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

Inside a dimly lit side hall of the Xuan Yin Palace.

Ao Lin suddenly opened his eyes, his dark golden vertical pupils filled with the sharpness and ferocity of someone just awakened. He subconsciously tried to mobilize the world-destroying Heavenly Monarch Realm origin within his body, but was horrified to find that his once abyss-like True Dragon Qi Sea was now as dry as a cracked desert under the scorching sun!

"My cultivation level..."

His pupils constricted sharply as he incredulously examined his meridians. The shackles of the Heavenly Monarch Realm's laws were shattering inch by inch; his cultivation level was actually locked at the peak of the True Monarch Realm!

"roar--!"

His pride as the supreme ruler of the demon realm instantly enraged him. He endured the excruciating pain of his torn meridians and frantically circulated the Heavenly Monarch-level "Primordial Divine Dragon Technique," attempting to forcefully break through this invisible shackle.

However, as soon as the technique was reversed, a terrifying backlash swept over his entire body like a raging sea.

"puff!"

Ao Lin's tall body trembled violently, and a mouthful of blood mixed with pale golden fragments gushed out, corroding a deep pit in the white jade ground in front of him. It felt as if his internal organs had been pierced by millions of steel needles at the same time, and he was in so much pain that he broke out in a cold sweat.

Just as he stumbled and managed to brace himself against the edge of the bed, he caught a glimpse of a purple-gold figure out of the corner of his eye.

Jiang Yi stood quietly at the palace gate, her beautiful face as cold as frost, looking down at him.

The moment he saw that face, the rage and killing intent in Ao Lin's eyes were extinguished as if doused with ice water. He gasped for breath, and a complex emotion flashed in his dark golden vertical pupils—shock, resentment, pain, and a deep-seated longing.

Knowing that his Dragon Palace had been emptied, knowing that his life force had been drained by her, and that even his cultivation at the Heavenly Monarch Realm had plummeted to this point, his lips twitched several times before he finally managed to ask in a hoarse voice:

"Ning'er... how are you feeling?"

Having been completely drained, the first thing that came to his mind was still the safety of her and the child in her womb.

Half an hour later, in the main hall of the Xuan Yin Palace.

The air was so oppressive it was almost suffocating, even more so than the pressure of the Protoss fleet's main cannons charging. For the first time, four men were forced to sit together at the massive obsidian table.

Gu Qinghan sat to Jiang Yining's left, dressed in spotless white robes, but the Haotian Pure Yang Sword Intent, belonging to the peak of the Dao Inquiry Realm, around him transformed into visible frost, silently freezing the table in front of him.

Yu Luofeng sat on the right, his pale fingertips casually toying with a black jade wine cup. The extremely Yin ghost energy at the half-saint level was like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, frantically roaming in the dark corner under the table.

Su Chenzhou sat at the very end, a wide black robe tightly wrapped around his thin body. He was expressionless, but his bloodshot eyes were like the most intricate array compass, staring intently at the texture of the table.

Ao Lin, who had just awakened and forced his heavily injured body into the main hall, sat down opposite Gu Qinghan with an air of authority. Even though his cultivation had fallen to the True Monarch Realm, the arrogant dragon aura of the demon realm overlord on his body remained unyielding, and his dark golden vertical pupils stared intently at the other three men.

The silent tension simmered amidst the clash of their micro-expressions, their hostile stares, and their deliberate attempts to ignore each other.

Jiang Yining sat upright in the main seat, seemingly oblivious to the turbulent undercurrents of this chaotic scene. With a wave of her hand, a massive strategic map of the star system unfolded above the long table.

"The attack routes of the Protoss's three elite fleets have been locked."

Jiang Yining's clear, cold voice resounded throughout the hall, carrying an unquestionable air of authority as she calmly analyzed the situation, "Now, we'll divide the defense of Abandoned Star Island into four battle zones. Gu Qinghan, your Pure Yang Sword Intent is the best counter to the Star Spirit Armor, so you'll guard the northern front; Yu Luofeng, you'll guard the western front; Su Chenzhou, the underwater tunnels are your most familiar territory, so you'll be responsible for cutting off their retreat. As for Ao Lin…"

Her gaze fell on that imposing figure: "With your remaining dragon might, you have deterred the main attack from the east."

"I have no objection to Ning'er's arrangements." Ao Lin sneered, glancing provocatively at the other three, his tone filled with undisguised domineering and possessiveness. "After all, you are carrying my imperial heir in your womb. This kind of rough work of protecting the homeland should be left to us."

