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

"Yining, the wick is down to its last inch. If you go any further, I will sever the Lotus of Shared Karma."

Fan Chenxin's voice came through Lian Qi, carrying the weariness of someone about to burn out, yet still a gentle protest.

Jiang Yining gripped the cold Buddhist prayer beads tightly in her palm, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

She stared at the semi-transparent figure in the center of the sea of ​​fire, and at the 108 relic lamps behind him lit by the Buddha's bones and primordial spirit. Her eyes were scorched red by the firelight.

Severing the shared karma lotus?

He thought he was protecting her, but little did he know that it hurt more than cutting her heart out with a knife.

"If you dare to break it, I will make this lotus flower burn with you."

Jiang Yining's voice showed no sign of yielding. She loosened her prayer beads and poured all her spiritual consciousness and wood energy into the lotus heart beneath her collarbone.

She no longer tried to use the sacred tree to devour the sea of ​​fire, but instead transformed herself into a part of that lotus.

A purple-gold lotus pattern spread from her heart, following the invisible line of shared karma, and boldly stepped into the final layer of the relic lamp array.

The golden barrier formed by the protective scriptures for life lit up layer by layer in front of her, but melted away inch by inch under her resolute steps.

He couldn't bear to hurt her with this scripture, so it became her only way to get close to him.

The burning heat of abstinence instantly enveloped her ankles, burning upwards along her meridians, but she didn't even flinch.

She walked step by step through the sea of ​​fire that was enough to incinerate even a Celestial Realm expert, and finally stood before him.

Fan Chenxin's body was so ethereal that it seemed as if it could shatter at the slightest touch. He looked at her eyes, which were full of wounds yet still shone brightly, and ultimately did not reach out to push her away.

Jiang Yining opened her arms and hugged the dissipating body tightly from behind.

My cheek pressed against his cold back; there was no heartbeat, no warmth, only a void heading towards annihilation.

"Fan Chenxin, I'm holding you." Her voice, trembling uncontrollably, was buried in his monk's robes. "Now, how can you break off our relationship?"

Fan Chenxin closed her eyes, and a barely audible sigh escaped her lips.

He didn't push her away, but simply raised his equally translucent right hand, his fingertips gathering the last wisp of Buddhist light, and gently touched the main line of the lotus flower connecting the two of them.

"Silly girl."

As the Buddha's light descended, the thickest golden main line, which could cause all damage, snapped instantly.

The powerful flames of the relic instantly lost their path to Jiang Yining and instead flowed back into Fan Chenxin's own primordial spirit.

With his last strength, he completely removed her from this cruel ritual of sacrifice.

At that moment, Pei Henian, who was nailed to the city gate, let out a frenzied roar.

"My ancestral fire is not something you can extinguish so easily!"

He actually took advantage of the moment when the wick was about to burn out to detonate the last wisp of semi-saint essence hidden in the core of the ancestral fire.

The entire lamp array suddenly trembled, and the dark red flames that Fan Chenxin had just suppressed surged out again from the gaps in the relic lamps, transforming into a ferocious fire dragon that rushed straight at Fan Chenxin and Jiang Yining.

"Be careful!"

Pei Yunji's voice came from outside the formation. He used the inner ancestral seal as a sword and slashed at the bloodline root that connected Pei Henian and the ancestral fire from a distance.

Lou Xiaotian placed the Overlord Spear horizontally on the collapsed city wall, using his back to withstand the aftershocks of the entire block. The green wood energy of the spear burned fiercely, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but he did not retreat an inch.

The fire dragon roared as it arrived.

Fan Chenxin calmly looked at the woman in his arms, pressing her even closer to him, and using his last Buddhist bone and primordial spirit to meet the fatal counterattack.

"I said I would protect you and April."

He burned himself out.

The 108 relic lamps instantly shone brightly, transforming into a pure white flame that completely enveloped and sealed Pei Henian's ancestral fire core, ultimately turning into a speck of dust and vanishing into nothingness.

The elder's lifeblood was severed by Pei Yunji's sword.

With Lou Xiaotian's support, the city's energy flowed slowly and steadily.

