“Truly impressive…”

Looking at the basin before her, filled with the dark, thick essence blood of a demon king, Qin Ruqing couldn’t help but take a step back.

Unfortunately, she had just come out of the Origin Rule Cave, where she had spent a long time in the illusion as a fiery tiger.

Now, seeing the essence blood of the fiery tiger demon king, her mind instinctively flashed back to the scene of her own crystal core being extracted, causing her to retreat instinctively.

After stepping back, she remembered she was human and forced herself to stay calm.

— It seemed the style of the Trial Tower’s tasks was different from what she had imagined.

With terms like “Trial Tower” and “slave,” it seemed like the tasks should be much more intense. Yet, the task was simply to drink a basin of demon blood?

Of course, for Qin Ruqing herself, she knew that drinking beast blood was still a significant challenge.

Among human cultivation resources, there are indeed those that use beast essence blood, and it is considered a high-grade resource.

However, the common methods involve using it for alchemy or medicine, where various medicinal properties are used to neutralize the blood’s violent energy.

Only a few use it as a body salve, mostly body cultivators.

Very few dare to drink it directly, usually those who are extremely short on cultivation resources and have a strong craving for power, often lone cultivators who tread dangerous paths.

As for Qin Ruqing, she had rarely even used pills, let alone beast blood.

Moreover, having just come out of the Origin Rule Cave, with fresh memories of the “fiery tiger,” being asked to drink the blood of a tiger of the same species was a significant psychological burden.

“It’s hard not to suspect that the questioner behind this is doing it deliberately!” Qin Ruqing sat down in front of the basin of essence blood, resting her chin on her hand, deep in thought.

“So now, to drink or not to drink? Looking at the options:

A—drink it (perfect effect),

B—apply it to the body (barely useful)…

Tsk, these options are so leading, is there even a choice?”

Unless she didn’t want to complete the task.

“The essence blood does seem quite useful…”

The essence blood of an ancient king-level demon is precious just by its name.

The task description directly stated that consuming it would enhance physical strength and improve control over fire attribute rules.

Both of these points were very tempting for Qin Ruqing.

As a spell cultivator, having the essence blood of a king-level demon to enhance her physical strength would effectively cover her weaknesses.

After struggling for a long time, Qin Ruqing finally made her decision.

She stood up, gazed at the dark red essence blood for a few seconds, and then raised the basin to her mouth, drinking it down in one gulp.

As soon as the essence blood entered her body, it felt like fire was burning within her, rapidly spreading through her limbs and bones.

Following that, a violent energy surged through her meridians, eventually reaching her brain.

Even with Qin Ruqing’s ability to endure pain, she couldn’t help but let out a cry and cover her head.

…The essence blood contained remnants of the demon king’s soul.

Although it no longer had consciousness, it instinctively caused disruption.

The sudden surge nearly left Qin Ruqing dazed, but fortunately, she was cautious and had a habit of using her native fire to guard her spirit platform.

She used her magic to extinguish the residual demon soul, and the physical pain gradually subsided—though not completely gone, it was controlled within a bearable range.

The Trial Tower became quiet, and a beam of light shone on Qin Ruqing. In the depths of the darkness, the hollow armor continued to watch her silently.

Qin Ruqing gradually lost track of time and, after an indeterminate period, started to regain her senses.

She propped herself up, looked at her hands, and slowly came back to her senses, revealing a look of bewilderment mixed with a hint of confusion.

Because such king-level fire attribute beast blood was a substantial tonic for her, Qin Ruqing felt great.

Her confusion stemmed from what she saw with her eyes…

Qin Ruqing had a hunch that something wasn’t quite right.

Before she could think too much about it, the armor that seemed like an NPC appeared again.

Qin Ruqing straightened up and said, “I have made my choice.”

The blue flames in the armor’s eyes flickered, “Trialist 946, please explain the reason for your choice.”

“Please be honest. If you lie, you will lose your chance to escape the trial tower.”

This made Qin Ruqing, who was initially considering making up an excuse, pause.

After a serious thought, she lowered her head and said:

“Because I want to become stronger. Drinking the essence blood can relatively make up for my weaknesses… Anything that helps me become stronger and is beneficial to me, as long as it doesn’t go against my basic principles, I won’t refuse.”

Drinking the essence blood of the Flame Tiger Demon King made Qin Ruqing feel a bit uncomfortable.

It might be because she had been in the illusion as a “beautiful tiger” for a long time, and the short time after coming out made her feel a moment of “shame” when she drank the essence blood.

It was rather absurd.

She was human, just drinking beast blood—what was there to be ashamed of?

Qin Ruqing admitted that her experience as a beautiful tiger had a slight impact on her, but she didn’t reject this impact.

Even though she felt this, she didn’t hesitate when she drank the essence blood.

She did feel some shame—but this shame wasn’t enough to counteract her desire for power.

After hearing her explanation, the armor made no comment and said mechanically, “The answer from trialist 946 has been recorded. Shall we continue to the next task?”

Qin Ruqing replied, “Yes!”

She maintained a calm demeanor as she prepared for the next task.

