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

The campfire crackled, occasionally spewing out a spark or two that traced brief paths through the dark wilderness night.

Mo Xie stared at the ugly bow on her arm for a long time before awkwardly looking away, only to meet Jiang Yining's thoughtful gaze.

"What are you looking at? If you look again, I'll charge you a viewing fee." The boy glared back fiercely, but most of the ferocity in his golden pupils had already dissipated, leaving only a few traces of forced arrogance.

Jiang Yining wasn't annoyed. She added a piece of firewood to the fire and casually remarked, "Young Master's physique doesn't look like that of a physical cultivator. It's more like... someone who's been pampered at home."

"Spoiled?" Mo Xie scoffed as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. A look of vicissitude and mockery that was completely out of place with his young face appeared on his tender face. "In the eyes of those old fogies in Tiangong City, I am just a good-for-nothing who can only play with 'strange skills'."

He picked up a pebble and threw it hard into the darkness.

"I'm three hundred years old, and my physical body is still at the level of the Spirit Awakening stage. I rely entirely on this body of iron to maintain appearances. In their eyes, not cultivating oneself is ultimately a heretical path. Even if I could kill a True Monarch with a single shot, they would still think I've disgraced the family."

Jiang Yining raised an eyebrow. So he was a genius tech geek suppressed by traditional cultivation concepts.

"Then they really are blind." Jiang Yining said in a light tone, as if she were saying that the weather was nice today.

Mo Xie was taken aback for a moment, then turned to look at her: "What do you know? This is an ironclad rule in the cultivation world; achieving sainthood through physical cultivation is the true path..."

"Great Dao my ass." Jiang Yining interrupted him rudely, poking at the fire with a branch. "A good cat is one that catches mice, and a good method is one that kills. Once you open your Divine Mechanism Box, even True Monarch Realm cultivators have to kneel. If that's considered trash, then what about those people you blasted into dust? Fertilizer?"

Mo Xie opened his mouth, seemingly surprised that this woman was even more impulsive than him.

"Besides," Jiang Yining dusted off her hands, her gaze becoming distant, "strength has no fixed form. As long as you can protect those you want to protect, even if it means biting them or throwing money at them, that's still a skill."

Moye fell silent.

Protecting the person he wanted to protect... His younger sister's pale face flashed through his mind; she was his only attachment in this cold family.

"You seem quite philosophical about it." After a long while, Mo Xie muttered, his voice lowering, "You talk as if you know everything."

"Of course I know." Jiang Yining chuckled and waved five fingers in front of him. "I'm a mother of five children."

"Pfft—cough cough cough!"

Mo Xie, who was drinking water from his kettle, suddenly spat out a mouthful, choking and turning his face red. He stared wide-eyed at the woman who looked to be no more than twenty years old, as if she were a monster.

"Five...five?!"

Mo Xie's voice cracked as he looked Jiang Yining up and down her slender waist, his face filled with disbelief: "You... are you a pig? How can you be so fertile?!"

Jiang Yining's lips twitched, resisting the urge to rub this brat to the ground.

"Is that the point?" She rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. "The point is, what hardships haven't I endured? What scorn haven't I suffered? If I were like you, constantly wallowing in self-pity, I'd be two meters tall with grass growing on my grave by now."

She moved closer, and the firelight reflected on her face, making her appear both gentle and resolute.

"Young Master, don't care what others say. Your Divine Mechanism Box is very powerful, and your skills are amazing. Those who look down on you are just jealous that you are rich and smart."

Mo Xie stared at her blankly.

For three hundred years, all we've heard are admonitions that "playing with things leads to the loss of ambition" and "you'll never amount to anything." No one has ever so bluntly and rudely affirmed his way of thinking.

Are you jealous that I'm rich and smart?

Why does that sound so pleasant?

Mo Xie felt that the pent-up frustration in his chest that had been building up for years seemed to have dissipated considerably. He turned his face away, and his ears began to burn slightly again.

"Hmph, glib tongue."

Although he said that, his hands didn't stop moving.

He grabbed the broken sword that Jiang Yining had placed beside her—it was the remaining "scraps" and Jiang Yining's only weapon for self-defense.

"Give it to me."

"What? I spent a lot of money on this... Okay, I found it." Although Jiang Yining was puzzled, she still let go.

Mo Xie didn't speak, but took out a bunch of sophisticated tools from the Divine Machine Box, and then took out a few fragments of Star Essence Stones that glowed with blue light.

Click, sizzle—

The sounds of metal scraping and welding echoed in the quiet night.

Jiang Yining rested her chin on her hand, watching quietly. When the boy was focused, his golden eyes shone with an astonishing brightness, as if they contained a vast ocean of stars.

About an hour later.

"Give."

Mo Xie threw the modified short sword into Jiang Yining's arms.

The once dilapidated broken sword has been completely transformed. The hilt has been replaced with some kind of non-slip metal, and three streamlined spiritual energy channels are inlaid on the blade, extending all the way to the tip. Most notably, a small groove has been added to the guard.

"This is..." Jiang Yining grasped the sword hilt, feeling that it had an excellent feel and was just the right weight.

"You have absolutely no spiritual power in your body right now; you'd be easy prey if you encountered danger," Mo Xie explained casually as he packed up his tools. "I've modified this sword; it doesn't need your spiritual power to power it. See that groove?"

He pointed to the sword guard.

"Stuff it with Star Essence Stones. A low-grade Star Essence Stone can unleash a sword aura, equivalent to the Spirit Awakening Realm."

A full-force attack; the mid-grade Star Essence Stone can activate a shield, blocking three attacks from a Soul Building Realm expert.

Mo Xie paused, raised his chin, and said with an arrogant expression, "Although it's just some trash I modified on the spot, it's barely enough for a weakling like you to defend yourself."

Jiang Yining stroked the cool patterns on the sword's blade, a warm feeling welling up inside her.

This wasn't just a random modification; it was clearly a "pay-to-win weapon" tailor-made for her current situation. With enough money, you can kill.

"Thank you, young master." Jiang Yining smiled sincerely, her eyes crinkling. "I really like this gift."

Mo Xie stiffened, turned her back, and crawled into her sleeping bag, leaving Jiang Yining with only her red back of her head.

"Go to sleep! It's so noisy! We have to travel tomorrow!"

In the darkness, the boy couldn't help but smile slightly.

Five children...

Tsk, this woman doesn't look old at all, how come she can have so many children?

However... since he is my follower, he can't be too shabby, lest he embarrass Tiangong City.

……

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Jiang Yining was awakened by the cold. Although the Shadow Poison in her body had been suppressed by the Earth Fire overnight, with the arrival of dawn, that chilling energy began to stir again in her meridians.

She gritted her teeth and swallowed a Spirit Recovery Pill given to her by Mo Xie, her face still as pale as paper.

"I'm gone."

Mo Xie had already slung the enormous Divine Mechanism Box over his shoulder and stood in the morning breeze, his robes fluttering in the wind. He glanced at Jiang Yining's pale face, frowned slightly, but said nothing, only slowing his pace.

The two walked one after the other toward the nearest town—Qingshi Town.

There is a teleportation array there that leads to the Danta branch.

Once we reach the Pill Tower, we might be able to find a way to suppress the Shadow Poison and also buy the medicine that Sister Moye needs.

However, Jiang Yining did not expect that trouble would come faster than anticipated.