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

Master Cangxuan, also known as the Old Fox, is the temporary head of the Pill Hall. Although he doesn't usually manage affairs, he occasionally comes to the Pill Hall for a visit.

Therefore, there is also a luxurious courtyard of his in the Dan Hall.

When Gou An arrived at the courtyard gate, he saw a demon servant on duty and knew that the old fox was here, so he immediately went up to report.

The demon servant at the gate saw Gou An and immediately went in to report, returning shortly afterward.

"The Protector of the Nation has asked me to take you inside!" The demon servant opened the door and led the way.

After walking along the wide stone path to the backyard, Gou An immediately spotted the old fox pruning the flowers and plants.

The old fox's backyard was filled with all kinds of flowers, which were meticulously trimmed.

"Protect the nation!" Gou An stepped forward and bowed slightly to the old fox.

Upon hearing Gou An's voice, the old fox put down the scissors and put on a kind smile.

"Come, come, come!" The old fox waved enthusiastically to Gou An, "Young friend, please take a seat."

He pointed to the stone table beside him, where the wine had already been warmed.

Winter was approaching, and the weather had naturally gotten colder.

Gou An stepped forward and sat down opposite the old fox.

"Was your seclusion successful?" the old fox asked first, and then had his demon servant pour him some wine.

"Not bad!" Gou An replied somewhat reservedly.

"I heard that those brutes from the mine took you out and something went wrong?" The old fox took a small sip of his wine.

Gou An did not deny it, and nodded: "That's right, thankfully nothing serious happened."

"From now on..." the old fox said slowly, "Don't hang out with those brutes. We are alchemists, much more precious than them."

"Yes!" Gou An replied immediately, behaving very respectfully throughout.

"I called you here for nothing major!" The old fox took another sip of the spirit wine before continuing, "I mainly want you to refine some more Myriad Origin Soul-Stabilizing Pills."

"That Gudan from the conference?" Gou An asked.

"That's right!" The old fox nodded. "Although I can also refine it, for some reason, its efficacy is always a notch less than yours."

"This elixir is very important to the king, so the king's intention is that you will be in charge of refining it from now on."

"In the future?" Gou An asked, puzzled.

"Yes!" The old fox nodded. "The princess's soul is damaged, and she needs to take one of these pills every now and then to stabilize it! The quantity doesn't need to be too many; three pills a month is enough, as long as the medicinal effect is guaranteed."

At this point, he put down his wine cup and looked at Gou An with his eyes: "If this matter is handled well, you can become the head of the Pill Hall in the future."

"Hall Master?" Gou An's heart stirred slightly.

"That's right!" The old fox nodded with a smile. "Looking around the Pill Hall, even Master Wenxu's alchemy skills might not be as outstanding as yours."

"But I'm not qualified enough!" Gou An was a little worried.

After all, taking too big a step at once could easily lead to a groin injury.

"Don't worry!" The old fox waved his hand. "In our Ten Thousand Demon City, if you want to move up, we never look at seniority. We only look at ability and achievements."

"As long as you can handle the tasks I've assigned you, I'll decide who gets the position of hall master."

Gou An dared not refuse, so he could only cup his hands and say, "Don't worry, Protector, I will definitely do my best."

For someone like the old fox, who holds a high position of power, if you don't want what he wants to give you, it's like slapping him in the face.

Therefore, regardless of whether the so-called position of hall master is truly intended for him or just a pie in the sky, Gou An has no choice but to accept it now.

"Furthermore!" The old fox took out a pill formula from his sleeve and placed it in front of Gou An: "I also have a fragment of an ancient pill formula here. You can try to restore it when you have time."

"If this pill can be successfully refined, I can give you double the reward I promised before."

Gou An took the prescription and glanced at it. This prescription didn't even have the names of the pills, only the names of about ten spiritual ingredients.

However, judging from the effects of these spiritual materials, this prescription must also contain elixirs related to repairing the soul.

"After all, you are the first alchemist to submit an ancient pill with 80% efficacy. I have high hopes for you!" The old fox saw that Gou An's cup was empty and personally poured him another cup.

"Don't worry, Huguo, I will do my best!" Gou An put the fragment of the pill formula into his palm space, and then immediately picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

After leaving the old fox's residence, Gou An returned to his own courtyard.

The old fox originally wanted Gou An to stop delivering pills, fearing that something might happen to Gou An again, but Gou An politely declined.

After all, if they don't let me deliver the pills, how am I supposed to get spirit stones from that guy Black Horn?

As for the Myriad Source Soul-Stabilizing Pill, it is not difficult to refine, and it will not take much time.

The only difficult part is the fragment of the elixir recipe that the old fox gives you later.

The old fox specifically gave this item to himself; it must be very important.

Furthermore, considering what the old fox said, the Demon King's queen's soul was damaged and she needed to use the Myriad Source Soul-Stabilizing Pill for a long time, it can be determined that the King is the one who truly needs this item.

