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

Before long, Lin Shuang completely shed her aged and withered appearance and returned to her original youthful and beautiful appearance.

Lin Shuang slowly raised her hands, looking at her fair and smooth palms that had regained their youth. Her eyes were filled with confusion and astonishment, and her emotions were churning.

Having just suffered a crushing defeat and nearly been drained dry, and having learned of the deception of Master Lingxi, his Dao heart almost completely collapsed.

I thought I was going to die this time, but I never expected to regain my youth.

Unfortunately, she could sense that she had only regained her youth, not her cultivation level.

She looked up at Gou An, who was crouching before her, her voice weak and trembling, tinged with doubt: "What exactly do you want? Why don't you just kill me?"

Gou An slowly rose to his feet, looking down at the crowd with a faint smile on his lips: "After all, you are a rare genius with a Heavenly Rank spiritual root. It would be too much of a waste to kill you directly."

"Although I don't know what use you would be to me for now, but..."

Before he could finish speaking, Gou An, without waiting for Lin Shuang to ask another question, flipped his wrist and took out the Palm Heaven Map.

"As for its specific use, we'll discuss that another day."

As the scroll unfurled, a beam of azure light shone down, instantly enveloping the defenseless Lin Shuang.

Then, a wisp of blue light swept over her, swallowing her figure directly into the world within the image, causing her to completely disappear into the valley.

At the same time, Gou An transmitted his voice into the Palm Heaven Diagram: "Liu Dayong, this person is under your care. You must guard him strictly and ensure that he is not lost."

"Yes, Dao Master!" Liu Dayong's respectful reply came quickly from the picture, calm and efficient.

The Palm Heaven Diagram also contains Madam Zhang, whom Gou An had previously imprisoned, who was used by evil cultivators as a vessel to refine blood worms.

Unfortunately, her physical body was only that of a mortal, and she was ultimately unable to refine the Blood Essence Pearl.

If Lin Shuang's body, with its Heavenly Rank spiritual root, were used as a container for the Blood Essence Pearl, it would certainly be very suitable.

However, Gou An hesitated and had not yet made up his mind.

After all, although Lin Shuang aided and abetted evil, she could not be considered an utterly wicked person.

So Gou An planned to keep her for now, and if he met someone more suitable in the future, it wouldn't be too late.

Having made up his mind, Gou An turned around and stood before the gruesome corpse of Master Lingxi.

He bent down, raised his hand, and skillfully pulled out a storage bag from his clothes and rummaged through it.

A moment later, he found an old, yellowed book covered with dark patterns, several bottles of common healing and vital energy-strengthening pills, and tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones.

"So poor!" Gou An couldn't help but complain, casually putting all the pills and spirit stones into his palm space, then pinching the old book between his fingertips and flipping through it.

The cover of the ancient book was printed with a few hastily written characters.

Title: A Record of Forbidden Techniques Across the Land!

As the pages turned, they indeed revealed more than twenty kinds of bizarre and forbidden techniques, covering a wide range of topics.

There are evil practices that use people as furnaces to plunder their lifespan.

There are secret techniques that forcibly accelerate cultivation and deplete one's foundation.

There are even more mysterious arts that can reverse one's appearance and grant eternal youth.

There are also insidious methods that bewitch minds and manipulate others.

The methods for performing each forbidden technique are extremely cruel and vicious.

They readily sacrifice living beings and use flesh and blood as bait, harming others for their own benefit, committing heinous crimes. Gou An can only click his tongue in disbelief, feeling utterly horrified.

After a quick glance, Gou An's first thought was to set it on fire and burn it to completely eliminate this source of trouble for the world.

But just as the fire in his palm was about to ignite, Gou An immediately stopped.

The path of cultivation ahead holds unknown dangers and difficulties.

Having an extra secret skill means having an extra escape route and an extra trump card.

Although such evil magic is insidious, it is not a waste of resources if used on wicked people.

With this thought in mind, Gou An abandoned the idea of ​​burning it. He clenched his fingers and carefully stored the book of forbidden techniques in his palm space for future use.

After putting away his belongings, Gou An got up and looked around the entire valley.

The surroundings were deathly silent; the mountains and forests were still, without a sound.

The black-robed cultivators who had fled on the outskirts had already been devoured by the giant black beast, leaving no trace of them, and there was no other danger in the surrounding area.

After confirming that everything was alright, Gou An's gaze slowly fell on the ninety-nine old rogue cultivators in the valley formation who were still sitting cross-legged in meditation, their physical bodies still bound.

Gou An rubbed his chin, unsure of what to do with them.

These ninety-nine old men remained motionless, seemingly unaware of the outside world.

However, if one could sense the outside world, the entire process of one's actions would inevitably be leaked.

Therefore, just in case, we cannot easily let them go.

But if I kill them all, then what difference is there between me and the evil cultivators?

Although he is a demon, he is still human at heart, and a modern youth who has received nine years of compulsory education.

Although he wasn't a completely good person, he wasn't a ruthless killer either.

Among these old men, there might be some who do evil, but most of them are just ordinary rogue cultivators who were forced to be deceived in order to survive, which is already quite pitiful.

After much deliberation, Gou An decided that he could not release them directly, but instead put them all into the Palm Heaven Diagram.

These old things have lived for at least a hundred years. Even if their cultivation level isn't that high, they must have a lot of experience.

Now that the Heavenly Map needs more construction, they can barely make use of it.

Most importantly, Gou An discovered through his recent experiment that he could directly use his Qingmu Spirit Body's physique to extract lifespan from others and give lifespan to them.

Then you can use lifespan extension as an attraction to get them to work for you.

Having determined his strategy, Gou An activated the power of his Water Spirit Meridian and unleashed a palm strike at them.

