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

"No matter how sharp a precious sword is, if it is kept in its sheath for a long time, it will not show its sharpness. In time, people will think that it is only good in name."

These few words struck a chord with the virtuous scholar Zhenyue.

He remained silent for a long time, the coldness and disdain on his face completely fading away, his expression gradually softening, and even a hint of approving smile slowly appearing on his face.

"No wonder that although your cultivation level is not high, you were able to rise to the position of protector of the country in just a few years."

The wise man of Zhenyue exclaimed sincerely, "Your mind is indeed brilliant and insightful; you see things far more clearly than others."

"My demon cultivator guards have been guarding the city for years, and have indeed been neglecting their training due to a lack of warfare. This time, I will do as you say and lend you a few of your men to accompany me so that they can go out and gain some experience, earn some merit, and hone their skills, so as not to waste their cultivation."

Upon hearing this, Gou An was overjoyed and quickly bowed, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, sir!"

The esteemed scholar Zhenyue smiled slightly and casually asked, "By the way, what exactly is the background of this so-called Overlord Saint Lord? What is the true extent of his cultivation?"

Gou An quickly suppressed his smile and replied, "The Evil Bone Daoist told me that the other party was only at the Divine Control level, but I have my doubts. I had heard some of his comments before, and based on my speculation, his true cultivation level is at least at the Nascent Soul level."

Upon hearing this, the wise man from Zhenyue frowned sharply, his expression becoming more serious: "If that's the case, then we cannot be careless."

"Since I'm willing to lend you my men, I can't let my demon cultivators take unnecessary risks and cause any mishaps. We should always plan for the worst and deal with the situation as if the opponent were a Nascent Soul stage human evil cultivator."

He looked up at Gou An and asked directly, "How many men do you need?"

Gou An replied with a smile, "I will use as much as you are willing to lend me, and I will not be picky at all."

After a moment's thought, the wise man of Zhenyue decisively said, "Then I will lend you my most elite ten demon squads to accompany you."

"This team of ten demons consists of eight members who have reached the peak of the Golden Core stage, and two of them have even stepped into the Divine Control realm. Moreover, they cooperate seamlessly with each other, are skilled in combat techniques, and are adept at encirclement and entanglement battles. Even if I were to personally face them together, I would still have a layer of flesh scraped off if I was not careful."

Gou An was overjoyed upon hearing this, never expecting that the Zhenyue Master would be so generous as to lend out such top-tier combat power.

With the help of these ten people, and with Xuan Kongzi secretly following them, most of the dangers of this trip to Guimenqiu were instantly wiped out.

"Thank you, sir! With the help of your elite troops, this mission will surely be a great success," Gou An replied hastily.

"When will you set off?" asked the hermit of Zhenyue.

"We'll leave in the next couple of days once we're ready," Gou An replied.

The wise man of Zhenyue nodded slightly and said decisively, "Alright, then I will order them all to report to your residence tomorrow and be at your command."

"Thank you, esteemed scholar!" Gou An bowed again in thanks, then stood up and said, "This junior will take his leave now to prepare for my journey."

Just as Gou An turned to leave, the virtuous scholar Zhenyue suddenly called out to him.

"Wait a minute."

Gou An paused, turned around, and asked with a puzzled look, "Does the High Scholar have any other instructions?"

At this moment, the esteemed scholar Zhenyue appeared even more amiable, shedding his previous air of authority. With a smile, he said, "Speaking of which, you have just been promoted to Protector of the Nation and have ascended to a high position. As the head of the Protectors, I should have prepared a congratulatory gift to offer my congratulations long ago."

"It's just that I was busy with other things before, which caused a delay."

Gou An was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and quickly waved his hand to decline: "It is already an immense favor and a great gift that you, sir, are willing to lend me your elite men to help me resolve this crisis. How could I dare to ask for anything more!"

The virtuous scholar Zhenyue smiled and shook his head, unconvinced: "Borrowing someone is an official matter; how can it be considered a private congratulation?"

"If it weren't for your words today that awakened me, I'm afraid I wouldn't have realized the seriousness of the problem. I should do something about it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the esteemed scholar Zhenyue raised his hand and flipped it over. A flash of light appeared in his palm as he quietly took out an object.

Gou An looked up and saw that what was floating in the palm of the Zhenyue scholar was a hollow ox horn.

The horn is dark brown and heavy, with undulating mountain patterns engraved on its surface. It is simple and grand, and you can tell at a glance that it is not an ordinary object.

"This item is called the Azure Mountain Horn," the Mountain-Suppressing Hermit said slowly. "It is the horn of my birth year that I naturally shed many years ago, and I personally crafted it with many years of painstaking effort."

"Once it is sounded, the powerful horn sound will spread out, which can stimulate the bloodlust in the bones of the demon race and make the demons unleash stronger combat power in a short period of time."

Gou An hurriedly accepted the horn, his heart filled with surprise and joy. He had only come to borrow troops, but unexpectedly received such a treasure. He quickly expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you for your generous gift, sir!"

After presenting the gift, the esteemed scholar Zhenyue became serious and emphasized, "I must remind you that these ten demon generals I lent you are all elites that I have painstakingly trained over many years."

"I can accept their deaths in battle, but I cannot accept their deaths in vain. If you give reckless orders on this mission and cause them to sacrifice themselves needlessly, I will not forgive you if this reaches my ears."

Gou An's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately bowed respectfully: "Rest assured, sir, I will not let them risk their lives in vain."

The hermit of Zhenyue nodded slightly and waved his hand, indicating that Gou An could leave.

Gou Anxin understood immediately, bowed, turned and left the Imperial Guard's residence. He then rode the demonic wind and returned directly to his own mansion.

