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

Jiang Yining ignored the two injured men's boastful words and simply steadied their arms.

The surface of the water in the Thunder Pool had not yet completely calmed down when the Purple-Gold Thunder Vine dragged the shattered array core back to the bottom of the pool.

The remaining lightning still lingered around her feet, threatening to unleash another wave of thunder at any moment.

"The Fire Spirit Falcon took April and flew to the foot of the mountain wall, where there was a sheltered stone cave."

Wu Bao lay on the back of the Fire Spirit Falcon, her eyes still red-rimmed, but she clenched her little hands tightly.

"Mother, are you going to take the two uncles to see about their injuries? April can hold the big red chicken and stay outside the cave."

"You stay inside the vine formation. No one is allowed to come out, and you are absolutely forbidden from chasing after anyone alone."

"If anyone tries to bully Mother and Uncle, April can have the big red rooster peck at their eyes."

Upon hearing its name, the Fire Spirit Falcon finally stirred its drooping wings.

Its sharp beak remained buried in its feathers, unable to face the corpses lying haphazardly beside the Thunder Pool.

Half of Fan Chenxin's robe was soaked with poisonous blood, and black blood was still seeping from the wound on his back where the chains had pierced through.

He tried to steady himself, but his feet suddenly gave way, and he almost fell back into the pit with Jiang Yining.

Jiang Yining gripped his wrist, and the Qi and blood of the Condensation Realm probed into his pulse through his palm.

"If you dare to defy me even half a step further, I'll tie you to the back of the Fire Spirit Falcon and drag you back."

Fan Chenxin looked down at her, her face so pale it was almost transparent.

"If this humble monk were truly tied to the back of the Fire Spirit Falcon, April would probably laugh at me for three whole days."

"You still have the mind to worry about this? It seems the poison gas hasn't damaged your brain yet."

Lou Xiaotian's situation is equally worrying.

After he burned the essence of the green wood to suppress the core of the formation, the fabric of his clothes around his chest was almost soaked with blood.

His once gentle complexion had lost all color, and even the fingers gripping the Overlord Spear had loosened.

Jiang Yining probed his heart meridian with a wisp of purple-gold wood energy, and the red mole between his eyebrows became slightly hot.

"Lou Xiaotian, you need to draw your qi and blood back to your dantian. You mustn't keep holding on like this."

Lou Xiaotian's eyelashes trembled, his gaze still wanting to fall on her.

"Ning'er, I failed to protect your escape route, allowing those people to walk into the trap."

"You held the line for me and blocked the assassin for April. Now put away this show of bravado."

Jiang Yining raised two fingers and pressed on three main pulse points on his chest and ribs.

The purple-gold qi and blood transformed into fine vines, temporarily sealing the meridians that were about to burst open.

"I'll seal your heart meridian first. If you want to live until the secret realm opens, close your eyes and regulate your breathing immediately."

Before Lou Xiaotian could answer, his body completely lost its support and he fell forward.

Fan Chenxin raised his hand to take it, but the poison wound on his shoulder and back made him groan.

Jiang Yining caught Lou Xiaotian first and placed him steadily on the back of the Fire Spirit Falcon.

"Don't move, I'll take him into the cave."

"Ning'er, Lou Xiaotian's heart meridian is too deeply damaged; we cannot let him continue to be exposed to the cold."

"So you'd better not get another injury, lest I have to take care of two disobedient people at the same time."

The cave in the mountain wall was not very wide, and the entrance was covered by hanging black vines.

It is divided into two layers, an inner and an outer one, with a flat bluestone platform in the outer cave.

Jiang Yining placed Lou Xiaotian on the stone platform and then took out a clean outer robe to cover his blood-stained chest.

Just as she was about to get up, Lou Xiaotian, who was unconscious, unconsciously grabbed a piece of her sleeve.

"Ning'er, don't go into danger alone."

Jiang Yining glanced down at his fingertips, her voice very soft.

"I'm already out. You just need to save your own life."

Fan Chenxin sat beside the stone wall, the black knife lying across his lap, his back ramrod straight.

Thunder rumbled outside the cave, but the dark lines on his shoulder were even deeper than before.

Several poisonous lines spread upwards along the spine, already approaching the back of the neck.

