Yes!

The illusion created with Soul Source Stones, and even the vengeful soul crystals, were all derived from these stones.

They even had a big reward prepared in the mansion’s depths for the contestants, if they had the ability to obtain it—these were meant to support and cultivate.

But this was not how support was supposed to work!

Thousands of Soul Stones were used up in an instant.

Who could afford that?

However, when asked whether they needed to replenish, the department heads gritted their teeth and said yes.

They had no choice; the test was still ongoing.

Even without Qin Ruqing, there were other contestants.

If they didn’t replenish the enormous amount she had consumed, the entire Soul Cave would soon stop functioning due to the lack of energy.

At that point, it would look like a major accident at the Hundred Clans Conference hosted by the two great clans.

This was a major disaster!

Even a calm, Buddhist monk-like head of the Western Region was shocked and sighed, “This little girl really has an astonishingly huge appetite!”

Watching her deplete all the crystals…

Qin Ruqing, though her face was pale after the purification, patted her storage bag with a satisfied look.

“This is what I call taking advantage of the situation,” sighed the Director of the Southern Domain.

The Northern Domain Director said, “It seems she plans to head deeper. If she encounters that one…”

Deep inside the Soul Mansion, there was a significant reward prepared.

In truth, that was the real benefit for the candidates, provided they had the strength to obtain it.

As for the portion Qin Ruqing had taken, it was entirely accidental.

Director Feng said：“She will definitely encounter it, and… it has already passed.”

The outer area had been mostly drained by Qin Ruqing.

Now, with the range shrinking, the outstanding talents would inevitably cross paths.

Things were about to get lively.

Qin Ruqing discovered that the vengeful spirits in the inner areas were indeed much stronger.

Some even retained a bit of spiritual intelligence and could flee skillfully when they sensed danger.

Just as Qin Ruqing had captured an escaping spirit and absorbed the crystals, she commented, “The quality of crystals here is indeed much better, but unfortunately, the powerful spirits are sparse and dispersed, not as concentrated as the outer area. Finding them takes more time. In fact, the outer area was more efficient with its large-scale burning.”

Qin Ruqing frowned, lamenting that the outer area was already depleted.

It would be great if she could find a high-level vengeful spirit with crystal energy that could block hundreds or thousands of spirits.

Just as Qin Ruqing was about to speak to Qi Rong, she suddenly narrowed her eyes, reached out, and shouted, “Who’s there!”

A fiery rope shot out, dragging someone out from behind a concealed sand dune.

The person fell to the ground with a cry.

Qi Rong recognized them and exclaimed, “It’s you? Head of the Rui family?”

The person hiding was none other than Xiao Fenhua(Honghua).

Still as charming as ever, she quickly got up and greeted Qin Ruqing, “Hello again, Fairy Ruqing.”

Then she waved and explained, “I wasn’t spying on you, I heard there was a huge vengeful spirit appearing ahead, and I wanted to join the excitement… Okay, I admit, I was hoping to pick up some scraps, so I used a concealment technique.”

Qin Ruqing remained silent.

A mere concealment technique couldn’t explain how someone avoided her keen spiritual sense.

However, everyone had their secrets, and Qin Ruqing had no intention of probing others’ hidden cards.

As for Xiao Fenhua’s words, Qin Ruqing believed only half of them.

The desire to pick up scraps was likely true, but why pass by them specifically?

If there was a fight ahead, why didn’t she sense it?

Clearly, the fight was not close by.

Moreover, if she was skilled in hiding, why let a trace of her presence be detected? It was clearly intentional.

Xiao Fenhua wanted Qin Ruqing to notice her, so she could openly follow them.

Qin Ruqing didn’t mind Xiao Fenhua’s scheming because she often schemed against others herself.

It was just a matter of wits.

Besides, both parties had their needs.

Qin Ruqing smiled and said, “You mentioned there was a fight ahead and a high-level vengeful spirit appeared? Does the Head of the Rui family know where exactly?”

“Let’s go check it out together!”

Xiao Fenhua nodded eagerly. “I’ve observed from a distance before, but the aura of that vengeful soul was so overwhelming that I didn’t dare get too close. How about this—I’ll take you there.”

Qin Ruqing smiled and agreed.

Xiao Fenhua wasn’t lying.

Ahead, there was indeed a powerful vengeful soul whose aura was on a completely different level compared to the others in the Soul Cave.

Aside from its sheer power, it also looked quite different.

Instead of the usual dark, ghostly figures with fiery eyes, this vengeful soul was in a complete human shape.

It had a full set of facial features and even wore human clothing.

The reason it was identified as a vengeful soul was that it exuded a strange and overwhelming aura of resentment, but without any visible brutality or murderous intent.

