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

Pei Yunji raised his hand and flipped the Spirit-Peeling Pearl, and the first blood-red ray of light entered Jiang Yining's dantian.

The force did not tear through her skin and flesh, but instead passed through her blood and meridians, landing precisely on the outermost roots of the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree.

A sharp pain instantly shot through my entire body.

Jiang Yining's fingers tightened suddenly, her nails scraping against the dark silver chain, leaving several harsh friction sounds.

She felt as if thousands of fine needles were simultaneously piercing her dantian, prying outwards along the roots of the sacred tree, each needle trying to separate the connection between her flesh and soul.

Pei Yunji stood outside the formation, his dark silver eyes reflecting the changes within it.

"On the first day, only the outer layer of fine hairs is peeled off. If you don't mobilize your qi and blood to resist, the pain can be reduced by at least 30%."

Jiang Yining bit her lower lip until she tasted blood in her mouth before suppressing a muffled groan.

"You're trying to pry something out of someone else's dantian, and you expect me to lie down and cooperate? After three thousand years of research, has the Pei family only come up with this kind of outlandish rule?"

"The fact that you still have the strength to mock me shows that the formation is still not strong enough."

Pei Yunji pressed his five fingers onto the second layer of array patterns, and the dark silver qi and blood of the Nirvana Realm flowed into the pillar of light along the dome of the stone hall.

The number of blood-red needles suddenly doubled.

Jiang Yining instinctively retaliated with the thirty percent of her purple-gold qi and blood that she had just gathered, sending lightning pulses along her meridians toward her dantian, but it was suppressed by the dark silver power on the outer side of her qi.

The moment the two forces collided, her already damaged shoulder meridian burst open again.

Fresh blood dripped down his arm into the pool water, where it was instantly absorbed by the array patterns.

"You can continue to suppress my vital energy, but once the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree is damaged, the first thing to be destroyed will be what you want to take back."

"It has not yet damaged the source; the Returning Origin Spirit Stripping Array is merely separating your bloodline connections."

"If you could truly distinguish between the roots of the sacred tree and my meridians, you wouldn't have shattered my shoulder meridian just now."

Pei Yunji's gaze fell on her right shoulder, and then he adjusted one of the dark silver array stones.

The pressure from the puncture into the shoulder meridian did indeed decrease, but the pain near the dantian did not disappear.

"Your meridian structure is different from that of ordinary martial artists. Your main wood meridian is mixed with lightning, Buddha blood, and the essence of green wood. It's rare that you've survived to this day with so much power crammed into one person's body."

"If Young Master Pei is interested in studying this, perhaps we should stop the formation for now. Let me have a cup of tea, and then I'll slowly explain to you where each unit of power comes from."

"I am only interested in the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree; other powers are of no value to me."

Pei Yunji raised his hand to gather the blood, and dozens of blood lines simultaneously pierced the outermost layer of the divine tree.

Jiang Yining suddenly arched her body, biting her lower lip until it bled.

She didn't let out a cry of pain, but pressed her forehead against the cold chains, using the chill to stay awake.

The Divine Tree of All Spirits was finally enraged.

Purple-gold vines sprouted from Jiang Yining's shoulders, back, arms, and waist at the same time, their thorns striking the blood-red pillar of light.

The first vine to touch the array pattern withered quickly, but the leaves behind it seized the opportunity to wrap up the dissipating dark silver blood and forcefully drag it into the dantian.

Pei Yunji's right hand stopped on the array stone.

"Even after being suppressed by the Guiyuan Stripping Spirit Array, it still dared to devour the Nirvana Qi and Blood in reverse."

Jiang Yining lifted her blood-stained face.

"I've already warned you, it won't let others take it away. If you continue to increase your power, the next time more than just this little bit of life force might be swallowed up."

"The more power it devours, the deeper it will come into contact with the formation. You think this can threaten me, but in reality it will only help me find the location of the ancestral root faster."

Pei Yunji's dark silver blood and qi fell into the core of the formation again, and the peeling patterns on the four walls of the stone hall tightened inward layer by layer.

