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

The ancient boat moved silently through the underground river, with only the viscous sound of the water all around.

Su Chenzhou pulled out a strangely shaped pair of jade tweezers from somewhere, and a cluster of eerie blue flames ignited at his fingertips, casting a ghostly shadow in the cabin.

"Lie down," he said succinctly.

Jiang Yining leaned on the boat plank, her face deathly pale. Although the exposed part of the star nail on her right shoulder had been shattered, the remaining half inch was still deeply embedded in the bone, and every twitch brought excruciating pain.

Without hesitation, she leaned against the worn-out cushion.

At times like these, being dramatic is just waiting to die.

Su Chenzhou knelt on one knee beside her, his movements steady. The moment the jade tweezers probed into her flesh, Jiang Yining's breath hitched, and her fingertips dug into the wooden board.

"If it hurts, just yell it out. No one on this ship will laugh at you." Su Chenzhou glanced at her, but his hands didn't stop moving, precisely pinching the tiny nail fragment.

"hiss--"

Jiang Yining's forehead was covered in cold sweat, but she gritted her teeth and didn't utter a sound.

The Myriad Spirits Divine Tree within her body had already been quietly operating, its purple-gold vitality frantically repairing her damaged muscles, but she deliberately suppressed the speed of self-healing.

Su Chenzhou picked out a nail fragment and casually tossed it into the black bone basin beside him, but when he was dealing with the last half inch, his fingers paused almost imperceptibly.

He deliberately left the half-inch of nail fragment behind and even took back the jade tweezers.

"Is it all taken care of?" Jiang Yining asked, panting.

"There's still a little bit left, stuck on a critical acupoint. Forcibly pulling it out will damage the meridians." Su Chenzhou lied without changing his expression, but his deep eyes remained fixed on her wound.

He was observing.

Observe this woman's recovery ability.

Just a hundred breaths later, the grotesquely torn flesh began to close up at a slow but extremely steady pace.

"Your physique as a rogue cultivator is better than I imagined," Su Chenzhou said casually, yet with a hint of probing.

Jiang Yining lowered her eyes, concealing the sharp glint in them: "I have a wood-type spiritual root, so my self-healing is naturally faster than ordinary people. Besides, the little one in my belly is also fighting for survival. If I don't get better quickly, both mother and child will die."

She attributed all the abnormalities to her "physical condition" and "pregnancy".

Su Chenzhou noncommittally put away his tools.

"At the end of the ancient underground river is the abandoned supply point 'Grey Bone Wharf,' which we will arrive at in two hours."

He stood up, his black cloak billowing in the air. "The ship's supplies are running low. I need to replenish three things."

Jiang Yining looked up at him.

"Nine bags of hidden vein sand, one fetal breathing wooden box, and three signal interruption talismans."

With each word Su Chenzhou uttered, Jiang Yining's heart sank a little deeper.

Hidden vein sand is used to conceal the fluctuations of the meridians during pregnancy, fetal breathing wooden box can prevent the leakage of the embryo's vitality, and signal cutting talisman is used to avoid bloodline tracking.

This man isn't replenishing his stock, is he?

He clearly had long studied the methods of breath cultivation and gestation.

"What are you looking at me for?" Su Chenzhou turned around, a playful smile curving his lips. "Since it's a transaction, I have to let you live a little longer, otherwise who's going to pay me?"

Jiang Yining took a deep breath, raising her guard against the man to its highest level.

This person is too steady and too knowledgeable.

……

Two hours later, the ancient boat docked.

Despite its name, Greybone Harbor is actually a ruin floating in the void, with scattered soul lamps shining among the broken walls, and the air is filled with the scent of outlaws and black market merchants.

The moment the two stepped onto the dilapidated stone steps, the atmosphere around them changed.

A patrol team dressed in gray-white armor and carrying heavy halberds roared in. The one-eyed giant at the head of the team saw the banner of the ancient ship and his eyes suddenly lit up with greed.

"Su Chenzhou! You dare show your face again?"

The one-eyed giant brandished his heavy halberd, creating a gust of wind: "The debt you owed in Thousand Illusion City last time, principal and interest, will be settled today by leaving this Broken Star Ship here!"

The patrol team scattered with a whoosh, surrounding the two men.

Su Chenzhou didn't rush to make a move, and didn't even take out the Black Bone Copper Coin.

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over two faintly visible silver dots in the shadows in the distance.

Those were Protoss sentries who had been tracking them.

