Qin Ruqing listened but didn’t continue the topic. “Your words are noted. Next time I visit West Ridge, I’ll surely pay a visit.” She casually pocketed the waist token.

Seeing this, Yang Wenxu couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment.

Adults knew that when someone said “next time,” it often meant there wouldn’t be a next time.

Yang Wenxu felt Qin Ruqing was politely declining, leaving him somewhat disappointed.

For a prestigious alchemist family like Qin’s, long-term cooperation with the Yang family would be invaluable.

However, other clans were wary of deals involving West Ridge due to its remoteness and the challenges of transporting goods over mountains and through deserts.

Many shook their heads at the idea of long-term arrangements.

As Yang Wenxu left, members of the waiting caravan approached. “Elder brother, did you buy the Pills? Did those high-and-mighty alchemist families fleece us again?”

Yang Wenxu nodded and shook his head.

The group exchanged puzzled looks, unsure if he had succeeded in purchasing the Pills.

However, Yang Wenxu had made up his mind.

His visit to Qin’s Alchemy Hall had opened his eyes, and he saw great potential in Qin’s development.

While the Qin family’s young lady hadn’t agreed to cooperation this time, he believed presenting his case to the clan elders might lead to a breakthrough.

Lost in thought, he found himself thinking of the red-dressed girl again.

Hand in hand with the physician’s apprentice, they emerged from the hall laughing and chatting.

Later, they mounted the apprentice’s alchemy furnace and drifted away, skirts fluttering in the breeze.

It was as if a fleeting moment of splendid beauty had suddenly vanished, leaving him…

hearts felt deeply melancholic.

The members of the caravan who had come with Yang Wenxu were stunned for a moment, then began to comment.

“So this is the Southern Ridge’s fairy-like women. Truly gentle and graceful, quite different from our West Ridge.”

Someone sighed, “In West Ridge, the weather is scorching, and the girls dress lightly, but their tempers are as fiery as the weather, often hard to bear.”

Another whispered, “I wonder if the Southern Ridge beauties would accept men from other regions…”

“Forget it. Haven’t you heard? Northern Ridge beauties prefer family status, Southern Ridge ones lean towards good looks. We in West Ridge have no standing. It’s better to give up on that hope early.”

It was indeed quite disappointing, leaving a grey cloud over their hearts, deeply uncomfortable.

Sitting atop the alchemy furnace, Qin Ruqing suddenly covered her mouth and chuckled.

Her spiritual senses were sharp, not far from the group of big men, their gossip naturally drifting into her ears along with the wind.

Lu Wei, controlling the furnace, glanced at her but didn’t ask what she found amusing.

Qingqing always had these strange thoughts, often finding something to laugh about.

Once, Lu Wei couldn’t resist asking what she found so funny.

Qingqing covered her mouth and giggled, “I was thinking about the treasures scattered all over Small Floating Sky.

The three of us, you, me, and Qirong, each carrying a storage bag filled to the brim and heading home.

Just imagining it makes me want to burst out laughing. Since then, Lu Wei never brought up the topic again.

However, this time, Qin Ruqing pulled Lu Wei’s sleeve. “Hey, Third Sister, since when do Southern Ridge beauties like handsome young men? Why wasn’t I informed?”

Lu Wei thought for a moment, then asked back, “If not handsome, then what kind?”

Qin Ruqing giggled, seeing her older sister asking so seriously.

It turned out Third Sister was a fan of handsome faces!

Lu Wei calmly controlled the furnace and changed the subject, “Qingqing, I heard Tang Zifeng has just finished refining the last batch of spirit bracelets. Shouldn’t we leave soon?”

Qin Ruqing lay back, hands behind her head, casually replied, “Yes.”

In the blink of an eye, over two years had passed.

During this time, the Ancestor had emerged from seclusion, fully recovered, and even advanced in strength, yet he hadn’t attempted to form a Core.

She and Qin Ruqing agreed to wait and see the situation with the Mysterious Heart Elixir.

If Small Floating Sky indeed had Mysterious Heart Elixir, waiting an extra year or two could significantly increase their success rate in forming a Core.

Otherwise, blindly attempting could be more harmful than beneficial.

