Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Xu Lingguang couldn't figure it out. Compared to Song Nanchu and Zhou Fuying, he hadn't spent much time with Yu Yun. His impression of her was that she was a beautiful and considerate younger sister, but he didn't know anything more about her.

However, he thought again, if Yu Yun really was Yu Xian's lost daughter, then it would be a wonderful story of father and daughter reuniting.

Liuxianju wasn't far, and they arrived quickly. Xu Lingguang had no time to think about the Yu family anymore. He carried the cubs off the carriage and asked the waiter for a private room.

The cubs had eaten Liuxianju's dishes before, but Xu Lingguang had packed them up to take home. Although they tasted good, they were not as good as the freshly made dishes at the restaurant.

The waiter brought over the menu, and the four little ones eagerly surrounded it.

Yu Rong started ordering: "I want meat! Lots and lots of meat!"

Yun Feng said, "I still want to eat the pearl dumplings from last time."

Mu Yun quickly ordered several dishes: "This, this, this, I want to eat them all."

Only Zhaoling was a little slow to react. He tilted his head and looked at the dishes for a long time without announcing the names. He then flapped his wings and flew to the dish he wanted to eat, lay down, and chirped at Xu Lingguang with his round head held high.

Xu Lingguang wrote down the names of the dishes one by one, counted them, and there were seven or eight dishes: "It seems like too many, we can't finish them."

The cubs looked at him longingly, none of them willing to give him up.

Xu Lingguang's heart softened at her words, and he could only abandon his principles and say, "If it's our first time eating here, let's order everything. If we can't finish it, we can pack it up and eat it on the way."

The cubs immediately cheered and obediently sat down in their places, waiting for the food to be served.

The food at Liuxianju was served very quickly, one dish after another, and the cubs ate without even looking up. Xu Lingguang himself wasn't very hungry, so he was busy serving food to the cubs.

The cubs had already become picky eaters at a young age, only liking meat and not vegetables. Xu Lingguang tried every means to coax them to eat more, but the cubs whined and acted spoiled, refusing to eat even a single bite.

Having spent so much time together, not only does Xu Lingguang understand the cubs' personalities, but the cubs also know very well that Xu Lingguang is very susceptible to being pampered. Anything can be resolved with a little pampering, and if that doesn't work, just snuggle into his arms and let him rub against you—it's always effective.

Under the cub's adorable charm, Xu Lingguang quickly surrendered, completely oblivious to any principles he might have had.

The only plate of vegetables on the table was ignored by the cubs; Xu Lingguang specifically chose the vegetables that the cubs liked to eat and fed them.

Yu picked up the plate of untouched green vegetables and placed it in the middle. He picked up a piece of the bright green vegetables with his chopsticks and put it in his own bowl. Then he looked at the cubs for a moment.

Youyu clearly held considerable authority among the cubs, who behaved much better in front of him than they did in front of Xu Lingguang.

Seeing that Youyu set an example, the cubs, though still reluctant, ate a couple of bites as a token gesture.

Xu Lingguang glanced at Youyu in surprise. He hadn't expected that Youyu, who seemed so quiet and reserved, was actually quite good at teaching the cubs. Moreover, he truly set an example by eating only the vegetable dish the whole time and almost never competing with the cubs for meat.

The dish that no one had wanted before was eaten by Yu, who ate a third of it, and the four cubs ate a third of it.

Xu Lingguang clicked his tongue in amazement.

However, he soon noticed that Youyu's expression was a bit strange; he had to gulp down water after only a couple of bites.

Xu Lingguang stared at him for a long time. Suddenly, a thought struck him. After careful observation, he noticed that Yu was chewing the vegetables very slowly and frowning deeply. He immediately realized something—Yu didn't actually like eating vegetables either.

Xu Lingguang dragged the plate of vegetables, which still had a third of its contents left, to his side and whispered to Youyu, "If you don't like it, don't force yourself. Just pretend to eat it to fool the cubs."

He had never seen anyone as honest as Youyu, who forced himself to eat vegetables even though he didn't like them, just to trick the cubs into eating them.

Yu paused, glanced at him, and said stiffly, "Who said I don't like to eat? I'm not a picky eater."

Xu Lingguang chuckled and said, "It's not a good habit for someone so young to be hypocritical."

After saying that, he used serving chopsticks to put a few pieces of ribs into his bowl, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Teenagers are in the period of physical development, and their nutrition should be balanced. Eating only vegetables is not enough."

Youyu couldn't understand his words, but he knew that his little disguise had been seen through. He blushed a little embarrassedly, and looking at the tempting aroma of the crispy fried ribs in the bowl, he couldn't help but pick one up and put it in his mouth.

Xu Lingguang subtly curled the corners of his mouth upon seeing this scene.

He said that no child is really that mature and composed; it's just that the older brother is pretending to be a good role model.

After lunch, the two men and four children set off for Wenlingpo.

Wenlingpo is only a little over a hundred miles from Qingyu City. With spirit horses pulling a carriage, it takes less than an hour to get there.

Xu Lingguang had never been here before. He only knew the name and thought that Wenling Slope was just a small hill. He wondered why the Hundred Refinements Competition would be held in such a place. But after arriving, he realized that although Wenling Slope was called a "slope", it was not an ordinary small hill, but a range of rolling hills with many twists and turns.

