When Qin Ruqing opened her eyes again, she found herself in a secret room.

Using her divine sense to scan the area, she discovered many similar small compartments, each occupied by a meditating family contestant with closed eyes.

“So, it’s like our souls have been taken and placed into an illusion?” Qin Ruqing quietly speculated.

She touched the crystals she had packed from the Soul Cave, then checked the large crystal, tainted with the aura of a humanoid wraith, which she had set aside separately.

She let out a sigh of relief.

“Good, everything is here. It’s not something that can’t be taken out.”

If these items had dissipated upon leaving the Soul Cave, Qin Ruqing would have stayed inside until she was fully satisfied.

“It’s time to leave.” Qin Ruqing exited the secret realm and emerged outside the Soul Cave.

Qi Rong was already waiting there.

The old woman examiner opened her eyes slowly when she saw Qin Ruqing.

Qin Ruqing’s participation in the exam was a bit demanding for the examiners, but this one seemed to be the exception.

In this particular test, Qin Ruqing consumed soul source stones instead.

“Examiner, can you give me my score?” Qin Ruqing asked respectfully.

The old woman thought about the soul source stones consumed during Qin Ruqing’s test.

Even her usually calm demeanor showed a bit of fluctuation.

The amount of soul source stones Qin Ruqing used was equal to that of all the other examinees combined.

Later, the head of the testing department sent more stones, otherwise, the remaining soul source stones in the Soul Cave wouldn’t have been enough for the subsequent tests.

Looking at Qin Ruqing’s innocent face, the old woman sighed, summoned a golden ring, and with a swipe of her hand over it, she recorded the score.

Qin Ruqing and Qi Rong checked the jade slip together, and after seeing the score, they looked at each other and smiled.

After laughing, they left the Soul Island.

Standing outside the island, Qin Ruqing exhaled lightly with a sense of relief and said, “One last test to go.”

After the test, she could finally take a breather.

The audience in the Hui Cui Tower had also watched Qin Ruqing’s entire performance.

People enjoyed the spectacle, while experts appreciated the subtleties.

Ordinary viewers were amazed by the scene where thousands of wraiths were obliterated by a wave of Ruqing’s hand, just like watching a Hollywood movie with stunning special effects.

However, the Third Elder of the Jinpin Song Clan could see the substance behind those spectacular scenes.

Qin Ruqing, this genius seed from the Qin family, at least mastered one of the top-ranked heavenly fires.

Judging by its characteristics, it resembled the Golden Mist Soul Fire.

However, in the Third Elder’s memory, the Golden Mist Soul Fire didn’t have the function of purifying wraiths.

So, the heavenly fire that this fairy wielded was likely of an even higher grade.

After observing the entire performance in the Soul Cave, the Third Elder sighed inwardly.

With such methods and a powerful heavenly fire, if this top-ranked genius could enter the Void Realm, she would have a great advantage.

If she also obtained powerful inheritances within the Void Realm…

A celestial seed of this level, if truly grown, would influence the entire structure of the human world in the cultivation realm.

While the Third Elder was lost in thought, the audience in Hui Cui Tower discussed the scenes from the Soul Cave test.

Some were talking about the latest update in the Tower’s Genius Handbook.

The main focus was on the special report about Fairy Ruqing.

They were very interested in such intelligence and wanted more!

The Tower’s special correspondent wrote:

Qin Ruqing, from the silver-ranked Qin family in the southern region of Nanling.

The Qin family was on the verge of losing its status before, but it quickly rose to prominence, a rise closely tied to Fairy Ruqing’s growth.

The compiler suspects that the Qin family’s rapid development was heavily influenced by Fairy Ruqing’s behind-the-scenes efforts.

Fairy Ruqing began nurturing her spiritual power at the age of eight and solidified her rank by ten.

According to Hui Cui Tower’s investigation, her initial ranking was extraordinary, and from then on, the family saw her as their hope for rising and secretly nurtured her as a genius.

Before Ruqing became an elder, the Qin family never revealed her talents.

Despite not being publicly known, Fairy Ruqing did a lot for the Qin family to revive its glory.

For example, in their traditional medicinal field, Fairy Ruqing launched a story titled “Fairy Qing’er and Qin Aotian” and personally played Fairy Qing’er, which became popular in Nanling City and significantly boosted Qin’s medicinal sales.

After Fairy Ruqing emerged, the Qin family’s fortunes soared.

First, a new foundation was established in the family.

Then, they gained an advantage in local family disputes in Nanling, securing half the development rights to a newly unearthed secret realm, which led to the family’s rise due to the secret realm’s resources.

At its peak, the Qin family had three members with foundation cultivation, defeating the old Nanling Zhang family to become the local leader.

During this time, Fairy Ruqing quietly moved to Xiling to start operations there.

Xiling had a peculiar situation, being isolated and hot, causing local cultivators to suffer from fire poison, slowing their progress.

Despite this, Fairy Ruqing and her family brought high-quality pills that alleviated the fire poison, which matched Xiling’s needs.

Thus, they quickly gained a prestigious status, and the Qin family became the first officially recognized partner family in Xiling.

The compiler believes this was no coincidence but a well-planned strategy!

Having already dominated the Nanling medicinal market, with Fairy Ruqing’s efforts, they also captured the Xiling market.

It was only a matter of time before they took over Beiling, eventually dominating the entire southern region with Qin’s medicines.

The Qin family’s development was meticulously planned and strategically executed, suggesting a mastermind behind it.

The compiler believes this mastermind is likely Fairy Ruqing.

Here’s why:

Shortly after Ruqing returned from Xiling to Nanling, the Qin family’s ancestor, Qin Wenxuan, quickly formed a golden core and hosted a grand banquet, elevating the family to silver rank.

