Once Qin Wenxuan formed her core and the Qin family ascended to Silver rank, Hao Gou planned to directly approach them and become a subsidiary family.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Not to mention, the young lady was even feeding him poison every month, so he was sure they could trust him to genuinely seek their support.

Meanwhile, in the direction of the Celestial Bureau , Fifth Ziyan calmly commented to the recorder.

“The thunder tribulation looks impressive. If Qin Wenxuan can withstand this, she won’t be weak in the Golden Core stage.”

The proud recorder was less concerned about Qin Wenxuan and just wanted her to finish forming her core quickly so the Qin family could register.

After observing for a while, Fifth Ziyan suddenly shifted his gaze and said lightly, “When the thunder disperses, the Golden Core is formed.”

“The situation is set. It seems the little girl will get her wish. There’s nothing more to see; in a few days, the Qin family will come to upgrade their rank. Let’s go.”

As the thunderclouds dissipated, bright daylight flooded the Qin territory.

In the eyes of all the Qin family members, the ancestor in white robes emerged from the golden light.

Her robe was now stained with dust, and the jade hairpin she wore had shattered during the lightning tribulation.

Her hair was slightly messy, and she looked a bit disheveled.

However, who cared about that?

The aura emanating from the ancestor clearly told everyone that she had successfully formed her Golden Core.

The Qin family members were excited and knelt down.

Ancestor Wenxuan smiled, raised her hand, and said calmly, “I have fulfilled my mission.”

Some emotional family members started crying when they heard this.

“Mission accomplished. The Qin family will now prosper!”

After the excitement, the senior members of the Qin family gathered to discuss the matters following the ancestor’s successful formation of the Golden Core.

Qin Deming spoke first, “The deadline for registering for the Hundred Families Tournament is approaching. Tomorrow, I will submit the application for upgrading our family’s status to the Celestial Bureau.

Once submitted, the Celestial Bureau will send someone to evaluate us. However, going through the normal process will take about a month, and we might not make it in time!”

Qin Ruqing, sitting closest to the ancestor, smiled and said, “Time shouldn’t be an issue. There are people more anxious than us. As long as you submit the application, we should make it in time.”

She was joking.

The Celestial Bureau had already inquired several times.

Moreover, Qin Ruqing knew the truth about this year’s Hundred Families Tournament—it was related to the allocation of spots for the Secret Realm’s Void Land.

She was confident that if she ranked in the top ten of the tournament, the Southern Region Celestial Bureau would benefit, likely related to the Void land.

With aligned interests, the Celestial Bureau wouldn’t dare delay.

If they submitted the materials, the process could be completed in a couple of days.

Qin Deming didn’t know about the Void land, but hearing his daughter, he had some guesses.

He thought his daughter must have reached some understanding with the Celestial Bureau.

He didn’t know the specifics, but he was sure the Celestial Bureau wouldn’t hinder their family’s status upgrade; instead, they would help.

With this assurance, the matter would be easily handled.

The Grand Elder also said, “First, the Sixth Elder reached the Foundation Establishment stage, and now our ancestor has formed her Golden Core. The Qin family has two reasons to celebrate and should have a grand celebration to show our family’s might.”

At some point, the Grand Elder’s attitude towards Qin Ruqing had become more respectful during meetings.

Now that Qin Ruqing’s position was established, he directly addressed her as the Sixth Elder.

By bringing up the idea of a celebration, he was showing goodwill to Qin Ruqing, since the grand celebration would also honor her achievement in reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Sure enough, Qin Ruqing smiled upon hearing this, and the ancestor nodded in satisfaction.

“The last two times the clan leader and the Sixth Elder reached the Foundation Establishment stage, the Qin family did not celebrate grandly to keep a low profile.

Now that I have formed my Golden Core and the Qin family is about to be promoted to Silver status, we should have a grand celebration to show the South Ridge and the entire Southern Region the grandeur of the Qin family!”

“Therefore,” Ancestor Wenxuan tapped her pale fingers lightly on the armrest, “the arrangements for the grand celebration will be handled by Qin Deming, together with the Grand Elder!”

