Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Xu Lingguang's face twitched, and after a quick mental search, he tacitly agreed with his statement. He first consumed a Transformation Pill, transforming into a different appearance, before asking in surprise, "How did you discover that, fellow Daoist?"

Then, he cautiously looked around and gestured for Dongyang Li to lower his voice: "Meng Tong won't come back again, will he?"

Dongyang Li was amused by his appearance and found the man to be both audacious and interesting, which suited his taste perfectly. So he put his arm around the man's shoulder like a good buddy and said, "Don't worry, he's too worried about his precious son to care about anything else."

Xu Lingguang said "Oh," then asked curiously, "How do you know I'm not Xu Lingguang?"

Dongyang Li curled his lip and said, "If you were really Xu Lingguang, you should have taught that bastard Meng Shuisheng a lesson from the beginning. Why bother calling the enforcement team?"

At this point, he gave Xu Lingguang a mocking look: "And when you were sneaking behind us, did you think I didn't see you?"

Xu Lingguang gave a thumbs up and praised, "Fellow Daoist, you truly have eyes in all directions and ears in all directions."

Even when he was hermaphroditic, he could still be distracted and pay attention to him.

Dongyang Li smiled smugly before introducing himself: "My name is Dongyang Li, the chief disciple of the Earth Fire Vein of Nine Revolutions Manor. How shall I address you, fellow Daoist?"

Xu Lingguang made up a story without changing his expression: "My name is Guan Linxu. I'm a rogue cultivator without any sect or school. I heard that the Hundred Refinements Competition is about to begin, so I brought my younger brother to join in the fun." He then introduced Youyu: "This is my younger brother. He's a bit introverted and doesn't talk much."

Yu remained expressionless.

"So it's Brother Guan." As long as the other party isn't from the Hidden Edge Sect, Dongyang Li is very enthusiastic and easy to get along with. Especially since Xu Lingguang had put Meng Tong and his son in a bad way, Dongyang Li liked him even more. So he said enthusiastically, "Brother Guan, are you also preparing to participate in the Hundred Refinements Competition? Why not join our Nine Revolutions Manor and participate in the competition as a disciple of Nine Revolutions Manor?"

Xu Lingguang exclaimed "Ah!" before he could say anything, but Dongyang Li pulled him towards his own territory, saying as they walked, "There are already over a thousand cultivators who have signed up for the competition this year, but only two hundred will be selected. If Brother Guan tries to compete for those two hundred spots, it's going to be a long shot. Considering our friendship, I can give you one of the spots from the manor."

Xu Lingguang looked puzzled, wondering what kind of relationship they had, since they had just met.

Moreover, he hasn't decided whether or not to participate in the competition.

"Oh, I don't need it for now—"

Before he could finish speaking, Dongyang Li interrupted him with a series of pats on the shoulder: "Brother Guan, there's no need to be so polite with me. I am, after all, the chief disciple of the Earth Fire Vein. A mere spot is nothing to me."

As he spoke, he had already led Xu Lingguang to the temporary campsite of Jiuzhuan Mountain Villa. He slammed his hand on the table and said to the disciple in charge of registration, "Guan Linxu, disciple of the Earth Fire Vein, register for the competition."

Xu Lingguang: "???"

No, he hasn't agreed yet.

He exerted his strength and finally broke free from Dongyang Li's grasp. Without panting, he refused, "Brother Dongyang, I haven't decided whether to participate in the Hundred Refinements Competition yet, so there's no need to waste the manor's quota. Thank you for your kindness."

Dongyang Li persisted: "You really don't want to participate? Think about it some more. If we win this year, we can make a killing off Cangfeng Sect."

Xu Lingguang shook his head: "I'm just here to join in the fun."

The disciple in charge of registration looked at Dongyang Li with a mocking expression: "Senior Brother Dongyang, why are you lying to people again? If you ask me, it's not so shameful that you're the only one from the Earth Fire Vein who signed up for the competition."

Dongyang Li's face darkened, his expression full of displeasure: "What do you mean I'm lying?"

Xu Lingguang understood. It turned out that Dongyang Li couldn't gather enough people, so he was trying to coax and trick him into signing up for the competition.

However, he was a little puzzled. How could such a large manor like Nine Turns Manor not be able to gather even twenty people?

Seeing his confusion, Dongyang Li reluctantly explained, "Don't listen to his nonsense. I only wanted you to participate because I saw that you have a unique physique and a smart mind."

He raised his chin: "I don't just look down on anyone."

