Seeing some of the wilting spirit plants, the Third Elder couldn’t help but shed tears.

Qin Ruqing’s eyes widened: “No!”

Third Elder, please!

You’re the most dignified person in the Qin family!

Where’s the authority of your position in the Alchemy Room?

We know you’re tough on the outside but soft on the inside, but can you not be so out of character?

Seeing that Qin Ruqing didn’t speak up, Ancestor Wenxuan gently tapped her on the back of the head and scolded, “Still not explaining? You and Lu Wei always have a sense of propriety. Even if you’re anxious, you can’t let the spirit plants end up like this!”

Lu Wei looked at Qin Ruqing, who stuck out her tongue and suddenly turned serious. “What I’m about to reveal is very important, so I hope the elders will keep this strictly confidential. If anyone leaks any information, the Qin family’s strictest family rules will be enforced!”

What could it be that made Qin Ruqing take such a serious stance and threaten with family rules?

The Second Elder wiped his tears and said, “We’re all old members of the Qin family. Would we really do anything detrimental to the family? Qing girl, please don’t keep us in suspense! Is there something that can save these plants?” His eyes couldn’t hide the glimmer of hope.

Qin Ruqing corrected the Second Elder, “What do you mean by save? They’re not dead yet; they just need a little extra care, cough, they’re just in slightly poor condition!”

Qirong chimed in quietly, “Exactly, exactly!”

As she spoke, Qin Ruqing revealed a jade pot in her palm, shining with white light.

Everyone used their spiritual senses to check, only to see… a pot of soil?

The Second Elder wailed, “Qing girl, the good thing you mentioned is just a pot of dirt! What’s so precious about soil? Is it even Xirang?”

Lu Wei replied, “It’s more precious than Xirang.”

“Ah?” The Second Elder paused, while the Third Elder stared at the jade pot in Qin Ruqing’s hand, furrowing her brows as if she had a guess but wasn’t sure.

It was the Ancestor who slowly exhaled and managed to squeeze out a sentence: “Is that… the Spirit of the Earth?”

Qin Ruqing chuckled and squatted down, placing the jade pot in the nearby medicinal field, which contained the weaker spirit plants they had brought.

Qin Ruqing spoke lightly, “Come out.”

To everyone’s disbelief, the pot of soil actually… moved and sprouted little arms and legs.

Oh my, the soil was moving!

The Spirit of the Earth lazily stretched, but feeling too sluggish, it quickly stopped and ignored Qin Ruqing.

Qin Ruqing squinted her eyes, bit her fingertip, and waved her blood over the jade pot. “Not listening?”

The Spirit of the Earth jolted, poking its head out of the jade pot, striking a pose as if to say it was ready to help.

Qin Ruqing smiled and dripped her blood into the medicinal field.

Now, the Spirit of the Earth crawled out of the jade pot on its own and burrowed into the field where her blood had landed.

Once in the soil, it transformed from its clumsy appearance and joyfully burrowed around.

Miraculously, the previously drooping spirit plants began to lift themselves, and some even shot up a bit in just a blink.

What a wondrous scene!

The Second Elder’s eyes widened in disbelief: “It’s really the Spirit of the Earth, one of the legendary Five Elements Spirits! Wherever the Spirit of the Earth resides, the soil will gradually turn to Xirang! You actually found such a high-level spirit being in the Small Floating Island?”

The elders were in a frenzy, all talking at once.

Meanwhile, the Earth Spirit that Qin Ruqing had placed on the ground finished eating a patch of medicinal herbs and swam back to her feet, clearly wanting more blood.

But Qin Ruqing wouldn’t give in.

She raised her chin and said, “Go and eat through this entire patch of herbs if you want a second drop of blood.”

You can’t spoil children; they must learn from a young age to work hard and develop good habits.

The elders were speechless. “Do you think this is raising sheep? Eating everything in sight?”

Yet, the Earth Spirit listened to Qin Ruqing. It had been raised by her for some time and knew she was serious—if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t get fed.

So it swam off to another patch of herbs to eat.

The elders were confused, thinking it was like training a little dog, and it was surprisingly obedient.

Seeing this, the third elder suddenly sighed and turned to Qin Ruqing, deeply bowing in gratitude.

When she stood up, he said, “Thank you for bringing such a high-level Earth Spirit to the Qin family. With this, our family will no longer worry about not having high-level spirit plants, and the quality of the pills we produce will greatly improve. Most importantly, the Qin family can become a truly prestigious alchemy family!”

The foundation of a prestigious alchemy family lies in the quality of its alchemists, rare recipes, high-level spirit plants, and the number of herb fields.

The Qin family had a glorious past and brought some recipes with them when they moved to the South Ridge, so they didn’t lack in that area.

However, they struggled with spirit plant fields.

The South Ridge is remote, and the Qin family had faced difficult times for a long period, resulting in almost no high-level spirit plant reserves.