Previously, the second branch of the family had improper intentions and had been suppressed multiple times by Qin Ruqing and the ancestor.

Now, Qin Dehao had reformed his ways, and the Grand Elder had returned to his former fair demeanor.

Naturally, the ancestor would not hesitate to put the second branch to good use.

Balancing rewards and punishments is the way to manage a family.

Qin Dehao, sitting lower down, straightened his back uncomfortably, while the Grand Elder’s face showed a trace of excitement as he loudly agreed.

Qin Ruqing thought for a moment and then added, “Previously, the Qin family recruited two subsidiary families…”

“…the two subsidiary families have shown great loyalty and good conduct. Now that the Qin family is about to be promoted, the best way to showcase our family values is to extend grace downward.

If we can give some benefits to the subsidiary families, it will also show the people of South Ridge and the entire Southern Region the strength of our Qin family.”

This was a direction that had been overlooked by many—the subsidiary families.

To effectively showcase a family’s strength, there are generally two approaches:

One is to find a family stronger than yours, defeat them, and climb to prominence by stepping on their reputation.

Your family’s fame will then replace that of the defeated family, skyrocketing in status.

This method is very effective but has a downside—it’s risky because the other family is stronger.

The other approach is, as Qin Ruqing suggested, to extend grace downward.

However, this direction is also challenging to execute because to showcase your strength through benevolence, the extent of your generosity must be substantial enough to make others envious.

You need to make onlookers green with envy, with their mouths watering, feeling a mix of emotions.

On one hand, they will be amazed by the Qin family’s wealth and power; on the other, they will be filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment towards the subsidiary families receiving the benefits.

Achieving this effect is the best outcome.

Sure enough, Qin Ruqing’s words received unanimous approval, but the Fourth Elder hesitated, “If we do this, the Qin family will inevitably have to bleed a lot. And how exactly to show this grace is also a problem.”

The Qin family had been poor for a long time and hadn’t been wealthy for very long.

So, many of the senior members instinctively hesitated at the thought of spending money.

Qin Ruqing had clearly thought through how to implement her plan when she suggested it.

She smiled calmly and said:

“Fourth Elder, there’s no need to worry. Extending grace downward doesn’t necessarily mean we have to deplete the family’s treasury.”

The Fourth Elder made a sound of acknowledgment, and the impatient Second Elder urged, “Alright, Qing, we know you’re smart. Stop keeping us in suspense and tell us your plan!”

Qin Ruqing turned to the ancestor sitting at the head of the table and said, “Ancestor, now that you’ve formed your Golden Core, your strength has greatly increased, and your skills in alchemy have surely improved as well. Previously, I brought back many four-leaf spiritual herbs from Small Floating Island. The Qin family is currently not lacking in materials for Foundation Establishment pills. So, why not have the ancestor officially start refining a batch of Foundation Establishment pills and then publicly reward the Cheng and Yan families with one pill each during the grand celebration? If these families have individuals capable of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, they can use these pills to do so. Then, if the conditions in their families are sufficient, they can become recognized families themselves.”

Qin Ruqing smiled and said loudly, “What could be more impressive than personally supporting a family to rise to recognized status?”

To put it simply, in this small area of South Ridge, there were only the Qin, Zhang, and Han families that were truly established.

If the Qin family could support a subsidiary family to become established, the impact would be immense.

Furthermore, with the ancestor and Qin Ruqing, the Qin family wouldn’t need to worry about being unable to control the subsidiary families.

As expected, this proposal was immediately met with approval from the senior members.

The main reason was—it was cost-effective! And it had maximum impact!

The ancestor laughed outright, “You really know how to accomplish big things with little expense.”

Moreover, outsiders wouldn’t perceive this as the Qin family being stingy.

The Qin family now had the ancestor and Qin Ruqing, so there was no need to worry about controlling the subsidiary families.

The four-leaf spiritual herbs were abundant because Qin Ruqing had brought back a large handful from Floating Island.

The Qin family was not lacking in these herbs.

However, outside the family, people would fight fiercely over them.

Furthermore, an alchemy master of the Ancestor’s caliber was rare in the entire Southern Region.