The next moment, the water elemental energy transformed into a gentle breeze that swept over the ninety-nine old rogue cultivators.

Cleanse and purify the body!

The medicinal power that had been binding them slowly dissipated, and these old rogue cultivators finally regained their mobility, struggling to raise their hands and stand up as if their joints were rusted.

Although they regained their mobility, the residual medicinal power in their meridians still prevented them from circulating their spiritual energy.

And just as Gou An had feared, although they were imprisoned and unable to move, they were able to sense what was happening in the outside world.

Many of the older, independent cultivators quickly rose and bowed to Gou An in gratitude: "Thank you so much, Lord Zhixuan Guard, for saving us. We have no way to repay you!"

"Many thanks to Guardian Zhixuan, my great benefactor!"

"It is our good fortune to meet Lord Zhixuan today."

They spoke one after another, making it sound as if they were deeply grateful.

But Gou An saw something else in their expressions.

Fear, tension, and worry.

Since they knew that they had just claimed to be Zhixuan Guards, they must also know that they later admitted to being impersonators.

They only mentioned the Xuan Guard because they were afraid of Gou An's identity as a demon cultivator.

If we directly expose them, they will surely suffer a bad end; it's better to continue pretending not to understand.

At this moment, their spiritual energy was blocked and stagnant, making them no different from ordinary people. Even if they were combined, they would not be a match for Gou An.

They are left with only one option: compromise.

Then Gou An spoke up, "I saved you all today not for any other reason than to show you the right path."

Faced with Gou An's words, the old rogue cultivators exchanged bewildered glances, unsure of what he was trying to say.

One of the bolder ones cautiously inquired, "Lord Zhixuan, may I ask what kind of clear path this is?"

"A good question!" Gou An pointed to the old rogue cultivator who had asked the question and continued, "I know that you are all people whose lifespans are about to end, so I want to extend your lives."

Surprisingly, the group of veteran cultivators remained silent after hearing this.

For a moment, no one spoke.

After all, they came here to prolong their lives, but they encountered a scam and were almost drained dry and died.

But before they were safe, another monster told them it could extend their lives, which didn't sound very reliable at all.

Gou An knew their concerns, so he said, "I have a secret method that can directly extend a person's lifespan and make them younger."

At this point, Gou An raised his right hand and pointed to the crowd, as if selecting a target.

Judging from everyone's reactions, Gou An knew that they hadn't noticed the scene where he had just brought Lin Shuang back to her youth, since they were quite far away.

In the end, Gou An's gaze settled on one of the gray-robed old Taoists, who had a kind and friendly appearance.

"You, it's you, come out!"

Gou An beckoned with his hand.

The gray-robed old Taoist priest who was being addressed looked around to make sure that Gou An was calling him before he shakily stepped forward, looking very nervous.

"What's your name?" Gou An asked.

"Reply to Lord Xuan!" The gray-robed old Taoist smiled awkwardly and said, "My name is Zhao Shoushan, and I have adopted the Taoist name Niwan Sanren."

"Alright, Uncle Zhao!" Gou An patted him on the shoulder and said, "They don't believe me, so I'll show them right in front of them how I can make you look younger."

"This...isn't this a bad idea?" Zhao Shoushan swallowed, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"It's okay, don't be nervous!" Gou An chuckled, trying his best to appear friendly.

But in Zhao Shoushan's eyes, it was incredibly ferocious and terrifying, and he dared not resist, so he could only accept his fate.

Then Gou An raised his hand and pressed it against his forehead, applying slight pressure with his palm to infuse strands of green wood spiritual energy into his body.

"Huh?" Zhao Shoushan was taken aback.

Upon feeling the gentle spiritual energy entering my body, the tension vanished instantly, replaced by a blissful sense of renewed vitality.

In the eyes of the other old rogue cultivators, Zhao Shoushan's wrinkled skin began to smooth out, and a few strands of black hair and beard slowly emerged from his pale hair.

Suddenly, Gou An stopped abruptly, withdrew his hand, and asked Zhao Shoushan, "How are you feeling?"

"Great! Great!" Overwhelmed with excitement after experiencing this wonder, Zhao Shoushan could barely speak: "I feel like my decaying bones have regained their energy, as if I've suddenly become more than ten years younger!"

The other veteran cultivators also noticed this change. Their earlier doubts gradually dissipated, and they were all excited, eager to experience this wonderful method of prolonging life.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Gou An smiled slightly and asked, "So? Do you all want to prolong your lives?"

"think!"

"I want to too!"

"I don't need to extend it for too long. Give me another five years, and I'll be perfectly content."

Gou An nodded in satisfaction and said, "However, if you want to extend your lifespan, you have to give up something."

"What do you have to give in return?" someone immediately asked.

"Freedom!" Gou An exclaimed, taking out the Palm Heaven Diagram and tossing it into the air.

The Palm Sky Map unfolded automatically and hovered in the air.

"I want you to enter the world depicted in the picture and serve me, using your merits to earn lifespans!" Gou An stood with his hands behind his back and spoke slowly.

He then emphasized, "Those who wish to exchange their abilities for lifespan can enter the Palm Heaven Diagram."

"I will not force those who are unwilling to exchange their freedom and abilities for longevity and are content to die of old age slowly; they are free to leave at any time."

After he finished speaking, all ninety-nine old rogue cultivators fell into deep thought, clearly weighing the pros and cons.

However, while Gou An seemed to have given them a choice, he secretly kept a trick up his sleeve.

Big Black has a huge appetite; its injuries from last time haven't fully healed yet.

If anyone wanted to leave, Gou An would have Da Hei chase after them and devour them to prevent them from spreading rumors after they left.