Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

"Your trial is over!" the remnant soul said. "If you want more magical artifacts in the future, you can come again!"

Gou An's lips twitched upon hearing this.

Come again?

The thought of being trapped in the Soul River for so many years filled Gou An with lingering fear.

Furthermore, if he were to encounter the two terrifying trials he had designed himself, he had absolutely no confidence in passing them.

"Okay, okay, I'll come visit again when I have time!"

Although Gou An was unwilling, he still politely agreed.

"Now, I will send you out!" The remnant soul waved its hand again.

Gou An felt himself enveloped in white light, and his body suddenly felt light as he left the ground.

When Gou An regained consciousness, he realized that he had left the ancient tower and returned to the cave where he had entered the tower.

"Great! I'm finally out!" Gou An shouted excitedly.

Thinking back to the days he was trapped in the Soul River, Gou An felt a sense of relief.

Right now, all I want is to give myself a good break, do nothing all day, eat and sleep, sleep and eat, and get some proper rest.

Just as Gou An was cheering and jumping for joy, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"I can't believe someone actually made it past the ninth floor this time!"

Upon hearing the sound, Gou An immediately turned around and looked behind him: "Who!"

"It's me!" Lord Chiyanshan slowly stood up.

"You!" Upon seeing the tiger demon before him, Gou An finally remembered.

The owner of the Scarlet Moon Pavilion!

"What? You've already forgotten me after only a few days?" Lord Chiyan smiled slightly.

Upon hearing this, Gou An was immediately alarmed and hurriedly asked, "How many days?"

"Of course!" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain nodded. "To be precise, it's been six days! The other nine have already returned, and I've been waiting for you!"

"Oh, oh, oh!" Gou An nodded, appearing calm on the surface, but his mind was racing.

Having been trapped in the tower for so many years, I never imagined that only a few days had passed in the outside world.

"I wonder what treasures you obtained after passing the nine trials of the ancient tower?" Chi Yan asked, a hint of greed flashing in his eyes.

"Treasure? What treasure?" Gou An feigned ignorance. "I didn't get any treasure! I didn't complete all the trials either. I failed!"

In the end, Gou An sighed helplessly and shook his head, looking utterly defeated.

"Failed?" Chi Yan sneered twice, clearly disbelieving Gou An's answer: "Every time you ascend a level, the corresponding ninth level of the pagoda lights up!"

"I saw the ninth floor of the ancient pagoda light up with my own eyes, which means you have successfully reached the final floor!"

"Well..." Gou An smiled awkwardly and quickly explained, "I did manage to get to the ninth floor by sheer luck, but the trial on the last floor was too difficult, so I couldn't get through it and was sent out."

"Is that so?" The tiger demon suddenly took a step forward, and its demonic energy exploded, turning into rolling waves of energy.

He said, "The others who were eliminated all had half of their life's cultivation drained away, leaving them extremely weak!"

"Only you came out full of energy! You don't look like you've had your cultivation drained at all!"

"Cough cough cough cough!"

Before Lord Chiyan could finish speaking, Gou An immediately began to cough, and his voice became weak.

"Oh dear, Mountain Lord! Actually, my cultivation was also drained, but I was too excited when I came out and just pretended to be strong!"

Gou An's acting skills were superb at this moment. Not only was his voice weak, but his legs were also weak and his arms were trembling, making him look like he had been drained of his cultivation.

"Stop pretending!" Lord Crimson Flame suddenly roared, "You've passed the trial, so what are you pretending for?"

"I...I...I really wasn't pretending!" Gou An was still acting, leaning against the wall as if he couldn't stand up straight.

"Bring out the treasure you obtained from the ninth level of the pagoda!" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain said directly, "I'll buy it with spirit stones; I won't let you work for nothing!"

As he spoke, he pulled out a storage bag from his pocket, which was filled with spirit stones.

"Ten thousand spirit stones in total!" Crimson Flame Mountain Lord weighed the storage bag in his hand, his gaze fixed on Gou An. "How about it?"

Gou An heard what the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord said, but did not rush to answer.

The opponent possessed the strength of a Golden Core cultivator, while I had not yet reached the Demon Transformation Realm.

If a fight breaks out, especially in such a confined space, I have no chance of winning at all.

But if we just sell him a magic weapon like this, it would be too much of a loss to sell him a magic weapon for 10,000 spirit stones.

Gou An didn't want to make such a losing deal.

"What? You think it's too little?" Lord Crimson Flame snorted coldly, then pulled out another storage bag from his robes: "Twenty thousand at most!"

"You should know, I'm the one who discovered this secret realm!"

"Without me bringing you here, how could you possibly obtain the treasures of this secret realm?"

"I'll give you 20,000 spirit stones as payment, and the treasures inside the pagoda are just for you to take out for me."

"Therefore, my darling has always belonged to me!"

"I can still talk to you nicely now, but if you push me too far, I might not give you even a single spirit stone, let alone 20,000!"

Lord Crimson Flame Mountain took another step forward, his aura spreading outwards.

After Gou An sensed this oppressive aura, he felt the flow of demonic energy around him freeze for a moment.

"Mountain Lord, don't be angry!" Gou An smiled awkwardly, "Fine, I'll give it to you, okay?"

"Hmph!" Seeing this, Crimson Flame Mountain Lord smiled slightly and said, "You're smart enough to hand it over!"

Gou An then reached into his robes and rummaged through his storage bag, preparing to give him a tattered item to fool him.

Finally, Gou An pulled out an object and said, "This is the treasure I obtained."

Lord Crimson Flame Mountain looked closely and immediately frowned.

What Gou An held in his hand was a pill-refining furnace that looked to be of average quality.

It was none other than the broken alchemy furnace that Gou An had picked up from Master Fuhai.

Later, after joining Wan Dan Tang, they used a better alchemy furnace, and this broken furnace was put away and never used again.

"That's it?" The tiger demon reached out and hooked the alchemy furnace into his hand.

"Yes!" Gou An nodded immediately, "That's it!"

"The remnant soul in the tower asked me what treasure I wanted. I said I liked alchemy and wanted a magical artifact suitable for alchemy, so he gave me this!"

"A broken furnace, how could it be a treasure?" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain frowned even more deeply.

"Of course it's a treasure!" Gou An nodded immediately. "The remnant soul told me that this thing is a furnace used by an ancient powerful being for alchemy; it looks quite old because of its antiquity!"

"But here's the amazing part: this furnace is called the Primordial Chaos Black and Yellow Furnace!"

"It will take forty-nine years of slow nourishment with one's own spiritual energy to repair this divine artifact."

"On the day the divine artifact is repaired, simply toss some spiritual herbs into the furnace, and you'll obtain top-grade elixirs!"

"Oh?" The tiger demon seemed to believe it after hearing this: "Is it really that magical?"

"Of course!" Gou An nodded emphatically.

Click!

Suddenly! Lord Crimson Flame Mountain clenched his fist.

That Primordial Chaos Furnace shattered instantly, turning into fragments scattered all over the ground.