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

Several days later, outside Qianfeng City.

A man and his dog, weary from their journey, gazed at the distant city gate.

"Brother Gou, it looks like we've arrived!"

Lai Pi stared at the city gate ahead and spoke cautiously.

Gou An nodded and replied, "Let's go. Just be natural. We'll take the spirit stones and leave."

"Okay!" Lai Pi immediately agreed, took a deep breath, and walked towards the city gate.

Gou An naturally followed behind, concealing all his presence.

Along the way, Gou An and Lai Pi's duo remained safe and sound.

They encountered many different kinds of people along the way, including several with cultivation levels, but they didn't notice anything amiss.

This is enough to show that the disguise was successful.

After entering the city, Lai Pi was so surprised that his mouth never stopped moving.

Everything in the city was new and exciting to him.

It is, after all, a big city, with all kinds of shops lining both sides of the street.

The scoundrel was dazzled by the sight.

Even though he had lived a peaceful life, he was still somewhat surprised to see the city's prosperity.

"Steamed buns, freshly baked pork steamed buns!"

Suddenly, a shout caught Lai Pi's attention.

Lai Pi sniffed the air, seemingly smelling a delicious aroma, and immediately ran towards the steamed bun stall.

Enraged, Gou An could only follow closely behind, grabbing the hem of his robe in an attempt to take him away.

But once the boy smelled the aroma of the steamed buns, he couldn't move. He drooled as he stared intently at the big white steamed buns in the steamer.

"Young man, doesn't it smell good?" The vendor chuckled as he saw Lai Pi's drooling expression and began his sales pitch: "How about five? Very cheap, just two copper coins each, delicious and not greasy."

Lai Pi wiped his mouth, swallowed hard, and said, "Fine, then give me five!"

"Okay!" the vendor quickly agreed, picking up a lotus leaf to pack the buns for the rascal.

"You can eat these steamed buns from my house without worry. I guarantee you'll want more after the first bite, more after the second, and more after the third..."

The vendor worked quickly, packing the five buns together and delivering them to Lai Pi.

"What kind of filling is it?" Lai Pi asked as he took the bun.

"Dog meat filling!" the vendor grinned. "These are wild dogs that hunters brought back from the Monster Beast Mountain Range a few days ago. The meat is firm and delicious, not greasy at all!"

Upon hearing this, Lai Pi's outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

"Dog...dog meat?" Lai Pi's eyes widened, as if he had heard some ghost story.

"Yes!" the vendor nodded. "Didn't you see the sign next to my stall?"

The vendor pointed to a flagpole next to him, where several large characters were clearly written.

Fan's Dog Meat Buns!

"Do you still want it? Hurry up." The vendor urged impatiently when he saw the rogue hesitating.

"I...I don't want it anymore!"

Lai Pi shuddered, shook his head, and turned to leave.

"You little brat, are you kidding me?" The vendor immediately cursed, "If you weren't so young, I would have given you a good beating."

Lai Pi, however, dared not refute the insults he received.

My mind is filled with thoughts of how terrifying this person is. He eats dog meat; he's my natural enemy. I need to stay away from him.

Just as Lai Pi was stunned, a pair of large hands suddenly pressed down on his shoulders.

Lai Pi was startled, and when he turned around, he realized that it was Gou Ge in human form.

Taking advantage of the moment when he was distracted by Baozi, Gou An found a secluded spot, changed into human clothes, and covered his face with a hood, leaving only his eyes exposed.

"Come with me!"

Gou An snorted and grabbed the rascal by the ear, dragging him into the alley.

The alley was secluded and deserted. Gou An pulled down the scarf covering his face and yelled at Lai Pi, "What did I tell you before we came to town? Have you grown donkey hair on your ears?"

"Brother Gou, I was wrong!"

The scoundrel immediately backed down.

"You're always quick to admit your mistakes!" Gou An said, pulling his ear in annoyance. "I'm warning you one more time: don't do anything without my orders!"

"Otherwise, next time I'll smash your head open!"

"Do you understand?"

"Understood, Brother Gou!" Lai Pi lowered his head, looking like he had done something wrong.

"Repeat what I just said!" Gou An immediately demanded.

But Lai Pi blinked, seemingly not remembering at all, looking completely bewildered.

"Damn it!" Gou An was furious. He had forgotten what he had just said.

Gou An raised his hand, ready to slap the kid twice to teach him a lesson, when a loud shout suddenly came from the alley entrance.

"stop!"

Gou An glanced sideways and saw a man in a white robe standing at the entrance of the alley.

The boy looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, with fairly decent looks. He had a toothpick in his mouth, which gave him a somewhat unruly air.

"How dare you bully a child in broad daylight!"

The man strode over, looking like he was there to meddle.

Gou An pulled his scarf over his face and laughed, "Brother, you've misunderstood. This is my younger brother. He's been disobedient, so I'm disciplining him!"

"Really?" The man looked at Gou An suspiciously and questioned, "Why do I feel like you're a human trafficker? Specializing in kidnapping children?"

"A lot of children this age went missing in this neighborhood in the past two months!"

Gou An patted Lai Pi on the shoulder and said, "I really am his brother. You can ask him if you don't believe me!"

The man looked at the scoundrel and asked, "Is what he said true?"

Lai Pi nodded blankly: "Yeah! He's my brother Gou!"

The man lowered his guard somewhat after hearing this, but still pressed Gou An, "Why are you so covered up in broad daylight? Why don't you show your true face?"

Gou An had no idea where this man had come from or why he was talking so much.

But not wanting to escalate the situation, he could only carefully explain, "It's an infectious disease, so..."

At this point, Gou An coughed a few times, making a show of having tuberculosis.

"That's why you're wrapped up so tightly. If you don't want to catch a disease, you'd better stay away from me!"

This tactic worked; upon hearing this, the man instinctively took a step back and dared not approach any further.

"Fine! Fine!"

The man didn't dwell on the matter further, but instead suddenly asked, "Judging from your appearance, you're here to participate in the Heavenly Star Sect's disciple selection, right?"

In the man's eyes, Gou An and Lai Pi were dressed in shabby clothes and were obviously not locals; they must have come from outside.

"The Celestial Star Sect?"

Upon hearing this name, Gou An's heart stirred.

Isn't this the sect where those disciples from the major sects who hunted monsters in the Monster Beast Mountain Range belonged?

"That's right!" The man nodded. "Every two years, they come here to publicly recruit disciples and offer free spiritual root testing."

"Anyone who is eight years old or older but not more than eighteen years old can wait here."

"If one's spiritual root can be detected, there will be a chance to join a cultivation sect."

"I see!" Gou An nodded. No wonder the city was so lively; it was probably mostly because of this matter.

"Judging from your expression, you still don't know?" The man smiled and said, "But it's a lucky accident. You can try it if you have time. It starts in three days."

"If we discover that we have a spiritual root, then we could defy fate and change our destiny."