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

The next morning, Jiang Yining sat in front of the bronze mirror, looking at the two dark gold and red marks on her neck, and finally understood why Fan Chenxin had so readily agreed last night not to bite her skin.

The mark did not break the skin, but it was more noticeable than a normal wound.

The pale golden lotus petals extend from the collarbone all the way to the side of the neck. With each circulation of blood and qi, those red marks will light up for a moment.

Jiang Yining picked up the face powder and applied it three times, but the marks were still faintly visible in the mirror.

Fan Chenxin leaned against the screen, having already changed into a clean black robe.

The aloofness brought by his broken Buddha bones had not disappeared, but his eyes and brows showed a hint of languor from not having slept all night.

"Even if you apply two more layers of makeup, that mark still won't completely disappear."

Jiang Yining glanced at him in the mirror.

"When you left this thing last night, you clearly promised to leave it only where it could be covered by your collar."

"The collarbone line can indeed be covered, but the line on the side of the neck is just a little higher."

"If you keep trying to fool me with this excuse, I'll really sleep in the yard with Firefly tonight."

Fan Chenxin walked behind her and reached out to gather her long hair.

"It's cold in the courtyard, and the Fire Spirit Falcon breathes fire in the middle of the night. It's safer for me to stay in the room and take care of you and April."

"You took good care of me last night, so you don't need to worry about my clothes today."

Jiang Yining took out a high-necked, moon-white robe from her storage bag and buttoned the collar tightly to the top.

She then took out a white jade collar button and pressed it down on her collar, making sure that no trace would be visible no matter whether she turned her head or bent over, before standing up.

Fan Chenxin smoothed out the wrinkles on her shoulders, her gaze still fixed on the high collar.

"You promised to leave traces last night, so why are you covering them up so thoroughly now?"

"I agreed to stay, but I didn't agree to flaunt it all over the streets. If April sees it and asks about it, am I supposed to keep fooling her with this giant mosquito?"

Just then, the outer room door was pushed open, and Wu Bao ran in carrying the Fire Spirit Falcon.

"Did Mother get bitten by a big mosquito today? In April, the big red hen can eat all the mosquitoes."

The Fire Spirit Falcon turned its head away in alarm, clearly unwilling to take on this task.

Jiang Yining bent down and lifted her daughter onto her lap.

"Mother wasn't bitten by mosquitoes last night, but it was a bit cold, so she changed into a turtleneck sweater."

Wu Bao reached out and touched her collar, then turned to seriously educate Fan Chenxin.

"Uncle Chenxin didn't cover himself properly last night, and Siyue heard noises coming from your room. Remember not to take Mother's blanket next time."

Jiang Yining nearly dropped the powder box in her hand.

Fan Chenxin reached out and took the box, her expression quite composed.

"Your uncle was only tending to your mother's wounds last night and didn't fight with her for the blankets. If you hear any noises after April, continue to get a good night's sleep."

Wu Bao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Uncle, please be gentle when you treat your wound. I think Mommy bit you last night."

Jiang Yining raised her hand to cover her daughter's mouth, her ears finally burning.

"Aren't we supposed to teach Big Red Chicken to roll around in April? The dew in the yard is just right now, why don't you take it outside for a couple of rolls?"

Wu Bao immediately forgot about the previous topic and ran outside with the Fire Spirit Falcon in his arms.

"Big Red Chicken, hurry up and go out with April. Today you also need to learn how to pick up sticks and play dead."

The Fire Spirit Falcon let out a desperate cry, its wings dragging on the ground, and followed her out the door as if it were being led to the execution ground.

Jiang Yining turned to look at Fan Chenxin.

"Why did you explain the healing to April just now? You could have just said you didn't hear anything."

"If her questions aren't answered, she'll keep asking you all day."

"You seem to know how to handle children quite well, but you weren't so rational when you crossed the line last night."

Fan Chenxin leaned close to her ear and spoke very softly.

"When you grabbed my collar last night, you didn't really want me to leave."

Jiang Yining raised her hand and pushed him away, then casually stuffed the powder box into his arms.

"Put these things away carefully, then go to the yard and keep an eye on April. Make sure she doesn't actually train the Fire Spirit Falcon into a dog."

Suddenly, the sound of tiles breaking came from outside the courtyard, followed by Wu Bao's excited cheers.

"Uncle Planting Flowers flew in through the wall! He didn't break the window today!"

Jiang Yining pushed open the door and walked out of the inner room, just in time to see Lou Xiaotian jump down from the backyard wall.