After this matter was decided, everyone couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

With the ancestor forming her Golden Core and the resources Qin Ruqing had brought back, the Qin family now had both a strong foundation and strength.

They could proudly say, “We are the Silver-ranked Qin family!” wherever they went.

The meeting had been full of good news so far, but family development doesn’t always consist of just good news.

Qin Deming and Qin Ruqing exchanged a glance.

The troublesome family from North Ridge needed to be reported to the ancestor.

So, Qin Deming brought up the matter.

He recounted Ruyu’s experiences in North Ridge and finally mentioned the Ren family of North Ridge, frowning as he said:

“This family is a Silver-ranked great family in North Ridge. Previously, we had no interactions or business conflicts with them, yet they have repeatedly caused trouble in our North Ridge branches. I don’t know why.”

Upon hearing about the Ren family of North Ridge, the ancestor’s smile slowly faded, and the Grand Elder’s face showed a hint of suspicion.

The ancestor and the Grand Elder were the most senior members of the Qin family and knew the most about its history.

The Grand Elder hesitated, wondering if he should speak.

Before he could, the Ancestor sighed and explained herself.

“This Ren family of North Ridge, if I’m not mistaken, should be one of the subsidiary families of the Fang family from the Eastern Region’s Yingzhou.”

The Fang family of Yingzhou in the Eastern Region.

The most famous great family of Yingzhou was once not the Fang family, but the Qin family.

The Fang family was the culprit that forced the Qin family to leave their homeland!

Sure enough, upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions changed.

The Second Elder anxiously said, “If this is true, does that mean the Fang family has discovered our whereabouts and is using the Ren family to oppose us?”

In the past, the Qin family abandoned their name as an established family and fled from their homeland in Yingzhou.

To give the family a chance to recover and thrive, the ancestor and the previous clan leader deliberately chose the most remote and inconspicuous place—South Ridge.

Yes, South Ridge.

Though it appeared picturesque, it was actually the smallest and most remote area.

Even the unbearably hot West Ridge was larger and had more significant families than South Ridge, as evidenced by Qin Ruqing’s recent trip there.

Now, with the Ren family causing trouble, it was likely that the old enemies had discovered the Qin family’s whereabouts and were deliberately targeting them.

This caused unease among the Qin family members.

Hearing the commotion below, Qin Ruqing’s expression turned cold, and she said sternly, “So what if the Fang family is behind this? The Qin family is growing stronger, and we will inevitably face the Fang family in the upcoming Hundred Families Tournament. Do we really want to hide in South Ridge forever?”

She realized that the Qin family’s old problem was a fear of confrontation.

Previously conservative, they had improved after some adjustments, but the mention of the Fang family turned them into frightened birds, instinctively wanting to hide.

This reminded Qin Ruqing of the term PTSD.

The Qin family seemed to have developed PTSD because of the Fang family.

The ancestor, who had been silent, finally spoke, “What about the Fang family? The Qin family has become strong again. It’s not up to them to decide our fate!”

To boost the clan’s morale, Qin Ruqing said lightly, “The Qin family is hosting a grand celebration for our promotion. Since the Ren family is from North Ridge, let’s send them an invitation and see how they respond.”

The Second Elder nodded, then suddenly widened his eyes, “What if the Ren family causes trouble at our celebration?”

Qin Ruqing spread her hands and said humorously, “Let them!”

“As I mentioned earlier, there are two ways to showcase our strength: extending grace downward and stepping on others to rise. The Qin family currently uses only one method, which is not enough. If the Ren family wants to be the first to challenge us, then we won’t hesitate to crush them and make a name for ourselves!”

In the year 3160 of the Qianyuan era, Ancestor Qin Wenxuan formed her Golden Core.

The Qin family officially submitted the document for promotion to the Celestial Bureau.

After the Registry’s evaluation, the Qin family was formally promoted to Silver status, recorded in the Book of Heaven and Earth, and announced to the four regions.

The Silver-ranked Qin family of South Ridge, celebrating the Foundation Establishment of the Sixth Elder and the Golden Core formation of the ancestor, held a grand celebration, inviting all the noble families of the Southern Region, becoming the talk of the town.