Upon landing in the courtyard, Gou An hurriedly went into the alchemy room to check the alchemy furnace used for refining pills.

At this moment, the fire in the furnace was steady, and the aroma of the elixir was relatively stable.

However, with his departure for Guimenqiu in Xizhou in less than two days, he found it difficult to put down this batch of Nine-Turn Golden Elixir with peace of mind.

Gou An paced back and forth beside the alchemy furnace, deep in thought.

Entrusting it to Long Youzi for care is not out of the question.

But this guy is too smart; once he gets close to the alchemy furnace, he will definitely be able to sense the extraordinary nature of this pill.

He doesn't want to reveal the matter of the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir to anyone yet.

If the entire alchemy furnace were to be incorporated into the Palm Heaven Diagram, that would also be a viable solution.

However, the alchemy furnace is currently refining medicine. If it is forcibly taken into the diagram at this time, the spatial fluctuations will easily disrupt the balance of the medicinal power inside the furnace, and the entire batch of precious spiritual materials will be wasted.

Pig Ninth is rough and reckless. He's good at helping out, but he's not very reliable when it comes to guarding such a delicate and important task as alchemy. There's no guarantee that something won't go wrong.

After a moment of thought, Gou An remembered Niu Cuihua.

Although she was previously controlled by the Evil Bone Taoist, the source of her control has long been removed. Since taking control of the Heavenly Diagram, she has been well-behaved and diligent, and has never shown any other abnormalities. She is a reliable candidate.

Gou An raised his hand and took out the Palm Heaven Map. The spiritual light flowed around him as he slowly unfurled the scroll. He was about to call out to Niu Cuihua when she came out.

But when his gaze swept into the painting, he glimpsed a thriving scene inside the Palm Heaven Map, and a sense of curiosity arose in his heart.

So, with a thought, he separated a small amount of his demonic power to use demonic magic to create a clone that was identical to himself in appearance and aura, and sent it into the Palm Heaven Diagram, intending to use the clone to go inside and take a closer look.

As the clone entered the Palm Heaven Diagram, Gou An's main body sat cross-legged in the alchemy room, projecting most of his consciousness onto the clone.

After a brief, slight dizziness, Gou An's clone landed steadily on the ground beneath the Palm Heaven Diagram.

The moment his feet touched the ground, before he could even take a good look at his surroundings, several figures quickly surrounded him. The leader was Liu Dayong, followed by several demon cultivators.

Liu Dayong raised his hand to stop him, and said in a deep voice, "Newcomer, stand there and don't move!"

Before he could finish speaking, he looked up and saw the person's face clearly. He was immediately stunned, his tone changed drastically, and he hurriedly bowed, saying, "Dao Master? Why have you come in personally?"

Gou An raised his eyes and slowly looked around.

The fields were neatly cultivated, with clearly defined ridges. In the distance, a small town sat on the riverbank, with houses stretching out in a row, creating a vibrant scene.

What you see inside is far more vivid and interesting than what you peek through a painting from the outside.

"I saw that the development in the picture was very well organized, so I came in to take a look. Also, please call Niu Cuihua here for me; I need to speak with her," Gou An said slowly.

Liu Dayong quickly responded and turned to a leopard spirit beside him, ordering, "Go quickly and call Niu Cuihua here."

The leopard spirit nodded, turned around and ran away at breakneck speed, its figure disappearing into the distance in an instant.

After making the arrangements, Liu Dayong stepped aside in an inviting gesture: "Dao Master, please!"

Gou An nodded slightly, indicating that he should lead the way.

As Liu Dayong led the way, he enthusiastically introduced the surroundings to Gou An.

His own cultivation level was not particularly high, but he was quick-witted and extremely good at governance.

Currently, within the Heavenly Palm Map, there are over a thousand demons and human cultivators combined, yet the order is impeccable and no major chaos has ever occurred.

Looking around, the fields of spiritual energy are thriving.

Under Liu Dayong's arrangement, each spiritual field was managed by a team of three monsters, with a team leader in charge.

Every ten days, the spirit fields are inspected, and the spirit plants are scored according to their growth. Spirit stones are then distributed as rewards based on the grade.

With spirit stones as a tangible benefit, all the demons devoted themselves wholeheartedly to managing the spirit fields, daring not to slack off.

Between the spirit fields, a row of houses was set aside, which was Gou An's spirit smoke workshop.

Inside the workshop, a group of monsters were methodically producing spirit smoke according to the assembly line established by Gou An, with no disorder in the process.

As we drove into the town, we saw not only houses but also many shops along the streets.

Seeing this, Gou An was slightly surprised.

Seeing this, Liu Dayong quickly explained, "Among the hundred old rogue cultivators sent into the map a few days ago, some were skilled in forging. So I had them smelt materials and forge coins specifically for circulation within the map."

"With this currency, everyone can exchange it for food, medicine, clothing and other supplies in town. This is more motivating than the previous method of distributing it uniformly, since those who are capable should do more."

Gou An nodded slightly and said approvingly, "You did a very good job."

Before long, the two arrived at the mansion in the center of the town, which was where Liu Dayong handled various affairs.

The servants quickly served the spiritual tea, the tea leaves of which were taken from the spiritual fields within the map. When brewed, it had a refreshing aroma and an excellent taste.

As the two were chatting, footsteps came from outside the door; Niu Cuihua had arrived.

Gou An was about to explain his purpose when his gaze fell on her, and he suddenly paused.

Gou An noticed that Niu Cuihua's lower abdomen was slightly swollen, clearly indicating that she was pregnant. He was shocked and blurted out, "What's going on?"

Niu Cuihua lowered her head, looking slightly shy, and replied softly, "Master, I am pregnant."