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

A beam of dark golden light descended from the sky above the North Post Station. The old Buddhist beads in Fan Chenxin's sleeve flew out on their own, with ancient Sanskrit characters circling the beads before turning towards the West City Square.

Jiang Yining grasped his left hand, her fingertips probing the crack in the Buddha bone beneath the medicated cloth: "The Great Thunderclap Temple found you by following your natal Buddha beads?"

"The Returning Boundary Array left behind the Canglan Boundary navigation track, and the Discipline Hall used the navigation track to project the Dharma image of reception."

Fan Chenxin put away his prayer beads. "The visitor is Abbot Faji."

Pei Yunji used his sword sheath to catch the Sanskrit text that floated in through the window; the inner ancestral seal was slightly burned by the Buddhist light. "How many people can the guiding array carry?"

"one person."

Fan Chenxin replied, "The Golden Gate only recognizes Buddha relics; anyone else who steps in will be injured by the chaotic currents of the void."

Lou Xiaotian leaned against the door frame, his Overlord Spear held horizontally in front of him: "Han Que just said he wanted to ask the Buddhist sect to verify it, and the Dharma Image has just appeared. The timing is quite convenient."

"The Discipline Hall will not obey Han Que's orders."

Fan Chenxin looked at Jiang Yining's hand clasped around her wrist, "I broke the Dao, broke the precepts, and left the temple. Every single one of these must be investigated."

Jiang Yining straightened the cuffs of his sleeve that were pressing against his wound: "I'll go with you."

"I am the one presiding over the disciplinary court."

"The divine fire in the Merit Pool is aimed at me and April, and your shattering of the Dao is also related to this matter."

Jiang Yining tightened her grip on his clothes, "If they investigate the facts, they can't just let you take the blame."

"I won't shift the blame to you."

"I'm not prepared to plead guilty for you either."

Jiang Yining looked up at him and said, "I'll explain what happened. Whether you go back to the temple or not is up to you."

Fan Chenxin paused for a moment, then asked, "If Jinmen only has room for one person, would you advise me to go back and recover?"

"meeting."

Jiang Yining loosened the straps. "If you want to leave, I'll personally see you off. If you don't want to leave, no one can force you with the Buddha's relics."

After hearing this, Fan Chenxin placed her fingers on the lock on her wrist, then withdrew them, avoiding the wound: "Okay."

Jiang Siyue ran out of the inner room with the bald-tailed fire spirit falcon in her arms: "Siyue is going too. Siyue can prove that Uncle Fan didn't harm anyone."

"I can testify that you must stay close to Chu Ling Shuang when we get to the square."

Jiang Yining knelt down and tied her cloak. "No one is allowed to approach within three zhang of Jinmen, and the big red rooster is not allowed to fly away either."

The Fire Spirit Falcon tucked its wings together, and the newly grown downy feathers on its tail trembled a few times.

Outside the courtyard, the sound of city guards striking their shields could be heard. A martial artist shouted over the wall, "Master Faji has set up a protective barrier. The defendant and witnesses are allowed to enter, but no violence is permitted along the way."

Chu Ling Shuang raised her heavy hammer: "Fa Ji has suppressed the crossbow formation first, so I don't have to dismantle it all the way through."

Pei Yunji stood up, supporting himself on the edge of the table, and the purple-gold vine immediately wrapped around his arm: "You stay at the North Post Station."

"Han Que's accusations also include those of Pei's abandoned disciples."

Pei Yunji used the vine to steady himself. "If I don't go, he'll say you hid me to refine my blood."

"Your cultivation level is still suppressed at the peak of the Celestial Realm."

"You won't need the Nirvana Realm when you reach the West City."

Lou Xiaotian tossed the wooden cane over: "Here, if you fall halfway there, don't expect her to carry you."

Pei Yunji caught the cane: "You're quite willing to part with it."

"I just didn't want to see her supporting you the whole way."

Jiang Yining retracted the vines: "Say one more word, and you two will both stay here."

The two immediately stopped talking. Pei Yunji walked to Chu Ling Shuang's side with his cane, while Lou Xiaotian put the Overlord Spear into the gun holster on his back.

The gates of the North Post Station opened, and the city defense troops retreated to both sides, while the eaves of the houses along the street were crowded with onlookers.

"Is she Jiang Yining, who devoured the blood pool of the ancestral hall?"

"The child was holding her the whole time; how can the kidnapping claim mentioned in the reward offer even begin to support it?"

"Even a broken Buddhist monk might not be able to detect such a close proximity using soul-controlling techniques."

