Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

The snake blood mixed with the seven-star grass worked very quickly.

The intense dizziness subsided, and the bruises on my calves gradually faded, leaving only two bloody teeth marks.

Xu Lingguang quickly treated the wound to prevent infection before getting up and looking around.

He was standing in a patch of grass, the tall and short grass reaching up to his chest and his calves. The grass stretched out into the distance, and at its end, he could see the shadows of the forest and the mountains.

Xu Lingguang thought for a moment and decided to head to the woods first.

The sun had already passed its zenith and begun to set in the west. This place was overgrown with weeds, offering no shelter from the wind and rain, and who knew how many poisonous snakes and insects might lurk in the grass? It was definitely not a suitable place to spend the night.

Before the sun sets, we need to find out the situation, find a place to spend the night, and preferably find something for self-defense.

Things for self-defense—

Xu Lingguang's gaze fell on the corpse of the Seven-Ring Fire Refining Serpent beside him.

He had just checked himself and found that his Qiankun bag and Sumeru ring, which he usually carried with him, were gone. Apart from the jade unicorn pendant hanging around his neck, he had nothing on him.

Fortunately, the jade toe is still intact, so at least there's not too much worry about its safety.

Xu Lingguang tied the seven-ringed fire-refined snake with a blade of grass he had casually broken off and carried it in his hand. Then he trudged through the wilderness toward the distant forest with great difficulty.

The sun overhead was blazing, and Xu Lingguang felt parched and hungry after walking for only a short while.

With his cultivation level, he could abstain from food for several days, so he shouldn't feel hungry so quickly.

Xu Lingguang looked up at the blinding sun overhead, squinted, and sensed something was wrong.

The sun is setting in the west much faster than expected.

The sun, which was just slightly off to the west above his head a moment ago, is now about 45 degrees off to the west.

Time seems to flow much faster here.

Xu Lingguang glanced at the seemingly endless forest and decided to stop.

At his current speed, he might not even reach the forest by nightfall.

He licked his lips, preparing to first look for a water source nearby.

Lakes and rivers are out of the question; this place is overgrown with weeds and doesn't look like it has any major water sources.

However, with the weeds growing so lushly, there might be a stream or groundwater nearby.

Even if all else fails, the roots and stems of these plants should contain water, which might quench thirst.

As for food, if nothing else can be found, the corpse of the Seven-Ring Fire Serpent can be roasted and eaten.

While Xu Lingguang was glad that he had brought the corpse of the Seven-Ring Fire-Refining Serpent, he bent down to check the dampness of the soil—following the damp soil should lead to a water source.

The wild beast that had been lying in ambush behind him launched an attack while he bent over.

The beast resembles a deer but is not a deer. It is covered in black fur, except for its white tail. It has four sharp horns on its head and four legs. The front two legs are like monkey claws with sharp hooks, while the hind legs are like horse hooves.

At this moment, it lowered its body, kicked hard with its strong hind hooves, and charged towards Xu Lingguang's unguarded back with its four sharp horns.

The sharp point, like steel, gleamed coldly in the blinding sunlight; if it struck, it could pierce a person through in an instant.

Xu Lingguang felt a tingling sensation in his back. Instinctively, he rolled to his left. Before he could react, a dark beast lowered its head and charged at him again.

"Holy crap, what's that?!"

Xu Lingguang's alarm blared, and he suddenly gathered his strength and leaped away to dodge.

The beast missed its target, stood on its hind legs, and revealed its ferocious face covered by black fur. Its dark red eyes stared angrily at Xu Lingguang, and it made a "hoarse" panting sound from its throat.

Xu Lingguang finally saw clearly what was attacking him and immediately hissed.

It looks familiar.

But before he could recall, the creature kicked off with its hind legs and suddenly jumped up, its front paws outstretched like human hands, trying to grab him.

The claws have barbs on them; if it catches you, a chunk of flesh will be scraped off.

Xu Lingguang immediately dodged, and instinctively reached for his sleeve only to find it empty. He then realized that the Cloud Piercing Crossbow was also gone.

Without any magical artifacts, he was unable to retaliate and could only awkwardly dodge and weave in mid-air.

But he soon felt his spiritual energy waning.

The beast that kept jumping up to attack him looked like it was not exhausted at all.

This cannot continue.

Even in mid-air, I couldn't shake this thing off. If I ran out of spiritual energy, I would definitely be doomed.

Xu Lingguang took a deep breath and analyzed the situation during the brief moment of dodging.

If you can't avoid it, you'll have to face it head-on.

His gaze fell on the beast's four horns.

This thing mainly attacks with its sharp horns and claws; its back is a blind spot for attack.

Xu Lingguang licked his chapped lips and decided to take a gamble.

He seized the opportunity, and as the beast leaped up to grab him, he swiftly circled around to its back and seized its large, sharp horns.

This thing is very agile and reacts very quickly. The moment Xu Lingguang circled behind it, it changed direction and charged.

Unfortunately, Xu Lingguang was quick to react. He grabbed the beast's horn tightly and was swung around by the beast's immense strength.

He used all his strength to avoid being thrown off.

The beast realized this and began frantically kicking and shaking its head, trying to throw him off.

Xu Lingguang gripped its horn tightly, flipped over and climbed onto its back, clinging to it tightly without a second thought.

The beast was naturally unwilling to give up, letting out strange roars from its throat and frantically jumping around, trying to throw the person off its back.

Xu Lingguang was dizzy from being shaken around. Realizing that this wasn't working, he suddenly became wicked and used his spiritual power to forcefully break off one of its horns.

The voice was even louder, carrying a hint of ruthlessness: "If you jump again, I'll break off the rest of your horns too."

The beast froze for a moment, but quickly roared again in frustration.

"Can you understand human speech?"

Xu Lingguang once again mobilized the little spiritual power in his body and used all his strength to pry open its other corner: "If you jump again, if you bark again."

The excruciating pain from above made the beast roar.

But perhaps it was in too much pain, because it actually stopped, only its front paws scratching the ground unwillingly.

Xu Lingguang was delighted to see this; this thing was indeed intelligent and afraid of having its horns broken.

Just as Xu Lingguang was about to let go, he saw the thing's dark red eyes slant backward, full of cunning.

This thing actually pretended to surrender.

Xu Lingguang exerted force and broke off another corner of it.

He turned his hand and pointed the gleaming horn at the beast's eyes: "I know you can understand, you better behave, or it won't just be two horns that get broken off."

The beast flinched, its two front paws clutching its head as it lay prone on the ground, emitting a weak, whimpering sound.

However, given its past record, Xu Lingguang was still hesitant to come down.

He glanced at the sun's defenses, his eyes darting around, and then he poked the beast's head hard with the sharp horn in his hand: "Take me to a water source."

The beast, hurt by its own sharp horns, whimpered and reluctantly got up, carrying Xu Lingguang forward.

As Xu Lingguang sat on its back gazing into the distance, his thoughts were immediately opened up.

This thing may be ugly and fierce, but it seems like it would be a pretty good mount.