Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Xu Lingguang naturally had no objections.

After negotiating with Manager Zhao, the final price for the Crimson Sun Pill was 5,000 low-grade spirit stones for the top grade, 3,000 low-grade spirit stones for the mid-grade, and 1,500 low-grade spirit stones for the bottom grade. The price of the Bone-Growing Pill and the Qi-Boosting Pill was much lower than that of the Crimson Sun Pill, with the top grade costing 800 low-grade spirit stones and the mid-grade costing only 300 low-grade spirit stones.

In total, Xu Lingguang earned 1,120,200 low-grade spirit stones from this batch of pills.

Too many low-grade spirit stones were inconvenient to carry, so Xu Lingguang asked Manager Zhao to exchange them for mid-grade spirit stones, for a total of 11,202 mid-grade spirit stones.

This was a very large sum of money for Xu Lingguang.

If it were replaced with the Rejuvenation Pill, one pill a month would be enough for him for ten years.

Xu Lingguang touched the Sumeru Ring filled with spirit stones and felt that having money made all the difference. He felt very secure and at ease, and his posture became much straighter as he walked.

However, he remembered the Cloud Piercing Crossbow he had his eye on last time, which cost a full 20,000 mid-grade spirit stones. After calculating that the money he had earned this time was only enough to buy half of the Cloud Piercing Crossbow, his excitement subsided. It was only a mere 10,000 mid-grade spirit stones. He still had to work harder. Only when he could buy the Cloud Piercing Crossbow without batting an eye could he be considered financially free.

Thinking this, Xu Lingguang remembered another crossbow.

He picked up the giant crossbow from that unlucky guy he only met twice, who tried to kill him but was killed by Cheng Huang's blessing power.

The massive, jet-black crossbow was far more intimidating than the Cloud Piercing Crossbow. Xu Lingguang originally intended to keep it for himself, but he found it too heavy and too large. He struggled to lift it and had no control over it, so it remained gathering dust in his Sumeru Ring.

Since it's useless anyway, I might as well sell it and get some money.

Xu Lingguang then said, "By the way, I recently acquired a giant crossbow by accident. I have no use for it, so I thought I'd show it to Manager Zhao."

Upon hearing this, Manager Zhao immediately became interested. In his eyes, Xu Lingguang was now a hidden money tree.

Xu Lingguang took the giant crossbow out of his Sumeru Ring and gave it to him.

Manager Zhao was initially startled by the giant crossbow's size, but after touching it, he exclaimed in amazement, "If I'm not mistaken, this was forged from underground black rock?"

Xu Lingguang had no idea about the underground black rocks. He remained unmoved, adopting an attitude of listening attentively.

Manager Zhao picked up the giant crossbow again and tested it. He poured his spiritual energy into the crossbow from his palm, and the crossbow glowed with a dark light. Then, a black arrow formed from spiritual energy appeared in the quiver, faintly gleaming with a cold light.

Manager Zhao withdrew his spiritual energy and sighed, "The black rock beneath the earth is so hard and difficult to melt that, to be able to forge a heavy crossbow from it in one piece, as far as I know, only Master Huolian Zhenjun of Nine Revolutions Manor can do that now." He carefully placed the giant crossbow on the table, "But Master Huolian Zhenjun has been in seclusion for many years, and Nine Revolutions Manor is managed by the Second Master. It hasn't produced any weapons forged from black rock for many years. Judging from the materials and forging techniques, this giant crossbow looks like a treasure of Master Huolian Zhenjun."

Xu Lingguang hadn't expected that the giant crossbow he'd casually picked up would have such a remarkable origin. Suppressing his surprise, he said calmly, "I also obtained it by chance. How could this crossbow have such a distinguished history?"

Shopkeeper Zhao assumed that he had seen many good things and did not take the crossbow seriously, but he still explained: "Nowadays, Nine Turns Manor is famous for its cloud iron and red fire rock, but in fact, in the earliest days, Nine Turns Manor was able to become famous in one battle and stand on equal footing with the Hidden Edge Sect because of a Sun-Shooting Crossbow forged by True Monarch Fire Refining from the black rock underground."

