Qin Ruqing smiled, “Thank you for your hard work, old steward.”

The old steward, feeling excited, greeted everyone one by one before turning around and shouting, “Today, the Qin family is not receiving guests! Everyone can leave!”

He then welcomed Qin Ruqing and the others inside.

The guards at the entrance were sharp-eyed and had already passed the word inside.

Qin Ruqing glanced at the stunned sword cultivator and found it amusing for some reason.

She said to the old steward, “He’s at the sixth level of Qi cultivation, and his foundation is solid. It’s not easy for a loose cultivator to reach this level. Let’s test his sword skills. If he passes, we’ll take him in.”

With that, she confidently pulled her third sister inside.

The old steward hesitated for a moment, looked at the dazed sword cultivator, and thought how lucky this young man was to catch the young lady’s eye.

With her support, as long as his sword skills weren’t terrible, he would definitely enter the Qin family and leave his loose cultivator life behind, becoming a respected member of the Qin clan.

The sword cultivator was still astonished.

How could she see his cultivation level so easily?

This young Qin lady must be quite powerful!

Seeing the old steward’s respectful manner and the fact that they were closing the doors to guests, it was clear that an important member of the Qin family had returned!

Excited, the sword cultivator wanted to approach and get close, but when he looked up, the young lady had already disappeared from the entrance.

After a year and two months, Qin Ruqing and her companions returned home in glory.

The entire Qin family welcomed them and hosted a grand banquet on the island.

As soon as Luo Xian saw Qin Ruqing, she burst into tears and couldn’t stop.

Feeling the warmth from her long-lost mother, Qin Ruqing couldn’t help but smile, though it was a bit helpless.

Once Luo Xian calmed down, she couldn’t stop admiring her daughter.

After a while, she looked confused and asked, “Qingqing, how did you change so much? You look more beautiful and taller!”

In just a year, how could she have changed so dramatically?

It seemed like she had grown up completely, transforming from a youthful girl into a true fairy that everyone would remember.

Qin Ruqing smiled slightly but kept her foundational cultivation a secret, not revealing it directly.

Ancestor Wenxuan nearby smiled as she watched this warm scene.

When she heard Luo Xian’s question, she seemed to sense something.

Using her spiritual sense, she scanned Qin Ruqing and showed subtle surprise in her eyes—she couldn’t see through her cultivation level.

After some casual chatting, everyone finally took their seats.

The island’s spirit energy was abundant, making it the ancestor’s residence.

With such rich energy, the Qin family’s banquet felt quite majestic, almost like a gathering of immortals.

Qin Ruqing sat at the table close to the Ancestor and hadn’t eaten much when the Second Elder urgently spoke up: “Qing girl, you’ve been gone for over a year! Quickly tell us about your adventures in Xiling!”

Even the usually serious Third Elder couldn’t hold back: “What’s going on with the official collaboration with the Xiling Celestial Bureau ? How did you end up involved with them and secure such a large order?”

While they were aware of Qin Ruqing’s activities in Xiling, they clearly knew one thing: she represented the Qin family in collaborating with the Xiling Celestial Bureau.

This partnership was officially documented, with the Southern Celestial Bureau sending messengers to announce it.

Soon after, the Xiling Bureau also sent people to visit, surprising the entire Qin family.

Qirong and Luwei exchanged glances, both smiling at Qin Ruqing.

She chuckled and said, “Our family has made so many pills aimed at Xiling. If we only partnered with the Tang family, that would be a waste. So I aimed for something bigger and focused on the Celestial Bureau .”

“Little did I know, heaven was on my side! They just appointed a new director at Xiling, and he’s from the fifth immortal family’s main line.

He made a big move right after taking office, planning to open a passage between Xiling and the outer region.

There are two lines: one to create a path through the Broken Vein Mountain, and the other to build a ship that can fly over it.”

Even though Qin Ruqing hadn’t mentioned anything about the pills yet, this news was already significant, and the high-ranking members of the Qin family listened with great interest.

“So, it sounds like Xiling will undergo major changes in the coming years, and it might even impact the outer regions,” one elder commented.

Qin Ruqing nodded, “That’s not all! The director of Xiling plans to tackle the issue of the local cultivators’ slow progress due to fire poison in their bodies. Luckily, I brought related pills with me, which created quite a stir…”

The Third Elder showed an enlightened expression and added, “When the Xiling Celestial Bureau heard this news, it was like someone was dozing off and suddenly received a pillow.

They wanted to change the situation with the fire poison among cultivators and needed pills, but sourcing them from outer families would take time and effort. Having it delivered directly was far more convenient!”

“Wait, how did it turn into an official collaboration with Xiling’s Celestial Bureau? I’ve never heard of this before,” the Fourth Elder interjected, surprised.

The Celestial Bureau was usually so aloof.

Lu Wei explained, “It was all thanks to Sister Qingqing, who negotiated with the Celestial Bureau . The director personally spoke to him about this matter.”