Within Tianhuang City, the 100,000 flames of the heart that had lingered for so long were finally extinguished at this moment.

The crisis has been averted.

But the body in Jiang Yining's arms had completely lost its last outline.

"Don't disperse..."

Jiang Yining frantically activated the Myriad Spirits Divine Tree, its pure vitality transforming into a warm green current that continuously flowed into that void.

She cupped his face, which was no longer clearly visible, and kissed him recklessly.

This was not a kiss driven by lust, but rather her most instinctive act of giving.

She poured her golden blood and qi from the Condensation Realm, the chaotic laws she had just comprehended, and the most primordial vitality from her divine tree into his mouth without reservation.

She wanted to use everything she had to fill the void in his fading life.

Fan Chenxin did not refuse her offer.

He simply used his last wisp of divine thought to divert all of those surging energies during that instant.

A stream of the purest wood energy flowed silently through the mother and daughter's blood vines into Jiang Siyue's body outside the city, stabilizing the child's disordered fox breath caused by fright.

All remaining vitality transformed into a gentle, nourishing rain, sprinkling down on every corner of the city, healing the civilians and warriors injured in the turmoil.

He shared her love with all living beings.

Outside the city gate, Jiang Siyue strictly followed her mother's orders, tightly tucking in her nine tails, holding the Fire Spirit Falcon in her arms, and staring motionlessly in the direction of the city.

When that familiar, warm current carrying the scent of her mother enveloped her, the little girl was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand something, and tears fell in large drops.

"Uncle Fan..."

She didn't cry out loud, but instead covered her mouth tightly with her little hands.

Fan Chenxin sensed the child's safety amidst the sea of ​​fire, and that she had not released a trace of fox blood. His primordial spirit, which was about to dissipate, finally revealed a final, satisfied smile.

He can... leave in peace.

"The Heart of Brahma!"

Jiang Yining sensed the loss of life. She abruptly stepped back, cupped his face in her hands, and looked on in panic.

"Watch me! Don't fall asleep!"

She frantically pulled out all sorts of pills from her storage bag: Meridian Repairing Pills, Soul Nourishing Pills, Bone Regeneration Pills... She even tried to rekindle the completely dimmed Heart-Questioning Buddha Lamp.

But no matter what she did, the emptiness in her arms continued to dissipate.

Until the last wisp of flame of the Buddha Lamp went out completely with a "poof".

Until she could no longer feel any response from Gongye Lian.

Until the illusory body in her arms completely transformed into a dark golden relic and a handful of warm white ash, which slipped softly from between her fingers.

Only the old Buddhist prayer beads she had given him remained, lying quietly in her palm.

Everything fell silent.

Jiang Yining stopped moving.

She didn't cry or shout; she just knelt there, holding the relic and the ashes in her hands, motionless, as if she had become a soulless statue.

The cheers and cries of survivors echoed from afar, as if from another world.

Lou Xiaotian pulled out the Overlord Spear, walked step by step behind her, looked at her stiff back, his Adam's apple bobbed, but he couldn't say a word.

Pei Yunji also sheathed his longsword and stood silently on the other side. He had never seen Jiang Yining so distraught.

Above the sky, in the rift left by the dissipation of the fire, a magnificent beam of Buddhist light pierced through.

Abbot Faji arrived from another realm, accompanied by several elders from the Great Thunderclap Temple.

He glanced at the devastated Tianhuang City, and finally his gaze fell on the relic in Jiang Yining's arms.

He calculated for a moment, his brows furrowing with even greater sorrow, and finally clasped his hands together, bowing slightly to the relic.

"Amitabha."

Faji's voice was solemn and dignified, resounding before the north gate.

"This humble monk has verified that the Buddha's bone, primordial spirit, and life lamp of Fan Chenxin, a disciple of the Great Thunderclap Temple, have all dissipated."

He raised his head and looked at the distraught Jiang Yining, his voice devoid of any emotion, only filled with the rules and dignity of Buddhism.

"Since Fan Chenxin has died and his path has vanished, his relics should be returned to the Great Thunderclap Temple."