This banquet also celebrated Fairy Ruqing’s promotion to the sixth elder of the Qin family.

Two key points: Sixth Elder and Foundation Establishment.

At just sixteen, Ruqing was already an elder.

Before going to Xiling, she was only at the high levels of Qi Refining, meaning she reached Foundation Establishment within a year.

In a short period of time, she advanced from the Qi Refining stage to the Foundation Establishment stage, and then underwent a significant change in status, becoming an elder of a prestigious silver-grade family at the age of 18.

Elders in such families are not appointed without substantial contributions or formidable strength.

It’s evident that Qin Ruqing must have secretly contributed a lot to the Qin family.

Her achievements were sufficient to qualify her for the elder position, and combined with previous mentions, it’s clear that Qin Ruqing was a key figure in the rise of the Qin family.

From the development path of the Qin family to Qin Ruqing’s personal growth and her impressive achievements at the Hundred Clans Conference, it’s apparent that her current success was not accidental but inevitable.

For those interested in following Fairy Ruqing’s future developments, please continue subscribing to the Dongyu Huicui Building’s Genius Manual.

— “The geniuses you don’t know about, all in Huicui Building!”

This report thoroughly detailed Qin Ruqing’s growth and subtly connected it with the Qin family’s rise.

The Qin family’s unexpected success as a dark horse and Qin Ruqing’s outstanding talent created a buzz.

Such reports are far more exciting than traditional stories.

Huicui Building really understands what readers want!

Naturally, the special report on Ruqing topped the charts, selling more than the regular Genius Manuals.

The Third Elder, seeing the excitement and discussions around the report, had a mysterious smile on his face.

This report was prepared by Huicui Building’s dedicated editor, who drafted it roughly before the Third Elder polished it personally.

The enthusiastic reaction of the people indicated the Third Elder’s success in managing the situation, making him quite pleased.

While the Third Elder enjoyed his success, another staff member responsible for intelligence brought in an urgent report.

The Third Elder casually glanced at the report and furrowed his brow.

It read: “The South Ridge Qin family is suspected to be the predecessor of the Eastern Region’s Yingzhou Qin family…”

Meanwhile, Qin Ruqing and Qi Rong reached the final testing stage on Tianyun Island.

Interestingly, this time the jade slip directly displayed the island’s name and location on the map, without any tricky elements.

“Wow, the final stage didn’t require us to find the place ourselves,” Qi Rong remarked in surprise.

The previous stage, Heart Soul Island, had been a real challenge for them.

Qin Ruqing also found it strange, “Maybe because it’s the final stage!”

If every stage were as challenging as the previous one, she thought the examiners would be overwhelmed by the complaints from the family candidates.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Ruqing was full of enthusiasm: “If we complete the final stage, we can achieve a perfect score! Hopefully, we can also earn some extra points!”

Yes, in the previous stage, the Heart Soul Cave, Qin Ruqing had also scored full marks and received additional points for taking the most critical item—the fist-sized Soul Source Stone!

The two of them arrived on the island.

The examiner at Tianyun Island was the most familiar among all the test sites.

He looked like a laughing Buddha, round and cheerful.

Seeing Qin Ruqing, he greeted warmly, “Our top scorer has arrived!”

Qin Ruqing smiled and nodded, then bowed to the examiner along with Qi Rong.

After greeting, Qin Ruqing looked at the ten tunnels behind the examiner and asked, “Examiner, how do we proceed with the test on Tianyun Island?”

The laughing Buddha examiner placed his hands on his belly and said with a smile, “It’s simple. There are ten tunnels here. You choose one, and if you make it through from one end to the other, you pass.”

Hearing this, Qin Ruqing and Qi Rong were puzzled.

“Is it really that simple?” they wondered.

But recalling the illusions from the last test, they felt assured that these tunnels would have their own mysteries.

Out of caution, Qin Ruqing asked, “Examiner, are all the tunnels the same?”

The laughing Buddha examiner just smiled without answering.

Qin Ruqing became wary.

Could it be what she was thinking?

Standing before the tunnels, Qi Rong peered inside but couldn’t see anything.

“Which one should we choose?” Qi Rong asked.

Qin Ruqing looked serious. “The last test involves a bit of luck,” she said, then nodded. “Yes, luck is also a part of one’s ability. It’s reasonable.”

Turning to Qi Rong, she continued, “Qi Rong, you have good luck. You should choose your own tunnel. Don’t follow me.” She didn’t want her bad luck to affect him.

Qi Rong nodded, glanced at the ten tunnels, and casually pointed to the closest one. “I’ll take this one, tunnel number five.”

Qin Ruqing raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Most people would choose the nearest one, so it’s usually more difficult.”

But Qi Rong was nonchalant. “It won’t just test our luck. It will still test our abilities, so I don’t think it matters which one I choose.”

Qin Ruqing clicked her tongue. “You’re right. Go ahead then.”

She needed more time to decide.

When it came to things involving luck, Qin Ruqing got stubborn.

Ten tunnels. It was enough to trigger her choice anxiety.

Finally, she focused on the side tunnels and muttered, “Fewer people choose the side tunnels, so I should go for one of those. But the very edge might be too risky. It should be slightly off the edge, like the second or eighth tunnel… Two is unlucky, so I’ll choose eight! Eight is my lucky number. It has to work!”

With renewed confidence, Qin Ruqing strode into tunnel number eight.

The tunnel was dimly lit.

Remembering her previous experiences in caves, Qin Ruqing was on high alert, ready for any sudden attack from the walls.

But nothing happened.

She walked about fifty meters, encountering no traps.

It was just an ordinary tunnel.

Qin Ruqing murmured, “Could it be that my luck is changing for the better? From a perpetual loser to a winner…”