Wu Bao crouched in the outer cave, holding the Fire Spirit Falcon, his little face serious as if he were guarding a great formation.

"Mother, April has already taken care of the outer cave, and Big Red Chicken is not allowed to slack off either."

Fire Spirit Falcon raised its head in a wronged manner, only to be pressed back down by Wu Bao.

"If you slack off now, bad guys will come in and make you into soup."

"It's enough to let it keep an eye out for the wind; it doesn't have to actually keep its eyes open all night."

Jiang Yining walked to the cave entrance and pressed a purple-gold vine imprint on the rock wall.

Fine vines spread along the cracks in the stone, sealing off both the inner and outer layers of the cave.

"If Uncle Zhonghua wakes up, give him three sips of water first, then call me out."

Wu Bao nodded solemnly, then, holding the Fire Spirit Falcon, retreated to Lou Xiaotian's side.

"Don't worry, Mother. Siyue will keep an eye on Uncle Zhonghua and Uncle Chenxin so they don't run around."

Upon hearing these words, Fan Chenxin's thin lips curved into a very slight smile.

"This humble monk can barely stand now, so please don't treat me like I'm about to run away in April."

"Uncle Chenxin said he couldn't do it last time, but he still jumped into the trap, so April doesn't believe him."

Jiang Yining turned to look at Fan Chenxin, her eyes still filled with lingering fear.

"Did you hear that? Even April knows you don't keep your word."

Fan Chenxin remained silent for a moment before speaking softly.

"I promise you, if I ever stand in your way again, I'll at least let you know first."

"If you had told me beforehand, I would have knocked you out first and then dragged you to the back."

"Then this humble monk can only be thankful that you didn't have time to knock me unconscious."

Jiang Yining did not continue arguing with him.

Lou Xiaotian's heart meridian has been temporarily sealed by the Green Wood Origin and the vine threads, and it will not continue to collapse in the short term.

The bone-corroding poison within Fan Chenxin's body was still spreading, and if it had been delayed any longer, it would have invaded the Buddha's bones and heart meridian.

She walked up to Fan Chenxin, her fingertips landing on the corroded and blackened fabric on his shoulder.

"Take off your shirt, I need to see where the toxin has spread."

Fan Chenxin looked up at her, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

"Ning'er, there are still children and wounded outside the cave. You don't need to do it yourself."

"If you can handle it yourself, you won't let the black lines creep up to the back of your neck."

Jiang Yining ripped open the already torn collar of his shirt.

The fabric was stuck to the edge of the wound by the venom, and when it was torn apart, it brought out a dark red bloodstain.

Fan Chenxin's shoulders and back suddenly tensed, and his fingers pressed into the blue stone beneath him.

He sculpted several fine cracks into the stone surface.

"If it hurts, just say so. You don't have to pretend you don't feel anything in front of me."

"I was only worried that your hands would get stained with the poisonous blood, not that I couldn't bear the pain."

"If you utter another word of nonsense, I'll have April come in and watch you drink your medicine."

Fan Chenxin finally calmed down and let her pull open the tattered top.

Several dark gold marks left by old precepts crisscrossed both sides of the spine.

The three new penetrating wounds that appeared today were particularly glaring.

The black lines left by the rotten bone poison chain meandered from the shoulder blade all the way to the heart.

The blood seeping from between the black lines carried a sweet, fishy smell, and the surrounding flesh had turned grayish-white.

Jiang Yining's fingers stopped at the edge of a wound, and her brows furrowed.

"The poison is already close to your heart, yet you still dared to use your knife in such a dangerous situation."

Fan Chenxin turned her face to the side, her wet hair sticking to her pale cheeks.

"If I hadn't used my knife then, the poison chain would have pierced your dantian first."

"So you traded your own heart meridian for it; you've calculated that deal very quickly."

"I didn't risk my life for anything; I just did what I should have done at the time."

"The most important thing you should do is stay alive, not make me save your life every time."

Fan Chenxin looked at her suppressed anger and lowered his voice.

"Ning'er, when I saw the chains piercing you, I didn't have time to think any further."

"Then listen to me now, sit cross-legged, and don't circulate the Buddha's blood anymore."