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

Chapter 136 The Strange Change of the Spiritual Embryo

"Be careful. Qingmu Manor is far from the sect. If something happens, we won't be able to help in time."

"Know."

Lu Qingchen stood up. "Take care too. Don't confront Song Wenjin directly. If you need anything, you can tell me. I have good connections in the Spirit Plant Hall now."

"Don't worry, I definitely won't hesitate to ask if I need anything!"

Li Si waved his hand and squatted back down in front of the circle of flags.

Lu Qingchen took a few steps and looked back—Li Si was already engrossed in the array diagram book again, the setting sun casting a long shadow over the crooked array flags.

After leaving the Array Dao Hall, Lu Qingchen went to see Shen Yao.

Shen Yao was loosening the soil around a patch of medicinal herbs in the herb garden when she saw him arrive. She put down her hoe, stood up, and looked somewhat surprised.

"Junior Brother Lu? With all that trouble at Qingmu Manor the other day, you still dare to run around outside?"

"I went back to the sect to take care of some business, and I thought I'd drop by to see my senior sister."

Lu Qingchen squatted down on the ridge next to her.

Shen Yao wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked him up and down: "I heard that even Foundation Establishment cultivators came that night. You're really lucky; you managed to escape twice."

Lu Qingchen smiled and changed the subject, "Senior Sister has been in the Spirit Essence Hall for a long time, so you must be familiar with all those Qi Refining stage geniuses in the Chongmen Sect, right?"

Why are you asking this?

Shen Yao looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Just asking, I watched a few battles during the last rookie assessment, and some people's cultivation speed was indeed ridiculously fast."

Shen Yao didn't think much of it and casually said while loosening the soil, "In terms of cultivation speed, Chu Yunfeng and Su Qingxue are the fastest among this batch of disciples."

"However, you know that Chu Yunfeng was seriously injured during his training trip a while ago. Su Qingxue, on the other hand, is quite reliable. The job of the Spirit Patrol Envoy doesn't involve fighting, and her cultivation speed is not slow either."

She paused, then remembered something: "Song Wenjin from the Array Dao Hall is also quite good. He has two mid-grade spiritual roots. His uncle is a sect steward, so he has plenty of cultivation resources. However, he has a sharp tongue, and not many people in the entire Array Dao Hall like him."

"Sun Xiaoyue from the Pill Refining Hall also has dual spiritual roots and a good talent for alchemy. She spends most of her time in the pill refining room and doesn't go out much. There are also a few promising talents in the Weapon Refining Hall, but I'm not very familiar with them."

Lu Qingchen memorized all these names.

"By the way," Shen Yao suddenly looked up, "Don't you know Senior Sister Gu Qingyi? She's also at the ninth level of Qi Refining and a first-grade high-quality spiritual plant cultivator. Her cultivation speed is no slower than those geniuses."

Lu Qingchen's heart stirred.

Gu Qingyi is at the ninth level of Qi Refining. She stays in the Spirit Plant Hall year-round, where it is safe and stable, and her cultivation speed is not slow.

Judging solely from the standards of the bound object, she is more suitable than Song Wenjin.

But the thought only lingered in his mind for a moment before he suppressed it.

After all, she was Zhou Yuandao's personal disciple and his senior sister, and she usually took good care of him.

Given the choice, he didn't want to bind the Dao Stele's wheel system to his fellow disciple.

"Senior Sister Gu is indeed quite nice," Lu Qingchen said, "but I was just asking casually."

Shen Yao glanced at him, feeling that his question today was a bit strange, but she didn't press him for details.

She squatted down again to continue loosening the soil, and casually said, "If you're looking for a sparring partner, I advise you to give up that idea as soon as possible. With your Qi Refining Level 2 cultivation, you'll only get beaten up no matter who you spar with."

Lu Qingchen smiled but offered no explanation.

He stayed by the herb garden for a while longer, helped Shen Yao pull out a few weeds, and then said goodbye and left.

After taking his leave, Lu Qingchen went to the Spirit Plant Hall to find Gu Qingyi.

She was organizing a batch of newly arrived spiritual plant samples in the quiet room when she saw him arrive, and put down the jade slip in her hand.

"Junior Brother Lu?" Gu Qingyi was somewhat surprised. "Why did you suddenly decide to look for me?"

"I went back to the sect to take care of some business, and I thought I'd drop by to see my senior sister."

Lu Qingchen used the same excuse, finished speaking, sat down opposite her, and casually chatted about cultivation.

Gu Qingyi answered each question one by one, her tone as calm as ever, yet every word was precise and to the point.

After chatting for a while, Lu Qingchen casually inquired about her cultivation progress.

