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

Over the next few days, Gou An rested in his mansion, and many monsters continued to come to his door with gifts. Gou An accepted them all without hesitation.

Gou An already knew that Wan Yao City didn't have an anti-corruption system, so this kind of gift-giving was perfectly normal and there was no need to hide it.

That day, Gou An was lying in the courtyard basking in the sun, twirling two spirit beads in one hand, looking quite content.

Suddenly, Pig Ninth ran over and told Gou An that Jin Yang, the Protector of the Nation, had come to pay his respects outside the door.

Gou An opened his eyes, raised his hand to signal that Zhu Lao Jiu should bring the person over.

Before long, Jin Yangshan Jun, who was controlled by Xuan Kongzi, slowly walked into the backyard, carrying a carved wooden gift box in his hand.

Upon seeing Gou An, Xuan Kongzi immediately cupped his hands in a polite manner and said, "Gou Huguo, congratulations on your promotion. I have come today to offer my congratulations."

"You're too kind, Lord Shan, please have a seat." Gou An casually gave the order, then turned and waved to Zhu Lao Jiu, signaling him to leave first.

Once only the two of them remained in the courtyard, Xuan Kongzi handed over the gift box in his hand and said with a smile, "This is just a small gift, nothing special."

Curious, Gou An reached out and took the gift box, then opened the lid.

Inside the box lay a spirit stone, its size comparable to a human skull. Its spiritual light was restrained, warm and substantial, and a faint golden halo even flowed around it, making it completely different from the spirit stones I had seen before.

This was the first time Gou An had ever seen such a huge spirit stone, and he couldn't help but look up and ask, "What is this?"

"This is a top-grade spirit stone that I accidentally unearthed while inspecting the spirit stone mine," Xuan Kongzi said slowly, with a smile on his face.

"I've only ever seen high-grade spirit stones, I never imagined there were top-grade ones?" Gou An asked with surprise in his eyes.

Xuan Kongzi nodded slightly: "Of course there are, but they are extremely rare in this world. Just this one top-grade spirit stone is worth millions of low-grade spirit stones."

Gou An was immediately shocked upon hearing this, staring at the spirit stones inside the box: "Such powerful items, you just gave them to me?"

Xuan Kongzi smiled and said calmly, "What's this? I haven't been sitting around in the Ten Thousand Demon City for nothing these past few months. I still have two top-grade spirit stones like this in my possession."

He paused, then continued, "Besides that, I've also discovered two new spirit stone veins in the Demon Beast Mountain Range. I've already arranged for people to start mining them. Being able to profit from the resources of the Ten Thousand Demon City—it feels amazing!"

Gou An's fingertips twitched slightly, a sense of unease rising in his heart. He asked in a low voice, "Won't the Demon King notice such blatant hoarding?"

Xuan Kongzi shook his head slightly, his expression full of confidence: "Don't worry. Demon King Huang Ku trusts Lord Jin Yang completely and won't suspect anything. I just need to hand over the required amount of spirit stones on time each time, and any extra stones I mine will be mine for myself."

Gou An quickly closed the gift box, carefully put the top-grade spirit stone into his storage bag, and gave Xuan Kongzi a thumbs up: "It has to be you! You've only been here for a few months, but you've already acquired more treasures than I accumulated in the Ten Thousand Demon City over several years."

Xuan Kongzi laughed heartily: "Don't worry, there will be benefits for me in the future, and you will definitely get your share too."

After a brief pause, Xuan Kongzi's expression softened slightly, and he continued, "Besides bringing gifts, I have something important to tell you today."

Gou An raised an eyebrow slightly and asked curiously, "Oh? What is it?"

Xuan Kongzi slowly said, "Naturally, it's the task the Demon King assigned to you. I know that cultivator who calls himself the Overlord Saint Master."

Upon hearing this, Gou An couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Really? What's your background?"

Xuan Kongzi picked up the spiritual tea that had been prepared on the stone table, took a sip, and slowly said, "Speaking of which, this guy was a fellow prisoner who escaped from the Locked Heaven Tower with me, so we have crossed paths before."

