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

Fifty-four flickering lamps rose simultaneously from the ground, their dark golden flames reflecting in the city's protective water mirror. The hearts of the people who had just evacuated the city gates were once again ablaze with fire. Jiang Yining pressed the Ancestral Fire Key, the city defense order sent by Han Que, and Pei Yunji's inner ancestral seal into the main formation, finally seizing control of all the fire paths.

"The main formation is now yours, but the remaining lamps are intertwined with the hearts and souls of the people. If any lamp is forcibly removed, the corresponding heart and soul will be burned off by the ancestral fire. Right now, only the sacred wood and the merit Buddha bone can withstand the full force of the fire."

Pei Yunji laid the dark silver blood threads on the water mirror, each thread leading from the dying lamp to a name: "My inner seal can sever the Pei clan's blood curse, but it cannot withstand the ancestral fire after leaving the name. If you use the third ancestral root to swallow the fire, the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree will be exposed to the fifty-four relic lamps first."

"After the sacred tree absorbs the fire, the ancient boat will be responsible for diverting the flow, and the life bridge will stabilize my heart meridian. As long as you can keep up with the speed of cutting the bloodline, I can drag the ancestral fire into the return realm array slot."

Lou Xiaotian raised the Overlord Spear, the blood oath protecting his life still bearing the marks of poison and fire: "I nailed the outer ring of the life bridge into the main formation. If the third ancestral root bears too much weight, the green wood energy will send the damage to me. This time, there's no need to worry about me stealing the source."

"You are responsible for securing the life bridge and are not allowed to heal the ancestral root. If Ye Yin reports that your heartbeat is disordered, I will sever the outer ring on the spot. Pei Yunji is only allowed to use the inner seal. Anyone who dares to release even a tenth of their power will be removed from the main formation."

Pei Yunji pressed down the inner seal with the scabbard: "Every time you assign positions, you leave a way out for others, but when it's your turn, all you have left is the excuse that you can bear it. If your third ancestral root is burned through by the Buddha's fire, what do you plan to use to return to the Canglan Realm?"

"The mother and daughter blood vines remain in the center of the formation to attract the ancestral fire. The true ancestral root is hidden deep within the divine tree. I will first absorb the fire and then replace the root. As long as the ancient ship lights up the Returning Realm Formation slot, it can send the overflowing part into the void."

Jiang Yining squatted down in front of Jiang Siyue, re-bandaged the child's ankle wound, and then wrapped the mother and daughter blood vines into the nine fox tails: "Siyue, go out of the city with Aunt Chu. Don't go near the relic lamp. Outside the city, knock on the blood vines three times every so often, and your mother will respond with the same rhythm."

Jiang Siyue hugged the Fire Spirit Falcon tightly, her fox ears pressed low: "Mother, are you planning to go in alone? Uncle Fan has been disobedient, and you can't do what he did and send Siyue to a place where he can't see you."

"Mother is not prepared to leave April. It's just that the core of the formation will chase the fox's breath. If you stay in the city, you will guide the ancestral fire. If you want to help your mother, stay outside the city and call out to Uncle Fan so that he can hear that someone is waiting for him to come back."

Chu Ling Shuang hoisted the heavy hammer onto her shoulder and took Jiang Si Yue's outstretched hand: "I will guard outside the city gate. If Zu Huo dares to chase after us, I will smash the fire path to the ground. You bring back all those men inside who refuse to listen to reason."

"Lou Xiaotian guards the Life Bridge, Pei Yunji dismantles the Bloodline, Han Que stabilizes the city defense formation, Siyue and Chu Lingshuang retreat to the ancient boat's reception area. Everyone is responsible for their positions, and I will handle the main formation."

She sent the third ancestral root into the mother and daughter blood vine, but the fifty-four remaining lamps did not rush towards the sacred tree. The phantom of the Buddha's breath left in the abandoned post station split open from her heart, and the dark gold scripture passed through the city bricks. The true lamp wick appeared in the center of the city's protective water mirror.

Fan Chenxin stood in the sea of ​​fire surrounded by fifty-four flickering lamps. His dark monk's robes were illuminated by the relic fire, revealing golden edges. His handsome face still retained its color. His unconscious left arm hung limply at his side. The last inch of lamp wick in his heart was added to the illusory lamp position, and the 100,000 Dao Ancestral Fires then shifted from the divine wood and fox blood to his Buddha bone.

