Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Seeing his hesitant expression, Dongyang Li blushed and explained, "There used to be many people in the Earth Fire Clan, but my master was arrogant and didn't like noise. Later, he drove everyone to other clans, so I am the only disciple left."

Xu Lingguang: "..."

So it's still just you alone.

However, after thinking about it, he felt that Dongyang Li's conditions were somewhat tempting. If he participated in the Hundred Refinements Competition, he would have no loss if he lost, but he could earn a lot of money if he won, so it wasn't impossible for him to participate. But there were some things that needed to be said in advance: "Even if I participate in the competition, I may not be able to get a good ranking to help you, so don't have too high expectations."

Dongyang Li was quite optimistic: "It's better than me fighting alone. Besides, I don't even want those stupid and clumsy people. They'll just complain that I'm dragging them down."

Seeing that he had already said so, Xu Lingguang readily agreed: "Okay, then I will participate in the competition."

When Dongyang Li saw that he had agreed, he was overjoyed and urged the disciple in charge of registration, "Hurry up and write down the names. There will be two of us from the Earth Fire Vein participating."

The disciple in charge of registration said helplessly, "Senior Brother Dongyang, don't worry, I'm registering you now."

Just as the three were registering, three or four more cultivators dressed in the blue disciple robes of the Nine Turns Manor walked over. The leader was a burly young man with a sharp and aggressive face.

Upon seeing Dongyang Li, he strode over, glancing at the disciples registering. He looked at Dongyang Li with surprise and said, "You actually managed to fool a fool into filling in. But even if you find two more people, the Earth Fire Vein will still be at the bottom this time."

Dongyang Li squinted at him: "You'll see who wins and who loses. Don't forget our bet. If you rank lower than me, you'll have to kneel down in front of me and call me grandpa three times."

The young man chuckled, his voice deep and resonant: "If you win, I'll honor my bet. But I'm afraid if you lose, you'll cry and deny everything."

Dongyang Li's expression changed: "Chai Feng, if you keep bringing up those old grievances, believe me, I'll turn against you right now!"

Seeing that he was getting angry, Chai Feng not only didn't shut up, but instead added fuel to the fire, saying, "You're talking as if we haven't fallen out yet."

Dongyang Li glared at him with a grim expression.

Seeing the two of them exchanging sharp words like fighting cocks, Xu Lingguang couldn't help but say quietly, "Instead of wasting time fighting amongst yourselves here, you might as well cooperate and try to defeat Cangfeng Sect first. Otherwise, if Jiuzhuan Manor loses, it doesn't matter whether it's a fire vein or a dark fire vein outside; it'll all be Jiuzhuan Manor that loses face."

His words made sense. Chai Feng glanced at him and said, "You're right, so you'd better not hold us back."

After saying that, he left with the disciples of the Xuanhuo Clan.

Dongyang Li stared at his back, looking as if she wanted to pounce on him and bite him.

"Who was that just now? Do you have a grudge against me?"

Xu Lingguang patted his shoulder, thinking that the two of them probably had an old grudge, and that they were quite familiar with each other before, otherwise Chai Feng would not have exposed Dongyang Li's secrets and made Dongyang Li so angry.

“Chai Feng of the Xuanhuo lineage, the eldest disciple of True Person Cangyan.” Dongyang Li gritted his teeth, and when he uttered the name “Chai Feng,” he seemed to be gritting his teeth.

“My master disliked noise, so he only accepted me as his disciple. When I was young, I had no other fellow disciples, so I lived with the disciples of the Xuanhuo lineage.” He paused here, his expression becoming somewhat complicated. “Back then, the three lineages in the manor got along fairly well, without so much infighting. My relationship with Chai Feng was also acceptable. Later, when Huolian Zhenjun went into seclusion, the leaders of the three lineages had a fight for some reason. In the end, Biqiong Zhenren of the Tianhuo lineage took over the management of the manor. My master and Cangyan Zhenren went into seclusion and traveled around, respectively. After that, the relationship between the three lineages deteriorated.”

In fact, there are many hidden stories and entanglements that are not known to outsiders, but there is no need to tell Xu Lingguang about them.

Xu Lingguang sighed that these major sects were indeed full of trouble. He noticed that Dongyang Li's attitude towards Chai Feng was a bit strange, not like he was completely hostile. However, since Dongyang Li didn't say anything, he wisely didn't ask. "The competition doesn't start until the day after tomorrow. I'll stay with my brother for the next two days and then meet up with you when the competition starts."

