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

For the next two weeks or so, Gou An spent his days wandering around the courtyard with Lai Pi, observing the surroundings, without rushing to travel to the distant city to collect spirit stones.

There is no time limit for withdrawing spirit stones from the Spirit Storage Manor, so there is no need to rush.

Gou An was very interested in the courtyard in front of him. He keenly realized that there was a bargain to be found there, and it would be quick.

The appearance of two wild dogs in the desolate mountains was a common sight, and Master Fuhai and his disciples in the courtyard were already used to it.

Even if they occasionally glimpse stray dogs wandering around the yard, they feel no sense of vigilance whatsoever.

At most, a few disciples with bad tempers would shout and drive them away, but no other measures were taken.

Lai Pi was originally a first-tier demon beast with a weak aura, ordinary size, and appearance no different from an ordinary house dog.

Gou An activated his Hidden Qi to conceal his demonic aura. Apart from being slightly larger than Lai Pi, he appeared no different and could not arouse suspicion.

After days of lying in wait and observing, Gou An figured out many strange and peculiar details about the group of people in the courtyard.

The disciples under Master Fuhai, though seemingly cultivators, never seriously meditated or practiced magic.

However, each of them was surrounded by faint spiritual energy fluctuations, and their physique and aura were completely different from ordinary mortals.

Gou An quickly discovered the root cause.

Every day, these disciples would go to the alchemy room to receive elixirs from Master Fuhai.

This bizarre elixir not only makes people completely addicted and trapped, but it can also subtly transform their physique, giving them extraordinary abilities far beyond those of ordinary people.

Besides!

These disciples often went out to abduct ordinary children and bring them back to the courtyard, where they were used to test medicines.

The boy who had been lucky enough to successfully test the medicine had already been exceptionally accepted as a disciple by Master Fuhai and given the name Xiaohai.

Even with their only successful case, the disciples never stopped capturing children.

However, without exception, all the children who subsequently participated in the drug trials died.

And it is precisely because of this that Xiao Hai now holds an extremely superior position in the entire courtyard.

The other disciples in the academy were all adult cultivators, but when faced with the young Xiao Hai, they were all obsequious and cautious, not daring to disobey in the slightest.

Xiao Hai is violent by nature and will bring up his master, Master Fu Hai, whenever things don't go his way.

As long as he speaks, Master Fuhai will kill without hesitation.

In just over half a month, nearly half of the original twenty or thirty disciples had been eliminated by Xiao Hai through his master.

Even today, the remaining disciples fear Xiao Hai to an even greater degree than Master Fu Hai.

Although Master Fuhai was cruel and bloodthirsty, he did not kill indiscriminately; his actions still had some rules and bottom line.

Xiao Hai, however, was completely different. He killed people based entirely on his own whims and anger, using absurd and illogical excuses.

If a fellow disciple passes by and does not offer a proper greeting, it is disrespectful to one's elders; kill!

The door slammed too loudly, disturbing his rest. Kill him!

Some people saw him from afar and were afraid to approach him. It was still disrespectful, so kill them!

Even worse, if someone was caught urinating in the distance outside the courtyard, he would execute them on the grounds that their behavior was vulgar and disgraceful to the family.

The most absurd thing is that some disciples were also killed simply because they were ugly and disliked by him.

In the past two weeks, his fellow disciples have all died inexplicably, with all sorts of bizarre and absurd charges against them.

What puzzled Gou An the most was that Master Fuhai had been completely lenient with him throughout the process and had never made any attempt to stop him.

As long as Xiao Hai says who is an eyesore or wants to be killed, Master Fu Hai will immediately take action and ruthlessly purge his disciples.

This scene is truly outrageous and bizarre.

If this relentless slaughter continues, it won't be long before Xiao Hai wipes out all of Master Fu Hai's remaining disciples.

Unfortunately, these disciples were already firmly bound by the strange pills, their bodies and minds were completely controlled, and even though they wanted to escape, they dared not leave.

