“Fairy Ruqing, please have a seat,” the Lu Clan patriarch said, acknowledging that while some things were understood implicitly, the formalities still needed to be observed.

Qin Ruqing complied and took a seat without protest.

“What is your purpose in visiting us, Fairy Ruqing?” The Lu Clan patriarch asked, her tone conveying a natural authority due to the mysterious markings on her forehead, which gave her an inherent air of solemnity.

“My purpose, Patriarch, I’m sure you’ve already guessed. Do you still need to ask me directly?” Qin Ruqing replied with a smile, intentionally departing from the norm.

The Lu Clan patriarch was momentarily taken aback by her response.

Even though she had anticipated this, there was still a formal process to follow. If everyone spoke so directly, it would surely lead to conflicts throughout the cultivation world.

“Is it the Fang Clan that you wish to discuss?” the Lu Clan patriarch asked, her tone carrying a hint of resignation.

Without waiting for Qin Ruqing to respond, she admitted, “Indeed, the Fang Clan is an affiliated family of our Lu Clan.”

“Are you certain about that, Patriarch? Since we’re on the topic, let me be clear. Our Qin Clan harbors a grudge against the Fang Clan that involves the annihilation of our family!” Qin Ruqing said with a light tone and a smile, yet her words were laced with an undeniable sense of hostility.

In the narrow sense, the annihilation of a clan means the complete destruction of the entire family by their enemies.

However, for Qin Ruqing, annihilation referred to the complete extinction of a surname.

The Fang Clan had driven the Qin Clan out of the East Region and Yingzhou with slanders and filth, resulting in the Qin Clan’s disappearance from the East Region and Yingzhou.

This was, in her view, a form of annihilation.

The Lu Clan patriarch might not fully understand Qin Ruqing’s perspective, but she could certainly sense the gravity of Qin Ruqing’s stance from her firm declaration.

In this world, any matter related to the annihilation of a clan was bound to be a matter of life and death, and it could never be settled easily.

Consequently, anyone involved in avenging the annihilation of a family would also be implicated and held responsible.

By declaring the “grudge of annihilation,” Qin Ruqing was essentially warning the Lu Clan: she would be relentless in her pursuit of vengeance against the Fang Clan, and the Lu Clan needed to carefully consider its position.

Otherwise, they would incur her wrath and retaliation.

The Lu Clan patriarch fell silent, deep in thought.

The entire chamber became eerily quiet due to this ominous silence.

Qin Ruqing, seemingly oblivious to the tension, maintained her relaxed demeanor and reassured the patriarch, “Don’t worry, Patriarch. As of now, I hold no ill will toward the Lu Clan!”

“By the way, I have another question. The Lu Clan is an ancient spirit-caretaker family that has been hidden away for many years. Why would you choose to make the Fang Clan an affiliated family? It seems to me that the Fang Clan couldn’t provide any real benefit to the Lu Clan. On the contrary, their reckless behavior might one day drag down the Lu Clan—just as it did today.” Qin Ruqing offered this piece of advice with apparent concern.

The Lu Clan patriarch couldn’t help but sneer inwardly at Qin Ruqing’s comment.

“Just as it did today…” How considerate of her!

If not for the Fang Clan’s involvement, Qin Ruqing would not be sitting here demanding an explanation from the Lu Clan today.

Considering the artifact spirit’s connection, perhaps they might even become allies rather than enemies in the future.

The Lu Clan patriarch found it difficult to categorize Qin Ruqing.

Should she be praised for her understanding, or criticized for her arrogance?

Arrogance, indeed.

She was unmistakably direct about her stance—Qin Ruqing was a significant figure and a major troublemaker, to the extent that even their esteemed spirit-caretaker family, a mysterious hidden clan, had to face and be cautious of her.

The Lu family patriarch couldn’t help but want to smile at Qin Ruqing.

Of course, this smile was a form of derision from an ancient spirit-feeding clan towards a young girl who seemed to not know her place.