Upon hearing this, Dongyang Li immediately grabbed him: "Don't be in such a hurry. You helped me so much just now, and I haven't thanked you yet. Since this is your first time participating in the competition, there must be a lot you don't know. Let's go eat, and I'll tell you while we eat."

He raised his chin: "It's on me."

Since he was so generous, Xu Lingguang had no reason to refuse, so he went out with him and met up with Youyu, who was waiting nearby, and together they walked towards the makeshift riverside restaurant.

"There's only one city, Qingyu City, near Wenling Slope. You're originally from Qingyu City, so you've probably already tried everything there. Today, I'll take you to try something new."

Dongyang Li was in high spirits. He put his arm around Xu Lingguang's shoulder and looked at Yu Rong in his arms with a curious expression: "I was just about to ask you, how come you raise so many spirit pets?"

Many cultivators raise spirit pets, but they treat them as combat partners. Most of them raise powerful beasts or even exotic beasts. Of course, a small number of cultivators like spirit pets and raise some beautiful rare and exotic beasts.

But I've never seen anyone like Xu Lingguang who keeps two spirit cats, a spirit bird, and a spirit mouse.

After all, spirit pets are not cheap, and raising them is quite expensive. Most people would consider it a luxury to keep one or two ornamental spirit pets, but Xu Lingguang kept four at once.

Moreover, these spirit pets all looked quite young. Dongyang Li found the pale yellow, round spirit cat very cute and couldn't help but take out some dried meat from his sleeve to tease it: "Want some?"

Yu Rong initially didn't want to pay him any attention, but the jerky, made of some unknown material, smelled incredibly delicious. Dong Yang Li kept waving the jerky in front of him, and Yu Rong couldn't help but sniff.

Finally, when Dongyang Li fed him the jerky, he hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help opening his mouth and taking it.

However, despite his enjoyment of the food, he remained wary of Dongyang Li, whom he didn't know well. He turned around, his backside facing Dongyang Li, and began to gnaw on the jerky with gusto.

Dongyang Li stared wide-eyed and complained to Xu Lingguang, "Your cat has quite a temper."

He had also seen the spirit cats kept by the female disciples in the manor; they were gentle, obedient, and extremely good at pleasing people.

Xu Lingguang smiled and ruffled Yu Rong's fluffy head, then brought out the story he had prepared beforehand: "My great-grandfather loved spirit pets very much because they had saved his life, so he left a will instructing us to treat the offspring of several spirit pets well, which is why they are inevitably a bit spoiled."

This reason convinced Dongyang Li: "No wonder. But I do think your spirit pets are more agile than others."

As he spoke, he saw Yu Rong finish the jerky, lick his lips, and stealthily glance at him. His smile widened even more. He pulled out another piece, waved it around, and said, "Want some more? Just say so if you do."

Yu Rong bared his teeth at him.

But he really wanted to eat dried meat, so he couldn't help but look back at Xu Lingguang, who winked at him.

Before leaving, Xu Lingguang had instructed the four cubs not to speak in front of strangers. So-called spirit pets are wild beasts whose intelligence has not yet developed, which, after being domesticated by humans, become suitable and handy tools.

But if it gains sentience, then it is a demon.

The demons and humans in Wujian City are sworn enemies. Although the war has stopped in recent years, the appearance of demons still causes panic and disgust, and some even try to kill them.

Dongyang Li shook the dried meat again.

Yu Rong stared longingly at the piece of jerky, hesitated for a moment, and then, imitating a leopard in the mountains, let out a soft "meow".

This shout made Dongyang Li beam with joy, and she stuffed the whole bag of jerky into his hands: "This is jerky from Qingjing cattle, a bag of it is very expensive, and this is all that's left, so it's all for you."

Yu Rong had no idea what a blue antelope was; he only knew that jerky was delicious. Although the person in front of him wasn't exactly likable to the boy, he had given him a lot of jerky.

Yu Rong is a guy who really likes and dislikes things, so let's just like him for now.

So he peeked over and nudged Dongyang Li's arm with his fluffy head, then let out a sweet "meow" before jumping into Youyu's arms with the jerky to share with the other cubs.

Dongyang Li touched the spot where the cub had rubbed against him and exclaimed, "No wonder you're willing to keep so many spirit pets, they're just too cute."

It's made him want to get one himself.