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

This is a natural cave, not large, but large enough for a person to walk upright.

The cave walls were covered with moss, and in some places water droplets seeped out, making them feel damp to the touch.

The air was damp and had a musty smell, but no foul odor, indicating that the place was not enclosed and should have a well-ventilated area.

At the end of the cave, there is a downward stone staircase.

Lu Qingchen walked to the stone steps and looked down.

The stone steps are narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time, and extend downwards, their depth unknown.

The stone steps are very old and covered with moss.

He walked slowly, testing each step with his foot first to make sure it was solid before stepping on it.

The light from the Bright Light Talisman can only illuminate a few steps in front of you; beyond that, it's pitch black.

He counted his steps.

One hundred steps, two hundred steps, three hundred steps...

After three hundred steps, the stone steps begin to level out, and the surrounding stone walls change from rough natural rock to neat stone slabs, which are obviously man-made.

This means he's almost there.

After walking a few dozen more steps, a faint light appeared ahead.

It wasn't the light of the talisman, but another kind of light—a warm, emerald-green light, like moonlight shining through water.

Lu Qingchen tiptoed toward the ray of light.

......

At the end of the stone steps was a stone chamber.

The stone chamber was not large, about two zhang square.

The light from the talisman shone through and revealed the outline of the stone chamber—a stone table, a futon, and several stone shelves.

On the stone table lay a notebook, its cover yellowed with age.

Several jade slips and a few porcelain bottles were placed on the stone shelf, covered in dust.

In the corner was a stone bed, on which was a straw mat that was rotten beyond recognition.

The floor of the stone chamber was paved with bluestone slabs, which were covered with a layer of dust but were still relatively smooth.

Lu Qingchen stood in the middle of the stone chamber, looking around.

Someone lived here, and for quite some time.

The stone table, stone bed, and stone shelf were all placed by human hands.

The notes, jade slips, and porcelain bottles indicate that the owner of this place was a cultivator.

Judging from the thickness of the dust, no one has been here for at least several decades.

The emerald green light emanated from the innermost part of the stone chamber.

He gripped his machete tightly, tiptoed, and walked deeper into the stone chamber.

At the very back of the stone chamber, there is a small spirit pool.

The spirit pool is not large, only about the size of a washbasin, with its edges made of bluestone. Inside the pool is a clear liquid—not water, but spiritual liquid condensed from spiritual energy.

He had read in ancient books that spiritual energy, when concentrated to a certain degree, would condense into a liquid state, but he never expected to see it with his own eyes today.

The ground around the spirit pool is engraved with some intricate patterns, resembling a small spirit-gathering array.

The patterns of the formation are already very blurry, and some parts have even been worn away, but traces of the past can still be vaguely seen.

In the center of the spirit pool grows a strange plant.

Shaped like a lingzhi mushroom, entirely jade-green, only the size of a palm, it emits a warm, green glow.

The light was soft and gentle, not glaring, and felt warm on my face.

The surrounding spiritual energy was so dense that it almost condensed into mist, and with each breath, one could feel the spiritual energy flowing into their body.

Lu Qingchen squatted down, looked closer, but didn't dare to touch it.

The surface of Ganoderma lucidum has a layer of fine lines, which look like leaf veins or some kind of runes.

A bluish light shone through the patterns, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, as if it were breathing.

He could feel that all the spiritual energy that had been absorbed was now gathered on this Ganoderma lucidum.

This thing absorbed all the spiritual essence of the spiritual plants in the spiritual field, even from a distance of more than ten miles.

But if he was the instigator, then why is it that only his spiritual field has a problem, while the other spiritual fields in Qingmu Manor are fine?

Lu Qingchen frowned, a question arising in his mind.

But instead of rushing to find the answer, he first tried to draw out a trace of his cultivation from the Dao Stele's light pearl and carefully approached the Ganoderma lucidum.

The moment its cultivation touched the surface of the Ganoderma lucidum, it was absorbed and vanished without a trace.

