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

Just as the lotus pattern on Fan Chen's chest settled, 100,000 heart flames lit up simultaneously in Tianhuang City. The evacuating people grabbed the walls one after another, and dark silver flames emerged from the blood curses of their names, converging along the street bricks towards the ancestral fire hub. Pei Henian's laughter also came from every fire path.

"So what if you destroy the lantern array? As long as there is one person in the city whose name is registered, I can borrow fire from his heart. Jiang Yining, if you dare to save one person, the rest will burn with him."

Jiang Yining pressed the Ancestral Fire Pivot Key into the false root, and the Elder's Blood, the Primal City Sealing Order, and the Purple Gold Vine Vein were simultaneously connected to the main array: "If the caster of the curse dares to use his name to pass on the fire, the blood curse will retain the path to return to the true body. You have tied 100,000 people to the fire line and also sent your ancestral blood into my hands."

Pei Yunji pressed the inner ancestral seal into the city defense stone platform, and the dark silver patterns followed the ancestral fire to seal off the Pei clan's ancestral hall: "The blood pool of the ancestral hall has been destroyed, and the young master's outer seal has also been severed. The only entrance you can return to the ancestral hall is this Elder's Blood Path. I will close the door for her."

"Pei Yunji, you can't even keep your position as the young master, yet you dare to use a broken inner seal to seal my ancestral hall. Once I get away, the first thing I'll do is drain your Nirvana Ancestral Blood."

"My outer seal is a lock that you put on me by borrowing ancestral rules, while my inner seal comes from my own bloodline. You were able to manipulate it before only because the Pei clan's collateral branch acknowledged that the elders had the right to lead the ancestral fire. Today, that acknowledgment should be withdrawn."

Pei Zheng led hundreds of members of the collateral branches to stand on the Water Mirror Platform. Each of them pressed their palms against the ancestral bone. After the blood patterns lit up, they did not flow into the Elder Seal, but instead sank into their respective Qi Seas: "Listen carefully, collateral branches of the Pei clan. Pei Henian privately extracted blood marrow, forged blood orders, and used clansmen as test subjects. We withdraw our ancestral blood and acknowledge that from this day forward, he has no right to issue orders using the names of any collateral branch."

Hundreds of blood lines broke off from the Ancestral Fire Central Hub. Immediately afterwards, more people who had taken the Blood-Drying Pill walked to the street and pressed their blood patterns into the city's waterproof mirror. Pei Henian's true body left in the Ancestral Hall was dragged away from the futon by the broken blood lines. His semi-saintly aura collided with the domain suppression of the Martial Spirit Realm, and his cultivation level plummeted as the blood pool dried up.

Jiang Yining gripped the false root tightly, and the purple-gold vine wrapped around the caster's limbs along the ten thousand returning fire paths: "Pei Henian, you like to use the lives of your collateral branches to nourish the array. Today, let them personally remove the ancestral fire platform you have stood on for many years, and let your true body come here to be judged."

A crack of dark silver fire appeared above the North Gate. Pei Henian, wearing an elder's robe that was half burned off, stumbled out of the ancestral hall passage. Before he could even land properly, dozens of demonic vines rose from the city bricks and dragged him toward the gate's array pillars. Even after his half-saint body smashed through the stone railing, he still tried to activate the remaining ancestral fire.

"You dare to lock my true body with your mere Qi Condensation Realm cultivation? Do you think that by destroying the Blood Pool, I will let a bunch of collateral branches trample on my head? There are tens of thousands of civilians under the city gate. If your vines tighten even a little, they will bear the backlash of the Ancestral Fire for me."

Pei Henian burned the remaining blood of the elders, his body rising several feet high in the flames. His dark silver giant hand pressed down on the evacuation passage. The women and children inside the city gate were forced back to the corner by the ancestral fire. Several city defense array masters tried to open the side door, but the door hinges were locked by the blood curse.

Chu Ling Shuang swung her crimson hammer and smashed it into the base of the side gate. The door hinge and the blood curse stone flew out of the city together: "If you want to use civilians to force her to retract the vines, you'll have to ask first if this broken door can withstand my hammer. Those with children, go first. The injured go out along the right side of the city wall."

