Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

After Xu Lingguang finished setting up the last trap, he returned to find two pheasants clucking in one of the traps. They were struggling so hard that feathers were flying everywhere.

Xu Lingguang: ?

How can there be such a windfall?

He's been so lucky lately!

After pulling the two pheasants out of the trap, Xu Lingguang weighed them in his hands. Wow! They're quite plump.

It's a pity there's only one rooster and one hen. We already have a rooster, and the new one will probably fight. I guess I'll just have to make chicken soup.

He happily carried the two pheasants home. He put the hen with the other two chickens, and killed and cleaned the extra rooster, then put it in a pot with the wild mushrooms he had picked and simmered it over low heat.

If you simmer it overnight, you'll have a rich and fragrant chicken soup to drink tomorrow morning.

I don't know if it was because of the traps placed outside the yard, but the house was not burgled again in the following days.

Xu Lingguang felt somewhat relieved. After setting up the house's framework, he planned to go down the mountain again—he wanted to go to Qianjinlou to collect the remaining payment and buy some daily necessities.

He deliberately chose a cool morning to set off, and went straight to Qianjinlou after descending the mountain.

Manager Zhao seemed to have been waiting for him. As soon as Xu Lingguang arrived, he came up to him and personally handed him the final payment. His smile was even more enthusiastic than before: "Young Master Xu, this is the final payment. Please check it."

Two hundred plants of the Formless Grass cost a total of 26,000 low-grade spirit stones. After deducting the 5,000 low-grade spirit stones deposit already paid, the remaining balance is 21,000 low-grade spirit stones. To make it easier for Xu Lingguang to access them, Manager Zhao thoughtfully packed them in a storage ring.

Xu Lingguang counted the items, his smile widening: "Thank you, Manager Zhao."

Shopkeeper Zhao rubbed his hands together, seeing that Xu Lingguang was easy to talk to. He then cautiously asked if he could spare some more Wuxiang Grass.

Xu Lingguang had been waiting for this question. He pretended to think for a moment and then asked, "How much more does Manager Zhao need?"

Manager Zhao stopped beating around the bush and held up two fingers: "That big customer wants this amount."

"Two thousand plants?"

Manager Zhao nodded: "We searched everywhere and collected 300 out of 1,000 plants, but we are still short 700 plants."

Xu Lingguang thought about the Wuxiang grass in that mountain valley. There seemed to be quite a lot of it, but these Wuxiang grasses grow naturally, and he was worried that digging up too many at once would affect their subsequent reproduction. He still wanted sustainable development.

Therefore, he hesitated and said, "I may not have that many here."

Manager Zhao quickly replied, "It may not be that many. It depends on how much Young Master Xu can spare. Our people are still searching around."

Xu Lingguang said, "Two or three hundred should be no problem."

Upon hearing this, Manager Zhao was overjoyed and quickly took out another Sumeru Ring, saying, "In that case, I will give you a deposit of two hundred plants first, and then we will settle the balance based on how much you can spare later."

Xu Lingguang unceremoniously transferred the deposit of 26,000 low-grade spirit stones into his Sumeru Ring.

He calculated that after selling the two batches of Wuxiang Grass, he had already earned 52,000 low-grade spirit stones.

Looking at the crystal-clear spirit stones in his Sumeru Ring, Xu Lingguang almost jumped for joy. It didn't seem so hard to earn money after all.

With that in mind, he quickly finalized the time and place for the next delivery with Manager Zhao. After everything was agreed upon, he mentioned to Manager Zhao the main purpose of his trip down the mountain—to buy some defensive formations and protective magic items.

Manager Zhao was just eager to get closer to him, so upon hearing this, he immediately took him to the best storage room.

The vast storage room contained only a few ancient-looking array plates and a few oddly shaped weapons. Xu Lingguang glanced at the weapon rack, his gaze landing on a weapon that resembled a crossbow.

The crossbow bolt was very small, entirely silver, and exquisitely beautiful. Xu Lingguang was immediately captivated by it.

He's been here for so long, but he hasn't been able to learn any self-defense skills. However, it would be great if he could get a weapon for self-defense.

Weapons like swords, spears, and halberds have too high a learning curve; he wouldn't even dare to think about using them without any prior experience. But this crossbow seems to be semi-automatic, making it easier to operate. Once he learns how to use it and practices his accuracy, he can even put some poison on the arrowheads to make it somewhat lethal. It should be quite useful for both self-defense and hunting.

Xu Lingguang picked up the crossbow bolt and tested its feel. The bolt, which appeared to be made of metal, was surprisingly light, and he was immediately surprised.

