Qin Ruqing tried to rush back into the Origin Rule Cave but was stopped by Fifth Youlin.

He held her back, sighed, and said:

“You have already passed through the Origin Cave; you cannot go back.”

Qin Ruqing turned her head with genuine sorrow on her face: “But I still don’t know the result of that meeting—the ultimate killing array that required the sacrifice of a hundred ancient experts. Was it effective in the end or not?”

“You cannot go back, but I can. I can return to help you see the outcome again—though I believe, no matter how many times we look, the senior behind the scenes does not intend to let us know the result,” Fifth Youlin said calmly.

“It’s fine. If you see it again, and still nothing can be done, then I’ll just give up.” Qin Ruqing said, looking at Fifth Youlin with a touch of gratitude, her eyes full of stars. “Young Master, I didn’t expect you to be so kind. I thought our friendship hadn’t reached this stage yet…”

Fifth Youlin replied: “…There’s no need to be so honest with your feelings. Also, I’m going back because you passed the Origin Rule Cave while I did not. As the young master of the Fifth family, I cannot just give up like this.”

Oh, right, their core purpose was to find the complete inheritance.

Since Fifth Lingyu never chose the Origin Cave, all hope for the Fifth family rested solely on Fifth Youlin.

Qin Ruqing instantly dropped her emotional expression and formally bowed to Fifth Youlin. “In that case, Young Master, I won’t take up any more of your time!” She sincerely added, “Without me this time, you will definitely be able to pass through smoothly!”

Actually, it wouldn’t have made a difference if you hadn’t added that last line…

Fifth Youlin looked at Qin Ruqing’s face, which changed within a breath, with a sense of eerie transformation.

Fortunately, as a young master, his demeanor remained composed.

Seeing Qin Ruqing’s drastic change in expression, he only slightly tightened his jaw, then nodded and said solemnly:

“Thank you so much…”

After speaking, Fifth Youlin, as if he had wind under his feet, gave a slight nod to Qin Ruqing and then swiftly re-entered the Source Realm, disappearing as if fleeing.

Once Fifth Youlin was gone, Qin Ruqing couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“‘Thank you’… This Young Master really is quite a character. He and Fifth Lingyu are a stark contrast in personalities. I wonder how the Fifth family educates their children; the two sons of the clan leader are so different in character.”

After Fifth Youlin left, Qin Ruqing clapped her hands and sat down.

Since the trial had ended and she was now free to reflect on her gains, she decided to review her achievements.

However, upon counting, Qin Ruqing’s expression darkened.

She hadn’t seen any gains yet, but the expenses were glaringly obvious—she had used up half of the rule power reserves of the entire Wild City to defeat Fifth Youlin!

The sudden depletion was quite distressing for Qin Ruqing.

“It’s fine. Once I get out, I can brag about defeating the Fifth family’s Young Master, a figure on par with Feng Mingyue in the younger generation of the cultivation world.

Even if I had to rely on external help, others won’t know that. Even if they ask Fifth Youlin, his reserved nature means he won’t bother explaining much. Isn’t this a great way to earn accomplishments?” Qin Ruqing encouraged herself.

Having given herself this pep talk, she looked at the depleted half of the rule power and felt less heartache.

Additionally, Qin Ruqing remembered something.

She opened the system, which she hadn’t accessed for a long time, and discovered that even in a place like the Void Real., with powerful entities watching from the depths of the Immortal Tomb, the system was still functioning normally.

Qin Ruqing nodded to herself and checked the system’s appearance tasks.

She had a clear plan for her journey through the Void Realm.

Although there were some unexpected events, the overall direction remained unchanged.

One of the tasks noted in Qin Ruqing’s little notebook was:

—Using the top talents cultivated by these noble families to elevate her status and complete her appearance task!

Having just defeated Fifth Youlin, even if it was with the help of the field, it was still a victory.

She wanted to see if this would advance her appearance task.

In Qin Ruqing’s view, the green progress bar had clearly surpassed the halfway mark and even moved a bit further.

Seeing this, Qin Ruqing finally smiled with satisfaction.

Previously, the progress bar hadn’t reached halfway.

The Hundred Clans Conference and the marketing efforts of the top female cultivator from the Fang family had completed the earlier part of the progress.

Now, defeating the Celestial Grade Young Master had caused a significant leap in progress.

This validated Qin Ruqing’s previous hypothesis: defeating top noble family talents could indeed thoroughly complete this appearance task.

Satisfied with her achievements, Qin Ruqing checked her body once more and confirmed the greatest reward from this trial:

It seemed that she could now use the Ten Thousand Things Field even outside.

The domain obtained from the Fifth family felt unfamiliar to her because it was not something she had comprehended herself. It seemed almost alien within her body.

Previously, Qin Ruqing’s highest achievement with it was to activate it for a single breath, but that glorious moment only happened when she first obtained it. After that, she could never reopen the door to this noble domain.

Until she entered the Origin Rule Cave, Qin Ruqing seemed to have gained enlightenment, mastering how to use it intuitively and automatically understanding its basic functions.

