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

Gou An retrieved the Heavenly Map and rested in the cave for another day.

Once he had recovered and night had fallen, he quietly slipped out of the cave and headed towards the City of Ten Thousand Demons.

This stretch of road went very smoothly, without any obstacles whatsoever.

Gou An followed the scent and found the outside of the City of Ten Thousand Demons. It was just dawn.

Holding the token, one passes through the barrier and enters the territory of the City of Ten Thousand Demons.

Seeing the familiar city walls, Gou An felt reassured and couldn't wait to enter the city.

It's been almost half a year since I left the City of Ten Thousand Demons with Lord Crimson Flame. I wonder if there have been any changes in the city.

After entering the city, Gou An went straight back to Wandan Hall.

The guard who was guarding the gate recognized Gou An but did not stop him.

Strangely, none of the alchemy rooms along the way were in operation, and the entire Wan Dan Tang was completely silent, without a trace of medicinal fragrance.

When he returned to his alchemy room, it was completely empty; even the medicine slaves assigned to him were nowhere to be found.

"Where is everyone?" Gou An shouted to his surroundings, but no one responded.

The table was covered in dust, clearly indicating it hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

So Gou An immediately went out and went to the alchemy room next door.

This is the dwelling of Toothless, the weasel in human form.

As soon as Gou An entered the courtyard, he saw the guy lying on a chair, fast asleep. The alchemy room was pitch black, so he was obviously not refining pills.

The other drug slaves around them were also sitting idly in the corner, doing nothing.

Gou An walked over to the toothless man and patted him on the shoulder: "Fellow Daoist, wake up!"

"Stop fooling around!" But Wuyazi waved his hand impatiently: "I'm having a sweet dream."

"Fellow Daoist, it's me!" Gou An patted him again.

Wuyazi frowned, suddenly opened his eyes, and was about to get angry, but then suddenly held back.

"You...it's you!" Wuyazi exclaimed in surprise, "It's Fellow Daoist Gou! Long time no see! Your appearance has truly changed drastically, and your transformation technique has become even more exquisite!"

"What happened to the Pill Hall? It's all empty. Are they not refining pills anymore?" Gou An asked in confusion.

Faced with Gou An's question, Wu Ya Zi sighed helplessly, "That's a long story."

"It's alright, take your time!" Gou An sat down to the side and waited patiently.

Toothless had no choice but to slowly begin to tell the story.

"Not long after you left with Lord Crimson Flame, rumors began circulating in the city that Lord Crimson Flame had died!"

"You went to the secret realm with Lord Crimson Flame Mountain, so everyone thinks you're dead too."

Wuyazi sighed again: "So Master Wenxu dismissed your demon servants from the alchemy room and even erected a wooden tablet for you, saying it was a memorial tablet."

"Just because of me? Is this how the Pill Hall is now?" Gou An was even more puzzled.

"No, no, no!" Wu Yazi shook his head: "After this incident, our Pill Hall's Nine Furnace Master received a message from his disciple Huang Pingzi, saying that something big had happened outside and he needed to go back."

"He left and hasn't come back since."

"And then?" Gou An couldn't help but ask.

"And then, when he left, he took several other alchemists from the Pill Hall with him." Wu Ya Zi shook his head. "You know, our Wan Dan Hall mainly relies on these few people to refine pills, right?"

"The remaining few of us demon cultivators are still a bit lacking in skill, and our production can't keep up, so the business has basically been taken over by the other two alchemy halls, so naturally, that's how it is for us."

In the end, Wuyazi shook his head helplessly.

Gou An frowned even more deeply upon hearing this, and asked curiously, "You said that Master Jiu Lu went back on business. What is it?"

"I only heard that something big happened outside the Monster Beast Mountain Range a few days ago, it was very chaotic!" Wuyazi shook his head: "Maybe I have some recollection of him."

event?

Upon hearing this, Gou An couldn't help but wonder if it was related to the destruction of the Locking Heaven Tower and the escape of the prisoners inside.

"Where is Master Wenxu?" Gou An asked again.

"They went to the Demon King's Palace!" Wuyazi yawned, then replied, "They said the Demon King wants to hold an alchemy competition, has set up many rewards, and has invited many alchemists from the human realm."

"Right now, Master Xu should still be in the Demon King's Palace discussing this matter with the heads of the other two major alchemy halls. I just don't know how much longer it will take, as he hasn't returned for several days."

"An alchemy competition?" Gou An was even more puzzled.

"That's right!" Toothless nodded immediately: "I heard it will be very lively, and everyone can sign up."

Gou An listened thoughtfully, wondering what the final reward would be, but he thought he might as well give it a try.

Coming to his senses, Gou An asked again, "Besides that, has anything else happened in the city?"

"Fellow Daoist, you ask too many questions!" Wuyazi yawned deeply, his eyes still heavy with sleep. "I'm too tired. Let me get some sleep. When I wake up, if you want to know anything, I'll tell you."

"Tell me everything in one go!" Gou An took out a spirit stone and placed it in Wu Ya Zi's hand.

Upon seeing this thing, Wuyazi's eyes lit up, and he instantly woke up from his drowsiness.

