Qin Deming glared at Qin Ruqing with some irritation.

This girl dared to tease even her father.

But, despite her mischievous eyes, he indeed hadn’t slept.

He had been standing in the neighboring courtyard, lost in thought under the moonlight (…).

Turning around, he heard the loud noises coming from Qingqing’s courtyard and hurried over to see the “scene” there.

Ruqing naturally knew what was troubling her father.

Thinking about the results of her experiment just now, she spun her thoughts and reassured, “Dad, when the ship reaches the bridge, it will naturally find a way. Who knows, someone in our family might come up with a better recovery pill than the one from the Zhang family?”

Qin Deming smiled, his expression softening, “Are you talking about yourself, Qingqing? With your skill in alchemy, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that you possess high level alchemy that on par with our Ancestor.”

Qin Ruqing stamped her foot, “Dad! I’m comforting you, and you’re teasing me!”

She pushed Qin Deming out, showing a stance of unwelcome, “Just worry about your own matters, pretend I didn’t say anything!”

Qin Deming went along with her push, happily walking away.

After teasing his daughter for a bit, his mood had improved.

Thinking about what Qingqing had said, “when the ship reaches the bridge,” he couldn’t help but think of their Qin family’s heritage in alchemy.

Wasn’t there anyone capable of deciphering the unknown alchemy formulas created by some unknown alchemist?

Feeling refreshed and clear-minded, he walked out, the door behind him closing with a bang.

This girl had a big temper, and he was impressed

She had spoiled her.

Looking ahead to Qingqing’s marriage, it seemed she would need to “recruit” and find a well-behaved and gentle son-in-law, so Qingqing wouldn’t suffer.

Thinking that Qingqing was still young and it was too early to consider such things, he shook his head and leisurely left the place.

Qin Ruqing locked the gate of her courtyard and turned her eyes around.

Huh, joking that her alchemy skills were poor, even the ancestor who personally taught her didn’t say anything.

However, her malodorous alchemical skills had become a joke in the Qin family, so if she claimed this time that she had improved the Qi Revitalization Pill, the Qin family would surely be skeptical.

Because alchemy was a profession that valued insight, it was rare for someone with poor alchemy talent to accidentally improve a very rare and precious pill formula.

So, this matter needed some handling.

For Qin Ruqing, it didn’t matter who improved the pill formula; as long as the matter concluded, the benefits would be hers when the system settled.

It was just a bit of trouble now to find a suitable candidate to improve the Qi Revitalization Pill.

Who would be suitable for this role? Qin Ruqing hardly thought about it and immediately thought of someone.

Her third sister, Lu Wei, wasn’t she a ready-made candidate?

She was the “support” in their team.

If she was rewarded by the family later, it would enhance their team’s strength.

Moreover, if her third sister became famous because of this, it would also push forward the system’s side quest [“Outstanding Descendants”].

This would earn her more points, plus the reward points for helping the family improve the Qi Revitalization Pill…

All in all, she was winning big this time!

Without further hesitation, Qin Ruqing returned happily to her room, summoned the system, and exchanged points for a Qi Revitalization Pill formula produced by the system.

She quickly skimmed through the formula and indeed found it different from their Qi Restoration Pill formula.

Qin Ruqing asked the system, “System, why is the Qi Revitalization Pill sold in the mall completely different from ours here?”

After a while, the system replied, “The system mall has undergone dozens of generations of hosts and traversed countless high and low-level immortal realms. Isn’t it normal for it to be different from your world?”

True.

Qin Ruqing thought of something and brightened up, saying, “Does that mean besides the Qi Revitalization Pill, the quality of other pills in the mall is better than ours here?”

If so, she could exploit the system even more.

But this time, Qin Ruqing would probably be disappointed as the system coldly said, “The things stored in the system mall come from advanced realms, and some realms are even inferior to the world where the host resides, so I cannot guarantee that all pill grades are higher than those in this world.”

Qin Ruqing sighed in disappointment but quickly cheered up.

Not all of them, so there’s still a part, right?

It seemed like this fat sheep of a system still had a lot of development potential.

Putting this matter aside, the next day Qin Ruqing was already thinking about how to “handle” her third sister.