He was naturally handsome with fair skin and red lips, so his arrogant demeanor wasn't off-putting. Xu Lingguang chimed in, "Thank you for your kind words, Brother Dongyang, but I haven't really decided whether or not to participate yet."

Dongyang Li frowned: "Is there even a need to consider this? Out of every hundred people who come to Wenling Slope, one in a hundred is here just to sign up for the competition."

Xu Lingguang frankly admitted, "My abilities are mediocre."

Dongyang Li disagreed: "You don't understand. The Hundred Refinements Competition isn't about the cultivator's realm; it's about this." He tapped his temple: "The strongest cultivators participating in the competition are only at the Transcendent Realm. It's just a bunch of weaklings fighting each other. To win, you need strategy and the resources you find."

Xu Lingguang had heard some things from Manager Zhao before. During the Hundred Refinements Competition, the Hidden Edge Sect and the Nine Turns Manor would each release a batch of weapons and magical treasures. Participants would need to find these weapons and magical treasures in the mountains and make use of them.

However, while searching for resources, one may also encounter traps, either deliberately set by the participants or pre-arranged by the two sects. These traps can identify the markings on weapons; the Hidden Edge Sect's traps will only target cultivators carrying Nine Revolutions Manor weapons and magical artifacts, and vice versa.

In short, in order to ensure that more cultivators with their own weapons and magical artifacts remain in the end, these two sects will go to any lengths to eliminate cultivators carrying weapons from the opposing sect.

Ordinary cultivators not only have to fight each other, but also have to guard against these traps. The disciples from Cangfeng Sect and Jiuzhuan Manor, on the other hand, are more like a targeted hunting team, specifically teaming up with cultivators wielding their own magical weapons to hunt down cultivators from the opposing sect.

The disciples of these two sects have a better understanding and familiarity with the weapons and magical artifacts they deploy, giving them a natural advantage.

It's extremely difficult for ordinary cultivators to rank high. In the past, the top ten were basically dominated by disciples of these two sects, while ordinary sects could only follow behind and enjoy the scraps.

This is also why Xu Lingguang was not very interested. He didn't have an urgent need for weapons at the moment, so he was more interested in joining in the fun.

Dongyang Li, however, clearly had high hopes for him and strongly encouraged him: "If you and I combine our swords, we will surely be able to lead the team into the top ten. How about we split the rewards then?"

Xu Lingguang said, "I don't need weapons."

Dongyang Li gave him a look of exasperation: "If you don't need the weapon, you can simply resell the quota. Do you know how many spirit stones a quota for forging a top-grade Heavenly Craftsmanship weapon can fetch at auction?"

Xu Lingguang shook his head: "I don't know."

Dongyang Li held up one finger and waved it: "One hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones."

Xu Lingguang was surprised; it was so tall.

He remembered that the Cloud Piercing Crossbow at Qianjinlou was also a top-grade Heavenly Craftsmanship item. Manager Zhao said it was made of Cloud Iron, but it only sold for 20,000 mid-grade spirit stones.

"Why is a single spot so expensive?"

"This is a customized quota, meaning you can do whatever you want. Neither Nine Turns Manor nor Hidden Edge Sect readily accepts customized magical artifacts and weapons."

At this point, Dongyang Li's expression clearly showed some pride.

Xu Lingguang hadn't expected a spot to be so valuable, and he was immediately tempted, but still hesitated: "Nine Turns Manor shouldn't be short of people to participate in the competition, right?"

Seeing that he wasn't so easily fooled, Dongyang Li had no choice but to tell the truth: "Nine Revolutions Manor is divided into three lineages: Heavenly Fire, Earthly Fire, and Profound Fire. According to the rules of previous years, disciples from all three lineages must participate in the competition. Afterwards, regardless of winning or losing, rewards and punishments will be given according to the ranking of the disciples' contributions. That is to say, if you win, you will be rewarded according to your contribution; if you lose, the lineage with the least contribution will be punished."

The rule of the Hundred Refinements Competition is that the losing sect is responsible for refining all the competition rewards.

Dongyang Li spread his hands and said, "There are few disciples of the Earth Fire Clan. This year, I am the only one participating in the competition. If I lose, the Earth Fire Clan will definitely be the least successful in terms of contribution. This means that I will be responsible for 80% of the weapon and magic treasure crafting."

Xu Lingguang suddenly realized a crucial question: "So you're the only one with the Earth Fire Vein?"

"of course not."

Dongyang Li shook his head and slowly said, "And there's my master too."

Xu Lingguang: "...Huh?"

There's not much difference between one person and two people, is there?