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

The water in the Merit Pool shimmered with a soft golden light, and the Buddha statue on the lotus throne appeared and disappeared in the mist.

Xuanbei sat cross-legged on a blue stone platform three zhang away from the pool, his withered hand resting on his staff, his eagle eyes fixed on every inch of the space around the pool.

Behind him stood four monks from the monastic discipline, holding Buddhist staffs, their Buddhist light condensing and lingering.

"Three steps." Xuan Bei's voice came from the bluestone platform, as cold as the clash of iron. "Fan Chenxin, there must be at least three steps between you and that woman."

Fan Chenxin stood on the third step of the pool, the hem of his moon-white monk's robe dampened by the pool mist. He clasped his hands together and did not object.

Jiang Yining squatted on the first stone step by the pool, holding the five treasures. Her purple-gold eyes swept over the scene in the distance, and her lips twitched slightly without any expression.

Such a grand display; it seems that the old bald man is determined to build a wall between her and Fan Chenxin.

But it doesn't matter, she didn't need Fan Chenxin to get too close today anyway.

"Wu Bao, give your hand to your mother."

Wu Bao obediently stretched out her little hands, her illusory fox tail completely tucked into the blanket, leaving only her big, wet eyes looking at the golden pool water.

Jiang Yining bit her index finger, and a drop of chaotic life force mixed with her heart's blood fell into the merit pool in the alms bowl. The blood droplet dissolved on the golden surface of the water, rippling out a circle of purple-gold ripples.

She then took out the jade bottle sealed with the blood of the nine-tailed fox left by Bai Ze from her storage ring, dripped three drops into it, and the blood and gold swirled and merged in the bowl.

The triple soul protection is complete.

"Let's begin." Jiang Yining slowly poured the liquid from the bowl onto Wu Bao's head. Golden-purple light flowed down Wu Bao's hair, enveloping her small body.

Wu Bao closed his eyes, and nine illusory fox tails slowly stretched out from under the blanket, trembling slightly under the dual embrace of Buddha's light and chaotic vitality.

Fan Chenxin chanted scriptures softly three steps away, and Buddhist light flowed from his palms, like a golden stream flowing into the pool, providing the purest foundation of aspiration for the baptism.

The first three quarters of an hour passed without incident.

At the fourth moment, the dark gold spot between Wu Bao's eyebrows suddenly exploded.

It didn't rise slowly; it burst open explosively, as if something had been forced out from the depths of her soul by the waters of the Pool of Merit.

A silver fox shadow darted out from Wu Bao's body, not with allure, but with fear.

That was a counterattack created by the laws of the divine realm using the causal fragments left by the Purification Incense, turning the deepest fear memories in the five treasures' souls into physical illusions.

The silver fox phantom let out a mournful cry and frantically fled across the surface of the pool, turning the water of the pool into a dark gold wherever it passed.

"Five Treasures!" Jiang Yining's divine sense instantly chased after them.

Her chaotic life force transformed into a purple-gold net that lunged at the silver fox illusion, but the illusion was too fast, writhing wildly in the pool water while wrapped in fragments of divine laws.

Jiang Yining's consciousness was focused entirely on chasing the afterimage of the silver fox, leaving almost no control over her physical body.

Her body fell to one side of the stone steps by the pool.

"donor!"

"Brahma's heart, do not move!" Xuanbei stood up from the bluestone platform and slammed his staff on the ground.

Fan Chenxin did not hear it.

Or perhaps he heard it, but his body acted faster than the precepts.

The three-step distance shattered the moment he took his first step. His moon-white monk's robe swept across the mist in the pool as he reached out and caught the falling Jiang Yining. He supported the back of her head with one hand and held her shoulders and back with the other, keeping her steady in his arms.

A beam of Buddha light instinctively emanated from his palm, and the golden warmth flowed down the back of her head into her sea of ​​consciousness, protecting the most vulnerable nodes of her divine consciousness.

Jiang Yining's face was pressed against the chest of his moon-white monk's robe, and the blood seeping from her palms stained the fabric, forming a dark flower.

"Let her go!" Xuan Bei's voice boomed from the edge of the pool.

Fan Chenxin knelt on the steps of the pool, supporting Jiang Yining without moving.

He looked down at her pale face and tightly closed eyes, and at the blood seeping from her palms, and felt as if something was blocking his chest.

The rules echoed in his ears, yet he couldn't loosen his grip even slightly.

Jiang Yining's consciousness was deep within her sea of ​​consciousness, surrounded by a chaotic, dark golden space.

