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

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Gou An didn't ask any further questions.

Knowing that Shen Yu was still the same smart person and hadn't turned into a reckless brute, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, once I successfully become the Protector of the Nation, you can do whatever you want." Gou An said, then emphasized, "But before that, don't make any rash moves."

"Don't worry!" Shen Yu nodded, then glanced around the alchemy room and said, "I heard that the spirit smoke the Demon King smokes was made by you? Want me to try one?"

Gou An pursed his lips, flipped his hand and took out a packet, handing it to Shen Yu: "This packet is quite expensive, so you'd better save it."

Shen Yu took the spirit cigarette, took one out, put it in his mouth, and lit it.

He took a careful breath and immediately choked and coughed.

"What's so great about this stuff?" Shen Yu asked, puzzled.

Gou An said, "What do you know? This is good stuff."

Seeing this, Shen Yu tried another puff, barely managing to get used to it. Then, curiously, she asked, "Since this is such a good thing, why don't you smoke it?"

"I..." Gou An was speechless for a moment, then stubbornly said, "Who said I don't smoke? I used to smoke eight packs a day! I just stopped recently because I wasn't feeling well."

Faced with Gou An's explanation, Shen Yu smiled slightly, as if he saw through it but didn't say anything.

He slowly took another puff of the spiritual smoke and tried the ultimate lung-passing technique, finally exhaling a long plume of white smoke.

He still didn't seem to like the taste. He stubbed out half of the incense stick in his hand on the table, then sighed and said, "This thing is indeed interesting, but it will probably become a great scourge to the cultivation world in the future."

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Gou An frowned immediately.

"Of course!" Shen Yu nodded and said, "I had already heard about this item in the Blackwater region, and its price has been driven very high."

"After trying it just now, I understand why it's so popular. It's because this thing can indeed bring pleasure and has some effects on nourishing the mind and clearing the meridians."

"However, while this item is indeed beneficial for cultivation, I have discovered a fatal problem."

Gou An became even more curious after hearing this, so he asked, "What's the problem?"

"When the spiritual smoke enters the lungs, it can refresh the mind and invigorate the spirit. Some of the spiritual smoke will also enter the meridians, achieving the effect of unblocking the meridians and nourishing qi," Shen Yu explained. "Long-term inhalation can make the meridians very unobstructed, giving people a feeling of progress in cultivation."

"That's precisely why this item is so sought after by cultivators."

At this point, Shen Yu sneered and continued, "Unfortunately, the effect of the Spirit Smoke Meridian Opening comes at the cost of dissolving the thickness of the meridians."

Shen Yu picked up a piece of grass root from the medicine basket next to him to demonstrate, in order to make it easier to explain: "Meridian is like the root system of a plant. The thicker the root system, the faster the spiritual energy can flow, and the faster the spiritual energy can circulate throughout the body. It does seem to help with cultivation."

"It's a pity that if you let the spiritual smoke flow through your meridians for a long time, the thickness of your meridians will gradually become thinner. It may look like the meridian channels are larger and the flow is faster, but the meridians will become very fragile."

"In addition, the corrosive effect of spiritual smoke is very slow, so those cultivators who inhale spiritual smoke can hardly detect it, because the thinning of their meridians does not affect their usual flying, cultivation, or even small-to-medium level combat."

Shen Yu suddenly snapped the grass root in his hand and said, "But if one day they encounter a powerful enemy and need to fight to the death, the flow of their meridians will accelerate and the burden will be heavier. Their meridians may suddenly burst, and they will inevitably be seriously injured as a result."

After Shen Yu's analysis, Gou An was puzzled and asked curiously, "You only took one puff, yet you can analyze so much?"

Shen Yu sighed and said, "I forgot to tell you, I have also practiced alchemy, so I naturally know a little about these things."

"Furthermore... as a genius with a Heavenly Rank spiritual root, I am more sensitive to spiritual energy in the meridians, so after taking a few breaths, I already knew the potential threat this thing might pose."

"That demon king?" Gou An rubbed his chin, thinking that the other party smoked so many packs a day, wouldn't he be even more severely corrupted?

"If the Demon King Huangku continues to consume spiritual energy like this," Shen Yu smiled and said, "even if he is a Nascent Soul stage demon, his body will probably be hollowed out within a hundred years."

"What? A hundred years?" Gou An was greatly shocked upon hearing this.

"Otherwise what?" Shen Yu laughed. "After all, he is a Nascent Soul stage demon. Even if he is licentious and unrestrained, it will take a long time to hollow out his foundation."

Gou An sighed, still thinking that if the Demon King were to pass away in ten or twenty years, he would still have a chance to win over the Demon King Dangdang.

But a hundred years is just too long to wait.

It's better to just be a protector of the country; even if the sky falls, you won't have to hold it up yourself.

"Since you don't like smoking this stuff, Young Master Shen, give the rest back to me." Gou An put away the remaining packet of spirit cigarettes on the table.

Shen Yu looked at Gou An and suddenly asked, "This stuff is so unethical, are you really planning to continue selling it?"

Gou An snorted coldly and said, "What use is virtue to a monster like me? Spirit stones are the only real thing."

