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

That's exactly what Jiang Yining was waiting for.

But she didn't show any urgency on her face.

She even yawned.

"First, cancel that damn wedding," she said. "I have no interest in marrying you."

"No." Yu Luofeng's answer was firm and resolute.

Jiang Yining raised an eyebrow.

"Your soothing power can cure my headache," Yu Luofeng said coldly, looking at her. "But I will not allow you any chance to leave the Ghost Realm. Your status as the Ghost Queen is the best chain. The wedding cannot be canceled."

"Alright," Jiang Yining agreed readily. "Then let's change the condition. The wedding can take place, but I want all the privileges a Ghost Queen should have. This includes the right to freely enter and exit all forbidden areas of the Ghost Realm, and the power to mobilize the resources of the Ghost Clan."

Yu Luofeng's expression changed.

"You're greedy."

"You're in a lot of pain."

The two looked at each other.

Yu Luofeng looked away first, and his temple throbbed again.

A new, sharp pain spread from the back of my head to my forehead.

"The second condition." Jiang Yining didn't give him a moment to catch his breath.

"Pull Gu Qinghan out of the River of Oblivion."

Yu Luofeng's face instantly darkened.

"You mentioned another man when you were negotiating with me?"

"He's my physician," Jiang Yining said matter-of-factly. "The Shadow Poison in my body needs him to treat it. You don't want your 'Ghost Queen' to have flare-ups every few days, do you?"

Yu Luofeng's fists clenched together with a cracking sound.

He utterly detested this logic.

But he couldn't find a point to refute it.

"He won't let you touch him."

"That depends on his medical skills; does he even need to touch her?"

"I said you mustn't touch it, and that's final!"

Yu Luofeng's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

The pressure from the semi-saint realm instantly pressed down, causing the walls of the entire bridal chamber to tremble.

Jiang Yining was pressed forward slightly by this oppressive force.

But she did not back down, nor did she change her expression.

She simply waited quietly for the oppressive force to pass.

Because she discovered a pattern.

Every time Yu Luofeng released his pressure, his headache would worsen tenfold.

really.

The oppressive force lasted only three seconds.

Yu Luofeng's face was pale, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He forcibly withdrew his oppressive aura and took several deep breaths.

"Can we not touch it?" His voice had a hint of huskiness that he himself didn't even notice.

It is not an order.

It's about discussion.

"I'll try my best," Jiang Yining said.

Yu Luofeng pursed her lips and stopped pursuing the topic.

"The third condition."

Three aren't enough?

"The last one." Jiang Yining raised her hand again, a faint emerald light flickering in her palm. "Each time I treat you, you must give me appropriate compensation. Spirit stones, spirit herbs, ores—anything is fine. The amount is up to me."

Yu Luofeng looked at the light in her palm and his breath hitched.

He slowly closed his eyes.

"good."

One word.

It was so straightforward that even Jiang Yining was a little surprised.

She had prepared at least three options for concessions.

Surprisingly, this one also passed directly.

It seems that this half-saint's head is really hurting to the extreme.

"Deal." Jiang Yining reached out her hand.

Yu Luofeng opened her eyes and looked at the hand that was being extended to her.

He did not shake hands.

"There's one more condition," Yu Luofeng said.

"You just said we can't add any more."

"These are my conditions." His voice regained its coldness and hardness. "You must accept the Queen of Demons' mark."

Jiang Yining's hand was suspended in mid-air.

"What mark?"

Yu Luofeng took out the black ghost-character token from his clothes.

His thumb traced the patterns on the surface of the token.

"The Ghost Queen's Mark is a contractual imprint passed down through generations of Ghost Kings in the Ghost Realm. Once the mark is etched into the flesh, our souls will resonate in a one-way manner. I can sense your location, your emotions, and your life or death."

"You can't escape."

"But in exchange, the mark will also grant you the authority to manipulate the Ghost Domain Array. The forbidden zone access and resource allocation rights you desire are all included."

Yu Luofeng's gaze fell on Jiang Yining's collarbone.

"The mark is engraved here."

His fingertip lightly touched the center of her collarbone, without touching her skin.

"It can never be eliminated."

Jiang Yining's mind was racing.

One-way resonance.

Perceive location, emotions, life and death.

This is equivalent to installing a tracking device on her.

Normally, she would never accept something like this.

But Yu Luofeng didn't know that she possessed the Myriad Spirit Divine Tree.

Any external spiritual imprint that enters her body can be devoured, transformed, or even used in reverse by the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree.

At that time, this "chain" will actually become a conduit leading directly to the energy core of the ghost realm.

Moreover, there's the power to allocate resources within the Ghost Domain Array.

The value of this thing far exceeds that of a positioning mark that she can invalidate.

Jiang Yining lowered her eyes and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then she gently pulled aside the fabric that had slipped off her shoulder.

Her complete, fair collarbone was exposed.

"Carve it."

Yu Luofeng's pupils suddenly contracted.

He clearly hadn't expected her to agree so quickly.

His fingers hovered above her collarbone for two seconds.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"What's the use of being afraid?" Jiang Yining retorted. "Your Ghost King Palace is already half demolished. If I'm afraid, will you just stop printing it?"

Yu Luofeng's lips twitched.

The demolished Ghost King Palace was half done by that white-haired healer.

"Lie down."

His voice was kept very low.

He carried a tension that even he himself couldn't explain.

Jiang Yining lay on the ice bed.

The cold jade surface clung to her back through the thin fabric of her clothes.

Her clothes were pulled down to her shoulders.

Her collarbone was completely exposed in the dark red candlelight.

The skin glowed with a faint warmth in the candlelight.

Yu Luofeng knelt down beside her.

He held the black "ghost" token in his hand.

The token slowly melted in his palm, turning into a thick, dark liquid that emitted a cold, eerie light.

The liquid swirled around his fingertips, emitting an extremely faint hum.

"The process of imprinting the mark will be very painful." Yu Luofeng's voice was unusually devoid of any emotion.

"How long will the pain last?"

"It depends on your endurance. It could be as short as the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, or as long as a whole night."

Jiang Yining nodded.

"Let's begin."

Yu Luofeng dipped his right index finger in the dark liquid and slowly reached towards her collarbone.

His fingertips stopped an inch from her skin.

There was a moment of hesitation.

He could see the extremely subtle rise and fall of her collarbone and feel the trembling of her skin with each breath.

Her skin had a very thin layer of downy hair.

It stood upright in the candlelight, as if its approach had stirred a barely perceptible tremor within it.

Yu Luofeng's throat tightened.

He looked away and lowered his index finger.

The moment the cold liquid touched her warm skin, Jiang Yining's shoulders tensed up.

Really hurts.

That dark power wasn't applied to the surface of the skin, but penetrated the epidermis, seeped into the muscle, and drilled all the way into the bone.

It doesn't feel like I was burned.

It was more like someone was using an extremely fine needle to pierce into the creases of her collarbone, millimeter by millimeter.

Jiang Yining's fingers gripped the ice jade bed beneath her.

The fingernail made a sharp, grating sound as it scratched the hard jade.

She bit her lower lip and remained silent.

The Myriad Spirits Divine Tree in the dantian reacted immediately.

Dozens of purplish-gold roots emerged from the dantian and rushed rapidly along the meridians to the collarbone.

However, Jiang Yining forcibly stopped the roots before they reached her collarbone.