"Alright, then I'll tell you!" Wuyazi put away the spirit stones, looking much more energetic: "In the time since you left, many significant events have indeed occurred in the city."

"Besides what I just told you, there are three other important things."

Wuyazi raised a finger and slowly said, "The leader of the Scarlet Moon Pavilion has changed!"

"Who did they replace?" Gou An asked curiously.

"Red Moon Girl!" the Toothless One replied with a grin, "She used to be the top courtesan in the brothel, now she's something else entirely."

"What are the other two things?" Gou An asked again.

But Wuyazi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "Well..."

Gou An knew what he wanted to do, so he immediately took out two more spirit stones and stuffed them into his hand.

"The second thing is that a few days ago, some tough characters came to our Ten Thousand Demon City," Wu Ya Zi replied.

"How ruthless?" Gou An asked curiously.

Wuyazi laughed and said, "I heard that he escaped from the human realm and is a great demon with the cultivation of the Nascent Soul stage. He has now moved into the Demon King's Palace."

"A transformed demon?" Gou An's eyes widened upon hearing this, and he asked, "Are you sure?"

"How can I be sure!" Toothless shook his head. "I've only heard about it."

"And I've also heard that the great demon and the demon king are old acquaintances."

Toothless added another sentence.

"What is the third thing?" Gou An asked curiously.

Toothless shut his mouth again, and spread his left hand, clearly wanting to take advantage of the situation.

So Gou An gave Wu Yazi a few more spirit stones before he continued his story.

"The third thing is that the Qianxiang Roasted Chicken Shop in the city has drastically reduced its prices; you can buy two chickens for 100 demon gold coins."

Gou An: "..."

"Is this the big deal you were talking about?" Gou An was speechless. "Give me back the spirit stones I just gave you."

He was about to grab it when he said that.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Wuyazi quickly covered his chest: "Fellow Daoist, it tickles! Stop! Don't touch me! I already have a Daoist partner."

"What does it matter to me if you have a partner!" Gou An saw that Wu Ya Zi looked like a wronged little wife and lost interest in continuing to snatch him.

If outsiders saw this, they might think I was a pervert.

"Is there anything else?" Gou An asked again.

"Nothing else is a big deal!" Seeing that Gou An wasn't going to fight anymore, Wu Ya Zi lay back down in his chair, his eyelids drooping as he looked at something and started to doze off again.

Just then, Gou An's nose twitched slightly as he smelled a familiar scent.

So he immediately turned around and left, going to wait on the main road.

Sure enough, not long after, Master Wenxu walked over from outside the courtyard.

He was walking hurriedly, as if he had something urgent to attend to.

When Master Wenxu saw Gou An, he was stunned and remained speechless for a long time.

"You, you, you!" Master Wenxu stammered for a moment.

"Master, it's been a long time!" Gou An smiled slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Gou!" Master Wenxu finally realized what was happening and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, carefully looking him up and down. "It must have been half a year since I last saw you. I didn't expect you to still be alive, and you've changed so much."

"And..." Master Wenxu seemed to sense something and exclaimed, "It seems you have already transformed into human form and formed your core! It's so fast!"

Before Gou An could speak, he was pulled into Wenxu Zhenren's room.

Soon, several medicine servants brought hot tea, and Master Xu personally poured it for Gou An.

"Master, I'd like to ask, where did those medicine slaves you arranged in my alchemy room go?" Gou An suddenly asked.

"Why are you asking this?" Master Wenxu asked, somewhat surprised. "Ever since the alchemists who were in charge of the hall took leave, our business has been unable to continue. We can only barely make ends meet by selling our remaining stock of loose pills."

"Given the current situation, it's natural that we can't afford to support so many drug slaves."

Master Wenxu sighed and continued, "Besides, I thought that since you were already gone, keeping them would be useless, so I sold them off."

At this point, Master Wenxu was clearly more interested in Gou An's experience and quickly pressed, "Fellow Daoist, tell me, what exactly happened when you went to explore the secret realm with Lord Chiyan Mountain?"

"I've heard that the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord's life lamp has gone out, so he's already dead."

"You went out with him, and you came back alive? What happened?"

Faced with Master Wenxu's questioning, Gou An did not rush to answer, but instead asked, "Back then, I was forced to follow Lord Chiyan Mountain in order to save Master Jiulu."

"Logically speaking, this Nine-Furnace Immortal is your man. I almost lost my life trying to redeem him for you."

Gou An paused, looked at Master Wenxu, and said in a slightly serious tone, "In that case, shouldn't the Hall Master compensate me for my losses and hard work?"

Faced with these words, Master Wenxu gave an awkward smile.

Logically speaking, Gou An had indeed done him a great favor, so it was reasonable for him to make such a request.

"Rest assured, fellow Daoist, I will certainly not treat you unfairly!" Master Wenxu stroked his beard. "However, as you have seen, the current state of the Pill Hall is such that we really don't have anything of value to offer."

"However, the city is about to hold an alchemy competition, and the three hall masters of our city, plus the demon king, will be the examiners and responsible for scoring."

"Fellow Daoist, you are welcome to participate in this conference. I can secretly pull some strings to help you achieve a good ranking."

"This alchemy competition is the first of its kind held in the City of Ten Thousand Demons, and the rewards are very generous."