Tang Zifeng stared at her shrinking figure for a while before withdrawing her gaze.

He stood silently in place for a moment, then pushed open the gate of the courtyard.

The slanting sun cast its warmth onto the wooden table inside the house, illuminating a corner where a pink apricot blossom petal lay.

Sure enough, as Qin Ruqing had said, when the wind blew, these flowers could drift into the room.

Tang Zifeng opened the window and saw the nearby apricot forest, where petals were falling like snow, painting the sky peach pink.

After watching for a while, he slowly sat down at the table, his gaze falling on the pink petal, lost in thought.

….

When Qin Ruqing returned to the heart of the lake island, she didn’t expect the Ancestor to be waiting for her.

Qin Ruqing smiled and sat directly opposite the Ancestor.

She seemed much more relaxed than when Tang Zifeng was present; after all, with an outsider around, she had to maintain certain appearances.

“How do you find this person?” the Ancestor smiled and asked.

Qin Ruqing thought for a moment and sincerely replied, “He’s quite good.”

Very talented and self-aware—this was very good, showing great potential to be a “fat sheep.”

She hoped he would continue to maintain this attitude, even when she was exploiting his vulnerabilities.

Qin Ruqing’s words were simple, and to an ordinary person, they might seem perfunctory.

But to the Ancestor’s ears, it was clear that she genuinely thought highly of him.

To earn such praise from this girl, Tang Zifeng must be someone with insight, someone who could win her favor.

Qin Ruqing took out two bracelets from her storage ring and pushed them in front of the Ancestor. “Ancestor, I haven’t shown these to you yet.”

They were the actual artifacts Tang Zifeng had handed over earlier.

The Ancestor held them in her hand, not in a hurry to examine them.

Instead, She chuckled at Qin Ruqing, “These two bracelets are probably not cheap. Are you keeping them or returning them?”

Qin Ruqing shrugged, “He didn’t ask for them back…

Besides, I brought him here to introduce him to you, which deserves a service fee. Not everyone is as easy to negotiate with as I am.”

The Ancestor chuckled and picked up the bracelets to inspect them closely.

After examining them for a while, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “His talent for artifact refining is truly astonishing.

Although these were intentionally designed as a token suitable for alchemists, their properties are so well-suited that they can indeed be used for refining. Not everyone has this ability.”

Even the basic version of these spirit bracelets, not to mention the advanced ones, when fully equipped, could directly elevate the combat power of mid-level cultivators in the Qin family!

This was incredibly appealing to the Qin family; otherwise, the Ancestor wouldn’t have agreed to his request so easily.

Qin Ruqing smirked, “As they say, when giving gifts, you should touch the recipient’s heart.

He brought something tailor-made like this to discuss cooperation with us, no wonder he succeeds.

Moreover, he plans to use the same method with his own family. A pill that accelerates the circulation of spiritual energy… Ancestor, isn’t this practically rushing to give spirit stones to the Qin family?”

When Qin Ruqing heard Tang Zifeng’s condition—that the Qin family must refine a pill that accelerates the circulation of spiritual energy—she almost burst out laughing on the spot.

The Qin family’s stalactite spirit cave and the Frigid Profound Ice cave, which one of them isn’t capable of accelerating cultivation speed!

The stalactite spirit cave contains abundant spirit milk, while the Thousand Years old Frigid Profound Ice itself is a superb spiritual treasure for cultivation assistance.

These two places yield rich rewards with almost no costs.

It can be said that if the Ancestor designs such a functional pill, aside from other things, at least the appropriate raw materials won’t be a worry, and it won’t require much expenditure either.

The Ancestor naturally understood her meaning but shook her head, saying, “You, this girl, are too happy about this.

He’s requesting a pill that also meets the characteristics of instrument cultivation, essentially requiring us to design a completely new pill specifically for his Tang family.

Even if we have the right raw materials, deriving the formula won’t be that easy…”

Qin Ruqing was very confident in the Ancestor’s abilities and smiled playfully, “For you, Ancestor, it’s a piece of cake!”

This flattery was light and swift, and the Ancestor glanced at her but couldn’t help but smile, sighing, “But you’re right. The heavens do favor our Qin family.

