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

Since Liu Quan confessed his guilt, the sacred rice had to be returned to its rightful owner.

Lu Qingchen squatted by the field, digging out the spirit rice stalks one by one from the basin.

Elder He stood to the side, watching the few stalks of spirit rice being dug up, a hint of reluctance flashing in his eyes.

Although he obtained these spiritual rice varieties from Liu Quan, he did indeed put a lot of effort into studying them.

These few stalks of sacred rice made him feel that there was much to be done with them.

It's a bit of a pity to just return it like this.

He hesitated for a moment, then turned to Elder Sun and asked in a low voice, "Elder Sun, could you leave one of these dozen or so spirit rice plants for me? I really want to study them."

Old Sun glanced at him and said indifferently, "This was planted by that kid. If you want it, go ask him."

Elder He turned his gaze to Lu Qingchen.

A novice cultivator asks for a stalk of spirit rice; logically, the other party has no reason to refuse.

But when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he felt a little hesitant to speak—after all, the spirit rice had just been stolen, and the person in question was still upset.

But after thinking for a moment, he still mustered his courage and asked, "Young friend, I'd like to keep one of these spirit rice plants for research. What do you think?"

Lu Qingchen glanced at him, then looked at the few spirit rice plants.

Elder He is an elder of the Spirit Plant Hall. Keeping one as a favor might be useful in the future.

"If Elder He wishes to study it, he may leave one plant behind," Lu Qingchen said.

A hint of joy flashed in Elder He's eyes, and he nodded: "Young friend, you are very generous. Then I will accept your offer."

He squatted down himself, picked out a plant that was growing moderately, and carefully moved it to the side, soil and roots intact.

Lu Qingchen watched as the spirit rice was moved away, but he felt nothing.

Leaving one plant for Elder He would be a favor in itself.

Since he is going to become a spiritual plant grower in the future, he will inevitably have the opportunity to deal with Elder He.

......

After all the spirit rice was dug up, Liu Quan, looking utterly defeated, followed the others to the Spirit Plant Hall, witnessed by Elder Sun and Elder He.

Zhou Ping was organizing booklets behind the counter when he saw a group of people come in and paused for a moment.

Elder Sun, Elder He, Shen Yao, and Lu Qingchen—what's going on with this lineup?

His gaze fell on the dozen or so spirit rice plants that Lu Qingchen and Shen Yao were holding. The leaves were glossy, the ears of rice were full, and there was a faint spiritual light flowing through them. They were of excellent quality.

His heart skipped a beat, and he vaguely guessed what was going on.

When Lu Qingchen told him that the spirit rice had been stolen, he was still skeptical. Could a novice immortal seedling really grow jade spirit rice with spiritual light?

Seeing it with my own eyes now, I realize that the kid wasn't exaggerating at all.

Elder He briefly explained the matter.

Zhou Ping listened and nodded, secretly surprised. Lu Qingchen's description of the spirit rice was indeed true; he could actually grow such spirit rice!

Unexpectedly, it was this Senior Brother Liu Quan who was responsible for the theft of the spiritual rice.

What was even more unexpected was that this incident also implicated Elder Sun and Elder He.

He glanced at Liu Quan, who had his head down, his face ashen, and dared not utter a word.

"A major demerit will be recorded, salary will be suspended for three years, and the qualification of a spiritual planter will be suspended for five years."

Old Master Sun finally made the decision: "As for the matter of compensating with spirit stones, you can discuss it yourselves."

Zhou Ping scribbled a few lines in the booklet, closed it, glanced at Liu Quan, and said, "Senior Brother Liu, you'd better watch yourself."

Liu Quan didn't say anything, but simply lowered his head and hurriedly left the Spirit Plant Hall.

His back was hunched, making him look as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

Lu Qingchen stood aside, watching Liu Quan disappear through the door, feeling a mix of emotions.

Does it make you feel better? A little.

But more importantly, it made him realize the wickedness of human nature.

He was just a novice cultivator, with no background or strength, but the things he grew were good, which made people envious and want to take them for themselves.

If it weren't for Old Master Sun's intervention, this matter would probably have just been left unresolved.

He took a deep breath and suppressed those distracting thoughts.

......

After leaving the Spirit Plant Hall, Elder Sun followed Lu Qingchen back to Panlong Peak.

When they arrived at the edge of the field, the pits that Liu Quan had dug up when he dug up the sacred rice were still empty.

Lu Qingchen squatted down and replanted the spirit rice stalks in his arms one by one back into the soil.

Old Sun stood on the edge of the field, watching him work without saying a word.

After the last stalk of spirit rice was planted, Lu Qingchen stood up, patted the mud off his hands, and turned to look at Elder Sun: "Elder Sun, thank you so much this time."

Old Sun waved his hand: "No need to thank me. What you grew is rightfully yours."

"Just be more careful in the future, so that no one can take advantage of the situation again."

"This disciple has remembered."

Old Sun didn't say anything more and turned to walk up the mountain.

When the spirit rice was found, there were only about twenty days left before the Spirit Plant Hall assessment.

The dozen or so spirit rice plants that had been blessed were somewhat wilted when they were replanted.

Lu Qingchen took meticulous care of her every day, being even more careful than before.

After three or four days, they finally recovered, their leaves unfurled again, and the rice ears became fuller day by day.

Seeing the growth of the spiritual rice in the spiritual field, Lu Qingchen was overjoyed, knowing that passing the assessment of the Spiritual Plant Hall should not be a problem.

But Lu Qingchen dared not be careless again.

He simply built a makeshift thatched hut by the field, moved his bedding there, and guarded the sacred rice field day and night to prevent the theft of the sacred rice from happening again.

A few days later, Liu Quan arrived.

He stood on the edge of the field, his face still looking unwell, carrying a cloth bag containing thirty spirit stones.

He placed the cloth bag on the edge of the field, his voice hoarse: "This is the spirit stones to compensate you. Count them."

They actually lost thirty spirit stones?

Lu Qingchen was stunned for a moment.

As a newly initiated outer disciple, his monthly salary was only two spirit stones. Thirty spirit stones would be equivalent to more than a year's salary for him.

The compensation for the theft of more than a dozen plants of sacred rice is quite extravagant.

But on second thought, given the special nature of those dozen or so spirit rice plants, the compensation was still acceptable.

Besides, this was the result of his discussion with Liu Quan, and it was written down in black and white, so even if others found out, they couldn't say anything.

Lu Qingchen took the cloth bag and counted the contents in front of Liu Quan.

Thirty yuan, not a penny more, not a penny less.

He nodded and took out a note he had prepared beforehand from his sleeve. It read, "Received thirty spirit stones from Liu Quan as compensation. The matter of the stolen spirit rice is now settled." He left the signature blank.

"Sign here."

He handed the note over.

Liu Quan took the note, glanced at it, and without hesitation, bit his thumb and pressed it to make a fingerprint.

Lu Qingchen also pressed his fingerprint, handed the note to Liu Quan, and then put the cloth bag into his sleeve.

Liu Quan glanced at him, then turned and left.

His back was even more hunched than when we last met.

As for Shen Yao, she has been coming over frequently these days.

Every day, she would squat by the field for one or two hours, measuring the length of the rice ears with a ruler, scraping the powder off the leaves with a knife and observing it under a bronze mirror, muttering to herself as if she were memorizing something.

Lu Qingchen didn't disturb her and went about her work.