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

The commotion caused by setting up the array in the spirit field was quite significant.

Brother He walked back and forth in the field with a compass, measuring and positioning, and occasionally squatting down to draw marks on the ground. The tenant farmers near the end of the village were the first to notice the unusual activity.

Several tenant farmers who were weeding nearby stopped what they were doing, straightened up, and looked over.

"Isn't that Manager Lu's field? Why is there another person there?"

"Looks like they're measuring land? They're using a compass, it doesn't look like they're farming."

"Look at what's sticking out of that bag—is that a battle flag?"

"Battle flags? Manager Lu is going to set up a battle formation?"

The news spread very quickly.

In less than half an hour, the tenant farmers from the village gathered in twos and threes, standing on the ridges of the fields to watch.

Li Laosi also arrived, squatting at the front of the crowd, smoking a pipe, squinting as he watched Brother He busy in the field.

"Old Li, what are you doing?" someone asked.

"Set up the formation." Old Li took his pipe out of his mouth. "Didn't you see those formation flags? Steward Lu is setting up the protective spirit field."

"Protecting the spirit field? How many spirit stones would that cost?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Old Li put his pipe back in his mouth. "Anyway, there's plenty."

......

On the first day, Senior Brother He led Lu Qingchen to measure the land and determine the location of the array core and the eight array flags.

This job looks simple, but it takes a lot of time and effort to do.

Brother He walked back and forth in the field more than a dozen times with a compass. Every time he determined a point, he had to squat down and compare it repeatedly. Sometimes, if it was even an inch off, he would pull out the wooden stake and reposition it.

Lu Qingchen followed behind, assisting with tasks such as handing over tools, supporting wooden stakes, and moving materials. They worked from morning till night, and only five of the eight locations were finalized.

The onlookers changed in waves.

Some people watched for a while and then left because they got bored, while others who had just finished work came over to see what was new.

Although the tenant farmers didn't understand formations, they could tell from Manager Lu's serious demeanor that this was no simple matter.

The next morning, Brother He continued to locate the remaining three locations, finishing in the afternoon.

There were fewer onlookers than yesterday, but Li Laosi came again, squatting on the edge of the field, smoking his pipe, watching with great interest.

Senior Brother He dug a three-foot-deep pit in the middle of the field, carefully placed the array plate in it, covered it with soil, and tamped it down.

Then he took out eight array flags from the cloth bag. Each flag was about the size of a palm and had intricate runes drawn on it, with a faint spiritual light flowing around it.

Planting the flags takes more effort than positioning them.

After inserting each stick, you must tamp it firmly with your foot, then step back two steps and squint to check the angle.

Sometimes, if the angle was slightly off, Brother He would pull it out and reinsert it, adjusting it repeatedly until he was satisfied.

By the time all eight flags were planted, the sun was already setting in the west.

Senior Brother He stood on the edge of the field, wiped the sweat from his forehead, took out six spirit stones from his cloth bag, and embedded them into the grooves at the bottom of the eight array flags.

Then he made a hand seal with both hands, uttered a low shout, and slammed his palm onto the ground above the array plate.

A pale blue light curtain rose from the ground and spread along the edges of the eight array flags, forming a semi-transparent light shield above the two acres of spirit fields.

The light shield flickered slightly a few times, then stabilized and became almost transparent, almost unnoticeable unless you looked closely.

A low gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.

"It's done! It's done! See that layer of light?"

"This is a formation? This is the first time I've seen the process of setting it up..."

Li Laosi took the pipe out of his mouth, squinted at it for a while, and then slowly nodded: "Good stuff."

"It's done."

Senior Brother He patted the mud off his hands, took out a jade token from his sleeve, and handed it to Lu Qingchen. "This is the control token for the formation. Keep it safe. With it, you can freely enter and exit. If you lose it, you'll have to remake it, which is a real hassle."

"The formation needs to be maintained by replacing spirit stones every month, two stones at a time. It cannot be interrupted. If there is any abnormality in the formation, send me a message immediately."

Lu Qingchen accepted the jade pendant with both hands and solemnly put it into his bosom.

The jade pendant felt warm and smooth to the touch, and one could vaguely sense a faint flow of spiritual energy within it.

He kept He's words of advice in mind and thanked him sincerely.

Brother He stayed overnight at Qingmu Manor, and packed his bag to take his leave early the next morning.

Lu Qingchen escorted him to the entrance of the village and then took out a few spirit stones from his sleeve and stuffed them into his hand.

Senior Brother He glanced down and waved his hand: "It's something Elder Sun instructed us to do without money. Take it back."

Lu Qingchen wanted to offer more, but Senior Brother He had already turned around and boarded the spirit carriage. The curtain was lowered, and the wheels rolled over the bluestone road, creaking and groaning as they drove away.

Lu Qingchen stood at the entrance of the manor, clutching the spirit stones in his hand, watching the spirit carriage disappear at the end of the road before turning back.

......

Returning to his personal spirit field, he looked at the field shrouded in a pale blue light and felt an indescribable sense of peace welling up inside him.

Two acres of land isn't a large area, but it's entirely his own.

With the protective array preventing outsiders from entering, he could finally act with complete peace of mind.

However, he kept Senior Brother He's words in mind—this formation is only at the first level, it can only protect against honest people, not villains.

If someone really wants to break through, they can violently break through in the later stages of Qi cultivation.

He cannot completely relax.

He walked around the spirit field, peering inside through the pale blue light barrier.

Strangely enough, from the outside, the scene inside the light screen seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist, hazy and indistinct, with only a vague green expanse visible, and the specific rice ears and leaves were not clearly discernible.

But looking out from the inside, everything is crystal clear and unobstructed.

Senior Brother He said that this is the basic function of the protective array—to isolate external sight and divine sense, and prevent anyone from spying on the situation inside the spirit field.

Otherwise, the protective field would lose its meaning of "protection".

Lu Qingchen felt much more at ease.

Only he himself knows what the spirit rice inside looks like.

The rice ears have already emerged, drooping heavily, and will be ready for harvest in just over a month.

Before the harvest, you shouldn't make any major moves, but you can make some preparations in advance—for example, setting up an earth energy-attracting array.

Lu Qingchen returned to the room, took out the array jade slip left by Qingyun Sanren, found the part about the Earth Qi Spirit Guiding Array, and studied it word by word.

The lower-level array requires three spirit stones, four spirit wood stakes, a bottle of talisman ink, four blank array flags, and a spirit-attracting jade as the core.

The materials alone would cost at least a dozen spirit stones.

He currently has enough savings to live on.

But traveling back and forth to the sect would take a whole day, and he didn't want to go through that trouble now.

Moreover, setting up formations and cultivating spiritual plants in the future will inevitably require purchasing various materials. He can't make the trip himself every time, since the work in the fields can't be delayed, and the protective formations also need his supervision.

Finding a trustworthy person in the village to run errands is the best long-term solution.

The next morning, Lu Qingchen went to find Li Laosi.