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

Gou An, a cigarette dangling from his lips, glanced at the fox and smirked, "Alright, seeing as we're destined to meet, I'll let you give it a try!"

As Gou An spoke, he took out a box of spirit cigarettes and gave one to the fox.

The fox, mimicking Gou An's manner, held the cigarette in its mouth, gathered a wisp of flame at its fingertips, and lit the cigarette butt.

After taking a deep breath, the fox stretched its neck, its eyes becoming somewhat glazed.

Clearly, this was the first time Fox had ever experienced such a top-notch feeling.

Especially after this spiritual smoke entered its body, the fox clearly felt its meridians absorbing the spiritual energy within, which not only replenished the body's spiritual energy deficit but also nourished its own aura.

Even the tension from just attending the conference was gradually soothed after this bite.

"This is good stuff!" The fox became interested and said to Gou An, "Fellow Daoist, could you give me more of this? It's a real stimulant."

"Yes, I do, but you have to buy it with spirit stones!" Gou An took out a brand new pack of spirit cigarettes: "Ten sticks in a pack, five spirit stones in total."

"Fellow Daoist is joking. Spirit stones cannot be traded in the City of Ten Thousand Demons!" The fox smiled awkwardly.

Upon hearing this, Gou An remembered this matter. During his time away, he had obtained quite a few spirit stones and had completely forgotten about this rule of the Ten Thousand Demon City.

The City of Ten Thousand Demons uses demon gold!

Remembering the price of pills before, where ordinary pills could sell for a thousand demon gold coins each, Gou An offered: "Two thousand demon gold coins for a pack."

Upon hearing this, the fox immediately spat out a cloth bag from its mouth, which was filled with a bag full of demon gold.

"There are four thousand here, I want two packs!" the fox said with a grin.

Gou An did not refuse and took out another packet of spirit smoke.

Cash on delivery.

The fox, having obtained the spiritual smoke, happily returned to its alchemy furnace and, mimicking Gou An's posture, slowly savored it.

Soon, another monster, disguised as a black sheep, came over, drawn by the scent.

Gou An sold another package using the same method.

As the alchemy process progressed, more and more alchemists reached the final waiting stage.

This also allowed the fragrance of Gou An's spirit smoke to waft everywhere, which led more people to find out Gou An's location, and more than thirty packs were sold in no time.

Clearly, everyone was very fond of this novelty, and even the three hall masters came to Gou An's side.

Seeing the spirit cigarette dangling from Gou An's mouth, the three of them looked puzzled.

"Fellow Daoist, your spiritual smoke is quite novel. I wonder if we three could experience it?" Master Wenxu stepped forward and asked curiously.

Gou An wasn't stingy either; he took out a packet of spirit cigarettes and gave one to each person.

Then Gou An conjured flames from his fingertips and lit them one by one.

After the three hall masters tasted it, they were all greatly surprised.

"This stuff is pretty good!"

"Yes, its spiritual energy is gentle and nourishing to both body and mind; it's much more comfortable than any energizing tonic!"

"Give me ten packs too."

"Give me twenty packs!"

"I'll take as many as you have."

Seeing that the three hall masters were all scrambling to buy, Gou An could only give an awkward smile: "There's not much stock, let's each have one pack first!"

Just then, Xuan Ding Zhenren, the cat demon who had given Gou An the token to enter and exit the City of Ten Thousand Demons, noticed something was wrong.

"Fellow Daoist, why do I feel like I've smelled your scent somewhere before!"

As he spoke, he leaned closer to Gou An and sniffed him.

Before Gou An could answer, he suddenly remembered: "I remember now. More than a year ago, when I was gathering herbs in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, I passed through a forest and sensed that a demon cultivator had broken through to a higher level. So I went to look for him and found a pill-refining furnace in the cave. So I left my token and wanted to invite you to join our Spirit Pill Hall."

At this point, True Man Xuanding looked at True Man Wenxu beside him and said, "I just didn't expect that such a genius would be snatched away by Fellow Daoist Wenxu."

"It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early!" Master Wenxu laughed heartily, then took another deep breath of spiritual smoke and said, "This is one of our Wan Dan Hall's alchemists. None of you are allowed to poach him from our ranks."

Gou An gave an awkward smile: "Fellow Daoist Xuan Ding, I was introduced to the City of Ten Thousand Demons by you. Although I didn't join the Spirit Pill Hall, it was still a kind of fate."

At this point, Gou An took out another packet of spirit smoke and offered it to him: "Here's an extra packet for you, as compensation."

"Hey, that's good!" Master Xuanding happily accepted the cigarette pack and quickly put it away, afraid that Master Wenxu next to him would be envious.

"Give me another pack too!" Master Wenxu looked on longingly.

"Wait until you pay me for the past six months' wages!" Gou An rolled his eyes at Xu Zhenren.

Master Wenxu gave an awkward smile: "Don't worry, it'll be soon, very soon!"

Upon hearing this, Master Xuanding seemed to have seen a flaw and quickly said to Gou An, "Fellow Daoist, the Wan Dan Hall is already failing without Master Jiu Lu. You should join our Ling Dan Hall instead."

"We are all demon cultivators, unlike those human cultivators who actually owe fellow cultivators for their hard work."

Master Wenxu's lips twitched, and he immediately retorted, "Fellow Daoist Gou just returned and hasn't had time to give it to you yet."