Gou An's pupils contracted slightly as he instantly pieced together the clues from before and after in his mind.

When I asked Master Xu, he said that Master Jiu Lu left with his men, it seemed that this was the reason for their departure.

He pondered for a moment, then continued, "What is this Holy Lord's cultivation level and strength?"

"Like me, at the Nascent Soul stage." Xuan Kongzi put down his teacup, his tone calm: "If we only consider strength in a direct confrontation, among Nascent Soul stage cultivators, you can be considered to be hard to beat."

"And what else?" Gou An leaned forward slightly, continuing to press, "For example, what methods are you skilled in? What's your personality like? Do you possess any remarkable magical treasures?"

A cold glint flashed in Xuan Kongzi's eyes as he slowly said, "The methods can be described as extremely cruel. After all, what kind of person would be imprisoned in the Locking Heaven Tower? His personality is also arrogant and stubborn. He proclaimed himself a Holy Lord and always looked down on everyone."

"As for magical artifacts, I remember when we broke out of the tower and escaped, this person was most skilled at using all kinds of talismans. They were diverse and numerous, making them virtually impossible to defend against."

Gou An sighed upon hearing this, his brows furrowing: "If that's the case, it'll be a bit difficult to deal with!"

Xuan Kongzi smiled faintly and said, "Didn't the Demon King arrange for the Evil Bone Daoist to cooperate with you? This guy is also a Nascent Soul cultivator. With him traveling with you, there shouldn't be any major problems."

Upon hearing this, Gou An's expression darkened further, and he shook his head helplessly: "It's precisely because I sent him that I'm having second thoughts."

"This person has been plotting against me for a while, and this mission presents him with the perfect opportunity to cause trouble behind the scenes. Of course, I'm worried!"

Xuan Kongzi remained silent for a moment after hearing this, then tapped the stone table lightly with his fingertips before slowly speaking: "Then how about this! I will secretly follow behind you and conceal my tracks without showing myself."

"If the situation turns bad, I'll reappear to help."

Hearing Xuan Kongzi's promise, Gou An felt reassured: "With your words, I can rest assured."

That night, in order to improve his strength as quickly as possible, Gou An frantically absorbed spiritual energy until his meridians were swollen and painful before he stopped.

Just as Gou An was about to take a rest, the Palm Heaven Map suddenly made a sound, so Gou An took out the Palm Heaven Map and threw it into the air.

The Heavenly Palm Map unfolded automatically in the air. The changes within the Heavenly Palm Map were enormous. With the addition of those one hundred Qi Sea stage veteran cultivators, the world within the map now resembled a small town, growing larger and larger.

Gou An waved his hand, switching the scene to Liu Dayong.

Liu Dayong bowed to Gou An and said, "Daoist Master, I have collected all the materials for the pill formula that you asked me to find. I have also planted the excess materials in new spiritual fields."

Upon hearing this, Gou An was overjoyed and quickly said, "In that case, give it to me quickly."

Liu Dayong quickly took out a storage bag and presented it with both hands.

With a flick of his finger, Gou An sent the storage bag flying out of the world in the picture and landing steadily in his hand.

He immediately probed in with a wisp of spiritual energy to check, and sure enough, he saw a large amount of spiritual materials, exactly the same as the ingredients for the Nine-Turn Golden Rejuvenation Pill.

Although the quantity is not large, it can still be refined into about three or four pieces.

"Well done." Gou An nodded in satisfaction, then took out another bulging storage bag from his pocket and gently tossed it toward the Palm Heaven Map.

The storage bag flew towards the scroll, and upon contact, it automatically emitted a white light and entered the world within the painting, where it was caught by Liu Dayong.

"There are 500,000 low-grade spirit stones in here," Gou An said to Liu Dayong. "For each newly cultivated spirit field, you need to set up a spirit-gathering array underneath it. Don't be stingy with the resources, especially for planting materials for the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir."

"Yes!" Liu Dayong nodded hurriedly, "I will certainly live up to the Dao Master's expectations."