The next day, Qin Ruqing woke up refreshed and hurried to the Shadow Residence where the ancestor was located.

She needs to deal with the matter of Zhang Li immediately!

When the ancestor saw Qin Ruqing, he greeted her as usual, and Qin Ruqing, as affectionate as ever, sat down beside her.

In fact, Qin Ruqing and the ancestor had developed a genuine relationship over time, coupled with their intertwined interests.

Qin Ruqing offered peaches, and the ancestor repaid with plums, making their relationship even closer and more intimate than before.

Pointing to the table, the ancestor said, “The Sacred Blood Secret Water is ready.”

Qin Ruqing’s gaze fell on the jade bottle on the table.

She reached out to touch it but quickly withdrew her hand, thinking of its effect.

Seeing Qin Ruqing’s cautious expression, the ancestor teasingly said, “What? Are you having second thoughts about your plan?”

Qin Ruqing smiled awkwardly.

The matter of how to deal with Zhang Li had to be traced back to the day she discussed it with the ancestor.

First of all, they both agreed that Zhang Li had to die.

The ancestor was straightforward.

She said, “If he needs to die, just let him die straightforwardly, so I can rest assured and feel relieved.”

However, Qin Ruqing frowned thoughtfully and said, “Zhang Li can’t just die like that. It’s not profitable for the Qin family to leave behind a mess. It’s not profitable.”

She then started brainstorming, saying, “Zhang Li shouldn’t die directly. His death should be more tactful and skillful—die in the right place at the right time.”

The words “die in the right place at the right time” hit the ancestor’s head, leaving her stunned for a while.

The ancestor looked at Qin Ruqing with an incredulous look, as if to say, “The man is about to die, and you’re still thinking about squeezing the last drop of oil out of him.”

Indeed, Qin Ruqing’s intention was to make some arrangements regarding Zhang Li to further deceive the Zhang family.

Qin Ruqing smiled innocently and said, “Ancestor, don’t you think there’s a kind of pill that can make a severely injured person look fine for a while… so that they can’t tell he’s about to die? And then, after a certain period of time, this pill becomes a highly toxic substance that can quickly end his life…”

The ancestor couldn’t help but ponder over Qin Ruqing’s words, thinking about the alchemy recipes she knew.

Qin Ruqing gently hinted, “Well… try to think about those medicines with conflicting properties, conflicting medicinal effects, or those that are fine on their own but cause problems when mixed together… Ancestor, try thinking along these lines.”

After a while, the ancestor looked up at her with a strange look.

“Have you figured it out?” asked Qin Ruqing.

The ancestor replied, “Your talent for alchemy isn’t outstanding, but your brain is sharp… it’s impressive that you can come up with so many ‘directions.'”

Qin Ruqing smiled mysteriously and said, “Ancestor, do you have any ideas now?”

The ancestor exhaled and then smiled, nodding, “Thanks to your hints, there is indeed a kind of medicine that meets your requirements.”

“The Sacred Blood Secret Water,” the ancestor slowly pronounced the name of the medicine, “It’s a sixth-grade liquid medicine that requires eight extremely rare spiritual materials from heaven and earth as the main ingredients. These spiritual materials are all extremely precious and have great nourishing effects… However, their properties are mutually generative and mutually antagonistic. After taking the medicine, it has a healing effect for the first three days, and the effect is outstanding. It is indeed…”

The Sacred Blood Secret Water, a medicine of great healing properties, but after three days, its conflicting attributes are difficult to suppress.

It starts to clash with the meridians, boiling the blood.

When the medicine’s power erupts, the person taking it will bleed from the seven orifices and die.

Qin Ruqing listened quietly for a long time. Seeing her in a daze, the ancestor teasingly said, “Isn’t this exactly what you wanted? Are you scared now?”

Qin Ruqing clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling. “Ancestor, brilliant!”

The ancestor:…

Sometimes she really didn’t understand how this child’s mind worked.

Shaking her head, the ancestor thought that perhaps someone who had reincarnated from ancient times was fundamentally different from ordinary people.

She said, “This medicine is of quite high grade. If it had been before, I might not have been able to refine it, but now with the Heart of Frigid Ice, I can give it a try.”

Qin Ruqing suddenly realized something and said, “Ancestor, won’t it take time for you to refine the Heart of Frigid Ice? If you stay in seclusion for too long, how can we negotiate with the Zhang family? We’ll still need you to make a scene!”

This little girl had become so clever!

The ancestor said, “Don’t worry, I’m only using half of the Heart of Frigid Ice now, and it’s only in the preliminary refining stage. It won’t take long. After the preliminary refining is done, I’ll refine the Sacred Blood Secret Water for you. How about that?”

Qin Ruqing carefully considered and confirmed that there were no problems. She praised, “Ancestor, that’s brilliant!”

Still brilliant… but the ancestor ignored her.

“By the way, Ancestor, there’s one more thing. If Zhang Li’s family comes to investigate after he takes the medicine, will they recognize it?”

This was indeed an important point.

After thinking about it, the ancestor said, “They shouldn’t. The Zhang family is not an alchemy family, and they are not good at this. Moreover, the Sacred Blood Secret Water is extremely rare and niche. If even the Zhang family can recognize it, it can only be said that their fate is like this, and so is the Qin family’s.”

The ancestor was cautious by nature.

If she said so, there was basically no possibility of recognition.

Qin Ruqing nodded, took the bottle of medicine, and said, “Ancestor, considering the time, the Zhang family will come to us for Zhang Li in the next two days. Why not give Zhang Li the medicine today?”

The ancestor nodded, stood up, and said, “He will be confined in the dungeon. To prevent accidents, I’ll accompany you.”

Qin Ruqing also stood up and summoned her flying sword.

