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

The delicate Bodhi petal on her fingertips was scalded by the heat of their bodies, producing a bitter sap. Fan Chenxin lowered her eyelashes without backing down, letting the warmth that belonged to her burn into the meridians she had cultivated for a hundred years through their intertwined hands.

"Master, wouldn't this be considered embezzlement? You keep reciting the rules and regulations of your Great Thunderclap Temple, but you're holding onto me tightly and refusing to let go."

Jiang Yining turned her head to look at his handsome and refined face, which was flushed. The playfulness in her eyes was undisguised, and even her tone of voice was seductive.

"This humble monk is only afraid that you, benefactor, may not be able to handle this sacred Buddhist object properly."

As Fan Chenxin's Adam's apple bobbed, he offered a clumsy excuse that even he himself didn't believe. Yet, his fingers, still clinging to the flower branch, lingered on the sensation, unwilling to let go, completely forgetting his original intention to return and chant sutras.

"You can't even come up with such a perfunctory excuse. Do you really think I'm one of those easy-to-fool worshippers?"

Before Jiang Yining could finish speaking, Wu Bao, who was originally placed on the bed, suddenly let out a very shrill scream. The crimson lotus mark between the little girl's eyebrows was instantly devoured by a decaying dark golden power.

The dark golden power broke through the restrictions of the side courtyard, transforming into an invisible giant net that blotted out the sky, dragging the ancient Buddha relic, which had just undergone baptism and was not yet completely dormant, back into a destructive storm of laws.

"The dust in the array plate was not washed away at all. That rat Jingtan actually planted a self-destruction curse seal in the core of the relic."

Jiang Yining flung Fan Chenxin's hand away, and without even bothering to put on her shoes, she stepped barefoot onto the cold bluestone slab, transforming into a streak of purple-gold light as she rushed towards the secret chamber.

The scene inside the secret chamber had completely spiraled out of control. The ancient Buddha relic, suspended in mid-air, was tightly bound by countless dark gold chains, which were frantically pouring into the Five Treasures' sea of ​​consciousness through the channel of vow power.

"Didn't you promise me before that the baptism would be foolproof? Is this the foolproof guarantee that your Great Thunderclap Temple promised me?"

Seeing her daughter's face contorted in pain, Jiang Yining summoned the illusory form of the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree and recklessly hurled the half-saint essence that had just been restored within her body at the dark gold giant net, completely ignoring the protests from her own meridians.

Fan Chenxin rushed into the secret chamber immediately after him. His moon-white monk's robe was torn into countless holes by the violent currents of law. He disregarded the excruciating pain of his Buddha bones shattering and forcefully activated the Mahayana Buddhist light to stand shoulder to shoulder with her to resist the devouring power.

"This is a deadly trap set up by the Divine Realm specifically for the Qingqiu bloodline. They are using the pure Yang power of the ancient Buddha relic to detonate the ancestral power within the Five Treasures."

Fan Chenxin's hands moved so fast that they were just afterimages. The golden Buddhist light tried to sever the causal connection between the relic and the five treasures. His pale face was covered with fine cold sweat.

"Stop spouting these grand theories of cause and effect and destiny to me. If I can't protect April today, I'll smash all these golden Buddha statues on this mountain to be buried with her."

Jiang Yining bit her tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. The purple-gold vines, following the Buddha's light, forcefully tore open a corner of the giant net, attempting to pull her daughter out of the array's eye.

Like an enraged beast, the dark golden remnant dust erupted from the core of the relic with a terrifying suction force powerful enough to tear apart the void, directly swallowing Jiang Yining and Fan Chenxin, who were standing in the center of the array.

After a violent dizziness, the world completely reformed. Jiang Yining fell heavily onto a pile of scorching hot rubble, her nostrils filled with the pungent smell of burnt metal and the strong stench of blood.

She tried to mobilize her semi-saint cultivation, but found that her dantian was empty. Even the connection with the Myriad Spirit Divine Tree was completely severed by this strange world. She was now just a weak mortal woman without any spiritual power.

"Don't be afraid, April. Your mother is here. No one can hurt you."