Upon hearing this, the air in the entire hall seemed to freeze at absolute zero in that instant!

"Snap!"

The teacup in Gu Qinghan's hand, carved from ten-thousand-year-old black ice, shattered silently into dust under the extreme suppression and loss of control of the Pure Yang Sword Intent. The icy blue powder fell softly from between his well-defined knuckles, and deep within his cold eyes, killing intent surged wildly.

"Sizzle—sizzle—"

Yu Luofeng's previously nonchalant expression vanished completely. His deathly face twisted into an extremely morbid and destructive arc, and his extremely yin and ghostly energy erupted instantly, corroding a three-inch-deep pit into the leg of the chair he was sitting on, which was carved from ten-thousand-year-old soul-nourishing wood!

Sitting at the very end, Su Chenzhou slowly raised his head. He didn't unleash any power, but his eyes, which seemed to be examining a corpse specimen, swept over Jiang Yining's flat abdomen with extreme calmness and calculation, as if assessing the possibility of removing that hidden danger.

Three distinct extreme emotions erupted simultaneously like a volcano!

However, Jiang Yining, who was at the center of the storm, remained seated firmly in the main seat, her breathing not even faltering.

"You're pregnant with his child?" Gu Qinghan stared intently at Jiang Yining, his voice terribly hoarse.

"Enough!" Jiang Yining slammed her hand on the table, and the purple-gold Xuan Guang Law instantly suppressed the entire area.

She stood up, her cold gaze sweeping over every man present, finally settling on Ao Lin's face, which had originally been filled with arrogance.

"Now that we've laid this all out, I'll make the situation clear." Jiang Yining's voice was utterly emotionless, chillingly cold-blooded. "The dragon fetus has inherited the true dragon essence of the Heavenly Monarch Realm. Once born, it will become the strongest combat reserve of Abandoned Star Island, surpassing all other forces!"

She forcefully rationalized the fact that she was "pregnant with Ao Lin's child" as a cold, strategic decision. Then, in front of Ao Lin, looking him straight in the eye, she uttered the cruelest sentence:

"This child is the most valuable trophy I brought back from the Dragon Palace."

Loot!

These three words were like three ancient divine swords coated with deadly poison, piercing Ao Lin's heart.

He seemed to have all his spine ripped out in an instant, and a pale, almost collapsing look appeared on his once proud and arrogant face.

Looking into Jiang Yining's clear, yet cold eyes, he finally realized with despair that he was not a partner to her, not even a lover. His Dragon Palace had been emptied, his very essence drained. Now, even the very bones and blood he had risked his life to protect were nothing more than "trophies" to be used to arm Abandoned Star Island!

The extreme torment made his throat taste sweet. He wanted to turn around and leave, to tear this heartless woman to pieces, but he found that his legs were rooted to the spot and he couldn't move an inch.

After the military meeting ended, everyone dispersed, each with their own thoughts.

Inside the empty Xuan Yin Hall, only Ao Lin remained.

He sat alone at the cold obsidian table, looking down at his once large hands that could easily tear through the void and cover the sky with a single hand. Now, even picking up the empty teacup on the table, his hands trembled slightly uncontrollably.

"Loot... hahaha..."

Ao Lin's lips slowly curled into a bitter, self-deprecating smile. The laughter echoed in the empty hall, desolate and pathetic.

"Dragon Emperor Ao Lin, oh Dragon Emperor Ao Lin..." he muttered hoarsely to himself, his eyes filled with lucid despair, "In the end, even the seed of a simp becomes someone else's spoils of war."

He was fully aware of his miserable situation.

But after a bitter smile, Ao Lin slowly raised his head. He looked in the direction Jiang Yining had just left, deep within the hall. In his bloodshot, dark golden vertical pupils, the deep affection and obsessive obsession that ran to his very bones remained undiminished. This kind of completely lucid descent into depravity was far more poignant than being completely deceived.

Late at night, Jiang Yining stood alone in front of the bronze mirror in the palace bathroom, her delicate hands loosening her belt to reveal her lower abdomen—on which, apart from the faint lines left by her twins, a dragon-shaped birthmark emitting a faint golden light was slowly taking shape; and directly below the birthmark, an almost invisible pitch-black crack was spreading outward from her dantian—the roots of the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree were growing wildly at the crack, as if trying to seal off some kind of calamity that was about to spiral out of control.