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

Before the Judgment Blood Flame could fall, the Purple-Gold Demon Vine wrapped around Pei Yunji's hand, and the flames rolled back along the vine leaves, instantly scorching a large area of ​​the leaf edges.

Jiang Yining's wrist wound reopened, and blood beads slid down her fingertips into the blood pool. She still didn't loosen her grip on the demonic vine, and another vine had already wrapped around Pei Yunji's sword, dragging the blade three inches away from his heart.

The inheritance chart cast by the ancestral bones hung above everyone's heads, and Pei Yunji's name was already stained blood red.

Pei Henian's voice came from deep within the pages of the score: "Hand over the host of the Divine Tree, and you can still retain your position as the young master. If you insist on betraying the clan, I will personally sever the ancestral mark, and from then on, there will be no more protection from the Pei clan."

Pei Yunji raised his sword and pressed it against the center of his hand, his brows and eyes reflecting the cold light of the ancestral fire: "Use the stolen divine wood to nourish the ancestral hall, and then call this favor protection. The Pei family can keep it for themselves."

Pei Zheng blocked the sword with his spear: "The outer nine-patterned seal governs the right of inheritance, and the inner ancestral seal sustains your Nirvana blood. If you sever the inner seal as well, you will lose half your life here."

"Keep it today, and the ancestral hall can use it to pursue us tomorrow."

"If you want to stop the tracking, why ruin yourself as well?"

Jiang Yining tightened the demonic vines, and the sword tip deflected: "First figure out which sword I blocked, then decide whether to continue showing off."

She stepped in front of Pei Yunji, pressed her fingertip against the burning Young Master's Mark, and the Myriad Spirits Divine Wood split into nine fine threads, passing through the outer silver marks one by one, but stopping when they touched the central Ancestral Seal.

"The nine outer rings represent the position of the young master, which is also the rope that the ancestral hall has tied around you. The ancestral seal inside was present from birth. If you preserve it, there is still room for your foundation to be repaired."

Pei Yunji sheathed his sword: "Leave the inner seal, and Pei Henian can still find us by following our bloodline."

"Then we'll chop it off again when he reaches out."

"You're injured like this now, and you still want to take a few more bludgeons for me?"

Jiang Yining glanced at him and said, "I'm protecting those who are useful. If you turn yourself into a useless piece of trash, who will repair the ancient boat, and who will find the ancestral hall's secret vault?"

These words sounded cold, but the vines binding his wrists bypassed every wound.

Pei Yunji stared at her for a moment, then finally removed the sword tip from the inner seal: "So I'm still useful after all."

"Don't make yourself suffer. I don't have time to comfort you a second time."

Lou Xiaotian nailed the Overlord Spear into the edge of the pool, and the roots of the green wood climbed up the top of the tomb, suppressing the ancestral fire that kept falling: "She has already cleared a way out for you. If you still go down a dead end, then this former young master of the Pei family is too bad at calculating."

Fan Chenxin stood two steps behind Jiang Yining, his black sword still sheathed, the dark golden Buddhist light only blocking the outer edge of the fire wave: "If we delay for another ten breaths, the ancestral fire will burn into his shoulder meridian, and then he won't be able to hold the sword even if he wants to kill him."

Pei Yunji glanced at Jiang Yining's fingertips pressed against the back of her hand: "Are you planning to stand this close forever?"

"If I back down, who knows if you'll deliver an unexpected follow-up attack?"

"You really don't trust me at all?"

"Um."

Pei Yunji fell silent at that single word, though the corners of his lips twitched slightly.

Jiang Yining moved the demonic vines from the sword's edge to his wrist bone, with nine thin vines hooking onto the outer silver pattern: "Just keep striking, leave the ancestral fire to me."

Pei Zheng inserted the ancestral bones into the tomb bricks, and the blood-red light on the inheritance chart temporarily stopped: "According to ancestral rules, if the young master voluntarily relinquishes his right of inheritance, the commander of the guards and the ancestral bones need to witness it together."

Pei Yunji looked at him: "Are you still going to stand as a witness for the Pei family?"

"I witness the ancestral rules and also verify private decrees. Whoever changes the rules, I will investigate."

Pei Zheng placed the forged blood order under the ancestral bones: "The forged order, blood sample, and image from the imaging mirror will all be sent to the side branch council. As for Jiang Yining, she does not belong to the Pei family, and the sacred tree is not some Pei family ancestral object."

Jiang Yining raised an eyebrow: "You've finally said something that sounds nice."

I didn't mean to please you.

"Then protect the evidence well, and don't let the people from the collateral council lose their tongues halfway through."

Pei Zheng didn't answer, but moved his spear half an inch closer to the ancestral bones, protecting the evidence within the spear's shadow.

Jiang Siyue sat on Chu Ling Shuang's heavy hammer, holding the Fire Spirit Falcon with a few bald feathers in her arms, and carefully made accounts on the stone slab with a charcoal pencil: "Uncle in black cuts nine outer patterns, and pays ten spirit fruits for each one. You are not allowed to touch the inner pattern. Whoever cuts one more pattern will get an extra ninety fruits."

Pei Yunji tilted his head and asked, "Why is there an extra punishment, even more severe than the previous nine?"

"In April, you only have ten fingers; counting too many makes you hungry."

As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach growled.

Chu Ling Shuang held back for a while, but still burst out laughing: "The little accountant is hungry, you'd better hurry up."

Pei Yunji withdrew the sword that was aimed at the inner seal: "Alright, just cut the nine outer ones."

