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

Although the pills were still being slowly roasted and refined in the furnace, Long Youzi no longer had the arrogant attitude he had just displayed.

He had come to a complete understanding that Gou An's alchemy skills were far beyond his own.

You might be a genius alchemist in your own sect, but there are far more people outside who are more powerful than you, even monsters.

"I give up!"

Long Youzi suddenly spoke.

Gou An was somewhat surprised: "Why not wait until the pills are refined?"

"No need!" Long Youzi shook his head directly: "With a stable furnace fire and a solid elixir embryo, the pills produced from this batch will definitely be of good quality."

"In that case!" Gou An smiled slightly, "You are now my slave. From now on, you will have to listen to whatever I say."

"Master, please accept my bow!"

Unexpectedly, the next second, Long Youzi suddenly knelt down in front of Gou An.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Gou An was so frightened that he took a step back: "You said slave, not apprentice, don't get it wrong."

"Disciple understands!" Long Youzi knelt on the ground and nodded heavily. "I am willing to accept defeat. I am not only a slave, but I also want to become Master's disciple. Please take me in."

Long Youzi's sudden change caught Gou An off guard.

Originally, he only wanted Long Youzi to be his servant, but if Long Youzi became his disciple, the situation would be a little different.

"I never take on apprentices!" Gou An waved his hand.

"Then wouldn't I be the senior brother from now on?" Long Youzi suddenly looked up.

"How can you be even more shameless than me!" Gou An was speechless for a moment: "Don't you have a sect and a master? Why would you want to become my disciple?"

"Disciple does indeed belong to a sect, but it's just a third-rate minor sect!" Long Youzi said slowly, bowing his head. "The reason I traveled was because I had already mastered all the skills of my sect, and I wanted to continue to improve my abilities through experience."

"Master, I am truly impressed by your skills. Please accept me as your disciple."

Gou An scratched his head, unsure how to answer for a moment.

His alchemy skills were indeed excellent, but they relied on the enhancement of two special physiques, making them impossible for others to replicate.

"Fine!" Gou An flipped his hand, took out the document proving the bet, and burned it. "I declare the bet invalid. You are no longer my slave, and I will not take you as my disciple."

"Take care of yourself!"

After saying his last words, Gou An put away the alchemy furnace and turned to leave.

He originally just wanted to acquire a higher-class slave, but he never expected that this guy would want to become his apprentice.

That's ridiculous!

"Master, being a disciple and being a slave are not mutually exclusive!" To everyone's surprise, Long Youzi caught up with him: "It's just that when Master is refining pills in the future, I can just watch from the side. You don't need to worry about it."

But Gou An waved his hand dismissively: "Don't try that, I'm not interested!"

But Long Youzi was like a demon, following him all the way, and eventually even followed Gou An to Gou An's courtyard.

As soon as Gou An entered the door, this guy tried to follow, but Gou An blocked him at the door.

"Get back here right now! You're still not satisfied even though we've stopped making you a slave!" Gou An rolled his eyes at Long Youzi.

But Long Youzi blocked the door with his foot, his former arrogance gone, replaced by a fawning smile and a pleading expression: "I'm willing to be Master's slave!"

"Don't call me that, I'm not your master!" Gou An scolded.

"It doesn't have to be my master!" Long Youzi persisted, "I'm willing to be my master's medicine slave. In the future, when my master refines pills, I'll just be allowed to help out."

Looking at this guy's current appearance, Gou An sighed and said, "To be honest, I still prefer your old, unruly self."

Upon hearing this, Long Youzi was slightly taken aback.

Taking advantage of the situation, Gou An kicked away Long Youzi Carmen's foot and then closed the courtyard gate.

I thought Long Youzi would back down, but to my surprise, he actually climbed over the courtyard wall and came in.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Gou An was so angry that he directly showed his claws as a threat.

"I am your slave now, so naturally I will follow my master!" Long Youzi seemed to have become a different person. In order to learn new skills, he was able to be so humble.

This greatly shocked Gou An.

I thought I was being incredibly cautious, but I never expected there were people even more cautious than me.

This guy could even rival the scoundrel from back then, or even surpass him.

"You!" Gou An was so angry that he couldn't speak. He hadn't expected him to be so difficult to deal with.

But Long Youzi still had a fawning look on his face, appearing humble and pitiful.

"Alright!" Gou An nodded. "Since you're so eager to be my apprentice, it's not impossible."

"Really?" Long Youzi asked excitedly.

"Really!" Gou An nodded. "But start as a slave first. If you perform well, I'll consider taking you as my apprentice."

"Master, rest assured, I will definitely perform well and obey your every command." Long Youzi quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

"Fine!" Gou An sighed helplessly, "Then the first thing I'll do for you is to get out of my yard right now!"

Long Youzi was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening and quickly retreated to the doorway, opened it himself, and went out.

"And the second thing!" Gou An continued, ordering Long Youzi, "From now on, you shall hand over five hundred spirit stones to me every month!"

Upon hearing this, Long Youzi quickly took out his storage bag and presented it with both hands: "There are a total of one thousand spirit stones in here. I'll pay for two months' worth first."

Gou An's lips twitched. He hadn't expected it to be this easy.

So he gently grabbed the storage bag from a distance, and the storage bag automatically flew into Gou An's hands.

He probed in with a wisp of demonic energy to check, and the quantity was indeed one thousand spirit stones.

"Alright, not bad!" Having received the spirit stone, Gou An's lips unconsciously curled up. He then said, "Go back to your courtyard first and try refining it yourself using the method I showed you today. If you want to be my disciple, you'll have to test your talent level first."

"Yes, ma'am!" Long Youzi obediently closed the door, and his footsteps quickly faded away.

After Long Youzi walked away, Gou An looked at the spirit stone storage bag in his hand, shook his head with a wry smile.

I didn't expect this guy to be so generous, giving away a thousand spirit stones without hesitation. It seems he really wants to improve.

However, although he said he wanted to make the other party a slave, Long Youzi's skills were not weak, and if he were treated as a slave, it would definitely not work in the long run.

Taking him as an apprentice seems like a good idea.

However, Gou An was not prepared to accept him immediately; he wanted to see how long Long Youzi could persist.

If the other party is only acting on a whim, then taking him as a disciple is completely meaningless.

However, this scene in the courtyard was witnessed by Niu Cuihua, who was standing in the corner.

At the same time, a faint gray-black wisp brushed past her eyes, almost imperceptible.