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

Cuiping Peak is located east of Panlong Peak, separated by a valley, about a 15-minute walk away.

The mountain is not high, but it is full of spiritual energy. It is a plot of land specially allocated to senior spiritual plant growers by the Spirit Plant Peak. Those who can have spiritual fields on this mountain are all quite qualified.

Elder He's spiritual field is located on the south side of Panlong Peak, backed by the mountain wall and facing south. The terrain is flat and full of spiritual energy, clearly a good place.

Elder He himself was a middle-aged man in his fifties, with a plump figure and a smile on his face, who seemed very easy to talk to.

Upon seeing Elder Sun, Elder He greeted him with a smile: "Elder Sun? What brings you here?"

"I heard you harvested some special spirit rice, so I came to see you."

Old Sun got straight to the point.

Elder He paused for a moment, then smiled: "There are a few. Liu Quan brought them over the other day. What, Elder Sun, are you interested too?"

"Let's see."

Elder He led a few people into the spirit field and came to a small area enclosed by a bamboo fence.

Several spirit rice plants were growing inside, with glossy leaves, thick stems, and full ears of rice, faintly radiating a spiritual light.

Old Sun squatted down, picked up a leaf from a stalk of sacred rice, examined it from all angles, and then dug up the soil to look at the roots.

"Old Sun, how are these spirit rice plants? Aren't they quite good?"

Elder He asked with a smile, his tone tinged with pride, "But it's a pity you're a step too late. These few spirit rice plants are already mine."

Old Sun stood up, dusted off his hands, ignored Elder He, and turned to Liu Quan: "You're saying you planted these?"

Liu Quan swallowed hard: "Yes... I planted them."

"How long have you been planting them?"

"Three...more than three months."

Old Sun looked at him calmly, but it made Liu Quan feel very uncomfortable.

"You're just a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator, planting crops for so many years, don't you know what kind of spiritual rice you've grown?"

Old Sun's voice wasn't loud, but every word pierced Liu Quan's ears like nails.

Liu Quan's forehead was covered in sweat, and he opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word.

Elder He's smile faded slightly, and his gaze swept back and forth between Elder Sun and Liu Quan a few times.

"Mr. Sun, what do you mean...?"

"These few stalks of sacred rice weren't planted by him," Old Sun said. "They were stolen from somewhere else."

Liu Quan's face turned pale: "Old Sun, you can't wrong me! I did plant this spirit rice. If you don't believe me, you can ask others. My fields have produced mutated spirit rice before, it's not the first time."

"You say you planted them, then let me ask you, where did the reddish-gold color in the veins of these spirit rice stalks come from?"

Old Sun squatted down, picked up a leaf from the special spiritual rice plant, looked at it closely, and then stepped aside to let Elder He take a look as well.

"The spirit fertilizer I gave that kid was a formula that I painstakingly figured out myself. When the spirit rice absorbs it, a very faint reddish-gold color will remain in the veins of its leaves. You can't see it at all unless you look closely."

"This recipe is only available to me; no one else can replicate it."

Old Sun stood up and looked at Liu Quan: "Tell me, what kind of fertilizer did you use to grow these patterns?"

Liu Quan's lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Elder He looked closer and closer—sure enough, there was a faint trace of reddish-gold in the gaps of the leaf's veins; if Elder Sun hadn't pointed it out, it would have been completely unnoticed.

His face darkened.

He's not stupid. Old Sun has already made his point so clear, how could he not understand?

"Liu Quan," Elder He's voice turned cold, "where did this spirit rice come from?"

Liu Quan's legs went weak, and he almost couldn't stand up.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

The color drained from his face, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

"If you stole it, you stole it. Admit it, return the items, and pay the compensation you owe."

Old Master Sun's voice remained calm, "If you don't admit it, I'll go find Peak Master Su and let him decide. Then it won't be a simple matter of admitting guilt and accepting punishment."

Liu Quan's face was ashen, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

He lowered his head, his voice barely audible, as if squeezed out between clenched teeth: "I admit it... I admit it."

......

After confessing, Liu Quan explained in detail why he had stolen the sacred rice.

It turned out that Liu Quan had noticed the special spirit rice plants in Lu Qingchen's field long ago.

He observed for several days and confirmed that the quality of those few spirit rice plants far exceeded that of ordinary jade spirit rice, and then he became greedy.

After that, Liu Quan specifically investigated Lu Qingchen's identity and learned that he was actually just a seedling of immortality.

A novice cultivator wouldn't dare make a fuss about losing something, and even if they did, no one would believe them.

With this in mind, he sneaked up the mountain at night and dug up the dozen or so spirit rice plants.

After digging them up, fearing he would be recognized, he changed their pots, trimmed their roots, and applied some special fertilizer to try and change their appearance.

He thought that even if he saw a newly initiated immortal cultivator, he wouldn't recognize him.

But he didn't expect that Lu Qingchen would recognize it as his spirit rice at a glance, and he also didn't expect that there was an old man named Sun standing behind those spirit rice plants.

They thought their plan was foolproof, but when Old Master Sun made his move, their tricks were exposed.

Shen Yao stood next to Lu Qingchen, sighed softly, and whispered, "I didn't expect it to really be him."

Elder He's face was very grim.

He accepted the spirit rice sent by Liu Quan, unaware of its true purpose, but still got involved in some trouble.

He remained silent for a moment, then walked up to Lu Qingchen and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture: "Young friend, this was my oversight, and I'm sorry you've been wronged."

Lu Qingchen quickly returned the greeting: "Elder He, you flatter me. You were unaware of this as well."

Elder He nodded, then turned to Elder Sun, his gaze lingering for a moment on the few stalks of spirit rice. He asked in a low voice, only the two of them could hear, "Elder Sun, was this spirit rice really grown by this young friend?"

Old Sun glanced at him, said nothing, and simply nodded.

A strange light flashed in Elder He's eyes.

For a novice cultivator to be able to grow such high-quality spiritual rice—this child is extraordinary!

He glanced at Lu Qingchen again, his gaze now holding something more.

Elder Sun naturally saw through his thoughts and said calmly, "I've already taken a liking to this lad. If Elder He has other ideas, he'd better put them aside as soon as possible."

Elder He paused for a moment, then smiled wryly: "Elder Sun, you're already this old, and you haven't taken on a disciple for many years. Why do you have to compete with me?"

Old Master Sun said calmly, "I won't take him on, but I can find him a better master."

Elder He's expression changed slightly. With the connections Elder Sun had, if he said he would "find a better master for Lu Qingchen," then he really could find one.

Elder He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end he could only smile helplessly: "Alright, since Elder Sun has spoken, what else can I say?"

......