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

In the world of cultivation, battles are never based on reason.

With forty-two members of the demon-hunting team killed and more than thirty wounded, the battle finally came to a close.

Under Yan Gang's command, the armor-piercing cannon fired and successfully hit the Red Tiger Beast's throat.

The once ferocious Crimson Tiger Beast died at the hands of a group of Qi Refining disciples.

The demon hunters weren't particularly excited and, under Yan Gang's command, continued searching for supplies after the battle.

Because the Crimson Tiger Beast is powerful enough, the resources in its territory are more abundant than those of other second-tier demonic beasts.

This will be a great success.

After sealing away the demon core and soul of the Crimson Tiger Beast, its corpse was also placed into a storage bag.

Chen An, Ye Hongyi, and Zheng Ping led ten Qi Refining stage disciples straight to the Crimson Tiger Beast's lair.

The group arrived at a cave encased in reddish-brown rock.

The cave was deep and dark, with only the glowing red crystals on the rock walls making the entire cave resemble the interior of a lurking beast.

Of the ten Qi Refining disciples, four guarded the cave entrance, while the remaining six followed Chen An and the others as they explored the cave.

The path beneath their feet was rugged and uneven, made entirely of crimson rocks stained with the demonic power of the Crimson Tiger Beast. The sharp edges of these rocks had been worn smooth by time and some immense force, and they carried a scorching heat.

The deeper you go into the cave, the higher the temperature becomes.

One of the Qi Refining disciples walking in front reached out and touched the rock wall, only to be scalded so much that he quickly pulled his hand back.

"It's so hot!"

Chen An looked over and saw that the rock that the Qi Refining disciple had just touched was very special. It looked like it had been soaked in magma, and even its interior was scalding red. If he carefully examined it with his divine sense, he could find traces of dark brown, which looked like dried blood, in the cracks of the rock.

"It's beast blood, a clump of high-level demonic beast blood!" Zheng Ping was the first to recognize the source of the stone. He cultivated the Blood Refining Scripture during the Qi Refining stage, so he had a special understanding of demonic beast blood.

Chen An also understood why the rocks distributed around him emitted such high temperatures; it turned out that the blood clots of high-level demonic beasts were releasing their power.

Further in, another passage appeared.

The air was filled with a nauseating, fishy smell, mixed with the putrid stench of wild animals, and a faint hint of sulfur.

The leading Qi Refining disciple couldn't stand the stench and almost vomited.

Chen An had read many records and documents about the Red Tiger Beast's cave.

The cave of the Red Tiger Beast here is absolutely unique.

The caves of ordinary red tiger beasts are very shallow, and you should have reached the end by now. But this red tiger beast's cave not only has no end, but also has a fork in the road.

The Red Tiger Beast is simple-minded; it generally doesn't dig tunnels randomly in caves unless it wasn't originally the owner of the cave.

Curiosity spurred Chen An and his group to venture deeper, and the Qi Refining disciples ahead quickened their pace.

In a clearing deep within the cave, there was a striking bright spot – a medicinal herb growing in a crack in a crimson rock.

"Soul-Nourishing Grass!"

This is an extremely rare herb that cannot be cultivated in sects and only grows in the wild. It can heal those whose spirits are injured and is an auxiliary ingredient in many precious elixirs.

The reason why the Crimson Tiger Beast did not devour the Soul-Nourishing Grass was simply because the Soul-Nourishing Grass was not yet mature. By the time the Soul-Nourishing Grass matured, the Crimson Tiger Beast would have reached its peak cultivation. If it then devoured the Soul-Nourishing Grass, it might be able to successfully advance to a third-tier Crimson Tiger Beast and become a true Great Demon King.

Chen An and his group had just hunted down the Crimson Tiger Beast.

Should we pull up the Soul-Nourishing Grass directly, or wait for it to mature? We definitely need to ask Yu Lanhua. As for the ordinary harvest, Chen An can decide for himself and it doesn't matter.