They had long been addicted to the drugs, and once they stopped taking them, the torment they endured was worse than death.

Weighing the two options, they preferred to remain in this cage, living in the shadow of death every day, rather than easily break free and go far away.

Time flies, and several more days have passed.

Master Fuhai seems to have completely given up on capturing mortal children for drug testing and no longer sends his disciples out to abduct people.

Instead, all the disciples were reassigned to guard the perimeter of the courtyard, with layers of defenses and strict security, making the atmosphere several times more somber than usual.

Upon seeing this, Gou An, who was lurking in the shadows, felt a slight stirring in his heart.

Something unusual is bound to happen; such a sudden change must foreshadow something big about to occur.

That day, after nightfall, the darkness was as deep as ink, and all was silent in the mountain valley.

Gou An keenly sensed that the densely packed guards outside the courtyard meant that the defenses inside were therefore weak.

He seized this perfect opening and, under the cover of the deep night, quietly slipped into the courtyard through a dog hole in the dilapidated wall.

The entire courtyard was silent and unguarded. Gou An, relying on his ability to perfectly conceal his presence, moved nimbly and silently, successfully arriving outside the alchemy room.

At this moment, inside the alchemy room.

The alchemy furnace still stood quietly, its belly ablaze with flames, indicating that pills were still being refined in the fire.

Xiao Hai sat cross-legged on a futon to the side, his eyes closed, his posture upright and motionless.

Master Fuhai sat upright behind him, his hands forming intricate hand seals, his body surging with spiritual energy, exuding a solemn and composed aura.

Gou An peered intently through the window and clearly saw strands of pure energy, intertwined with the real and the illusory, flowing continuously into Xiao Hai's body, guided by the magic technique of Master Fu Hai.

He held his breath and observed quietly, without moving an inch throughout the entire process.

This secret cultivation practice lasted for several hours, finally coming to a slow end late at night.

Master Fuhai slowly dispersed his magic seal, lowered his hands from the hand seal, stood up, and gently patted Xiaohai's shoulder.

Xiao Hai then slowly opened his eyes, a faint glint of light flickering in his pupils.

"How did you feel about this training?" Master Fuhai asked in a deep voice.

Xiao Hai took a deep breath, suppressing the surging heat within him, and respectfully replied, "Reporting to Master, this disciple feels a current of energy flowing through my entire body, making me feel completely comfortable and wonderfully mysterious."

"Remember this sensation firmly." Master Fuhai stroked his beard and slowly instructed, "The trajectory of the heat flow is the direction of the body's meridians and the location of acupoints. This is the foundation for your journey on the path of cultivation."

"Disciple will remember Master's teachings!" Xiao Hai nodded solemnly.

Immediately afterwards, Master Fuhai raised his hand and gently hooked it towards the alchemy furnace.

The furnace lid opened with a click, and a bright red pill flew out of the furnace, landing steadily in his palm.

The cinnabar was bright red and hot, with a bright color. From a distance, it looked like a burning red-hot stone, with heat waves faintly emanating from it.

"Here, take it."

Master Fuhai raised his hand and handed the pill to Xiaohai.

Looking at the steaming, fiery red pill, Xiao Hai hesitated for a moment and did not immediately reach out to take it.

Master Fuhai saw through his thoughts at a glance and gave a cold laugh: "What? Afraid that your master will harm you?"

"This disciple wouldn't dare!" Xiao Hai quickly denied, explaining in a low voice, "It's just that this pill looks a bit too hot; I'm afraid I won't be able to eat it!"

Upon hearing this, Master Fuhai simply laughed and said, "You still consider yourself that mortal child from before?"

"After nearly a month of my secret marrow cleansing techniques and body tempering pills, you have already undergone a complete transformation. Your physical body is far superior to that of ordinary people, and you are no longer afraid of this scorching medicinal power."