Although Qin Ruqing was anxious, she didn’t act rashly.

With the Ancestor just coming out of seclusion, many people would be visiting to pay their respects.

It was a good opportunity to ask her mother about the Ancestor’s situation.

Qin Ruqing moved closer to Luo Xian and asked curiously, “Mother, do you know how the Ancestor got injured?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about this?” Luo Xian was puzzled.

Qin Ruqing casually replied, “I’m just curious. The Ancestor’s injury hasn’t healed, and her cultivation level has dropped significantly. Of course, I want to understand the reason.”

Luo Xian nodded, agreeing that it was natural for Qin Ruqing to be concerned about the Ancestor, who had personally taught her.

She explained, “The Ancestor was injured while defending against a beast tide.”

“A beast tide!” Qin Ruqing straightened up, her face turning serious.

As a well-educated child of a prominent cultivation family, she understood the gravity of a beast tide.

Demonic beasts and the demon race were the greatest threats in this world.

The demon race was somewhat elusive, and there were fewer demons in Nanling County, with the main threat being demonic beasts.

According to the historical records of Nanling County, beast tides occurred every hundred years, with intervals ranging from one hundred to three hundred years.

It was unexpected that the Qin family had encountered one.

Luo Xian continued, “Beast tides are extremely dangerous. The Qin family was assigned by the Immortal Registry to defend the west side of Luoxia Peak against demonic beasts. Unfortunately, they encountered a Golden Core stage Ice Flame Beast.”

“The Ancestor, despite suffering severe injuries, managed to hold off the Ice Flame Beast until the head of the Immortal Registry arrived for reinforcements.

The Qin family made great contributions and subsequently secured their position in Nanling County.

However, the Ancestor was poisoned by the Ice Flame Beast’s fire poison.”

With just a few sentences, Qin Ruqing was on edge.

Her mother spoke calmly, but she could imagine the peril involved.

The Ancestor had held off a Golden Core stage demonic beast with her late Foundation Establishment cultivation! No wonder she was so gravely injured!

Moreover, “fire poison?” Qin Ruqing focused on those two words.

Luo Xian nodded. “It’s said that the Ice Flame Beast’s fire poison is extremely dangerous.

Although it’s a fire poison, it has an extremely cold nature.

I’m not an alchemist, so I don’t know the exact method to cure this poison. Only the Ancestor would know.”

As Qin Ruqing hurried towards Shadow Residence, she kept pondering her mother’s words.

So, the Ancestor was poisoned by a Golden Core stage Ice Flame Beast.

This poison, though fiery, had an extremely cold nature.

No wonder the spirit medicine needed to heal the old ancestor was described as “mildly cold” and “having both extreme heat and extreme cold properties.”

This matched the characteristics of the Ice Flame Beast.

Qin Ruqing made up her mind to find out the names of those two types of spirit medicines today.

The Ancestor’s injury could not be delayed any longer!

While Qin Ruqing was on her way to Shadow Residence, her father, Qin Deming, had already arrived early to report to the Ancestor.

Qin Deming carefully explained the recent situation of the Qin family.

From diluting part of the Spiritual milk to sell Marrow Cleansing Elixirs, to the Zhang family being provoked into launching their improved Revitalization Pills, followed by Qin Luwei also improving the Revitalization Pills with outstanding results, and the subsequent series of marketing strategies.

There were so many developments that even the Ancestor was somewhat surprised. “I didn’t expect that during my one month in seclusion, so much would happen to the Qin family.”

“Luwei…” The Ancestor mentioned the name. “I heard from the Clan Leader that this child seems to have exceptional talent in alchemy?”

“Indeed,” Qin Deming replied. “The family’s success in improving the Revitalization Pill is all thanks to her. Even the usually stern Third Elder praised her diligence and extraordinary talent.”

Although Qin Deming was always generous with praise for the family’s outstanding younger generation, when he mentioned “all thanks to her,” he couldn’t help but think of his own daughter.

He wondered if it was just his fatherly bias, but he felt that Qingqing had played a significant role in improving the Revitalization Pill.

However, recalling his daughter’s less-than-stellar alchemy skills, Qin Deming thought he might be overestimating her.

The Ancestor, who was primarily focused on alchemy despite her sword cultivation, became interested in Qin Luwei.

Seeing a talented alchemist in the family was something she was delighted about.

The Ancestor said, “Arrange for Luwei to meet me sometime soon.”

Qin Deming understood that the old ancestor intended to nurture Luwei.

After reporting the Qin family’s affairs, Qin Deming was about to leave Shadow Residence when he bumped into Qin Ruqing, who was running over.

Hmm? What is this girl doing here?

“Qingqing, what brings you here?” Qin Deming asked.

Qin Ruqing paused her cheerful steps.

Seeing her father, she quickly came up with an explanation. “Father, Ancestor has been teaching me. Now that she’s out of seclusion, I should come to see her, shouldn’t I?”

Qin Deming nodded.

That made sense.

Busy with clan matters, he didn’t linger and simply gave Qin Ruqing a few reminders before leaving.

With no more obstacles, Qin Ruqing finally met the old ancestor, her excitement evident.

“Ancestor!”

The Ancestor was pleased to see her as well. “You and your father arrived one after the other. He mentioned you’ve been quite busy lately?”

Qin Ruqing modestly waved her hand. “Just small matters, not worth bothering you about.”

Despite her words, her wide grin showed she was quite pleased with her recent accomplishments.