"Fan Chenxin, pull out the wick from your heart. Pei Yunji has already taken back the main formation. I can use the third ancestral root to devour fire. You have no right to change the formation's arrangements for me."

"Your ancestral roots will be brought home in April, and we will also find your way back to the Canglan Realm. My Buddha bones have been tempered in the Merit Pool, and the Relic Lamp is willing to recognize me. This path requires less effort."

"Don't try to fool me with such words. Damage to your ancestral root can be repaired, but if your primordial spirit burns out with the wick, you won't even have a place to return to, let alone the Lotus of Shared Karma. Stop lighting the fire immediately, and I will come to fetch you myself."

As Jiang Yining stepped into the main formation, the Soul-Devouring Vine wrapped around Fan Chenxin's waist and dragged her outwards. However, the Relic Lamp cut the ground between the two into several layers of fire paths. She forcibly crossed the first layer of lamp flames, and the lotus pattern under her collarbone was supported by the Life-Protecting Sanskrit. The ancestral fire in her meridians then retreated to both sides.

"Why did you pass on the Sanskrit for protecting life to me, Fan Chenxin? If you intend to use this opportunity to seal my sacred tree, I will tear it apart along with the Lotus of Shared Karma."

"I just want to minimize your burns when you get close, Yi Ning. I haven't finished explaining to you yet, and you promised to ask me again when you come back. For now, let me hug you this once."

Fan Chenxin reached out and supported the back of her neck. Jiang Yining did not dodge, but instead grabbed the fabric of his chest and kissed him. Their lips were pressed tightly together in the fire of the relics. He channeled the sutra of protecting life into her heart meridian, while she used the lotus of shared karma to send her wood energy into the cracked Buddha bone.

This kiss lacked the urgency that followed their earlier argument. Fan Chenxin's responses were always steady and controlled, his palms only protecting the old wound on her back. Jiang Yining pressed against his chest and heard his unusually regular heartbeats. Her fingertips immediately reached for the wick hidden in his heart.

"You even used Buddhist breath to stabilize your heartbeat beforehand. This kiss is not meant to comfort me at all. You intend to leave it as a farewell in the lotus of shared karma."

"I am reluctant to part with you, and I do want you to remember the living Fan Chenxin, but once the lamp array is lit, if anyone pulls out the wick, the 100,000 flames will return to their original owner."

The Overlord Spear pierced into the relic wall from outside the formation. Lou Xiaotian used the life-protecting blood pact to fix the lamp path under Jiang Yining's feet: "Monk, if you really care about her, then don't force her to watch you walk in. I can guard the life bridge. You can give me a portion of the ancestral fire."

Pei Yunji reversed the fifty-four dark silver blood lines with his inner seal, attempting to draw the ancestral fire back into Pei Henian's body. However, the relic lamp expelled the Pei family's ancestral blood from the formation: "The lamp formation only recognizes the Buddha bones reshaped by the Merit Pool. Once the green wood energy and ancestral blood enter, they will become new fuel. We cannot share his fire."

Faji's Dharma image in the Precept Hall unfolds from the Buddha Lamp of Inquiry into the Heart, with the scripture under his palm pressing down on the outermost layer of relic fire: "The wick has not yet burned out, and the Brahma Heart still has vitality. However, once the main lamp is lit, forcibly removing it will cause the ten thousand heart fires to flow back at the same time. This humble monk can only stabilize the edge of the lamp array and cannot take it away from the core."

"Abbot Faji preserved my old prayer beads and crimson tail feathers. They were both imbued with the Buddha's breath from the heart of Brahma. As long as Gongye Lian can still find his primordial spirit, I can use the divine wood to replace the wick from the ancestral fire."

Jiang Yining grabbed Fan Chenxin's wrist, and the demonic vines wrapped around the relic pattern along the lotus of shared karma. Outside the city, Jiang Siyue's call came through the blood vines between mother and daughter: "Uncle Fan, Siyue has arrived outside the city gate. We haven't chosen the new Buddhist beads yet. You can't forget what you promised."

Fan Chenxin's fingers closed within Jiang Yining's palm, then sealed the path of lights beneath her feet into the protective scripture. The relic fire carried her back towards the array wall, while he turned and walked towards the core of the ancestral fire, with fifty-four remaining lamps rising one by one behind him.

"This time I won't listen, you're taking April home."