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

The next morning.

One hundred miles north of the base, a second-tier demon wolf suddenly went berserk, venturing out of its territory to attack the demon-hunting team, causing heavy casualties among the team members.

The Demon Wolf Beast is a special type of monster. It is fierce and lives in groups. When its life is threatened, it may choose to self-destruct its demon core to attack the monster hunter.

Even if a demon hunter is a whole realm higher than the demon wolf beast, it is difficult to guarantee a harvest, because the demon wolf beast will not leave any materials after it self-destructs. On the contrary, some inexperienced cultivators are easily injured by the backlash.

At the same level, if the demon wolf beast's life is threatened, the demon hunter is very likely to die.

Only Chen An and Zheng Ping, two Foundation Establishment cultivators, remained in the base.

The other Foundation Establishment cultivators were out hunting demons, so to ensure that not too many people were injured, Chen An and Zheng Ping went to investigate.

Logically speaking, as long as demon hunters do not set foot in the territory of the demon wolves, the demon wolves will not easily leave their territory to hunt them down, nor will they easily attack demon hunters who are passing by.

Something unusual has happened; there must be an accident.

There was a demon hunter in the group who took something he shouldn't have in the territory of the demon wolf beast, which aroused the beast's suspicion.

When Chen An arrived at the scene, the demon wolf beast had temporarily retreated, leaving behind more than fifty corpses of demon hunters.

Deputy Captain Yan Gang was tying an old man to a tree and interrogating him with a whip.

"Tell me, what exactly did you do?!"

Yu Peiyao stood not far away, looking at the tragic scene before her, her eyes somewhat dazed, everything had happened too suddenly.

Even the combined monster-hunting operations she participated in over the past two months couldn't compare to the horror of this morning's experience.

More than fifty people died. In just over half an hour, the Demon Wolf Beast had taken down his former comrades and partners, leaving them lying on the ground covered in blood.

At least twenty of the demon hunters perished while protecting Yu Peiyao.

Yu Peiyao's life is more precious than theirs.

The Demon Wolf Beast is among the most intelligent of all the monsters. It knows how to exploit the weaknesses of humans. It will hunt down the people you want to protect, using this method to break through the defenses of the collective. By the time humans react and take effective countermeasures, it will disappear into the mountains and forests, leaving you nowhere to capture it.

More importantly, if you want to hunt it, its life is threatened, and it will self-destruct and trade its life for yours.

There's a saying among the old demon hunters in the Demon Beast Mountain Range: "Better to provoke a Qian Yuan Tiger than a Demon Wolf Beast."

Normally, the Demon Wolf Beast is very docile. It may not care if you walk through its territory or even hunt other monsters on its territory. However, if you offend the Demon Wolf Beast, you will definitely suffer retaliation, which may be endless.

If an ordinary demon-hunting team were to encounter the current situation, they would have no choice but to retreat to Qingyang Market or find another place to stay.

Fortunately, Chen An's demon-hunting team had enough numbers that even the demon wolf beasts dared not easily attack the base, and could only attack some of the smaller demon-hunting teams that had broken off from there.

Chen An stood on a low hill, his divine sense sweeping across the mountain range. He spotted several first-tier demonic wolf beasts secretly observing from below the hillside, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes.

The heavily damaged team remained quiet. The remaining hundred-plus people did not rush back to their base. Instead, they methodically organized an effective defensive formation to ensure that they could respond immediately to any attack from the demon wolf beasts from any direction.

Human experience in the history of monster hunting tells us that when facing a demon wolf beast, running away is the most ridiculous thing to do, because even a first-tier demon wolf beast can hunt down scattered and fleeing human monster hunters. Only by uniting can we make the demon wolf beast fear us.

The appearance of Chen An and Zheng Ping, two Foundation Establishment cultivators, temporarily calmed the morale of the team. Everyone was waiting for the results of Yan Gang's interrogation, and they also wanted to know who had attracted the demonic wolf beast.

The sound of whipping continued from morning until noon. The old man tied to the tree screamed in agony, but he refused to reveal what he knew.

Yan Gang's patience was limited, and he didn't want to implicate other innocent people, but he had to do it because Chen An, Yu Peiyao, and Zheng Ping were all watching.

"Fine, you won't tell me, huh?"

"I heard that your nephew and niece-in-law are also in the demon-hunting team. It's noon now, and they should be on their way."

"And there's Old Wu in the team. I heard you two have a good relationship, so I think he might know something too."

"In the end, I know where your grandchildren in the market are."

"We'll find your son sooner or later. If you don't tell us, then we'll make you pay with the lives of your entire family for these fifty lives."

"I truly don't understand what kind of person could make you endure the torment of the Soul-Snatching Whip. You covered for him, so pay the price!"

The old man's expression changed visibly upon hearing Yan Gang's words, but he still stubbornly kept his eyes closed, waiting for the whip to fall. It was as if he had known from the beginning the price he would pay for bearing all of this.

Zheng Ping stared at the old man and whispered to Chen An, "Senior Brother Chen, this old man hasn't confessed even after being whipped with the Soul-Drawing Whip all morning. He probably has a big secret."

"They probably got something good from the wolf beast's lair."

"This good stuff is more important than the lives of the old man's entire family."

Chen An nodded, agreeing with Zheng Ping's statement. The longer the old man could carry it, the more important the item was.

The old man's friends, Old Wu, were the first to be brought over, followed by his nephew and his nephew's Daoist partner.

When Old Wu arrived at the place, he did not feel fear. He was old and had joined the demon-hunting team. He did not intend to return alive. He only wanted to earn more spirit stones for his descendants before he died.

Old Wu didn't know what the old man was hiding, but he admired and envied the old man's ability to withstand pressure. If he could get a great opportunity to pass on to his descendants, he would probably be like the old man, stubbornly bearing it all without saying a word.

"Old Wang, I never imagined that you, an old man with half your body buried in the ground, would have such an opportunity. It's truly enviable."

The old man, who had remained silent all morning and was tied to the tree, finally spoke. He looked at Old Wu and said with a smile, "Old Wu, you understand me best. It's a pity that I've dragged you into this mess. I'm so sorry. If we meet again in the afterlife, I'll serve you like a cow or a horse to apologize."

The old man then looked at his nephew and his nephew's partner, his eyes filled with a complex emotion, and said, "You should commit suicide. Living would only bring you much suffering. Committing suicide will save you from going through all this trouble. I'll come down to find you later!"

Wang Kui stared wide-eyed, somewhat unable to believe his ears. He was still confused, not knowing what had happened, why his own uncle had been tied up and whipped, or why his uncle had made him commit suicide.

Wang Kui's Daoist partner, Qin Lan, was even more shocked. Looking at the corpses wrapped in white cloth all around her, she was so frightened that she knelt down and cried out, "I don't know anything, I don't know anything, don't kill me!"

If they were disciples of a sect, they might argue righteously, but rogue cultivators knew very well the cruelty of this world. They knew that arguing was pointless; they couldn't escape, and if they wanted to live, they had to put down their noble pride, bend their knees, and kowtow to beg for mercy.

In this chaotic world of independent cultivators, only sect disciples are likely to be able to survive through charity, and the chances are even higher if the recipient is a woman.

Throughout the entire process, Chen An and Zheng Ping did not step forward to mediate or offer their own opinions; they were both waiting for Yan Gang's decision.

Wang Kui knelt down beside him, his voice slightly choked as he said, "Second Uncle, I want to live, I really want to live. Please confess everything, I beg you."

"You know Kangdi's personality. If he knew the cause of your death, he wouldn't have taken this opportunity."