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

When Gou An returned to the City of Ten Thousand Demons with Long Youzi, the situation there was exactly the same as what his clone had seen.

Everything was as usual, with nothing unusual.

They successfully entered the Demon King's Mansion and arrived at the General Pill Hall, where everyone looked exactly the same as before.

Actually, if you think about it carefully, it's only been about ten days since Gou An went out.

"Remember, we're in the same boat now, so watch your mouth!" Gou An reminded Long Youzi.

"Don't worry, Master, I understand!" Long Youzi nodded immediately.

The two then returned to their respective courtyards.

Upon entering the courtyard, Gou An immediately took out the ancient elixir formula that the old fox had given him.

All preparations for refining this ancient pill are now complete; only the final step remains.

So Gou An quickly summoned Niu Cuihua to help him. They lit the furnace and, based on his previous failures, began to carefully refine the spiritual materials step by step.

Just as Gou An had predicted, with those three main ingredients that were old enough, the refining process went smoothly this time.

In particular, after Gou An used the Green Wood Spirit Body to enhance the medicinal efficacy of the spiritual materials, it made the integration of other spiritual materials much simpler.

After more than an hour of slow melting, all the spiritual materials in the furnace were finally perfectly fused together, turning into a fist-sized ball of liquid.

Finally, after transforming the elixir into ten small pill prototypes, Gou An proactively lowered the furnace temperature and began low-temperature baking to shape them.

After doing all this, Gou An finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Now we just need to wait a few days of low-temperature baking to stabilize the medicinal properties. We'll have to wait until the oven is opened to know exactly how much efficacy it will achieve.

"Cuihua, watch the stove for me, I'm going to rest for a bit!" Gou An yawned, feeling utterly exhausted.

"Yes, ma'am!" Niu Cuihua nodded quickly, her attitude respectful.

Gou An didn't go far; he simply sat cross-legged on a futon in the alchemy room, half-asleep and half-reclining.

Meanwhile, Cuihua obediently stood guard in front of the alchemy furnace, watching the fire.

Just after Gou An completely concealed his aura, Niu Cuihua's eyes were suddenly covered by a gray mist, and then she slowly turned her head to look at Gou An's position.

After staring at Gou An for a while, the gray mist that had been obscuring his vision finally disappeared.

Niu Cuihua shook her head, feeling as if she had lost consciousness for a moment.

This has happened several times already, and she suspects there's something wrong with her health, but she's afraid to tell anyone.

After all, for low-level demon slaves like them, if they develop health problems, the outcome is often that they are abandoned.

She didn't want to go back to the mine, so she had to keep quiet and hide the truth.

Three days later.

Gou An successfully started the furnace.

Gou An took ten round, cyan pills out of the furnace.

Looking at the pill in his hand, Gou An smelled it. The aroma was rich and strong, indicating it was 99% pure and a rare find.

Become!

Gou An quickly put the pills into a porcelain bottle while they were still hot, then went out to find the old fox to report back.

When he arrived at the old fox's residence, he was greatly shocked to learn that Gou An had actually refined the ancient pill so quickly, and he immediately went to meet Gou An in person.

"Fellow Daoist, quickly take out the pills so I can see them!" the old fox said urgently.

Gou An nodded, flipped his hand, took out a porcelain bottle, and presented it with both hands.

When the old fox poured out the elixir from the bottle and examined it closely, the joy on his face deepened.

"Good! Good! Good!" The old fox exclaimed three times in one breath, grinning from ear to ear as he held the pill. "I only intended to give it to you to try, but I didn't expect you could actually refine it."

"I will do my utmost to fulfill the mission of protecting the nation!" Gou An cupped his hands in a respectful manner. "The reason I was able to refine it so quickly is not only due to my strength, but also because of a bit of luck. In the end, I did not fail the trust placed in me by the nation."

"Don't be modest!" The old fox examined the pill repeatedly, quite satisfied, before finally putting it back into the pill bottle. "Once I hand this pill over to the Demon King, as long as there are no problems, I will recommend you for credit."

He added at the end, "From now on, the position of head of the General Pill Hall will undoubtedly belong to you."

Gou An quickly cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for protecting the country!"

Gou Anquan maintained a polite demeanor throughout his conversation with the old fox, while secretly observing the old fox's reactions.

After all, the old fox was also one of the protectors of the country, and he didn't seem to be acting strangely, which meant that he didn't know that Blind Tiger had gotten into trouble.

This made Gou An feel even more at ease.

Steady!

After leaving the old fox's residence, Gou An was in a good mood and returned to his courtyard, preparing to absorb spirit stones to replenish the remaining hundreds of thousands of demon power points needed for his breakthrough.

Having lived in this world for so long, Gou An had long since come to understand a principle.

Strength is the most important thing in this world.

No matter how skilled one is in alchemy, it is still someone else's tool.

Only by cultivating one's own strength can one control one's own destiny.

Gou An currently has over 30 million spirit stones in reserve, so he doesn't need to worry about running out of spirit stones at all.

As long as the required demonic energy for subsequent breakthroughs does not increase exponentially, it will be sufficient.

Before Gou An could even begin absorbing the spirit stones, Niu Cuihua's voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Master, someone outside requests an audience."

Gou An opened his eyes and asked, "Who?"

"It's to protect the country!" Niu Cuihua replied.

Old fox?

Gou An frowned immediately. He had just left his place, so why was he coming to him so soon?

So he quickly put away the spirit stones he had just taken out and went out to greet them.

But when he arrived at the courtyard gate and saw who it was, his brows furrowed even more, because the person in front of him was not the old fox, but a person who did not have a trace of demonic aura.

I've never seen it before.

Dressed in white, he appeared to be middle-aged, refined and cultured, holding a folding fan in his hand, like a poet.

"Who are you?" Gou An asked curiously.

"You must be the Dog Immortal who created the incense that's all the rage in the city, right?" the visitor asked with a smile.

"That's right!" Gou An nodded, then asked, "May I ask who you are?"

"I am one of the Seven Great Protectors of the Nation, and my Taoist name is Evil Bone Taoist!" The newcomer gently shook his fan and smiled.

"Huh?" Gou An was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

Is this the Evil Bone Taoist?

If he hadn't said so, Gou An would have thought he was Li Bai.

"Shall we go inside and talk?" Xie Gu glanced into the depths of the courtyard, as if something was amiss.

Gou An, wary of the other party's status as a protector of the state, dared not refuse, so he stepped aside and gestured for him to come in: "Then, Protector of the State, please come in!"

After leading the Evil Bone Taoist into the courtyard, Gou An hurriedly asked Niu Cuihua to prepare spiritual tea and snacks.

They then sat down at the stone table in the courtyard.

"I've long heard that among the Seven Guardians of the Nation, there is a Daoist named Evil Bone!" Gou An said politely with a smile, "I never expected to have the honor of meeting him today."

The Evil Bone Taoist shook his fan and asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, do you know why I've come to see you?"

Gou An frowned slightly upon hearing this, but still managed a smile before replying, "Could it be that you've come for that spirit smoke?"

But Xie Gu shook his head.

"What is that?" Gou An was even more puzzled.

"Naturally, it's for Lord Jinyang!" A faint smile suddenly appeared on Xie Gu's originally humble face.

The smile looked friendly, but in Gou An's eyes it was incredibly creepy and evil.