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

"Um?"

Seeing the iron hammer hurtling towards him, Lord Crimson Flame Mountain had no time to prepare a proper response.

He never expected that this seemingly weak dog demon would dare to attack him.

In the nick of time, he could only hastily raise his hand to block.

Bang!

A dull, loud bang exploded out.

Gou An slammed his divine iron hammer heavily onto the arm of the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord.

In an instant, Crimson Flame Mountain Lord's entire arm shattered, turning into a cloud of blood mist that scattered everywhere.

The change came so suddenly that Lord Chiyan Mountain hadn't even had time to react.

He instinctively reached for his sword to defend himself, but his right hand only grasped at empty air.

"My...my hand!"

The Crimson Flame Mountain Lord let out a shrill scream and staggered backward.

The hammer blow that Gou An had just delivered had also instantly drained Gou An's power, leaving him almost completely powerless to deliver the final blow.

He could only quickly pull out the pills, tilt his head back and swallow them, using the medicinal power to rapidly replenish his losses.

"You damned wild dog!" Crimson Flame Mountain Lord pressed his left hand tightly against the wound on his severed arm, gushing out scalding demonic blood. His expression was a mixture of shock and rage: "You! How can you possess such terrifying power...?"

Gou An swallowed the pill, silently put his protective armor back on, and held the divine iron hammer in one hand, deliberately putting on a calm and composed appearance.

In reality, it was quietly waiting for the medicinal power of the pill in its abdomen to dissipate and repair its exhausted body.

"You really think I'm just an ordinary dog ​​demon?" Gou An sneered. "Do you even know who my master is?"

Crimson Flame Mountain Lord was both shocked and fearful, constantly on guard against Gou An unleashing that terrifying hammer blow again.

However, upon careful observation of the aura flowing around Gou An, he realized that the other party was clearly just a high-level demon beast that had not yet entered the demon transformation realm.

The huge gap left him completely bewildered and unable to find a solution.

"Isn't your master just a human rogue cultivator named Fu Hai Zhenren?" Chi Yan Shan Jun asked, full of doubt.

Gou An was slightly surprised, not expecting that before recruiting him, Lord Chiyan had already secretly investigated his background.

However, he showed no sign of it on his face and spoke calmly.

"That's just an excuse to fool people!"

Gou An's lips curled up slightly, displaying an air of confidence.

"My master is a great cultivator, whose Daoist name is Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun, a true Grand Luo Golden Immortal." He spoke vividly, as if it were true: "In my early years, my master descended to the mortal realm to travel and by chance met me, bestowing upon me a great opportunity to help me cultivate."

"I have never liked to show off, so I have always kept this identity hidden and never told anyone."

"But now, I no longer need to pretend, so I might as well lay it all out in the open."

"I am a disciple of a celestial being, so dealing with you lower-level demon cultivators is naturally a piece of cake."

Hearing these words, Crimson Flame Mountain Lord felt a deep sense of dread.

He still harbored some doubts, but the fact that Gou An's cultivation was clearly far inferior to his own, yet he was able to unleash such a devastating attack, made his argument even more convincing.

"The True Lord of the Pure Source Wonderful Path?" Lord Chiyan frowned deeply. "I have never heard of this title before."

"Heh, my master is a celestial being from the heavens. It's perfectly normal that you're ignorant and haven't heard of him."

Gou An secretly activated the demon core, desperately absorbing the medicinal power of the pills, seizing every minute to recover his strength.

"It's alright if you didn't know before, just be careful in your next life."

Having said that, Gou An took another step forward, carrying the iron hammer.

Crimson Flame Mountain Lord tensed up and hurriedly retreated in fright.

"Fellow Daoist, wait a moment!"

He simply couldn't understand why Gou An, with such a powerful background, had been hiding his abilities all along; he was clearly deliberately playing dumb to get himself killed.

"Speak your mind!" Gou An stopped in his tracks, using the brief moment to continue regulating his breathing.

At this point, he was already at his last gasp.

That hammer blow just now failed to hit a vital spot, only crippling one of Crimson Flame Mountain Lord's arms.

Even if the opponent fights to the death, one will still be in great trouble.

"I will no longer covet the treasures of the secret realm, and I will still offer you the full reward for conquering the tower." Lord Crimson Flame hurriedly begged for mercy, "Now that I have lost an arm, consider it the price for my previous scheme against you."

"I beg you, fellow Daoist, to show mercy and spare my life!"

Gou An's sudden and unexpected attack had completely shattered the confidence of the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord.

If he had been even slightly slower in blocking, it wouldn't just be an arm that would be shattered now, but his entire body.

When faced with the Red Flame Mountain Lord's pleas for mercy, Gou An did not rush to answer.

After all, if we really let him go, there will be many hidden dangers in the future.

However, killing him would not be easy.

The vast difference in cultivation level means that even with the aid of top-grade magic treasures, victory cannot be easily achieved.

"Spirit stones, I'll give you spirit stones first, fellow cultivator!"

Seeing that Gou An refused, Lord Chiyan Mountain immediately used his remaining left arm to pull out another spirit stone storage bag from his bosom.

Including the one that just fell to the ground, the two storage bags contain a total of 20,000 spirit stones.

"These spirit stones are all for you, fellow Daoist!" said Crimson Flame Mountain Lord, tossing the storage bag to Gou An.

Gou An didn't take it, but just let the storage bag fall to his feet.

"Mountain Lord!" Gou An suddenly spoke.

"Tell me, tell me!" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain had lost all his previous arrogance and was now extremely respectful.

"If I let you go, you won't cause me trouble later, will you?" Gou An questioned. "After all, your power in the City of Ten Thousand Demons is quite extraordinary!"

"Rest assured, fellow Daoist!" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain immediately replied, "I would never do such a thing. Your mercy in letting me go today is already a great kindness!"

"Are you sure?" Gou An asked again.

"Definitely!" Lord Chiyan nodded hurriedly.

"Since that's the case, you should leave!" Gou An said.

Upon hearing this, Lord Chiyan breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to step forward to pull out the knife he had stuck in the snow.

However, he was frightened by Gou An's gaze and had no choice but to abandon his knife and leave.

Just as Crimson Flame Mountain Lord turned around to fly away, Gou An behind him quickly gathered dozens of demonic energy missiles and shot them out.

He had no intention of letting Lord Chiyan Mountain go so easily, and he didn't believe the other party's words at all.

If someone were to cripple one of their arms, they would hold a grudge and try every means to get revenge.

Therefore, Gou An would never leave this hidden danger, and thus chose to launch a sneak attack.

Upon noticing the anomaly behind him, Lord Chiyan quickly turned around and covered his face with one arm.

Dozens of black demonic energy missiles simultaneously struck the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord.

However, its power... is much weaker.

These missiles released while the enemy was exhausted had no effect on the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord!

There's simply no way to compare it to a heavy hammer that's been fully charged and stored up.

Therefore, the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord, who was hit by the missile, was only startled and was not harmed at all.

It's like an ordinary person suddenly being sprayed a few times by a water gun.

"Fellow Daoist, what's going on?" Lord Chiyan Mountain was somewhat puzzled, not understanding why he was being told to leave and why he was being given a full-body massage.

When Gou An saw that his attack had failed, the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

I never expected that the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord's physical defense would be so terrifying.