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

"But!" Gou An took a deep breath and emphasized again, "I really don't know where Lord Jin Yang is, nor have I ever seen him."

Seeing that Gou An was still being stubborn, the Evil Bone Taoist's face grew even more gloomy.

After a moment, he slowly said, "It's just you and me here. What's the point of continuing this pretense?"

"I really don't know!" Gou An shook his head, refusing to admit it no matter what. "Maybe Lord Jinyang encountered some other extraordinary person and something happened to him."

The Evil Bone Taoist stared at Gou An's face for a long time with an expressionless expression. Gou An remained calm and met the Evil Bone Taoist's gaze without showing any fear.

"Fine!" Evil Bone nodded. "Since you won't admit it, then I'll tell the Demon King everything I know. I don't know how the Demon King will deal with you then."

"I believe the Demon King will handle this matter impartially!" Gou An remained calm.

Now, I am also very important to the Demon King.

What Xie Gu said was just his speculation, and the Demon King might not believe it. He also had room to refute it.

If we admit it now, we'll be cutting off our own escape route.

Who knows what this guy, Evil Bones, is up to?

"Since that's the case, then I'm leaving!" Xie Gu suddenly stood up, withdrew the magic array covering the entire alchemy room, and stormed out of the door, clearly extremely angry at Gou An's lack of cooperation.

Once outside the courtyard, it flew away and disappeared.

After confirming that Xie Gu had left, Gou An closed the door again and quietly took out the Palm Heaven Map, throwing it into the air.

At this moment, the map is filled with newly cultivated spiritual fields, and there are many figures taking care of them.

The spirit field was full of various spirit herbs, presenting a thriving scene.

Gou An made a hand seal with one hand, pulling the scene into Xuan Kongzi's cave.

Xuan Kongzi was sitting cross-legged on the stone bed with his eyes closed, cultivating, clearly still eliminating the soul imprint in his body.

Gou An controlled his vision and searched the cave, finally finding the figure of Lord Jinyang.

He was completely naked, suspended in mid-air by countless faint white threads, motionless. Although he was still breathing, his eyes were empty and lifeless.

Just as Gou An was about to wake Xuan Kongzi, Xuan Kongzi seemed to sense something and opened his eyes.

"Grandpa? Is that you?" Xuan Kongzi looked up at the sky.

"It's me!" Gou An immediately transmitted his voice: "How's the puppet making going?"

"It will take some more time!" Xuan Kongzi replied immediately, "I have already taken control of his entire physical body using the Soul Control Technique."

"However, he is, after all, a great demon of the primordial spirit, and his soul is very difficult to break through. It will probably take another six months. By then, I can control his actions at will whenever I want."

"What about your soul imprint?" Gou An asked again. "How's the removal going?"

"It will still take some time!" Xuan Kongzi sighed.

Gou An immediately pressed, "Approximately how long?"

"If things go quickly, it will probably take another year!" Xuan Kongzi replied.

Upon hearing this, Gou An fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

Seeing that Gou An remained silent, Xuan Kongzi asked, "Has something happened outside?"

"Yes!" Gou An sighed, "The truth about the blind tiger is about to be exposed."

At this point, Gou An's eyes narrowed, as if he had made up his mind, and he said, "Next, I will accelerate the time of the Heavenly Diagram, striving to shorten a year to a day!"

"Hurry up and completely refine the puppet, then break your own soul imprint!"

In closing, Gou An emphasized, "I'll need your help then!"

"Alright, I'll wait for you to call me, Grandpa." Xuan Kongzi readily agreed.

Off-screen.

Gou An ended the telepathic communication.

Then he sat cross-legged, took out all the high-grade spirit stones and held them in his arms, and poured all the spiritual energy in his body into the Palm Heaven Diagram.

As soon as Gou An had a thought, the flow of time in the Palm Heaven Diagram suddenly accelerated.

One day in the outside world is equivalent to one year in the picture.

While accelerating the Heavenly Diagram, Gou An also took the opportunity to absorb spiritual energy to increase his demonic power, successfully gathering the last bit of demonic power needed for his breakthrough.

[Current Realm: Early Stage of Demon Transformation]

[Demon Power Value: 6000280/6000000]

[Demon power points have been fully accumulated, automatically breaking through...]

As the breakthrough progressed, the golden patterns on the surface of the demon core within Gou An's body increased, eventually reaching a purity of almost 80%, meaning it was not far from completely transforming into a golden core.

Once the breakthrough was complete, the demonic power value panel in my mind changed.

[Current Realm: Late Stage of Demon Transformation]

[Demon Power Value: 280/9000000]

Gou An could sense that if he continued to break through to the late stage of the Demon Transformation realm, he would become a Golden Core Great Demon.

The nine million demonic power required for the breakthrough was not much for Gou An.

A low-grade spirit stone can increase Gou An's demon power by two to three hundred.

Nine million translates to about forty thousand low-grade spirit stones.

[Congratulations on successfully breaking through to the late stage of Demon Transformation. You can choose one of the following options.]

[Option 1: Choose any two learned sorcery techniques to upgrade them, making them more powerful.]