The turquoise glow of the Ganoderma lucidum brightened slightly, as if in response to him.

He stood up, took two steps back, and sensed the suction force again.

That's right, it's emanating from this Ganoderma lucidum.

It was deep underground, several miles away, absorbing the spiritual essence of the spiritual plants in his spiritual field.

This tiny plant, no bigger than the palm of your hand, has an astonishingly large appetite.

"What exactly are you?" Lu Qingchen murmured to himself.

......

Lu Qingchen returned to the stone table and opened the notebook.

The cover reads "Qingyun Sanren's Notes," the handwriting neat but somewhat blurred.

Turning to the first page, the handwriting was messy, but still legible.

"I am Qingyun Sanren, a rogue cultivator in the Spirit Mansion Realm. I traveled here and saw that the spiritual veins converged, so I built a hut and lived in seclusion here..."

He turned the pages one by one.

The journal records the more than ten years that Qingyun Sanren lived in seclusion here—cultivating and researching spiritual plants, living a simple and austere life.

Qingyun Sanren claimed to have come from a small sect. After the sect declined, he traveled around and came to the back mountain of Qingmu Village. He found that the spiritual veins here converged and the spiritual energy was abundant. Since his lifespan was also running out, he did not want to get involved in worldly karma anymore, so he built a hermitage here and lived in seclusion.

He cultivated here for more than ten years, trying to break through his cultivation level in order to extend his lifespan, but he failed.

The handwriting became increasingly illegible, with some areas even stained with dark red marks, it was unclear whether it was ink or blood.

"My life is coming to an end... I have wasted my life and achieved nothing... I leave this relic to someone destined to receive it..."

In the last few pages of the journal, he finally found a record about that Ganoderma lucidum.

"Earth Vein Embryo, a spiritual object of heaven and earth, is born at the confluence of earth veins, absorbing spiritual energy to grow."

"When I discovered this thing, it was still a seedling. I intended to wait for it to mature so that it could aid my cultivation. However, it grows extremely slowly. More than ten years have passed, and it has only grown a little larger."

"This item can help cultivators cultivate and accelerate their cultivation speed. Once mature, it is especially effective for breaking through from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Spiritual Palace stage."

"However, its growth is extremely slow, and it takes hundreds of years to mature naturally. I cannot wait that long, so I will leave it to someone who is destined to receive it."

Lu Qingchen stared at these lines of text, his fingers trembling slightly.

It is especially effective for breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage and advancing to the Spiritual Palace stage!

In the Qingxuan Sect, there are more than 30 Foundation Establishment cultivators and only five Spirit Mansion True Persons.

The transition from Foundation Establishment to Spiritual Mansion is an insurmountable chasm, and countless people are stuck at this step, unable to break through it in their entire lives.

If this unassuming Ganoderma lucidum can truly help a Foundation Establishment cultivator break through to the Spirit Palace, then its value... is immeasurable.

Lu Qingchen closed the note, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.

A cultivator from the Spirit Mansion realm collapsed due to his lifespan.

If he had discovered the Earth Vein Spirit Embryo decades earlier, or if the Earth Vein Spirit Embryo had grown even faster, perhaps the outcome would have been different.

But there are no "what ifs" in life.

Lu Qingchen put away the notebook and walked back to the spirit pool, looking at the jade-like Ganoderma lucidum.

It accelerates the cultivation speed of cultivators and has a remarkable effect on breaking through from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Spiritual Palace stage...

Natural maturation takes hundreds of years...

He probably can't wait hundreds of years.

But he has some magical abilities that can accelerate the growth of spiritual plants.

Since it can accelerate the growth of Jade Spirit Rice, can it also accelerate the growth of this Earth Vein Spirit Embryo?

he does not know.

But he can give it a try.

"Senior Qingyun, you may not be able to wait, but I might be able to."

Lu Qingchen said in a low voice.

......