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

Jiang Yining sighed.

She slowly sat up straight on the cold, glass table. Two slender, white fingers picked up the empty white jade bottle, turned it upside down, and shook it. Not a single drop of medicine remained.

Gu Qinghan had his back to her. His face was so dark it could drip water. He strode to the shelf and slammed another empty bottle heavily onto the wooden frame.

A crisp clanging sound echoed in the deathly silent room.

"Really gone?" Jiang Yining rubbed her flat stomach. Her stomach even made a very slight groan. "Lord Tower Master, the foundation of your Pill Tower doesn't seem to be as profound as people say."

Gu Qinghan whirled around. Anger flared in his pale gray eyes. He stared intently at the woman on the glass platform, as if looking at an incomprehensible monster. A whole bottle of Xuan-grade pills, enough to overwhelm the potency of five Mahayana cultivators, had been devoured by her like candy, and she dared to complain it wasn't enough.

"Do you think this elixir is like cabbage from the field?" Gu Qinghan's voice froze. He strode back to the front of the stage and grabbed Jiang Yining's wrist. His divine sense once again forcefully probed in.

The results of the examination nearly made him vomit blood. There was no danger of her body exploding, no severed meridians. That devastating medicinal power was like a stone thrown into a bottomless pit, not even causing a ripple. In fact, the woman's pulse was even stronger than before.

Gu Qinghan shook off her hand. "Tell me. What kind of formation or devouring magic weapon is hidden inside you?"

Jiang Yining lowered her eyelashes. Her thick lashes concealed the fleeting glint of shrewdness in her eyes. A direct confrontation was definitely out of the question; once this madman became suspicious, he'd definitely tear her apart. The only option was to lure him with something he was most interested in.

She bit her lower lip tightly. A thin line of blood instantly appeared on her pale lips. When she looked up again, her eyes were red-rimmed, filled with fear and grievance.

"Does the Tower Master think I wanted to become like this?" Jiang Yining's voice trembled, with a hint of a sob at the end.

Gu Qinghan frowned. He hated women crying the most. But Jiang Yining didn't shed a tear; she just looked at him with a deathly, desperate gaze. He had seen that look on the prisoners thrown into death row.

"My body has been used as a medicine cauldron by my family since I was a child." Jiang Yining hugged her knees and curled up in the corner of the glass platform, like a frightened young animal.

Gu Qinghan remained silent, but his gaze was fixed on her.

Jiang Yining took a deep breath and began to wildly fabricate a story, applying modern cell fusion theory to the framework of the cultivation world. "Our family elders, in order to refine a flawless body capable of resisting the Heavenly Dao, soaked me in a medicinal vat from the age of three. Those medicines were all highly poisonous."

She raised her hand and pointed to her collarbone. "The lightning strike marks you felt earlier weren't some kind of calamity. They forcibly injected the sap of a ten-thousand-year-old lightning-struck tree into my bone marrow. With each injection, it felt like my bones were being crushed inch by inch."

Gu Qinghan's pupils contracted slightly. Lightning strikes wood into the bone? This extreme body-refining method only exists in the records of ancient scrolls; the slightest mistake could result in the soul being scattered.

"What about the wood element's vitality?" Gu Qinghan couldn't help but ask. Leaning forward, she was completely caught in the logical trap woven by Jiang Yining.

"Millennial wood marrow," Jiang Yining answered quickly. She even deliberately trembled her shoulders, as if recalling something extremely terrifying. "Lightning and wood are inherently incompatible. They planted wood marrow in my dantian and injected lightning into my spine. The two forces tore at each other within my body every day. Of the hundred chosen children, only I survived."

Jiang Yining raised her head and stared straight at Gu Qinghan. "Lord Tower Master, you are a divine healer. Do you think this is talent? It's just a monster's shell that could explode at any moment."

Gu Qinghan fell silent. He looked at Jiang Yining. The balance achieved by those two extreme forces within her body could only be explained by external intervention. And this inhumane body-refining technique was consistent with the ruthless methods of lower-realm cultivators in their pursuit of ascension.

He even felt a rare sense of identification with the woman before him. Because he himself had once been a victim, treated as an outcast.

"Why would your family take such a great risk?" Gu Qinghan's tone softened slightly. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside the glass table.

The fish has taken the bait.

Jiang Yining sneered inwardly, but her face grew increasingly bitter. "The family elders said that the Floating Cloud Realm is about to undergo a great change. To survive and preserve the family bloodline, the only way is to refine this body and escape the Blood Moon Beast Tide."

Upon hearing the words "Blood Moon Beast Tide," Gu Qinghan's lips curled into an undisguised sneer.

