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

Off the coast of Abandoned Star Island, the night was as dark as ink, and the sea breeze whipped up layers of black waves that crashed against the invisible barrier of the island's protective formation.

This absolute defense, woven from the vital energy roots of the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree and the laws of the Profound Light Realm, was so impenetrable that even the Star Spirit Clan's detection cannons could not easily penetrate it. Yet, at this moment, twelve enormous, pitch-black shadows silently emerged from the thick fog at the edge of the sea.

Those were twelve dark, jet-black warships, bearing no banners of any faction.

The warship's prow was carved with ferocious ancient beasts, and it did not emit the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy. It was like a ghost fleet sailing out of the deepest abyss, crashing straight into the protective array of Abandoned Star Island.

Beneath the Xuan Yin Palace, a series of dense red warning data flashed instantly in the mechanical eyes of the puppet Mo Xie, but before he could sound the alarm for the entire island, the red data suddenly turned into a safe, glowing green.

The formation offered no resistance, and a huge gap was directly opened, allowing the twelve Netherworld warships to drive straight in.

This is because each warship has a deeply engraved, extremely secretive mark of the Pure Yang Law on its hull. The primordial aura of that mark is exactly the same as that of the white-robed swordsman on Abandoned Star Island.

The Frost Order Legion is a top secret of the Dan Tower, a force of assassins directly under the Sword Master's control.

The sea breeze whistled across the dock.

Gu Qinghan, dressed in spotless white robes, stood alone on the cold, rough rocks. He didn't disturb anyone on the island, nor did he make any grand gestures. He simply stood quietly with his hands behind his back, his expression as calm as if he were just receiving a batch of ordinary medicinal herbs at the beach in the dead of night.

To accomplish great things quietly and to reveal one's most formidable cards without making a sound—this is the guiding principle ingrained in Gu Qinghan's very being.

The twelve warships silently docked.

On the deck, three thousand elite cultivators clad in dark silver heavy armor stood in perfect formation, utterly silent. The chilling aura emanating from them, forged through countless trials by fire and blood, caused the surrounding rolling waves to freeze into fine ice shards.

"Whoosh!"

A lithe silver figure leaped down from the main ship, its heavy combat boots landing firmly on the stone slabs of the dock with a dull thud.

The newcomer was a stern-faced, heroic silver-haired female general. She was surrounded by powerful fluctuations of laws at the early stage of the True Monarch Realm, and a thin scar at the corner of her right eye added to her iron-blooded and ruthless aura.

Frost Order Legion Commander, Frost Order.

This female general of the True Monarch Realm, infamous throughout the Canglan Realm, strode forward and knelt on one knee without hesitation the moment she saw the white-clad figure on the reef. The hard knee pads struck the stone with a crisp sound.

"Young Master." Shuangxu bowed deeply, his voice filled with undisguised fervor and utmost respectful obedience, "You've finally decided to use your trusted subordinates."

She raised her head, and in her cold eyes, when she looked at Gu Qinghan, there was a subtle, almost devout, personal emotion. She had followed him for over a thousand years and knew better than anyone the pride in this man's bones. He would never easily use this trump card unless faced with a life-or-death situation.

Gu Qinghan didn't even lift his eyelids; his cold gaze swept past her and landed on the three thousand elite soldiers on the warship.

"stand up."

Gu Qinghan's voice was cold and devoid of any joy at the reunion. He simply issued a succinct order: "Protect the woman on the island, and her two children. Ask no further questions."

Shuangxu paused slightly as she stood up.

She subconsciously raised her head and, following the direction of Gu Qinghan's gaze, glanced at the towering Xuan Yin Palace in the distance.

Protect that woman.

On Shuangxu's perpetually expressionless, cold face, a complex and sharp emotion flashed swiftly in her eyes. Her fingers, gripping the hilt of her sword at her waist, unconsciously tightened, her knuckles turning white.

"Yes." Shuangxu lowered her head, swallowing all her questions.

Just then, extremely faint footsteps came from the stone steps behind the dock.

Wearing a loose, purple-gold robe, Jiang Yining walked calmly to the dock, protected by the puppet Mo Xie. Mo Xie's eyes immediately focused on the fleet on the sea, beginning its combat strength assessment.

When Jiang Yining's gaze pierced through the night and she clearly saw the twelve Netherworld warships arrayed in neat formation, and the three thousand elite Dark Silver Armor soldiers on board, whose equipment was so sophisticated that even their breathing rhythm was perfectly synchronized, a trace of extreme shock finally appeared in her usually calm and clear eyes.

"Mistress," Mo Xie's emotionless electronic voice whispered in Jiang Yining's ear, "According to the system's scan and calculation, all members of this unidentified fleet are at least at the Void Realm. Their combined combat power when they form an array is enough to single-handedly confront a full-strength elite fleet of the Star Spirit Clan. They are extremely terrifying weapons of war."

Jiang Yining's breath hitched slightly.

Enough to single-handedly take on the Protoss's elite fleet!

