Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Gongyang Songfeng sat on the ground, looking dejected.

When he heard the door open, he looked up with great joy, hoping that his father had sent someone to take him back, but instead he saw Xu Lingguang.

The smile on his face froze instantly, turning into hatred.

He clenched his teeth and smacked them together: "How come it's you?"

Xu Lingguang stood in front of him with a smile: "What, are you not satisfied with me?"

"You think he's your dad?"

Gongyang Songfeng glared at him, his face ashen, his eyelids twitching incessantly.

Xu Lingguang said, "I just came out of the Mountain and Sea Hundred Refinements today. You were the one who put me in there, thinking I would die in there, right?"

Gongyang Songfeng remained silent, but his eyes did not lie.

He seemed a bit smarter than before, and didn't fly into a rage without thinking.

Xu Lingguang, having delivered a somewhat lackluster monologue, resorted to entrapment: "But I also have to thank you. Before entering the Mountain and Sea Hundred Refinements, I had no idea I was this powerful."

Do you know where I am ranked on the Shennong List right now?

Gongyang Songfeng gritted his teeth: "I don't want to know."

Xu Lingguang: "Twenty-second place."

He raised his chin smugly and looked at Gongyang Songfeng: "I heard you only made it into the top twenty of the Little Shennong Ranking this time?"

After saying that, he clicked his tongue twice.

Although he said nothing, it was as if he said everything, his contempt evident in his words.

Gongyang Songfeng had never been so humiliated and ridiculed, yet he was the fish on the chopping block, and Xu Lingguang was the butcher. He could only say, word by word, "Don't be too smug."

Xu Lingguang: "You made it onto the Shennong Ranking on your first attempt at the Hundred Refinements Tower, and ranked twenty-second no less. Aren't you proud of that?"

"..."

Gongyang Songfeng nearly ground his teeth to powder, looking as if he wanted to pounce on him and bite him.

"So I'm in a good mood right now."

Xu Lingguang said with a smile, "How about this, you write me a three-thousand-word apology letter, then read it aloud on the Shennong List and apologize to me, and I will forgive you for setting a trap to kill me."

"Don't even think about it!"

Upon hearing this, Gongyang Songfeng could no longer contain himself and lunged at Xu Lingguang, intending to strangle him.

However, after undergoing trials in the mountains and seas, Xu Lingguang's cultivation and skills were no longer what they used to be.

Gongyang Songfeng's slow and feeble attacks were, in his eyes, not even as effective as Jue Ru.

Xu Lingguang calmly dodged, almost brushing against Gongyang Songfeng's body to get behind him, then raised his hand and slapped him hard on the back—

Gongyang Songfeng's spiritual power was scattered by the slap, and he fell heavily to the ground face down.

He tried to get up by pushing himself up with his hands, but Xu Lingguang pinned his spine with his knee, making it impossible for him to move: "I'll give you one more chance, will you apologize or not?"

Gongyang Songfeng turned his head away and glared at him fiercely: "I don't admit it, so what can you do about it!"

Xu Lingguang thought for a moment and said, "Not very good, but I can beat you up first."

After saying that, he stood up, grabbed Gongyang Songfeng by the back of the neck, and lifted him up...

Xu Lingguang vented his anger and pushed open the door to come out.

Behind him, Gongyang Songfeng lay on the ground, barely alive, still muttering things like "My father will not let you go."

Upon hearing this, Youyu frowned and looked at Xu Lingguang with concern: "Should I handle this?"

Xu Lingguang waved his hand and said, "What are you going to do? I've already vented my anger."

He then looked at Lan Jian and said, "Let someone send a message to the Gongyang family, asking them to send over the Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk, and then compensate them..." Xu Lingguang counted on his fingers: "Compensate them with 100,000 high-grade spirit stones."

He felt he had already asked for a lot, but Lan Jian asked in a somewhat dissatisfied tone, "Is that all?"

Xu Lingguang: "Is it too little?"