But as the patriarch tried to smile, she found she couldn’t.

Qin Ruqing truly had the potential to threaten the Lu family.

If her performance in the Void Realm hadn’t been enough to make the Lu Family take notice, her ability to awaken the artifact spirit was what truly alerted the Lu family.

No one knew better than the Lu family what the artifact spirit was about.

It was clearly a celestial accident, and once it came into being, the Great Dao would naturally seek to reclaim it.

Thus, the artifact spirit had gradually weakened, falling into a long-term slumber. Over time, it would have turned into a wraith due to the erosion of the rules and eventually dissipated into the world.

Yet, Qin Ruqing had saved this accident.

The implications were too daunting to contemplate—could she even alter the will of the Great Dao?

The patriarch, who had long dealt with the spirits of heaven and earth, was deeply wary. If not absolutely necessary, she would prefer not to confront such a “monster” as Qin Ruqing.

In the blink of an eye, the patriarch came to a conclusion.

Her attitude towards Qin Ruqing unconsciously softened.

Her face appeared “gentler,” almost with a “kind” look.

For someone with strange patterns etched on her face like an old woman, achieving this was quite difficult.

She began to explain Qin Ruqing’s earlier questions.

“Our relationship with the Fang family is, in fact, related to the artifact spirit.”

“If it weren’t for the artifact spirit, we wouldn’t have wanted to recruit any subsidiary families. As you said, it’s really unnecessary.”

Qin Ruqing remained expressionless, showing no intention to speak.

Seeing this, the patriarch continued.

“The artifact spirit was not initially in the lotus pond. Over a hundred years ago, our spirit-feeding clan discovered its trace in an ancient secret realm. It was attached to a book. That book eventually came into the hands of the Fang family.”

At this point, Qin Ruqing instinctively frowned. Words like “ancient secret realm,” “Fang family,” and “book” triggered her sharp instincts, but she couldn’t grasp the key point at the moment.

Until the patriarch uttered the final sentence, “… The name of that book was the Divine Elixir Secret Tome.”

Qin Ruqing’s head snapped up, her eyes fixed intently on the patriarch.

The patriarch knew she had probably guessed something, and she nodded slowly as confirmation.

“Of course, we couldn’t reveal the truth of the artifact spirit to the Fang family, so we used a bit of method… In short, the Divine Elixir Secret Tome came to our hands, and as compensation, the Fang family became our subsidiary family.”

Qin Ruqing’s face revealed a hint of mockery.

When the patriarch spoke of “a bit of method,” it was with a completely indifferent attitude.

The specific methods didn’t need to be elaborated on; in the world of cultivation, the strongest principle was always the fist.

The Lu family, as a hidden clan with spirit-feeding skills, had given the celestial-grade Feng family a headache, let alone the then insignificant Fang family.

“So, the Divine Elixir Secret Tome is now in your estate? I haven’t heard of the Lu family making any recent achievements in alchemy…” Qin Ruqing hinted.

“Because what the Lu family values most is ultimately the artifact spirit attached to the tome. We are not particularly interested in alchemy itself. So, after bringing the artifact spirit to the lotus pond, the tome was put away in the storage and hasn’t been taken out since…” The patriarch seemed somewhat awkward as she spoke the last part, shifting her staff to the other hand.

Qin Ruqing found this highly ironic.

The ancient secret realm that emerged caused much strife.

The Qin and Fang families fought over it, and due to a precious treasure, people’s hearts changed, leading to future troubles for the Qin family.

Yet, this treasure, which had made the Qin and Fang families fight desperately, was now treated as insignificant and left to gather dust in a storage.

And now, the truth of it all had come full circle to be learned by this young Qin family member.

Looking at it all, how could one not say it was fate’s trickery?

The silence in the chamber, due to Qin Ruqing’s quiet demeanor, became somewhat unnerving.

