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

The key to the array rose another half inch outward, and Jiang Siyue's nine tails were stretched taut by the fire patterns.

Jiang Yining wrapped the mother and daughter vines around the child's waist: "April, cover your ears and retract all your tails."

"But the key is still calling me."

"The more urgently it crows, the less you should answer. Let the big red rooster peck at the bottom of the key, not the fire above."

The Fire Spirit Falcon, limping along its left wing, crawled out of the fox tail and pecked wildly at the crack in the rock with its sharp beak.

The third strike landed, and a dark silver ancestral seal was revealed at the bottom of the key. Pei Henian's projection then rushed towards the fire well.

"If I can't get the sacred wood, you won't leave any evidence either!"

The Elder's Seal burned in the fire well, and Pei Henian's projected legs merged into the fire stream.

Twelve earth-shattering sounds came from outside the array area, and the city walls, medicine shops, and teleportation arrays reflected in the city's protective water mirror successively spewed out dark silver ancestral fire.

Pei Yunji's voice came from the Twin Meridians Returning to Origin Lock: "He wants to burn the blood sample, eliminate the collateral branches that have ingested the Blood-Draining Pill, and then use the false root to track down into your Qi Sea. Don't chase the projection, retreat first!"

Jiang Yining left the false root in the fire well, and the magic vine wrapped around the bottom of the key, then lifted it up forcefully.

The fire falcon pounced and snatched the key, its bald tail flipping halfway up in the air, its belly sliding along the stone bricks to Jiang Siyue's feet.

"April, hug it!"

Jiang Siyue caught the fat bird, and Jiang Yining tore open the fiery crack beneath her feet, causing the mother and daughter to fall out of the array together.

Fan Chenxin had already been guarding outside the crevice, and the lotus light supported the two of them.

He picked up Jiang Siyue, and Jiang Yining only had time to touch her daughter's dantian and ankles.

"His heart meridian is unharmed, and he has concealed his fox breath well. In April, he will follow Uncle Fan."

"Does Mother want to go in?"

"The fire in the city hasn't stopped. You protect the big red chicken for your mother and wait for me to come back."

A pillar of fire, dozens of feet high, rose from the east of the city, and the roofs of several medicine shops were blown off.

The streets were crowded with retreating warriors, but the broken city gates were blocked by a sealing formation, preventing anyone from getting out.

Jiang Yining turned to the city gate: "Chu Lingshuang, break down the gate. Open the south gate first, then the east gate, avoiding the underground fire well."

Chu Ling Shuang shouldered the heavy hammer: "What if there's a defensive formation behind the door?"

"Uproot the entire formation, leaving a two-zhang-wide escape route. Pei Zheng leads the collateral branches to the south gate, the commoners go through the east gate, and the pharmacist guards the middle of the two routes."

Pei Zheng raised the Ancestral Bone Whistle: "Those who have taken the Blood-Dried Pill have blood marks on their chests. If they mingle with the crowd, they will attract the Ancestral Fire. I've assigned them to the outer side of the South Gate."

"Don't drive people into a dead end."

Jiang Yining released the magic vines, drawing three paths on the street. "Twenty people per team, with the Ancestral Bone Whistle guiding the way. No fighting allowed."

Pei Zheng blew his bone whistle: "Pei clan collateral branches, listen to my command! Those carrying children, go first; the wounded, in the middle. Anyone who dares to turn back and try to steal the blood sample, I will personally send him back to the Fire Well!"

Chu Ling Shuang had already rushed to the south gate and smashed the door hinge with her heavy hammer.

The city bricks crumbled outwards, and she kicked open the broken gate: "The road's open! What are you all standing there for? Waiting for the fire to come and give you a push?"

Fan Chenxin held up the Buddha Lamp of Inquiry, and the wick split into more than a hundred white flames, which landed on the three escape routes.

Each small lamp supports a patch of lotus light, and the Dark Silver Ancestral Flame slides away to both sides when it touches the light barrier.

"Follow the light, and don't step on the lotus pattern."

He placed the last remaining lotus light over Jiang Yining and Jiang Siyue's shoulders, saying, "I will escort the people out of the city, and the lotus light will not be withdrawn from the mother and daughter."

Above the flame, the Dharma-silence of Dharma emerged, transcending boundaries.

Having surveyed the city ablaze, Faji looked at the remaining pearl in Fanchenxin's hand: "The Buddha Lamp of Inquiry splits into a hundred lamps; can your Buddha bone withstand them?"

"I have to hold on, even if I can't. The people in the city have nothing to do with Buddhism, but they can't die in front of me."

"Today I will not judge your desires, nor will I urge you to return to the temple."

