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

Gou An flew back to his residence and landed directly in the courtyard, in a good mood.

Now that I'm no longer affected by the no-fly formation in the city, I feel much lighter.

At this moment, Pigsy was squatting under the eaves polishing his spiked club. Hearing the noise, he looked up and saw that it was Gou An returning. He immediately put down his weapon and grinned as he greeted him.

Gou An waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to be so polite, and then took out a piece of spirit jade from the congratulatory gift he had just received and tossed it into his hand as a reward.

Then he turned around, intending to go back inside first and briefly check the other congratulatory gifts he had received.

Pig Ninth looked at the spirit jade in his hand and was overjoyed. He quickly retreated to the corner to study it carefully.

Just as Gou An was about to push open the door to enter the alchemy room, a light, crisp female voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Gou Huguo, please wait."

Gou An turned around and saw a woman slowly walking into the courtyard.

She wore a light brown feather-patterned dress, and there were still some feather traces on both sides of her cheeks, clearly indicating that she was a demon cultivator who had transformed from a pheasant.

"Who are you?" Gou An stopped and asked in confusion.

"I am Yu Ji, the one in charge of the Life Lamp Division of the City of Ten Thousand Demons." The female demon bowed slightly, then took out a palm-sized jade box and a delicate jade knife.

"I have come here in accordance with the regulations of the Demon King's Palace. As a newly appointed Protector of the Nation, I am required to refine a Protector of the Nation Lamp. I need a wisp of your hair, a few fingernails, and a few drops of your blood as the lamp's fuel."

She paused for a moment, then explained its purpose in detail: "After this life lamp is completed, it will be placed in the Life Lamp Hall of Ten Thousand Demon City."

"From this moment forward, no matter where you are, even if you are thousands of miles away, if you die protecting the country, your life lamp will be extinguished instantly."

Gou An understood immediately. During the months that Lord Jin Yang was missing, the city did not escalate into a major conflict because the life lamp was still lit.

Meanwhile, the news of the death of Lord Chiyan Mountain in the northern region spread quickly throughout the city.

Gou An nodded: "I see. It's alright, I'll cooperate."

Seeing that he agreed, Yu Ji nodded slightly and took a step forward.

Gou An raised his hand and helped her cut off a few strands of dog hair, then gently shaved off a small section of her fingernail with a jade knife, placing them all into the jade box.

Then, extending his fingertip, he gently sliced ​​the jade knife, and a few drops of bright red blood seeped out, dripping into the specially made spiritual powder at the bottom of the jade box.

After doing all this, Yu Ji carefully closed the jade box, pinching a wisp of demonic power between her fingertips and sealing it on the lid to prevent the aura from dissipating.

"The materials are ready. I will return now to refine the Life Lamp. It will be completed in three days and placed in the Life Lamp Hall." Yu Ji put away the jade box and bowed again. "If there are no other instructions, I will take my leave."

"Go," Gou An said calmly, waving his hand.

Yu Ji turned around and left the courtyard with light steps.

Once he was sure the person had gone far away, Gou An had Pig Old Nine close the courtyard gate and went into his alchemy room to take stock of the treasures he had obtained.

Although the gifts weren't top-tier treasures, they were still quite valuable. With over thirty items in total, they could easily be worth tens of thousands of spirit stones or even more.

Just as Gou An was slowly admiring these treasures one by one, Shen Yu's voice suddenly came from the corner of the alchemy room: "It seems you've successfully become the Protector of the Nation. You've already amassed so many treasures on your first day?"

Gou An turned around and saw that Shen Yu was sitting in the corner where the medicinal herbs were placed.

"When did you come in?" Gou An was startled.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "I've been reading in the room the whole time. I was so happy to see you come in that I didn't even notice me."

Gou An waved his hand, no longer dwelling on the matter, and simply explained, "What do you mean by 'greedy for so many treasures'? These were all gifts from others."

"I didn't want it, but they insisted on giving it to me. If I didn't accept it, wouldn't I be slapping them in the face? I had no choice."

As Gou An spoke, he stuffed the treasures he had just examined into his storage bag.

Shen Yu smiled gently and said no more. Instead, he said to Gou An, "I'll be leaving before dark today."

Upon hearing this, Gou An frowned and asked, "Gone? Where did they go?"

"Leave the City of Ten Thousand Demons!" Shen Yu said, pulling out a piece of paper covered in writing from his pocket. "This is my resignation letter. Take a look."

He flicked his finger, and the paper in his hand floated into Gou An's hand.

Gou An took it and glanced at it; the signature was Yu Daoren.

"What do you mean?" Gou An was even more puzzled. "Weren't you planning to get rid of the princess? Are you giving up?"

Shen Yu shook his head and smiled, "Of course not, it's just that taking Princess Yun Yao away isn't something that can be done in a short time."

"Now we need Yun Yao to gain the Demon King's trust and get his permission to leave the Green Land so that I can meet her outside. My resignation and departure in advance will put the Demon King at ease."

At this point, he looked at Gou An and added, "Furthermore, if I don't leave soon after the princess is kidnapped by me, you will probably be implicated as well, which will also be beneficial to you."

Gou An nodded after listening; Shen Yu's words made a lot of sense.

"You don't need my help, do you?" Gou An asked curiously.

"No need!" Shen Yu said, "Just don't stop me when the time comes."

"I can't guarantee that," Gou An said with a smile. "After all, I'm now the protector of the City of Ten Thousand Demons. If the Demon King orders me to stop you, I wouldn't dare disobey!"

"You're shameless!" Shen Yu rolled her eyes at Gou An, speechless.

Seeing this, Gou An laughed and said, "Look at you, you really can't take a joke. The Demon King has given me a difficult task. Whether I'll even be in the city by then is another matter."

Shen Yu sighed and said, "Nothing else. I've packed my things and I'm ready to leave now."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Gou An didn't linger any longer, but asked curiously, "If you successfully abduct the princess in the future, what are you going to do? After all, your Daoist partner and she are already the same person."

"Naturally, we should try to separate them!" Shen Yu said. "If we really can't separate them, then we should try to awaken Qingwei's consciousness."

After saying this, Shen Yu had already walked to the door and pushed it open to go out.

Seeing this, Gou An escorted him all the way to the door.

Shen Yu turned around: "No need to see me off, I know how to get out."

"No!" Gou An shook his head, then said, "I chased after you just to tell you something."

"What is it?" Shen Yu asked, puzzled.

"Exactly, if you get caught, don't let me implicate you." Gou An smiled awkwardly, "You know it wasn't easy for me to climb to this position, I don't want it to all be for nothing."

Shen Yu was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but chuckle softly before replying, "Don't worry, I, Shen Yu, am very loyal and will definitely not tell anyone."

"That's good!" Gou An smiled with relief upon seeing this, and waved his hand, saying, "Then be careful on your journey and may everything go smoothly."

Shen Yu nodded, said nothing more, and quickly left.