Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

For the past two weeks, Xu Lingguang has had a very fulfilling time every day.

He would first practice a set of Baduanjin exercises when he got up in the morning, and then prepare breakfast for Wuyao. After breakfast, he would go to the pharmacy to concentrate on organizing the medicinal materials and stay there all day until dinner time.

Such a life should theoretically be very boring, but Xu Lingguang liked the smell of herbs in the pharmacy. The dense, towering shelves were like a fascinating herb maze. He liked the feeling of finding the herbs he needed in the maze and categorizing and organizing them.

And whether it was his imagination or not, his body seemed to have become much stronger after going to bed early and getting up early and practicing a section of Baduanjin every day for the past two weeks.

Previously, he would occasionally experience sudden pain in his internal organs, which he could only endure through sheer willpower. However, during the two weeks he spent in the thatched hut, this sudden pain lessened considerably and became less frequent.

It only flared up twice in the last two weeks.

Xu Lingguang was easily satisfied. He gradually realized that his luck wasn't so bad. Apart from the cultivator who chased after him at the beginning and the skull who tricked him into going to the human-faced spider's nest, everyone else he met was a good person.

Especially Wu Yao, although he looks old with a white beard, he has the temperament of an old child. Xu Lingguang likes to listen to him tell stories about Shangyang Continent or the stories of medicinal herbs in his spare time, and he benefits a lot from it.

Unfortunately, Wuyao left soon after.

On the morning of the sixteenth day, Xu Lingguang noticed something different about the thatched cottage when he got up. He hurriedly went to the main house to check and found that Wuyao had indeed left. There were several books and a hastily written note on the table: "I'm leaving. Take care."

Xu Lingguang sighed as he held the note. Although he knew they would part ways, he still couldn't get used to this sudden farewell.

He sat in the room for a while before looking through the books left by Wuyao. There were some medicine books that Xu Lingguang hadn't had time to finish reading, as well as some prescriptions.

Xu Lingguang didn't quite understand the recipe, but even he, being rather dim-witted, knew that recipes weren't something that came out of nowhere. So, he gratefully put it away, cleaned up the thatched hut, locked the doors and windows, and then reluctantly drove away in his oxcart.

The bamboo forest was good for one's health. In the past two weeks, Xu Lingguang felt that he had gained some weight and his complexion had become fair and rosy. However, since there was no mirror in the thatched hut, he could not confirm it until he saw that the ox pulling the cart had also become stronger. Only then did he realize that these were not illusions.

"I am leaving."

Xu Lingguang waved his hand behind him and slowly drove the car towards Qingyu City.

*

Xu Lingguang first went to the carriage shop to return the oxcart.

The guy who rented the car to him couldn't even recognize the much larger bull. He looked at Xu Lingguang suspiciously and said, "Why does it look a little different to me? You didn't secretly replace it with another one, did you?"

Xu Lingguang was speechless, then gestured for him to look at himself: "If you eat and drink well with me, you'll naturally gain weight. Look at me, I've gained weight too, haven't I?"

The waiter looked him up and down and finally dismissed his suspicions.

When Xu Lingguang came to rent the oxcart, he did look sickly. Although his face was handsome, it was as white as a ghost, and his lips were bloodless and bluish. He was afraid that the person would die on the way and the oxcart would not be able to return, so he specially increased the deposit by a lot.

In just half a month, the person in front of me looked like he had taken a magic pill. His eyes were bright, his cheeks were fuller, and his skin was fair and rosy. He looked very young, probably only in his early twenties.

The waiter promptly refunded his deposit, then smiled and saw him out, saying, "Come again next time."

Xu Lingguang waved his hand, left the carriage shop, and headed towards the market.

Having been down the mountain for so long, it's about time he headed back. But before he goes back, he needs to find out where he can buy Rejuvenation Pills, purchase some daily necessities, and perhaps figure out a quick way to make money.

Wu Yao said that besides cultivation, he needs to take at least one high-grade Rejuvenation Pill every month to prolong his life. Although this Rejuvenation Pill has no effect on high-level cultivators, there are many ordinary people with money. Those cultivators will always have ordinary relatives or friends who need to use this Rejuvenation Pill to prolong their lives. Therefore, the price of high-grade Rejuvenation Pill is not low.

However, compared to the other life-extending pills mentioned above, the Rejuvenation Pill is the cheapest and most likely to be available.

Xu Lingguang calculated his entire fortune, which consisted of only a few spirit stones and a little over ninety taels of silver. If he sold the spirit stones, he could probably buy some Rejuvenation Pills. However, he needed connections to sell the spirit stones, and living off his savings was not a long-term solution. Therefore, he planned to keep the spirit stones as a last resort and try to find ways to make money in the meantime.

