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

Upon hearing this, Gou An's face instantly turned cold: "How did you know?"

"I forgot to tell you, even though I'm inside the ring, I can still sense what's happening within a radius of several feet outside," Xuan Kongzi replied.

"So, you saw me use that scroll to take Luo Meng away?" Gou An asked rhetorically.

Xuan Kongzi nodded.

"Throughout this journey, I've determined that you possess at least three top-grade magic treasures!" Xuan Kongzi continued, "One defensive magic treasure capable of withstanding at least five full-force attacks from a Nascent Soul cultivator, and one offensive magic treasure capable of unleashing extreme damage in an instant."

"And the other one is that magical scroll of yours, which contains its own little world!"

When Xuan Kongzi directly revealed his secrets, Gou An immediately felt insecure.

After all, the Xuan Kongzi in front of him was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Now that he no longer has the external Heavenly Flame True Fire to enhance his power, he would definitely be no match for his opponent if they were to fight.

The only way is to take off the ring and throw it in the cave, then escape immediately, as far away as possible.

After all, as long as he comes out of the ring and mobilizes his spiritual energy, the Guardians of the Mysterious Realm can find his location.

If he hides his location, he will not be able to leave the cave.

As long as you are quick enough, you can do it.

Thinking of this, Gou An grabbed the black ring with his right hand and took it off, about to throw it deeper into the cave.

"Grandpa, wait!" Xuan Kongzi suddenly shouted, "I mean no harm. The reason I brought this up is simply because I want to hide in the world depicted in the picture."

"Huh?" Gou An took two steps back, assuming a position as if he could run away at any moment. "What do you mean?"

"Given my current situation, the City of Ten Thousand Demons is practically the only place in the world I can find refuge in!" Xuan Kongzi immediately replied, "But I have a soul imprint on me. Even if I go to the City of Ten Thousand Demons, the Demon King might still reject me."

"After all, humans and demons are natural enemies. No matter who the demon king is, no one would want their subordinate to be someone whose location could be discovered by human cultivators at any time."

"And then?" Gou An asked, frowning.

"I want to enter that world within the painting!" Xuan Kongzi stated his thoughts directly: "In this way, I will have plenty of time to slowly figure out a way to remove the soul imprint from my body."

"Only when the soul imprint disappears can I regain my peak strength!"

Upon hearing Xuan Kongzi's request, Gou An hesitated for a moment.

Placing a cultivator with the cultivation level of Nascent Soul into the world of the Palm Heaven Diagram involves far too many uncertainties.

"Then why don't you just find any place to go into seclusion?" Gou An asked, puzzled.

"It's different!" Xuan Kongzi immediately denied, "I can only suppress the soul imprint right now. If I want to break it, not only will my location be exposed immediately, but it will also take a long time to slowly wear it down."

"Therefore, we need a place where the Xuanwei cannot come!"

"And the magic treasure map you possess is an even more suitable place than the City of Ten Thousand Demons."

"But what benefit would I gain from doing this?" Gou An took another step back. "Why would I put myself in danger?"

"Don't worry, I have absolutely no ill intentions!" Xuan Kongzi quickly explained, "If I had any bad intentions, I would have had plenty of time to do so while you were unconscious these past two days, Grandpa."

Gou An frowned, suddenly feeling a chill of fear, but forced himself to remain calm: "That's because you couldn't retrieve the magical artifact I hid in my storage space!"

"If I want, I can take it out!" Xuan Kongzi said, "Ordinary physical storage is just a storage space created by cultivating in a relative position."

"Once you cut open the skin and flesh, you can find the storage location, and then you can store and retrieve items like a storage bag."

"The reason I didn't do that is because I wanted to really cooperate with my grandfather."

Seeing that Gou An remained silent, Xuan Kongzi continued, "If you put me into the world depicted in the picture, I will willingly obey your commands from now on."

"I can't trust you!" Gou An shook his head, then placed the ring on the ground.

"I can swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao!" Xuan Kongzi shouted as he saw Gou An trying to run away.

"Hmm?" Gou An asked, puzzled.

"Once I swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao, I will be directly annihilated by the Heavenly Dao if I break it!" Xuan Kongzi declared directly, "If you are willing, fellow Daoist, I will swear this oath!"

"Is it really that amazing?" Gou An was clearly skeptical.

"Absolutely true!" Xuan Kongzi suddenly flipped his palm and took out a black token, its surface shimmering with spiritual light: "This is the Heavenly Dao Token. Hold this and swear an oath. If you break your oath, you will be punished by the Heavenly Dao."

"I swear by the Heavenly Dao that if you, my fellow Daoist, agree to let me enter the magic treasure map in your hands, and if I ever do anything to harm you in the future, I am willing to endure being struck by the Nine Heavens True Thunder and reduced to ashes."

After making the vow, the Heavenly Dao Token in Xuan Kongzi's hand emitted a burst of white light, and finally turned into powder and disappeared.

"How do I know if it's true or false?" Gou An still didn't believe it; after all, this was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

"If Grandpa doesn't believe me!" Xuan Kongzi sighed and said, "You can leave me here for now, and you can ask around when you return to Wan Yao City to find out if it's true or not."

