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

The dark golden lamplight penetrated the lotus mark, Jiang Yining's collarbone burned, and the only old Buddhist beads left on Fan Chenxin's wrist cracked.

Fan Chenxin held up the Buddha Lamp of Inquiry, his fingers pausing outside her collar: "The Lotus Pact of Shared Karma was left behind by the Pool of Merit."

"When did you get married?"

"When the poisonous fire of the Divine Realm retaliated, I used the Buddha's bone and the primordial yang to suppress the poison for you, and you used the laws of chaos to protect my sea of ​​consciousness. The auras of the two of us circulated through the lotus seal for a whole cycle. The Buddhist sect calls this connection 'shared karma'."

Jiang Yining pressed down on the writhing white flame: "Will it take away all the punishment for you?"

"I only acknowledge one thing." Fan Chenxin looked at the lamp wick. "If I use the Buddha's bone to harm someone because of selfish desires, the fire of discipline will fall on me first, and then be distributed to you along the lotus seal."

"Does protecting someone count?"

"Protecting others doesn't count; jealousy, hatred, forceful possession, and venting anger do."

Jiang Yining understood, and pressed the lotus pattern back into her collar with her fingertips: "Before returning to the Merit Pool, can it be sealed?"

"Forcibly sealing it will damage your heart meridian; I can use the Life-Protecting Sutra to suppress the flame."

"Then suppress it." Jiang Yining grasped his wrist. "Don't test the lamp with yourself, and don't test others with you. If you deliberately attract the fire of abstinence, I will seal your Buddha bone first."

Fan Chenxin put the Buddha lamp into her palm, and the white flame shrank to the size of a bean: "I won't let it burn you."

The sound of armor plates clashing rang out outside the courtyard gate. The city defense crossbowmen who had just withdrawn made way at the street entrance, and more than twenty Lou family guards rushed to the North Post Station following the Qingmu Shrine contract.

Lou Chengyue stepped across the threshold, holding a newly carved green wooden token in his hand. The token's surface bore the young master's mark branded by the fire of the Lou clan ancestral hall: "The city defense formation has been withdrawn. The clan is giving you one last chance to turn back."

Lou Xiaotian raised his Overlord Spear and stood in front of Jiang Yining: "I threw the old decree back into the ancestral hall, and you carved another one to chase after me. Are you afraid I'll forget what the Lou family has done?"

"The clan ancestral hall will issue a new young master's token, which can clear your name of being an accomplice in the North City." Lou Chengyue handed the token forward half a foot. "As long as you sever ties with Jiang Yining, the Lou family will still recognize you as the young master."

Lou Xiaotian tapped the threshold with the tip of his spear: "When the Medicine Garden assassins entered, you used protecting the clan as an excuse. When the Thunder Pool Killing Array was activated, you sent the transfer order to the Mu family. Now that Pei Henian has lost the Ancestral Hall Blood Pool, you suddenly remember that the young master is still alive."

Several clan guards lowered their weapons; two of them had seen the Lou family's array masters outside the Thunder Pool before.

Lou Chengyue pressed down on the token: "Both the Medicine Garden and Lei Chi are investigating. It is a fact that you left the clan without permission. If you remain obstinate, the Ancestral Hall will personally summon you back."

As the Azure Wood Token lit up, the life-protecting blood pact on Lou Xiaotian's chest swelled up, and the Azure Wood Qi stored in the Overlord Spear flowed towards the token.

As soon as Jiang Yining raised her hand, Lou Xiaotian grabbed her wrist: "Let me handle this myself."

"Don't touch the token yet." Pei Yunji leaned on his wooden cane and approached. Several dark silver rays of light emanated from the inner ancestral seal and shone into the center of the token. "Recalling the ancestral contract only involves bloodlines. This token has nine additional bloodline-snatching lines."

Lou Chengyue took a half step back: "Does a disgraced disciple of the Pei family have the right to investigate the Lou family's ancestral decrees?"

"I just severed nine inheritance runes, so I recognize this kind of thing." Pei Yunji used his sword sheath to pick out a black line hidden under the ancestral fire. "Once the token enters Lou Xiaotian's body, the Primordial Green Wood Origin will flow back to the ancestral shrine along the nine lines. Summoning people is just the outer layer; seizing the meridians is the real formation inside."

Chu Ling Shuang placed the heavy bronze hammer horizontally in the center of the courtyard gate: "If ordinary clan guards want to leave, I'll make way for you. But if anyone tries to deliver the order, I'll smash them out along with the gate."

