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

The three little ones took off and rushed in.

"Fourth brother! I'm the third sister!"

"Don't run around."

Jiang Yining scooped the three treasures into her arms, her gaze sweeping over the dense array of dark formations around her.

Sanbao pouted and said, "Mommy, don't be afraid, I'm very capable too!"

Jiang Yining nodded in agreement, coaxing the little child, "Sanbao is very capable, she's a good older sister."

"Stay close to me."

She walked at the front, with purple-gold vines spreading out beneath her feet, instantly shredding any killing formations they touched.

Gu Qinghan and Feng Liuyun stood guard on either side of them.

Jiang Yining continued walking without stopping, following the direction from which the sound of the abacus came, heading straight towards the deepest part of the Black Tower.

The stone walls on both sides of the passage were covered with densely packed runes of fate, exuding a nauseating stench of decay.

The further you go in, the denser the ominous aura in the air becomes, almost condensing into tangible gray water droplets.

"Bang!"

Jiang Yining shattered the last heavy iron gate blocking her way with a single palm strike.

The blinding purple-gold light instantly illuminated the dark and gloomy cell.

In the center of the cell, a restrictive array composed of nine hundred and ninety-nine soul-locking nails was slowly operating, with eerie green electric light flashing at the edges of the array.

In the very center of the formation, a man with disheveled silver hair sat cross-legged.

Situ Kong.

His moon-white robe was already tattered and corroded by the baleful aura, and his exposed skin was covered with crisscrossing blood-red cracks, like porcelain about to shatter.

His eyes were closed, his face was as pale as paper, and his cultivation level, which was originally at the Nascent Soul stage, had now fallen to the early Golden Core stage. His aura was so weak that it was like a candle flickering in the wind, almost exhausted.

But in his arms, he was tightly protecting a baby.

In stark contrast to Situ Kong's miserable state, Si Bao was completely unharmed, even his brocade robe embroidered with gold ingots was spotless.

Situ Kong used his last bit of Heavenly Secret Essence to create an absolute defensive barrier around the Four Treasures, blocking all the evil energy and the backlash of laws onto himself.

At this moment, Si Bao was sitting cross-legged on Situ Kong's lap.

A golden abacus floated in front of him, a spirit ink pen was held in his small hand, and a thick little ledger was spread out on his lap.

"On the fifth day of the eleventh month, that father coughed up blood three times in an attempt to block the killing formation..."

As Sibao manipulated the abacus, he muttered in his childish voice, writing down every humiliation he had suffered in recent days.

He settled accounts with Qiu He very clearly.

The loud crash of the shattering of the heavy iron gate interrupted Si Bao's calculations.

He suddenly raised his head, and his silver eyes, which were exactly the same as Situ Kong's, lit up the moment he saw who it was.

"Mother!"

Si Bao didn't even bother to grab the abacus; he tumbled and crawled out of Situ Kong's arms.

Jiang Yining stepped across the eerie green lightning at the edge of the formation, ignoring the malevolent energy trying to climb up her skirt, and steadily caught the little fleshy ball that pounced on her.

"Mommy! You're finally here!" Sibao hugged Jiang Yining's neck tightly, burying his face in the crook of her neck, his voice filled with suppressed sobs, his little body trembling.

Jiang Yining supported Sibao's back with one hand, feeling the real warmth in her arms, and her tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

"Yes, Mother is here." Jiang Yining patted Sibao's back, her gaze passing over his head and landing on Situ Kong in the center of the formation.

Situ Kong seemed to sense that familiar aura.

His tightly closed eyes trembled slightly, and the gray frost on his eyelashes fell in a soft rustling sound.

He tried hard to open his eyes, but because the evil energy had penetrated too deeply into his body, he didn't even have the strength to open them.

Those once playful peach blossom eyes could only close helplessly at this moment.

His lips trembled for a long time, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with difficulty, before he finally managed to squeeze out two broken syllables from his throat.

"Ning...er?"

His voice was hoarse beyond recognition, filled with extremely weak gasps, yet it carried an almost greedy confirmation.

Jiang Yining held Sibao and looked down at the man sitting cross-legged on the ground.

"When you were pretending to be blind, you ran faster than anyone else. How come you've actually made yourself blind now?" Jiang Yining's tone was cold, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Upon hearing this habitual sarcasm, Situ Kong not only didn't get angry, but instead forced an extremely ugly bitter smile onto his pale lips.

"Ning'er...you're still so ruthless."

Situ Kong coughed twice, a trickle of black blood spilling from the corner of his mouth: "If I were truly blind... would you then be willing to look at me even once more?"

"You wish," Jiang Yining interrupted him mercilessly. "Even if you die, you must raise this child before you die."

Situ Kong chuckled softly, the laughter aggravating his wounds, causing another violent coughing fit.

"Of course, how could I die so easily..." He tried to raise his hand to touch the hem of Jiang Yining's skirt, but his hand fell limply halfway down, and he fell forward.

A slender hand firmly gripped his shoulder, pressing him back to his original position.

Gu Qinghan had unknowingly found herself standing at the edge of the formation.

He frowned, took out a Pure Yang Pill that emitted a strong medicinal fragrance from his sleeve, pried open Situ Kong's chin with two fingers, and roughly stuffed it in.

"Brother, don't die, it's not time yet." Gu Qinghan's tone was icy as he used his pure Yang true energy to slap Situ Kong's back through his palm, forcibly helping him to neutralize the effects of the medicine.

Feng Liuyun leaned against the broken door frame, fanning himself with a folding fan, his peach blossom eyes full of inquiry.

Sanbao peeked out from behind Jiang Yining, looked at Situ Kong's half-dead state, and muttered, "Uncle Situ is so pitiful, even worse off than Uncle Bird."

Si Bao lifted his head from Jiang Yining's arms, his eyes still red, but he quickly grabbed the small ledger and turned to the latest page.

"Mother, they stole my storage ring."

"The spirit crystals I saved for my mother were all gone."

Sibao pointed at the words on the ledger, his voice, though still childish, carrying a fierce determination: "I must get the storage bag back!"

Jiang Yining looked at the densely filled account book in Si Bao's hand, her gaze falling on his soft silver hair, which was exactly the same as Situ Kong's.

Jiang Yining's eyes welled up slightly.

She raised her hand, her fingertips gently stroking Sibao's soft silver hair, and hugged him even tighter.

"Mother is late."

Sanbao leaned over and used his little hands to wipe the dust off Sibao's face.

"Fourth brother, don't be afraid. Your eldest brother has already killed two bad guys."

"Let Uncle Bird set fire to their house later and burn it all down!"

Feng Liuyun stood at the door, her lips twitching slightly.

"Sanbao, your uncle is a phoenix, not a laborer who sets fires."

Gu Qinghan gave him a cold glance.

"Besides setting fires, what other use do you have?"

Feng Liuyun gritted her teeth.

"Gu Qinghan, don't go too far!"