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

Lu Qingchen smiled and said, "Of course, but I have to tell Elder Zheng in advance that I just obtained this spirit-protecting field not long ago, and I haven't had time to plant anything special in it yet. Right now, there are only some ordinary spirit rice and spirit herbs, so I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint Elder Zheng."

"It's alright."

Elder Zheng waved his hand, "I'll take this opportunity to check if there are any diseases inside, and also to confirm the effectiveness of the protective array."

Lu Qingchen responded, took out a jade token from his sleeve, walked to the light barrier, and gently affixed it.

The pale blue light curtain trembled slightly, and a gap appeared in the middle, allowing people to pass through.

"Elder Zheng, please."

Elder Zheng stepped into the light screen first, followed by Ma Wenyuan, Zhao Demao, and Sun Zhiyuan.

In the spirit-protecting field, two acres of spirit rice are neatly arranged.

A small patch of Qingyuan Spirit Grass was growing lushly nearby, and its quality was indeed much better than that of the others, but the difference wasn't too great.

Elder Zheng walked around the edge of the field, occasionally squatting down to examine the leaves.

After busying himself for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Elder Zheng finally spoke: "It is indeed ordinary spiritual rice and spiritual herbs."

"However, the quality of this spiritual rice is better than that outside. It seems that the formation you set up to protect the spiritual field is quite good, and the effect of gathering earth energy has already appeared."

"It's all thanks to Senior Brother He who set up the formation."

Lu Qingchen quickly replied.

Elder Zheng glanced at the spiritual field again, then turned and walked away.

Ma Wenyuan and his disciples followed behind, emerging from the light screen one after another.

Lu Qingchen was the last to step out. He gently touched the jade token in his hand, and the pale blue light shield closed up again.

......

Not long after, Elder Zheng left with his men.

A beam of light rose, piercing the sky, and quickly disappeared into the clouds.

Lu Qingchen stood on the edge of the field, watching the streak of light disappear into the distance until it was no longer visible, before letting out a long breath.

Fortunately, he had taken precautions.

Two days ago, after Zhao Demao discovered those mutated spirit rice plants while inspecting the fields, Lu Qingchen knew that this matter could no longer be kept secret.

That very night, he quietly moved all the high-quality spirit rice that had been deeply imbued with spirit energy out of the spirit-protecting field.

He moved the batch of sacred rice to the woodshed behind the house overnight, temporarily stored it in a broken earthenware basin, and covered it with an oilcloth.

The woodshed is secluded and usually no one goes there, so hiding there for a few days won't be a problem.

Removing the sacred rice is not enough.

He also dug out the spirit-attracting jade buried in the soil, pulled up the four array flags one by one, and put them into his cloth bag along with the spirit wood stakes.

Although the Earth Qi Gathering Array is only a low-grade first-level array, its effect of gathering earth qi is real.

Explaining the origins of the formation is another complicated matter.

Rather than doing that, it's better to put it away for now and restore it after this Soul-Eating Disease incident is over.

After carefully storing the array materials, he smoothed out the disturbed soil again, covering up any traces of the formation.

In retrospect, all that preparation was well worth it.

......

In the following days, the disease continued to spread.

More lime powder was spread in Qingmuzhuang, and the ridges of the fields were covered in white, looking like it had snowed from a distance.

Basket after basket of diseased plants were carried out, and the tenant farmers' faces grew gloomier each day.

Zhao Demao patrolled the fields every day, and with each patrol, his brow furrowed even more deeply.

Not just Aoki-sou.

Reports of the disaster from Cuiping Manor were sent to the sect one after another. The area affected by the disease of the red-veined ginseng expanded from 30% to 40%, and then from 40% to nearly half.

The ginkgo seedlings in Baiguozhuang are already delicate, and they wither and die even faster after getting infected. Several spiritual plant growers have already given up most of their spiritual fields, only guarding the last few rows that are not infected, watching over them day and night.

Fenglin Village is slightly better, but only by a small margin.

Seven villages and tens of thousands of acres of spiritual fields are all waiting for news from the Spirit Plant Hall.

Mingfa Peak, Lingzhi Hall.

After Elder Zheng returned with the samples, he immediately went into the alchemy room.

The dozen or so mutant rice plants were carefully divided into several parts—leaves, stems, roots, and ears of rice—each part was carefully separated and tested separately.

Elder Zheng personally took charge, with Elder Meng assisting him. Several senior disciples busied themselves around the stone platform, not daring to make the slightest mistake.

The results of the new test came back quickly.

These mutated spirit rice plants obtained from Lu Qingchen's spirit field do indeed contain a substance that can inhibit spirit-eating insects.

This substance is not originally present in the rice, but is produced spontaneously after infection, and is concentrated in the sap of the leaves and stems.

Elder Zheng took a red-striped ginseng that was still infected with a disease and carefully dripped the extracted juice onto the leaves covered with gray and white spots.

The sap slowly seeped into the leaf veins, and in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the grayish-white insect spots on the back of the leaf began to shrink and darken.

Elder Zheng looked at the newly transformed Crimson-Veined Ginseng and let out a long breath.

The direction is correct.

The next steps are extraction, formulation, and drug testing.

The entire Lingzhi Hall sprang into action.

When the news reached Zhou Yuandao's ears, he was in his quiet room reviewing the disaster reports sent by the Spirit Plant Hall.

"Mutated spirit rice?" He looked up at the disciple who had come to report. "Is it confirmed?"

"It's confirmed. Elder Zheng and Elder Meng personally verified it. It's the disease resistance that comes from the mutation of the spiritual plant itself. The spirit-eating insects die as soon as they come into contact with it."

Zhou Yuandao put down the document in his hand and nodded slightly.

The Spirit-Eating Disease had been spreading for more than half a month, and the Spirit Plant Palace had tried more than a dozen prescriptions without success. Now that a breakthrough had been found, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Where did this mutated spirit rice come from?"

"Aoki Manor".

Zhou Yuandao paused slightly as he was about to pick up his teacup.

Aoki-sou.

Isn't his nominal disciple Lu Qingchen at Qingmu Manor?

"What is the name of the plant cultivator who grew this mutated spiritual rice?"

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yuandao continued to ask.

"Lu Qingchen".

Zhou Yuandao was silent for a moment, then slowly picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Lu Qingchen!

It really was his cheap disciple.

Two months ago, Sun Zhengyuan forced it on him; it was a low-grade five-elemental root with a flawed green wood spirit body.

He has been busy preparing to break through to the Spirit Mansion realm in recent years and has no intention of taking on disciples. He only reluctantly agreed because of Elder Sun's face.

After collecting it, he tossed it aside. The master and disciple had exchanged no more than twenty sentences in total.

Unexpectedly, a mutated spiritual plant sprouted in his field.

Zhou Yuandao put down his teacup, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly smiled.

"You're quite lucky."

Panlong Peak, Medicinal Herb Garden.

Old Sun squatted on the edge of the field, holding a young seedling of rock vine in his hand, and was repotting it.

Hearing footsteps, he didn't even look up: "What is it?"

The visitor was a disciple from the Spirit Plant Hall, who, panting, recounted the story of the mutated, disease-resistant spirit rice that had appeared in Qingmu Manor.

When he said the name "Lu Qingchen", Old Sun paused for a moment.

"Lu Qingchen?"

"Yes, it's the disciple you recommended, who is now at Qingmu Manor."

After a moment of silence, Old Sun carefully placed the seedling of the rock vine into the new pot, covered it with soil, and watered it.

Only after he finished doing all that did he stand up.