Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Xu Lingguang hasn't come out yet?

Gongyang Songfeng swayed and blurted out, "How could he not have come out yet?"

Hu Lie retorted, "What's impossible about that? Everyone has underestimated Young Master Xu's abilities."

He sneered and brought up old grievances: "If it weren't for Manager Huai placing the bet, I wouldn't have known that he was actually the second young master of Qianjinlou. Brother Gongyang really kept it a secret."

Gongyang Songfeng had a guilty conscience and naturally dared not accept the answer. He bowed perfunctorily and apologized, saying, "It's my bad memory; I forgot to mention it to Brother Hu."

Hu Lie sneered, but did not press the matter further. Instead, he asked him with schadenfreude, "Brother Gongyang, how many levels do you think Young Master Xu has already cleared?"

Gongyang Songfeng did not want to think about it.

No one else knew, but he knew it all too well.

Xu Lingguang did not enter the Hundred Refinement Tower, but the Mountain and Sea Hundred Refinement.

Logically speaking, he should have died in the Mountain and Sea Refinement on the first day. Even if he was lucky enough to survive, he should have come out long ago.

But it's been four days now, and he still hasn't come out.

No, nothing's right.

Gongyang Songfeng was in a state of panic and could only try his best to calm himself down.

He had met Xu Lingguang a few times. He was not well-known, and although he was not sure about his strength, he was over a hundred years old and still not well-known. Even if he had some ability, it was mostly due to the resources of Qianjinlou Wenxianju.

He could not possibly have survived the trials and tribulations of mountains and seas.

Something must have gone wrong.

After comforting himself like this, Gongyang Songfeng managed to calm down and summoned his trusted confidant to inquire about the situation in the Mountain and Sea Hundred Refinements.

However, before his trusted confidant could leave, a commotion suddenly erupted from below the Longyan Terrace.

"The Shennong Ranking has gained another person!"

"who is it?"

"I'm watching now. Number sixty-eight, parachuted in."

"Call him Xu Lingguang!"

The crowd gathered at Longyantai consisted mostly of ordinary cultivators who were there to watch the spectacle.

The Hundred Refinement Tower has been open for four days. Many ordinary people have had their fill of the excitement and have left. The number of people gathered in Longyantai has decreased significantly, unlike the previous two days when it was so crowded, but there are still quite a few people.

These people were chatting casually, discussing whether a dark horse would emerge this time, when they watched in disbelief as the Shennong Ranking, which hadn't changed for a long time, suddenly moved!

The Shennong Ranking has changed!

Suddenly, an unfamiliar name appeared between the sixty-seventh and sixty-eighth places.

Then, the 68th place and below were moved down one place.

Everyone gaped as they looked at the name.

Xu Lingguang, a level-one alchemist, is 124 years old.

The row of golden characters was particularly eye-catching.

The dejected crowd was like a pot of boiling water, bubbling and clamoring.

The name Xu Lingguang spread quickly.

The people in the Asking Hall on the second floor naturally knew as well.

The disciples of the Gongyang family all wore expressions of utter despair, while Gongyang Songfeng stared blankly, exclaiming, "Impossible! How could this be?"

He was unwilling to admit this fact, nor did he dare to admit it.

While he was still in a daze, someone raised a question: "But isn't this speed a bit off? This is the first time Young Master Xu has challenged the Hundred Refinements Tower. He's starting from scratch. Even if he's exceptionally talented and has made it all the way to the twentieth floor or higher, it shouldn't be this fast, right?"

Many of the alchemists present had passed through the Hundred Refinement Tower and were quite experienced in this: "It is indeed a bit too fast."

"Only four days have passed. Based on the normal speed, he should have passed the fifteenth floor at the earliest."

The Hundred Refinements Tower becomes increasingly difficult as you progress, and each level is extremely challenging to overcome. This is why the Shennong Ranking is so highly regarded and revered by alchemists.

"Even if we calculate based on the fifteenth floor, his score wouldn't be high enough to get him on the Shennong Ranking, let alone such a high position."

That's sixty-eighth place!

Many Xuan-level alchemists have never reached this position.

An unknown alchemist attempted to enter the Hundred Refinement Tower for the first time, and arrived in just four days.

While admiring it, everyone also felt that there were too many reasonable points to it.

"Could it be that something went wrong with the Hundred Refinement Tower?"

"I heard that this alchemist made a bet with the young master of the Gongyang family, the stake being the Sun Furnace... The stake is so high, yet he accepted it so easily. Could it be that he has some unknown methods?"

"It's not impossible."

"This Second Young Master Xu is over 120 years old. If he really has such great abilities, how come I've never heard of him before?"

"I haven't heard of it either."

"I have heard of this name, but it's probably just a coincidence. The sect leader of the Qingyu Sect is named Xu Lingguang."

"Qingyu Sect? How come we've never heard of it?"

"I do know that Qingyu City is guarded by the Qingyu Sect. It had some reputation in its early years, but it declined later. I heard this year that the sect leader died and the sect has been disbanded. Qingyu City is now guarded by troops sent by the imperial court."

"That shouldn't be the same person. Doesn't this person have connections with Qianjinlou and Wenxianju?"

"There are many strange and unusual things in Qianjin Tower. If that's the case, they probably have other methods. It may not be their real skills."

Just as everyone was discussing and speculating wildly, a terrifying pressure suddenly swept across the entire scene.

"I'm quite curious about what strange methods my Thousand Gold Pavilion has that allow people to cheat in the Hundred Refinements Tower. Who among you can tell me?"

The voice was cold and deep, piercing through everyone's eardrums and leaving an indelible chill.

The cultivators with higher cultivation levels present subconsciously took out their magical artifacts and looked warily at the man who had appeared out of nowhere.

But after seeing its appearance clearly, he hesitated and put away the magic weapon.

It's not that they've let their guard down, but rather that they dare not be on guard.

The owner of Qianjin Tower has striking silver hair, and everyone in the Shangyang Continent knows him.

The person before them had silver hair tied back with a jade hairpin, and wore a layered dark green robe. He was simply sitting with a teacup in his hand, yet his powerful aura made everyone present afraid to even breathe.

No one dared to speak anymore. Those whose cultivation was insufficient almost couldn't help but kneel down under the powerful intimidation of the high-level cultivators.

Finally, it was Hu Lie's father, Hu Qian, who arrived after hearing the news, that broke the deadlock.

He took a deep breath and politely cupped his hands towards Lan Jian: "Those present are all juniors, please be lenient and do not frighten them."

The Dao Asking Hall is owned by the Hu family, and Hu Qian, as the head of the Hu family, is also a powerful figure in the late stage of the Divine Harmony Realm. Although the Hu family is not as powerful as the Gongyang family, Hu Qian has made friends all over the years and even had the honor of meeting the Human Emperor, so he has seen a lot of the world.

Even the Emperor himself was not as fearsome as the person before him.

Having just overheard a bunch of nonsensical and baseless speculations from the people at the Taoist temple, Lan Jian was already in a bad mood and naturally didn't give him a friendly look.

He scoffed, "I'd rather not bother with snakes, insects, and rats, but they're the ones who spouted nonsense and offended my ears."