At this point, he emphasized again, "Besides, they wanted to buy these things themselves. I didn't force them to buy them or force them to smoke them. What does it have to do with me?"

"That makes a lot of sense." Shen Yu gave a wry smile and did not continue to refute.

"That makes sense," Gou An said. "Besides, this has become an important industry in the City of Ten Thousand Demons, and it's not something I can stop just because I want to. If I force it to stop, I'll be cutting off other people's source of income. Why should I make myself unhappy?"

"Alright!" Shen Yu yawned and stopped trying to dissuade him, then leaned back in his chair and dozed off.

From then on, life entered a period of peace and regularity.

In the following days, Gou An would take Shen Yu to the Demon King's palace every afternoon, enter the Wuheng Green Land, and let him sit alone with Yun Yao.

The difference this time was that the Demon King no longer let them be alone, but sat to the side watching them, while Gou An also sat quietly not far away waiting.

Shen Yu remained well-behaved and proper throughout the entire process, without making any inappropriate moves, and cooperated completely.

And this daily interaction did indeed have a remarkable effect.

Yun Yao's recurring headaches have visibly lessened day by day without the need for her to take any pills.

After all, elixirs inevitably carry the risk of toxicity, and long-term use can place a significant burden on the body.

Now that Yun Yao can stabilize her illness without the aid of elixirs and is gradually improving, this is naturally the result that the Demon King Huang Ku most wanted to see.

Time passed slowly but surely, and a whole month went by in the blink of an eye.

For the past month, Shen Yu has been honest and dutiful, keeping his appointments on time every day and sitting quietly in meditation.

He rarely spoke, always answering Yun Yao's questions without making any rash moves. He neither tried to please the princess nor offered his own opinions, remaining so well-behaved that there was not a single fault to be found.

For a whole month, Princess Yunyao's headache did not recur, which allowed the Demon King Huangku to gradually relax his vigilance.

To prevent Yun Yao's headaches from recurring, the Demon King specially assigned Shen Yu to a sinecure position in the General Pill Hall, with a monthly salary of spirit stones and demon gold.

In this way, Shen Yu will be considered a member of the Ten Thousand Demon City, making it easier to summon him whenever needed.

That day, Gou An brought Shen Yu out of the green space again, preparing to go back.

The Demon King then emerged from the green space and said to Gou An, "Master Gou, please wait a moment. Daoist Yu should go back first."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yu quickly bowed in agreement and left the main hall.

Gou An turned back and bowed to the Demon King, saying, "Does Your Majesty have any further instructions?"

The Demon King, Desolate Desolation, sat on his throne, a delighted smile on his face: "The Queen's headaches are gradually improving, and you have played a crucial role in that!"

Upon hearing this, Gou An bowed again and said, "It is my honor to serve Your Majesty."

The Demon King chuckled twice, then said, "I promised you before that if you could cure the Queen's headache, I would make you the eighth Protector of the Kingdom. Do you remember?"

"Your Majesty, I remember!" Gou An nodded emphatically, his heart filled with excitement. Was he going to be appointed Protector of the Nation today?

"Look!" The Demon King Huang Ku waved his hand to the side, and a brand-new throne for protecting the country flew out automatically and landed to the side.

Thus, there are already four guardian seats on either side of the Demon King's throne.

Upon seeing this, Gou An was even more excited.

"This position was prepared for you." The Demon King Huang Ku smiled, but suddenly changed the subject: "However... the position will be reserved for you for now, and the formal investiture will have to wait."

Gou An's heart sank slightly upon hearing this, wondering what the demon king was up to.

Seemingly noticing that Gou An was somewhat unwell, the Demon King continued, "Although the Queen's headache has stabilized, we haven't had a long enough time to observe whether she has truly recovered."

"Furthermore..." The Demon King smiled and continued, "Your cultivation is still somewhat weak, and your Golden Core has not yet been formed. Directly appointing you as the Protector of the Nation will likely cause some objections from the other demon cultivators in the city."

"As you know, the other seven guardians are all at the Nascent Soul stage of the Transcendent God Realm, so the gap is still quite large."

Although Gou An was somewhat displeased upon hearing this, he dared not argue, so he nodded and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I understand. I will definitely cultivate diligently and break through to the Golden Core stage as soon as possible."

"Very well!" Demon King Huangku nodded in satisfaction. "Then you may leave now!"

"In addition..." Gou An was about to leave when the Demon King suddenly spoke up again: "From now on, you don't need to bring that Jade Daoist every day. Change it to every three days. If the Queen's condition remains stable, then change it to every seven days."

"Seven days later, we'll change it to once a month," the Demon King laughed. "If the situation remains stable after six months of monthly visits, we'll change it to once a year."

"Only if this continues will the princess be truly cured."

Hearing the rosy promises the Demon King had made to him, Gou An could only accept: "Your subordinate will obey Your Majesty's command."

"If there's nothing else, then go back!" The Demon King waved his hand, flipped his palm, took out another spirit cigarette, lit it for himself, and slowly took a puff.

Gou An bowed and withdrew, appearing respectful on the surface but remaining silent.

But in my mind, I was ranting and raving.

"Go ahead and smoke, smoke as much as you want, smoke yourself to death."