Therefore, Lu Lei decided to go to the Spirit Plant Garden himself to find out the origin of these Blazing Sun Fruits.
The Spirit Plant Garden was not far from the Spirit Beast Garden. Lu Lei jogged all the way and soon arrived at the entrance of the Spirit Plant Garden.
Just as he was about to go inside, he was stopped by the guards at the gate.
"Halt! The Spirit Plant Garden is a restricted area. Outsiders are not allowed to enter!"
The guard at the gate said coldly.
Lu Lei pulled out his outer disciple token and explained, "I am Lu Lei from the outer sect. I have an urgent matter to discuss with Steward Li of the Spirit Plant Garden."
The guard looked at his token with no intention of letting him pass. "Outer disciples have no authorization to enter the Spirit Plant Garden. Take any business you have to the outer sect elders."
Lu Lei gritted his teeth in anger, but there was nothing he could do.
Just as Lu Lei was at his wits' end, he suddenly saw a familiar figure walk past him.
It was actually Zhou Muxue!
Today, she was dressed in a light purple long dress, the hem fluttering gently in the wind, making her look as ethereal as a fairy stepping down from the mortal world.
Lu Lei was just about to call out to her when he noticed that Zhou Muxue's eyes were fixed entirely on the book in her hands, completely oblivious to a large pit right in front of her.
"Senior Sister Zhou, watch out..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhou Muxue and her book had already fallen straight into the pit together.
A few breaths later, a spotless Zhou Muxue flew back out of the pit.
Only then did she notice Lu Lei's presence.
"Junior Brother Lu, why are you here?"
Lu Lei looked at Zhou Muxue with a bizarre expression. A cultivator in the Spirit Spring Realm actually walking straight into a pit—that was a first.
However, whether she was airheaded or not didn't matter; having inner sect status was all that counted.
Lu Lei hurried over. "I have an urgent matter and need to see the person in charge of the Spirit Plant Garden, but the guards won't let me in."
Zhou Muxue raised an eyebrow and asked with some curiosity, "What is so urgent?"
Lu Lei briefly explained the matter regarding the Blazing Sun Fruits.
After listening, Zhou Muxue's expression also turned serious. "If these really are Blazing Sun Fruits, then this is a serious matter. If spiritual beasts consume Blazing Sun Fruits over a long period, not only will they suffer cultivation deviation, but it could also trigger a large-scale riot."
"However, according to Article 32 of the *Spirit Plant Garden Management Regulations*, outer disciples truly have no right to enter."
Having heard Lu Lei's explanation, Zhou Muxue pulled a palm-thick copy of the *Huanhuan Sect Code Compendium* from her storage bag, her fingertips glowing with spiritual light as she rapidly flipped the pages.
More regulations!
Lu Lei felt completely numb.
Before Lu Lei could even speak, Zhou Muxue continued, "However, according to Article 7 of the *Special Incident Investigation Regulations*, in situations involving threats to the sect's safety, inner sect disciples have the right to temporarily conscript outer disciple assistance in investigations."
She closed the book and said to Lu Lei with a deadpan expression, "Junior Brother Lu, you are now my specially appointed investigator."
With that, Zhou Muxue produced a Yunyu Peak token.
Upon seeing this, the guards hastily cleared the way, and Lu Lei followed closely behind Zhou Muxue, using her prestige to brazenly enter the Spirit Plant Garden.
Lu Lei muttered incessantly, "Senior Sister, why do you always carry a book around with you?"
"Chapter 6 of the *Essential Pathways of the Great Dao* clearly states," Zhou Muxue replied, flipping pages without looking back, "'When facing indecision, consult the manual; it ensures your Dao heart remains undisturbed.'"
What the hell kind of Dao is "when facing indecision, consult the manual"? What sort of nonsense was this?
Lu Lei couldn't help but roll his eyes.
...
When the two of them found Steward Li, who was in charge of distributing spiritual fruits, this greasy-looking middle-aged cultivator was sprawled out on a rattan chair, cracking melon seeds.
Seeing Zhou Muxue display her inner sect token, he scrambled to his feet in a panic and bowed, sweat beading on his forehead. "Welcome, Senior Sister, to this humble place. I wonder..."
Acting like a total sycophant, Lu Lei stepped forward and said, "Steward Li, please explain why the Crimson Flame Fruits sent to the Flaming Rhinoceros Garden turned into Blazing Sun Fruits?"
Lu Lei retrieved a Blazing Sun Fruit from his tunic and tossed it to Steward Li.
"Blazing Sun Fruits?"