The Wanyuan Guhun Pill can only stabilize the soul, but cannot completely repair a damaged soul.

The prescription in front of me should be the pill used to repair the soul.

Based on what the old fox said, Gou An could deduce that the old fox had been trying to recreate the pill formula before, but he failed and then thought of Gou An.

If that's the case, then if I really recover, it's quite possible that I could become the head of the hall.

According to Gou An's understanding, the position of the head of the Zongdan Hall is not low in Wan Yao City, and can be considered second only to the position of the Protector of the Nation.

If he could really become the head of this hall, Blind Tiger would have to think twice before he tried to harm him.

Gou An then began refining pills and had Niu Cuihua assist him.

A batch of Myriad Source Soul-Stabilizing Pills was quickly refined, and then all that was needed was to wait for it to be baked at a low temperature for several days.

A few days later, the pills were ready, and Gou An immediately delivered them to the old fox's residence.

The old fox was very satisfied with the newly refined Myriad Source Soul-Stabilizing Pill, so he said a few words of encouragement to Gou An and reminded him to remember to restore the newly given pill formula fragment.

So, aside from absorbing spirit stones for cultivation every day, Gou An spent the rest of his time studying the ancient pill formula fragment in his hand.

After Gou An used his Green Wood Spirit Body to have in-depth communication with the several spiritual materials recorded on the document, he retrieved dozens of different auxiliary materials from the storeroom to try refining them.

However, each time the refining process was interrupted by an accident. Although it did not cause the furnace to explode, it damaged the elixir, resulting in the failure of the refining process.

After more than ten failed attempts, Gou An discovered the problem.

The reason for the failure was that the auxiliary materials were not old enough.

The spiritual materials in the warehouse are mostly several years or several decades old, with the oldest being only two or three hundred years old.

The main ingredient in this ancient pill is extremely potent. Even if the auxiliary ingredients used to neutralize its potency are correct, they are still difficult to refine if the pill is not old enough.

According to Gou An's research, there are three auxiliary ingredients that need to be sourced from sources that are at least a thousand years old.

They are Qingxinlinghua, Yuehualing, and Qianhunguteng.

These are all three rare spiritual herbs, and they must be a thousand years old, making them very difficult to find.

According to the descriptions in the alchemical text, this creature grows in the Monster Mountain Range.

Moreover, even if we can't find a thousand-year-old one, finding one that's five or six hundred years old will do. When we combine it with Gou An's Green Wood Spirit Body, we can infuse it with spiritual energy and elevate its age by one or two hundred years.

The idea is there; now all that's needed is to go out and find it.

Although the demon servant could be sent to search, he was unfamiliar with spiritual materials and could not be relied upon, so he still had to go himself.

However, this search was much more difficult than the previous search for the Ghostly Dew Grass.

It could take several days at the shortest, and more than half a month or a month at the longest.

So Gou An summoned Niu Cuihua and said to her, "I'm going to leave Wan Yao City for a while now. The time is uncertain. During this time, just take good care of the house for me. You don't need to do anything else."

Upon hearing this, Niu Cuihua quickly nodded in agreement: "Rest assured, Your Excellency, I will certainly take good care of the house."

Afterwards, Gou An went to ask Master Wenxu for leave and prepared to leave the city.

Before he had even left the Demon King's Palace, someone suddenly called out to him from behind, causing Gou An to stop in his tracks.

"Master, wait for me!" Long Youzi chased after him from behind.

Gou An stopped and frowned, asking, "Why did you follow me?"

"I heard that Master is going out of the city to find spiritual materials, and I want to go with him!" Long Youzi chuckled.

Gou An frowned: "You?"

"Don't worry, Master!" Long Youzi patted his chest and said confidently, "I'm very good at finding spiritual materials. In the past, the sect was poor and didn't have many alchemy materials, so we had to find them ourselves in the mountains."

"Oh?" Gou An immediately became interested upon seeing this. Having another person help him search would greatly increase the success rate.

Moreover, although Long Youzi is a bit annoying, he is quite skilled in alchemy and can be of some use.

Perhaps seeing that Gou An did not agree, Long Youzi immediately added, "Master, don't worry, I definitely won't hold you back."

"Alright!" Gou An nodded upon seeing this. "Since your attitude is good, I'll take you out to have a look around."

"Okay!" Long Youzi readily agreed.

After leaving the Demon King's Palace, they arrived in the city.

Gou An walked in front, with Long Youzi following behind.

Along the way, Long Youzi kept asking Gou An many questions about alchemy, clearly indicating that although the trip was supposedly to help Gou An find spiritual materials.

Actually, I wanted to take this opportunity to learn something from Gou An before leaving.

Faced with this guy's various questions, Gou An's answers were all vague, just trying to get by.

Fortunately, Long Youzi was very perceptive, and no matter how Gou An answered, he could fill in the blanks in his mind.

After Gou An led Long Youzi out of the city, in the shadows of the city tower, an eye watched Gou An's figure disappear.