Such terrifying combat power is not something that can be easily displayed. She turned her head and looked at Gu Qinghan, who was standing beside the reef.

The sea breeze ruffled the hem of his snow-white coat, yet he remained standing there, silent, his expression as cold and stern as ever. He didn't look at her, not even offering a triumphant glance, as if he had merely picked up a stone from the roadside and placed it on her defensive position.

Jiang Yining pressed her red lips tightly together, her hands unconsciously clenching inside her wide sleeves.

She had met too many men, some offering her top-grade spiritual veins in exchange for a smile, others risking their lives for her just to catch a glimpse of them. But someone like Gu Qinghan, who silently laid bare all his strongest and most lethal trump cards before her without uttering a single word, left her speechless for the first time.

An extremely rare sense of speechlessness completely blocked out her usually cold and rational heart.

"Defense handover." Gu Qinghan finally turned around and coldly ordered Shuang Xu.

Shuangxu strode up to Jiang Yining, her back ramrod straight. She looked at the woman before her, who was breathtakingly beautiful yet exuded a terrifying aura of the late-stage Profound Light Realm. Her attitude was impeccably polite, but her tone carried a subtle distance that kept people at a distance.

"Lord of Abandoned Star Island, I am the commander of the Frost Order Legion."

Shuangxu handed over a defensive intelligence jade slip engraved with array patterns with both hands. Just as Jiang Yining reached out to take it, she lowered her voice and spoke slowly and deliberately, in a volume just loud enough for the three people present to hear clearly:

"Command of the legion is temporarily handed over to you. However, there is something you probably don't know yet."

Shuangxu stared intently at Jiang Yining with his cold, sharp eyes, deliberately emphasizing each word as he spoke: "In order to quietly transfer the Shuangxu Legion away from the Danta defense zone, the young master personally signed a military order with the Danta main hall, pledging twenty years of his own lifespan as collateral."

The surrounding air fell into a deathly silence.

The red light in Mo Xie's mechanical eyes flashed wildly as he quickly calculated the terrifying value of a peak Dao Inquiry Realm Sword Venerable's twenty years of lifespan, which was no less than the sum of a hundred top-grade spiritual veins.

Shuangxu's voice grew increasingly sharp: "If Abandoned Star Island is defeated in this battle and its defenses are breached, the young master's twenty years of lifespan will be directly taken away and reclaimed by the Death Pact Formation of the Pill Tower's main hall."

These words were like a poisoned hammer blow, slamming heavily into Jiang Yining. Shuang Xu was subtly venting her jealousy in this way, and also severely reminding Jiang Yining—do you know what heavy price he paid to protect you!

"Frost Sequence"

Gu Qinghan's face instantly turned extremely gloomy.

He suddenly turned his head, and the pure Yang pressure of the peak Dao Inquiry Realm slammed onto Shuang Xu's shoulder. His voice was so cold that it could drop ice shards, carrying an absolute warning and suppression.

Forced back half a step by the oppressive aura, Shuangxu immediately shut her mouth. But a hint of satisfaction at achieving her goal flashed in her cold eyes; she had said everything she needed to say.

Jiang Yining held the intelligence jade slip, her fingers involuntarily stiffening for a moment.

She didn't look at Gu Qinghan, but simply put the jade slip into her storage ring. Her expression was perfect, without a single flaw. She still maintained that aloof and absolute domineering demeanor, nodded lightly, and turned to walk towards the Xuan Yin Palace.

Until they returned to the dark, secret room.

The heavy stone door closed completely, isolating it from all outside influences.

Jiang Yining didn't meditate or check the defense intelligence. She walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor and stood there quietly for a very long time.

Through the window, she looked down at the Abandoned Star Island training ground in the distance.

The cool moonlight, like a layer of silver gauze, spilled across the vast training ground. Gu Qinghan stood on the command platform, personally directing the terrifyingly powerful Frost Order Legion in a joint tactical exercise with the original garrison of Abandoned Star Island.

His white robes billowed in the night wind, his tall, slender figure exuding absolute control and an irresistible majesty. The moonlight illuminated his profile, making it appear sharp and angular, like an ancient ice sculpture.

He just stood there, risking his life and his lifespan, without uttering a single word.

Jiang Yining slowly raised her hand and touched her chest through the soft fabric.

There, there was a place she had kept frozen for years by absolute rationality and calculation of self-interest. But now, that indestructible ice shell seemed to have cracked open with a tiny fissure, and an indescribable, hidden stinging pain was seeping out from that fissure, bit by bit.

This persistent, dull ache was more profound and harder to ignore than the heart-stopping pain I experienced in the inner sanctuary last time.

Jiang Yining closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress this weak emotion that shouldn't belong to someone in a superior position.

When the drill ended, Shuangxu walked to Gu Qinghan's side and handed him a towel, her slender fingers intentionally or unintentionally touching the back of his hand. Behind the window on the second floor of the palace, Jiang Yining watched this scene, her pupils contracting slightly for a moment before she abruptly pulled the curtains shut.