He was still wearing the lapis lazuli robe that the young master of the Lou family usually wore, with several blood crystals embedded in the jade belt at his waist, and his handsome face showed an unconcealable weariness.

His cuffs and shoulders were covered in wall dust, indicating that he hadn't been able to hide comfortably when he climbed over the wall.

Fan Chenxin followed behind Jiang Yining, her gaze falling on the bone slip in his hand.

"Young Master Lou was escorted back to the Lou Manor by hundreds of black-armored guards, yet he managed to climb over the wall and escape today. It seems the Lou family's confinement chamber wasn't sturdily built."

Lou Xiaotian tucked the bone slip into his robes.

"I'm not here to argue with you today, but to give Ning'er something important. The Second Elder has sent men to guard the main gate, and I don't want to alert them, so I can only come in through the back wall."

Jiang Yining noticed a fresh scratch on his sleeve and pointed it toward the stone table.

"Sit down and catch your breath before telling me what is worth the young master of the Lou family climbing over the wall to deliver."

Lou Xiaotian did not sit down, but placed the bone slip directly into her palm.

"This is the Heavenly Desolate Bone Slip, sealed in the Lou family's old vault. It has been preserved for at least seven hundred years. The first half of the bone slip records the distribution of strange beasts in the secret realm, and the second half mentions that an interdimensional rift once appeared in the deepest part of the secret realm."

Jiang Yining's fingers tightened suddenly as she gripped the bone tablet.

"Can you be sure that the crack wasn't just an ordinary collapse of the earth's veins, but a gateway to another world?"

"The bone slip says that when the rift opened, starlight flowed backward, all the battle qi in the vicinity was drained, and a broken flying boat that did not belong to the Martial Spirit Realm fell into the rift."

Fan Chenxin walked to her side, her gaze falling on the dense ancient characters on the surface of the bone slip.

"Why has this bone scroll been sealed in the Lou family's old vault all this time? Why didn't anyone go in to search for it when the secret realm opened seventy years ago?"

"Because the latter half of the bone slip is sealed by an array, it can only reveal its complete contents after entering the secret realm and coming into contact with the remaining laws. The Lou family ancestors only left a warning, saying that something even saints are unwilling to touch is buried near that crack."

Jiang Yining probed the bone slip with her qi and blood, and sure enough, several incomplete star patterns emerged on the surface.

The patterns were not exactly the same as the spatial array of the Canglan Realm, but they were somewhat similar to the cracks torn open when the Divine Realm descended.

"This scroll of bones is extremely important to me. You brought it out of the Lou family's old vault; what price will you have to pay?"

Lou Xiaotian looked away for a moment, then quickly looked back at her.

"I'm just taking an old bone scroll that no one can decipher. At most, the elders in the family will scold me a few times. If you can really find your way back from inside, then this thing won't have been buried in the ashes any longer."

Fan Chenxin reached out and pressed down on one end of the bone slip.

"If Young Master Lou has any conditions, it would be best to state them now. Just because Ning'er is willing to accept the clues doesn't mean you can use that to decide her future."

Lou Xiaotian didn't compete with him, but just looked intently at Jiang Yining.

"I have no conditions, nor do I ask you to agree to anything because of this. I just know that you want to go back and look for the other children, so I'm willing to give you any clues I can find."

Jiang Yining remained silent for a moment before putting the bone slip into her personal storage bag.

"I will remember this favor, and if I find a complete clue after entering the secret realm, I will not hide it from you."

Lou Xiaotian's eyes lit up immediately.

"Would you be willing to take me with you when you enter the secret realm? The Lou family already has two slots, so I can travel with you."

"We'll discuss the teams that will enter the secret realm once the spots for the semi-finals are finalized."

Lou Xiaotian wanted to continue trying, but Wu Bao had already grabbed his sleeve.

"Uncle Planting Flowers said yesterday that the five-colored Ganoderma lucidum would sprout today, but there's nothing in the yard."

Lou Xiaotian immediately bent down and picked her up.

"Uncle hasn't forgotten about this. I brought all the mycelium of the five-colored Ganoderma lucidum. As long as you help water it a little in April, it will grow little umbrellas that blow bubbles in half an hour."

Wu Bao immediately clapped his hands, and the Fire Spirit Falcon curiously peeked out from under the stone table.

Lou Xiaotian took off his luxurious outer robe, revealing a neat blue outfit underneath, and then took out a coarse cloth apron from his storage bag and tied it around his waist.