Later, Tang Zifeng fulfilled his promise to her, helping the Qin family improve their alchemy furnaces and manufacturing agricultural tools, greatly increasing the Qin family’s medicine production capacity.

Qin Ruqing also rewarded Tang Zifeng with a large amount of spirit milk and Cold Frigid Ice as agreed.

After learning of this, the Ancestor generously rewarded Tang Zifeng, who now held a respected position as a legitimate guest elder in the Qin family.

Recently, Tang Zifeng had informed her that Small Floating Sky would open in three months.

The journey from Southern Ridge back to West Ridge would also take time.

If she wanted to go, she needed to prepare to leave in the coming days.

Upon hearing about this matter, Qin Ruqing, Qi Rong, and Lu Wei all expressed their desire to go.

Their reasons were similar to Qin Ruqing’s: if they wanted to achieve something, they shouldn’t stay confined at home, but rather should go out and gain some experience.

Qin Ruqing was quite willing to go along with this idea, but it faced strong opposition from the elders of the clan.

Qin Ruqing, Qi Rong, and Lu Wei could be considered the most promising younger generation of the Qin family, the hope for the future of the clan.

If something were to happen to all of them while they were out gaining experience, what would they do?

The elders shook their heads.

No, absolutely not.

This definitely couldn’t be allowed.

Some elders even felt that Qin Ruqing shouldn’t go out either.

Her talent was the best, and she should stay at home to cultivate peacefully.

With enough resources, she could even achieve Nascent Soul stage.

Why risk going outside and suffering setbacks?

Moreover, there was no certainty how much progress they could make outside.

In response, Qin Ruqing and the others listed three reasons:

Firstly, the Mysterious Heart Elixier(Liquid). Yes, the news that Qin Ruqing and the ancestors had kept hidden had finally been released to the senior members of the clan.

This news was a huge advantage and formed the necessary reason for Qin Ruqing and the others to go out.

Secondly, the conditions agreed upon with Tang Zifeng and the future cooperation with the Tang family.

The alchemy furnaces improved by Tang Zifeng had been highly praised in the Qin family, with tangible effects.

The two types of spirit bangles he refined had also been equipped to Qin family cultivators, significantly enhancing their combat effectiveness.

If Tang Zifeng could act as a go-between and help him smoothly return to the clan, it would be a very favorable thing for the Qin family.

After all, the Tang family was a solid silver-grade family.

Thirdly, no cultivation family always keeps their talented younger generation confined.

Keeping them shut away often results in useless showpieces.

Therefore, it was necessary to let them go out and gain experience.

Within the clan, opinions were divided.

They understood the reasons, but the risks involved still caused widespread concern and contemplation.

In the end, it was the ancestor who decisively spoke, saying, “It’s true that our family has been in a slump for a while, making everyone cautious and conservative.

However, even if our family is weak, we haven’t sunk to the point of confining our younger generation.

That would be self-defeating.

Moreover, now that the Qin family has stabilized, outstanding younger generations are emerging one after another.

The risks of this journey may not be as great as everyone imagines.”

However, she quickly added, “But we must indeed carefully discuss Qin Ruqing and their safety measures.”

After extensive deliberation, to ensure the safety of these three treasures of the Qin family, the clan spent a large sum of money to purchase three one-way teleportation scrolls, a large quantity of Thunderbolt symbols, Exploding symbols, and a series of highly efficient life-saving runes.

As for the runes and such, let’s not dwell on that for now.

Just talking about these three one-way teleportation scrolls, their prices were frighteningly high.

If we were to judge solely based on price without considering rarity, one one-way teleportation scroll would be worth as much as a Foundation Building Pill.

Of course, Foundation Building Pills are hard to come by, while teleportation scrolls are much easier to acquire.

The reason these scrolls are so expensive is because they can be opened anytime, anywhere, and can teleport freely within a certain range.

The starting point is not restricted, the endpoint can be randomly chosen or targeted for teleportation.

Most importantly, they are small and can be carried on one’s person, unlike large teleportation arrays that often require a huge amount of spirit stones and are immobile.

With these one-way scrolls, Qin Ruqing and the others would basically be safe as long as they didn’t act recklessly or fall into enemy hands.

What a tranquil teleportation spot, almost foolproof.

