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

With a thought, he drew out a trace of essence from a drop of blood.

The essence, as fine as a hair, trembled slightly as it was separated from the blood essence, causing the entire blood essence to dim slightly, but it quickly regained its luster.

He guided that wisp of essence to the center of his dantian, using it as a core to begin gathering the scattered spiritual energy.

He focused his mind on his dantian, gathering the scattered spiritual energy bit by bit.

The spiritual energy was like water mist floating in the air, formless and intangible. It could only be drawn together by divine sense and slowly gathered around that wisp of essence blood.

The essence of blood and blood acted like a magnet, slowly attracting the surrounding spiritual energy. As the spiritual energy gathered, it gradually formed a blurry outline.

The outline was still just a chaotic mass, without shape or structure, merely a cluster of spiritual energy that had been forcibly gathered together.

He began to compress, using the essence of blood and blood as the core, and compacted the spiritual power bit by bit, transforming it from a loose gaseous state into a more compact form.

The essence of blood and vital energy slowly rotates within, like a tiny vortex, constantly drawing in, compressing, and purifying the surrounding spiritual energy.

This process is extremely mentally taxing.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his meridians felt slightly sore, but Lu Qingchen dared not be distracted.

He gritted his teeth and compressed his spiritual power bit by bit towards the center.

The chaotic spiritual energy slowly contracted, gradually condensing from a blurry mist into a faint, ethereal thread.

The essence of blood and vital energy has been completely integrated into it, transforming into the core foundation of this pure energy.

The thread was still very fragile, its color dull, its texture loose, as if it might break at any moment.

But it did take shape—a new wisp of pure energy slowly rotated in the dantian, running parallel to the forty-seven wisps of old pure energy.

The forty-eighth strand.

Lu Qingchen slowly finished his practice, opened his eyes, and let out a long breath.

Sweat trickled down my face, and the soreness in my meridians gradually subsided, replaced by a warm, fulfilling feeling.

A wisp of pure energy has been added. Although it is only a small wisp, it accumulates little by little and will eventually reach 108 strands.

......

A few days later, the day of the Spirit Plant Hall's assessment finally arrived.

At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Lu Qingchen got up.

He tidied up the bedding rolls in the thatched shed by the field, then walked around the spirit field to make sure every spirit rice plant was in good condition before standing on the ridge and waiting for Zhou Ping and the others to arrive.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and dewdrops clung to the grass blades. The dozen or so spirit rice plants that had been imbued with spiritual energy were faintly visible in the mist, and the spiritual light on their leaves seemed to be veiled by a layer of gauze.

Lu Qingchen squatted down and touched the leaves of the strongest plant, feeling a mix of emotions.

After three months of planting, it's finally over.

From clearing land to sowing seeds, from watering to fertilizing, from theft to recovery, every step was difficult.

He was lost in thought when he heard footsteps behind him.

"You got up quite early," came Old Sun's voice from behind.

Lu Qingchen quickly stood up and turned around.

Old Sun came down from the mountain at some point and was standing on the ridge of the field, his gaze fixed on the golden rice ears.

"Elder Sun," Lu Qingchen bowed.

Old Sun grunted in agreement, squatted down on the edge of the field, reached out and pinched the ear of a spirit rice plant, then parted the leaves to examine the root system.

"Today should be harvest day, right?" Old Sun asked.

"Yes." Lu Qingchen nodded. "Senior Brother Zhou Ping said he'll be here to inspect it soon."

Old Sun didn't say anything more, stood up, and walked around the field ridge.

When he walked to the few spirit rice plants that had been blessed, he paused, squatted down, and took a closer look.

The shimmering light on the leaves was faintly visible in the morning light, and the rice ears were fuller than the surrounding ones.

"The harvest should be good."

Old Sun stood on the edge of the field, looked at the few special spirit rice plants, and unusually said something extra.

Lu Qingchen nodded, feeling much more at ease.

Just after Chen Shi (7-9 AM), Zhou Ping and a senior brother from the Spirit Plant Hall arrived at Panlong Peak.

Zhou Ping was wearing a clean, bluish-gray robe and was holding a booklet and a scale in his hand. His senior brother was carrying a large wooden bucket, which was used to hold rice ears.

Shen Yao followed behind, wearing a clean light gray short jacket, her hair tied up with a wooden hairpin, the sunlight shining on her face, making her look particularly energetic.

"You're here quite early."

Zhou Ping walked to the edge of the field, looked at the golden rice ears, and nodded. "Let's begin."

Before harvesting, Lu Qingchen did one thing first.

He selected a few of the better-growing special spirit rice plants that had been blessed with spiritual energy, carefully cut off the rice ears, threshed the grains, and put the seeds separately into a small cloth bag.

He plans to keep these seeds for himself and not hand them all over.

Then he picked out the best-growing one, dug it up with the roots and soil, wrapped the roots in a damp cloth, and handed it to Shen Yao.

"For me?"

Shen Yao paused for a moment, then took the spirit rice plant. The spiritual light on its leaves shimmered slightly in the sunlight.

"Senior sister has helped so much, it's only right that we do this," Lu Qingchen said.

Shen Yao glanced at him, a slight smile playing on her lips, and didn't refuse: "Then I'll accept it. If you ever need any help in the future, just come to me."

He tied up all the remaining special spirit rice with straw rope, intending to give it to Old Master Sun.

Without Elder Sun, this batch of spiritual rice would have been lost long ago.

A few sprigs of spirit rice may not seem like much, but they represent his good intentions.

Old Sun stood on the edge of the field, watching Lu Qingchen hand over the bundle of spirit rice. He took it, looked at it, and said nothing, only grunting in response.

......

The harvest was quick.

Zhou Ping and his senior brother helped with harvesting, bundling, and weighing the rice. Shen Yao also rolled up her sleeves and went into the field, her trousers rolled up to her knees. She worked even more efficiently than the two grown men.

The four of them worked in the field for most of the day and finally finished harvesting all two acres of rice.

The golden ears of rice were piled up like small hills, gleaming with a warm luster in the sunlight.

Zhou Ping threshed the last bundle of rice, and the golden grains tumbled into the wooden bucket. He straightened up, wiped the sweat from his brow, and walked to the weighing equipment.

Shen Yao also went over to take a look, while Lu Qingchen stood aside, feeling somewhat nervous.

Although I knew that with the growth of these spirit rice plants, passing the assessment would not be a problem, I still couldn't help but feel nervous when the results came out.

"A total of 524 jin."

The senior student announced the total, his voice tinged with surprise.

Zhou Ping lowered his head to do some calculations, then looked up at Lu Qingchen with a new look in his eyes: "The standard yield of Jade Spirit Rice is 200 catties per mu, so 2 mu would be 400 catties."

"You planted 524 jin, which is more than 100 jin over the limit."

He wrote a few strokes in the booklet, closed it, patted Lu Qingchen on the shoulder, and smiled: "Congratulations, you're now a formal spirit plant master."

Lu Qingchen grinned, finally feeling relieved after months of worry.

Shen Yao, standing beside her, also smiled and offered her congratulations.

......