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

The director of the Xiling’s Celestial Bureau personally negotiated?

That was quite a big deal!

Qin Ruqing smiled slightly.

Last time, when she was called over by Fifth Lingyu, her third sister didn’t come along and thought they were discussing a collaboration.

In reality, Fifth Lingyu just wanted to show her something interesting.

But this detail wasn’t necessary to share.

She sat up a bit straighter and said seriously:

“With such an ambitious director, Xiling will undergo significant changes, and affecting the outer region is just a matter of time.

Of course, I need to secure the best benefits for the Qin family.

It will take about ten years to fully open up Xiling’s barriers, which means the market will be untouched by other outer families during this time.

This gives the Qin family a valuable advantage.”

“I proposed a ten-year agreement during the negotiations, and the Xiling’s Celestial Bureau agreed.”

The room fell silent.

The high-ranking members of the Qin family looked at this now very beautiful young girl, feeling a mix of emotions.

Negotiating with the Celestial Bureau couldn’t have been easy.

Becoming an official partner sounded simple, but the local families in Xiling wouldn’t just sit by and let an outsider take the lead.

The details and efforts required for the negotiations were beyond words to explain.

Seeing Qin Ruqing casually talk about what had happened in Xiling, they couldn’t help but truly admire her in their hearts.

She had secured such great benefits for the Qin family!

Qirong looked at the elders, unable to contain his excitement, and said, “This isn’t even the main part! The best part is, the three of us entered their secret floating realm and brought back nearly half of what was inside!”

“What we brought back is beyond what the elders can imagine.”

The Second Elder chuckled, “We old folks have seen plenty of good things and heard about even more. What could possibly shock us? Come on, Little Four, let us take a look!”

Qin Ruqing and the others exchanged glances and immediately stood up, moving to the center of the gathering.

Qirong called a few clan elders to shift the tables around, worried there wouldn’t be enough space for what they were bringing out.

The elders laughed and actually moved the tables, clearing a large area in the center.

The seated Ancestor Wenxuan smiled as she watched, curious about what Qin Ruqing and the others had brought.

Given the previous secret letter, she had some expectations.

However, as Qin Ruqing and the others began pulling items out of their storage bags one by one, even the Ancestor’s calm expression vanished.

The elders seated near the center suddenly stood up in unison, eager to see what the three had brought back.

What on earth did those three kids bring?

Those Four-Leaf Spirit Grasses weren’t measured by pieces, but by clumps—like the worthless common grass found on the streets! Did they just toss them all together in a jade pot to create a spirit gathering formation?

Wouldn’t that crush them all?!

And look at that golden, five-petaled spirit plant—could it be the Wuxiang Flower, known for refining high-level elixirs like the Mirror Breaking Pill?

With Lu Wei around, knowing that Wuxiang Flowers shouldn’t be crowded together or they’d die, at least they separated them into individual pots.

But the replanting was so careless, almost like they were in a hurry, causing the plants to be all crooked.

The Wuxiang Flower is very particular about temperature and humidity and needs special care.

Yet, these three unfortunate kids not only failed to care for them, but the leaves were also stripped bare!

Some even lost half their petals because they were handled too roughly.

These were all essential materials for high-level elixirs!

In addition, there were also Shadow Bamboo and Qing Frost Spirit Flowers—rare spirit plants that could fetch sky-high prices at auctions, now laid out like items at a street vendor’s sale.

The elders crowded around, and the higher-ups squeezed in together as well.

The Second Elder, who had managed the medicinal garden for years, couldn’t stand seeing such high-level spirit plants being mistreated.

He jumped up and exclaimed, “You three unfortunate kids, you brought back so many spirit plants and didn’t say anything! Why are you just leisurely enjoying the banquet? The plants are about to wither away!”

Other elders echoed his distress, “Quick, quickly transplant these spirit plants to the back mountain’s medicinal garden! They need to connect with the earth; maybe some can still be saved!”

So, led by the Second and Third Elders, they abandoned the banquet, treating the spirit plants like treasures and hurriedly headed to the back mountain.

On the way, Qirong couldn’t help but explain, “Don’t worry, elders! They won’t die! It’s just that there are too many high-level spirit plants in the garden, and we couldn’t fit them all!”

The elders were too focused on the poor plants to bother responding to the unfortunate kid.

Qin Ruqing smirked but didn’t argue.

The Ancestor walking beside her glanced at her with a smile and gently patted her head, feeling no rush himself.

The elders personally got to work, clearing several high-quality fields to transplant the poor spirit plants.

With Lu Wei present, Qin Ruqing’s handling wasn’t too reckless.

Most of the plants were arranged in jade pots with spirit gathering formations, each containing at least one high-grade spirit stone.

Lu Wei occasionally offered care along the way.

However, as Qirong said, there were just too many plants in the garden, so some inevitably got bumped and damaged during the transplanting.

This broke the elders’ hearts.