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

Lu Qingchen took a deep breath and removed the barrier-breaking talisman.

The talisman had turned grayish-white, and the spiritual light on it had completely disappeared. It looked like an ordinary piece of yellow paper and would crumble at the slightest touch.

He tossed the talisman aside, placed his fingers on the lid of the metal box, and gently lifted it up.

The lid is open.

There was a velvet mat inside, and two things were placed on the mat.

They were all seeds, about twenty in total, huddled together, some round and plump, others shriveled and withered.

Half of it was already withered and dead, its color had turned black, and it would crumble at the slightest touch.

One half still retained a sliver of life, its skin wrinkled, like a dried-out jujube.

But upon closer inspection, one can sense a faint glimmer of life hidden within.

The other item was a thumb-sized piece of cyan jade, lying quietly at the other end of the velvet cushion. It was entirely cyan, with a warm and smooth texture, and a faint cyan halo flowing over its surface.

Lu Qingchen first picked up the jade stone and examined it in his palm.

It feels warm and smooth to the touch, neither too cold nor too hot, like holding a piece of warm jade.

The surface of the jade has fine lines, which look either natural or as if it has been eroded by something, and it is not very clear.

He tried to probe it with a wisp of spiritual energy. As soon as the spiritual energy touched the surface of the jade, it was absorbed into it. Then, a warm current flowed back, flowing into his meridians through his fingertips and slowly circulating in his body.

He paused for a moment, then tried again, but it was the same feeling.

"What is this?"

He put the jade aside, picked up Qingyun Sanren's notes, turned to the last few pages, and found the answer.

"Azure Jade Marrow is formed from the condensed essence of spiritual veins. Wearing it can slightly increase cultivation speed by about 50%."

"However, it is only effective for cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. The higher the cultivation level, the weaker the effect. I have had it for decades, but it is of no use to me. I will leave it to someone who is destined to have it."

Lu Qingchen read the passage twice, his heart beating slightly faster.

Half a percent, not much, but not little either.

Over time, this can save a lot of time.

He carefully put the Azure Jade Essence into his bosom and placed it close to his chest.

The jade was warm; you could feel its warmth even through your clothes.

Then he went to look at the seeds.

Lu Qingchen stared at the seeds, unable to describe the feeling in his heart.

There was a pleasant surprise – something that Qingyun Sanren would specifically seal away with a restriction must be no ordinary thing.

There's a sense of unease—half of them have already withered and died; will the remaining half survive?

Although he possessed some spiritual abilities, he was still somewhat unsure.

There was also a sense of disappointment that he couldn't quite put his finger on—he thought the iron box contained pills, cultivation techniques, or some kind of treasure, but it turned out to contain a seed and a piece of jade marrow that could only be used by Qi Refining cultivators.

But he quickly suppressed his disappointment.

Seeds are seeds. He's a farmer by nature. Even if you give him pills and cultivation techniques, he might not know how to use them.

The seed is just right; plant it, and when it grows, it will be his.

He picked up a seed that was still alive and examined it in his palm.

It is twice the size of the Jade Spirit Rice seed, with a dark brown skin covered with fine lines that resemble some kind of rune.

He didn't recognize what kind of seed it was, but the fact that Qingyun Sanren had specially sealed it in an iron box with a restriction meant it was definitely not an ordinary product.

He put the seed back, then picked up a withered one, gently squeezed it, and it crumbled.

There was nothing inside; it was dry and crumpled, like a lump of ash.

Lu Qingchen closed the iron box and put it in his pocket.

Half of these seeds are still alive; we need to plant them quickly, or they'll all die.

But Lu Qingchen was not in a hurry to leave.

He walked around the stone chamber again, turning over every corner.

Unfortunately, nothing was found.

He stood in the middle of the stone chamber, looking around, and felt a vague sense that something was wrong.

A cultivator at the Spirit Mansion Realm has lived in seclusion here for so long, and this is all he left behind?

These items are indeed valuable to a Qi Refining stage disciple, but they seem rather meager to a Spirit Mansion stage cultivator.

What's even stranger is that there are no corpses here.

The notes of Qingyun Sanren say "lifespan is coming to an end". When a person dies, there should be a place to be buried, right?

Even if no tomb is erected, the remains should be in some corner.

But he searched the entire stone chamber and found nothing.

Lu Qingchen frowned.

Perhaps this is not the true place where the hermit passed away, but perhaps it is just a separate room he used to cultivate spiritual plants during his lifetime. His real relics and remains are still elsewhere.

However, those are not things he should be worrying about right now.

He was already quite satisfied with what he had.

Several spells, one formation, six Qi-Nourishing Pills, a few seeds of unknown origin, and a piece of Azure Jade Marrow that can increase cultivation speed—any one of these would be enough to make him secretly happy.

Moreover, there is also this earth vein spirit embryo.

He looked at the jade-like Ganoderma lucidum in the spirit pool; this was the most precious thing here.

If it is well cared for, its cultivation speed will definitely reach a new level in the future.

He squatted down and looked again at the earth vein spirit embryo in the spirit pool, his gaze falling on the roots extending from the bottom of the spirit pool.

The translucent filaments, barely thicker than a human hair, burrowed through the cracks in the stone wall and disappeared into the darkness.

Several of them pointed in the direction of Aoki-jō.

They must be absorbing the spiritual energy from the spiritual field.

Lu Qingchen hesitated for a moment, then reached into the spirit pool and carefully touched a tuft of roots pointing towards Qingmu Manor.

The roots are very thin and slippery, like oil-soaked silk threads.

He pinched the tuft of roots and pulled hard.

It encountered little resistance, and its roots were easily severed.

The emerald light of the Earth Vein Spirit Embryo flashed suddenly, as if it had been in pain, before returning to normal.

Lu Qingchen's heart tightened. After waiting for a while and seeing no further reaction, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He found several other roots pointing towards Aoki-jō and cut them off one by one.

Each time a ley line broke, the emerald light of the earth vein embryo would flash, as if in protest.

But after the flash, everything returned to calm. The emerald light remained as gentle as ever, flickering between light and shadow, as if nothing had happened.

Looking at the broken roots, Lu Qingchen felt a little guilty.

This thing had been growing for decades, and its roots had finally reached that far, but he broke them off in just a few strokes.

But he couldn't do anything about it; without severing the roots, his spiritual field would never grow anything.

Fortunately, the ancient texts say that as long as it is properly nurtured, the earth's spiritual embryo will grow a new one.

As long as he comes regularly to supply some spiritual energy, the earth vein embryo should recover quickly.

He stood up, took one last look at the earth vein spirit embryo in the spirit pool, and turned to leave.

Step out of the stone chamber, pass through the illusion array, and stand in the valley.

The moonlight shone down, illuminating the entire valley.

Lu Qingchen took a deep breath, having already made up his mind.

If these seeds can be planted, what grows from them will definitely be extraordinary.

Then he can do what Shen Yao did: apply for a spiritual field protected by an array, citing the need to protect special spiritual plants.

The earth vein spirit embryo can then be legitimately planted inside, and no one will discover it.

As for whether these seeds can survive... he has some spiritual abilities, and even if the chance of survival is very slim, he is confident that he can bring them back to life.

Lu Qingchen carefully put the iron box away and turned to leave the valley.

......