She was about to step on it and fly away when the ancestor looked at her Qin family-made sword disdainfully and directly grabbed the back of her neck, taking her into the air.

Qin Ruqing was held in the ancestor’s hand like a little chicken.

She squirmed uncomfortably and complained, “Ancestor, I can fly.”

“You’re too slow.”

Tsk, underestimated me, didn’t you? You’re at the Peak Foundation Establishment Stage, so of course you think I’m slow.

The ancestor continued, “It’s strange. Your parents love you so much and have given you so many good things.

You’ve even got the Ice Cave now, not to mention countless spirit stones. Why don’t you think about getting yourself a better sword?”

Qin Ruqing shrugged, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t practice swordsmanship.

But it’s time to change this sword. When I have some income from the Ice Cave’s spirit stones, I’ll change it.”

The ancestor fell silent.

After a while, he said, “Forget it, there’s no need to bother. Since you don’t care much about the sword, I have a sword here, an eighth-grade magical tool. It’s barely worthy of you. Just use this one for now.”

Qin Ruqing exclaimed,

“I can’t make you ask for your purse, Ancestor… but I can’t refuse a gift from an elder. Qingqing will accept it!”

…What a shameless girl.

Approaching the Ice Cave, the ancestor said, “As a cultivator, you’ll need to prepare a lifebound magic tool for yourself after Foundation Establishment. Do you have any ideas?”

Qin Ruqing said, “I don’t have any ideas yet, but it definitely has to be the best. That’s why I’m saving up spirit stones for my lifebound magic tool. Otherwise, how could I not even want to buy a sword?”

That’s called saving for a rainy day.

The ancestor fell silent again.

Sometimes, talking to Qin Ruqing, with her strange thoughts, was really exhausting.

Fortunately, they arrived at the dungeon.

Zhang Li was imprisoned in the most heavily guarded room, protected by formations.

He had been seriously injured before, and now he was no better.

There were two dark chains on his wrists, made of an unknown material.

The ancestor said that these chains were to seal his spiritual energy and consciousness, preventing his injuries from healing.

When Zhang Li was blown to pieces and then chased for his life, he was on the brink of death.

The Qin family, afraid of him dying, fed him some elixirs to keep him alive.

Feeling the movement in the cell, Zhang Li, who had never forgotten Qin Ruqing’s face, opened his eyes weakly.

Seeing Qin Ruqing, the face he would never forget in his life, Zhang Li’s body trembled, and then he let out a hoarse, angry hiss like a broken bellows.

“You…”

Without waiting for him to speak, Qin Ruqing acted like lightning, throwing a spark at him.

With a bang, before Zhang Li could finish his “you,” he turned his head and passed out.

Qin Ruqing blew on her fingertips, where smoke was rising.

It meant that villains should never be allowed to speak too much nonsense.

He’d better stay unconscious in there.

The ancestor was also shocked by Qin Ruqing’s actions.

She opened her mouth to say something, but found herself speechless.

Unaware of the complexity in the ancestor’s heart, Qin Ruqing smiled at him and said, “Let’s use the Sacred Blood Secret Water on him now.”

The ancestor nodded, and Qin Ruqing walked over, took out the jade bottle, and poured it into Zhang Li’s mouth.

After all the medicine was consumed, Qin Ruqing pondered for a moment and came up with another question.

“Ancestor, what if his injuries aren’t severe enough? The Sacred Blood Secret Water is a healing elixir in the early stages. If we administer it now and his injuries heal before the Zhang family comes to claim him, what should we do if he wakes up and starts blabbering…?”

The ancestor fell silent for a moment. “Your concern is not unreasonable. In that case, let’s worsen his injuries a bit, enough that the early-stage effects of the Sacred Blood Secret Water won’t heal him completely.”

Approaching Zhang Li, she took out a black pill and shoved it into his mouth.

Qin Ruqing didn’t ask what the pill was; she knew it was similar to poison.

As the ancestor was about to leave, Qin Ruqing rubbed her chin and said, “Ancestor, I remember the Zhang family has hired a very powerful alchemist.

The Revitalization Pill seemed to have been improved by him.

This person is so capable, what if he finds a way to neutralize the effects of the Sacred Blood Secret Water?

Shouldn’t we keep another trick up our sleeves? If the Sacred Blood Secret Water fails to kill Zhang Li, we could still finish him off later, right?”

The ancestor… was speechless.

She was truly beyond comprehension.

The ancestor was truly shocked by Qin Ruqing’s unconventional thinking and couldn’t speak for a long time.

But you couldn’t just ignore her words; on careful consideration, there might really be such a possibility…

…

Sighing, the ancestor took out an item from his storage pouch. “This is the Soul-Eating Gu. Planting the gu into Zhang Li’s body, I can control the mother gu in my hand. If I don’t activate the gu with spiritual energy, it won’t harm him.

But if Zhang Li really isn’t dead and tries to say something, the gu will immediately start devouring his soul and consciousness.

The victim will become stupid and senseless until the gu completely devours his soul, leaving behind an empty shell.”

Qin Ruqing rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and said excitedly, “Ancestor, brilliant! Let’s use this!”

This was a perfect match with the Sacred Blood Secret Water!

One for deception, one for the finishing blow!

The ancestor remained silent, approaching Zhang Li to plant the gu.

After it was done, Qin Ruqing felt relaxed, took the ancestor’s hand, and said, “Ancestor, everything is fine now. Let’s go!”

The ancestor looked at her and said, “You used to be impulsive and unstable, but now it seems you’ve indeed taken my advice to heart and corrected your flaws… very well.”

Qin Ruqing chuckled, “Haha, Ancestor, you also think I’ve corrected my flaws! It’s all from the heart!”

Whether it was a lack of heart or too much heart, the ancestor couldn’t tell…