"If you're willing, fellow Daoist, you can come back here to pick me up then!"

"That's a good idea!" Gou An immediately agreed, and then began to retreat, step by step, until he reached the cave entrance.

Xuan Kongzi didn't even come out of the black ring; he simply continued to quietly watch Gou An in the body of the little dog.

Just as Gou An was about to leave, he suddenly stopped.

The thought of hiding a powerful being with the cultivation level of the primordial spirit on one's person, and then using them as a surprise weapon when needed, is terrifying.

"I can take you into the world depicted in the picture!" Gou An turned to look at Xuan Kongzi, "But you have to promise me one thing!"

"Fellow Daoist, please speak!" Xuan Kongzi immediately flew out of the black ring and transformed back into the appearance of the black-robed cultivator.

"I not only want you to obey my commands, I also need you to be completely obedient to me forever, without exception!!" Gou An said firmly.

"It can't last forever!" Xuan Kongzi shook his head directly: "Ten years, at most ten years. I can completely follow your arrangements and have no disagreement."

"Ten years from now, I should have had the restrictions lifted from my soul imprint, and then I'll have the choice to stay or leave!"

"However, if you need my help with anything at that time, I will do my best to help."

Faced with Xuan Kongzi's bargaining, Gou An knew that it was impossible to always get the other party to listen to him.

After all, the other party was a powerful cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage; it was impossible for him to simply sell himself to him like that.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be so eager to break the soul imprint within him. If he really agreed, it would be no different from having another soul imprint planted in him.

Moreover, the fact that the other party didn't give a direct answer but instead set a timeframe for negotiation made people feel more at ease.

"Alright!" Gou An finally nodded in agreement. "I hope you keep your word!"

"Then please take out that magic weapon, fellow Daoist. I am ready to go in!" Xuan Kongzi said calmly.

"No!" Gou An shook his head: "You go back into the ring first, and I can put the ring in directly."

Xuan Kongzi knew that Gou An was still wary of him, so he wasn't surprised. He quickly disappeared back into the ring.

Gou An did this because Xuan Kongzi would be in a state of etherealness for a short time after emerging from the ring.

If he suddenly wants to do something that is not good for himself, he will have more time to react.

Once the ring had settled, Gou An reached into his robes and actually took out the Palm Heaven Map from his palm.

He opened the diagram a crack, made a hand seal, and shot out a beam of white light that captured the ring.

After successfully sending Xuan Kongzi into the ring, Gou An finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Once the opponent enters the world depicted in the image, they cannot escape unless controlled by a magical artifact outside.

Then Gou An turned his gaze to the few poor puppies in the cave, each one crying for food.

So Gou An opened the Heavenly Palm Diagram a little more, poured in a wisp of spiritual energy, and summoned Liu Dayong.

After emerging from the picture, Liu Dayong was puzzled: "Fellow Daoist, I was just wondering what was going on when a ring fell from the sky. Before we could even react, an old man in black robes flew out of it."

"And then?" Gou An asked.

"Then I was just about to ask him what happened when you summoned him!" Liu Dayong scratched his head.

Gou An explained Xuan Kongzi's situation to Liu Dayong, and then instructed him, "Keep an eye on his actions in the world of the diagram and report back to me regularly."

"Yes!" Liu Dayong nodded immediately.

"Also, take these five little beasts inside and take good care of them!" Gou An pointed to the ground: "Don't let those monsters eat them. I'll need them when they grow up."

"Don't worry!" Liu Dayong nodded immediately: "There's plenty of food in the picture. These few little things won't even fill the teeth of those idiots."

"That's fine!" Gou An made a hand seal, and white light shot out from the image, enveloping Liu Dayong and the puppies before disappearing.

After doing all this, Gou An returned to the depths of the cave, found a place to sit down, and tossed the map into the air.

The Heavenly Map automatically opened in mid-air, allowing Gou An to directly see the world depicted within the painting.

In the painting, medicinal fields were cultivated everywhere, many houses were built along the river, and there were also caves built by monsters against the cliff.

The world depicted in the image has no shortage of survival resources; in fact, it is quite abundant, so there are no conflicts.

After Xuan Kongzi entered, he was surrounded by a group of demon cultivators and human cultivators, and they were clearly not clear about what was going on.

Why did such a highly skilled person suddenly enter?

However, Liu Dayong, who had just returned, told them everything that Gou An had just conveyed to him.

After learning what had happened, everyone understood what had occurred.

Soon, Xuan Kongzi flew into the air and circled the world in the picture, seemingly trying to see just how big this small world was.

According to Liu Dayong and his team's measurements, the world in the Palm Heaven Map is about four thousand miles in length and width, which is quite a large area.

Then Xuan Kongzi descended from the sky, selected one of the cave dwellings, and drove out a monster that originally lived inside.

The monster felt extremely wronged, yet dared not resist, dared not be angry, and dared not speak out.

After entering the cave, Xuan Kongzi began his seclusion, clearly starting by breaking the soul imprint within his body.