The day they departed was low-key as Qin Ruqing had instructed.

It was just a trip out, no need for a grand send-off.

They set off quietly in the spring dawn. Tang Zifeng had made adjustments to his ugly flying vessel, making it larger to accommodate four or five people and fly more steadily and longer.

Tang Zifeng piloted the ship while Qirong activated the spiritual shield.

Qingqing and Lu Wei rested at the stern, ready to take over when Tang and Qirong tired.

Qin Ruqing smelled the faint orchid-like fragrance from her third sister’s body, holding her sister’s soft arm with excitement on her face, devoid of any sorrow of parting.

The place in Nanling was too small now, with hardly any room left for her to maneuver.

In these past two years, except for settled tasks, the system’s missions had hardly progressed.

Qin Ruqing had planned to use these two years to squeeze out the last lottery chance from the system and complete a ten-draw lottery grand plan.

However, she hadn’t found any opportunity!

It wasn’t that the system was too guarded, but there really was no opportunity.

The family was steadily developing, stuck in a stage of progress but difficult to transform.

Qin Ruqing directly asked the system: “In Xiling, how can I get the last lottery chance? Give me a straight answer!”

“If not, I’ll uninstall the system! I’ve saved up this ten-draw for so long, you better give me the last one!”

Originally, the system wanted to be ambiguous, but suddenly sensed an unknown resentment and hostility, and changed its tone abruptly:

“When you and the Tang family… or another major family in Xiling reach a long-term and stable cooperation, achieving such a milestone, you might just get the last lottery chance.”

Qin Ruqing clenched her fists tightly. “You better deliver on your promise, or…”

While Qin Ruqing leaned against Lu Wei, suspecting she was resting with her eyes closed, she didn’t know someone was watching her from the corner of their eye.

Tang Zifeng was thinking about the scene when Qin Ruqing came to find him before leaving this morning.

Qin Ruqing, dressed in red, entered with the scattered morning light, her voice as lively as the happiest bird in spring, calling out to him:

“Tang Zifeng, let’s go, I’ll take you home!”

“Take you home.” These four light-hearted words shook Tang Zifeng inexplicably.

He remembered when she had a apricot blossom pinned near her ear, likely picked casually as they passed through an apricot forest.

She thought it looked nice, so she wore it.

In this tender moment of parting, Tang Zifeng couldn’t help but recall his life in the Qin family over the past two years.

Qin Ruqing had never mistreated him in the slightest. In fact, because of her position in the Qin family, he had also received many privileges.

Though she occasionally liked to pull him around to do this or that, it was never without reason.

She even gave him many precious materials for refining tools…

As Tang Zifeng thought along these lines, he felt deeply moved and touched.

He even thought the scene this morning when Qin Ruqing pushed open the door and entered was exceptionally beautiful.

With her wearing the best colors of spring, she was the most splendid sight in the Qin family.

Just as Tang Zifeng was getting emotional, this most splendid sight of the Qin family suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed, “I’ve figured it out!”

Tang Zifeng’s gaze was drawn to her, but he maintained his composure and didn’t ask.

Lu Wei saw this familiar scene, her eyes glinting, but she didn’t ask either.

It was Qirong who, while supporting the spiritual shield with one hand, curiously asked, “Sister, what are you thinking about?”

Qin Ruqing lightly clapped her hands together with bright eyes. “I’m thinking about the initial operational plan after arriving in Xiling!”

Amidst the quiet voices, the flying vessel suddenly trembled violently.

Qin Ruqing stumbled forward for a moment, steadying herself and looking ahead at the silent figure in front of her. “Tang Zifeng, what’s wrong? Are you tired? Should I take over?”

Tang Zifeng changed his hand gesture, his face inexplicably darkening.

He replied, “I’m fine.”

Indeed, he was fine.

It was just that the beautiful image of Qin Ruqing with the apricot blossom coming towards him in the sunlight shattered abruptly in his mind, replaced by the scene of her clapping her hands lightly just now and excitedly saying she had figured it out.

Tang Zifeng silently scorned himself for being so emotionally moved and decided to retract his previous words.

The most splendid sight of the Qin family? Hmph! She was nothing more than a pretty little bastard full of cunning and schemes.