Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

As they were talking, the farce on the other side finally came to an end. Both disciples passed the inspection and stood in front of the teleportation gate.

Dongyang Li quickly instructed Xu Lingguang: "The teleportation portal will randomly teleport us to various locations on Wenling Slope. We are very likely to be in different places. Here is a topographical map of Wenling Slope. Once you arrive at your destination and find out where you are, come to this valley and meet up with us."

Xu Lingguang asked in surprise, "Why is there a topographic map?"

Dongyang Li said, "Of course, it was drawn by the senior brothers and sisters who set up the magic array at Wenling Slope. There are also some at Cangfeng Sect, but Wenling Slope is so big and the terrain is so complicated, how detailed they can be drawn depends on their own abilities."

After saying that, he drew a symbol on Xu Lingguang's palm: "This is our secret code for communication. Remember it. Don't rush to meet up when you find the place. First, make sure we're on the same side."

Xu Lingguang carefully noted it down. After everyone entered the teleportation array, Xu Lingguang only felt a flash of white light before his eyes. When he came to his senses, he found himself standing in a valley.

The valley is narrow, with mountains on both sides and a narrow river running through the middle.

Xu Lingguang first found a secluded corner to hide in, and after observing his surroundings to make sure he was alone, he took out the map that Dongyang Li had given him to examine.

He opened the map with high expectations, only to be speechless.

The paper was covered with crooked and haphazard lines, and you could barely make out a few mountains; the rest looked like scribbles.

Xu Lingguang: ...

Is it really possible for anyone to find the rendezvous point on this map?

He spent a long time comparing his location with the map, but found that they didn't match. Helpless, he had no choice but to rely on himself.

After thinking about it, he decided to walk upstream along the river first.

Where there is water, there will be more plants and animals. If he is lucky, he might be able to find some useful magical weapons. Even if he is unlucky, he can use the materials on the spot to make some usable tools so that he is not powerless.

With that in mind, Xu Lingguang walked upstream along the river.

At first, he was very cautious, worried about encountering people, and hid along the way. But after walking for about an hour without seeing a single person, he realized that Wenlingpo was probably much bigger than he had imagined, and he wouldn't encounter anyone for a while.

With that in mind, Xu Lingguang grew bolder and began to wander around aimlessly, hoping to find something useful.

Whether he was lucky or unlucky, he wandered around all day without finding a single magical weapon, but he did discover a patch of thriving poisonous mushrooms in a damp cave.

Xu Lingguang's heart raced when he saw the red umbrella mushrooms covering the cave.

These are highly poisonous mushrooms. If an ordinary person accidentally eats them, they will die instantly. Cultivators, with their stronger bodies, are less likely to die, but they may experience hallucinations or even lose consciousness.

Many of the poisons in Yuan Jiu's Notes are made using this kind of mushroom.

Immediately, many prescriptions flashed through Xu Lingguang's mind.

We couldn't bring a pill furnace when we came in, so we can't refine pills now. But besides refining pills, there are many other ways to process this red umbrella mushroom—for example, the simplest way is to dry it with spiritual fire and grind it into powder, which is a natural poison powder.

Xu Lingguang held his breath and crawled into the cave, picking a large handful of red umbrella mushrooms.

He found a shady spot, slowly generated a spiritual fire from his palm, dried the red umbrella mushrooms, then finely ground them into powder, wrapped them in a thick leaf he had picked up, and stored them in his Sumeru Ring.

There were twenty packets of red umbrella mushroom powder in total. Xu Lingguang estimated that it would last for three or four uses.

He then felt a little safe and continued walking forward.

The upper reaches of the river are a lake, surrounded by low mountains. In the summer, the mountains are lush and green, making it a beautiful sight.

Xu Lingguang did not approach the lake rashly. The lakeside had a wide view with almost no obstruction. If someone was lying in ambush around, he would be discovered immediately if he walked out unguarded.

He crouched low and hid in the reeds not far away, and saw the Sumeru Ring on his finger glitter.

The Sumeru Ring is a standardized storage magic item. While its storage space isn't large, it's sufficient. It's also engraved with an array that allows it to sense deployed weapons and magic items within a certain range. The brighter the light shimmering on the Sumeru Ring's surface, the closer the distance.

At this moment, the light on the Sumeru Ring becomes very bright, indicating that there are good things nearby.

Xu Lingguang glanced around and spotted a bow lying on a rock by the lake.

He was immediately filled with excitement; he had walked from morning till afternoon and only then had he spotted this bow. However, he quickly calmed down, carefully examining the area around the stone to rule out any traps or dangers, and sure enough, he noticed something amiss.

There were faint drag marks next to the stone where the bow was placed.

Is it a trap, or is there something in the lake?

Xu Lingguang thought for a moment and didn't dare to approach from the front. Instead, he carefully took a detour to get closer to the rock, using the reeds as cover.

He discovered that along the way, there wasn't a single bird in the dense reeds.

It's a bit strange.

After wandering through the reeds for a while, Xu Lingguang finally approached the lakeside.

As he got closer, he could see more clearly that there were claw marks next to the stone. The claw marks were very deep, leaving deep imprints on the bottom of the stone.

Xu Lingguang frowned, somewhat wanting to back out.

This lake is so big, I wonder what's hidden inside.

But he really coveted that bow. His only two weapons of choice were bows and crossbows, and because he hunted in the mountains, his aim was pretty good. Although he might encounter other weapons later, he might not know how to use them.

After a moment's consideration, Xu Lingguang decided to test the waters first.

He quietly left the reeds and went to catch a bird.

I don't know what kind of bird it is, but I've seen it everywhere along the way. It's about the size of a duck, and its call is loud and very noisy. And perhaps because it hasn't seen many people, it doesn't know how to run away; it's quite dull.

Xu Lingguang caught one, tied its wings with a rope made of grass, then threw the bird near the rock and hid in the reeds to wait quietly.

Sure enough, the bird with its wings bound cried out and struggled, hopping around by the rocks, making a great commotion.

As the lake water began to ripple, Xu Lingguang watched intently, and saw a beast resembling a crocodile suddenly leap out of the water, flick its tail, and pounce with its mouth wide open.

Startled, the large bird flapped its wings, broke free of the ropes binding its wings, and flew away, screeching loudly.

The crocodile missed its target, circled around twice, and, finding no other prey, slapped its tail in displeasure and remained motionless.

Only then could Xu Lingguang examine it closely.

This creature looks very similar to a crocodile, but it has backward-pointing bony spikes on its head and back, and its tail is spindle-shaped at the end, like a hammer, which makes the ground vibrate when it slaps the ground.

At this moment, it lay quietly by the lake, its yellowish-brown scales almost blending into the muddy ground. Only its pair of pale yellow vertical pupils, protruding from the top of its head, slowly turned, giving it a cunning look.

For some reason, Xu Lingguang felt that it was thinking.

A moment later, the crocodile turned and scrambled back into the water. It stirred up the calm lake, creating quite a commotion. A short while later, it emerged from the water again, carrying a small flying boat in its mouth.

The Sumeru Ring on Xu Lingguang's hand flashed again.

He opened his eyes wide. If he wasn't mistaken, it should be a flying boat that could be propelled by spirit stones.

This crocodile must be possessed! It even knows how to use magical artifacts to lure its prey.

Xu Lingguang even suspected that some cultivators might have been fooled before, which was why it was so skilled at it.

After casually tossing the flying boat next to the rocks, the crocodile slowly retreated back into the water. The surface of the water returned to calm.

Xu Lingguang squatted in the reeds, hesitating.

They want a bow and a flying boat, but the crocodile is also a problem.