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

Before the crisp sound of the white jade soup bowl shattering had even faded, a flurry of footsteps suddenly echoed down the long street outside the inn.

Fan Chenxin stepped aside to block the crack in the door and looked coldly at Lou Xiaotian: "If Young Master Lou really cares about her injuries, he should lower his voice. Siyue just fell asleep."

Lou Xiaotian still clutched a shard of porcelain in his palm, his knuckles bleeding from the jade fragments. Just as he was about to walk around Fan Chenxin and push open the door, blood-red torches simultaneously lit up on both sides of the street.

The Yunhe Inn was now surrounded by armored warriors, hundreds of them forming an iron wall. Their black armor pressed down on the street, and even nearby shops hurriedly lowered their doors. The executioners from the Enforcement Hall, with short axes and chains hanging from their waists, made the inn's windows tremble slightly as their boots stepped over the bluestone.

The elderly man in the gray robe at the head of the group leaned on an ebony cane, followed by two flag-bearing deacons. When Lou Xiaotian saw that harsh face, his previously gentle expression immediately turned cold.

"Second Elder, by leading the Enforcement Hall to surround the Cloud Crane Inn, are you trying to embarrass the Lou family in front of the entire Tianhuang City?"

The second elder of the Lou family raised his eyelids, but his tone was colder than the night wind: "Young Master still knows the face of the Lou family. I thought you had been bewitched by a woman of unknown origin."

He raised his cane and slammed it heavily on the ground.

"Lou Xiaotian trespassed into the forbidden area of ​​the herb garden with outsiders, causing a raging fire that destroyed the golden vines cultivated over ten years. He also allowed Zhang family assassins to run rampant in the Lou family's forbidden area. Today, I have brought men here to invite the young master back to the manor for trial, and also to take away that woman who has brought trouble to the Lou family."

A hushed discussion immediately broke out inside and outside the inn.

Some people recognized the black-armored members of the Lou family's Enforcement Hall, some saw the Second Elder's imposing presence, and even the guards of the Barbarian Stone Tribe, who had originally wanted to speak up for Jiang Yining, gripped their weapons tightly and dared not step forward rashly.

Lou Xiaotian chuckled, but there was no warmth in his laughter.

"Where was your Lou family's law enforcement hall when the medicine garden was attacked? Where were you when the Zhang family's assassins shot at April with bone crossbows? Now that people are dead and the formation is broken, you know to bring hundreds of people to capture those who rescued the Lou family's medicine garden."

The Second Elder's face darkened: "Young Master, there's no need to confuse the issue here. I'll only ask you one question: Is this Jiang Yining someone of unknown origin from outside?"

"She is the person I invited into the Lou family's medicinal herb garden, and she is also the person I, Lou Xiaotian, personally protect."

As soon as Lou Xiaotian finished speaking, a red shadow fell on the roof of the building opposite the inn.

A woman in red descended from the eaves, several spirit jades hanging from her waist. Her long hair was tied high with a golden crown, and her eyes and brows revealed the arrogance typical of the scions of noble families in Tianhuang City. As she landed, several fine cracks appeared in the blue stone beneath her feet, and a long sword shimmering with crimson-gold light was already held horizontally in front of her.

Mu Ziying looked up at the second-floor window, her voice clear and deliberately loud so that everyone could hear her.

"Lou Xiaotian, you dared to disobey the Lou family elders' orders for a vixen with a child. No matter how outrageous you were before, you would never have given the Lou family's medicinal garden to outsiders to be ruined."

Her Radiant Sword pointed directly at the door where Jiang Yining was, the sword energy slicing through the wooden railing, leaving charred marks.

"Jiang Yining, if you know what's good for you, get down here yourself. Kneel down and apologize to the Lou family, and I might persuade the elder to spare your life."

The color drained from Lou Xiaotian's face little by little. The next moment, he raised his hand and pulled out a jet-black Overlord Spear from his storage ring.

When the spear fell into his palm, the blood and qi within a ten-foot radius were suppressed and stagnated.

The young man, who had previously appeared clumsy and gentle in front of Jiang Yining and Wu Bao, now stood upright on the steps of the inn, his black gun pointing diagonally at the ground, with no trace of youthful shyness in his eyes.

