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

"Good!" The tiger demon laughed heartily, "Fellow Daoist truly values ​​loyalty and righteousness!"

Gou An sighed softly, suppressing his unease, and asked, "When will we depart for the secret realm?"

"There's no time to lose, let's set off immediately."

The tiger demon calmly stepped down the steps, casually pulling his thick animal-hide coat tighter around his body, and then introduced himself: "I am the Lord of the Crimson Moon Pavilion, and my Daoist name is Lord Crimson Flame Mountain."

"From now on, you'll be working for me. If you can help me break the seal on the secret realm, I will reward you handsomely."

Gou An nodded slightly. Despite his many concerns, he could only agree: "This humble demon will do his utmost and give it his all."

"I know you're smart and educated!" Lord Crimson Flame stepped forward and patted Gou An on the shoulder, then said, "But I don't like hearing too many of these flowery words, understand?"

A surge of powerful demonic energy coursed through his shoulder, and Gou An immediately replied respectfully, "Understood, this little demon will certainly do his best to fulfill the Mountain Lord's instructions."

"That's more like it!" Seeing this, Lord Crimson Flame Mountain nodded in satisfaction.

He then turned to look at the bound Nine-Furnace True Man beside him and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

The demon soldiers guarding the side understood immediately and stepped forward to untie the ropes binding the Nine Furnace Immortal.

As soon as the restraints were loosened, Nine Furnaces True Man was filled with anger. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and was about to step forward to argue with Crimson Flame Mountain Lord, but was tightly grabbed from behind by Questioning Void True Man.

"Don't be impulsive, go! Do you really not want your manhood anymore?" Master Wenxu said in a low voice as he dragged Master Jiulu away.

At this moment, Master Jiulu had exhausted most of his strength, and his body was weak and powerless. He was unable to break free from Master Wenxu's restraint, and could only turn to Gou An and shout loudly, "Young friend, please be careful in everything you do!"

Once Master Wenxu and Master Jiulu had completely disappeared from sight, the heavy doors of the Scarlet Moon Pavilion slammed shut.

Gou An stood there, feeling as if he had been sold out, and for a moment he felt helpless.

Before long, Gou An followed the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord to the top of the Crimson Moon Tower. From there, the view was expansive, with most of the streets and alleys of the Ten Thousand Demon City in sight.

With a slight flip of his right hand, the storage ring on his fingertip flickered with spiritual light, and a small boat the size of a palm appeared out of thin air in his palm.

He raised his hand and tossed the small boat into the air, and the flying boat stretched and expanded in the wind.

In an instant, it transformed into a giant spirit boat, entirely crimson and several meters long, with flames and spiritual light flowing endlessly around it, clearly a superior flying spirit artifact.

Compared to the simple little flying boat that Huang Pingzi had given him before, the two were worlds apart.

It's like a Porsche and an electric scooter.

"Keep up."

Lord Chiyan leaped onto the boat first, followed closely by Gou An, who then boarded and stood firmly on the boat.

With a casual flick of his demonic power, the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord sent the crimson flying boat soaring into the sky, hurtling like a shooting star.

The boat is equipped with a sturdy protective array, so even when traveling at high speed, Gou An, standing on the boat, cannot feel the slightest turbulence or shaking.

This superior spirit boat filled Gou Anxin with envy.

If only I had such a treasure!

The flying boat soared to the top of the sea of ​​clouds, with the mountains and cities below completely obscured by the vast white mist, not a trace of them visible.

Gou An stood on the side of the boat, looking down and silently estimating the distance and time required for the journey.

The flying boat traveled at high speed for more than three hours. Judging from this speed, it had already completely left the territory of the Monster Mountain Range.

Before long, the airship gradually slowed down and began to dive downwards.

Breaking through layers of clouds, a vast expanse of snow-capped mountains came into view, the world a pristine white expanse, with howling winds and biting cold.

The crimson flying boat finally came to a steady stop on the summit of an inconspicuous, snow-covered peak.

Lord Crimson Flame Mountain raised his hand and put away the flying boat. The protective spiritual light on the boat dissipated, and a biting, extremely cold wind swept over it instantly.

Gou An's body trembled involuntarily, and he had no choice but to quickly circulate his demonic power to condense a layer of demonic power barrier around his body to resist the severe cold.

In contrast, the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord showed no sign of being cold, as if the fierce wind and snow around him were nothing to him.

Gou An even noticed that the closer he got to the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord, the less cold the surroundings became, and warmth enveloped him.

Gou An thought to himself, "This must be the legendary Pure Yang Body, born with the ultimate Yang fire, unafraid of ice and snow."

A pang of regret arose in his heart. If only he had been reborn as a tiger instead of a wild dog.

With such a pure Yang physique, his cultivation will surely be much faster than it is now.

Gou An, filled with envy, followed closely behind Lord Chi Yan Shan until they reached a steep cliff face piled high with snow.

With a wave of his hand, the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord unleashed a torrent of scorching true fire from his palm, which slammed violently against the frozen mountain wall.

The snow melted away instantly upon encountering real fire, revealing the entrance to a deep, dark stone cave on the mountainside.

"Fellow Daoist, follow me."

Lord Chiyanshan took the lead and stepped into the cave, with Gou An following closely behind. As they walked, Gou An kept scanning the sides of the cave, carefully observing the surrounding activity.

The cave passages are long and deep. The deeper you go, the more the cold air dissipates and the warmth slowly rises.

After walking through the long, narrow passage, a bright and clear view suddenly appeared before us.

Deep within the mountain lies a massive stone chamber, its walls square and regular with sharp angles, unlike any natural cave; it was clearly carved out by human hands.

Furthermore, the top of the stone chamber is naturally inlaid with many huge, luminous crystals, illuminating the entire chamber.

In the very center of the stone chamber, one object stands out most prominently.

It was a nine-story ancient pagoda, its body covered in gray dust and mottled marks of time.

Although it lacks dazzling lights, one can vaguely sense that the entire tower is forged from heavy ancient metal, bearing the weight of immeasurable ancient years.

Moreover, several other figures were already waiting inside the cave.

"This is the entrance to the secret realm!" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain pointed to the ancient pagoda in front of him.

Gou An was somewhat surprised.

Although the tower looks tall, the space inside is at most the size of one or two rooms.

What kind of secret realm could this be?

Before Gou An could figure it out, the other monsters guarding the cave immediately surrounded him.

At a glance, Gou An could tell that their cultivation levels were not high; they were all roughly at the same level as Gou An.

Furthermore, there were several human cultivators among them, who possessed no trace of demonic energy.

Gou An silently counted in his mind, and there were ten in total, including himself.

Seven demons and three others.

Lord Crimson Flame Mountain then spoke: "I have found the last person. The next ten of you will enter this pagoda to help me break the restrictions within."

"The pagoda has nine stories!"

"You need to unlock the restrictions layer by layer before you can reach the next level."

Following my instructions, one of the cultivators suddenly spoke up: "Mountain Lord! What exactly is our mission?"

"Do your best to reach the top of the tower!" Lord Crimson Flame replied. "But even if you don't reach the top, it doesn't matter. I will reward you according to how many floors you climb."

"So, just do your best to climb higher!"