Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

The next afternoon, Xu Lingguang woke up with a sore back.

He groaned in pain, feeling pain all over his body.

He opened his eyes blankly, staring at the ceiling, his mind a jumbled mess, unable to recall anything from yesterday. After a long while, unable to bear the uncomfortable bed frame any longer, he reluctantly got up, only to find spirit stones scattered all over the bed and floor.

Xu Lingguang: "..."

Xu Lingguang: "!!!"

He stared blankly at the room full of spirit stones, and finally, fragments of memories flashed through his mind. He immediately clutched his forehead in pain.

This was the first time he had realized he had this problem when he was drunk.

Fortunately, Yu was reliable; otherwise, if anyone had just barged in, all the possessions he had painstakingly accumulated would have been gone.

Xu Lingguang sighed and crawled on the ground to pick up spirit stones. Youyu, who had woken up when she heard the noise, came over to help him pick them up.

Xu Lingguang thought about what he had done yesterday. He immediately smiled guiltily at him, feeling that he was such a grown man, yet he was not as mature as a teenager.

He blushed awkwardly and, trying to make conversation, said, "Actually, I can hold my liquor pretty well. This was an accident."

He used to work like a beast of burden, and due to the pressures of life, he often had to drink with his superiors. He never seemed to have such a low alcohol tolerance back then.

"It must be that the wine in this cultivation world is different from the wine in the modern world," Xu Lingguang secretly comforted himself.

Youyu glanced at him and gave a faint "hmm".

Xu Lingguang hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't, sensing that Youyu didn't believe him.

What he said is true!

But further explanation seemed like an attempt to cover up the truth, so Xu Lingguang reluctantly shut his mouth and dejectedly picked up the spirit stones.

After the spirit stones were put away, the cubs gradually woke up.

Xu Lingguang said, "Let's pack up and head back to Ailao Mountain while it's still early."

Seeing that Zhaoling was still fast asleep with his wings spread out on the bed, he poked Zhaoling's little head to wake him up.

Zhaoling was probably sleeping too soundly, because she didn't move at all.

Xu Lingguang had no choice but to let the cubs pack their things first, but by the time everything was packed and loaded onto the carriage, Zhaoling was still fast asleep on the bed and showed no sign of waking up.

Xu Lingguang then realized that something was wrong.

He picked up Zhaoling and felt that her body was soft and limp, and the skin under her feathers was faintly warm.

He immediately became worried: "Is he sick?"

Can even ancient mythical creatures like the phoenix get sick?

Xu Lingguang was confused and subconsciously looked at You Yu.

Youyu frowned as he took the unconscious Zhaoling from him: "It seems she has just fallen into a deep sleep."

Xu Lingguang asked worriedly, "Is there any danger?"

Youyu was also unsure. He said, "Zhaoling is different from us. We need to take him back as soon as possible so that my brother can take a look at him."

Because of the accident involving Zhaoling, Xu Lingguang dared not linger any longer. He immediately carried the cubs onto the carriage, held Zhaoling in his palm, and had Youyu drive the carriage. They hurriedly returned to Ailao Mountain to search for Lanjian in their clan's territory.

Lan Jian's injuries had almost healed, but the hair that had been shaved off the wound wouldn't grow back completely in a short time. He was staring at the noticeably shorter hair with some disdain when Xu Lingguang rushed in, carrying Zhao Ling.

He quickly sat up straight: "What's wrong?"

Xu Lingguang was worried about Zhao Ling and didn't notice his strange behavior just now.

He carefully placed Zhaoling in his palm on the soft cushion in front of him: "Zhaoling hasn't woken up since falling asleep last night, and she seems to have a slight fever."

Lan Jian examined him carefully, and his expression relaxed considerably, even showing a hint of a smile: "He's fine, he's probably just starting to grow. He should grow a bit more after this."

Xu Lingguang was a little puzzled: "Growing up? Do phoenixes experience fainting and fever during growth and development?"

Seeing his worried expression, Lan Jian explained, "Zhao Ling is different from ordinary cubs. He is actually older than me, but after hatching again, he has not grown any older."

Xu Lingguang looked surprised, having caught the key information.

"Zhaoling is actually older than you?"

What does "hatching again" even mean?

Lan Jian said, "According to seniority, Zhao Ling should be my uncle. His mother is my great-aunt, who married into the Phoenix Clan."

Xu Lingguang opened his mouth wide and gestured with difficulty, "Then why is he so tiny?"

He thought Zhao Ling and Yu Rong Yun Feng were about the same age.

Perhaps because his expression was too surprised, Lan Jian's eyes showed a hint of a smile, but he quickly suppressed it as he was lost in memories: "Back then, something happened in the Mountain and Sea Realm. The Phoenix Clan has the power of Nirvana. Zhao Ling was supposed to go with me, but in order to save the other members of his clan, he forcibly underwent Nirvana and became what you see now."

In the past, Gonggong and Zhurong fought each other, and in the chaos of war, Buzhou Mountain was knocked down, causing the pillar of heaven to collapse and no longer able to support the Shanhaijing.

In ancient times, the gods roamed the heavens and earth, and the various clans were constantly at war with each other. The human race was weak and was nothing more than an ant in the ancient gods' wars.

It was out of the mercy of the great god Pangu that the human realm was created outside the realm of mountains and seas, and the human race was relocated to the human realm, thus creating the division between the two realms.