Jiang Yining flicked her fingertips, and the first demonic vine straightened: "Drop the sword from the left side, away from the inner seal."

The first sword strike cleaved through the silver pattern, and the ancestral fire exploded on the spot. Fan Chenxin blocked the wave of fire rushing towards Jiang Yining with his horizontal sword, while Lou Xiaotian used the roots of the green wood to stabilize the top of the tomb.

"The second one is showing, continue."

As the second sword fell, Pei Yunji's shoulder slumped, and blood seeped from his lips.

Jiang Yining channeled the wood energy into his wrist pulse: "Don't try to force it with your qi and blood, let the fire flow outwards along the broken lines."

"If you release it, it will burn you."

"If it dares to come any closer, I'll swallow it whole."

The third and fourth silver patterns broke off one after another. Pei Yunji's Nirvana aura was pulled down layer by layer by the power of the Ancestral Hall's recycling, and it barely stopped when it reached the peak of the Celestial Realm.

Jiang Yining noticed that his pulse was erratic, and immediately pressed down on the inner seal with the vine tip: "His realm is only temporarily suppressed by the ancestral fire. His inner seal is still there, and he can recover after he leaves."

Pei Yunji said in a low voice, "What if we can't bring him back to health?"

"Then start repairing from scratch. Stop saying discouraging things before you strike."

Pei Zheng stared at the inheritance chart: "After the fifth line is broken, the ancestral hall will reclaim the young master's fortune."

"Take it."

Jiang Yining gripped Pei Yunji's wrist: "Your fortune can leave, but your blood must remain."

The purple-gold demonic vine burrowed into the crack, blocking the power drawn from the ancestral hall from reaching the flesh. Pei Yunji seized the opportunity to strike with four swords in succession. The name on the page faded more and more, and the young master's seal hanging above his head also cracked in two.

When the last silver pattern ignited, Pei Yunji could no longer stand, and the tip of his sword scraped against the tomb bricks, leaving a trail of sparks.

"The Ninth Sword".

"cut."

The sword light pierced through the last silver stripe, and the main tomb became so bright that it was blinding. The young master's seal shattered, and the name on the succession register disappeared completely.

Pei Yunji's longsword fell to the ground, and he tumbled forward.

Jiang Yining took a half step forward and caught his shoulder and back. The man's weight made her slip, and the demonic vines quickly wrapped around their waists, pulling them back to the edge of the blood pool.

"Pei Yunji, open your eyes."

This was the first time she hadn't called him Young Master Pei.

Pei Yunji opened his eyes, his pale face devoid of color: "Say it again."

"If you want to hear more, first stabilize your Qi and blood."

Jiang Yining pressed her hand against his chest, and the demonic vine spread into his broken meridians, sealing the cracks left by the ancestral fire one by one.

Fan Chenxin stood three steps away, her gaze lingering for a moment on the two men's intertwined arms before she turned her blade to block the still-burning flames outside the tomb door.

Lou Xiaotian laid the green wood roots at Jiang Yining's feet to support the constantly crumbling tomb bricks, but did not extend them between the two of them.

Pei Yunji caught his breath: "With the position of young master gone, I've also lost something that I could keep by your side."

"What does my keeping you here have to do with the position of young master?"

"Initially it was ancestral blood, then it was array cultivation, and then what?"

Jiang Yining supported him by the back of his neck, steadying him: "From now on, we'll see if you can live a useful life. Don't expect me to prolong your life with a few nice words."

Pei Yunji did not take the opportunity to embrace her, but only whispered, "That does sound a lot like you."

"Don't you like it?"

"It sounds nice."

Jiang Yining helped him sit down against her, and after his breathing stabilized, she moved him to the side of the wrecked boat: "Lie down."

Pei Yunji tried to get up, using the hull of the boat as support, but Jiang Yining raised her leg to block his knee: "Who was the one who made an extra strike just now?"

He remained silent for a moment, then finally rested his head on her lap, no longer trying to be strong.

The Divine Tree of Myriad Spirits released a gentle vitality, slowly repairing the broken meridians along Pei Yunji's heart meridian, and his long-tense shoulders and back gradually relaxed.

Jiang Siyue ran over carrying the Fire Spirit Falcon and draped her little cloak over Pei Yunji's shoulders: "Uncle in black, you can't move around. There's only enough space for one person to lie on Mother's lap. If you fall, there won't be a second time."

Pei Yunji closed his eyes: "I'll lie still."

Fan Chenxin pressed down on the knife, and the scabbard touched the tomb bricks with a soft sound.

Lou Xiaotian said in a low voice, "If you go there now, he will probably be even more seriously injured."

"She just came out of the blood pool, I won't disturb her healing."

"You've managed to keep your composure today."

"I'll be quieter if you don't look at her legs."

Jiang Yining looked up at the two of them: "If you still have the energy to argue, then go to the gravel in the north of Qing."

The two fell silent at the same time, one drawing his knife and the other his gun, each heading around to the north wall.

After the outer layer of minor patterns completely dissipated, a muffled sound suddenly came from the north wall, and a large piece of black stone peeled off on its own, revealing a secret vault door covered with dark silver locks that rose from behind the wall.

The bronze seal was bounced off the door lock as soon as it approached, and the elder's blood token that Pei Zheng took out was also useless.

Pei Yunji's inner ancestral seal, which had not yet cooled down, lit up on its own.

A silver light shone from the door lock, passing over the crowd and slowly wrapping around the back of his hand.

Jiang Yining raised her hand to intercept the silver light, then looked down at Pei Yunji, who had just opened his eyes: "The young master's mark has been completely severed, so why does this door still recognize you?"