In the dark space, after Qin Ruqing absorbed the last bit of earth fire, she let out a tired burp.

“I’m so full… It feels like my body is about to explode.”

“But don’t panic! I can feel it! I will definitely level up today!” Qin Ruqing mumbled softly as she slowly closed her eyes.

As the chatterbox fell silent, the earth fire space became completely quiet.

Not only was there no sound, but there was also no sign of life.

In the thick darkness that was enough to give someone goosebumps, a burst of firelight suddenly appeared.

This fire was not the previous orange-red earth fire, but a pale golden color.

The flames outlined a slender human figure.

The figure’s state was very contradictory.

She had no breath, yet she was strangely full of life.

These two completely opposite states coexisted oddly in her.

Soon, the vitality became stronger, and the ethereal pale golden flames seemed to be infused with this vigorous energy, climbing higher.

The fire tongues happily flickered, and the pale golden color seemed to solidify a bit more.

The girl wrapped in golden flames gradually revealed her form.

Her burnt hair regrew, becoming even darker and shinier than before; her seemingly intact but actually damaged skin texture was renewed, glowing with a jade-like luster; although her facial features were the same, they seemed to have matured a bit, giving off a more divine aura.

When the girl’s vitality reached its peak, she suddenly opened her eyes, her pupils were green, but soon the green faded, returning to their normal color.

She lay still for a few seconds, seemingly assessing the current situation, then she bent her legs and sat up.

“I…” Qin Ruqing was about to say something but suddenly covered her chest.

“Oh no, I’m not wearing any clothes, they must have been blown away by the earth fire.”

She relaxed again, “Luckily there’s no one here.”

After checking her surroundings with her spiritual sense, Qin Ruqing reached out and summoned her belongings.

There was a large golden storage bracelet, a gift from Tang Zifeng; a white jade pendant without a string, with a vibrant green liquid in the center, which she always carried with her as the Cold Mysterious Ice.

Qin Ruqing put away the jade pendant, then started rummaging through her storage bracelet for clothes.

She liked red, and since she recently acquired a new golden sky fire, Qin Ruqing decided to wear a gold and red West Ridge fiery female cultivator outfit.

The top was a red crop top with a circle of small gold beads near the waistline that jingled as she walked.

It looked great, and she loved it.

After getting dressed, Qin Ruqing began to check her body’s condition.

“Sure enough, I’ve leveled up. It feels like there’s more information in my mind.”

“The second stage of the Dao Physique, Jade Lotus. I’ve awakened my innate divine power, Lotus Fire Possession. Wow, this is quite powerful, it seems like a very rare secret technique that can greatly boost strength in a short time without any side effects!”

“In addition to the divine power, there are also many accompanying spells, Thousand Lotus Seal… Just as I thought, it’s the powerful attack method I’ve always wanted.”

“Apart from the innate divine power, there are many additional small skills, parasitism, explosion, possession, they all seem useful… Huh? There’s also an innate flame.”

Qin Ruqing instinctively touched herself, not feeling an additional fire. Suspiciously, she stretched out her palm.

A pale golden flame appeared in her palm.

“Hey, my Heavenly Fire seems to have changed a bit. The color isn’t so faint anymore; it used to look like smoke, but now it looks like a real fire!” After observing it for a while, Qin Ruqing noticed that the flame in her palm had automatically taken the shape of a lotus flower without her control, emanating a very familiar vitality similar to her Dao Body.

Qin Ruqing flicked the golden lotus with her fingers, and it floated in the black space, maintaining its shape.

Even without her spiritual power support, it continued to burn on its own.

After pondering for a while, Qin Ruqing understood, “Could it be that my innate flame has merged with the previous Heavenly Fire? It seems to be more than twice as powerful now. But with this change, will others still recognize my old fire?”

She didn’t bother to retrieve the golden lotus, watching it as she said, “Since you’ve become a new kind of flame, I’ll give you a name. Your nature is like smoke, and your shape is like a lotus flower. I’ll call you Cloud Smoke Golden Lotus Fire!”

Confirming that her Dao Body had evolved into Jade Lotus and that she had received all the information, Qin Ruqing resumed a cross-legged position for cultivation. “Even though the Earth Fire is gone, the cultivation environment remains. Let’s start building the foundation.”

In Qin Ruqing’s view, building her foundation was no big deal.

She had already tried several times in the Earth Fire space, but she had forcibly suppressed the feeling.

Now, building her foundation felt as natural as letting out a long-held breath.

Qin Ruqing mercilessly absorbed the fire attribute energy in the Earth Fire space. After finishing there, she began absorbing the energy from the magma pool outside.

Her aura rapidly increased.

A vast amount of spiritual energy gathered and compressed, eventually condensing into liquid form in her dantian.

The azure liquid slowly flowed through Qin Ruqing’s entire body, strengthening her meridians and physique with each pass.

Finally, Qin Ruqing’s aura stabilized at the mid-foundation stage.

She deliberately stopped, stretched out her hand, and clenched it tightly, feeling the strength surging through her body.

Qin Ruqing murmured, “If I push a bit harder, I could reach the late foundation stage, but there’s no need… It feels meaningless to forcefully increase my cultivation. My spiritual energy reserve is already sufficient. Mastering the second stage of my Dao Physique is the most important now.”