Han Que's chest wound was still bleeding. He raised the city defense order that had lost its power and led the crossbowmen to spread the shield formation under the fire palm: "I used the fake order to seal off the north city. Today, I will use this broken formation to send the people out. City defense troops, listen to my command: the crossbow formation should only block the ancestral fire and should not harm any of the side branches."

"Han Que, I personally planted your deputy seal, and your son's life is being sustained by the Pei family's medicine hall. If you turn around and help her now, you'll be waiting to collect the corpses of yourself and your son."

"My son has woken up once since I stopped taking his medication. He asked me why people in the city have to suffer for him. I couldn't answer him, but today I can at least do something for him that doesn't require me to bow my head."

The shield array held back the Dark Silver Flame Palm. Chu Ling Shuang led the people through the side gate. The Lou family guards and the Pei family's collateral branches guarded the two sides. After losing the hostage barrier, Pei He Nian urged his giant body to pounce on Jiang Yining. Nine fire veins lit up one after another in his chest and abdomen.

Jiang Yining did not directly face the giant palm. The demonic vines used the city's defensive array pillars to circle around behind him. The first vine nailed to the fire vein in his right shoulder, the second sealed the ancestral blood in his left leg, and the remaining purple-gold vines passed through eight array points, firmly locking his limbs and dantian to the city gate stone pillars.

Pei Henian attacked the vine lock several times, and the power of the divine tree devoured a layer of flames along the ancestral blood. He still retained his mind and his limbs were not crippled. He could only watch the increasing number of branch victims gathering in front of the water mirror.

"Jiang Yining, if you have the guts, then kill me. Keeping your life will only give the Pei family the chance to reignite the ancestral fire."

"You want to die cleanly? I'll make sure you live to hear the testimonies. How many people have died in the Medicine Hall? How many collateral branches have been buried in the Blood Pool? How much blood marrow has the Mu family taken? The victims will tell you all of this to your face."

Pei Henian's private seal on his chest suddenly split into seven identical Ancestral Fire Keys, each key dragging a dark red fire tail as it rushed toward the main formation. Jiang Siyue stood within the protection range of the lotus lantern, spreading her nine tails, and her fox breath brushed over the seven keys in turn.

"Mother, all six keys smell of the wicked old man's blood. The leftmost key contains the cries of many people. The real key refuses to obey the wicked old man; it is hiding under the secret seal."

Upon hearing the instruction, the Fire Spirit Falcon snatched the real key, its bald tail and fat body crashing into Pei Henian's private seal on his chest. The dark red seal shell cracked open on the spot, and the Ancestral Fire Key was pulled out from it. The fat bird then fell into a pile of broken bricks, lying on its back with its eyes closed, pretending to be unconscious.

Jiang Siyue ran over and turned it right side up, carefully touching its belly and wings: "You broke the private seal and saved everyone, so you can get an extra ordinary spirit fruit. But Mother only let you carry the key, not let you bump into people with your belly. So this time, half of it will be deducted."

Fire Spirit Falcon quietly opened one eye and found Jiang Siyue staring at it. It quickly closed its eyelids again, but its short tail feathers were raised high. Pei Zheng coughed when he saw this and turned around to continue organizing the side branches to enter the Water Mirror to testify.

After the Ancestral Fire Key left the private seal, Pei Henian's giant body quickly shrank back to its original state. Jiang Yining snatched the key and pressed it into the main array in the city. Just as the 100,000 Heart Flames were about to be extinguished, 54 dark gold lamp lines emerged from the ground, transferring all the blood curses to the remaining relic lamp positions.

"Pei Yunji sealed the ancestral bloodline, and Lou Xiaotian followed me back to the abandoned post station. The lotus pattern on Fan Chenxin's body is still there. If he touches the last inch of the lamp wick, I will pull out the entire relic fire path."

Jiang Yining used the main array to open the underground entrance. The lotus of shared karma that sealed Fan Chenxin was still rising and falling on the bed, and the purple-gold vines were also pulsating against her heart. But when she reached out to touch her shoulder, her whole body dissipated into Buddhist energy, and the powder of the old Buddhist beads fell all over the ground from the phantom's chest.

Pei Henian was pinned to the city gate pillar by the demonic vines, and the laughter that escaped from his throat traveled through the fifty-four lamp lines and spread throughout the Water Mirror: "You destroyed half of the lamp array, but the other half has already been connected to the hearts of 100,000 people."