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

The cracking sound emanating from deep within Su Chenzhou's chest was jarring in the night wind.

This towering man, whose physique was like an iron tower, had spent years walking on the edge of life and death, and could even withstand the main cannon of the Protoss race. But now, he slammed one knee heavily onto the black jade steps.

His head hung low, and large mouthfuls of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed out uncontrollably, pooling into a shocking dark pit at his feet. The star core within his body, which supported his immense life force, was dimming and disintegrating at a visible speed.

Inside the inner palace, Jiang Yining was reclining on a soft couch, meditating. Hearing the commotion outside, she frowned slightly and lifted her eyelashes.

Without the slightest hesitation, she absolutely refused to allow this top-tier "tool"—who possessed the core technology of the Primordial Star-Severing Ship and had just risked his life to protect her—to be so easily destroyed on these cold steps.

Jiang Yining flicked her fingertips slightly.

"Whoosh—!"

A purple-gold root radiating boundless, chaotic vitality, like a sharp arrow piercing through the air, completely disregarded the spatial distance outside the hall and precisely wrapped around the thick waist of the innkeeper, Chen Zhou.

Gu Qinghan and Yu Luofeng didn't even have time to make a move to stop it before the powerful root of the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree suddenly retracted. Su Chenzhou's burly, dying body was dragged directly into the Spirit Gathering Chamber at the deepest part of the palace by an irresistible force.

"Bang!"

With a muffled rumble, the heavy, dragon-severing stone fell perfectly. The millennia-old array material completely isolated the secret chamber from all external energy, turning this narrow, dark space into an absolutely sealed domain.

Deep within the secret chamber, a faint purple-gold light flickered.

Su Chenzhou's back slammed against the cold wall, his heavy, hot breaths drawing out white mist in the air. He struggled to maintain his fading consciousness, trying to make out the graceful figure approaching him.

"Take it off."

Jiang Yining's tone was calm, yet carried an unyielding coldness, as if she were issuing the most ordinary of commands.

Su Chenzhou's Adam's apple bobbed laboriously for a moment, without the slightest hesitation. His blood-stained, bony hands gripped the edges of his tattered black robe and yanked it sharply to both sides.

The cloth was torn to shreds.

His bronze-colored body, brimming with masculine power and covered in countless gruesome scars, was laid bare in the dim light. Sweat mingled with blood, trickling down the lines of his bulging pectoral muscles. Deep within his left chest, the life core of his nascent soul, on the verge of shattering, flickered violently like a candle in the wind, each beat accompanied by a spasm of his muscles.

Jiang Yining stepped forward and leaned in close.

The fresh scent of herbs that belonged to her instantly overpowered the pungent smell of blood. She raised her hand, her cool fingertips precisely pressing against the center of Su Chenzhou's chest, which was as hot as a branding iron.

The moment their skin touched, Su Chenzhou's muscles tensed up, and the veins on his forehead stood out.

Jiang Yining didn't care about his body's instinctive reaction at all. The primal power of the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree transformed into the most domineering threads, which forcefully drilled into his shattered meridians along her fingertips, flowing downwards inch by inch.

"Chaotic Dual Cultivation Array, activate." She murmured softly.

The instant the formation ignited, extreme pain and an indescribable, soul-stirring tingling pleasure surged through Su Chenzhou's body. That purplish-gold vitality, like dense sewing needles, brutally yet precisely pierced through the cracks in his life core, forcibly gathering the shattered sparks back together.

"Well……"

Su Chenzhou bit his lower lip hard, his sharp teeth piercing his flesh, the metallic taste spreading in his mouth. His hands clenched into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. His dark golden eyes were bloodshot, desperately suppressing the mad urge to pull the woman before him, who was so close and held his life in her hands, into his very bones and flesh.

He dared not overstep his bounds and could only let her run rampant inside his body.

The formation was operating at its peak.

In the final moment before Jiang Yining stitched his life core together, her fingertips tightened sharply. The Myriad Spirits Divine Tree unleashed its devouring instinct without reservation, forcefully piercing the deepest part of his life core and extracting a wisp of the purest and most primordial stellar fire!

This extremely violent spark flowed unimpeded into Jiang Yining's dantian through their tightly pressed skin.

Flames intertwined.

Her newly broken-through, still somewhat fragile, early-stage Profound Light Realm cultivation was instantly solidified under the frenzied infusion of this wisp of Primordial Starfire. The barrier of her realm was completely solidified, and a sense of absolute dominance surged and roared through her meridians.

Jiang Yining slowly withdrew her hand, tilted her snow-white neck slightly, and exhaled a long, hot breath.

She lowered her eyelashes, looking down at the man leaning against the wall. That absolute control of a superior instantly heightened the sexual tension in the narrow, enclosed room.

Su Chenzhou showed no resistance whatsoever despite having his source energy taken away. On the contrary, his chest heaved violently as he looked up at Jiang Yining. His bloodshot, dark golden eyes had lost all their wildness and defensiveness, revealing a morbid obsession and extreme fanaticism.

To become nourishment for her to stabilize her realm is a privilege earned at the cost of her life.

Outside the secret chamber, in the palace corridor...

Although the heavy Dragon-Slaying Stone blocked the view, it could not completely lock in the hidden energy fluctuations generated when the Profound Light Realm formation was in operation, as well as the ambiguous atmosphere of fusion and pulling, which was infuriating and maddening.

Gu Qinghan stood three steps away from the palace gate, the edges of his moon-white robe fluttering even without wind. The pure Yang natal sword in his hand emitted a sharp hum, and the extremely pure Haotian Pure Yang Fire went completely out of control, spreading outward from his toes.

The seemingly indestructible black jade floor tiles, under this terrifying heat, emitted a groaning sound as they melted under the strain, turning into a pool of crimson lava. His usually aloof and ascetic face was taut, his jawline sharp as a knife.

Yu Luofeng leaned against a pillar, her pale, slender fingers gripping the heavy surface of the broken dragon stone.

Ghostly energy churned wildly around him. He used so much force that his fingertips nearly crushed the rare array material, a material found only once in millennia. His eerie, vertical pupils were bloodshot, and a chilling laugh escaped his throat.

"What a tough-skinned and thick-skinned Lord of the Broken Star Ship! He really knows how to seize every opportunity." Yu Luofeng's tone was chilling.

Gu Qinghan didn't look at him; her knuckles gripping the sword hilt had turned a chillingly pale white.

Time slipped away in agonizing moments.

Inside the secret chamber, the purple-gold light of the array gradually subsided.

The Starfire Life Core within Su Chenzhou's body, which was originally on the verge of shattering, was now not only completely reshaped, but also, under the tempering of the Myriad Spirits Divine Wood's essence, emitted a dark golden luster that was more stable and powerful than ever before.

He was breathing heavily as he slowly propped up his tall and muscular body.

However, instead of standing up straight, he bent his knees and lowered his tall back, kneeling on the cold floor in a devout, pilgrimage-like posture.

Su Chenzhou stretched out his rough, large hands and carefully, as if handling a rare treasure, lifted Jiang Yining's bare jade feet.

He lowered his head and pressed his still-hot lips deeply onto the back of her foot.

"My life..." Su Chenzhou's voice was hoarse, as if it had been polished by coarse sandpaper, and every word was filled with a deep-seated obsession, "From now on, I will only burn for my master."