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

Old Sun's herb garden is still the same as before, number 3 Dingmao. The few rock vines at the entrance are growing more luxuriantly than when I last came, with a faint yellowish-brown glow on their dark green leaves.

Old Sun was squatting on the edge of the field, holding a seedling of a spiritual herb in his hand.

"Old Master Sun," Lu Qingchen greeted respectfully from the doorway.

Old Sun looked up and saw him. A glint of light flashed in his cloudy eyes, but his face remained expressionless. He simply hummed in agreement and put down the seedling in his hand.

"Why are you back?"

"Yes, I came back to take care of some business and stopped by to see you."

Old Sun nodded, asked no further questions, and turned to walk deeper into the medicinal garden.

Lu Qingchen followed behind him, his gaze sweeping over the spirit fields in the herb garden, when he suddenly stopped.

In the innermost part of the herb garden, in that small spiritual field, there was a patch of jade-green spiritual rice.

The rice seeds have sprouted, and the tender shoots are emerging from the soil in neat rows, lush and green, growing very well.

But that wasn't what Lu Qingchen cared about—he recognized that the spiritual rice field was grown from the seeds of the spiritual rice he had given to Elder Sun.

The new shoots were a size stronger than the ordinary ones, and the tips of the shoots shone with a very faint glow, although it was much fainter than the batch he had planted, but it was still there.

"You've grown them?"

Lu Qingchen asked.

Old Sun squatted on the edge of the field, looking at the spiritual rice, and unusually said a few more words: "Let's give it a try and see if the second generation can inherit this quality. If they can, the sect will have another precious spiritual rice variety in the future."

He paused, his tone a mixture of expectation and worry: "This generation is a bit worse than the previous one, but it's still within an acceptable range."

"If we can cultivate it for a few more generations and it stabilizes, then we can promote it widely. The only concern is..."

He shook his head. "I'm afraid it will get worse with each generation and eventually turn back into ordinary jade spirit rice."

Lu Qingchen squatted down next to him, looking at the lush green seedlings, without saying a word.

He knew in his heart that the appearance of this spiritual rice was due to the spirit-infusing technique of the Dao Stele.

Without a special touch, it's hard to say whether hybridization alone can stabilize the breeding process.

Old Sun turned and glanced at him: "Why didn't you stay in Qingmu Village? What are you doing back here?"

"I'm coming back to buy some things," Lu Qingchen said.

Old Sun nodded, without being harsh.

Young people, after staying in the manor for too long, naturally want to return to the sect for a visit; that's normal.

But he added, "Try to come back as little as possible in the future; the spiritual plants in the fields are the most important."

"You've just arrived at Qingmu Manor, and your foundation isn't solid yet. If you keep running back to the sect, the manor lord will have something to say about it."

Lu Qingchen respectfully replied, "Elder Sun is right, I will remember that."

Old Sun paused for a moment, then asked, "How was your stay at Qingmu Manor? Did you manage to cultivate any special varieties of spiritual plants?"

Lu Qingchen shook his head: "No, that land isn't very good; it's good enough if crops can even survive there."

Old Sun glanced at him, a hint of disappointment in his eyes, but said nothing.

Lu Qingchen smiled bitterly to himself.

Does Old Master Sun really think he can grow special spiritual rice so easily?

Although he does have this ability, Old Sun is unaware of it.

The two chatted for a few more minutes. Lu Qingchen asked some questions about cultivating spiritual plants, and Elder Sun answered them one by one. He didn't say much, but every word he said was to the point.

As he was leaving, Old Sun called him back.

"If any special spiritual plants grow in Qingmu Manor, be sure to let me know."

Lu Qingchen paused for a moment, then nodded: "Understood."

He turned and left the herb garden, walking down the mountain path.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly remembered that if he were to use some spiritual techniques to cultivate special spiritual plants to apply for an array in the future, he wondered what kind of expression Elder Sun would have when he found out.

They'll probably be both surprised and delighted, and might even pull him aside to ask all sorts of questions, trying to figure out how the spiritual plant was grown.

He shook his head, suppressing the thought, and quickened his pace.

After leaving the sect, we boarded the spirit horse carriage, its wheels creaking as they rolled over the mountain road.

He was the only one in the carriage. He leaned against the corner, closed his eyes, and kept thinking about Shen Yao's spiritual field and the small world surrounded by the array.

If he could also have such a piece of land, and enclose it with an array, the earth vein spirit embryo could be rightfully planted in it.

No one doubted it, and no one asked any questions.

However, formations cannot be set up at will.

There must be a reason—you must first grow something worth protecting with an array before you can reasonably set up the array.

Lu Qingchen suppressed these thoughts and gradually moved away from the sect amidst the swaying of the carriage.

......

It was already evening when we returned to Aoki Village.

After dinner, Lu Qingchen returned to his residence, lit an oil lamp, and took out the jade slip containing the "Hidden Spirit Technique" to read it again.

He had memorized the incantation for the first level and figured out the path of spiritual energy circulation, but he was not proficient enough and his aura was not completely concealed.

He needs more time to refine his skills.

For the next few days, he farmed during the day and practiced the "Hidden Spirit Technique" at night, without going into the mountains again.

First, he needed to keep quiet for a few days after encountering Sun Zhiyuan during the day, so as not to arouse suspicion; second, he wanted to master the cultivation technique before dealing with the matter of the earth vein spirit embryo.

On the fifth night, he successfully stabilized his aura at the first level of Qi Refining for the first time.

It's not the kind of unstable fluctuation that goes up and down; it's a real, consistent stability that won't be exposed no matter how much it fluctuates.

He opened his eyes, exhaled a long breath, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

It became.

Although it's only a barely basic understanding, and far from being "difficult for even those with higher levels of understanding to fathom," it should be enough to fool people like Zhao Demao and Sun Zhiyuan.

Two days later, feeling the time was right, he went into the mountains again late one night.

The moonlight was beautiful, illuminating the mountain path brightly.

He walked very carefully and encountered no trouble along the way, arriving smoothly at the stone wall.

Passing through the illusion array and entering the stone chamber, the earth vein spirit embryo in the spirit pool still lay there quietly, its emerald light warm and gentle, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, as if it were breathing.

He squatted down and looked at it for a while, and found that the green light was slightly brighter than the last time he came, but he didn't know if it was just his imagination.

Instead of activating the earth vein spirit embryo, he first walked to the stone shelf and picked up the iron box.

The rusty iron box and the patterns on its surface looked particularly eerie in the dim light of the stone chamber.

He took out the talisman from his pocket, carefully affixed it to the iron box, then took a deep breath and infused the talisman with his spiritual power.

The talisman glowed, and the patterns on its surface seemed to come alive, seeping into the iron box line by line.

The metal box trembled slightly, emitting a low hum, as if something was struggling inside.

"Click."

With a soft click, the lid of the tin box popped open a crack.

Lu Qingchen's hand froze in mid-air, his heart pounding wildly.

He stared at the narrow crack and swallowed hard.

What's inside? Pills? Cultivation techniques? Or something else entirely?