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

For several days in a row, Long Youzi did not come to see Gou An again.

Gou An still thought that the other party had given up on the idea of ​​becoming his disciple.

Since I got a thousand spirit stones from the other party for free, this bet wasn't a complete waste of time.

Just when Gou An thought this way, Long Youzi suddenly came to his door.

"Master, I did it!"

Long Youzi, holding a round pill in his hand, barged into the courtyard looking disheveled and couldn't wait to show it to Gou An.

"What did you succeed in?" Gou An was lying on a chair in the courtyard, sunbathing, when he heard Long Youzi's voice and opened his eyes.

"Dan!" Long Youzi walked to Gou An's side and presented the pill with both hands: "I tried refining it several times after returning home, following the method you gave me that day, Master!"

"Although I failed the first few times, I succeeded this time!"

"Oh?" Gou An perked up upon hearing this, picked up the Miasma-Dispelling and True Essence Pill from Long Youzi's hand, examined it carefully, and then smelled it.

Although this pill is not as good as the one I made myself, it still has 60% of the medicinal effect.

Thinking of this, Gou An couldn't help but look at Long Youzi with a scrutinizing gaze.

Could this guy really be a genius?

How could he learn such a profound level from just one glance at my simple and crude refining method?

Before Gou An could speak, Long Youzi continued, "Master's alchemy method is completely different from the alchemy techniques I have learned before. It is quite difficult to refine pills, but this may be the necessary path to reach a higher level of alchemy."

"Only 60% is enough!" Gou An shook his head. "Come find me again when you can refine it to 80% of its potency!"

After saying that, Gou An waved his hand, signaling Long Youzi to leave.

Long Youzi nodded quickly, "Don't worry, Master, I'm sure I can refine it!"

He was about to leave after he finished speaking, but he stopped after taking only two steps.

"Master, there is still one thing I don't understand!" Long Youzi turned around and bowed to Gou An again.

"Speak!" Gou An closed his eyes and remained motionless.

"The main ingredients in that pill formula contain many highly poisonous substances, but the auxiliary ingredients that Master added have very few that can neutralize the toxins!" Long Youzi said with a puzzled look. "I'm very confused about this."

Faced with his questioning, Gou An naturally couldn't tell him the truth.

After all, one can directly refine out the toxins in spiritual materials.

After a brief moment of thought, Gou An replied, "Alchemy requires one's own understanding; one must not only understand the spiritual materials themselves, but also understand oneself."

Long Youzi clearly didn't understand, but he was too embarrassed to ask further, as that would make him seem stupid.

Gou An added at the end: "Blindly imitating others and losing your own style will not lead to success."

After saying this, Gou An yawned, clearly not intending to pay any more attention.

Long Youzi nodded and cupped his hands to Gou An, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Master. I will go back and study it now."

After Long Youzi left, Gou An opened his eyes again.

The two sentences just now were actually just casual remarks by Gou An, and he deliberately made them sound philosophical.

In reality, these are two meaningless sentences. Simply put, it means that if Long Youzi has any questions, he should figure them out himself. Don't ask me, I don't know how to explain it to you. Also, just don't imitate yourself.

After leaving Gou An's courtyard, Long Youzi kept pondering the meaning of Gou An's two sentences.

Once back in his courtyard, Long Youzi thought about the events at the Gou An Alchemy Conference.

While others were experimenting with alchemy, Gou An was cultivating feelings with spiritual materials.

"Understanding the spiritual materials themselves?" Long Youzi picked up the spiritual materials he had placed on the stone table and, imitating Gou An, smelled and touched them.

After a long while, he suddenly froze, as if he had suddenly realized something.

"I understand. Understanding spiritual materials means that I need to fully understand their medicinal properties, characteristics, essence, and principles."

Long Youzi muttered to himself.

"Understanding yourself, rather than simply imitating others, means expressing your own feelings and thoughts, not just blindly following steps. It means understanding why you should do it this way."

Having figured things out for himself, Long Youzi felt that he had never been so clear-headed before.

So he quickly picked up other spiritual materials to continue cultivating his feelings, and even decided to go into seclusion to properly understand the meaning of "living in peace and tranquility".

......

Several days later, at the Spirit Stone Mine.

Gou An then went to deliver pills to the mine.

Blackhorn still prepared a table full of spirit wine and spirit meat to entertain them.

Just like last time, Blackhorn gave Gou An another thousand spirit stones to buy twenty packs of high-grade spirit smoke.

Gou An noticed that this guy's smoking habit was getting worse and worse. He smoked two packs of cigarettes in the time it took to eat a meal, one after another without stopping.

"Fellow Daoist, don't go back so early today!" Black Horn suddenly said.

"Is there something you need?" Gou An asked, puzzled.

"Yes, and it's a good thing!" Blackhorn chuckled, but didn't say it directly.

Gou An frowned slightly: "A good thing? How good can it be?"

"A few days ago, I discovered a valley south of the mine, brimming with spiritual energy and occasionally shrouded in rosy light!" Black Horn said slowly. "Such an extraordinary phenomenon must mean it holds treasures!"

"I would like to invite you to join me in exploring this valley. If we find any treasures, we will split them equally!"

If Gou An's ears twitch slightly, something unusual is bound to happen.

If such a place truly existed, Blackhorn would have already led his people there; how could he possibly share it with others?

This is most likely a test from the blind tiger.

"I think I'll pass!" Gou An smiled awkwardly. "I just escaped from a secret realm where I was trapped for decades, and I'm still a bit scared. I'm afraid to go to a place like this."

Gou An deliberately pretended to be timid and quickly declined.

Seeing this, Black Horn simply smiled and waved his hand: "Fellow Daoist, don't be afraid. The place I discovered is not some secret realm. Moreover, I will go with you, and I will bring several powerful demon generals with me. They are all transformed great demons, so there won't be any problems."

"In that case, one more or one less won't make a difference!" Gou An still declined, "I'd better not go. The other day, Protector Cangxuan contacted me, wanting me to refine some more ancient pills. I'm already very busy with official duties!"

"Fellow Daoist, please don't refuse!" Black Horn insisted, "I have a flying boat that can travel ten thousand miles. A round trip will only take a few hours, which won't take up much of your time."

"The reason I want you to come with me is because I, Blackhorn, consider you a brother, and I've thought of you for the sake of mutual benefit. Please don't refuse my kindness!"

Gou An sighed, knowing that he probably couldn't avoid this matter.

Even if he manages to evade it, the blind tiger will surely find other opportunities to test him.

Since he's going to test me, let him test me this time. As long as I disguise myself well, I might not be found out. Anyway, I'll run away if there's any danger.

It's enough to portray them as cowards who are afraid of death.