The term “amazing” was used because its resentment was indeed powerful.

The term “strange” was used because this vengeful soul’s resentment was peculiar—it didn’t evoke violence or anger but rather a deep sadness, making people uncontrollably tear up.

When Xiao Fenhua described it, Qin Ruqing was intrigued. “No killing intent, just making people cry?”

“Yes, it’s hard to describe. You’ll understand once you see it, Fairy Qin.”

When Qin Ruqing arrived and saw the vengeful soul, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

It was indeed a humanoid vengeful soul she had never seen before.

The human form was so distinct that she could clearly see the patterns on its clothing, which looked quite ancient and not like something from this era.

Within a hundred meters of the vengeful soul, its immense pressure was palpable, making one feel an overwhelming urge to kneel and cry.

Qin Ruqing covered her heart and felt her eyes welling up.

Xiao Fenhua was already crying. “See, Fairy Qin, I wasn’t lying. It’s really very sad, just like I said…”

Oh my, this feeling was like watching a dramatic, tear-jerking soap opera!

Especially during the climax—where the male and female leads break up due to misunderstandings, argue in the rain, the female lead leaves heartbroken, and then the male lead chases her, hugging her from behind in the rain.

This mix of melodrama and sadness that made tears flow uncontrollably.

Qi Rong sniffed. “There are other people here too.”

Yes, Qin Ruqing noticed that several famous contestants from the top rankings were also present.

Qin Ruqing looked around, tears in her eyes.

The beautiful Ming Ying was crying hard, using her silk artifact to wipe her tears while saying:

“Number 32, Cheng Yujun, I really didn’t mean to break up with you. I once had feelings for you, and I liked your figure, but, alas, Number 33 is just too much of a dog! I had to break up with you. But how many nights do I think of our time together in the flower field under the moon…”

Qin Ruqing shivered.

It turned out that beautiful women really did assign numbers to their backup suitors, which was indeed quite heartbreaking!

Qin Ruqing was indeed in tears, but not because of this.

She was crying because she also used to assign numbers; otherwise, it was hard to keep track of people.

She looked over at the glowing monk next to her.

The monk’s special light effect flickered on and off, reflecting his mood.

The compassionate monk silently cried, “Why hasn’t Buddha saved me…”

Qin Ruqing shivered and took out a small handkerchief from her bag to wipe her nose.

She then looked at the swordsman next to her, who was kneeling with one knee on the ground and both hands resting on his sword.

The swordsman’s temples were throbbing with veins, showing that he had dealt with many vengeful spirits and was suffering from their backlash.

He seemed to be the calmest among them, with no tears in his eyes and no sign of crying—either he had no tears left or they had already dried.

But after observing for a while, Qin Ruqing noticed that the cold swordsman’s lips suddenly started trembling like waves.

Eventually, he couldn’t hold back and a single word slipped from his lips:

“Wuu~”

Qin Ruqing couldn’t help but laugh through her tears.

Fang Zhiming was clearly the one crying the hardest.

He lay flat on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, his body shaking with every sob.

“You rejected me because of my appearance!” His reddened eyes showed a trace of hatred. “You’re just a lowly person. No one could possibly love you!”

Then, with a blink, he shed more tears. “Wuu wuu, yes, only I admire you in this world…”

It was a sad story of a man who, after being rejected by a goddess, developed resentment and heartache over unrequited love.

Qin Ruqing shivered and started wiping her tears again.

She then looked at the ghostly figure drifting in the center and realized that this vengeful spirit must have been very powerful in life.

Its lingering resentment, probably related to love, was affecting those around it, making them unable to stop crying.

The ghostly figure seemed to be searching for someone.

After failing to find anyone, it started to wail and shout.

However, the sounds it made were unintelligible, perhaps due to different languages or a gap of time.

As Qin Ruqing cried, she thought about how this spirit had a particularly painful love story in life, whether from being deceived or betrayed.

Fortunately, she didn’t have any love issues.

Just then, she paused. Wait, love?

This spirit had such strong power but showed no desire to attack, only wailing and crying.

Clearly, it had a sorrowful story that needed someone to listen.

Qin Ruqing suddenly shivered, her tearful eyes brightening with realization.

Here it was, the familiar trope.

The kind where a few words from the main character can make enemies lay down their weapons and reveal their inner struggles—a skill essential for the hot-blooded protagonist in youth adventures!

The power of persuasion!

Finally, it was her turn!

Qin Ruqing was excited, shaking slightly as she saw the spirit like it was a treasure calling out to her.

She let out a cry and kneeled in front of the spirit, sobbing:

“Senior, do you have a story? Can I be your listener?”

The spirit, which had been wailing, suddenly paused as if it understood, and slowly turned its head towards her.