Seeing his interest in the crossbow, Manager Zhao quickly introduced it, "Young Master Xu has a good eye. This is the Cloud Piercing Crossbow produced by Nine Turns Manor. It is a top-grade Heavenly Craftsmanship Crossbow, made of the lightest Cloud Iron. It can be carried at hand or stored in the inner palace after it recognizes its master. It can be used by people from the lower to the higher Divine Realm. If you can find the essence of Cloud Iron to forge it a second time, it can be upgraded to a top-grade Heavenly Craftsmanship Crossbow, which can then be used by people from the Unity Divine Realm."

He launched into a long, flowery praise, and Xu Lingguang extracted the key words: good quality, suitable for a wide range of people, and can be upgraded.

It sounds good and would suit him well, but I wonder if the price is reasonable.

Xu Lingguang controlled his facial expression and casually put the Cloud Piercing Crossbow back, as if he had only glanced at it casually: "How many spirit stones does this Cloud Piercing Crossbow cost?"

Shopkeeper Zhao smiled and said, "It's not expensive. If Young Master Xu wants it, I'll give you a 10% discount, so it'll only cost 20,000 mid-grade spirit stones."

How many????

Xu Lingguang wondered if he had misheard. He repeated expressionlessly, "Twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones?"

Shopkeeper Zhao nodded: "The weapons from Nine Turns Manor are all of the finest quality, and several of them are listed on the Heavenly Craftsmanship Ranking. Although this Cloud Piercing Crossbow did not make it onto the Heavenly Craftsmanship Ranking because its applicable realm was not high enough, its craftsmanship is no worse than those. It just arrived at the building and has not yet been shown, so no one knows about it yet. It is only because you asked that I have shown it to you first."

Xu Lingguang chuckled: You think highly of me, don't you?

Unfortunately, he was a penniless wretch.

Xu Lingguang calmly said, "It's not bad, but it's not exactly suitable for me."

Upon hearing this, Manager Zhao enthusiastically introduced him to several other items, some cheap and some expensive, but without exception, they all started at five figures, with the unit being mid-grade spirit stones.

Xu Lingguang's heart clenched as he listened. At this moment, he no longer felt that the 56,000 low-grade spirit stones in his storage ring were too many. He could barely afford to buy a single component with all his savings.

What do you mean by making money quickly and easily? This is clearly just rampant inflation.

He works hard to earn some money, but the unit of payment is low-grade spirit stones. Yet, he can casually look at anything and the unit of payment is mid-grade spirit stones.

Who can bear this?

Xu Lingguang learned a lot from Manager Zhao's long-winded introduction of a bunch of magical artifacts he couldn't afford, and then quickly made an excuse to leave.

He realized that Qianjinlou was beyond his means.

Manager Zhao was still regretting not being able to sell Xu Lingguang a suitable magic artifact. Seeing his lack of interest, he said eagerly, "If you don't like the magic artifacts in the storeroom, you can go to the auction. There will be an auction at Qianjin Tower in seven days, with more and rarer items. However, since it's a public auction, only the highest bidder will get them."

Xu Lingguang's heart skipped a beat, and he inquired carefully: "Are there any high-grade Rejuvenation Pills at this auction?"

Manager Zhao said yes: "There are top-grade Rejuvenation Pills at almost every auction. This time there are about three bottles, ten pills per bottle, and the bidding starts at the bottle level."

Xu Lingguang, who was calculating how many Rejuvenation Pills he could buy: "..."

No, is everyone in the cultivation world this rich and powerful, selling Rejuvenation Pills by the bottle?

He couldn't help but ask, "Not sold individually?"

Shopkeeper Zhao glanced at him in surprise and shook his head, saying, "There are some sold individually, but not many. The price of Rejuvenation Pills isn't high, and if they're sold individually, they won't fetch a good price and it's troublesome, so alchemists aren't too willing to do it. Some cultivators who don't have enough capital will pool their money to bid on a bottle and then divide it among themselves."

Xu Lingguang: "..."

Is it too late for him to find someone to film with?

It's obviously too late. Not only does he not know any cultivators, but he also just created the persona of a reclusive master, and now he can't even afford a bottle of Rejuvenation Pill, which is somewhat inconsistent with his persona.

If Manager Zhao could see through his true intentions, he worried that future transactions wouldn't be as worry-free and safe.

Xu Lingguang thought for a moment and said, "Thank you, shopkeeper. I will come then."

Manager Zhao quickly replied, "Then I'll have someone reserve a private room for you."

Having just experienced this, Xu Lingguang naturally didn't dare to accept the private room. He was genuinely afraid that the room might have a minimum spending requirement, and he would be embarrassed if he couldn't afford it. :)

After making up an excuse to refuse, he hurriedly left Qianjinlou.

Just as he was leaving, a guest arrived. As Xu Lingguang brushed past the guest, he suddenly felt a strange sensation and couldn't help but turn back for a glance.

Just then, the man turned around and looked at him. Their eyes met, and Xu Lingguang awkwardly nodded and smiled at him before leaving.