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

For the next few days, the cultivators of the Tianxing Sect went on a frenzied search for the yellow-haired dog demon throughout the entire Demon Beast Mountain Range.

As a result, all the wild dog packs, large and small, in the mountains and fields suffered an undeserved disaster.

After several massacres, Gou An wandered in the mountains for several days, but could not find a single wild dog of his kind.

"Tsk tsk, the Heavenly Star Sect is so stingy!"

Gou An clicked his tongue in amazement.

They merely kidnapped an elder from their sect, without harming his life, at most teasing him with words, and incidentally absorbing some of his spiritual essence.

Is it really necessary to make such a huge fuss and go to such lengths to wipe them out?

However, to avoid their wrath, Gou An found a secluded cave to hide in, and for more than a month he dared not step out of the cave.

He could only stay in the cave every day, relying on the food he had stored in advance in his storage space to fill his stomach. He spent most of his remaining time calmly refining the second Blood Essence Pearl.

This Blood Essence Pearl is significantly larger than the previous one, with a deeper red color, and contains several times more primordial energy.

Gou An devoted two or three hours each day to refining the pearl, and it took him more than twenty days to completely absorb all the abundant spiritual energy within it.

The seemingly unattainable limit of 200,000 demonic power has been reduced to just over 50,000 after the Blood Essence Pearl was completely refined, bringing the advancement to the eighth rank within reach.

However, Gou An currently has no treasures that can rapidly increase his demonic power.

He had already planned it out in his mind: to find a completely safe and secluded cave to officially begin his alchemy and cultivation, and to steadily accumulate demonic power through elixirs.

However, the density of the Tianxing Sect cultivators' mountain search and patrol did not decrease at all, so Gou An dared not show himself rashly and could only continue to hide in the cave to avoid the limelight.

After enduring another full month, the food stored in the storage space had been completely used up, and his body was on the verge of starvation.

Sensing the frequency of the cultivators searching outside the cave, Gou An's vigilance noticeably relaxed, and he cautiously crawled out of the cave to search for an excellent cave suitable for alchemy.

The Monster Mountain Range stretches for thousands of miles, with countless caves of all sizes, but very few are truly suitable for alchemy.

A qualified alchemy cave must meet three conditions.

The space is spacious, well-ventilated, and dry inside the cave.

However, most of the caves in the mountains are small and cramped, barely enough to fit a foothold, let alone a complete alchemy furnace.

Even if you find a cave of a suitable size, one that is well-ventilated is even rarer.

Most caves have only one entrance and exit, and are almost completely sealed. If one were to refine elixirs here, the poisonous smoke and turbid air would have nowhere to dissipate, and would easily backfire on oneself.

As for a dry environment, it is even more difficult to find. Most of the caves are perpetually seeping water, and the rock walls are covered with damp, cold moss.

The various medicinal herbs needed for alchemy are extremely susceptible to moisture, and damp caves simply cannot be stored for long periods of time.

Gou An hid and rested during the day, only venturing out to explore when night fell. He followed the gaps in the forest and slowly ventured deeper into the heart of the mountain range.

Now that he is a seventh-tier demon beast, it is really inappropriate for him to remain entrenched in the outer shallow mountains.

The creatures roaming the outer perimeter are mostly low-level demonic beasts of the first, second, and third tiers. The demonic power that their demonic cores can provide is negligible, making it completely a losing proposition.

The Monster Mountain Range is vast, stretching for tens of thousands of miles.

Gou An had previously gathered information when he infiltrated human towns, and the entire mountain range was located in the middle of this continent.

Human cultivators and sects surrounded the area from all sides, taking strict precautions to prevent demonic beasts from leaving the mountains and disturbing the mortal realm.

The area where he had previously hidden was the closest to the territory of the Tianxing Sect.

It is precisely for this reason that those high-level demonic beasts with profound cultivation hide deep in the mountains to avoid direct conflict with human cultivators.

As a result, the only living space for low-level monsters is the outer edge of the mountain range.

The deeper they went into the mountains, the thicker and more intense the demonic aura became, with the pungent and pungent smells of various high-level demonic beasts wafting from all directions.

Just a few days after entering the mountains, Gou An encountered two eighth-tier demonic beasts fighting each other.

A jet-black eighth-tier black eagle faced off against a giant eighth-tier python with thick scales.

The two high-level demonic beasts fought with all their might, a gale swept through the entire mountain forest, the earth trembled, and rocks tumbled down, their power terrifying.

Gou An originally intended to remain hidden to the side, waiting for the two sides to be severely injured, and then casually pick up the demon core to reap the benefits.

Unexpectedly, both beasts were creatures who valued their lives. Although their attacks appeared fierce and powerful, they had actually prepared a backup plan. They each suffered only minor injuries and then tacitly fled in different directions.

Gou An wasted his time waiting in vain.

As expected, the higher the cultivation level of a demon beast, the more it knows how to protect its life. Unless it is a matter of life and death, it will never fight to the death. It is precisely because of this caution that it can live steadily until it reaches a high level.

In the following days, Gou An continued to traverse the deep mountains, searching for a suitable alchemy cave.

Persistence pays off; Gou An finally found a completely hidden, abandoned cave.

The entrance to the cave was covered by layers of intertwined vines and overgrown weeds.

If one did not have a keen sense of smell, ordinary demonic beasts or cultivators would hardly notice them even if they passed by.

No one knows how many years it had been abandoned and sealed away, but in the end it could not escape the enhanced senses of Gou An.

After crawling through the vines and stepping into the cave, the interior suddenly opened up, and all kinds of stone tools were readily available.

Stone tables, stone benches, and stone shelves are neatly arranged on both sides, and an ancient alchemy furnace even stands in the center of the cave.

Unfortunately, it was too old and had been without spiritual energy for many years. The furnace was covered with thick rust, and Gou An could easily crack a large hole in the furnace wall with a casual touch. It was no longer usable.

Gou An simply tossed the broken ancient furnace aside, took out the intact alchemy furnace he had obtained from Master Fuhai's alchemy room from his storage bag, and placed it steadily in the original place where the alchemy furnace had been.

A narrow, long ventilation crevice naturally forms in the rock wall above the alchemy furnace. Combined with the airflow blowing in from the cave, the toxic fumes and waste gases produced during alchemy can be expelled upwards along the crevice, perfectly avoiding the hidden danger of poisoning from the accumulation of turbid air.

Gou An twitched his nostrils, carefully sniffing every corner of the cave.

It was determined that there were no living people or monsters lingering in the cave; only a few rats and small insects lived there.

Upon realizing that Gou An had intruded, they all wisely fled and disappeared into the depths of the rock crevices.

The cave walls were originally covered with densely packed characters, but due to severe erosion over time, the characters have become blurred and peeled away, making the content completely illegible.

But these things are irrelevant to Gou An.

Regardless of which cultivator or demon cultivator this place was in the past, from now on, it will be his exclusive place for alchemy and meditation.

Having determined the location of the cave, Gou An took out the "Miscellaneous Records of Hundred Elixirs" and continued to study it carefully.

Previously, when I was in Master Fuhai's courtyard, I only made a superficial attempt.

My alchemy skills are only at a very basic level, so I still need to continue practicing.

The first step is to collect herbs.

The Monster Mountain Range is full of spiritual herbs and fruits.

This is one of the food sources for most monsters.

With his keen sense of smell, Gou An could find a lot of materials suitable for alchemy by going out to search every day.

So Gou An spent his days refining elixirs in his cave and his nights searching for materials and food.

Life is simple yet fulfilling.