After binding with a genius, I became an immortal by exploiting loopholes.

The entrance to the burial pit was covered with a movable bluestone slab, which was then covered with soil, level with the surrounding soil.

Normally, they would plant spirit rice on top as usual, and no one would know that something was hidden underneath.

When he wants to go in, he can simply lift the stone slab.

Lu Qingchen went through these details in his mind several times to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

Materials need to be prepared in advance.

The bluestone slabs, talisman mud, and concealing jade will cost about twenty or thirty spirit stones in total.

He's currently financially well-off, having just received a reward of 500 spirit stones from the sect, so this expense is nothing to him.

But how to transport it back is a problem.

The bluestone slabs were thick and heavy, and it would be too conspicuous to have Li Tiezhu deliver them directly to the manor—why would a spiritual plant grower need bluestone slabs?

It's hard to explain to others if they ask.

It would be best to have someone unload the things in a secluded spot outside the village, and then he could quietly move them back at night.

But with so many bluestone slabs, it would take him several trips just to carry them all by himself, and it would make quite a commotion.

It would be nice to have a storage bag.

As soon as the thought popped into his head, Lu Qingchen suddenly paused for a moment.

Yes, storage bags!

Although he didn't know the price of the storage bag, he currently had five hundred spirit stones, so buying a small storage bag shouldn't be a problem.

With the storage bag, the bluestone slab can be stored inside and brought back to the Spirit Protection Field without anyone noticing.

Moreover, it will be much more convenient to move other materials in the future.

Storage bags are not common in the market; even the small market at the foot of Mingfa Peak doesn't have them.

Occasionally, items circulate in the sect's market, but most transactions are between disciples within the Refining Hall. Outsiders who want to buy them need to pull strings.

He thought about it and decided to ask Gu Qingyi, Shen Yao and others when he returned to the sect later—they had been in the Spirit Plant Hall for several years and had a much wider network of connections than him, so they should have some connections.

......

Meanwhile, within the Qingxuan Sect, the investigation into the source of the Soul-Eating Disease continues.

Elder Meng and Elder Zheng followed the clues from the seed bank and dug deeper.

Soon, a disciple named Wu Decai came into their view.

Wu Decai is the person in charge of the seed bank's inventory. He has a Qi Refining Level 9 cultivation and has worked in the Spirit Plant Hall for more than 20 years, specializing in the purchase, inspection, and inventory registration of the sect's seeds.

The reason he has been able to stay in this position for so long is because he is senior, familiar with people, and has always handled accounts meticulously.

The seeds of the Crimson Ginseng were originally cultivated by the Spirit Plant Palace itself.

The sect has its own breeding fields, producing seeds of excellent quality, enough to supply all the villages.

But Wu Decai had been in this position for more than 20 years and had handled countless high-quality seeds. As time went on, he gradually developed other ideas.

According to his confession, a few months ago when he was purchasing Herborist products, a wandering monk struck up a conversation with him.

The rogue cultivator said he had a batch of red-veined ginseng seeds, of excellent quality, but priced much lower than the market price.

Wu Decai initially didn't believe it, but after personally inspecting the goods, he confirmed that the seeds were indeed good seeds. They were even indistinguishable to the naked eye when placed next to the high-quality seeds cultivated by the sect itself.

So he was tempted.

They bought these seeds at a low price, then secretly looked for a suitable opportunity to replace them with the high-quality red-veined ginseng seeds cultivated by the sect itself, and resold them on the black market at a high price.

The difference between the purchase and sale price is equivalent to several years' salary for him.

He had done this kind of underhanded trick before.

However, in the past, the amount of seed exchanged was small, and the yield of the breeding fields itself fluctuated, so a few kilograms more or less was not noticeable.

This time the price difference was larger, so he exchanged more.

But it was precisely this time—the Soul-Eating Disease broke out.

Hidden within the seeds of those rogue cultivators were the eggs of the Spirit-Eating Insects.

These are not ordinary insect eggs, but a variant that is extremely difficult to detect and cannot be detected by ordinary detection methods!

Wu Decai thought he had gotten a bargain, but little did he know that the batch of seeds contained the eggs of the Spirit-Eating Insect, an extremely rare variant, which was hidden very deep inside.

Diseased seeds were mixed into the seed bank and distributed to the villages according to the normal procedure.

Zhou Ping of Cuiping Village was the first to receive one batch, and the Corrosive Spirit Disease began to spread from his Red-Veined Ginseng Field.

The batch of truly high-quality red ginseng seeds that Wu Decai replaced had already been sold on the black market, and their whereabouts are unknown.

Elder Meng presented Wu Decai's confession to Su Mingyuan.

After reading it, Su Mingyuan's expression darkened: "Where is that rogue cultivator who sold seeds?"

"We've already gone to Herborist to investigate."

Elder Meng shook his head, "But Baicaoji is bustling with people, and the mobility of independent cultivators is extremely high."

"That rogue cultivator never appeared again after selling the seeds. No one in the market remembers his background. All they know is that he was in his thirties, had an ordinary appearance, and had an old scar on the web of his left hand—other than that, there are no other clues."

Elder Zheng said in a deep voice, "This person is extremely experienced in his work—he chose seeds that the sect cultivates in large quantities and offers a price low enough to tempt even an old hand at the business."

"More importantly, the eggs of those Soul-Eating Insects were hidden extremely deep, and could not be detected by ordinary means! If this is a coincidence, it is too much of a coincidence."

A few moments of silence fell over the council chamber.

By deliberately using cheap, high-quality seeds to lure those involved, and then hiding the eggs of the Soul-Eating Insects deep within the seeds, the attack would be a precise strike capable of contaminating the entire sect's seed supply system—this was not a spur-of-the-moment speculation by a rogue cultivator, but a premeditated design.

"Continue to track down that rogue cultivator."

Su Mingyuan raised his head and glanced at everyone present. "Until the matter is thoroughly investigated, it should not be made public. Seeds purchased from each village should be subject to stricter inspection in the future. Before they are put into storage, they must be personally inspected by the elders. No procedure can be omitted."

"The seed bank's handling process should also include cross-verification, so that no one person can have the final say anymore."

The elders all responded in unison.

......

As the turmoil of the Corrosive Disease subsided, Aoki Manor returned to its usual rhythm.

That evening, Lu Qingchen returned from the spirit field, lit an oil lamp in the house, and spread out a sheet of letter paper.

He considered his words for a moment, then picked up his pen and wrote a few lines—he wanted to ask Shen Yao to help him keep an eye out for connections and see if anyone in the sect was selling small storage bags.

The letter was short, only stating the need without detailing its purpose.

He sealed the letter and was about to go find Li Laosi when he heard the tapping sound of a wooden stick hitting the bluestone road outside the door.

Sun Han stood at the door, leaning on a wooden stick, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

"Qingchen, you've finished today's work."

He added somewhat sheepishly, "I've pulled all the weeds around the spirit field, and the irrigation ditch is cleared..."

"What's the rush? Your leg isn't fully healed yet."

Lu Qingchen invited him in to sit down and poured him a bowl of cold tea.

Sun Han picked up the bowl and drank half of it, wiped his mouth, and his gaze fell on the letter on the table.

"Perfect timing, go run errands to Li Laosi's house for me."

Lu Qingchen handed him the letter, saying, "Have his son, Li Tiezhu, take it to the sect's Spirit Plant Hall next time he returns to the manor and give it to Senior Sister Shen Yao."