Just as the human and the demon were arguing, another demon cultivator with horns on his head suddenly spoke up: "Fellow Daoist, your spiritual smoke is extraordinary, but there is still a problem."

After hearing this, Gou An asked curiously, "What's the problem?"

"The price is too low!" The demon cultivator hall master examined the spirit cigarette carefully with his fingers before saying, "After smoking this one spirit cigarette, it's roughly equivalent to taking a decent Qi-replenishing and spirit-nourishing pill."

"If a pack contains ten sticks, it would have to sell for at least ten thousand demon gold coins."

At this point, Master Wenxu quickly nodded, "That's right, otherwise, with the spiritual smoke, no one will buy those cheap pills anymore!"

"I agree!" Master Xuanding nodded immediately. "But after smelling it for so long, I still can't identify the ingredients of this spiritual plant. I wonder what its formula is?"

Gou An smiled. He couldn't reveal the recipe to them, of course, and then said, "Since the three hall masters have said so, then it'll be ten thousand demon gold coins per packet!"

"Why don't you three pay me the difference of eight thousand demon gold coins first?"

Upon hearing this, the three hall masters exchanged bewildered glances.

"Just kidding!" Gou An laughed. "This price will take effect tomorrow."

Just then, Gou An's nostrils twitched, and the aroma of the elixir in the furnace reached its peak.

"Perfect timing, my pills are ready. Could the three of you please take a look?"

As Gou An spoke, he walked to the alchemy furnace, opened the furnace door, and took out the Qi-replenishing pills inside.

The pills were round and smooth, radiating a spiritual light, and had a refreshing fragrance.

"Excellent pill!"

"Excellent, top quality."

"This has definitely been approved!"

After discussing it among themselves, the three hall masters all gave Gou An their approval.

By this time, an hour was almost over, and many fast-working alchemists had already begun calling for the examiners to check the quality of their pills.

The three hall masters then dispersed.

Gou An was the first to pass and began to observe the other alchemists.

Many alchemists were extremely anxious, because either the pills inside the furnace were already burnt black when they were opened, or the pills inside were not yet fully formed when they were opened.

Some people even refined pills that turned out to be strangely shaped, like a lump on the ground.

This further convinced Gou An that there must be quite a few people among these people who were just there to make up the numbers.

After everyone had finished their tests, just as Master Wenxu had predicted, one hundred alchemists were finally selected.

Those that remain are naturally eliminated and forced to leave the stage.

Then, the white crane flying in the air waved its hand, and the extra alchemy furnaces automatically floated up and eventually flew into the storage bag that it had thrown into the air.

Only one hundred alchemy furnaces remained, and they were automatically divided into ten areas, with ten furnaces in each area.

"Round one is over, round two will begin immediately!" Baihe shouted. "Please wait for your group assignments. You may rest for now."

Gou An sat there, still smoking, waiting to be assigned to a group.

The remaining ninety-odd alchemists were all attracted by the novelties Gou An mentioned and stepped forward to inquire about them.

Everyone wants to buy a pack.

Unfortunately, Gou An didn't have much stock, so he had to sell them one by one.

Despite this, demand still exceeds supply.

Soon, only two packets remained in Gou'an before they announced that they were sold out, and the group of alchemists dispersed helplessly.

However, Gou An noticed that many alchemists did not rush to appreciate the spirit smoke after obtaining it, but instead studied what its ingredients were.

Unfortunately, after studying it for a long time, they were still completely baffled.

After all, this world doesn't have spiritual plants like the Spirit Tobacco Grass, so there's no fear of them trying to imitate it.

The groups were quickly formed.

Gou An was assigned to the sixth group, and the members were randomly assigned.

However, Master Xu walked up to Gou An and whispered, "Don't worry, I've arranged everything. I've put you in the same group as some of the weaker ones."

After hearing this, Gou An nodded meaningfully.

Then, they drew lots one by one to determine the main ingredients for alchemy in the second round of the competition.

What no one expected was that none of the main materials drawn by lottery were normal.

Some groups drew the rootless morning dew, which evaporates instantly when exposed to high heat.

Some groups drew withered, lifeless leaves devoid of any spirit.

Some groups drew the "delusional herb" that easily causes mental disturbance and confusion.

Some groups even drew poisonous vines that can damage the meridians.

They are all the most difficult to refine, the most peculiar and strange materials in the world, with no fixed formula!

The alchemists turned pale, and their composure crumbled on the spot.

When it was Gou An's group's turn to draw the main ingredients, the results left all the alchemists feeling helpless.

"Mysterious flower!"

"This stuff can be used to make medicine?"

"This isn't a poison that causes intense hallucinations and can easily damage the brain!"

"What good things can be made using this as the main ingredient?"

Everyone was completely baffled.

At this moment, an alchemist sneered and mocked the crowd, saying, "So you're all too stupid! Can't you use these things to make poison? That's still alchemy."

Just as everyone thought this made sense, the white crane in the sky suddenly announced the rules.

"The rule for the second round of alchemy is that you must use the main ingredients provided to you to refine pills that are beneficial to your cultivation."

"Furthermore, auxiliary materials should not obscure the characteristics of the main material; their features must be highlighted."

"This round has a time limit of three hours, and the necessary medicinal materials can be obtained from the examiners."

"The timer starts now!"