The amount of black rock underground is not small, but because it is extremely hard, it is difficult to mine and extract, and even more difficult to melt and use as a forging material, so no one has ever used it to forge weapons and magical artifacts.

But the Fire Refining True Lord cultivated Phoenix Fire. It is said that he spent eighty-one days melting and tempering the black rock underground with Phoenix Fire, and then fused it with Crimson Fire Rock. In the end, he spent half a year forging a Sun-Shooting Crossbow.

The Sun-Shooting Crossbow is a large, heavy crossbow, as long as the arm span of an adult male. It does not require arrows; simply by channeling spiritual energy into the crossbow, it can condense into a spirit fire arrow carrying the power of Yang Flame. Its range and power are so great that it can kill cultivators at the Divine Integration Realm who are of a higher level.

At that time, Huo Lian Zhenjun, who was only at the Divine Treasure Realm, killed an elder of the Hidden Edge Sect who was at the late stage of the Divine Harmony Realm with a Sun-Shooting Crossbow.

Since then, Jiuzhuan Mountain Villa has become famous.

"Although this giant crossbow is not as powerful as the Sun-Shooting Crossbow, its power should not be underestimated. In particular, it is forged from underground black rock. If it were released, not only would cultivators outside be eager to fight over it, but even the people of Nine Revolutions Manor would probably come forward to snatch it."

Xu Lingguang originally intended to sell it for some spirit stones, but he didn't expect that this giant crossbow had such a great background. He couldn't help but wonder about the identity of the unlucky guy who died outside Qingyu City. Could he actually be a member of the Nine Revolutions Manor?

Moreover, to be able to obtain a giant crossbow personally forged by True Lord Fire Refining, according to the usual pattern, it must be some relative or junior of True Lord Fire Refining, right?

When True Monarch Huolian emerged from seclusion, he discovered that his beloved junior had been murdered without explanation. From then on, he pursued the true culprit relentlessly until the end of time.

Xu Lingguang shuddered just thinking about it. Could he really be that unlucky?

Manager Zhao had already begun planning to send the crossbow to the auction: "If Young Master Xu is interested in making a bid, there will be an auction in Fufeng City next month. I will send the crossbow to Fufeng City at that time, which will be enough to serve as the grand finale of the auction."

Xu Lingguang stopped his wandering thoughts and hesitated before asking, "Will this expose my identity?"

Manager Zhao shook his head: "If Young Master Xu does not wish to appear, I can handle all matters related to the auction on his behalf. If anyone else wants to investigate, no one will be able to find out the information that Qianjinlou does not want to leak out."

Xu Lingguang was still hesitating, weighing whether it was safer to keep such an eye-catching item in his own hands or to sell it.

He kept it in his own hands. As long as he didn't take it out again, no one except Manager Zhao would ever know that he had such a crossbow. Even if True Lord Fire Refining investigated in the future, he wouldn't be able to find it on him.

But one can never be too careful. When he went to find that unlucky guy, he didn't try to hide his whereabouts. Who knows what unexpected methods those big shots might use if they started investigating?

However, if they use Qianjinlou to make a move, although Huolian Zhenjun might still be able to find out what happened in Qingyu City, by then the crossbow might have already changed hands several times, and with Qianjinlou acting as a cover, they can buy some time.

Moreover, even if we take a step back and assume the worst-case scenario where True Lord Fire Refinement does come knocking, he may have already exchanged the crossbow for a large sum of money and recovered his injuries and cultivation level. At that point, he won't be completely defenseless.

After careful consideration, Xu Lingguang made up his mind and said to Manager Zhao, "Then I'll have to trouble Manager Zhao."

Seeing that he was willing to part with such a peerless weapon without batting an eye, Manager Zhao admired his composure and vision even more, and solemnly said, "Young Master Xu, rest assured, I will handle this matter properly."