Lou Chengyue ignited the ancestral hall fire, and nine green threads crossed the threshold, heading straight for Lou Xiaotian's heart: "His origin is nurtured by the Lou family bloodline. The clan reclaims its own things, and outsiders have no right to interfere."

The purple-gold demonic vines emerged from Jiang Yining's sleeves, their nine tips clinging to Lou Xiaotian's chest, pinning down the meridian-snatching lines one by one.

The fire from the shrine burned along the vines and leaves, and the lock on her wrist cracked open. Lou Xiaotian reached out to stop her, but Jiang Yining had already shoved the Overlord Spear back into his hand.

"I'll dismantle the covert operation; you can choose what to do with the token."

"Aren't you going to persuade me to keep the Lou family's defensive position?"

"Your life and gun are yours. I'll take care of the underhanded people for you, but I won't choose where you end up."

The last meridian line was torn from the surface by the demonic vine, and the nine black lines were completely exposed to everyone.

Lou Xiaotian raised his spear and struck the center of the token from below.

The azure energy pierced through Ling Xin, causing the young master's token to shatter into more than ten pieces. The fragments passed over the Lou family guards and embedded themselves in the floor tiles at Lou Chengyue's feet.

"I already said everything when I returned the old token." Lou Xiaotian put away his gun and stood back beside Jiang Yining. "If the Lou family really wants to welcome me back, they should first find out who died in the medicine garden and the Thunder Pool before sending this kind of thing over. I will have destroyed more than just the token."

A clan guard who had survived the siege of Thunder Pool removed his wrist guard, revealing an arm burned by the array fire: "Second Elder, the array masters on the outer perimeter of Thunder Pool were personally mobilized by you. I have seen the mobilization order."

The other man placed his longsword on the ground: "Young Master has defended the Lou family against three beast tides, but the clan shrine issued a supplementary order to extract his life essence. I am withdrawing from this siege of Beiyi."

Several weapons fell to the ground one after another, while the remaining clan guards remained standing in place, but no one urged the formation to be activated again.

Lou Chengyue stepped on a fragment of a token: "You'd rather follow a woman who's entangled with several men than return to the Lou family. She protects you today, but she'll use the same words to coax others tomorrow."

Fan Chenxin held up the Heart-Questioning Buddha Lamp, its white flames suppressing the fire in the Lou Clan Shrine: "Even if you use her private affairs to cover up the Pulse-Seizing Array, the nine black lines in the token will not disappear."

Jiang Yining stopped Lou Xiaotian from speaking: "I don't need to explain to the Lou family who I'm close to. I won't belittle someone's efforts to coax another, nor will I make promises I can't keep. Lou Xiaotian can decide for himself where he wants to stay."

The demonic vine on her wrist pressed down on the floor tiles, crushing the nine broken meridian lines one by one: "If the Lou family uses me as an excuse to steal their essence, I will dismantle the array that is being extended towards them."

Lou Xiaotian stared at her for a moment, then lowered his gun to the ground: "That's enough."

Jiang Siyue squatted by the threshold, holding the bald-tailed fire spirit falcon, and looked down at the fragments scattered on the ground: "The black line is burned off, can the token be glued back on?"

"It can't be glued back on," Lou Xiaotian replied.

"That's good." Jiang Siyue pressed the Fire Spirit Falcon's head back into her arms. "You're not allowed to eat the big red chicken, or it will give you a stomachache if it damages the array pattern."

Fire Spirit Falcon was still unwilling to give up, and spat a spark at Lou Chengyue's feet.

Chu Ling Shuang swung her hammer down, creating a ditch half a zhang wide outside the courtyard gate, and the Lou family guards all retreated to the side of the street.

"Today we're smashing the ground. Anyone who crosses the line again will be moved to another spot for the next hammer blow."

Lou Chengyue shook the pebbles off his clothes: "Lou Xiaotian, you will pay the price for your choice today."

"I will bear the consequences myself; it's not your place to worry about me."

The Lou family guards withdrew from the North Post Station, and the courtyard gate was closed again.

Lou Xiaotian put away the Overlord Spear, raised his hand to press down Jiang Yining's collar, which had been blown open by the spear's force, with half of the dark gold lotus pattern still peeking out from the edge of the fabric.

His fingers paused at the collar, not touching the white flames dancing on the lotus heart: "There are still city guards outside, let me cover you first."

Jiang Yining let him tie her belt: "Ask whatever you want."

Lou Xiaotian released green vines to block the corridor leading to the backyard. Only after Fan Chenxin carried Jiang Siyue into the inner room did he speak: "The dark golden lotus under your collarbone is related to what happened in the Merit Pool, isn't it?"