He picked up a short hoe, squatted down in the flowerbed, rolled up his sleeves, and began to turn the soil.

Fan Chenxin stood with his arms crossed under the corridor and began to offer his unreserved evaluation.

"The young master of the Lou family is digging in the dirt wearing clothes worth thousands of blood crystals. If the Second Elder sees him like this, he will probably bring the Black Armor Guards to arrest him again today."

Lou Xiaotian continued digging the hole without even looking up.

Whether I get arrested or not is none of your business. At least what I grow will make April happy. If you have time to stand around talking, you should go to the well and fetch a bucket of clean spring water.

"You brought this five-colored Ganoderma lucidum, so naturally you should water and care for it yourself."

Jiang Yining sat at the stone table, unfolding the rubbings of the bone slips, interrupting them without even looking up.

"If you're going to fight over something as simple as fetching water, then none of you are allowed to stay in the courtyard today."

Fan Chenxin turned around and went to the well to fetch water, while Lou Xiaotian buried several colorful mycorrhizae in the soil.

Wu Bao squatted down and watched intently, even sticking the wooden tiger into the mud, saying it was to guard the lingzhi mushroom.

Soon after the water was poured on, several small mounds appeared on the soft soil.

Five palm-sized, colorful Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms sprouted from the ground, their caps swaying gently and releasing a string of glistening bubbles.

The five treasures chased after the bubbles all over the yard, their laughter filling the flowerbeds.

"Look, Big Red Chicken! There are little glowing stars inside the bubbles!"

The Fire Falcon tilted its head and stared at the colorful Ganoderma lucidum, seemingly mistaking the constantly shaking cap for a fat worm.

It suddenly pounced and pecked at the mushroom cap, the bubbles from which exploded directly onto the bird's beak.

Startled, the Fire Spirit Falcon flapped its wings, its tail feathers brushing against Lou Xiaotian's long hair, which was tied up high.

The jade crown rolled into the mud on the spot, and its neat black hair was ruffled into a mess by the bird's claws.

Lou Xiaotian stood up, holding a short hoe. His handsome face was covered in mud, but his hair looked like a bird's nest blown by a strong wind.

"You stupid bird, you stole flowers and leaves yesterday, and today you dare to peck at my colorful Ganoderma lucidum!"

The fire falcon, carrying half a mushroom cap in its beak, flapped its wings and fled, making a few intermittent "woof" sounds, mimicking the sounds it had practiced the night before.

Wu Bao laughed so hard he sat on the ground, hugging the wooden tiger and patting his leg repeatedly.

"Big Red Chicken has learned to guard the house; now it even steals Uncle Flower's hair!"

Lou Xiaotian chased after the fire falcon for half a circle with a short hoe, but in the end he couldn't bear to actually kill it. He just cornered it against the wall and forcibly snatched the half-cap of the mushroom back from its beak.

Jiang Yining looked at his face covered in mud and took out a clean cloth to hand it to him.

"Young Master Lou, please wipe your face clean first, otherwise when you return to the Lou residence, the Second Elder might think you've really changed careers and become a flower farmer."

Lou Xiaotian took the cloth, and a smile returned to his eyes.

"As long as April likes these Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms, I'd be willing to grow flowers for her for the rest of my life."

A morning breeze swept through the courtyard, causing Jiang Yining's tightly buttoned collar to open slightly.

The dark gold and red marks, concealed by makeup, peeked out from the side of her neck. Although only a corner of the lotus petal shape was visible, it was enough to reveal whose blood and energy it belonged to.

Lou Xiaotian's smile suddenly froze, and the hand holding the cloth stopped in mid-air.

When Fan Chenxin returned from drawing water from the well and saw where his gaze was fixed, her steps immediately became heavier.

"Young Master Lou should learn to avert his gaze immediately if he sees something he shouldn't."

Lou Xiaotian ignored him and stared at Jiang Yining's neatly adjusted collar.

The joy in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by an overwhelming bitterness, yet he still didn't rush forward to question them.

Jiang Yining saw his palm slowly tighten and felt a pang of pity.

Lou Xiaotian shielded her from the poisoned spear and delivered the most important bone slip. Although she had never made any promises, she was unwilling to lie to his sincerity.

"Lou Xiaotian, that's not a wound left by the Pulse-Locking Gu. You don't need to worry about my heart meridian."

Upon hearing these words, Lou Xiaotian's fingertips trembled even more noticeably.

He forced a smile, but his voice was already hoarse.

"Ning'er, the poison you were poisoned with last night... was it he who cured you using that method?"