Ignoring the cuts on her palms from the broken porcelain shards, Jiang Yining held Wu Bao, who had also lost her demonic power and become an ordinary girl, protectively in her arms, while warily watching the burning Qingqiu fox clan totems around her.

From the depths of the sea of ​​fire came a chilling chewing sound. A dark gold monster, as large as a mountain, trampled through the burning palace ruins, its compound eyes fixed on the mother and daughter hiding in the corner.

"You monster with eyes, stay away! If you come any closer, I'll pull out all your teeth and use them to buy candied hawthorns."

Even after becoming a mortal child, Wu Bao still retained the fearless spirit of a newborn calf, waving his tender little fists to shield Jiang Yining behind him.

"Shut up, don't say anything that will provoke it."

Jiang Yining casually picked up a charred piece of wood from the ground. Although she lacked the support of a semi-divine spirit, the ruthlessness and protective killing intent in her eyes were even more terrifying than that of the demonic beast.

The dark gold beast let out a deafening roar, its massive body soaring into the air with an overwhelming sense of oppression, its sharp claws bringing a gust of bloody wind as it aimed straight for Jiang Yining's throat.

A figure dressed in a tattered, moon-white monk's robe suddenly burst out from the side. Without the protection of Mahayana Buddhist light or the blessing of supreme Buddhist teachings, he simply used his mortal flesh and blood to stand in front of the mother and daughter.

The beast's claws tore open his back without mercy, and the dull sound of flesh tearing open was particularly jarring in the silent sea of ​​fire. Warm blood dripped down his spine onto Jiang Yining's pale cheeks.

"Are you crazy? You're just a weak mortal, what can you possibly use to stop its claws?"

Looking at Fan Chenxin's back, which was completely torn apart, Jiang Yining's voice carried a hint of panic that she herself did not realize.

"I promised to protect you and your daughter, and I will never break my promise, even if it costs me my life."

Fan Chenxin swallowed the blood that surged up in his throat, picked up a broken, rusty iron sword from somewhere, and took advantage of the gap when the monster's claws were stuck in his bones. He gripped the hilt with both hands and stabbed it deep into the monster's throat.

Scalding beast blood splattered all over his head and face like a fountain, turning his once aloof and otherworldly features into those of a demon. He gritted his teeth and did not loosen his grip on the sword hilt until the beast convulsed and collapsed in a pool of blood, finally dying.

Losing his support, Fan Chenxin collapsed to the ground, the broken iron sword in his hand clattering onto the scorching bluestone slab. His hands, which had been untouched by dust for years as they twirled prayer beads, were now stained with thick, scarlet blood and sin.

"You bald monk, stop pretending to be dead! Open your eyes and look at me!"

Jiang Yining settled Wu Bao in a safe corner, then scrambled over to catch his falling body, frantically pressing on the shocking wounds on his back to try and stop the bleeding.

"Don't panic, benefactor. This humble monk's body can still hold up; I won't die."

Fan Chenxin leaned weakly on her shoulder, her breathing rapid like a broken bellows, yet she still managed to soothe her agitated emotions.

"Stop being so self-righteous. I'm just worried that if you die here, no one will be there to guide my daughter and me out of here."

Although Jiang Yining was cursing mercilessly, her movements were extremely gentle, as if she was afraid of hurting his already broken bones.

"Yes, this humble monk knows that you despise me as a burden and unworthy to soil your hands."

Fan Chenxin coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, staining her plain clothes red, but a completely uncontrollable relaxed smile hung on the corner of her mouth.

"You have broken the precepts. You have killed and shed blood for me. If the patriarch of your Great Thunderclap Temple finds out, he will surely expel you from the sect in front of everyone."

Jiang Yining looked at his blood-stained hands, her voice trembling slightly, unable to maintain her usual aloof and domineering demeanor.

"Then expel him. Anyway, this Buddha is full of rules, and I've long since given up on practicing it."

With the help of her, Fan Chenxin managed to turn over and looked directly into her purple-gold eyes without any hesitation.

Jiang Yining trembled as she covered his bleeding wound, her eyes reflecting the image of this mad monk who had abandoned even Buddha for her sake.