Actually, he already had some plans in mind. When he helped Wuyao count the medicinal herbs before, he found that he had seen some of the herbs in the Ailao Mountains. Picking herbs from the mountains and selling them was a way to make money. He just needed to find a good seller first and then find out which herbs were valuable.

Xu Lingguang strolled around the market, first buying enough daily necessities, and then gritting his teeth and spending a huge sum of money to buy a donkey as a means of transportation. After putting the purchased supplies on the donkey's back, he led the donkey to the East City. While shopping, he chatted with the shopkeepers and learned that the West City, where the market was located, was mostly inhabited by ordinary people, while cultivators mostly operated in the East City.

In the eastern part of the city, there is a very famous shop called Qianjinlou. Qianjinlou sells everything that cultivators need, including rare and precious materials, elixirs, talismans, and magical artifacts.

Upon hearing this, Xu Lingguang headed straight for Qianjinlou.

Compared to the bustling and noisy West City, East City is much quieter. There are still quite a few people, but most of the cultivators are ethereal and otherworldly, with their clothes and feet seemingly untouched by the dust of the world.

Xu Lingguang led a donkey laden with goods, walking slowly down the streets of Dongcheng, which made him stand out from the crowd. People kept casting glances at him, but Xu Lingguang pretended not to notice and walked into Qianjinlou with his head held high.

The waiter from Qianjinlou greeted him with a smile, but when he saw Xu Lingguang's attire, he paused for a moment, then his expression turned cold. He asked, "Have you come to the wrong place? Qianjinlou doesn't do business with ordinary people."

Xu Lingguang didn't argue with him and asked directly, "Do you sell Rejuvenation Pills?"

The shopkeeper curled his lip: "The Rejuvenation Pill isn't something ordinary people can afford."

Xu Lingguang frowned: "Just tell me if you have it or not, and how much it costs."

He took out a spirit stone and placed it in his palm: "Is this enough?"

The shopkeeper's eyes widened when he saw the spirit stone. He quickly put on a smile and invited the man inside, saying, "I was blind to your greatness, sir. Please come in."

Xu Lingguang followed him inside and asked him about the process of purchasing the Rejuvenation Pill.

The shopkeeper explained much more clearly this time: "We do have Rejuvenation Pills, but the quantity is limited and the supply cannot meet the demand. Therefore, every time there is stock, it is auctioned off directly, and the highest bidder wins."

auction?

Xu Lingguang secretly took a breath, trying to calm himself down: "What's the starting bid?"

The shopkeeper said, "The starting price is 1,000 low-grade spirit stones. In previous auctions of the Rejuvenation Pill, the price has fluctuated around 8,000 low-grade spirit stones, and the highest it has ever reached is 10,000 low-grade spirit stones."

The prices in Shangyang Continent are divided into two systems: ordinary people use gold and silver, while cultivators mostly use spirit stones.

Spirit stones are divided into three grades: superior, medium, and inferior. Superior grade spirit stones are pure and free of impurities, making them extremely rare. Therefore, the spirit stones circulating in the market are mostly medium and inferior grade spirit stones that contain impurities.

One mid-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

As for high-grade spirit stones, theoretically they can be exchanged for one hundred mid-grade spirit stones, but because they are scarce and their spiritual energy is purely beneficial to cultivation, they are rarely used for trading. If they were traded, their value would be even higher.

Therefore, when Xu Lingguang took out a high-grade spirit stone, the shopkeeper's attitude changed completely.

Xu Lingguang calculated that, assuming a 1:100 exchange rate, one high-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for at least 10,000 low-grade spirit stones. He currently had eight high-grade spirit stones, and with good luck, he could bid for at least eight Rejuvenation Pills.

Adding the two he had left, that made ten.

It sounds like a lot, but it can only last for about ten months.

Xu Lingguang sighed inwardly, and after clarifying the auction time of the Rejuvenation Pill, he turned to ask about the acquisition of medicinal materials.

The pharmacy, devoid of medicine, carried several strangely shaped medicinal herbs, all found in the Ailao Mountains. Worried that the shop assistant would realize his ignorance and try to lower the price, Xu Lingguang casually mentioned the name of one of the herbs to test the waters: "By the way, I also have a few Wuxiang Grass plants here, would you buy them?"

"The Formless Grass?" The shopkeeper was startled, then became excited: "If it really is the Formless Grass, then of course we'll take it."

His attitude was even more enthusiastic than before, and he eagerly greeted Xu Lingguang as he headed towards the private room: "A while ago, a big customer spent a lot of money to buy Wuxiang Grass. It would be great if you had it here. Please have a seat, and I will go and invite the manager."