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

"what?"

Gou An was stunned on the spot.

Eight Great Protectors of the Nation?

The Demon King so easily uttered something that Gou An dared not even think about?

"With your alchemy skills, you're more than qualified to be a national protector of alchemy!" The Desolate Demon King laughed. "Don't be afraid of Cang Xuan's side. Separating the alchemy business from him is a good thing for him, and no one will say anything."

"However... if you want to become the Protector of the Nation, the prerequisite is to cure Yun Yao's headache. If you can do something that others cannot, then no one will dare to say anything when you become the Protector of the Nation."

Gou An suppressed his surprise, knowing this was a good opportunity.

Moreover, from the conversation between the Demon King and Gou An, it can be seen that Gou An is still unaware that Lord Jin Yang has run into trouble.

Even if I were to rise to power, I would still be one of the Seven Protectors, not one of the Eight Great Protectors.

"What? You don't even want to be the protector of the country?" The demon king asked again when he saw Gou An staring blankly.

"No, no, no!" Gou An quickly shook his head: "It's just a bit sudden, I wasn't prepared yet."

"Since you want to, then give it a try!" After the Demon King finished speaking, the female demon Yun Yao beside him understood and placed her hand on the table in front of Gou An.

Gou An took a deep breath, placed two fingers on Yun Yao's wrist, and inserted a wisp of spiritual energy.

However, after searching for a long time, Gou An found no problems.

This means that Yun Yao's physical body is intact, so the headache is most likely a mental or spiritual problem.

"How is it?" The Demon King asked curiously as Gou An loosened his fingers from taking his pulse.

Gou An could only smile and say, "Your Majesty, no problems have been found with the Queen's health. Her headache may have another cause."

"What's the reason?" the Demon King asked. "Could it be that your soul hasn't been fully repaired?"

"That's possible!" Gou An nodded, then added, "To completely cure it, I need to know exactly what the princess was in form and why her soul was injured, so that I can prescribe the right medicine."

After hearing this, the Desolate Demon King sighed softly before speaking, "Since that's the case, then I'll tell you. But remember, don't tell anyone about these things, or you know the consequences."

"Don't worry, Demon King, I will keep my mouth shut!" Gou An nodded.

"My Yunyao is the transformed form of a black ghost umbrella!" the demon king slowly replied.

Upon hearing this, Gou An immediately frowned.

Ink-covered umbrella mushroom? Isn't that a poisonous mushroom?

Can fungi transform into demons?

"As for the injury, that happened more than thirty years ago." The Desolate Demon King continued, "At that time, Yun Yao left the Demon Beast Mountain Range to travel and met a human cultivator. The man was lustful and wanted to kidnap Yun Yao."

"Yun Yao refused to submit to the death, and the two sides fought with magic, ultimately resulting in both being severely injured."

"In this battle, Yun Yao was struck by the opponent's magic weapon and her soul was injured, while the opponent was also poisoned by Yun Yao's attack."

At this point, the Desolate Demon King shook his head helplessly: "It's a pity I wasn't by Yun Yao's side at the time, otherwise she wouldn't have suffered this injury."

"Yun Yao has recovered now, but that human cultivator is probably already dead and ashes."

"After all, in this world, no one can save someone who has been poisoned by Yun Yao."

After listening to the story of the Desolate Demon King, Gou An couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Doesn't this make sense?

Back then in the Blackwater Domain, the young master Shen Yu was also injured and poisoned more than 30 years ago, and the female demon Yun Yao in front of him was also injured in spirit more than 30 years ago.

Whether it's the time, the name, or the experience, everything matches up perfectly.

What the Desolate Demon King didn't know was that the person who hurt his wife hadn't died; in fact, he had recently rescued him.

If he finds out about this, I don't know if he'll still let me sit in the position of Protector of the Nation.

"That's what happened!" The Demon King flicked his fingertips, and a specially supplied spirit cigarette appeared at his fingertip.

The spiritual smoke ignited without fire. The Demon King took a deep breath, sweeping away the sorrow he had just felt while reminiscing about the past, and asked, "Do you have a solution now?"

"It's very likely that his soul hasn't fully recovered, which is why he occasionally has headaches," Gou An concluded. He added, "When you get back, I'll prepare some more pills to help restore his soul, and he should feel better after taking them."

"In that case!" The Desolate Demon King nodded. "Then you don't need to do anything else after you go back. Just focus on refining this pill that can cure headaches."

"I'll say it again: if you can completely cure Yun Yao's headaches, you will become the eighth Protector of the Nation!"

Finally, the Desolate Demon King added, "Have you decided on your reward yet?"

"Reporting to the Demon King!" Gou An nodded after a brief moment of thought: "I've made up my mind."

"Then speak!" The Demon King took another deep breath of spiritual smoke, awaiting Gou An's reply.

"I want to become the head of the General Pill Hall!" Gou An replied, "Only by becoming the head of the hall, and having the authority to access all spiritual materials and browse all the books in the Pill Scripture Pavilion, can I increase the probability of curing the princess's headache."

"Granted!" The Demon King nodded without hesitation and added, "I was originally planning to appoint you as the head of the Pill Hall, so this isn't a reward. Think of something else."

"Think of another one?" Gou An paused briefly, then said, "Also, I want some spirit stones to aid my cultivation. The higher my cultivation level, the better my alchemy skills will become."

"Granted!" The Demon King nodded, flipped his hand, took out a storage bag, and placed it on the table: "There are a total of one million low-grade spirit stones in here. Consider it a reward for your meritorious work in alchemy."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Gou An quickly bowed and expressed his gratitude.

One million spirit stones wasn't a lot for Gou An right now, but he still pretended to be excited and overjoyed.

Otherwise, it would be highly suspicious to remain unmoved in the face of a million spirit stones.

"In that case!" The Demon King picked up his spirit tea, took a sip, and said, "Go back and wait for news! I will have Cang Xuan arrange the handover as soon as possible. From now on, you will be the head of the Pill Hall of Ten Thousand Demon City."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Gou An stood up and bowed to the Demon King once again.

After passing through the portal, Gou An left the green space and returned to the main hall.

The old fox, Master Cangxuan, remained leaning back in his chair, as if he had just sat there.

"How was it?" the old fox asked curiously when he saw Gou An come out.

"Returning to the Kingdom, everything went smoothly!" Gou An replied, immediately pulling out the storage bag the Demon King had just given him from his robes: "Inside are the spirit stones the Demon King bestowed upon me, a full one million."

"Oh? Congratulations then." The old fox stroked his beard, a smile on his face.

"Without the protection of the nation, how could I have obtained these?" Gou An said with a smile, presenting the storage bag with both hands: "Please accept it, Protector, as a token of my gratitude."

His attitude was extremely respectful and sincere.

The old fox smiled slightly, glanced at the storage bag, but did not reach out to take it: "I appreciate the sentiment, but how can I swallow the Demon King's reward? You should keep it yourself."

Gou An had been waiting for this very sentence, and he had also guessed that the old fox wouldn't dare to take the spirit stone.

After all, after just making contact with the Demon King, Gou An had already discovered that the Desolate Demon King was not a fool; in fact, one could say he was quite intelligent.

Although the old fox was somewhat cunning, he dared not disobey the Demon King.

The gift that the demon king had just bestowed was now in someone else's hands; the old fox didn't have the guts to take it.