Immortality and cultivation begin at age forty, starting with Foundation Establishment.

Chen An encountered an old friend.

Ten years ago, the Xuan Yang Sect purchased monster materials at prices higher than the market price.

Chen An seized the opportunity, joined forces with several independent cultivators, and purchased materials from monsters in the surrounding areas, then resold them to sects, making a fortune.

In just six months, Chen An earned more spirit stones than he had in the previous ten years.

As profits soared, Chen An learned of the intervention of powerful figures from the sect.

Chen An valued his life and, to avoid confronting the powerful figures of the sect, abandoned the group of rogue cultivators and was the first to escape, thus avoiding the calamity.

Unaware of the danger, the independent cultivators, in order to earn more spirit stones, joined forces with other disciples of the sect to continue the business of reselling demon beast materials.

What awaited them was a bloody massacre and plunder.

There were powerful figures from various sects and powerful rogue cultivators; all those involved in the interests were targeted.

Many people perished as a result.

Those who survived, with the help of the resources they had initially acquired, all achieved some success.

Outside Danbao Pavilion.

A female cultivator dressed in coarse red clothes, with an angry expression, blocked Chen An's path.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, how have you been?" Ye Hong's clothes were simple and unadorned, yet they exuded an extraordinary aura.

Chen An chuckled and cupped his hands in greeting to the female cultivator, saying, "It's been many years. Fellow Daoist Ye, you've also reached the Foundation Establishment stage! Congratulations!"

Seeing Chen An's calm expression, Ye Hongyi said angrily, "Chen An, what are you pretending to be a good person for? Do you think that just because you've reached the Foundation Establishment stage, you can let bygones be bygones!"

"Back then, you left without saying goodbye, causing us to be hunted down. Fellow Daoist Liu, Fellow Daoist Wang, and Fellow Daoist Song all perished. Don't you have anything to say?"

Chen An said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Ye, what are you saying? I told you when we started doing business that you would only do business with me in the trade of demon beast materials. It was your own greed that led you to seek out disciples from other sects, and you were implicated and perished. You can't blame me for that!"

"Or is it that Fellow Daoist Ye is seeking revenge for the other fallen fellow Daoists because of this incident?"

Ye Hongyi snorted and glared at Chen An, saying, "You suddenly withdrew without telling us anything. Several fellow Daoists have perished. You have to give us an explanation."

Chen An retorted, "If I told you, would you back out? Don't be ridiculous, you probably wouldn't even believe it yourself!"

"Fellow Daoist Ye, stop with the nonsense. I don't have that much patience. You've been waiting for me here, not to question me about what happened back then!"

Ye Hongyi suddenly laughed. Her long eyebrows were like willow branches, and her eyes were like phoenix eyes, exuding a clear and bright aura. Her face was as gentle as a spring breeze, without the anger she had shown before, as if she was not the one who had questioned Chen An earlier.

"Chen An, you're kind of cute."

"Just like before, I am willing to reason with people at any time."

Chen An didn't move, just listened quietly. He was used to the neuroticism of rogue cultivators. In the world of rogue cultivators, if you wanted to climb up, your mind would be seen through and you would be close to death.

Ye Hongyi's neuroticism is a form of self-protection. If she really wanted to take action against Chen An, she wouldn't easily show herself. Perhaps she was just using words to provoke Chen An and find out his reaction.

Use Ye Hongyi's method to determine if Chen An is still the same Chen An as before.

"Speaking of which, I should thank Fellow Daoist Chen."

"If it weren't for Fellow Daoist Chen leading us to earn spirit stones back then, I wouldn't have been able to successfully establish my foundation. I might still be with some rogue cultivators, risking my life to hunt demons."

"I see that Fellow Daoist Chen is assembling a demon-hunting team. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Chen is still short of manpower?"

Chen An decisively refused, not because he felt Ye Hongyi was not strong enough, but because he felt that having a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the team would be a problem.

More importantly, Ye Hongyi's favorability rating is only 30, which is an unstable factor that could change at any time and pose a threat to Chen An.

Ten years ago, Ye Hongyi earned over fifty points of favorability with Chen An after following him to earn spirit stones.

Ye Hongyi's current demeanor is full of performance; on the surface, she appears to be obedient to Chen An and willing to work for him to earn spirit stones, but in reality, she still doesn't trust him.

Many independent cultivators, after experiencing certain events, will not easily trust others, especially Ye Hongyi, who has already established her foundation. Chen An could not comment on what kind of person her life experiences would turn her into.

In the world of spiritual practice, beauty cannot be used as a bargaining chip.

Ye Hongyi said with regret, "What a pity. I thought I could earn spirit stones with Fellow Daoist Chen again, but I didn't expect to be rejected by him."

As a rogue cultivator, Ye Hongyi knew that there was no absolute fairness in this world, and this had always been the case between sect disciples and rogue cultivators.

Powerful independent cultivators look down on sect disciples. In their eyes, sect disciples are just waste materials kept by the sect. No matter how high a sect disciple's cultivation level is, he is just an empty shell.

Sect disciples look down on all rogue cultivators, seeing them as lacking respect and always causing destruction and unnecessary killing. Some powerful rogue cultivators are even regarded as demonic cultivators.

There are no Foundation Establishment Pills in the world of independent cultivators. If Foundation Establishment Pills appear at some special auctions, they will only fall into the hands of surrounding cultivation families.

Ordinary independent cultivation groups have almost no chance of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Ye Hongyi's ability to reach the Foundation Establishment stage must have been achieved by standing out from countless rogue cultivators, overcoming mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

A corner.

Yu Lanhua appeared and looked at Chen An, asking, "Who is this woman? She's only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, yet she was able to detect my presence."

Chen An shook his head and said, "I don't know. We cooperated ten years ago, but we haven't been in contact since. I never expected her to be able to reach the Foundation Establishment stage."

Yu Lanhua's eyes flashed with a sharp light as she said, "Could we recruit her to our side? Ideally, we'd like her to participate in the upcoming great battle!"

Chen An said softly, "We don't lack combat power for the time being. Ye Hongyi is, after all, a rogue cultivator, and she's used to being carefree. If she has any disloyal intentions, we may not be able to control her."

Yu Lanhua nodded. As a disciple of the Yu family with the Golden Core cultivation level, she had heard many stories about the cruelty of rogue cultivators from her clan when she was in the sect.

Out of curiosity, Yu Lanhua also came into contact with many independent cultivators, but felt that the descriptions in the stories were too exaggerated.

She was curious about Ye Hongyi; she wanted to know how Ye Hongyi, who had no source of Foundation Establishment Pills, had successfully established her foundation.

In the attic of an inn, Ye Hongyi lay comfortably in a bathtub, playing with a dagger in her hand, gently slicing it across the water's surface as if to cut it open.

"Chen An, why did you reject me?"

"He thinks I'm still the same troublesome pretty face as before? But I've already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. There are so many Qi Refining disciples in the Demon Hunting Team, what am I lacking?"

"Or is it that the other two Foundation Establishment cultivators in the team don't want me to join, and are worried that I'll share the profits with them?"

Ye Hongyi raised the dagger, its reflection illuminating her beautiful face, and she felt a surge of intoxication.

"Or rather, Chen An doesn't trust me!"

"Could it be because I tested him earlier and made him unhappy?"

"If Chen An knew I had a Heavenly Spiritual Root, would he change his mind?"

"I wish I could join the Xuan Yang Sect too."

"I really envy Fellow Daoist Chen's peaceful life, not having to face those two-faced bastards every day."