The bursting purple-gold vines quickly wrapped around Jiang Yining's entire body, with some roots digging into the stone bricks, frantically devouring the mineral essence overflowing from the formation.

The crimson pillar of light swayed constantly as it was cut by the vines, and some of the array stones even developed tiny cracks.

Jiang Yining knew that this counterattack was far from enough.

There are two major realms separating her from Pei Yunji.

The Myriad Spirits Divine Tree was able to devour the essence of a half-saint in the Canglan Realm, but now, suppressed by the laws of the Martial Spirit Realm, it cannot even unleash one-tenth of its true power.

Continuing to confront her head-on will only exhaust both the sacred tree and her.

Jiang Yining forcibly suppressed the purple-gold qi and blood.

"Since you claim you only want the sacred tree, stop the formation and let me check the condition of the roots. If the outer fine roots are already damaged, there's no point in continuing to peel them off."

"Your reason for trying to find the weak point of the formation by taking advantage of the pause is not very clever."

"The Returning Origin Spirit-Stripping Array is making its first contact with a living divine tree, and you need to confirm the result. Otherwise, if you get a withered root seven days later, the Pei family ancestors won't crawl out of their graves to do it again for you."

Pei Yunji was not angry; his dark silver pupils swept along the vines inch by inch.

"Your mouth is more troublesome than these roots, but unfortunately, the outcome of the formation is not for you to judge."

He pressed two fingers together against the Spirit-Peeling Pearl.

A thin, hair-like purple-gold root was forcibly lifted by the blood-red light.

That thin tendril was still connected to Jiang Yining's heart meridian, and every inch it moved felt like a red-hot iron hook slowly dragging through her bone marrow.

Jiang Yining's vision blurred, but her body did not collapse.

She pressed the tip of her tongue against her jaw, using the pain to force herself to stay awake.

His divine sense quietly spread along the array patterns.

The three array stones on the east side are responsible for suppressing qi and blood, the blood pool on the north side carries the stripped-off origin, and there is a core array groove hidden by a stone wall below the high platform on the west side.

Whenever the dome ore absorbs the power of the earth's veins, the western array slot will dim briefly for half a breath.

Now that midnight is still far away, that gap has already appeared twice.

As the Yin and Yang of the earth veins alternate, the intervals between them should lengthen.

Pei Yunji suddenly looked up at the stone wall on the west side.

"What place are you investigating?"

Jiang Yining immediately withdrew her divine sense, and her body finally lost its support, her knees slamming heavily onto the stone bricks.

"I'm wondering how much longer this formation will torment me. If Young Master Pei is afraid of even this little bit of spiritual power, he'd better seal my eyes as well."

"Deliberately provoking me won't give you a chance."

Pei Yunji pressed his palm down from a distance, and the blood-red beam of light suddenly trembled.

The wispy purple-gold beard that had been pulled up made a very faint cracking sound, and Jiang Yining finally let out a suppressed groan.

The vines that burst forth from the Divine Tree of Ten Thousand Spirits collectively contracted, and several gray-white cracks appeared on the surface of the leaves.

Pei Yunji did not continue to exert pressure.

He stared at the loose, thin tendril inside the Spirit-Peeling Pearl, his dark silver pupils slowly narrowing.

"The degree to which the sacred tree has merged with you is deeper than all the deductions left by the Pei family. On the first day, it was supposed to detach three outer tendrils, but now only one has loosened."

Jiang Yining leaned against the chains and raised her head, blood dripping from her lips onto her clothes.

"It's not too late to admit that your formation might not work."

"The fact that you were blocked on the first day only means that your vessel needs to be re-evaluated. The seven-day period remains unchanged, and I will adjust the array patterns tomorrow."

Pei Yunji withdrew his Nirvana Qi and blood, and the crimson pillar of light extinguished.

The chains binding Jiang Yining's limbs retreated into the stone bricks, but she didn't even have the strength to stand up, and she collapsed directly onto the cold ground.

The meridians felt as if they had been repeatedly burned by a raging fire, and each contraction of the dantian would pull on that loose, thin tendril.

She raised her hand to protect her abdomen, but her arm only moved half an inch before losing strength.

The black robe stopped in front of her.