The discussion continued across the street, but Jiang Yining didn't stop; she simply held Fan Chenxin's injured left hand.

Fan Chenxin tightened her fingers, avoiding the cut on her wrist: "Does it still hurt?"

"Your bandage is bleeding first."

"I'm asking you."

"Let's change the dressing together when we get to the square."

Jiang Yining didn't let go, "Save your energy for dealing with the Discipline Hall."

The old Buddhist prayer beads gently clinked between their intertwined wrists, and Fan Chenxin responded softly.

Chu Ling Shuang lagged half a step behind and leaned close to Jiang Yining, saying, "Han Que's son has stopped taking his medicine. The old courier brought news that he has been sent to the City Lord's pharmacy."

"Has Han Que gone to see it?"

He left the medicine bag outside the door and went to the square.

"If they still leave behind the medicine bag, then they haven't gone all the way."

"It all depends on whether he's willing to come back."

Chu Ling Shuang scraped the splinter off the hammer handle with her thumb, leaving a shallow cut on her palm.

In the center of West City Square stands a ten-zhang golden gate, with Faji, dressed in a gray-white monk's robe, sitting cross-legged on the gate, with the phantom image of the Buddhist disciple Fanchenxin hanging in front of his palm.

The plaza was surrounded by a protective golden barrier, and all the crossbow bolts were aimed at the ground. Han Que stood on a high platform, with the city defense seal, the Blood-Dried Pill, and the projection stone of the main tomb in front of him.

After Jiang Yining and her group entered the Protectorate of Life, Han Que spoke first: "High Monk, Fan Chenxin assisted Jiang Yining in extracting the Pei family's ancestral blood and then hid with her in the Northern Post Station. Please have the Discipline Hall verify whether he is under the control of magic."

Faji raised a finger, and the Buddha's light pressed down on the city defense blood token: "This humble monk is verifying the disciples of my sect. I will not investigate the Pei family's private case on behalf of Tianhuang City. If Deputy Commander Han has evidence of soul control, he may place it on the examination platform."

Han Que sent out the projection of the main tomb, and the scene began with Jiang Yining controlling the divine tree to devour the ancestral blood. The spirit-stripping chains in the foreground were not included in the projection.

Pei Yunji stepped forward, leaning on his cane, and placed a fragment of the Fire Pivot on the examination platform: "The projection is missing the first seven breaths. If you want to investigate, check the Spirit Stripping Array as well."

Han Que turned to him: "You have been expelled from the Pei family, so your testimony is not reliable."

"The removal of names is witnessed by the genealogy of succession, and the order of formations is witnessed by the Fire Pivot."

Pei Yunji tapped the fragment with his sword scabbard. "If you only care about identity, why bring the evidence to the Buddhist sect?"

The Buddha's light in Faji's palm fell upon the Fire Pivot, and the Blood Pool Chains, the Spirit-Stripping Fire Path, and the Ancestral Hall Return Flow were laid out in succession in front of the Golden Gate.

The crowd's discussion shifted, and Han Que removed his hand from the projection stone, ceasing his dispute over the Pei family's private case.

Faji looked at Fanchenxin: "The poisonous flames of the Divine Realm in the Pool of Merit retaliated. To save Benefactor Jiang and her daughter, you voluntarily shattered your Ruthless Dao Heart. Is this true?"

Fan Chenxin stood ten feet away from the golden gate: "It is true."

"This act was voluntary; could someone have coerced it with their life, a debt of gratitude, or magic?"

"No one forced me."

"Is it true that you did not reply to the temple after the collapse of the void?"

Fan Chenxin raised the old bead on her wrist: "When the divine artifact was detonated, my natal Buddhist beads broke, and since there is no Buddhist spiritual energy in the Martial Spirit Realm, I was unable to reply."

As Faji unfolded the Buddhist prayer beads in his palm, images of the broken stone steps of the Great Thunder Temple, the falling of divine artifacts, and the collapse of the void were projected onto the Golden Gate.

"The charge of 'absconding' is not valid."

Faji put away the image, saying, "The Discipline Hall will not pursue this matter."

Han Que pressed down on the city defense seal: "He followed Jiang Yining in rebellion and swallowed the ancestral hall's blood pool. Shouldn't we investigate that as well?"

Faji glanced at the high platform: "Whether protecting someone violates the precepts depends on whether they have indiscriminately harmed innocent people. How much ancestral blood the Pei family has lost is not within the scope of Buddhist precepts."

Han Que stopped, and someone outside the square chuckled softly.

Faji continued, "Fanchenxin, is it true that you have developed feelings for Benefactor Jiang?"