Many children, many blessings; the twelve ancestral witches forced marriages throughout the primordi

The Styx Ancestor is now truly wishing he were dead.

His beard was burned off, but at most he'd just get a new look, and it would grow back in a few hundred years. But this Avici Sword was his lifeblood! It was a top-grade innate spiritual treasure, the only one of its kind in the entire prehistoric world, and now it had been eaten like a cookie by a little kid in open-crotch pants!

"You...you little beast, spit out my sword!" Styx was so angry that he trembled all over. He reached out to grab Lin Long's neck and pry the sword blade out.

"What's all the noise about? It's the middle of the day, can't people even take a nap?"

Just as Styx's hand was about to touch Lin Long, a lazy voice came from around the corner of the corridor.

Lin Xuan, dressed in loose casual clothes, strolled over leisurely.

He immediately saw the tragic scene in the courtyard: Rakshasa was watching the show with Lin Sa holding a fan, Styx Ancestor was jumping up and down with his bare chin and a broken sword, and Lin Long was sitting on the ground, crunching on a piece of iron.

Lin Xuan was overjoyed. These kids were all incredibly troublesome. But getting their hands on Styx was just perfect.

Lin Xuan strode over and picked up Lin Long from the ground.

He completely ignored Styx's murderous gaze and instead reached out to pinch Lin Long's chubby cheeks.

"Spit it out, spit it out right now. How many times have I told you not to put all sorts of garbage in your mouth? This piece of junk, what if it breaks your teeth?" Lin Xuan scolded his son with a pained expression.

Lin Long looked at his father, swallowed hard, and with a "gulp," swallowed the blade of the Avici Sword. Then he opened his mouth, let out a loud burp, and exhaled a small amount of gray sword energy.

Lin Xuan patted Lin Long on the back with satisfaction before turning his head to look at Styx, who was so angry he was practically fuming.

"Brother Styx, that's not right of you." Lin Xuan said sternly, turning the tables on him.

Styx was dumbfounded, pointing at himself, his voice cracking: "What's wrong with me? He ate my top-grade innate spiritual treasure, and I'm wrong? Lin Xuan, are you even being reasonable?!"

"Reasoning? Okay, then let's reason things out."

Lin Xuan pointed to the package of dark, blood-red agarwood on the stone table: "As her grandfather, you've come all this way to see your granddaughter, and this is the kind of trash you bring? Do you know my daughter Lin Sa has a bad temper? You insulted her with this junk, so how could she not hit you with her fan? That's called self-defense."

Styx was speechless, choked with envy: "Then...then where's my sword?!"

"The sword incident is even more your fault!" Lin Xuan raised his voice, righteously asserting, "You know perfectly well that Lin Long has good teeth and can eat anything. When you came to Pangu Palace, why didn't you put your sword in your storage bag? You insisted on hanging it on your waist to show off. If it had cut my son's stomach, could you afford to compensate with the entire Blood Sea? I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you're already yelling!"

Styx was completely stunned by Lin Xuan's smooth and logical banditry.

He'd lived through countless eons and seen shameless people, like those two bald monks from the West. But he swore he'd never seen anyone as shameless as Lin Xuan! He'd clearly suffered a tremendous injustice, yet in Lin Xuan's mouth, it was all his fault?

"You...you're just being unreasonable! I'm not going to waste my breath on you, you have to pay for my Avici Sword today!" Styx roared through gritted teeth, looking ready to fight to the death.

"Pay for the sword? Fine." Lin Xuan sneered, extending a hand and pausing it in mid-air. "You frightened my daughter, causing her to lose control and use the Asura Karmic Fire; that's compensation for emotional distress. You didn't put the sword away properly, almost injuring my son; that's for medical expenses. Plus, the hundred-year support fee you, as her grandfather, prepared for Lin Sa. Let's settle the bill, one price, pay up."

Styx clutched his empty pockets, retreating repeatedly: "I have no money! The Blood Sea has been losing money year after year, and you've deducted all the Underworld's salaries as management fees. Where am I supposed to get money! I have no money, but you can take my life!"

"No money, huh?" Lin Xuan's lips curled into a wicked smile as he glanced at the sky and snapped his fingers.

"Big brother, second brother, fifth brother! Someone is bullying a child in our Pangu Temple and even dares to renege on their debt!"

The voice just fell.

"Buzz—!"

The space in the courtyard was instantly and violently torn open with three cracks.

The three ancestral witches, Dijiang, Zhujiuyin, and Zhurong, exuding terrifying malevolent energy, leaped out of the void and surrounded the Styx River in a triangular formation.

Zhu Rong, holding the blazing Heaven-Burning Halberd, grinned as he casually pointed the tip at Styx's rear. "Old Styx, what's up? Heard you don't want to pay? How about we brothers give you a sparring session? This halberd has an automatic aiming feature."

Dijiang clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking: "You dare to act wildly in the Pangu Palace? I think you've drunk too much of the Blood Sea's water and your brain has gotten waterlogged."

Looking at the three fierce and terrifying Ancestral Witches who had achieved physical sainthood, and then at Lin Xuan's confident smile, Styx felt a chill run down his spine.

He knew that if he got beaten up today, he'd probably be bedridden for centuries. And even after the beating, he'd still have to pay back the money.

"I...I'll give it! I'll give it, okay?!" Styx shouted in humiliation.

He shakily reached into his robes, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out a dusty storage bag. With his eyes closed, he tossed it to Lin Xuan with a heart-wrenching pain.

"This is my savings from three Yuanhui! It's all here! Not a single spirit stone left! Lin Xuan, you're inhuman!" After cursing, Minghe, fearing that Lin Xuan would change his mind, covered his broken sword, tore through space, and scrambled back to the Blood Sea.

Lin Xuan caught the storage bag steadily and opened it to take a look.

Inside, there were neatly stacked piles of top-grade Blood God Crystals, various high-quality Blood Sea Spirit Medicines, and several well-preserved Acquired Spirit Treasures.

Just then, a crisp system notification sounded in my mind.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully extorted money from Ancestor Styx.]

[Item obtained: 999 Styx's Private Stash.]

Lin Xuan put the storage bag into his system space with satisfaction, bounced Lin Long in his arms, and said with a smile, "Well done, son. Next time he comes, remember to bite him with his Yuan Tu Sword."