For instance, at this moment, Qin Luwei was still researching how to improve the pill formula.

Qin Ruqing sat beside her observing her movements, while Qirong continued his cultivation with the cauldron.

The scene was the same, but Qin Ruqing’s state of mind was completely different.

Her gaze swept over the neatly laid out spirit herbs on the clean cloth.

Spirit grass, Qiangwu, thousand-year-old Lingdang ginseng, and other miscellaneous herbs

Putting aside other details for now, the main difference between the three main ingredients and the formula produced by the system lies in the herbs.

Qin Ruqing assisted Qin Luwei while curiously asking, “Sister, I know that Spirit Grass absorbs spiritual energy for communication, but what about the other two herbs? Qiangwu is understandable, but why use such high-quality tonic as thousand-year-old Lingdang ginseng just to refine the Qi Restoration Pill?”

Qin Luwei tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and gently explained, “Spirit Grass absorbs a chaotic mix of spiritual energies, which need to be regulated with these herbs. Including Lingdang ginseng and Qiangwu helps stabilize the spiritual energies and prevent them from causing disturbances. Otherwise, taking a Qi Revitalization Pill might not restore much spiritual energy and could even cause an adverse reaction.”

Qin Ruqing nodded as if understanding, then added, “But I’ve observed that the area where Spirit Grass grows has very stable spiritual energy. I wonder what the principle behind that is…”

Qin Ruqing’s grape-like eyes reflected the slender and serene figure of Qin Luwei…

Oh, dear third sister, think about the principle behind it.

Why does Spirit Grass have such a strong ability to stimulate spiritual energy while the surrounding spiritual energy remains stable?

In her mind, Qin Ruqing recited the answer: Starshard Flower.

The companion plant of Spirit Grass.

Well, not exactly a companion, but in the environment where Spirit Grass grows, there must be Starshard Flowers.

The pill formula she had exchanged from the system last night was actually very simple, so simple that Qin Ruqing could hardly believe it.

It stated that the main ingredients for the Qi Restoration Pill were only two: the essential Spirit Grass and the Starshard Flower that naturally grows alongside Spirit Grass.

Starshard Flower, as the name suggests, with golden petals shaped like shattered stars.

It was unremarkable and not used in any kind of pill in the immortal realm.

Because this flower had no spiritual attributes whatsoever; it was merely a common companion plant.

Yet, this ordinary flower could soothe the spiritual energy stimulated by Spirit Grass.

They complemented each other perfectly, each indispensable to the other.

This was something Qin Ruqing had pondered over for a long time the previous night: there was no need to artificially use expensive supplementary herbs to regulate spiritual energy.

Nature had a better arrangement.

With Starshard Flowers naturally growing alongside Spirit Grass, and being so inexpensive, one could imagine how low the cost of producing such pills would be.

Qin Ruqing looked brightly at Qin Luwei and thought, ‘Third sister, I saw the answer and deduced the result, so it’s hardly worth mentioning. With your talent in alchemy, you should have figured it out, right?’

Qin Luwei didn’t notice Qin Ruqing’s gaze.

Truth be told, after Qin Ruqing raised that question earlier, she felt as if a fine mist had settled in her mind.

It was neither clear nor obscure.

Yes, why was the environment where Spirit Grass grew so stable in spiritual energy?

There was no use of Qiangwu or Lingdang ginseng to regulate the spiritual energy around it.

Qin Luwei’s gaze slowly lowered to the Spirit Grass laid out on the cloth.

These Spirit Grasses had just been picked from the Qin family’s medicinal garden in the early morning, still glistening with dew.

Among the deep green grass, she suddenly spotted a splash of gold.

Hesitantly, Qin Luwei reached out and plucked the golden item.

Starshard Flower…

In her haste to weed, she had also taken a few bunches of Starshard Flowers mixed among the grasses.

Where Spirit Grass grew, Starshard Flowers were sure to be found… But why did they have to be there?

A flash of insight crossed her mind, and Qin Luwei clenched the golden flower in her hand, sap oozing between her fingers.

As if stunned and enlightened at the same time, she said, “Ruqing, I think I’ve figured it out…”