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

Fan Chenxin fell silent, only pulling Jiang Yining's collar up to cover the increasingly dark bloodstain.

Wu Bao sat up from the soft couch, clutching a pillow. His hair was disheveled from sleeping, and his fox tail was still curled around his waist.

"Mother, April is hungry."

Jiang Yining turned around and hugged her.

"The blood spirit mushroom isn't cooked yet, let's eat two pieces of dried beast meat first."

Wu Bao glanced at the side of her neck.

"Mommy has grown flowers on her neck again."

Fan Chenxin picked up the empty bowl on the table, turned around and walked out.

"This is a protective flower."

Wu Bao blinked.

"Does Uncle Chenxin grow flowers too?"

Fan Chenxin didn't follow up with her steps, and only replied after a while.

"meeting."

Jiang Yining looked at the color rising in his ears and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

The next day, someone gently knocked on the door from the outside, and Lou Xiaotian's voice came through the door.

"Miss Jiang."

Fan Chenxin stood by the door, her hand already on the latch, but she didn't open the door immediately.

Jiang Yining carried the five treasures over.

"Young Master, is there something you need?"

After the door opened, Lou Xiaotian appeared in a moon-white outfit, with neatly cinched cuffs and only a Lou family token hanging at his waist. He was less flamboyant than in his purple-gold robes from yesterday.

He glanced at Jiang Yining first, then quickly looked away.

"I've come to invite Miss Jiang to the Spirit Beast Garden."

Fan Chenxin stood behind Jiang Yining, her expression not looking good.

Lou Xiaotian clenched his fingers and continued.

"With the Hundred Cities Beast Fighting Tournament approaching, each faction will bring out their most treasured beasts."

"Since Miss Jiang is representing the Barbarian Stone Tribe in this battle, she should at least take a look at what kind of creatures are kept in Tianhuang City."

Jiang Yining looked at him.

"Young Master Lou, are you going to show me the Lou family's trump cards?"

"I'm willing to show you."

Lou Xiaotian answered frankly and openly.

"I don't want you to owe me anything, it's just that there are several families in Tianhuang City that have close ties with the Zhang family. Zhang Kuang suffered a loss in Black Wind Canyon yesterday, and he won't let it go at the Beast Fighting Tournament."

Jiang Yining placed the five treasures on the ground.

"I'll go."

Lou Xiaotian's eyes lit up, and Fan Chenxin lifted her leg to follow.

Lou Xiaotian stepped aside to block it.

"The Spirit Beast Garden is full of ferocious beasts; ordinary guards would be in the way."

Fan Chenxin looked up at him.

"Wherever she goes, I will go."

Lou Xiaotian frowned.

"Miss Jiang, he is just a guard."

Jiang Yining fastened Wu Bao's cloak without even looking up.

"He's one of the people I brought along."

Lou Xiaotian looked at her and finally stepped aside.

"Then let's go together."

There is a hidden door behind Yunhe Inn. Passing through two stone corridors, you can enter the Lou Family Spirit Beast Garden.

Jiang Yining observed the garden's layout throughout. The iron railings were engraved with beast-suppressing blood patterns, and spirit-trapping bone nails were buried in the ground. Several Lou family assassins in black armor stood beside the meat buckets used to feed the exotic beasts.

Lou Xiaotian walked beside her and, seeing her looking intently, began to explain.

"The East Garden raises third-tier exotic beasts commonly used in the Beast Fighting Tournament."

"The West Garden is where ferocious creatures of the fourth rank or higher are kept, and outsiders are not allowed to approach it on ordinary days."

Jiang Yining looked up into the depths.

"Why are there sixteen empty cages over there?"

Lou Xiaotian followed her gaze, and the smile on his face faded.

"The Lou family brings back new animals from the wilderness every year."

"Those that can be tamed will stay, and those that cannot be tamed will be sent to the arena."

"The more empty cages there are, the more severe the losses the building owner has suffered recently."

Jiang Yining looked at the bloodstains remaining on the cage door.

"Has Tianhuang City been rather unsettled lately?"

Lou Xiaotian remained silent for a moment.

"Many strange beasts that shouldn't have appeared have appeared in the wasteland outside the city."

"Some of these strange beasts have black and gold markings on their bodies, and their blood energy is more violent than that of ordinary ferocious beasts."

Fan Chenxin stood on the other side of Jiang Yining, and her eyes darkened when she heard the words "black gold".

Jiang Yining did not press the matter further.

Lou Xiaotian led Jiang Yining through the West Garden corridor and stopped in front of a huge black iron cage.

A fourth-tier Earth-Splitting Demon Bear lay in the cage, its black fur covered in rock armor. Its forepaws gripped the ground, and its sharp claws had already dug deep grooves into the black iron floor.

Wu Bao clung to the railing and peered inside.

"Big Bear".

Lou Xiaotian looked down and reminded her.

"Don't get too close, it doesn't recognize people."

Wu Bao looked up and asked him.

Will it bite April?

Lou Xiaotian looked at the little girl's soft face and softened his tone.

"With me here, it can't touch you."

Fan Chenxin raised her hand and carried the five treasures away from the iron bars.

"She doesn't need your protection."

Lou Xiaotian's smile froze on his face.

"I brought you here so you would know that the ferocious beasts at the Hundred Cities Conference are not just for show."

Jiang Yining looked at him: "You want me to back down?"

Lou Xiaotian shook his head: "I want you to choose your weapon in advance."