"I'll acknowledge the debt." Su Chenzhou said calmly, reaching out to pull Jiang Yining closer to his waist. "However, those two friends behind us seem to be carrying something even more valuable. Would you like to take a look?"

The one-eyed man was taken aback and followed his gaze.

Upon realizing their presence had been discovered, the two Protoss sentries instantly burst into starlight, attempting to teleport away.

"They're Protoss!" someone in the patrol exclaimed. "They definitely have the Protoss essence they've handed over!"

In Greybone Village, the Protoss are a walking treasure trove.

Greed instantly overwhelmed Su Chenzhou's old grievances.

"Stop them!" the one-eyed giant roared.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Su Chenzhou slipped and used one arm to forcefully push Jiang Yining into a narrow, abandoned shipping container.

"Ugh!" Jiang Yining's back slammed against the rusty iron plate; the space was frighteningly cramped.

Su Chenzhou squeezed in after him and pulled the cabinet door shut behind him.

In the darkness, the two clung tightly together.

His chest pressed almost against her nose, and the aura from his black cloak instantly enveloped Jiang Yining.

"Shh, let me count the footsteps outside for you." Su Chenzhou leaned close to her ear, his deep voice carrying a tingling, numbing sensation.

Jiang Yining could even feel the slight resonance in his chest when he spoke.

Outside, the booming sound of heavy halberds cleaving through starlight mingled with screams.

Jiang Yining's eyes flickered slightly, and she casually placed one hand on Su Chenzhou's chest.

Through the thin fabric of his clothes, I could clearly feel the frequency of his heartbeat through my fingertips.

This action seemed to be testing his background, and also carried a hint of subtle provocation.

Su Chenzhou didn't dodge; instead, she lowered her eyes, her extremely dark pupils gleaming faintly in the darkness, as if she wanted to nail her to the container.

"Haven't you touched me enough yet?" he lowered his voice, his fingertips tracing around her earlobe.

"Look at your heart, isn't it as cold as this ancient boat?" Jiang Yining chuckled softly.

Outside, the screams gradually subsided.

Su Chenzhou suddenly pushed open the cabinet door, and a finger strike shot out, directly shattering the back of a Star Spirit sentry who was fleeing for his life in the distance.

Mission accomplished.

He strode toward the one-eyed giant, who was busy looting the Protoss corpses and paid no attention to him.

Su Chenzhou casually snatched a rusty black iron token from the other party's waist.

That was the confiscated Starship.

……

At the same time.

Another void rift, a sea of ​​chaotic rocks.

Gu Qinghan, his white robes stained with blood, held the Ice Flame Longsword in his hand as steady as a mountain. He sat cross-legged on a floating rock, the Star Poison within his body being frantically refined by a cluster of domineering alchemical fire, emitting a series of ear-piercing sizzling sounds.

At his feet, a Protoss Guard, his limbs shattered by the cold, gasped for breath in terror.

Gu Qinghan opened his eyes, his gaze filled with a chilling killing intent.

"Where is Ning'er?"

With a slight twitch of his fingertips, a wisp of icy flame pierced directly into the Star Guardian's brow. "My patience is only enough to hear three words."

The Protoss Guard let out a scream, trembling as it spoke, "I...I fell into the Ancient Road Dark River...and was taken away by a black ship..."

Gu Qinghan's eyelids twitched suddenly.

Black Ships?

With a backhand strike, he shattered the opponent's soul, his white robes billowing as he transformed into a shooting star and hurtled straight into the depths of the ancient road.

……

The edge of the ghost realm.

As Yu Luofeng stepped out of the void, before he could even stand firmly, countless hideous ghost flames lit up all around him.

Two former traitors from the Ghost Realm are guarding that place with hundreds of ghost soldiers.

"Yu Luofeng, the throne of the Ghost King has changed hands. Today, this is your burial ground!"

Yu Luofeng looked down at the slightly warm Ghost Queen's mark on his collarbone.

That was the mark left by Jiang Yining.

As long as the mark remains, it means she is still alive.

"A place to be buried?"

Yu Luofeng burst into wild laughter, his dark golden eyes instantly filled with violence, and a ghostly aura at the level of a half-saint soared into the sky.

He suddenly reached out, his five fingers as hard as steel, and pierced through the chest of one of the traitors, tearing out his heart and crushing it into a bloody mist.

"Anyone who blocks my way must die!"

His gaze swept coldly into the distance, where the faint scent of Jiang Yining lingered in the air.

He wanted to get rid of these bastards first, and then snatch that woman back.

Anyone who dares to touch her, he will wipe out their entire family.