Gu Qingyi didn't shy away from the fact that she had been stuck at the ninth level of Qi Refining for more than half a year.

Her spiritual root is a top-grade Water-Wood Thirteen Spiritual Root, and her cultivation speed is considered fast among her peers. She is only one step away from reaching the perfection of Qi Refining.

This step, however, requires patience and cannot be rushed.

She usually spends her days either tending to the spiritual plants in the Spiritual Plant Hall or meditating and cultivating in the quiet room, rarely going out.

Lu Qingchen remained silent for a while after listening.

He has reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, possesses three superior spiritual roots, and resides within the sect year-round, ensuring safety and stability. He also has a good personality.

By standard, she is almost flawless.

This thought swirled in his mind several times.

But she is Gu Qingyi.

She was the senior sister who arranged for Sun Han's place when he first entered the sect, and the senior sister who would ask someone to bring his cultivation experience to Qingmu Manor every now and then.

By attaching the Dao Stele's wheel system to her, the portion of her cultivation damage ultimately fell on her own people.

Given the choice, he shouldn't have chosen her.

"Senior sister."

Lu Qingchen stood up. "Thank you for your guidance these past few times. I'll take my leave now."

Gu Qingyi nodded and added, "If you encounter any difficulties at Qingmu Manor, you can send a message back at any time."

Lu Qingchen responded and turned to leave the quiet room.

The corridor was dimly lit, and he walked quickly without looking back.

After leaving the Spirit Plant Palace, he went to the market to buy some necessities and then took a spirit horse carriage back to Qingmu Village.

He was the only one in the carriage, and the wheels creaked and groaned as they rolled over the mountain road.

He mentally reviewed the names he had learned about in the sect over the past two days.

Su Qingxue has top-notch talent, but her cultivation level is insufficient.

Song Wenjin is safe and stable, but he has a sharp tongue and a tough life.

Sun Xiaoyue spends most of her time in the alchemy room, making her extremely safe.

Gu Qingyi thought about it, but Lu Qingchen still managed to remove that name from her mind.

But there's no rush now.

The second binding position needs to be carefully considered, and it must be bound to the most suitable person.

Shop around and make sure you're sure before you buy.

He leaned against the carriage wall and slowly closed his eyes.

Everything was normal on the day we returned to Aoki-sou.

Lu Qingchen inspected the spirit fields as usual—the jade spirit rice in the ordinary spirit fields was growing steadily, the earth veins and spirit embryos in the protective spirit fields were safe and sound, and the newly planted premium spirit rice seedlings had already broken through the soil, a lush green expanse.

He settled down and resumed his daily routine, working in the ordinary spirit fields during the day and cultivating, activating spirits, and tempering his spiritual roots in the protective spirit fields at night.

The training of the Wood Spirit Shield has also been put on the agenda.

The principle behind this technique is not complicated: it uses wood-elemental spiritual power to condense a semi-solid wooden shield outside the body to counteract external magical or physical attacks.

The shield's hardness depends on the purity and output of spiritual energy. Once mastered, it can be cast instantly, making it a practical means of emergency survival.

He practiced for an hour every night, progressing from initially being unable to form a shield, to being able to form a small shield the size of a palm, and then to being able to form a large shield half the height of a person, which took him more than ten days.

As the shield condensed, pale blue wood-elemental spiritual energy intertwined in front of him to form an oval-shaped, semi-transparent light wall.

He tried striking the light barrier with his spirit hoe, and it trembled slightly. Most of the power was dispersed, and less than 30% of the force was transmitted to him.

"That's not enough; you need to practice more."

He muttered something under his breath and continued to refine the path of spiritual energy circulation.

After returning from the sect, Lu Qingchen repeatedly considered the candidates for the second binding position.

After several days of thought, Lu Qingchen's gaze fell more heavily on the name Song Wenjin.

He possesses mid-grade dual spiritual roots and outstanding talent in array formations. He spends most of his time maintaining arrays within the sect, protected by his uncle, a deacon.

With ample cultivation resources, safety and stability are assured; though prone to arrogance, one is resilient.

By binding oneself to this person, one gains a stable and continuous source of cultivation power, without worrying about being ambushed and seriously injured, causing the light orb to stop rotating.

After much deliberation, Lu Qingchen still felt that Song Wenjin was the best choice at present, so he decided to return to the sect in a few days to see for himself.

However, before the plan could be carried out, something went wrong in the spirit protection field.

Late that night, he was checking on the growth of the spiritual plants in the protective field when he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly.

Lu Qingchen paused, his gaze falling on the soil beneath.

It's the movement caused by the earth's spiritual embryo!