Although such a pill is difficult to refine, I do have some confidence.

With him as an intermediary, we can also reach a cooperation with the Tang family…”

The Tang family is a Silver-grade aristocratic family! They’re a level above our Qin family!

Thinking up to this point, Qin Ruqing became puzzled, “Considering the disadvantageous environment of the Western Ridge with sluggish spiritual energy, they should have long come to purchase the right pills.

However, I rarely hear news from the Southern Ridge about the Western Ridge. Could they all have gone to the Northern Ridge or the Eastern Region for pills?”

However, the Elder shook his head, explaining, “Not only the Southern Region, but other places also rarely see people from the Western Ridge.

The Western Ridge is in a special location, blocked off by the entire Broken Pulse Mountain in the southwest corner.

Broken Pulse Mountain is not just a simple mountain but a continuous range with countless high-level monsters.

People from the Western Ridge need good energy to come out.”

Though the practice is difficult, it is not impossible.

Qin Ruqing chuckled and abandoned pretense, leaning in to say, “I bet he’s definitely not just hiding those two blueprints. He must have even better spiritual artifacts he hasn’t shown!”

“Even if he has better ones, you can’t exactly force him to reveal his best secrets!” the Ancestor wondered.

Qin Ruqing gestured confidently, “Whether he reveals them or not is his business.

Whether we exploit the opportunity or not is ours!

Leaving a prime opportunity like this sitting idle would be a huge oversight!”

In her mind, Qin Ruqing clenched her fists. When it came to exploitation, she was a professional!

Tang Zifeng was her second target after the system.

The Ancestor widened her eyes, then after a moment, She realized that this was just Qin Ruqing’s style.

However, that Tang Zifeng, the artifact craftsman, was indeed talented.

If Qin Ruqing could extract a few more blueprints, that wouldn’t be bad at all…

Realizing her own thoughts, the Ancestor felt quietly ashamed for a moment, thinking that spending so much time with Qin Ruqing had corrupted her.

Qin Ruqing didn’t notice any of this and was lost in her thoughts of clever maneuvers.

“Ancestor, in this recent conflict between the Qin and Zhang families, with the Qin family emerging victorious, it’s not enough to just sway the Zhang family’s elders.

Zhang Family is currently in turmoil over leadership.

To assist us, we must wait for him to become the patriarch. However, during this time, our Qin family cannot afford to do nothing.”

When it came to business matters, the Ancestor’s expression also became serious, nodding, “I have discussed this matter with the elders before. Our establishment in the Western Market and our operations in the secret realm are already in progress.”

“Just these actions alone won’t suffice. With the Zhang family in turmoil, it’s a perfect opportunity for our Qin family to expand vigorously!” Qin Ruqing detected ambition in her words, and the Ancestor was intrigued, uttering, “What do you have in mind?”

“Strike while the iron is hot! The Zhang family has always challenged us in the pill business.

Now is the time for the Qin family to aggressively expand its pill business. Ideally, we would seize the entire pill market in the Southern Ridge…”

The Ancestor hesitated, “But what about our operations in the Western Market?”

Qin Ruqing shook her head dismissively, “Expanding by just a few streets and opening a few more shops is too slow and inefficient. It won’t achieve our goal of dominating the entire pill market in the Southern Ridge.”

The Ancestor started to speak but stopped.

When did their Qin family establish such ambitious goals?

Qin Ruqing, however, became more excited as she spoke.

Standing up, her eyes sparkling with plans akin to those of the system missions, she looked towards the vast ocean of possibilities.

“To grow and strengthen the Qin family’s pill industry, we must expand beyond the Southern Ridge to the Northern Ridge, the Eastern Region, and even across the entire Qianyuan Continent.

This requires achieving large-scale production and maintaining unique competitive advantages.”

“How to expand production capacity is a question.

Pill cultivators are inherently scarce and talent-dependent.

The yield of pills from a furnace fluctuates unpredictably. Could we consider outsourcing some of the work?”

“And expanding the supply of raw materials is crucial.

The Qin family’s spiritual fields and medicinal fields are too few and scattered.