As the steward of the Spirit Plant Garden, Steward Li naturally knew the differences between the two and the consequences they could cause. His legs instantly turned to jelly, and with a miserable expression, he wailed in grievance, "These really are Crimson Flame Fruits! Look at these patterns, this luster..."
"Page 894 of the *Encyclopedia of Spirit Plant Identification* records," Zhou Muxue stated, taking out a manual, "that the leaf veins of a Blazing Sun Fruit form a dark gold reticulated pattern, whereas the Crimson Flame Fruit displays a vermilion radial pattern."
She condensed an ice needle at her fingertip and sliced open the skin of the fruit. A wisp of violent fire qi surged out, instantly revealing the dark gold reticulated leaf veins inside.
Steward Li dropped heavily to his knees. "I am wronged! This batch of fruits was personally inspected and accepted by Executive Wang! I—I didn't know anything about it!"
"Lead the way. Take me to Executive Wang."
Zhou Muxue closed the manual, and a rope-like magical artifact flew out from her storage bag, binding Steward Li up like a festive rice dumpling.
"According to the *Interrogation Procedures*, human witnesses must be preserved."
Steward Li had no choice but to lead the way ahead.
Soon, the three of them reached the depths of the Spirit Plant Garden, but right at that moment, Zhou Muxue suddenly came to a halt.
She opened the *Fundamentals of Array Formations* and gently traced her fingers through the air, as if plucking invisible zither strings. "The flow of spiritual energy here is abnormal. The Kan position is shifted by three inches, and the Li palace conceals spiritual qi..."
With that, she suddenly raised her foot and stomped on the ground. A bluestone slab not far away shattered in response, revealing hidden formation markings.
"Th-this was found just like that? With a single stomp?"
Lu Lei watched in stunned disbelief, inwardly gasping in admiration.
"Damn it! She totally showed off!"
"Why did I have to end up as a crude body cultivator?"
Lu Lei wailed in his heart: "I want to be that cool too! I want to solve problems using my brain instead of just relying on my fists!"
"Step 3 of the *Guide to Breaking Concealment Arrays* requires soaking the formation core with water-attribute spiritual qi."
She pulled out eight jade talismans and embedded them according to the Eight Trigrams directions, then turned to Lu Lei and said, "I must trouble Junior Brother..."
"You got it!"
Lu Lei caught on in a second, grabbed the watering can used for flowers nearby, filled it with a fresh stream of boy's urine, and poured it right over the spot.
"...Actually, a simple Spring Cleansing Spell would have sufficed."
Zhou Muxue pinched her nose and took half a step back.
What Spring Cleansing Spell?
As a crude body cultivator, I don't know how to do any of that fancy stuff.
Before Zhou Muxue could say anything more, the formation roared to life and shattered.
The moment the formation was broken, a dazzling, intense red rushed into view.
In the medicine field before them, dozens of Blazing Sun Fruit trees were densely arranged, radiating a scorching heat. The air was filled with a rich fragrance of fruit, yet it carried an unsettling, stifling dryness.
"Th-this... what is going on here?"
Steward Li's eyes bulged, his complexion instantly turning pale, and beads of fine sweat broke out on his forehead. He was clearly shaken to the core by the sight before him.
Lu Lei sneered, his gaze sweeping over Steward Li. "It seems someone deliberately planted Blazing Sun Fruits right here in the Spirit Plant Garden, swapped them out with the Crimson Flame Fruits, and sent them to the Flaming Rhinoceros Garden. They were trying to kill that entire pack of Flaming Rhinoceroses!"
Pressed by his gaze, Steward Li took a step back, frantically waving his hands in defense. "No, it has nothing to do with me! I'm just a lowly steward in charge of delivering spiritual fruits. How could I possibly set up a formation in the Spirit Plant Garden and secretly cultivate Blazing Sun Fruits? Th-this is something only someone at the executive level could pull off!"
Panic and grievance laced his voice, showing he was genuinely terrified by this sudden accusation. As he spoke, he wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes darting about as if desperately trying to recall something.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, as if he had grabbed onto a life-saving straw. "Right! It must be Executive Wang! Executive Wang has always been the one distributing and inspecting the Crimson Flame Fruits. He had every opportunity to tamper with them!"
"And lately, he's always acting so secretive, often spending time alone in the Spirit Plant Garden under the pretext of checking on the growth of the spiritual fruits. Now that I think about it, he was definitely up to no good!"
The more Steward Li talked, the more agitated he became, as if he had found a scapegoat, his tone carrying a trace of relief. "I always felt something was off about him, but I didn't dare ask too many questions. Thinking about it now, he must be the one who did all of this!"