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

Upon entering the room, Gou An immediately saw the Demon King Xueyin sitting in a chair.

At that moment, she was holding a ferret, gently stroking it, as if it were her pet.

"Your Majesty, you wanted to see me?" Gou An stepped forward and bowed slightly.

Upon hearing the voice, Xueyin slowly raised her eyes and glanced at Gou An, then said in a cold tone, "Master Gou, do you know why I summoned you here today?"

Gou An was somewhat bewildered after hearing this, not knowing why.

Seeing that Xueyin's expression seemed off, which was definitely not a good thing, my heart sank.

Could it be that they've discovered I've embezzled funds?

That doesn't make sense. They don't usually keep track of the quantities, so how could they have found out?

Unable to understand, Gou An could only shake his head and say, "Your Majesty, please enlighten me."

Xueyin gently stroked the head of the ferret in her arms and slowly said, "You only produce twenty Transformation Pills a day, which is a bit slow. I want you to speed it up."

Gou An was immediately put in a difficult position after hearing this.

Twenty pills a day is indeed not my limit, but if the number increases, the time I have left for cultivation and charging my magic weapon will be much less.

Gou An places great importance on balancing work and rest; simply being a wage earner is absolutely not advisable.

Gou An thought for a moment, then politely inquired, "How many does Your Majesty desire?"

Xueyin's hand continued to gently stroke the ferret in her arms, which squinted comfortably, looking completely relaxed.

"My people recently went out and bought some low-level demonic beasts, and we urgently need a large number of Transformation Pills!" Xueyin said slowly. "Therefore, I want you to produce at least one hundred Transformation Pills every day!"

"One hundred?" Gou An was shocked upon hearing this.

At his own pace, it would take a whole day to refine a hundred of them. Isn't that just making himself out to be a Japanese person?

"What? Is it difficult?" Xueyin asked, looking up.

"It's not that it's difficult..." Gou An clicked his tongue, "It's just a little tricky!"

Gou An had already offered to refine 5,000 Transformation Pills in exchange for a flying boat, which was already cheap labor. He still wanted to exploit him, which was definitely unacceptable.

If you want a horse to run fast, you have to feed it grass.

"Tell me, what do you want?" Yukine asked. "As long as the price is reasonable, I can agree to anything."

Upon hearing this, Gou An smiled slightly and then stated his requirements: "It's not that I can't refine one hundred Transformation Pills a day, but refining pills at this rate would require working non-stop for twelve hours a day, with almost no rest."

"This will take a huge toll on your mind and demonic energy. It's okay for a day or two, but if it goes on for a long time, your body won't be able to take it."

"However, if Your Majesty has a way to help me eliminate fatigue, relieve anxiety, and relax my mind, then it will not be a problem."

Xueyin smiled slightly after hearing this, and then said, "Of course there's a way!"

As she spoke, she began to gently massage the ferret's body with both hands, making the ferret groan softly in comfort.

"I have some knowledge of acupressure and meridian massage techniques, which are quite effective in relieving fatigue and restoring energy!"

Xueyin stopped what she was doing after she finished speaking. The ferret she was holding had already fallen asleep comfortably.

"As long as you can hand over one hundred Transformation Pills a day, I can help you recover your condition as quickly as possible through massage."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Once the remaining Demon Transformation Pills are all refined, I will not only give you the flying boat I promised, but also an extra three thousand spirit stones as a token of my appreciation."

Upon hearing this, Gou An immediately perked up!

The spirit stones are a minor matter; the important thing is that I can also get a massage.

The thought of Demon King Xueyin personally massaging and relaxing him sent a tingling sensation through Gou An's body.

Who would have thought that being a dog in this life would bring me more romantic luck than being a human in my previous life?

For a time, he was filled with unrealistic fantasies about living in comfort.

"How is it?" Xueyin asked, prompting a reminder as Gou An remained silent in his daze.

Gou An snapped out of his daze and immediately agreed: "Since Your Majesty has said so, then this little demon will certainly do his utmost."

The next day, Gou An woke up early and began preparing to refine pills.