"Mu Ziying, if you dare to point your sword at her again, I will personally break your wrist."

Mu Ziying's grip on the sword tightened slightly, but she still refused to back down.

"You actually threatened me for her sake. Lou Xiaotian, I am the legitimate daughter of the Mu family, and I am also a Qi Refining Realm martial artist. What is she to me?"

"She's someone you can never afford to mess with."

Lou Xiaotian took a step forward, leaving a deep mark on the ground with his black gun.

"Furthermore, from this day forward, if you dare to use the words 'vixen' to slander her again, I won't hesitate to have Patriarch Mu personally come to the Lou residence to take her away."

The Second Elder roared, "Lou Xiaotian, are you going to turn against the family for the sake of an outsider?"

Lou Xiaotian turned the tip of his spear, its sharpness pointing directly at the Second Elder.

"She and April were people I brought into the herb garden. Did I let the Zhang family assassins in? If you want to touch her, you'll have to step over my dead body first."

The window on the second floor of the inn was pushed open from the inside.

Jiang Yining, draped in a moon-white cloak, still looked pale from her illness. She leaned against the windowsill and looked down, first seeing the blood on Lou Xiaotian's palm, then Fan Chenxin standing behind the door with her eyebrows lowered.

Fan Chenxin reached out to stop her, the Buddhist aura in his palm still lingering.

"These people outside are coming for you. Since Lou Xiaotian is willing to take the hit, you don't need to go down personally."

Jiang Yining pressed his hand back down, her tone as calm as if she were discussing a routine business deal.

"If I keep hiding in the house, they'll just think I'm easy to manipulate. Besides, just because Lou Xiaotian took the bullet for me doesn't mean I should stand behind him and watch the show."

Fan Chenxin looked at her and lowered his voice.

"You just stabilized your Qi and Blood last night, so you can only use the power of the peak Qi and Blood Realm at most today. Mu Ziying is at the early stage of the Gang Qi Realm, and her sword is no ordinary weapon."

"I know my own limitations, and I also know the strength of her sword."

Jiang Yining raised her hand to straighten the collar of her high-necked shirt, covering the lingering red marks on the side of her neck.

"You have high hopes for April, and you also have high hopes for Lou Xiaotian. If anyone dares to shed too much blood in front of the inn today, there will be a hundred more rumors circulating in the city tomorrow. I find that troublesome."

After she finished speaking, she jumped off the windowsill.

As the white figure landed in the middle of the long street, a corner of her cloak was lifted by the morning breeze. She didn't disturb a speck of dust, but simply looked up at Mu Ziying.

Mu Ziying felt a tightness in her heart as she looked into those calm eyes, and then she became angry.

"You actually dared to come down here. You think you can really run rampant in Tianhuang City by hiding behind a man for a few days?"

Jiang Yining glanced at the Flowing Light Sword in Mu Ziying's hand, her tone carrying a hint of sarcasm.

"I didn't want to argue with you, but you stood in front of my inn with a sword early in the morning, shouting and disturbing my child's sleep."

"Who do you think you are, daring to lecture me like this?"

Mu Ziying's face flushed red, and her sword suddenly trembled.

"I'll show you just how far apart the Qi Condensation Realm and the Blood Qi Realm really are."

The Flowing Light Sword unleashed a crimson sword beam, its sword energy transforming into dozens of streams of fire that pierced straight toward Jiang Yining's face.

Lou Xiaotian had just raised his black spear when Fan Chenxin stepped half a step out from inside the door. But Jiang Yining simply extended two slender white fingers, the tips of which were wrapped in a thin layer of purple-gold qi and blood.

When she gripped the sword's edge, the entire street fell silent.

Mu Ziying exerted all her strength, but the Flowing Light Sword was as if it were clamped between two mountains, unable to move forward even half an inch.

Jiang Yining looked up at her, her eyes showing no anger, only a contemptuous pity.

"You just said that there is a great distance between the Qi Condensation Realm and the Blood Qi Realm."

She pressed down slightly with her fingertips.