"A bunch of idiots." Gu Qinghan scoffed, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest. "Mere ants from the lower realm, daring to attempt to withstand the Star Spirit Clan's harvesting array with their bare bodies. It's utterly ridiculous."

Jiang Yining feigned shock and abruptly sat up straight. "Lord Tower Master, what did you say? What harvesting formation?"

Looking at her bewildered and ignorant expression, Gu Qinghan felt a surge of superiority. He didn't mind telling this woman the cruel truth of the world.

"What you call the Blood Moon Beast Tide in the lower realms is nothing more than a trap set up by the higher-ups of the Canglan Realm." Gu Qinghan's tone was contemptuous, as if he were talking about a pigsty within his own circle. "The Floating Cloud Realm, on the Star Spirit Clan's star map, is codenamed 'Random Area C'."

Jiang Yining gripped the edge of the glass stand tightly with her fingers. Her knuckles turned white. This was definitely not an act. Da Bao, Er Bao, and the people of the Desolate Abyss were all in that so-called "ranch."

Gu Qinghan, oblivious to her unease, continued, "Every so often, the Star Spirit Clan activates the interdimensional traction array. When that array is projected onto the lower realm, it becomes the Blood Moon you see. When the Blood Moon appears, the demonic beasts go berserk. The immense blood and vengeful spirits generated from the battle are continuously transported to the Star Gate through the array, providing resources for the nobles of the upper realm to cultivate."

"What about ascension?" Jiang Yining's voice was hoarse, suppressing the murderous intent churning within her. "Someone broke through to the Mahayana stage, attracting a tribulation of lightning to ascend—was that also a hoax?"

"Ascension is real." Gu Qinghan glanced at her. "But it's like the biggest fruit on a tree in a pasture. Once you cross the barrier and arrive in the Canglan Realm, you'll be immediately captured by the Star Gate Guardians. If you're lucky, you'll be thrown into the arena as a slave. If you're unlucky, your cultivation will be drained to refine medicine."

Jiang Yining gasped. She thought of Ji Lingxiao's ascension. That arrogant and invincible Sword Master, if he were to fall into the hands of the Star Spirit Clan now, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Isn't anyone in charge? There are so many powerful beings in the Canglan Realm, why do they let the Star Spirits act like this?" Jiang Yining asked urgently. She needed to figure out the distribution of power in this upper realm.

"Manage? Who would manage?" Gu Qing's sneer deepened. "The Canglan Realm is a brutal arena where the strong prey on the weak. The Star Gate is controlled by the Star Spirit Clan and the Merchant Alliance. We need to obtain high-grade Star Essence Stones from them, and they extract life essence from the lower realms. It's just an exchange of interests. Even my Pill Tower..."

Gu Qinghan's words came to an abrupt halt.

His pale gray eyes instantly turned as cold as ice. The surrounding air temperature plummeted.

Suddenly, Gu Qinghan reached out and grabbed Jiang Yining's chin. The force was so great that it almost crushed her jawbone.

"Are you trying to trick me into revealing information?" Gu Qinghan's voice was low and menacing. "Using the guise of complaining to probe the situation in the Canglan Realm. Such deep scheming."

A sharp pain shot through Jiang Yining's jaw. Tears instantly streamed down her face. This time, she didn't need to pretend; the pain was genuine.

"I...I didn't..." Jiang Yining managed to squeeze out the words from her throat. She gripped Gu Qinghan's wrists with both hands, but couldn't budge them an inch. "I'm just...afraid of death. Afraid that all the sacrifices my family made will be in vain. Afraid that with this body, I won't even know how I died."

Crystalline tears slid down her cheeks and landed on the back of Gu Qinghan's hand. Warm, scalding.

Gu Qinghan's fingers stiffened. That tear seemed to possess some kind of corrosive quality, burning the nerves on the back of his hand. Looking at the woman's swollen chin and fearful eyes, the trace of murderous intent in his heart inexplicably dissipated.

He abruptly released his grip, disgustedly shaking off the non-existent dirty object.

"Stop crying." Gu Qinghan turned around. The hem of his white robe drew a sharp arc in the air. "In the Canglan Realm, the tears of the weak are the most worthless waste water."

He strode towards the door, coldly tossing out a single sentence.

"Don't even think about playing any tricks. Now that you've entered this Pill Tower, you're not getting out for the rest of your life."

The door slammed shut.

Jiang Yining slumped onto the glass countertop. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face.

This guy did reveal his purpose: a month? He actually wanted to keep her here forever.

Jiang Yining rubbed her bruised chin, but a cold, chilling sneer slowly crept onto her lips.

No matter who bullies her because she is weak, she will pull out all their teeth and smash all their bones.