There's no need for Chen An to keep such a treasure as the Soul-Nourishing Grass, unless he kills all the Qi Refining cultivators who followed him in, including Ye Hongyi and Zheng Ping.

Otherwise, it would be better to hand over the Soul-Nourishing Grass.

Chen An has no use for the resources of high-level cultivators now, so it would be better to just sell them to the Yu family.

Whether we can successfully weather the war in the future depends on the Yu family.

Once it was confirmed that there was no danger in the cave, the group of Qi Refining cultivators were dismissed.

Chen An, Ye Hongyi, and Zheng Ping continued searching for anything else they could take.

The cave contained mostly animal bones.

The Crimson Tiger Beast hunted so many demonic beasts that the cave was filled with the bones of various first- and second-tier demonic beasts.

These are all excellent materials for refining weapons and can fetch a good price.

"Senior Brother Chen, there are several complete corpses of Crimson Pythons here. They must be food that the Crimson Tigers prepared but haven't had time to eat yet."

Zheng Ping's voice came through.

Chen An casually put a piece of purple ore into his storage bag and rushed over to Zheng Ping, where he also saw the monster food that Zheng Ping had mentioned.

The corpses of the three crimson pythons were all second-tier crimson pythons. The ferocity of these beasts was no less than that of the crimson tigers. Unexpectedly, they had now become food for the crimson tigers.

It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. The three red python carcasses are well-preserved and their value is in no way inferior to that of the red tiger carcass.

More importantly, the demon core of the Crimson Python Beast has not yet completely dissipated its demonic power.

Chen An took out the demon core and put it into a bottle specially sealed for storing demon cores.

After exploring further, he collected all the visible minerals from the cave's surface into his storage bag and left the cave.

Chen An will stay here and wait for Yu Lanhua to take over the Soul Nourishing Grass.

To avoid suspicion, Ye Hongyi and Zheng Ping left first.

Ye Hongyi called out to Zheng Ping, "Fellow Daoist Zheng, the Soul-Nourishing Grass! Aren't you tempted?"

Zheng Ping said calmly, "If Fellow Daoist Ye wants to seize it, I don't mind fighting you to the death."

Ye Hongyi chuckled and said, "You think you can fight me to the death? I wouldn't even need to use my full strength to kill you."

After saying that, Ye Hongyi walked in another direction to find the Qi Refining disciples and continue exploring for resources in this territory.

Zheng Ping stared at the direction Ye Hongyi had left, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, his eyes filled with extreme vigilance.

Just now, a wave of divine sense bypassed the defensive magic artifacts on his body, swept directly across his shoulder, and cut a gap in his clothes.

"So powerful! There's even a difference between Foundation Establishment cultivators?"

Zheng Ping had been fighting demonic beasts for many years, so he had a wealth of practical experience. Even though he had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage, he was by no means a weakling in the Foundation Establishment realm. Yet, he was frightened by a single fluctuation of Ye Hongyi's divine sense.

Zheng Ping cultivated for over fifty years to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. Throughout his cultivation career, he worked diligently to acquire resources and overcame countless hardships before finally succeeding in entering the Foundation Establishment realm.

Ye Hongyi has a Heavenly Spiritual Root, so she didn't need to work hard from the beginning of her cultivation. For more than 20 years, she has spent most of her time learning spells and combat techniques.

Zheng Ping is over sixty years old, but he has spent almost twenty years in seclusion cultivating himself, and he also spends the rest of his time earning resources.

Ye Hongyi is twenty-nine years old. She has never formally gone into seclusion. When she first stepped into the Foundation Establishment realm, it only took her less than three days.

Zheng Ping, who lives in the sect, spends his spare time learning how to hunt monsters.

Ye Hongyi, who lives in the world of rogue cultivators, has been learning how to hunt down cultivators since she was a child.

Chen An was wary of Ye Hongyi not only because she was a rogue cultivator, but also because of her strength and her unpredictable deception.