"If you wish, you can choose any of the animal bone weapons in the Lou family's storeroom."

Before Jiang Yining could agree, Lou Xiaotian had already raised his hand to signal the guards in the garden to open the cage.

Fan Chenxin took a step forward.

"What are you doing?"

Lou Xiaotian watched as the cage door slowly lifted.

"If Miss Jiang wants to participate in the Hundred Cities Beast Fighting Tournament, she should at least see if my Lou family can protect her."

Sensing the outside world, the Earth-Splitting Demon Bear burst out of its cage, its four paws stomping the ground, causing the black iron bars to shake violently.

Wu Bao was held in Fan Chenxin's arms, her little hands still clutching his monk's robe.

"Uncle, Big Bear is going to hit someone."

Lou Xiaotian took off his outer robe, revealing his lithe and muscular physique beneath his tight-fitting clothes.

"Don't be afraid."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Earth-Splitting Demon Bear pounced forward.

Lou Xiaotian did not retreat. He clenched his right fist, and his blood and qi surged along his arm as he met the giant palm of the demonic bear with his fist.

The beast's claws collided with its fists, shattering the stone slabs in the garden into large cracks.

The Earth-Splitting Demon Bear roared in pain and slammed its other paw down on Lou Xiaotian's head.

Lou Xiaotian dodged to the side, grabbed the demonic bear's wrist with his left hand, and used the force of its dive to turn behind it, pressing his knee against its hind leg joint.

The demonic bear's massive body lurched forward.

Lou Xiaotian placed one hand on the back of its neck and the other hand on the crevice of its ear carapace, pouring all his blood and qi into his palm.

The Earth-Splitting Demon Bear struggled to turn around, but Lou Xiaotian had already pressed it back to the ground.

"Are you convinced?"

A low, guttural roar rolled from the demonic bear's throat.

Lou Xiaotian's palm sank further down.

"Are you convinced?"

The Earth-Splitting Demon Bear gripped the ground with its forepaws, but finally lowered its head.

Lou Xiaotian released his grip, turned around and walked towards Jiang Yining. His forehead was damp with sweat, but his eyes still held their usual brightness.

"Young Master Lou's close combat skills are quite good."

Lou Xiaotian, who had been trying to remain calm after hearing the praise, couldn't help but smile.

"If you want to learn, I can teach you."

Fan Chenxin stood there holding the five treasures, her face expressionless, but a heavy aura emanated from her.

The previously restless beasts in the West Garden all crouched down, and muffled groans came from the iron cages. Some of the ferocious beasts even pressed their heads to the ground, not daring to raise their heads again.

Lou Xiaotian's smile slowly faded.

He looked at Fan Chenxin.

"Where does your imposing manner come from?"

Fan Chenxin handed the five treasures to Jiang Yining and took two steps forward.

"It came from that damned person."

Lou Xiaotian did not back down either. The two faced each other across a stone table, their blood surging from their feet. The teacups on the table trembled slightly at first, then cracked.

Jiang Yining picked up a small pebble from the ground and flicked it with her finger.

The pebble landed in the center of the stone table, and cracks spread across the tabletop, eventually shattering the entire stone table into pieces.

Lou Xiaotian and Fan Chenxin's vital energy was separated by the stone chips, and the surrounding iron cage also quieted down.

Jiang Yining clapped her hands.

"Young Master Lou invited me to see the spirit beasts, not to watch two male beasts fight over territory."

Lou Xiaotian's ears burned, and just as he was about to explain, Wu Bao's clear laughter suddenly came from the other end of the West Garden.

"drive."

Jiang Yining turned around and saw that Wu Bao had climbed into the half-open animal pen next to her at some point, and was riding on the back of a wind spirit tiger, with its two little hands pulling on the tiger's ears and its fox tail sticking up high.

The once ferocious Wind Spirit Tiger lay prone on the ground, its tail swishing back and forth along the ground, not daring to struggle at all.

Wu Bao swung his legs.

"Big cat, run!"

The Wind Spirit Tiger carefully took two steps forward, afraid of shaking the little darling off its back.

Lou Xiaotian looked at the Wind Spirit Tiger he had raised for five years, his expression indescribable.

"It even dares to bite the animal slaves who feed it."

Jiang Yining walked to the animal pen and reached out her hand to Wu Bao.

"April, come down."

Wu Bao hugged the tiger's neck: "Mother, it wants to play with Si Yue."

Lou Xiaotian cleared his throat as he looked at the aggrieved expression welling up in the eyes of the demonic tiger.

"Since the child likes it, this Wind Spirit Tiger can keep her company for now."

Fan Chenxin looked at him and said, "No need."

Lou Xiaotian raised an eyebrow: "If she likes it, I'll give it to her. What's it to you?"

Fan Chenxin walked towards the animal pen.

"If she wants to ride, I'll go to the wilderness and find her a better one."

Wu Bao sat on the tiger's back and carefully compared them for a long time.

"This big cat wags its tail, April likes it."

Jiang Yining raised her hand and pressed it against her forehead.

"Stop arresting them."

She glanced at the strange beasts huddled in the corners of the garden, terrified, and then at the two men still locked in a struggle.

"We'll leave this Wind Spirit Tiger at the Lou family's place until after the Beast Fighting Tournament."

Jiang Yining raised her eyes and glanced at the two of them.

"If you two have too much energy, why don't you carry the manure in this garden? That way, you won't have to trouble others."