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

Shen Yao stood up abruptly, a flash of anger crossing her delicate face: "Who did this?"

"have no idea."

Lu Qingchen shook his head.

"Weren't you here yesterday? Didn't you see anyone suspicious?"

"I left at dusk yesterday. I don't know what happened last night," Lu Qingchen said.

Shen Yao bit her lip, her brows furrowed, her delicate face filled with indignation: "How could there be such a person! Stealing other people's hard work, aren't they afraid of retribution!"

She spun around twice, then suddenly stopped, looked at Lu Qingchen, and softened her tone: "Junior Brother Lu, don't be too anxious. Senior Sister will try to help you look for it."

Lu Qingchen glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Shen Yao squatted down, carefully examined the several pits, looked at the trampled spirit rice, measured the size of the footprints with a jade ruler, scraped off a small sample of soil with a knife, and put it into her sleeve.

She did these things with focused expression and practiced movements, as if she had done them many times before.

After working for about half an hour, she finally stood up, patted the mud off her hands, and said, "I'll go back and check first, and I'll come find you when I have any news."

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Lu Qingchen nodded.

Shen Yao glanced at him, hesitated, then sighed and quickly left.

Lu Qingchen stood by the field, watching her walk away, then squatted down and straightened the trampled rice stalks one by one, covering them with soil and watering them.

"If I had known this would happen, I should have made some preparations in advance."

He muttered to himself, "But who would have thought that someone would steal the spirit fields at the foot of Panlong Peak?"

He shook his head and stood up.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Qingchen turned and walked towards Panlong Peak.

Old Sun still hasn't returned.

"I don't know when I'll be back."

Looking at the empty thatched hut, Lu Qingchen muttered something and turned to go down the mountain.

......

Although Senior Sister Shen said she would help him find the stolen spiritual rice, Lu Qingchen did not sit idly by.

After descending from Panlong Peak, he went directly to the Spirit Plant Hall.

Zhou Ping was organizing booklets behind the counter when he saw him come in. He looked up and asked, "You're here? How's the planting going?"

"Senior Brother Zhou, my spirit rice has been stolen." Lu Qingchen got straight to the point.

Zhou Ping was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "Don't joke around, you're not even a spirit plant cultivator, who would steal your spirit rice?"

Lu Qingchen didn't speak, she just looked at him.

Zhou Ping's smile slowly faded, and his brows furrowed slightly: "Really?"

"real."

"What kind of spirit rice?"

Lu Qingchen described the condition of the spirit rice plants—the leaves were glossy, the stems were thick and strong, the ears of rice were full, and there was a spiritual light flowing on the leaves.

He didn't exaggerate or hide anything; he simply told the whole story.

After listening, Zhou Ping remained silent for a while, his face full of doubt: "You're just a novice cultivator, not even a spiritual plant master, how could you possibly grow jade-green spiritual rice with spiritual light?"

"Senior Sister Shen Yao also came to see us yesterday. If Senior Brother Zhou doesn't believe me, you can ask her," Lu Qingchen said.

Zhou Ping was taken aback: "Shen Yao? You know her?"

"Yesterday she passed by my spirit field, saw those few spirit rice plants, said she wanted to study them, and stayed for a whole day."

Zhou Ping stared at him for a few seconds, seemingly trying to determine whether he was lying.

A moment later, he stood up, walked out from behind the counter, and patted Lu Qingchen on the shoulder: "Let's go check out the scene."

When the two arrived at the spirit field, Zhou Ping carefully inspected it, asked a few questions, and made some notes in the booklet.

"I will report the situation, and the Spirit Plant Palace will help you investigate."

He closed the booklet and looked at Lu Qingchen. "However... I have to tell you the truth. Without clues and evidence, this kind of case is very difficult to investigate. Even if you do find it, if the other party denies it, there's nothing you can do."

He paused, then lowered his voice: "The people above won't go to great lengths for a few spirit rice plants, after all... you're not a spirit plant master yet."

Lu Qingchen nodded: "I understand, thank you, Senior Brother Zhou."

Zhou Ping sighed, patted him on the shoulder, and turned to leave.

Lu Qingchen stood by the field, watching Zhou Ping's figure disappear at the end of the road, and let out a long breath.

Those few stalks of spiritual rice were cultivated by him with nearly two months of painstaking effort.

He did every step of the process himself, from clearing land, sowing seeds, watering, fertilizing, and pest control.

Now that it's been stolen, he's naturally unwilling to accept it.

But what can you do even if you're unwilling to accept it?

He had only been a disciple for two months, and he had neither connections nor strength; he wasn't even a spiritual plant master.

Report it to them, and maybe they can help him investigate.

As for whether it can be found out, whether it can be recovered, and whether the other party can be punished after the recovery—these are all beyond his control.

......

In the following days, Lu Qingchen remained calm and went about his business as usual.

Every day, he goes to the fields as usual to water, weed, and catch insects; he does all the work that is required.

But I always feel empty inside, as if someone has ripped a piece out of me.

Senior Sister Shen Yao did not reappear.

Perhaps he gave up, or perhaps he's still investigating; he doesn't know.

There was no news from Zhou Ping either.

He asked twice, but Zhou Ping just shook his head and said that the investigation was still ongoing and that he should wait patiently.

Li Si and Wang Ming also noticed his unusual behavior these past few days.

"What's wrong?"

Li Si asked, "You haven't looked too well these past few days."

Lu Qingchen hesitated for a moment before briefly recounting what had happened.

"What?!" Wang Ming slammed his hand on the table. "Someone stole your spirit rice?!"

"Keep your voice down."

Li Si glared at him, then turned to Lu Qingchen, "Have you found out who it is?"

"no."

"What did the Spirit Plant Hall say?"

"We're investigating, but there are no leads."

Wang Ming gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked: "These bastards, they even stole your spirit rice, a mere immortal seedling! Have they no shame?"

Li Si was silent for a moment, then asked, "Is there anything we can do?"

Lu Qingchen shook his head: "There's nothing you can do to help. Let's wait for news from the Spirit Plant Hall."

Wang Ming patted him on the shoulder: "Hey, don't overthink it. It's normal for people to be eyeing your spirit rice plants, given how they've grown. But doesn't that just prove you have a talent for spirit plants?"

Li Si nodded in agreement: "That's right. If you can grow it once, you can grow it a second time. Don't let this ruin your mindset."

Lu Qingchen glanced at them and forced a smile: "I know, it's okay."

......

Five days have passed since the theft of the spiritual rice.

On this day, Lu Qingchen was squatting by the field cultivating, using the vitality of the ordinary spiritual rice in the spiritual field to condense pure energy.

Suddenly, I heard hurried footsteps behind me.

"Junior Brother Lu!"

He opened his eyes and saw Shen Yao walking quickly towards him, a hint of excitement on her face.

"Senior Sister Shen." Lu Qingchen stood up.

Shen Yao nodded, a smile playing on her lips. "Junior brother, your senior sister has some good news to tell you!"

Lu Qingchen's eyes widened slightly: "Could it be that the spirit rice has been found?"

"Very likely."

Shen Yao walked up to him and lowered her voice: "I used my connections and found a clue—there's a guy in the Spirit Plant Hall who suddenly had a few special spirit rice plants a few days ago, and the rice ears have spiritual light on them."

Lu Qingchen's eyes lit up: "Doesn't this situation match the stolen spirit rice? Who is that person? Where is he?"

"Come with me." Shen Yao turned and left.