Compared to those steep and majestic famous mountains, these low peaks seem rather insignificant. However, because the peaks are connected one after another and rivers meander around them, the landform of Wenlingpo is rich and complex.

This is precisely why the Hundred Refinements Competition was chosen to be held at Wenling Slope.

The rich and complex terrain is perfect for hiding props and setting traps, and even more so for ambushes and protracted battles, making it ideal for elimination tournaments; the numerous but not high mountains will not pose too much danger to participants with lower skill levels, making it very suitable for hosting large-scale real-life outdoor battle royale events.

Because of the upcoming competition, when Xu Lingguang arrived, Wenling Slope was already shrouded in a barrier. Every now and then, cultivators could be seen flying by like streaks of light, each carrying a strange magical artifact.

Xu Lingguang overheard people discussing that the Hidden Peak Sect and Nine Turns Manor were conducting a joint search of the mountain to prevent anyone from sneaking in and cheating. After the search, they could start setting traps, deploying resources, and so on.

Outside the barrier, a large number of cultivators had already gathered in the open space.

The cultivators who arrived early to secure their spots had nothing to do, so they set up small stalls one by one, displaying all sorts of trinkets, some common and some strange and unusual.

Xu Lingguang jumped down from the carriage carrying the cubs, and someone even approached him to ask, "Fellow Daoist, are you selling these spirit pets?"

Xu Lingguang didn't react for a moment. The young man who asked the question reached out to hug Yu Rong as if they were old friends. Yu Rong was so frightened that she let out a "howl" and slapped him hard with her paw. She then burrowed into Xu Lingguang's arms, with only her tail sticking out.

The young man wasn't angry at being slapped, and clicked his tongue, saying, "This civet is quite wild, I like it. Name your price."

Youyu reacted first and stood in front of him: "Not for sale."

Xu Lingguang also came to his senses and guessed that the other party must have misunderstood and thought that he was selling spirit pets. He quickly explained, "Sorry, these are my own spirit pets, I'm not selling them."

Upon hearing this, the young man showed a regretful expression, and after taking two steps away, he turned back: "You brought so many spirit pets here, are you really not selling them? You can name your price."

"..."

Xu Lingguang's lips twitched, and he said, "I'm really not selling. I just brought them out to have some fun."

The young man slumped his shoulders and sighed again, but he didn't leave. Instead, he shamelessly followed Xu Lingguang, tentatively trying to pet Yu Rong: "Fellow Daoist, you've raised this spirit cat so well. Its eyes are clear, and its fur is as smooth as satin. I've seen so many spirit cats, but I've never seen one of such good quality." He tried to get closer to Xu Lingguang: "What breed of spirit cat is this? Where did you get it? Could you perhaps reveal a little bit?"

Xu Lingguang: "..."

You have a good eye. It's a young yellow leopard that's been transformed; how could it not be of good quality?

Xu Lingguang said expressionlessly, "I'm sorry, I have no comment."

The young man persisted for a while, but seeing that he could only say "no comment" repeatedly, he had no choice but to leave dejectedly. Before leaving, he was still not giving up and introduced himself, saying, "I am Qin Long from the Ten Thousand Beasts Manor. If you find any good spirit pets that you want to sell or buy in the future, you can come to the Ten Thousand Beasts Manor in Xiaori City to find me."

Xu Lingguang nodded perfunctorily, finally getting rid of this scoundrel.

After everyone left, Yu Rong peeked out from Xu Lingguang's arms, looking at him with lingering fear, and said, "You wouldn't sell us out, would you?"

Xu Lingguang couldn't help but chuckle: "Of course I will! I'll go and call them back right now!"

Yu Rong let out a howl and pounced into his arms, kicking and scratching wildly.

Yun Feng, who was being held by You Yu, mocked him without any politeness: "You're so stupid, you'll be sold out and still help the seller count the money."

Yu Rong glared at her angrily, while Yun Feng snorted and turned to look at the pretty pastries on the roadside stall: "I want to eat that."

The stall was selling Qingxin Cakes, shaped like pretty bells, with delicate colors and adorable designs. Many cultivators were buying them. Xu Lingguang listened to the stall owner's hawking for a while; these cakes were actually made with Qingxin Grass, which had a calming effect.

The weather is hot. And with this grand event, it's truly exhilarating and makes one restless, just the right time to enjoy a refreshing cake.

Xu Lingguang then went up and bought a box for the cubs to share.

The street was lined with all sorts of stalls. Xu Lingguang glanced at them and saw that he had never seen many of the items before, and he couldn't even figure out what they were for. He looked at Mu Yun, who was munching on a piece of Qingxin cake on his shoulder, and thought it was time for him to come in handy. So he whispered, "Aren't you a treasure-hunting rat? See if there are any treasures on these stalls. Maybe we can find something we like."

Mu Yun stuffed the remaining half of the Qingxin cake into her mouth, her cheeks bulging. Her bright black eyes darted around, and she mumbled, "It's all garbage. There's no such thing as a treasure."

"..."

This doesn't seem to be the usual plot in novels, so Xu Lingguang's hopes of making a fortune through a bargain have completely vanished.

However, Mu Yun's words seem to make sense; treasures can't be found everywhere.

He gave up on that idea and decided to see if there were any cheap and affordable magical artifacts he could buy.

But who knew that when they reached the end of the alley, Mu Yun suddenly started slapping his cheeks with her little paws and pointed to an old bronze stove on a stall to his left, saying, "Treasure, there's treasure over there!"