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

Seven days later!

Just as Master Wenxu had said, on the morning of the eighth day, someone came to collect the pills as promised.

The newcomer was a young human cultivator, dressed in a clean and simple plain-colored Taoist robe. His spiritual energy was pure and righteous, without a trace of demonic aura.

He introduced himself as Huang Pingzi, the eldest disciple of Master Wenxu, who was in charge of the daily acceptance and inventory of pills at Wandan Hall.

Huang Pingzi stepped into the alchemy room, his expression indifferent yet neither humble nor arrogant, and directly gestured for Gou An to hand over the pills.

Gou An had already prepared enough pills, and neatly arranged a total of twenty pills on a wooden tray.

Huang Pingzi bent down, his eyes sharp, comparing the size and roundness of each pill one by one, weighing them in his hand, sniffing the fragrance and observing the color of the pills. His inspection was extremely rigorous, and he would not let go of the slightest detail.

After a careful examination, he selected ten pills and set them aside, while putting the remaining ten into a porcelain bottle.

He then said to Gou An, "These ten are substandard. Take them back and melt them down to refining them!"

Looking at the majority of the pills that had been picked out, Gou An felt a surge of resentment.

He devoted himself to refining the pill for days and believed that the finished product was of perfect quality, with the color, aroma and heat all in accordance with the requirements, and there was not a single flaw to be seen.

"Fellow Daoist, these pills are no different from the ones that were taken away, so why are they considered substandard?" Gou An frowned and asked, his tone filled with confusion and doubt.

Huang Pingzi glanced at him, his expression cold and his tone harsh and unapproachable: "Since you think there is no difference, then all twenty of them today are considered unqualified."

Gou An was speechless for a moment, his anger forced down his throat.

Knowing that he was new to the Wan Dan Hall and his foundation was not yet stable, he knew that arguing rashly would only earn him a reputation for not knowing the rules. So he could only suppress his anger and ask in a gentle tone, "Please enlighten me, fellow Daoist, where exactly is the problem?"

Huang Pingzi pointed to the ten rejected pills on the table and calmly explained, "Each of these ten pills is half a millimeter heavier than the qualified pills."

"The Transformation Pill is meant for low-level demonic beasts. If the pill is too heavy, it means that the medicinal power is too strong and domineering."

"Ordinary low-level demonic beasts have thin bodies and cannot withstand the extra medicinal power. They will only explode and die after taking it, which is completely useless."

Having said that, he put away the qualified pills and casually concluded, "Your pill production today did not meet the standard. You owe me ten Transformation Pills, which I will make up for tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Pingzi turned and left, decisively and without leaving any room for discussion.

Gou An watched his departing figure, inwardly cursing the man for being nitpicky and deliberately difficult, but in the end he could only suppress his anger and remain silent.

Can he weigh half a pound by hand?

It's most likely just them deliberately picking a fight!

That bastard looks like a human, but he's even more of a dog than me!

The next morning, Huang Pingzi came to inspect the elixirs again on time.

To everyone's surprise, after a thorough examination, Huang Pingzi found even more defective pills than he had the day before.

Of the thirty Transformation Pills, he directly eliminated twenty, leaving only ten that were barely qualified.

Gou An was completely stunned, his eyes filled with disbelief. Finally, he couldn't help but ask in a deep voice, "Are you deliberately making things difficult? How come this batch of pills has more flaws?"

Huang Pingzi's expression remained calm and composed as he methodically explained the reason: "Yesterday's pills were too potent, making them too heavy. The twenty pills that were rejected today are all half a millimeter lighter."

"The pill's lightness indicates insufficient medicinal power and weak medicinal properties. If a low-level demon beast consumes it, it will be unable to fully transform into human form, resulting in either missing limbs, physical deformities, or mental impairment."

"These half-crippled, half-transformed demons are mentally incomplete and physically incomplete. They cannot enter the city to work as laborers, and their flesh is disordered and cannot be used in medicine or on the table. They are a complete waste of spiritual materials and alchemical fire, and are utterly useless."

He shoved all twenty defective pills back at Gou An, his tone forceful: "Recycle them all. Also, the ten you owed yesterday, plus the ten you owe today, means you now owe a total of twenty Transformation Pills. You must make up the difference tomorrow."

Having finished his explanation, Huang Pingzi said no more, turned around and left the alchemy room, leaving Gou An alone facing a table of leftover pills, his teeth itching with anger.

Master Wenxu had invited him several times before he finally agreed to come.

Unexpectedly, his disciples were even more arrogant and domineering than their master!

Day three!

Forty pills were prepared on the wooden tray, neatly arranged, all of which were refined overnight.

Furthermore, Gou An weighed each and every one of them individually to ensure that all the pills were of absolutely the same weight.

He refused to believe that this yellow bottle could cause any trouble.

When the yellow bottle arrived at the entrance of the alchemy room, Gou An immediately brought out the pills.

"See? This time, there's absolutely no problem with the pills!" Gou An said confidently.

Huang Pingzi, however, did not speak, but instead examined each pill one by one as before.

After examining them all, Huang Pingzi only managed to take out two pills from the forty pills.

"What? Two of them are not up to standard after today?" Gou An couldn't help but sneer.

Huang Pingzi simply snorted coldly, then put the two pills in his hand back into the bottle: "What are you thinking? Only two are qualified this time!"

"You!" Gou An roared in fury, opening his mouth to pull a knife out: "I'm going to kill you!"

Just as Gou An was about to make a move, someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Gou An's arm.

"Fellow Daoist, don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive!"

Gou An turned his head and saw that it was the demon alchemist from the alchemy room in the next courtyard.

His Taoist name is Toothless. He is a weasel who has transformed into human form. Like Gou An, he is also an eighth-order demon beast in human form.

"Don't stop me, I'm going to kill him!" Gou An saw someone trying to pull him back, so he charged even more fiercely.

It's not that they really want to kill someone; it's mostly just to vent their frustrations.

"Tell me, why are the rest substandard!" Gou An scolded. "Their weights are absolutely identical!"

Huang Pingzi rolled his eyes at Gou An, then said, "The weight isn't a problem, but these pills are all made by mixing old pills with new ones and refining them!"

"The pills that were previously substandard have developed a slightly burnt taste after being refined again!"

"The efficacy of these pills is greatly reduced. I'm already being generous by selecting two qualified pills from them."

As he spoke, Huang Pingzi did some quick calculations with his fingers and added, "Ten coins owed on the first day, ten coins owed on the second day, and eighteen coins owed today!"

"You now owe me thirty-eight pills. Pay them back quickly, or your monthly allowance will be cut by more than half!"

After saying that, Huang Pingzi left without looking back.

Once Huang Pingzi had disappeared, Gou An complained to the weasel that had grabbed him, "Fellow Daoist, why did you pull me? Wouldn't it have been better if you let me go up and chop him to death?"

"Fellow Daoist!" Wuyazi sighed, "It's all just a trivial matter, why are you so angry?"

"That kid deliberately picked a fight with me, how could I not be angry?" Gou An was furious: "In three days, he selected thirty-eight pills that were not up to standard. I really wanted to stuff all of these pills into his mouth and make him swallow them all."

"Be content!" Wuyazi suddenly laughed. "I've only been here for eight months, and I already owe that kid over five thousand pills. I haven't said anything, so why are you in such a hurry?"