With a crack, the Flowing Light Sword began to shatter from its tip.

Mu Ziying's pupils contracted sharply, and she desperately tried to pull her sword back. Jiang Yining, however, took a step forward following the momentum of the sword, and her purple-gold blood energy spread along the sword, extinguishing the crimson-gold sword light on the spot.

With a second crisp sound, the Flowing Light Sword broke in two.

The third and fourth sounds rang out in succession.

The precious artifact that Mu Ziying treasured shattered inch by inch between Jiang Yining's two fingers, the fragments crashing onto the bluestone ground like a chaotic rain of crimson gold.

Mu Ziying gripped the broken sword hilt, her face deathly pale.

"You can't just be at the peak of the Qi and Blood Realm. What kind of evil technique did you use?"

Jiang Yining released her grip, and the last piece of the broken sword fell into her palm.

"To accuse others of using evil magic when you can't win, the eldest daughter of the Mu family has no better understanding than this."

Seeing Mu Ziying's defeat, the Second Elder finally lost his composure. He raised his cane, and the members of the Enforcement Hall immediately stepped forward.

"Jiang Yining, you first destroyed the Mu family's prized artifact, and then you trespassed into the Lou family's forbidden area. Even if the young master protects you, you must come back to the Lou mansion with me today to be judged."

Jiang Yining ignored him and took out a palm-sized mechanical bird from her sleeve.

The mechanical bird flapped its bronze wings and flew into the air, projecting a pale blue light curtain from its belly.

The array patterns on the outer layer of the Lou family's herb garden first appeared in the light screen, and several positions that should have been inlaid with high-level blood crystals were actually empty.

Immediately afterwards, an old figure stood in front of the warehouse door and handed several bags of spirit stones to the Zhang family steward.

The Second Elder's expression suddenly changed.

Jiang Yining raised her hand and pointed, and the light screen changed to several array plates engraved with the Lou family's mark.

"The outer array of the medicine garden needs to be replenished with blood crystals every three months, but the Second Elder, under the pretext of maintaining the array, has taken away a large number of spirit stones for two consecutive years. The reason why the Zhang family's assassins were able to enter through the secret passage on the west side is because the array's core there had already been burned through by the inferior blood crystals you sold."

Someone in the crowd gasped in surprise.

One of the Lou family guards saw the light screen clearly and couldn't help but look up and ask a question.

"Second Elder, the western array eye did indeed explode once last month. At the time, you said it was because the earth fire was unstable. Could it be that the blood crystal is the problem?"

The second elder turned around abruptly, his voice sharp as a knife.

"Who gave you permission to spout nonsense here? Can a mere photo taken by an official be considered evidence?"

Jiang Yining chuckled, and the mechanical bird projected another image.

In the scene, the crossbows used by the Zhang family's assassins have arrowhead patterns that are completely identical to those of the crossbows secretly kept in the Second Elder's mansion. Even the three forging patterns on the arrowheads are exactly the same.

"Mo Xie left me with a few tricks and mechanisms, but they were enough to extract the spiritual energy left in the remnant array in the medicine garden."

Jiang Yining looked at the Second Elder, her voice not raised, but everyone could hear her clearly.

"If you say all of this is fake, then explain why the bone crossbow bolts left behind by the Zhang family's assassins are exactly the same as the batch sealed in your Enforcement Hall's private treasury."

Lou Xiaotian gripped the Overlord Spear, his eyes darkening completely.

"Second Elder, before you brought your men to arrest the person I was protecting, did you forget to wash your hands first?"

The Second Elder's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single complete sentence in his defense.

Mu Ziying looked down at the broken swords scattered on the ground, her hatred almost overflowing from her eyes. She looked up at Jiang Yining, gritting her teeth as she spoke, word by word.

"I, Mu Ziying, will never forget this humiliation. You'd better remain so arrogant during the Secret Realm Tournament."

Jiang Yining bent down, picked up a broken piece of the sword, and casually tossed it at Mu Ziying's feet, looking at her with a half-smile.

"You dare to point fingers at me with this piece of junk? Go back and ask your master how many top-grade spiritual veins are needed to buy this coffin."