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

"Young friend, don't make fun of this old man."

Master Jiulu did not reach out to take the Scarlet Moon Pavilion jade token. He simply stroked his long beard and slowly said, "I have lived for over six hundred and thirty years. What kind of woman or demon haven't I slept with?"

"I've long since grown indifferent to places of pleasure; I have absolutely no interest in those kinds of places now."

After saying that, he waved his hand repeatedly, insisting on declining.

Seeing this, Gou An simply stepped forward and stuffed the jade token into the palm of the Nine Furnaces True Man, his expression extremely sincere: "This humble demon has no valuables on him, only this item is presentable."

"If the real person is unwilling to go in person, they can sell the goods for some spiritual materials, as a small token of the little demon's goodwill."

"Absolutely not, I cannot accept this." Master Jiulu insisted on refusing.

"Please accept this, sir," Gou An pleaded repeatedly.

"No need, no need," Master Jiulu waved his hand, refusing to accept.

Seeing this, Gou An softened his tone and said sincerely, "If you insist on not accepting me, I will be too embarrassed to come to the courtyard to ask you about the way of alchemy in the future."

Upon hearing this, Master Jiulu sighed deeply and finally relented: "Alright, alright, since you've put it that way, I'll accept it for now."

"It's not that I'm after this item, I just don't want to cut off your path to learning alchemy."

"That's exactly right!" Gou An nodded quickly, his smile spreading across his face. "Only then can I feel at ease visiting you in the future and come here often to observe and learn."

The next morning, Gou An went to the alchemy courtyard of Master Jiu Lu as promised, intending to continue observing the other's alchemy techniques.

But as soon as they reached the gate of the courtyard, they noticed that the atmosphere inside was completely different.

The group of medicine slaves were not as busy as usual in refining medicine. Only a few people were sweeping the courtyard and drying spiritual materials. The furnace fire in the huge alchemy room was extinguished, and there was no sound of medicine being refined.

Gou An stepped forward and stopped the little demon guarding the gate, cupping his hands in greeting and asking, "Fellow Daoist, may I ask if the Nine Furnaces Immortal is in the courtyard?"

"The Master went out on business last night and gave us all a day off before he left. He hasn't returned yet," the little demon replied truthfully.

Upon hearing this, Gou An couldn't help but smile knowingly.

I knew that old guy wasn't a decent person. What decent person would come to the City of Ten Thousand Demons?

He hasn't returned yet; he's probably still lying in that vixen's bed at the Scarlet Moon Pavilion.

With no one to consult at the moment, Gou An didn't linger and turned to leave, planning to visit again another day.

It wasn't until late afternoon that Master Jiu Lu finally returned.

From a distance, onlookers saw him holding his lower back with one hand, his steps slightly unsteady, and he only made excuses, saying that he had accidentally twisted his back.

But Gou An knew perfectly well that the person who twisted his waist last night was probably not him, but someone else.

For some time afterward, Gou An diligently refined the Transformation Pill during the day, and whenever he had free time, he would go to the Nine Furnaces Immortal's villa to discuss the secrets of alchemy with him.

With the guidance of the Nine Furnace Masters, Gou An's alchemy skills improved rapidly.

Furthermore, the two hit it off and developed a deep friendship despite their age difference. Master Jiu Lu also shared many of his secret alchemy techniques with him without reservation.

Moreover, Gou An was born with a talent for alchemy, and with daily practice, the pills he refined became increasingly perfect and flawless.

A batch of twenty Transformation Pills, when handed over to Huang Pingzi for inspection, would at most only have two or three defective pills sifted out, which made the usually strict Huang Pingzi look at him with new respect.

Time flies, and half a year has passed in the blink of an eye. Gou An has settled down in the City of Ten Thousand Demons.

In the past six months, not only has his alchemy skills improved by leaps and bounds, but he has also gained a thorough understanding of the overall situation and various forces in the City of Ten Thousand Demons.

The only ruler of the City of Ten Thousand Demons is the Desolate Demon King, who is recognized as the strongest demon in the entire Demon Beast Mountain Range. It is rumored that his cultivation has already reached the Nascent Soul stage.

Gou An also thoroughly understood the complete cultivation system of the demon race.

Once a demon beast breaks through to the ninth rank, it can enter the transformation stage, with a cultivation level roughly equivalent to a human Golden Core cultivator.

If one can refine the demon core within their body into a golden core, their subsequent cultivation realm will be in line with that of human cultivators.

If one cannot complete the alchemical transformation, one's cultivation level will be permanently stuck at the Transformation stage, with no possibility of further advancement.

The Desolate Demon King has seven guardians under his command. Four of them are great demons whose cultivation has reached the Nascent Soul Realm, while the remaining three are human cultivators who are also at the Nascent Soul Realm. Together, they assist the Demon King in managing all affairs within the city.

Aside from the core ruling class directly under the Demon King, there are several other influential and not to be underestimated forces in the city.

The three major alchemy halls, the Scarlet Moon Pavilion, the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce, the Weapon Refining Alliance, and the Nurturing Slave Hall are all rivals.

The Wanbao Chamber of Commerce holds exclusive rights to all foreign trade in Wanyao City, and most of its leaders are human cultivators.

Only they have the means to traverse the Demon Beast Mountain Range and the human territory, enabling them to transport scarce spiritual materials and cultivation resources into the city, as well as to export demon cores, animal hides, and essence blood produced by the demon race in exchange for other resources.

The Weapon Forging Alliance specializes in crafting all kinds of demonic weapons and magical artifacts, and its core members are mostly human cultivators.

Although there are a few skilled craftsmen among the demon race, they can only forge low-level mortal weapons. High-level magic treasures and weapons inscribed with demonic runes must all be made by human weapon refiners.

As for the Nuwa Hall, it was a large-scale slave trading center.

The drug slaves and laborers circulating in the market all come from here. They even send people to infiltrate human territory to kidnap human men and women and sell them as slaves.

Regardless of the foundation of each faction, they all outwardly obeyed the control and command of the Desolate Demon King and dared not disobey his orders.

The Demon King cultivates low-level demon beasts in large quantities and consumes a huge amount of transformation pills to help them transform into human form. His real purpose is to mine underground spiritual mines and extract a continuous supply of spiritual stones.

This batch of spirit stones is entirely monopolized by the Demon King and is absolutely not allowed to circulate in the market.

Within the human realm, spirit stones serve as both a cultivation resource and a universal currency.

Within the City of Ten Thousand Demons, spirit stones are reserved exclusively for high-ranking cultivators and are distributed by the Demon King as needed. Privately buying and selling spirit stones is a serious crime that is strictly prohibited.

The underground spirit mine is a dangerous and harsh environment, with miasma and ferocious beasts lurking in the mine tunnels, and the lesser demons at the bottom are consumed at an extremely fast rate.

Therefore, it is necessary to continuously refine Transformation Pills to cultivate new humanoid laborers in order to barely maintain the balance between the loss and replenishment of mining slaves.

This is why, even though the medicine servants in Wandantang, like Niu Cuihua, toiled every day and lived a hard life, they never complained and were content with their lot.

Once you leave the Pill Hall, there's a high chance you'll be sent to an underground mine to work as a mining slave.

Whether one can endure a few days of hard labor in the mine depends entirely on one's own fate. Weighing both factors, the work in the alchemy room is already the most secure option.