Qin Ruqing’s wasted lottery draw, which only yielded three Restorative Pills from the system’s shop, will not be discussed for now.

However, something fortunate did happen for the Qin family.

Since gaining half of the development rights to the secret realm, the Qin family did not dare to relax in the slightest.

Before long, they entered a tightly coordinated development phase.

For this, the Second Elder and Fifth Elder personally presided over operations—the Fifth Elder naturally being Qin Dexin, who had just attained foundational cultivation.

Currently, besides the Ancestor, she held the highest cultivation level in the Qin family.

Therefore, even though her seniority was not high, her promotion to elder was natural and indisputable.

After discussions in the clan meeting, the Qin family’s early focus in developing the secret realm centered around two main aspects:

Firstly, understanding the general conditions of the secret realm.

This involved mapping out the terrain, assessing spiritual energy concentrations, identifying potential locations for rare spiritual treasures, and checking for spiritual stone deposits, among other factors.

Secondly, the primary goal was to search intensively for spiritual herbs that could aid in alleviating the Ancestor’s injuries.

According to reports from the family members who returned from the secret realm reconnaissance, there was still no news on the spiritual herbs.

However, the Second Elder, who led the terrain survey, discovered a place suspected to be a spiritual stone vein.

Spiritual stones were the hard currency of the cultivation world, essential for both currency and cultivation resources.

Suddenly finding a potential vein dedicated to spiritual stones was crucial news for the Qin family, whose resources were always tight.

Upon hearing this, Clan Leader Qin Deming wasted no time and immediately sought out the clan’s most knowledgeable experts to investigate the location along with the Grand Elder.

Ultimately, after careful observation and exploration, they confirmed that it was indeed a spiritual stone vein—moreover, not of a low grade, but a medium-sized third-tier spiritual stone vein.

A third-tier spiritual stone vein!

What did this concept entail? Just to say, with this third-tier spiritual stone vein, the Qin family’s cultivation resources and economic development over the next decade or so would no longer be a concern.

Furthermore, the significance of a third-tier spiritual stone vein extended beyond this.

In the current world, the assessment of cultivation families had strict requirements.

These included population, clan land, highest combat power, and fixed assets, among other criteria.

And spiritual stone veins fell under the category of fixed assets for a family.

Currently, the Qin family was an Entry-grade family in the Southern Ridge County.

Although they had legitimately met the standards for being a family, in the grand scheme of family rankings, their scale was still considered insufficient.

Above Entry-grade were Silver-grade and Gold-grade families…

To achieve the status of a Silver-grade Lower-tier family and beyond, every aspect needed to be elevated by a notch.

Among these requirements, one of the criteria for a Silver-grade Lower-tier family was to possess at least a third-tier rare mineral vein.

Naturally, a third-tier spiritual stone vein was included among these rare mineral veins.

In other words, the Qin family had almost… taken a step into the ranks of Silver-grade Lower-tier families.

If the Ancestor’s injury could be fully healed in the future and, by some stroke of fortune, she could achieve the Golden Core stage…

Ah, the Qin family becoming a genuine Silver-grade family would not be entirely impossible!

In conclusion, acquiring a third-tier spiritual stone vein was an extraordinary stroke of luck for the Qin family, beyond their wildest dreams.

During a meeting of the elders, there was even serious discussion that perhaps the most precious resource in the reciprocal secret realm might just be this third-tier spiritual stone vein.

According to the location, this spiritual stone mine originally belonged to the Han family’s territory.

If it wasn’t for their ancestor defeating the Han family, causing them to give up the rights to develop their part of the secret realm, this third-grade spiritual stone mine might have ended up with the Han family.

The people of the Qin family became more and more frightened as they thought about it, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt fortunate.

They were grateful that heaven favored them by giving the Qin family three four-leaf spirit plants; grateful that their ancestor succeeded in alchemy, grateful that Qin Dexin successfully broke through Foundation Realm…

Considering that ever since the Qin family settled in Nanling County, they had been unlucky, but now it seemed that their luck was finally turning, and things were starting to look up?