Although the Demon King assigned himself a few people to do odd jobs, they knew nothing about alchemy and could only help with chores. Gou An had to do most things himself.

Gou An had no interest in teaching them, since teaching them would take time, and it was better to learn on his own.

The first step is to process the delivered spiritual materials and mix them in the correct proportions.

Then you need to remove excess roots and dead leaves, and carefully wash away the soil and impurities.

Some materials need to be ground in advance, mixed with water, and filtered to remove sediment.

After doing all this, it's time to light the fire and start the furnace.

He channeled his demonic energy into the furnace's firebox, slowly heating it up until the furnace cavity reached the required temperature and stabilized.

Then, the medicine was added in batches, and the fusion and tempering process began.

This process is extremely mentally taxing, especially if a large number of pills are refined in one batch, which further depletes mental energy.

At most, one can refine a dozen or so pills in a single instance of peace and tranquility; that is the limit.

If you have 100 pieces, you'll need to repeat the refining process three times.

As the spiritual materials slowly melt into clumps of spiritual medicinal liquid, the solid residue is burned by the flames and turned into ashes, which are discharged from the furnace, leaving only the essence of the medicinal liquid.

Each time a medicinal herb is added, the intensity of the flame must be adjusted to control the refining process.

Once the materials have been blended, the process of separating the pills will begin.

This is also a technical task, requiring that each pill be divided into equal weights and sizes.

Once the pills have been distributed, they need to be condensed into a solid form.

Lower and narrow the flames to change the temperature inside the furnace.

The elixir rotates and contracts within the alchemy furnace, transforming from a liquid to a solid state, gradually condensing into the prototype of a pill.

Guided by divine sense, each pill was perfectly formed.

This step is crucial. If you make a mistake, the pills can easily become broken, flat, or stuck together, turning them into useless pills.

Finally, there is the cultivation of the elixir.

This step is the easiest compared to the previous ones. After the pill is formed, the temperature is lowered and it is slowly baked at a low temperature to lock in the medicinal power.

Often at this stage, Gou An can simply lie down and rest, and he can be taken out of the oven when the time comes.

This process, according to the time required for the Transformation Pill, would take more than three hours.

Gou An even asked the Demon King for three more furnaces to refine the materials continuously.

Once one furnace has reached the elixir-cultivation stage, the next furnace will be started immediately.

With this connection, the speed will be much faster.

Even so, it took about eight hours to refine all three batches.

After Gou An finished refining all one hundred Transformation Pills, he was already panting heavily, feeling as if his mind and spirit had been completely drained.

But the thought of experiencing a massage from the Demon King Xueyin filled Gou An with excitement.

Soon, the demon general who came to collect the pills arrived; he was a black sheep in human form.

After confirming that the quantity and quality of the pills were correct, he immediately put them into the pill bottle and then prepared to leave.

Upon seeing this, Gou An immediately pressed, "Wait a minute."

The black sheep stopped and turned back to ask, "Is there anything else?"

"We agreed with the King that I could get a massage after finishing the daily refining process, right? When can I go?" Gou An asked curiously.

Black Sheep responded with an "Oh," and then said, "Don't worry, I'll go and inform them right away. You don't need to go; just wait here."

After saying that, the black sheep left.

"Wait here?" Gou An looked around the alchemy room. It was a mess, nowhere near as comfortable as Xue Yin's room.

However, I'm not picky about living a peaceful life; as long as I can enjoy myself, the location doesn't matter.

Just as Gou An was filled with anticipation, a burly, strong man with broad shoulders and a thick waist suddenly walked into the alchemy room.

Gou An looked up, somewhat bewildered.

"May I ask what brings you here, sir?" Gou An asked.

This burly man looked like a hippopotamus in human form, with the biggest mouth ever.

"Your Majesty, let me give you a massage!" the hippo replied with a smile, then stopped, revealing that it was a female.

"You've come?" Gou An was shocked.

"Otherwise what?" The hippo rolled its eyes at Gou An. "The massage technique was taught to me personally by the King, how could it be fake?"

"Even the King said I'm strong, and I'm better at massaging her than she is!"

"Don't just stand there, lie down, I'm ready."