She quickly asked, “Ancestor, did the jade marrow help your injury? How is your recovery?”

The Ancestor replied briefly, “It helped somewhat. Why do you ask?”

“Just concerned about your injury!” But inside, Qin Ruqing was worried.

It seemed the Ancestor was reluctant to elaborate.

No, she had to find out about the spirit medicines today, no matter what!

Determined, Qin Ruqing maintained a calm exterior.

She casually brought up the topic, “By the way, Ancestor, you mentioned before that to heal your injury, you needed two things:

a mild cold substance and a spirit item with both extreme heat and extreme cold properties.

I remember that, but you never told me their specific names.

Even if I wanted to find them for you, it would be difficult without knowing what to look for!”

Her tone sounded like a child’s complaint, making Ancestor Wenxuan laugh.

She glanced at Qin Ruqing, “What, if I tell you the names, can you immediately find them for me?”

Qin Ruqing wasn’t afraid in the least. “I can certainly try! With their names, I might have better luck finding them.”

Qin Ruqing continued and raised her head and said, “That’s not necessarily true. Maybe I’ll be lucky and stumble upon it… Hehe, I’ve always thought my luck was pretty good.”

Qin Ruqing praised herself.

Little did she know, the Ancestor pondered for a while and actually affirmed her statement, “You do have some luck. Those who possess Dao physique are all favored by the heavens.”

Qin Ruqing remained silent.

lLuck was somewhat of a superstition in the cultivation world, and most people believed in it to some extent—of course, perhaps it wasn’t just superstition but had some truth to it.

Qin Ruqing was happy to let those around her speculate that she was favored by great luck, as it saved her from explaining many things.

Besides, from another perspective, possessing a system and awakening Dao physique could be seen as a manifestation of luck, right?

So Qin Ruqing followed the Ancestor’s lead and said with a flattering tone, “Therefore, since my luck is so abundant, it’s only right for me to find the healing spirit medicine for you, Ancestor. You should tell me!”

Qin Ruqing started shaking the Ancestor’s arm.

Unable to resist her persistence, the Ancestor finally relented, “Alright, I’ll tell you.”

Perhaps when mentioning her injury, the Ancestor became very serious.

Her expression turned solemn, “My injury is quite tricky. To completely heal it, I need two extremely rare and uncommon spiritual items from heaven and earth.”

“The first one is called the Heart of Frigid Ice. It’s what I mentioned earlier, an extremely gentle substance of extreme cold.”

“All things have spirits. The Heart of Frigid Ice, also known as the Spirit of Frigid Ice, is the spiritual essence formed by condensing ten thousand years of profound cold ice. It’s not a lifeless object; it has certain ‘living’ characteristics and is adept at hiding.”

“The ten thousand years of profound cold ice itself is already an extremely rare ice attribute spiritual substance.

Moreover, the spiritual essence formed by it is so rare that even a hundred feet of profound cold ice might not produce a trace of it.

Furthermore, the formed Heart of Frigid Ice will automatically conceal itself, making it even harder to find.”

Qin Ruqing frowned deeply upon hearing this.

It could hide itself?

This was indeed quite tricky.

Unable to help herself, Qin Ruqing placed her hope on the second type of spiritual item, “So, Ancestor, what about the second one? What’s the second spiritual item you need?”

The Ancestor sighed, “The difficulty in obtaining the second one is even greater than the first. Just mentioning it will only add to your troubles.”

Here we go again.

Ancestor, why do you always think like this?

We’re not afraid of trouble at all.

With more people, there’s more strength.

Why do you insist on bearing everything alone?

Qin Ruqing quickly reassured him, “It’s okay, I’m bold enough. It won’t be too much trouble for me… Ancestor, please tell me.”

“I’m bold,” was the first time someone said that about themselves.

The Ancestor chuckled.

But indeed, this child was bold—clearly sensitive inside, perceptive of worldly matters, yet remarkably open-minded in certain aspects.

So the Ancestor continued, “The second spiritual item I need is called the Herb of Dual Ice and Fire.”

“This herb…” The Ancestor paused inexplicably, a hint of complexity flashing through his eyes.

Qin Ruqing didn’t notice and asked in confusion, “Ancestor, what’s wrong with this herb?”

The Ancestor continued as if nothing had happened, “This herb grows in the borderlands between extreme heat and cold, thus it possesses attributes of both extreme heat and extreme cold.”

Qin Ruqing was puzzled, “It sounds like it might be easier to obtain than the Heart of Frigid Ice.”

“Because around the Herb of Dual Ice and Fire, there are usually high-level demonic beasts guarding it.”

The Ancestor smiled and gazed into the distance. “Actually, I’ve known the location of the Herb of Dual Ice and Fire for many years now. It traces back to the southernmost primitive jungle in Nanling County…”

Qin Ruqing’s eyes lit up. “So…”

The Ancestor continued, “But it’s guarded by a Cold Flame Beast at the Golden Core stage of cultivation.

Even if my injury heals completely and I reach the Foundation Establishment peak, I still wouldn’t be able to contend with that Cold Flame Beast.”

Upon hearing this familiar name, Qin Ruqing furrowed her brows. “Cold Flame Beast? Isn’t that the culprit that injured you?

Could it be that the one who hurt you and the one who can heal you are both in the same place?”

The Ancestor was surprised, “You know about the Cold Flame Beast?”

“Hehe, I couldn’t help but be curious and asked my mother a bit about how you got injured…” As for how much “a bit” was, it depended on how the Ancestor interpreted it.