The fragments of Wu Bao's fear transformed into countless silver fox shadows that frantically fled here, each one wrapped in that false memory that had been altered by Qingqiu.

But suddenly a golden background appeared in her mind.

That is the Buddha's light emanating from the heart of Brahma.

Pure and clean, without the sting of precepts and karmic consequences, only gentle and enduring vows, like a calm riverbed supporting her falling consciousness.

Using the Buddhist light, Jiang Yining stabilized herself, and the purple-gold chaotic vitality spread out in her sea of ​​consciousness, transforming into a fine net.

She drew out the essence of Bai Ze's heart's blood from her storage ring, infusing the warmth of her father's bloodline into every network cable.

The silver fox illusion crashed into the net as it fled, and Bai Ze's aura enveloped it.

A very faint murmur came from the depths of Wu Bao's soul.

"father……"

The fragments of fear began to crumble.

As the dark gold faded, the silver fox illusions melted one by one into the purple-gold net, transforming into pure life force that flowed back into the souls of the Five Treasures.

Jiang Yining's consciousness withdrew from the depths of her mind, and her eyelids opened heavily.

What greeted my eyes was a moon-white expanse, with the scent of sandalwood mixed with a faint smell of blood.

She resides in Fan Chen's heart.

"How dare you, Fan Chenxin!"

Xuanbei had already raised his staff, and the Buddhist light around him condensed into a tangible golden staff shadow, about to strike down on Fanchenxin's back.

Clang! A sword's cry tore through the Buddhist light.

A sharp, pure Yang sword intent shot out from the shadows ten feet away by the pool, precisely blocking Xuan Bei's staff.

Gu Qinghan emerged from the shadows, his frost-colored robe tinged with gold in the misty pool. His broken sword was drawn three inches from its sheath, and pure Yang energy flowed like water across its blade.

His gaze was so cold it could freeze the entire Merit Pool.

"Even Buddhist monks commit sins when they save people. Does your temple's compassion extend to the dead or the living?"

Xuanbei's staff hung in mid-air, his cloudy old eyes staring at the uninvited outsider.

"Who are you, trespassing on this sacred Buddhist site?"

"Danta Gu Qinghan." His sword intent did not recoil, remaining unmoved against the staff. "She is the one I must protect. Anyone who touches her will have to get past my sword first."

Jiang Yining stirred slightly in Fan Chen's arms and sat up, supporting herself on his arm.

She didn't look at Gu Qinghan first, nor at Xuan Bei, but turned to look at Wu Bao.

The little girl lay on the stone steps by the pool, her ethereal fox tail drooping, her breathing steady, and the dark gold pattern between her brows had faded by half.

Jiang Yining let out a breath.

Then she spoke, her voice weak but her rhythm steady, unlike someone who had just woken up from a semi-comatose state.

"Master, the problem arose when I was controlling the baptism; it has nothing to do with Master Fan Chenxin."

She stood up from Fan Chenxin's embrace, her knees hitting the stone steps. She swayed slightly and then grabbed the pool wall for support, refusing Fan Chenxin's outstretched hand and also refusing Gu Qinghan's attempt to take a step forward.

"The baptism has progressed; half of the remaining poison in Wu Bao's body has been removed." She looked at Xuan Bei, her tone calm. "I will complete the remaining treatment within the rules, so as not to cause any trouble for your temple."

Xuanbei slowly withdrew his staff, his old eyes scanning back and forth between Jiang Yining and Fan Chenxin twice, before finally letting out a deep snort and turning away.

The monastic monks then withdrew.

Gu Qinghan sheathed his sword, walked up to Jiang Yining, looked down at her pale face and the cold sweat on her forehead, his brows furrowed so deeply they could crush a knife.

"I'll go back and re-regulate your meridians."

"Mm." Jiang Yining didn't try to be brave. She bent down, picked up Wu Bao, wrapped him in a blanket, and tilted her head towards Fan Chenxin. "Thank you, Master."

Fan Chenxin stood there, the dark bloodstain on the chest of his moon-white monk's robe particularly glaring in the moonlight.

He watched Jiang Yining leave with the child in her arms, then watched Gu Qinghan follow half a step behind her, his tall, slender figure like a pine tree forming a barrier behind her.

Mingzhao walked over from the side and whispered a reminder.

"Buddha, your monk's robe...why don't you go back and change into another one?"

Fan Chenxin looked down at the spot of blood that was still wet on her sleeve, and for the first time, she didn't wash it off immediately.