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

For the next three whole days.

Gu Qinghan, like a tireless machine, continued to study Jiang Yining.

On the third night...

For three consecutive days and nights, Gu Qinghan operated the grand formation, channeled her spiritual power, and recorded data. Even as a cultivator at the early stage of the Dao Inquiry Realm, her mental state was stretched to its limit.

He never liked cultivating his physical body and relied entirely on his profound immortal spiritual power. At this moment, his immortal spiritual power was almost depleted, and his divine sense felt like it was being pricked by needles.

He shut down all the testing arrays.

The room fell silent again. Only a few orbs of light emitted a faint, cold glow.

Gu Qinghan didn't return to the rest room at the back. He was simply too exhausted. His tall frame slumped into a grand chair next to the glass table, his hands hanging limply at his sides, his head resting against the back of the chair, and he closed his eyes heavily.

Jiang Yining lay on a glass platform not far away. She was filthy, and her clothes were torn to shreds. But if you looked closely, her breathing was deep and strong, and her muscles were full; she showed no signs of the exhaustion that comes with severe torture.

She opened her eyes. In the dim light, she looked at the armchair.

Gu Qinghan slept restlessly. His face, usually as cold as ice and as if wearing a mask, was now covered in a fine layer of cold sweat. His brows were furrowed tightly, and his pale lips were pressed into a straight line.

He was trembling.

An extremely subtle tremor spread along his long, slender limbs. His fingers gripped the wooden armrests of the armchair tightly, his knuckles turning bluish-white from the excessive force.

Jiang Yining silently rolled out of bed. Barefoot, she stepped onto the cool jade floor. Like a hunting cat, she made no sound as she slowly approached the arrogant Tower Master of the Dan Tower.

The distance was reduced to three feet.

Jiang Yining heard his rapid, disordered breathing, and extremely suppressed murmurs squeezed from deep in his throat.

"mother……"

A faint cry, filled with endless grievance and despair.

Jiang Yining raised an eyebrow. This aloof, icy monster was actually calling for his mother in his dreams?

Gu Qinghan's head throbbed painfully from side to side. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, down his high, straight nose, and onto his clothes. "Don't go...don't believe him..."

His voice grew louder and louder, filled with a desperate struggle. "I didn't poison him...why...why don't you believe me..."

"I am...your son..."

The fragmented sentences pieced together form a melodramatic yet exceptionally cruel childhood trauma.

Jiang Yining looked down at him, her eyes devoid of even a trace of pity. In this cruel world of cultivation, who doesn't bear scars?

Back in the apocalypse, when she was crawling out of piles of corpses to survive, no one listened to her cries for justice.

However, this is an excellent handle. A person without weaknesses cannot be controlled. And Gu Qinghan's current behavior is tantamount to handing her a knife to stab at the softest spot in his heart.

Jiang Yining's lips curled into a wicked smile. She stretched out her hand, which was covered in blood scabs from being "tortured."

Snapped.

She slapped Gu Qinghan on the shoulder without hesitation. The force was considerable, even carrying a hint of revenge.

"Lord Tower Master? Wake up."

Gu Qinghan suddenly opened her eyes.

Those once pale gray eyes were now filled with terrifying red blood vessels. A violent killing intent and lingering terror surged within them.

He sprang to his feet almost instinctively.

Swift as lightning.

Jiang Yining only saw a white blur before her eyes. The next second, an overwhelming force slammed into her chest. She was violently thrown back, her back hitting the hard glass platform with a thud.

Before she could even catch her breath, a large, iron-like hand gripped her throat tightly.

Gu Qinghan pressed her firmly against the stage. His knees pinned her legs down, and he lifted her by the neck with one hand. His handsome face was contorted with utter madness as he gritted his teeth and growled, "Die!"

Her breath was abruptly cut off. Jiang Yining's face flushed red, and veins bulged on her forehead.

She didn't resist. Nor did she use the modified, gold-plated short sword. She simply stared wide-eyed at Gu Qinghan's crazed eyes. Then, with practiced ease, she squeezed out two lines of clear tears.

Tears streamed down her flushed cheeks, dripping onto the web of Gu Qinghan's hand that was gripping her neck.

Gu Qinghan's body jolted violently.

The scalding tears seemed to awaken his reason, which had been consumed by the nightmare. He gasped for breath, the bloodshot in his eyes receding like a tide. Gradually, he could see the woman beneath him, whom he had been choking to the point of near death.

He jerked his hand away as if electrocuted, staggering back three or four steps. His back knocked over a shelf displaying medicine containers.

Crash! The glass jar shattered on the floor. The various medicinal liquids mixed together, emitting a pungent odor.

"Cough cough cough...cough cough..." Jiang Yining clutched her neck, curling up on the stage and coughing violently. Each cough was accompanied by physiological gagging. Five clear purplish-black finger marks had appeared on her neck.

Gu Qinghan looked at her hands, then at the mess on the ground and the woman on the stage.

For the first time, a look of panic appeared on that usually expressionless face. He hated the feeling of being out of control, and he hated it even more when others saw him lose control.

"What...what are you doing coming closer?" Gu Qinghan's voice was terribly hoarse. He tried to put on a stern face, attempting to regain his usual coldness. But his slightly trembling fingertips betrayed him.

Jiang Yining coughed as she struggled to lift her head.

"I think the master... seems to be trapped by a nightmare." Her voice was weak, with a bitter smile. "He was covered in sweat and kept calling out... 'Mother.'"

Gu Qinghan's face turned deathly pale instantly, as if she had been stripped naked in public.

"Shut up!" he roared. He swung his right hand violently. A violent gust of wind swept through, blasting a stone table in the corner of the room into dust.

Pebbles flew everywhere, cutting Jiang Yining's cheek.

She didn't even try to dodge. She simply watched Gu Qinghan go crazy. Her eyes were clear and tolerant, as if she were looking at a child throwing a tantrum.

"I won't say anything then." Jiang Yining slowly sat up, gathering her tattered clothes tightly. She lowered her eyes. "If the Tower Master doesn't want to talk about it, I won't ask. But the way you look is somewhat similar to my younger brother who was wrongly accused and died in prison..."

Make it all up, keep making it all up.

Gu Qinghan's breath hitched. He stared intently at Jiang Yining, as if trying to find a trace of a lie on her face. But Jiang Yining's expression was too perfect; that world-weary, compassionate look struck right at his weak spot.

"Get out of here." Gu Qinghan pointed to the darkest corner at the far end of the room. His voice was extremely suppressed. "Stay away from me. If you dare come within three feet of me again, I'll break your legs."

After saying that, he turned around and strode towards the back lounge, slamming the door shut behind him.

Jiang Yining stared at the tightly closed door. She rubbed the burning marks on her neck from the strangulation.

"What a terrible temper," she muttered under her breath, but a triumphant smile played on her lips.

A lofty and unapproachable healer? A powerful expert in the Dao Inquiry Realm? He's nothing more than a giant baby with a wronged child living inside him.

Having found the crack, she knew she would eventually shatter this block of ice.