Pei Yunji bent down, took out a clean handkerchief, and wiped away the blood that was still seeping from her lips.

His movements were steady and meticulous, yet his gaze was no different from that of someone inspecting the array stones.

"You are more resilient than I thought. If you had simply fainted, the sacred tree would have been free from the protection of its host's consciousness, making the separation process much smoother."

Jiang Yining turned her face away, avoiding the handkerchief.

"Since you treat me as a container, you should know that a cracked container cannot hold anything."

"You can just tell me what you want now."

"I need pills to restore my qi and blood, spiritual liquid to repair my meridians, and another quarter of an hour to meditate without being disturbed by the array patterns."

"Your demands exceed what a container should be treated like."

"My main meridian still has seven cracks, and you've ripped two more open today. If the formation is activated again tomorrow, I might not survive more than half an hour."

Pei Yunji pressed his fingertips against her pulse point, and dark silver energy flowed along her wrist into her meridians.

Jiang Yining did not resist, but her divine sense took advantage of his approach to sweep across the western array slot again.

After Pei Yunji's own blood and qi connected with the formation, a clearer stagnation indeed appeared there.

Half an incense stick.

During the earth's energy exchange period at midnight, the core array will stop for at least half an incense stick's time.

She did not continue to probe, letting Pei Yunji withdraw his finger.

"You didn't exaggerate your injuries; the damage caused by the spatial turbulence has indeed not yet healed. I will give you enough time to refine the medicinal power before the formation begins tomorrow."

"I need the elixir now; there's no point in waiting until tomorrow."

"Are you worried I might tamper with the medicine?"

"I am now in the Pei family's territory. If you really wanted to poison me, you wouldn't need to go through all this trouble. I'm just worried that I'll die here tonight, making Young Master Pei's efforts all for nothing."

Pei Yunji got up and walked to the bottom of the platform. He took out two dark blue jade bottles from a hidden compartment and casually threw them in front of her.

"The left side restores qi and blood, while the right side repairs the meridians. Only one pill can be taken at a time. If you try to take more because of the medicinal power, it will only cause your own dantian to explode."

Jiang Yining propped herself up on the ground and held the two jade bottles in her palms.

"Hopefully, the pills produced by a Nirvana Realm expert won't be any worse than the ordinary ones in the Tianhuang City medicine shop."

If you feel it's not enough, you can choose not to use it.

Pei Yunji raised his right hand, and his dark silver blood suddenly condensed into a thin needle.

Just as Jiang Yining sensed the danger, the fine needle had already bypassed her protective wooden aura and pierced the skin on the back of her neck.

The icy power spread along the spine, eventually condensing into a dark silver restriction.

She raised her hand and pressed it against the back of her neck. Her purple-gold roots immediately tried to envelop the restriction, but were repelled by the Nirvana Qi and blood within.

"Is this another one of the Pei family's rules for entertaining guests?"

"The tracking restriction will not damage your meridians; it will only allow me to know your location at any time. If you try to forcibly remove it, the restriction will seal your Qi Sea."

Pei Yunji stood before the high platform, his dark silver pupils regaining their cold indifference.

"Don't even think about escaping through the gaps in the formation at midnight. This stone palace is within a hundred miles of the Pei family's territory. Even if you step out the gate, you won't escape my grasp."

Jiang Yining did not press him on how he saw through her plans. She simply opened the jade bottle on the left and poured a dark red pill into her palm.

"Since Young Master Pei is so confident, it's best not to send anyone to guard the door tonight. Otherwise, the more guards there are, the more it will seem that you lack confidence."

"You can continue searching for weaknesses. I also want to see how far a Qi Condensation Realm martial artist with only 30% of their Qi and blood can go."

Pei Yunji turned and stepped onto the high platform, and the Guiyuan Stripping Spirit Array sank back into darkness.

Jiang Yining swallowed the pill, and the Myriad Spirit Divine Wood slowly absorbed its medicinal power.

The thin tendril that had been loosened was still trembling, yet it remained firmly entwined around her heart.

She closed her eyes and sent a thought deep into her consciousness to the sacred tree with which she had coexisted for many years.

"Hold on for six more days, and they will come looking for me."