“How strong am I now? Can I defeat Director Fifth Lingyu?” She shook her head, mocking herself, “That’s just a dream. No matter how powerful the Dao Physique is, it can’t be that strong. But I won’t underestimate myself either. He is older and supported by an Celestial family. Even so, he couldn’t have been as strong as me at my age. I’m already amazing.”

Qin Ruqing stood up, “This hardship was worth it.”

“When I go home this time, I can officially inscribe my name on the elder’s identity plaque. From now on, I am the sixth elder of the Qin family.”

Qin Ruqing walked around the dark space.

She had thoroughly absorbed and refined the Earth Fire and used its fire attribute energy to build her foundation.

“Is there anything else useful?” Qin Ruqing habitually scanned the area with her spiritual sense.

Qin Ruqing suddenly stopped and walked towards a spot.

The golden lotus flame, still floating and acting like a lamp, followed her.

Ahead, it was pitch black and seemed empty, but Qin Ruqing’s significantly enhanced spiritual sense told her there was something there.

“Come out,” she said calmly.

There was still no response.

Playing dead, huh?

Qin Ruqing smiled, glanced at the floating golden lotus, and beckoned it to the area with movement.

The golden lotus transformed into a mist-like flame, attaching to the ground and burning slowly.

After a while, something in the golden flame seemed to get burned and rushed out, leaving a red afterimage due to its speed.

Qin Ruqing moved like lightning, pinching a small red object between her fingers.

She examined it closely.

The deep red light pulsated like a heartbeat, carrying the aura of Earth Fire but much stronger and more concealed.

“Is this Earth Fire? No… it’s the Heart of Earth Fire?”

It was similar to a primal seed.

With this Heart of Earth Fire, this Earth Fire space might recover in a few thousand years.

However, Qin Ruqing had no intention of leaving it here.

“I said I was going to take all the benefits from the Celestial family… My third sister needs a furnace fire for her alchemy. You’ll go to her.”

Qin Ruqing crushed the Heart of Earth Fire in her hands.

It disappeared into her body, temporarily stored there instead of being absorbed.

If placed in her storage bracelet, it would burn everything inside.

After ensuring there was nothing else of value in the space, Qin Ruqing left without any guilt.

If this place wasn’t controlled by the Celestial family, she would have left a seed for recovery.

But the West Ridge Celestial Bureau had already looted this place.

The immature Heart of Earth Fire indicated that an adult Heart had been taken, leaving this as a seed.

They had taken the biggest benefit, and she saw no reason to leave anything behind.

Qin Ruqing smiled and slipped through the space rift.

Outside the floating island, at the West Ridge Celestial Bureau Branch.

The scribe suddenly opened his eyes, sensing something amiss.

He conjured the Heaven and Earth Book, his expression changing drastically upon inspection.

He rushed to find Fifth Lingyu. “Director, something’s wrong! The space under the Earth Fire Pool has changed!”

Fifth Lingyu opened his eyes and saw that a marked spot on the Heaven and Earth Book had turned completely gray, indicating all energy had vanished, leaving it a dead zone.

The scribe’s face showed growing concern.

“… must be Qin Ruqing,” Lu Wei guessed, her voice filled with both worry and hope.

In the West Ridge Celestial Bureau, the scribe was deep in thought. “Could someone have snuck into the Earth Fire Pool, absorbed all the Earth Fire, and stolen the remaining Heart of Earth Fire?”

“Could it be the Feng family?” he speculated.

Fifth Lingyu, lazily yawning, retrieved the Heaven and Earth Book and handed it to the scribe. “Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with the Feng family. It was a little mouse I put in there.”

“The little mouse just got greedy and took the whole jar of rice.”

The scribe looked at Fifth Lingyu, wanting to say something but hesitating.

Fifth Lingyu’s eyes, sharp as a phoenix’s, glanced over and he chuckled, “It’s that little girl from the Qin family.”

The scribe sighed, “You find it amusing, so you gave her a chance, didn’t you?”

Fifth Lingyu shook his head. “This opportunity wasn’t mine to give. The Earth Fire Pool never belonged to us. I merely provided the key. If she could find it, that’s her ability.”

The scribe disagreed inwardly.

In his view, anything protected by the Celestial family naturally belonged to them, especially such a special place that only they could manage.

He also liked the little girl from the Qin family, but if they wanted to give her benefits, a few Earth Fires would suffice—rare treasures that others could only dream of obtaining.

Now, seeing the director giving away such a significant benefit, the scribe was at a loss for words.

“If you’re interested in that girl, you could ask Fifth Ziyan(Director from Southern Redge) to bring her here. Even though he’s the director now, he wouldn’t refuse you.”

Fifth Lingyu laughed heartily, “He hates me to death; there’s no way he’d give her to me. If I asked, he would pay even more attention to her and find a formal reason to refuse.”

Even the Celestial Bureau couldn’t just take people as they pleased.

As a family elder, officially registered by the Celestial Bureau, the Qin family wouldn’t allow such a slight.

The scribe fell silent again, finally sighing, “What about the Earth Fire space? It’s crucial for maintaining the barrier. Without the Heart of Earth Fire, it will collapse soon.”

Fifth Lingyu waved dismissively, “No problem. Didn’t you take an adult Heart of Earth Fire earlier? Just put it back.”

Once eaten, things rarely go back, but there was no better solution.

The scribe sighed, agreeing, and summoned a jade token, which he crushed.

A flash of golden light enveloped him, and he vanished.

The small floating island, known to open once every ten years, actually had a key for instant access in the hands of the Celestial Bureau.