertips grip the brocade quilt beneath him tightly.

In that instant of spiritual communion, he seemed to see a towering divine tree stretching its branches in the void, tightly entwining and supporting him, this teetering lone star.

Warm breaths mingled around his neck, and sweat slid down his refined jawline, dripping onto Jiang Yining's hand, surprisingly hot.

This is a dance of souls.

Jiang Yining guided the spiritual energy to circulate throughout the body. Each collision of spiritual energies stirred up visible energy ripples, causing the golden bells on the tent ceiling to emit a crisp, rapid sound.

The wind and snow outside were kept out of the formation, while inside the house, spring was in full bloom and the temperature was rising steadily.

At this moment, Situ Kong completely gave up resistance, letting himself sink into the gentle net she had woven, and his Dao heart miraculously began to be reforged in the pleasure.

After an unknown amount of time, the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, leaving only a room filled with a beautiful fragrance and lingering spiritual light.

Jiang Yining lazily sat up, her fingertips catching a strand of his long hair, damp with sweat, and playing with it between her fingers.

Looking at the fading deathly aura between the eyebrows of the person beneath her and the satisfied blush on their face, a wicked smile curled at the corner of her lips.

"If you ever dare to mention the word 'death' again, I'll make sure you're bedridden for days, just like you are today."