In general:

It could inflict various negative statuses on opponents.

It could enhance positive statuses for herself.

It could use the various trials in the Four Prisons to trouble enemies.

…

The last, more subtle function was something Qin Ruqing discovered herself during use:

The domain itself was a small world composed of countless rules. If she mastered enough rules to a deep enough extent, she could rewrite the domain like a programmer modifying code, transforming the domain into what she desired.

The method she used to create the rain of flames and even to perform the ancient female cultivator’s ultimate move involved this method.

Qin Ruqing examined and believed that the greatest potential of this domain in the future was its ability to be rewritten by her.

Once she mends and alters it completely to her liking, it would essentially become a domain truly belonging to her!

Qin Ruqing smacked her lips, feeling quite pleased.

Moreover, there was another secret gain…

Qin Ruqing stood up, a string of strange language emerging from her mouth.

— The Beast Language’s “return home.”

Of course, obtaining such great benefits in the Four Prisons came at a cost.

She had already promised the mysterious mighty being to rescue the inhabitants of the Sin City.

At that time, she was completely confused and had taken on the task with great reluctance.

Now, she was starting to see some hints.

Looking again at the six glowing orbs, with the Origin already concluded for her, it was time to choose the next Rule Cave to enter.

Before taking action, Qin Ruqing decisively opened the leaderboard in her mind.

She first checked on her third sister, Qirong, Tang Zifeng and others, finding that they were still in the cave.

Nodding, she then looked at the Rule Cave representing the Xuanming inheritance. Qin Ruqing’s eyes widened slightly as she noticed that Fifth Lingyu was no longer inside!

“This person has already come out? Did he pass or fail? And Xuanming, isn’t that the Feng family’s celestial-grade inheritance? Is he even stronger than Feng Mingyue?”

“…?”

Qin Ruqing rubbed her hands together. “Xuanming, that’s good. Many people, all heavyweight talents! Feng Mingyue, Lu Zhiyao, Dang Qing, and oh, there’s also Fang Zhejun from the Fang family! With so many people gathered together, it saves me the trouble of searching for them one by one. Really not bad!”

Qin Ruqing strode towards the Xuanming Rule Cave. Upon entering, she found it pitch black inside, unlike the Five Elements Cave, where the rule power was clearly perceptible, or the Origin Cave, which guided you through the plot directly.

Qin Ruqing held her breath and waited for a moment, noticing a beam of light shining down from above… of course, it wasn’t shining on her directly but rather in front of her, revealing a set of standing, empty armor in the darkness.

Yes, literally empty armor—there was no body inside to support it, yet it stood there, holding a long spear as if it were alive.

Suddenly, the two black holes in the armor’s helmet lit up with eerie blue ghostly flames.

Qin Ruqing swiftly darted aside, adopting a defensive stance and watching the armor warily.

To her surprise, the armor spoke: “Welcome to the Trial Tower.”

What?

Qin Ruqing made sure the armor posed no danger and approached hesitantly, asking, “Trial Tower? Isn’t this the Xuanming Rule Cave?”

The hollow armor, resembling a mechanical NPC, recited its lines: “You are a prisoner in the Trial Tower. To leave the Trial Tower, you must complete the corresponding tasks. Will you choose to leave or stay?”

Oh, this must be the assessment for the Xuanming Rule Cave. Leaving probably means passing?

Qin Ruqing responded, “I choose to leave!”

Armor: “The trialist has chosen to leave. The trial task is now officially initiated. Please select a number for yourself.”

As she spoke, numbers from one to ten appeared in front of Qin Ruqing.

Qin Ruqing pondered for a moment and then asked a peculiar question, “Hmm… Is it that I can only choose one character?”

The air was silent for a while, and the armor seemed to lag. After a moment, it replied, “…The Trial Tower has no such requirement.”

Oh, that’s good to know.

Qin Ruqing relaxed her expression and, without hesitation, selected the numbers 9, 4, and 6 in sequence, then cheerfully said, “946 is my number!”

Just six!

Armor: “Understood. Trialist 946, do you wish to start the first trial task now?”

Qin Ruqing firmly said, “Yes!”

The beam of light above disappeared, and Qin Ruqing was engulfed by darkness once more.

When the light reappeared, the armor NPC had vanished, replaced by a jade basin containing a thick, red substance—blood?

The trial task automatically appeared in Qin Ruqing’s mind:

Before you is the essence blood of an ancient king-level demon. It can significantly enhance your physique, provide pure fire attribute energy, and even improve your control over fire attribute rules.

The best method of use is internal consumption. So now, your choices are:

A: Drink the demon’s blood (Perfect effect)

B: Apply it to your body (Barely useful)

C: Only sniff the scent, hoping to absorb the energy (Self-deception)

D: Meditate while looking at it (Wait and see)

After reading the question and options, Qin Ruqing stared in astonishment for a while, unable to suppress a soul-deep exclamation:

“Truly impressive…”