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

The deal was struck, and Blackhorn was very pleased.

He immediately pulled out a storage bag from his pocket: "There are exactly one thousand low-grade spirit stones in here. I'll buy twenty packs to try first."

"Alright! I happen to have some with me!" Gou An pointed at the table and twenty packets of high-grade spirit smoke flew out from his palm.

Cash on delivery.

Black Horn handed the half-smoked spirit smoke in his hand to the demon soldier beside him. The demon soldier quickly took it, took a few steps back, and immediately took a sip, looking quite pleased with himself.

Black Horn opened a new pack, lit one for himself, took a sip, and savored it: "Not bad. The ones I bought from you seem to taste better than the ones I buy outside."

Gou An smiled politely and prepared to make an excuse to leave first.

The objective has been achieved; there is no need to linger here any longer.

Just as Gou An was about to speak, his gaze involuntarily swept over the mine below.

It was this glance that startled Gou An, as he seemed to see a familiar figure inside.

Gou An frowned slightly, and upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was actually Niu Cuihua!

When I asked Master Xu, he said he sold her to the Nurturing Slave Hall, but I never expected that she would end up in this place.

At this moment, Niu Cuihua was clearly no longer as clean as when she was with Gou An. She was covered in mud, her clothes were tattered, and she was working hard alone with a manuscript, knocking stones on a slope in the mine.

Unfortunately, the other medicine slaves who were with Niu Cuihua have disappeared.

It's easy to guess that he most likely died from exhaustion in the mine.

"What are you looking at, fellow Daoist?" Black Horn noticed that Gou An was looking down at the mine, so he turned his head in the same direction, but he was a little puzzled.

Gou An snapped out of his daze and smiled slightly, "Fellow Daoist Black Horn, may I take a slave from you?"

"Slaves?" Black Horn was even more puzzled. "If you need slaves, why don't you just go to the slave-rearing hall in the city?"

"The slaves here are all hard laborers, filthy and smelly, and they might die any day now. They're useless if you take them back with you."

Blackhorn waved his hand, seemingly disgusted with these slaves.

"It's different!" Gou An shook his head: "This slave was originally my medicine servant when I was in Wan Dan Tang. He was very good at helping me when I was refining pills."

"As you know, I left the City of Ten Thousand Demons for a while before, and everyone else thought I was dead, so this medicine slave was resold."

Upon hearing this, Black Horn understood Gou An's meaning: "So, fellow Daoist, you want to take this slave back?"

"Exactly!" Gou An nodded. "It's just a slave, consider it a gift to me."

Seeing this, Black Horn didn't say anything more, only saying, "Since you've spoken, how could I refuse?"

"Just tell me which one it is, and I'll have someone bring it up to you."

Gou An pointed downwards and said to Black Horn, "The bull demon on that mountain!"

After Gou An pointed it out and he saw it clearly, Hei Jiao waved to the demon soldiers beside him: "Go, bring me that bull demon from the top of the mountain in the East District."

"Yes!" The demon soldier nodded immediately and turned to leave.

Before long, Niu Cuihua was brought up to this cliff platform.

Niu Cuihua, with her hands and feet shackled and covered in whip marks of varying depths, stepped forward with a timid and terrified expression.

For these slaves, being suddenly summoned away by their superiors was never a good thing.

So much so that she kept her head down, not daring to look at anyone.

"Fellow Daoist, is it her?" Black Horn asked Gou An.

Gou An took a closer look and, after confirming it was indeed Niu Cuihua, nodded: "That's right, it's him!"

"Since you want it, I'll give it to you as a gift!" Black Horn waved his hand, and the demon soldiers immediately stepped forward to unlock the shackles on Niu Cuihua's body.

"Go on, follow this venerable one!" The demon soldier shoved Niu Cuihua.

Niu Cuihua was terrified, but she could only do as she was told, walking step by step toward Gou An with her head bowed.

Finally, it stopped beside Gou An, not daring to move.

Clearly, so much time has passed, and with Gou An's transformation technique having improved, Niu Cuihua no longer recognizes Gou An.

"In that case, I've just finished my meal and drinks, so I won't bother you any longer. I'll head back now!" Gou An stood up and cupped his hands in greeting to Hei Jiao.

Black Horn nodded, without trying to stop him: "Let's meet again next time, fellow Daoist."

Soon, Gou An took out a flying boat, took Niu Cuihua and flew into the sky, heading towards the City of Ten Thousand Demons.

As he watched Gou An leave, the smile on Hei Jiao's face slowly turned somber.

"Go and inform the Protector of the Nation!" Black Horn waved his hand, and a bird spirit in the form of a celestial being immediately ran over from not far away: "Master Gou has already taken that cow spirit away."

"Yes!" The bird spirit nodded quickly and then flew away into the air.

Blackhorn sat back down on his stone chair, smoking a spirit cigarette, looking down at the mine below with a leisurely air.

After a long pause, he finally uttered, "It took me over two months to see this; it really took me a lot of effort!"

......

Gou An, without saying a word, led Niu Cuihua back to the General Dan Hall.

Once back in his courtyard, Gou An finally spoke: "Look up at me."

Upon receiving the order, Niu Cuihua slowly raised her head, her movements cautious and deliberate.

But Niu Cuihua only glanced at it before immediately lowering her head in fright.

"Do you still recognize me?" Gou An asked.

Niu Cuihua didn't dare to speak, she just shook her head.

"Do you still remember your name?" Gou An asked again.

"Niu...Niu Cuihua!" Niu Cuihua answered softly.

"Do you still remember who gave you this name?" Gou An asked again.

Niu Cuihua was slightly taken aback, as if she remembered something, and only then did she dare to look up at Gou An.

"Yes...you are Master Gou?" Niu Cuihua asked incredulously.

Gou An nodded: "That's right, it's me!"

"The Venerable One isn't dead?" Niu Cuihua couldn't hold back any longer, and two streams of hot tears slid down her face.

"I'm lucky, how could I die so easily?" Gou An smiled slightly: "You should come with me from now on. I need an experienced assistant to help me with my alchemy."

"Yes!" Niu Cuihua suddenly knelt down on the ground: "Cuihua will definitely repay the Master's life-saving grace."

Gou An nodded. Seeing that Niu Cuihua was filthy, he summoned several other medicine servants and said to them, "Take her to wash up and change into clean clothes. From now on, she will be the leader and manager of you little demons."

Although the demon servants were surprised, they dared not disobey Gou An's wishes.

He immediately agreed and left with Niu Cuihua.

Gou An brought Niu Cuihua back because she was different from the other little demons.

Although they are all incomplete monsters formed by low-level demon beasts forcibly transforming into human form after consuming transformation pills, there are still differences in their quality.

Niu Cuihua was much smarter and more sensible than the other little demons, making her naturally more convenient to use.