Yu said, "Ju'nan City is rich in spiritual herbs. Almost 50% of the spiritual herb fields belong to the Gongyang family. Whether they grow the spiritual herbs themselves or lease land for others to grow, they earn a considerable income. In addition, all kinds of pill shops in the city have to pay 10% tax. Of this 10% tax, 30% is used for various expenditures in Ju'nan City, and the remaining 70% goes into the Gongyang family's accounts."

Xu Lingguang's mouth dropped open: "Then the Gongyang family must be rolling in money?"

Lan Jian said meaningfully, "So there are quite a few people watching them."

"I'll have someone take care of this."

Since he had already said that, Xu Lingguang simply handed everything over to him, pulled Youyu along, and went off to cook for the little ones.

Although only eight days had passed outside, he had spent almost two months in the Mountain and Sea Refinement Realm. There was nothing good to eat there, and he lived in constant fear. Most of the time, he ate fasting pills, which made him very bored.

He planned to go out to buy some groceries and cook a hot pot meal himself.

Xu Lingguang dragged Youyu straight to the vegetable market, but he clearly underestimated his current fame.

He appeared at the Dao Asking Hall for only a short while, and some cultivators boldly and secretly recorded it with a recording bead.

After that, he took the image-recording beads around and sold them, charging one hundred low-grade spirit stones for each image, and he made a fortune.

In other words, everyone who has seen the photo knows Xu Lingguang.

As soon as Xu Lingguang stepped outside, he felt something was off; he felt like everyone was staring at him.

But as soon as he turned around, those people immediately turned back to do their own thing.

However, some who turned too slowly were caught red-handed by Xu Lingguang. After exchanging a glance with him, they nervously bowed and quickly slipped away.

Xu Lingguang: "..."

Why do I feel like I'm a monkey in a zoo?

Xu Lingguang muttered a couple of things, then decided to ignore those people and continued to the market.

A large number of cultivators were scattered around, sneaking around and occasionally whispering among themselves, trying to guess Xu Lingguang's movements.

"Where are you headed, Fellow Daoist Xu?"

"There are many herbal medicine shops over there, so they're probably going to buy some herbs, right?"

"This is too diligent. He just came out of the Hundred Refinements of the Mountains and Seas and went to buy spiritual herbs to refine pills without resting. It really makes us feel ashamed of ourselves."

"I will definitely work hard when I get back, refining pills for twelve hours every day! I will take Fellow Daoist Xu as my role model."

Some people are highly motivated, while others are looking for shortcuts.

A female cultivator who had also brought her spirit pet along looked at the spirit pet in Xu Lingguang's arms, then at her own spirit cat, and pondered before asking her friend beside her, "Fellow Daoist Xu seems to be a lover of pets. Do you think it's possible for my little black cat to flirt with Fellow Daoist Xu's spirit pet, and then I can use my pet to gain favor and ask Fellow Daoist Xu to give me priority in taking orders for my pills?"

Just thinking about not having to beg alchemists for orders anymore made the female cultivator's face light up with longing, and she tightened her grip on the spirit cat's arm.

Your friend Liangliang said, "Your Xiao Hei was only bought for 500 low-grade spirit stones. It usually follows you through thick and thin. What makes you think it can seduce Fellow Daoist Xu's spirit pet?"

The female cultivator said somewhat indignantly, "I've already tried my best to give Xiao Hei the best, haven't I? If you work harder, maybe my son and I can live a better life!"

Unfortunately, Little Black didn't think so. It howled and slapped her hand away, jumped onto her head and squatted there, its tail swishing unhappily.

The female cultivator sighed and said, "It seems there's no hope for this rebellious son."

Xu Lingguang was unaware of the little incident behind him, and he finally found the vegetable market by relying on his memory.

The street right behind the herbal medicine shop is a market that specializes in selling all kinds of spiritual meat and plants. Xu Lingguang had specifically inquired about it and found that it was the freshest and most affordable vegetable market there.

He strolled in leisurely, carrying the cubs.

A collective gasp rose from behind.