At that time, the gods roamed the world, and there were also cultivators among the human race who were unwilling to be mediocre. In addition, the passage between the two realms was not completely sealed off, and there was still some interaction between them.

However, compared to the ease with which human cultivators can enter and exit the Mountain and Sea Realm, it is extremely difficult for the gods within the Mountain and Sea Realm to enter the Human Realm. It is said that this restriction was imposed by the Great God Pangu to prevent the ancient gods from invading the Human Realm again and disrupting its order.

It wasn't until later, when Buzhou Mountain was knocked down, that the Heavenly Dao was enraged and unleashed divine punishment, and the Mountain and Sea Realm became a distant past.

The legend may only be a few words, but in reality, the collapse of the Mountain and Sea Realm was not something that happened overnight.

When the Heavenly Pillar collapsed and signs of the Mountain and Sea Realm's destruction appeared, many races realized the crisis and, in order to repair the Heavenly Pillar and delay the inevitable collapse of the Mountain and Sea Realm, they did not hesitate to sacrifice their own bodies to fill the gap.

At that time, the Phoenix Clan's Nirvana power could reverse time. Seeing that countless gods had tried to fill the gaps with their own bodies but still could not stop the collapse of the Heavenly Pillar, the Phoenix Clan sacrificed themselves in Nirvana in an attempt to reverse time and return everything to before the Heavenly Pillar was destroyed.

But the result was extremely tragic.

In the end, the Phoenix clan was wiped out, leaving only Zhaoling alive.

At that time, he and Zhaoling were still young. The extinction of the Phoenix clan meant that the ancient gods' last efforts for the Mountain and Sea Realm had also failed. Long before the Phoenix clan's Nirvana, all the adult Chenghuang had already sacrificed themselves, voluntarily repairing the Heavenly Pillar with their own bodies.

As the youngest of the clan, Chenghuang was tasked with protecting the young members of the clan as they fled to the human realm. Zhaoling, unwilling to accept the wrongful deaths of his clansmen, attempted to undergo Nirvana to bring them back, but the result was nothing more than repeating the same mistakes.

The Heavenly Dao has already abandoned the God Race, and the collapse of the Mountain and Sea Realm is unstoppable.

The remaining gods who could not escape the Mountain and Sea Realm had their physical bodies crushed when the realm collapsed, and their souls were suppressed in the ruins of the Mountain and Sea Realm, wailing day and night, becoming an inescapable place that humans feared and dared not approach.

People only know that the Land of No Return is a desolate and barren place, a dangerous place that no one dares to approach. But they do not know that it is actually the burial ground of the ancient gods.

Countless divine bodies decayed in the Abyss, but their souls were trapped there, wailing day and night.

Every year, he would go to the Land of No Return when the pressure was at its weakest, trying to break the seal and let the wailing souls rest in peace, but it was all in vain.

As for Zhaoling, when he forcibly took the phoenix egg that Zhaoling had transformed into after his Nirvana out of the collapsed Mountain and Sea Realm, he never expected that Zhaoling would be able to hatch.

But perhaps the wrath of Heaven had finally subsided, because not long after Yu Rong and the others awoke from their seal, Zhao Ling also broke free of her shell.

However, compared to Yu Rong and Yun Feng, Zhao Ling was clearly much slower and did not grow up, let alone remember her past.

But now, Zhaoling has actually started to grow up.

Lan Jian gently nuzzled the sleeping Zhao Ling with his nose and said, "Don't worry, this is a good thing for him."

Hearing Lan Jian say this, Xu Lingguang felt relieved.

He gently touched Zhaoling's downy feathers and whispered, "I'll make you something delicious when you wake up."

Whether it was because she heard his words or not, Zhao Ling, who was in a deep sleep, twitched her wings.

Fearing something might happen, Xu Lingguang left Zhaoling in the clan's territory.

For the first time, Yu Rong and Yun Feng didn't linger around Xu Lingguang. They even lost interest in playing and stayed by Zhao Ling's sleeping cushion, never leaving her side.

Xu Lingguang and Mu Yun returned to the cabin, packed their things, and cooked meals every day to take to the tribe's territory to eat with the cubs.

Mu Yun was originally very afraid of Lan Jian and would never go to the clan's territory with Xu Lingguang.

But this time, probably out of concern for Zhaoling, when Xu Lingguang went to the clan's territory, he actually huffed and puffed as he climbed onto Xu Lingguang's shoulder and followed him to the clan's territory.

Around the tenth day, Zhaoling finally woke up.

After letting out a clear, long cry, the sleeping phoenix chick opened its eyes, somewhat dazed.

He had slept for too long and was still a little dazed when he woke up, flapping his wings blankly. As a result, because he hadn't yet adapted to his grown-up body, he tumbled over.

He struggled to his feet and looked in amazement at his wings that had grown longer and larger.

The little ones who were guarding the side were the first to notice that Zhao Ling had woken up, and their chattering soon attracted Xu Lingguang and Lan Jian.

At this moment, Zhaoling was striding around with its wings spread and claws out, chirping incessantly.

He also clearly found that he had grown up a lot.

Xu Lingguang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had finally woken up.

He laughed and gestured with his fist. Before, Zhao Ling was only the size of a chick, but now she was as big as two of his fists.

Its downy feathers, however, remained fluffy and soft like those of a cub.

Fiery red and furry.