Option 2: Randomly select five learned sorcery skills to upgrade, making them more powerful.

[Option 3: Refine your Five Elements foundation and choose three physiques from Green Wood Spiritual Body, Fiery Sacred Body, Earth Spiritual True Body, Golden Edge Sacred Bone, and Water Spiritual Meridian to obtain the full effect.]

Option 4: Directly obtain 5 million demon power points!

(Note: After this stage is completed, the above options will disappear.)

Upon seeing the four options that appeared, Gou An frowned slightly.

It's almost exactly the same as when you break through to the mid-stage, except that the effects are increased.

Gou An's gaze lingered among the four options for a long time before finally settling on option three.

Because if I don't choose this time, I'm afraid I'll always have a mixed constitution of the five elements.

Five special constitutions with half the effect are obviously not as good as three with the full effect.

Moreover, among these five physiques, Gou An only commonly uses the Green Wood Spirit Body, the Fiery Sacred Body, and the Water Spirit Meridian.

As for the Earth Spirit True Body and the Golden Edge Sacred Bone, Gou An has almost no need for them.

After all, he was protected by a protective magic item, so he didn't need to physically withstand the opponent's attacks.

If you encounter an enemy capable of breaking through seven layers of protective magic treasures, even a half-powered Earth Spirit True Body and Golden Edge Sacred Bone might not be enough to withstand it, so it's not very meaningful.

After much hesitation, Gou An finally chose option three and decided to retain the Green Wood Spirit Body, the Flame Saint Body, and the Water Spirit Meridian.

After making his choice, Gou An felt that two special energies had suddenly disappeared from his body, while the other three energies were instantly strengthened.

Gou An opened his eyes, and his pupils changed from green to red, then to blue, and finally back to black.

Having completed the breakthrough, Gou An looked at the Palm Heaven Diagram, increased the input of spiritual power, and accelerated the flow of time within the Palm Heaven Diagram.

What would have taken a day to accelerate to a year was ultimately completed in less than eight hours after Gou An's breakthrough.

Withdrawing his spiritual energy, Gou An glanced out the window.

It was already the early morning of the second day that the Evil Bone Taoist was looking for him.

Before he left, he said he would report to the Demon King. If he had kept his word, the Demon King would surely already know.

Perhaps at daybreak, someone will be sent to summon me there.

So Gou An looked at the Heavenly Diagram and said to Xuan Kongzi inside, "Xuan Kongzi, you can come out now!"

The next second, the surface of the Palm Heaven Diagram began to ripple like water, and finally shot out a beam of black light, which was Xuan Kongzi.

Although Xuan Kongzi could conceal his aura at this moment, Gou An could sense that he was stronger than before.

"The Soul Imprint, has it been broken?" Gou An asked curiously.

Xuan Kongzi took a deep breath, nodded, and smiled at Gou An, "This thing has been trapped for so many years, and I have finally completely removed it from my body. Without the soul imprint binding me, I now feel completely refreshed."

"Where's the blind tiger?" Gou An asked hurriedly.

Xuan Kongzi chuckled and said, "Grandpa, don't worry, I have completely refined myself into an obedient puppet."

As he spoke, he took out the black ring he had worn when he fled with Gou An.

As he moved the ring forward slightly, a beam of black light shot out.

The next second, Lord Jinyang's physical body appeared in the alchemy room, but he just stood there motionless.

Even so, he still retained the aura of a great demon of the primordial spirit.

"How do we control it?" Gou An stepped forward and poked Jin Yang Shan Jun's body with his hand. It was hard as a rock, like steel.

"For now, only I can control it!" Xuan Kongzi stepped forward, put the black ring on Jin Yang Shan Jun's finger, and then smiled at Gou An, saying, "Just like when I controlled your physical body before."

After saying this, he moved and transformed into a white light, disappearing into the ring.

The next second, Jin Yangshan Jun, who had been motionless, suddenly moved, his movements showing no stiffness whatsoever.

"How is it? I'm standing right in front of you. How much do I look like I used to be?" Lord Jinyang spoke, his voice and aura exactly the same as before.

"Xuan Kongzi?" Gou An subconsciously took a step back and asked curiously.

"Grandpa, it's still me!" Xuan Kongzi answered, controlling the body of Lord Jin Yang. "I sealed the soul of this blind tiger deep within, and its current body has become a puppet that I can control at will."

"Can we keep it from the Demon King?" Gou An asked worriedly.

"Don't worry!" Xuan Kongzi replied with great confidence, "My puppetry skills are among the best in the world; even a demon king wouldn't be able to see through them."

"Most importantly!" Suspended Kongzi paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "During the time I was refining him, I was able to get a general idea of ​​the one-eyed tiger's memories. With my acting skills, there won't be any problems."

Seeing Xuan Kongzi's confidence, Gou An breathed a sigh of relief: "In that case, it's up to you now."

"Grandpa, don't worry!" Xuan Kongzi reached out and touched the blind tiger's blind eye, seemingly still not quite used to it.

Then, with a sinister smile, he said, "What I enjoy most is controlling other people's bodies and experiencing their lives."