They need to be consolidated into a large tract of medicinal fields…”

Lost in her thoughts, Qin Ruqing rambled on to herself.

Having spoken a lot and just starting to organize her thoughts, Qin Ruqing turned to look at the Ancestor, preparing to say something, only to see the Ancestor staring at her with considerable astonishment.

“Ancestor?”

The Ancestor snapped out of her reverie, sighing as she looked at her. “It’s nothing. I’m just often amazed by your ingenious ideas.

Many of the things you say initially sound unfamiliar to me, but upon careful consideration, they make a lot of sense…”

Qin Ruqing keenly sensed a subtle hint of melancholy in the Ancestor’s words, as if she felt she was getting older, witnessing the rise of new talents.

Yet in her heart, the Ancestor, adept in both pill refining and swordsmanship, had shouldered the ups and downs of the Qin family, standing as a towering figure that others looked up to.

How could the Ancestor think otherwise?

Unable to help herself, she explained, “But Ancestor, I only know these things from fragments of memory. With two lifetimes of accumulated knowledge, if I’m still unclear about these matters, wouldn’t that be a waste?”

“Moreover, my comfortable growth owes much to the Ancestor’s wholehearted support of the Qin family.

The Ancestor is the pillar of our Qin family, and I am merely standing on the shoulders of this giant…”

As she spoke, Qin Ruqing suddenly felt a surge of emotion.

Yes, the Ancestor was the giant of the Qin family, just as her “giant” was the Ancestor, and the system.

She stood on the shoulders of giants without fear or worry, focusing only on moving forward.

Someday in the future, when she became a giant herself, there would be others standing on her shoulders.

Wasn’t this the way humans had progressed through generations?

The Ancestor shouldn’t underestimate himself.

And neither should she.

She would regard her past life, the system, and the kindness of her parents and the Ancestor as treasures to help her go further.

Qin Ruqing closed her eyes, unaware that she was immersed in a profound state.

The spiritual energy around her began to gather rapidly towards her body, and the Ancestor beside her watched this scene in shock.

Quickly, the Ancestor regained her senses and immediately cast a barrier in the sky.

The Shadow Residence was the Ancestor’s abode, undoubtedly rich in spiritual energy.

The entire Heart of the Lake Island was covered with spiritual gathering arrays, coupled with spiritual fish in the lake and spiritual bamboo on the island, making this environment akin to a small-scale secret realm.

At this moment, an enormous amount of spiritual energy almost solidified and flowed into Qin Ruqing’s body, gradually obscuring her figure in white mist.

The Ancestor’s astonishment was indescribable.

Despite knowing that Qin Ruqing had an innate constitution to perfection and a Dao Physique had no bottleneck, she was breaking through again?

Another breakthrough!

And did ordinary cultivation at the fourth level of Qi refinement require this much spiritual energy?

This was almost as much as a cultivator reaching Peak Qi refinement and Foundation Establishment!

The Ancestor watched in amazement as Qin Ruqing’s aura continued to rise.

Fifth level of Qi refinement.

Sixth level.

By the time she reached the sixth level, there was still some fluctuation, but the rate of increase slowed, eventually being stabilized by Qin Ruqing herself at the sixth level, solidifying her foundation.

Qin Ruqing slowly opened her eyes, and a hint of surprise appeared on her face.

She bounced up suddenly.

“Ancestor, I’ve enlightened!”

The Ancestor let out a sigh of relief, not knowing whether she was happy that Qin Ruqing had suddenly enlightened, jumping two levels, or relieved that Qin Ruqing hadn’t directly built her foundation, thus saving her fragile heart.

A smile finally appeared on the Ancestor’s face, expressing her admiration and satisfaction. “Indeed, Ruqing, you’ve had an epiphany.”

“Epiphany?” Qin Ruqing was momentarily stunned, but quickly understood. “No, Elder, when I said Im Enlightened, I didn’t mean that. I know I’ve had an epiphany…

What I meant was, I’ve figured out how our Qin family can dominate the pill market in the Southern Ridge, then expand beyond it, and venture into the world!”

The smile on the Ancestor’s face stiffened for a moment, then slowly cracked.

Ancestor : “…”