As for the subsequent handling of the third-grade spiritual stone mine, naturally it was designated as a forbidden area by the Qin family, strictly guarded and kept secret.

Several elders meticulously arranged the highest-level defense formation that the Qin family could currently set up, and it was decided that at least one elder would guard the spiritual mine vein day and night.

Misfortunes never come alone, but good things often come in pairs.

Apart from this spiritual stone mine, the Qin family also found many rare spirit medicines in the secret realm.

Although they were not of much help to the ancestor’s injury, they could at least repair the energy and vitality consumed during this time.

Therefore, large quantities of spirit medicines and spiritual stones were transported to the ancestral chamber where the ancestor was in seclusion.

Qin Deming also ordered people to set up a gathering spirit formation around the chamber.

Now, the area around the ancestral chamber where the ancestor was in seclusion already had spiritual energy as rich as a small-scale secret realm.

The efforts of the Qin family were not in vain.

Originally, due to the injuries of Ancestor Wenxuan, it would have taken several years of seclusion at least, and if the situation was worse, even ten years might have been possible.

Now, with those spirit medicines and spiritual stones, Ancestor Wenxuan unexpectedly emerged from seclusion after just one year.

It is said that on the day when the clan members went to check if the gathering spirit formation and spiritual stones around the ancestral chamber needed to be replaced as usual, they were shocked to see the Ancestor calmly walking out of the chamber in a white robe.

The clan members checking the formation sat down on the ground in shock, then hugged the Ancestor’s legs in tears of joy.

Knowing that the ancestor had emerged from seclusion, the people of the Qin family joyously came to pay their respects.

The ancestor’s complexion was no longer as pale as when she entered seclusion; seeing her stable aura and strong spiritual power, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The usually indifferent ancestor rarely showed a smile to the Qin family members. “I have seen all that you have done for me during this time. You have worked hard, but now I am fine.”

Qin Deming stepped forward and carefully reported on the Qin family’s situation over the past year.

After listening, the ancestor nodded faintly. “You have done well. As for the formations around the spiritual stone mine, I will check and improve them when I have time to ensure everything is secure.”

After a pause, the ancestor suddenly added, “Now that we have the spiritual stone mine, there’s no need to save on nurturing resources for the children, especially for Qin Ruqing and Qin Qirong… How about this? Since I’ve emerged from seclusion, and it’s a critical time for their cultivation, let’s have them come to Idle Shadow Residence. I will personally teach them.”

This statement surprised everyone in the Qin family.

The ancestor intended to personally teach Qin Ruqing and Qin Qirong?

Their talents were indeed outstanding, especially Qin Ruqing, who was a rare genius in the Qin family for a hundred years.

However, the ancestor rarely intervened in family affairs on ordinary days.

Could it be that she was feeling better and now wanted to focus on nurturing these two juniors of the Qin family?

This was quite sudden and somewhat strange!

But no matter how people speculated, since the ancestor had spoken, and this was a good opportunity for the two children, naturally, no one would oppose it.

So, that day, Qin Deming returned home and had Qin Ruqing summoned.

He said to her with a puzzled expression, “Um… Qingqing, pack up. Soon, you will move to the ancestor’s Shadow Residence.”

This statement was abrupt…

Qin Ruqing widened her eyes, bewildered.

Sitting beside them, Luo Xian gave Qin Deming a glare.

This old guy couldn’t speak properly.

But when she turned to look at Qin Ruqing, she couldn’t help but show a hint of joy.

“Qingqing, my child, this is a great opportunity! The ancestor has emerged from seclusion and intends to teach you and Qirong personally. For the convenience of the ancestor’s teaching, you and Qirong will move to the ancestor’s Shadow Residence…”

After briefly explaining the situation, Luo Xian couldn’t contain her excitement. “The ancestor has never taught the younger generation before, except for your father, but that was a long time ago. However, the ancestor is your father’s aunt, so it makes sense for her to take care of you. Teaching you, she must see the potential in my child…”

Luo Xian couldn’t help but continue to chatter on.

Qin Ruqing was bombarded with the “benefits” flooding her mind, feeling bewildered.

The ancestor intended to personally teach her and Qirong! What on earth was happening?