.

Outside the Immortal Tomb, however, there was a commotion.

The powerful beings guarding outside the Immortal Tomb had just received some news: Qin Ruqing had come out of the Origin Rule Cave and then went to the Xuanming Realm.

Was coming out a sign of elimination or completion?

If it was completion, it was shocking! She had already gone through two rule caves. Could it be that she could inherit both traditions?

People are generally reluctant to accept things beyond their understanding.

Even these astute and wise high-level humans, when seeing changes on the leaderboard, would instinctively assume Qin Ruqing had failed her trial.

—She must have failed and was then teleported out.

This would explain why she could enter so many rule caves.

As for why her name alone shone brightly on the leaderboard, even flashing just now… these powerful beings chose to ignore it, or rather, they decided to set it aside for now.

The reason was simple: it was more friendly to their capacity for acceptance.

There were mainstream opinions, but there were inevitably some dissenting voices.

Feng Qinxue, who had a favorable view of Qin Ruqing, had already mentioned twice that the girl might have cleared the previous rule caves.

Although it was strange, the fact that the inheritance selection could be activated was surprising, so seeing odd things happening was normal.

Feng Qinxue crossed her arms, her red lips curling into a smile as she addressed the Fifth Clan Leader Fifth Sheng:

“Fifth Clan Leader, is your young clan member having any issues in the Origin Cave? I saw that Qin Ruqing went in after you, but she came out first… Could it be that she’s even better than your young one?”

She then covered her mouth and giggled.

Fifth Sheng, who was in a meditative posture, frowned deeply.

He was already troubled by the situation with Youlin, and now Feng Qinxue’s comments were adding to his frustration.

“Director Feng, please be cautious with your words! Qin Ruqing’s performance has nothing to do with our Youlin. If she came out first, it’s her own ability.”

Feng Qinxue responded with a smile, “I remember that this girl was previously invited by the Fifth Family to open the Immortal Tomb’s seal. She was even specially taken to Penglai for training. Who would have thought that the Immortal Tomb would face such changes? Looking at it now, the Fifth Family’s deep foundation and effective training are evident. It seems that this girl is now surpassing many young talents, even competing with Youlin…”

The eyes of the people around subtly glanced over.

It was clear that Feng Qinxue was both praising and mocking—she was sarcastically suggesting that the Fifth Family’s efforts had backfired, like they had shot themselves in the foot.

Sure enough, Fifth Sheng was provoked.

He snorted, threw his sleeves, and stood up. “Qin Ruqing, who has received training from our Fifth Family, is considered half a member of our clan. Her success is naturally welcomed by us. As for Youlin, Director Feng need not worry.”

“And if Director Feng’s theory is correct, our Lingyu just came out of the Xuanming Rule Cave. I wonder if he fought against your Mingyue and who won… Mingyue shouldn’t have lost, right?”

If coming out first means winning, then according to this logic, wouldn’t your Mingyue have lost to my Fifth Family member?

Fifth Sheng wasn’t backing down and began to counterattack.

Feng Qinxue’s expression changed slightly, “Fifth Lingyu? My Mingyue is not someone anyone can compare with!”

When Fifth Lingyu was young, there were rumors about his extraordinary talent, but after the previous Clan Leader’s death, he changed his behavior and became less distinguished, eventually being sent to the remote South Region West Ridge and never showing any exceptional abilities again.

Yes, Feng Qinxue admitted, Lingyu’s appearance was good, but comparing him to Mingyue was an insult!

Thus, the two prominent figures had a verbal clash over Qin Ruqing, Lingyu and Mingyue.

This was normal.

The powerful beings guarding the Immortal Tomb, fearing any disturbances, didn’t venture far.

Even if they went to check the ruins, they would return soon, perhaps going to the Beast Marsh for a look.

In such a situation, boredom was inevitable.

With so many high-level families gathered, there were naturally those who got along well and those who didn’t.

Arguments were just a way to pass the time.

People didn’t take the commotion too seriously.

However, when they closed their eyes to meditate again, they couldn’t help but glance at Qin Ruqing’s name.

…Actually, the Fifth Clan Leader Sheng was right; coming out first didn’t necessarily mean winning and might not have any symbolic meaning.

Otherwise, if she had passed two rule caves, it would be too frightening if she were first each time.

---

In the Xuanming Rule Cave, as Qin Ruqing was about to accept the second task, the armor NPC handed her something.

Qin Ruqing picked it up and held it up to her eyes. “A blue pill? What’s it for?”

The color gave off an unsettling vibe.

The armor said, “Eating it will help with the task.”

Qin Ruqing asked, “If I don’t eat it, will it still work?”

Her mother had always warned her not to take random medicines from strangers.

The armor replied concisely, “It’s possible.”

Wow, the way you put it makes me more hesitant not to eat it.

The armor added, “Please make your decision quickly, trialist 946.”

Qin Ruqing steeled herself, closed her eyes, and swallowed the pill.

She had rarely taken medicine by stranger since she was young, only occasionally, but it shouldn’t be a bad thing!