This must have been planned for a long time.

Tang Zifeng must have decided a long time ago to refine this semi-divine for her at the Hundred Clans Conference.

It was incredibly bold and daring!

This was the Hundred Clans Conference, where there was only one spot for the Void Realm in the refining competition, meaning he only had one chance to succeed.

If he failed, it would be disastrous. Yet, he still dared to challenge the semi-divine level artifact.

Even though Qin Ruqing knew he would succeed, she was still shocked by this decision. Why choose such a crucial competition to refine a semi-divine?

As she reflected on the past scenes, Tang Zifeng had indeed successfully refined the semi-divine under the gaze of many, handing it to her amid cheers.

Qin Ruqing gradually understood his subtle intention.

“This is the highest honor I can achieve at the moment. I use it to symbolize the end of the past and the beginning of the future. Now, I give it to you.”

Qin Ruqing had gone over the situation multiple times, adding in some things she had previously overlooked, and arrived at a conclusion that made her ears steam.

“Could Xiao Tang be… subtly confessing to me?!”

“Ah, it shouldn’t be that she has love-struck tendencies, right?”

“Ahhhhhhh!”

“Surely I’m overthinking this!”

Once she started thinking along this line, Qin Ruqing’s thoughts flowed like a flood that had burst its banks, completely uncontrollable.

As a result, she hadn’t slept well for two nights.

However, the storyline in the illusion continued, and Qin Ruqing couldn’t ask Xiao Tang about it—she couldn’t just pull out a communication spirit stone and call Xiao Tang, who was in another realm, to ask:

“Hey, Tang Zifeng, do you like me? Have you been secretly confessing to me all this time?”

How could she possibly ask that?

Qin Ruqing decided to bury her head in the sand and was initially relieved that she was still in the illusion.

But soon, she was no longer relieved.

After the Hundred Clans Conference, the illusion’s storyline seemed to be going awry.

After the ceremonial return to her ancestral home, Tang Zifeng stayed on as an elder in the Qin family.

This wasn’t the problem.

The issue was that the illusion had cut out her future journey to Penglai for further studies and started making up new content!

As it went on, the illusion’s Ancestor began asking her about her thoughts on marriage.

Qin Ruqing: “Huh?”

Seeing that the Ancestor was quite serious, she blinked and said, “I haven’t thought about it. My biggest thought right now is to go to the Ruins later and promote our Qin family to the top grade.”

The Ancestor said, “You’re going to take my position in the future. Regardless of anything else, remember to find a suitable spouse.”

Meaning, don’t be swayed by any young man’s sweet talk and end up in someone else’s family.

Find a suitable spouse, huh? Although she wasn’t thinking about this right now, the Ancestor made a good point.

Whether or not she had a partner was another matter, but she definitely wouldn’t let anyone bring her into their family.

Qin Ruqing nodded.

The Ancestor seemed relieved and then said, “I think Xiao Tang is quite good.”

“Huh?”

“Recently, the Tang Clan leader mentioned the possibility of a marriage alliance between the Qin and Tang families.

He said he had asked Tang Zifeng about it, and Tang Zifeng is interested in you.

The Tang Clan leader also mentioned that Tang Zifeng, being so foolish, is not only serving as an elder for your Qin family but also sending spirit tools.

He’s almost giving the whole Tang family to the Qin family. He knows that the Tang family owes Tang Zifeng and doesn’t ask for much, just hopes that you can formalize things and give Tang Zifeng a title.”

“The Tang Clan leader also boasted that Tang Zifeng’s talents and appearance are such that he would be suitable as a top-grade husband.

The Qin family would definitely gain from this. I think the Tang Clan leader’s words are quite fair. What do you think?” The Ancestor looked at Qin Ruqing leisurely.

What could Qin Ruqing say?

She could only force a laugh, “Well… isn’t it a bit early to bring this up now!”

The Ancestor laughed, “I’m just asking your opinion. If you’re unwilling, I can inform the Tang family. Then, you won’t have to worry about this matter anymore.”

The intention was to refuse the Tang family without causing her any more concern, but, if she did refuse, Tang Zifeng would surely find out.

No! Even in the illusion, Qin Ruqing felt extremely awkward and would have no way to face Tang Zifeng in the future.