As for the herb fields, thanks to Qin Ruqing’s reforms, their number had started to grow, but improving their quality remained a challenge.

High-level spirit plants typically have very high requirements for their growing environment, including the concentration of spiritual energy, temperature, humidity, and the quality of the fields.

Generally, high-level plants cannot thrive in low-quality fields due to insufficient spirit energy.

However, creating high-quality spirit fields is not as simple as just setting up some gathering formations and burying spirit stones.

It requires special cultivation and the use of rare materials.

Families renowned for their alchemy often hire skilled Spirit Planters to take care of their spirit fields and cultivate high-quality herb fields.

However, the profession of Spirit Planter is rare and mostly found in the bustling Eastern and Central regions, primarily serving the big families and not available to outsiders.

Therefore, it’s incredibly difficult for the Qin family to improve the quality of their spirit plants and fields, even money can’t solve the problem.

Now that Qin Ruqing has brought back such an Earth Spirit, a treasure coveted even by top-tier families, it raises the Qin family’s potential significantly, allowing them to aspire to higher goals.

The third elder, while strict and upholding traditions, is also reasonable.

Her gesture of bowing to Qin Ruqing shows her sincere gratitude for her major contributions to the Qin family.

Seeing this, the other elders had mixed expressions and followed suit, bowing to Qin Ruqing in genuine thanks for her significant achievements.

Among them was the Grand elder, who was incredibly relieved that he hadn’t opposed her family before.

With someone like Qin Ruqing, who could acquire a top-tier Earth Spirit, the Qin family had a true lucky star—someone who could change their fate and lead them to new heights.

Had he continued to oppose her, he would have truly hindered the Qin family and been a real villain!

As the elders bowed, Qin Ruqing did not pretend to refuse their respect.

She accepted it calmly.

What she brought back was crucial for the Qin family’s cultivation resources at the silver level and their future advancement.

This was a huge opportunity she had fought hard to seize, taking it directly from the hands of a celestial-tier family.

The dangers and efforts involved, including that one kneel in the West Ridge Hall, were details too complex to recount—even her sister Lu Wei didn’t know everything.

Qin Ruqing wasn’t one to complain or seek credit, but she felt her contributions to the Qin family warranted this honor!

After the bows, Qin Ruqing turned back with a playful smile, her eyes sparkling. “Actually, this isn’t the only reward from my journey to the West Ridge.”

“What? You have more!”

The Second elder covered his heart and said, “Qing girl, stop keeping us in suspense! We can’t handle this wave after wave of surprises! Just tell us everything at once!”

Qin Ruqing laughed and raised her hand to drop the protective barrier hiding her badge.

Her true cultivation level was finally revealed.

The elders felt an invisible pressure fill the air.

Only the ancestor, Qin Dexin, and Qin Deming showed extreme shock.

Qin Deming couldn’t help but exclaim, “You, you’ve reached Foundation Establishment? And it seems you’re not just at the initial stage?”

Ancestor Wenxuan sighed and confirmed, “Qingqing, you’ve actually reached mid-Foundation Establishment.”

Everyone present was completely stunned!

This was the biggest shock of the day, even more than when they saw the Earth Spirit.

While the Earth Spirit was impressive, it was something she obtained from a secret realm.

But reaching mid-Foundation Establishment at such a young age was completely beyond their understanding.

The second elder circled around Qin Ruqing, unable to resist poking her.

Afterward, he said, “Qing girl, are you a powerful being from the immortal realm and reincarnated? Your cultivation speed is like blowing air; we wouldn’t even dare to dream of such speed!”

Upon hearing “powerful being reincarnated,” the ancestor’s eyes flickered, clearly thinking the second elder might be onto something.

After a moment of contemplation, Ancestor Wenxuan guessed, “Qingqing, has your Dao Physique advanced?”

Qin Ruqing smiled and nodded, “You’re sharp, ancestor! That’s right! So, I’m not that impressive; I’m just benefiting from the advancement of my Dao Physique, which makes my cultivation a bit faster.”

Everyone rolled their eyes. “A bit faster?”

Being so modest might get you in trouble!

Qin Ruqing continued, “Actually, the most important news is that we found Mysterious Heart Liquid in the Small Floating Island .”

She hugged the ancestor’s arm with sparkling eyes and said, “Ancestor, you can refine your Core now! Once you succeed, our Qin family will rise to a silver-tier family!”

Silver-tier! Everyone gasped, feeling their hearts race at the thought.

But the ancestor remained calm.

After a slight smile, he said, “Qingqing, you’re mistaken. The most important news isn’t about me refining the Core.”

“Huh? If it’s not about you, then what is it?”

Ancestor Wenxuan gently patted Qin Ruqing’s head and looked around at everyone, raising her voice as if announcing something:

“It’s that our Qin family now has a sixth elder!”