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

"Okay, I got it!"

Gou An nodded, his attitude indifferent, with an expression that seemed to say, "Why aren't you leaving yet?"

Seeing this, the man didn't want to make a fool of himself any further, so he turned around and left with the toothpick in his mouth.

Gou An finally breathed a sigh of relief after watching him leave completely.

If my identity as a monster is exposed in this city, I'll be in big trouble.

When Gou An first entered the city, he smelled that there were many people with cultivation levels in the city.

Although they all seem to be cultivators at the Qi Refining stage, who knows if there might be a few at the Core Formation stage among them?

"Without Brother Gou's orders, without being told what to do, I cannot do it!"

Lai Pi suddenly muttered something.

"Huh?" Gou An suddenly came to his senses.

"Brother Gou just said that from now on, without your orders, I can't do anything!"

Lai Pi looked serious and very confident.

Gou An was so angry at his shameless behavior that he laughed again.

It turns out this kid heard what I said, but he was just slow to react.

"Just remember that!" Gou An glanced at the sky; it was already close to dusk.

So he turned around and led the scoundrel away, saying, "Let's find a place to rest first, and we'll get down to business tomorrow."

That night.

In an old inn in the city.

Gou An and Lai Pi sat in the inn room, enjoying their meal with the door closed.

A table laden with fine wine and delicious food, a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate, featuring plenty of meat and fish.

Gou An hadn't eaten such delicious food in a long time, and he ate without any regard for his image.

But when I turned around, I saw that the rascal was like a hungry dog ​​pouncing on its food, licking the plate vigorously, not letting go of any taste.

After eating and drinking his fill, Lai Pi patted his stomach, leaned back in his chair, let out a burp, and sighed repeatedly.

"It smells so good!"

"It's better to be human!"

"After becoming a person, I realized how hard my life was in the mountains before."

"It's all thanks to Brother Gou, otherwise I'd still be a dog."

Listening to Lai Pi's incessant nagging in his ear, Gou An suddenly spoke up: "Lai Pi, I have a task for you."

"What mission?" Lai Pi immediately perked up.

"I want you to participate in the Heavenly Star Sect's disciple selection!" Gou An said slowly, "I want you to enter the sect to cultivate, and then become my spy within the human cultivator community!"

"Okay, Brother Gou!" Lai Pi agreed without hesitation. "But what exactly is a spy?"

"Is it better than being a human being?"

Looking at Lai Pi's idiotic face, Gou An hesitated for a moment.

Is this guy really that stupid? Can he really survive without me?

But then I thought, keeping such a fool around would probably cause even more harm.

Let's send them out!

So Gou An patiently explained what a spy was.

After understanding what he meant, Lai Pi immediately looked reluctant.

"Brother Gou, are you abandoning me?"

The dog had teary eyes, looking like it was about to be abandoned and become a stray dog.

"It's not that I don't want you, it's that I need you to do other things!" Gou An patted Lai Pi on the shoulder and said seriously, "Brother Gou trusts you, that's why he sent you to be a spy. This is a difficult mission."

Lai Pi didn't know why Gou An suddenly wanted him to become a spy. He only knew that since he started hanging out with Gou Ge, he had never gone hungry.

He even transformed himself into a human being, a real human being.

Early the next morning.

Gou An led Lai Pi to the tall building where Cunling Manor was located.

The entire building was shimmering with light, clearly not the kind of shop run by ordinary people.

Gou An did not go in himself, but handed the spirit stone register to Lai Pi and asked him to retrieve it for him.

Although they disguised themselves, they were not without flaws.

Shops that offer the storage and withdrawal of spirit stones in such places must be run by cultivators.

The chances of them spotting them at close range are high, and Gou An doesn't want to take the risk.

"Remember what I told you: be natural, don't be afraid!"

Gou An patted Lai Pi on the shoulder, then retreated into the alley, watching from afar as Lai Pi took the spirit stone storage book and headed towards the Spirit Storage Manor.

After entering the room, Gou An was very worried.

It wasn't that I was worried about Lai Pi's safety, but rather whether I could get those one hundred spirit stones back.

Lai Pi is currently in the mid-stage of the Qi Refining Realm, which can be considered as a beginner cultivator.

Especially considering he's so young, to have reached this level, he's betting the people inside won't make things difficult for him.

Who knows who's backing this child with such cultivation?

The smarter a person is, the more they consider things.

Time ticked by, but Lai Pi still hadn't shown up, and Gou An grew increasingly nervous.

Could it be that the kid has been detained?

I wouldn't go to save him; it would be easy to get myself caught in the crossfire.

Just then, the scoundrel who had been inside for a long time finally came out, without anyone following him.

And judging from his condition, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong.

As soon as Lai Pi entered the alley, Gou An immediately pressed, "How is it? Where are the spirit stones?"

Lai Pi reached into his pocket, pulled out an ordinary cloth bag, and handed it over: "It's all in there."

Gou An took the bag, opened it, and found it was indeed full of spirit stones.

But in his excitement, Gou An weighed the bag in his hand and realized something was wrong.

The bag clearly doesn't contain a hundred spirit stones!

"The quantity is wrong!" Gou An looked at Lai Pi in confusion: "What's going on? Don't you know?"

"Points?" Lai Pi looked bewildered.

Gou An slapped his forehead, realizing that the kid couldn't count.

"Damn it, what a swindler!" Gou An couldn't help but curse.

Seeing that Gou An was angry, Lai Pi stood still and dared not make a sound.

After stuffing the spirit stones into the storage space inside his mouth, Gou An asked, "Why did it take you so long to get in?"

Lai Pi lowered his head and slowly said, "I'll go in and retrieve the spirit stones using the method you taught me, Brother Gou."

"And then?" Gou An asked.

"It went smoothly, the spirit stone was retrieved."

"And then? Why did you come out so late?" Gou An asked again.

"The people inside said I have such skills at such a young age, and wanted to ask who my master is."

"I told you I don't have a master!"

"There was an old man inside who said I had good talent and wanted to take me as his apprentice."

"Oh?" Gou An asked, puzzled.

"I said no, I promised Brother Gou that I would become an apprentice of the Tianxing Sect."

"and then?"

"The old man asked me, 'Who is Brother Gou?'"

Gou An was startled, worried that this kid had revealed his secret.

"I told him not to ask questions he shouldn't ask."

As he spoke, Lai Pi pondered his memories of what had just happened.

Gou An's lips twitched; he hadn't expected this kid to say something like that.

"In the end, the old man insisted on taking me as his apprentice, but I refused!"

"After struggling for a long time, the old man gave up, saying that we were not meant to be, and let me go."

After hearing the whole story, Gou An didn't have time to think it through and grabbed Lai Pi, leaving to hide all the way back to the inn.

Generally speaking, people who can open institutions like Cunlingzhuang, which are similar to banks, are not good people.

It would be troublesome if I were being targeted.

So for the next two days, Gou An did not leave the inn, and finally just let Lai Pi wander around the neighborhood.

Soon it was time for the selection of disciples for the Heavenly Star Sect.

The city's largest square was already packed with people, and traffic was completely congested.

Everyone was waiting for the cultivators from the Heavenly Star Sect to arrive here.