Faji raised his palm and pressed down on a collapsed section of lotus light. "Get the people out of here first."

Fan Chenxin bowed and said, "Thank you, Head Master."

Another section of the city's core collapsed.

Lou Xiaotian drove the Overlord Spear into the city lord's wood vein, and the green wood energy supported the cracked street.

He looked up at the water mirror and shouted, "In the first ten breaths, the wooden energy in the gun is still seventy percent intact, and the source energy has not been used."

Jiang Yining's palm, marked with a blue leaf print, pressed against his pulse: "Only use 20% in the second round. If your heart rate drops three times, draw your gun and switch positions."

"As you wish. The second round of ten breaths begins."

"Lou Xiaotian, don't try to fool me with numbers. Ye Yin can find out the truth."

Lou Xiaotian gripped the gun barrel firmly: "I just got a reward, and I'm not willing to risk my life to cheat again."

Jiang Yining pressed her palm through the water mirror: "Defend the city's vital energy, we'll talk about it when we get back."

Pei Yunji, leaning on his green wooden cane, walked to the ancestral fire hub. The inner ancestral seal was drawn in, and dark silver fire patterns covered his entire right arm.

"The core is hidden within the Pei family's bloodline; only the inner seal can withstand the fire."

He tore open his clothes and pointed the sword tip at his heart. "I can release the foundation of Nirvana and draw all twelve fire veins over."

The purple-gold demonic vines immediately entangled his nine major acupoints, and the tip of his sword was deflected by the vine leaves.

Jiang Yining walked up to him and pressed her palm against the mark on his chest.

"If you dare to unleash your full power, I'll seal your Qi Sea first."

"The fire has already entered the teleportation array; even a fraction of our ancestral energy cannot withstand it."

"If you can't catch it, then divert it; don't use your foundation to fill it. You just survived the young master's mark; I'm not letting you die somewhere else."

Pei Yunji looked down at her hands pressed against her chest: "You're keeping me here only because the inner seal is still usable?"

"If this is all the use you have left, why should I shield you from the ancestral fire? I'll release one-tenth, and I'll seal the remaining nine-tenths."

The demonic vine closed up its nine layers of fire patterns, leaving only a narrow slit in its heart.

Pei Yunji grunted, the ancestral fire flowing along his arm into the central hub: "Yicheng has already let go. Don't let go, I'm afraid I'll change my mind."

"If you dare to change it, I will interrupt you."

Jiang Siyue carried the Fire Spirit Falcon to the edge of the lotus light, and the nine-tailed fox breath spread along the small lamp.

Cries rang out from within the ancestral fire, as hundreds of remnants of the marrow-extracted offspring clung to the path of fire, refusing to disperse.

"Mother, they all say they're in pain."

"Just comfort them, don't let their souls enter their consciousness."

Jiang Siyue patted the Fire Spirit Falcon's head: "Siyue will accompany you to the lamp. The big red chicken will deliver the key for Mother. You must fly steadily, or you'll lose the spirit fruit."

The Fire Spirit Falcon picked up the Ancestral Fire Key and flapped its wings as it passed through the first city vein node.

When it landed, its chubby belly hit the brick first, and it rolled twice before it got up.

The second place was even more dangerous. It crashed into a lamppost, and its bald tail got stuck in the lotus pattern. Jiang Siyue hurriedly stretched out her fox tail and pulled it out.

"Don't pretend to faint while sitting there, the city isn't finished being saved yet!"

The fat bird shook its head, clutched the key tightly, and continued flying.

As the Ancestral Fire Pivot Key crossed the last node, the False Root was also pulled back from the Fire Well by Jiang Yining.

She connected the pseudo-root to the star map bone plate, and the ancient ship that had crossed realms far away in the Pei clan's main tomb resounded. The first pressure-resistant array slot lit up and swallowed the ancestral fire that had overflowed from the city.

Pei Yunji looked at the fire lines emerging from the inner seal: "The ancient ship can only withstand a portion of it; continuing to extract will cause it to encounter the lower level of the main hub."

"First, suppress the fire below the city walls, then reverse the overall formation."

Jiang Yining grabbed the Ancestral Fire Key and was about to send it into the Dark Red Main Thread when Pei Yunji suddenly grabbed her wrist.

As people evacuated, whether from collateral branches or ordinary citizens, dark silver flames simultaneously appeared on their chests.

The names registered along the Blood Order are strung together by the 100,000 Fire Points, leading directly to the core of the Ancestral Fire that Pei Henian transformed into.

"Don't touch that fire! It's not connected to the core of the formation, but to the Blood Curse of the Heartfire of 100,000 people in Tianhuang City!"