The Lu Clan patriarch realized that Qin Ruqing’s silence likely meant she was not pleased, and she sought to salvage the situation:

“If Fairy Ruqing is interested in the Divine Elixir Secret Manual…”

At this moment, Qin Ruqing lifted her head with an intrigued expression.

She wanted to hear what the old woman would say next.

“…it can be exchanged with merit points from our Lu Clan.” Despite the scrutinizing gaze, the Lu Clan patriarch managed to finish her sentence.

“Oh? Merit points? May I ask what these merit points are?” Qin Ruqing inquired as if she were unfamiliar with the concept.

In reality, she was quite aware, as many noble families used a system of merit-based exchanges.

“The Lu Clan uses a merit system based on contributions to the family. Accumulated points can be exchanged for treasures in the clan’s vault,” the patriarch explained.

“But I am not a member of the Lu Clan, so how could I accumulate merit?” Qin Ruqing asked.

The Lu Clan patriarch knew that Qin Ruqing had already realized her intent.

However, she had to make an offer, even if there was little hope of it being accepted.

She gripped her staff tightly, her voice rising with hopeful anticipation as she said, “As long as Fairy Ruqing can tell us how to awaken the artifact spirit or its underlying principles, we are willing to hand over the Divine Elixir Secret Manual!”

“Hand it over?” Qin Ruqing echoed, as if the offer were a grand favor.

Qin Ruqing didn’t wish to discuss it further.

She stood up, brushed off nonexistent dust from her skirt, straightened her posture, and said to the Lu Clan patriarch with a faint smile, “To be honest, the value of the two things might not be equivalent.”

“The Divine Elixir Secret Manual is not of much interest to me at the moment. Let it remain in the Lu Clan’s vault for now.”

Her words were neither dismissive nor fully accepting.

“‘For now’ means there could be a possibility of returning to this matter later?” The Lu Clan patriarch pondered.

Unable to suppress her frustration, the patriarch looked at Qin Ruqing, who had already assumed a departing stance.

Before leaving, Qin Ruqing left her final remark: “I will certainly take action against the Fang Clan. As for the Lu Clan’s stance, please consider it carefully. I have other matters to attend to, so I must leave now.”

With a slight nod, she left without waiting for the Lu Clan patriarch’s response.

Despite maintaining a junior’s demeanor, no one dared to treat her as one.

The Lu Clan patriarch could only watch as Qin Ruqing walked away.

Not long after she left, a crack appeared in the back wall of the chamber, revealing several robed figures.

They were a few of the Lu Clan’s priests who had remained hidden in the chamber’s back room.

“This girl is as slippery as an eel. She’s hard to control,” one of the priests complained.

Before he could finish, the patriarch sharply raised her hand and gave him a piercing look.

The priest fell silent.

“Stop speaking of control. If we cannot control the two great celestial family, do you still dare to think about controlling her?” the patriarch scolded.

The priest understood the point but replied, “She is alone, and the Qin Clan behind her is insignificant. If we were to use the clan’s power to forcibly detain her, it wouldn’t be impossible.”

“Foolish!” the patriarch retorted. “Qin Ruqing is more valuable alive than dead. In these troubled times for humanity, such a person is not one anyone would be willing to kill… except for the Fang Clan.”

Upon mentioning the Fang Clan, the priests’ expressions grew complex. “Patriarch, what about the Fang Clan…”

“We will not interfere,” the patriarch’s brief response set a definitive stance with no room for alteration.

The priests had no objections and nodded in agreement.

In the corner, a priest remained silent, his face hidden in the shadows.

He appeared to be tacitly agreeing with the decision.

After leaving the chamber, the silent priest went to a seldom-visited desolate courtyard of the Lu Clan.

He made a hand gesture, seemingly invoking an artifact, and began to speak to it.

In the wind, his muffled voice carried: “The Lu Clan will not intervene… This is all the warning we can give… Take care of yourselves.”