Qin Ruqing quickly waved her hand, “No, no, no, there’s no need. Just come up with some excuse to brush off the Tang Clan leader, saying that I’m still young and should focus on my cultivation. Anyway, don’t agree or refuse…” Qin Ruqing’s gaze was evasive, and she finally decided, “Just… delay it.”

And so, it was delayed for ten years.

These ten years were completely new plotlines created by the illusion on top of the previous foundation.

They still entered the Void Real., but there was no selection for inheritance this time.

Over the decade, the Qin family finally avenged their grievances, successfully dealt with the Fang family, and achieved top-grade status.

Eventually, the whole family relocated, moving from South Ridge to Dongyu Buzhou Island.

Regarding the choice of location for the Qin family’s upgrade and relocation, there was considerable debate within the clan.

The Qin family’s former ancestral land was in Yingzhou, known as the Dongyu Yingzhou Qin Clan.

Given the relocation, it would make sense to move back to Yingzhou.

However, according to Qin Ruqing and the elder, when the Qin family had moved away, the Yingzhou Qin Clan no longer existed, replaced by the South Ridge Qin Clan.

Now that they had reclaimed the Qin family’s glory, it was also under the South Ridge Qin Clan’s identity.

Since that was the case, the past should be left behind.

The Qin family no longer needed to cling to past glory; the current Qin family would only be better than the Yingzhou Qin Clan. They should look forward.

Thus, the location was decided as Dongyu Buzhou Island, which Qin Ruqing described as the super-prime inner ring.

At this point, the illusion’s plot still made some sense.

Qin Ruqing thought the plot had broken down when the illusion seemed obsessed with her and Xiao Tang’s marriage.

Sure enough, the Ancestor brought up the old marriage issue that had been delayed for ten years.

The Ancestor said that the Tang family was now an honorary family of the artifact association and was about to be upgraded as well.

Tang Zifeng was also an elder of the artifact association.

He couldn’t just stay in the Qin family without a title (the Tang Clan leader’s exact words), whether or not it was successful, there should be an explanation.

Qin Ruqing realized that her marriage with Tang Zifeng was a crucial plot point in this illusion.

If she kept refusing, the illusion would continue to drag it out.

So far, the sword in her mind had not appeared, indicating that her task progress was stuck.

Alright, if you’re going to play this game, let’s see what tricks you can come up with.

Qin Ruqing motivated herself bravely, and since it was just an illusion, everything was fake.

Once she was out, who would know if she didn’t say anything?

Qin Ruqing finally agreed.

The moment she agreed, the sword in the trial tower flashed in her mind.

As expected, Qin Ruqing had already guessed that the illusion was so focused on Tang Zifeng that he had to be her target for the sixth task.

The illusion quickly progressed to her and Tang Zifeng holding a ceremony to announce their partnership to the heavens, with Xiao Tang becoming the Qin family’s suitor.

As for whether the illusion included any indescribable scenes… that was of course impossible; the illusion was pure!

Anything below the neck was covered in layers of codes, and certainly, nothing inappropriate above the neck either!

As the plot continued, Qin Ruqing had become one of the most powerful figures in the cultivation world, and the barrier between the human and beast realms was about to break.

It was also reported that the current Beast Emperor, through inheriting the ancestor’s crystal core, had experienced a bloodline return phenomenon, greatly surpassing previous generations.

The top human forces faced a lack of succession, and the cultivation world urgently needed someone who could stand against the Beast Emperor.

The pressure was now on Qin Ruqing.

She said, “My realm comprehension isn’t enough. Even if I want to break through, I can’t.”

But solutions are found by people.

The high-level human leaders searched through ancient texts and finally discovered a method used by their ancestors: cultivators actively severing worldly ties to achieve a rapid breakthrough in realm and power.

The powerful figures told Qin Ruqing: “At our level of cultivation, the influence of the family is minimal. After all, we ascend and can benefit the family, resolving all karma. The hardest part for you is having a partner.”

The implication was clear—they wanted Qin Ruqing to—kill her husband to achieve enlightenment.

Kill her husband to achieve enlightenment… Qin Ruqing screamed internally:

“Help—! I knew you’d take it this far! I should have realized when you were so insistent on me and Tang Zifeng’s binding contracts! After so many years, you really dare to use this old trope again!”

“And most importantly! How many novels tell us—playing the ruthless path in Cultivation World is destined for a bad end!”