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

Chen An gained a lot from this hunt for the Crimson Tiger Beast. He not only won the favor of the Yu family with the Soul-Nourishing Grass, but also obtained the Longevity Pill that he desperately needed.

The high-level demon beast blood clots collected in the Crimson Tiger Beast Cave can help Wang Qian recover her cultivation more quickly and reduce the side effects of the Blood Refining Scripture.

In another foul-smelling passage, Chen An found an enormous beast bone, still bearing strong traces of demonic energy. All the stench in the passage emanated from this bone.

The owner of this bone seems to have been cursed or poisoned.

The Qi Refining disciple touched the bone with both magic and his physical body to confirm that there were no remaining curses on it before Chen An put the bone into his storage bag.

I look forward to having the opportunity to study this bone in the future.

This bone is valuable, but not to the point that a Golden Core cultivator would covet it. Demon hunters have found many strange beast bones in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, but not all bones can be used to refine magical artifacts.

Those who survived the elite demon-hunting team also reaped enormous rewards, with the resources provided by the Yu family exceeding the gains of ordinary rogue cultivators by more than ten times.

The surviving elite demon hunters did not feel it was unfair that Chen An and other Foundation Establishment cultivators distributed the resources and demon beast materials in the second-tier demon beast cave.

They might even be grateful to Chen An.

Killing the first second-tier monster is just the beginning.

The death of forty-two people was not a large number; in fact, some of them were prepared to die anyway.

When Qi Refining cultivators went to hunt down the most ferocious Crimson Tiger Beast, many people thought they were facing a life-or-death situation. Many people originally thought that Foundation Establishment cultivators such as Chen An and Ye Hongyi would step in.

They succeeded. The fifty-eight survivors, regardless of their past, will become true elite demon hunters in the future.

The experience of surviving will increase their chances of survival in the next monster-hunting operation, and the one after that.

Until one day, they broke through to the Foundation Establishment realm and became truly superior beings.

As for the mortality rate, those who do not join the elite demon-hunting teams will also encounter danger one day.

As a rogue cultivator who wants to climb the ranks, one's life is not in one's own control.

The elite monster-hunting team continues to expand its recruitment.

The successful hunting of second-tier monsters has spurred all monster hunters to strive for advancement.

Only by becoming an elite can one have the chance to gain hope of foundation building.

After a ten-day rest, the elite demon-hunting team was reorganized.

A new monster-hunting operation has begun.

The team expanded to 130 people. Yan Gang learned from the previous monster hunt and made new plans.

Add three squad leaders to the elite demon-hunting team, giving them some autonomy so they can make adjustments at any time during battle.

Chen An, Lu Nian, and Ye Hongyi, three Foundation Establishment cultivators, followed the group.

Zheng Ping stayed behind to handle any emergencies at the base.

As for Yu Lanhua, she stayed where she was, guarding the Soul-Nourishing Grass and waiting for her family to arrive.

Yu Peiyao held great power, handling the affairs of various deputy captains and squad leaders, while also arranging specific demon-hunting operations for thousands of demon hunters in the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

The second second-tier monster the elite monster-hunting team faced was the Antelope.

Under Yan Gang's command, the entire team responded in an orderly manner.

With the team working in perfect harmony, after losing five demon hunters and injuring forty-three others, they successfully captured a second-tier antelope.

Unfortunately, antelopes are social monsters and don't have the habit of hiding treasures. The most valuable items in their territory are the corpses, souls, and cores of second-tier antelopes.

They defeated the second-tier antelope beasts, but there were still more than three hundred first-tier antelope beasts that scattered and fled after the second-tier antelope beasts died.

They generally do not escape the territory of the antelope; they only need to be caught before they are killed by other predators.

The traps and formations set up in the surrounding mountains couldn't trap the second-tier antelope, but the first-tier antelope definitely had no chance of escaping.

First-tier antelopes are best captured alive to fetch a good price. Dead first-tier antelopes are simply gutted and gutted to provide food for the elite demon-hunting team.

With the Red Tiger Beast's treasures preceding it, the Antelope Beast's harvest seemed rather meager.

Ye Hongyi was somewhat disappointed and urged Chen An, "Fellow Daoist Chen, why don't we send the demon-hunting team to search for powerful second-tier demon beasts in the surrounding area that have abundant treasures in their territories, and hunt them down?"

"The spoils from killing the antelope this time are less than one percent of what the red tiger beast gained."

"Based on the casualty ratio, only about forty people died from hunting the Red Tiger Beast."

"Hunting one second-tier antelope beast results in the deaths of five people. Even if ten antelope beasts are hunted, fifty people will die, but it's still not comparable to hunting a red tiger beast."

"This is too much of a waste of time. We should kill more powerful second-tier demonic beasts and obtain the resources from their territories."

Chen An has not yet responded.

Lu Nian glanced at Ye Hongyi. Was she even speaking human language? He began to agree with what the other disciples of the sect had told him about the various shameless and brutal acts committed by rogue cultivators.

Seeing the unusual expression on Lu Nian's face, Ye Hongyi asked, "Does Fellow Daoist Lu have any different opinions?"

Lu Nian snorted and flicked his sleeve, saying, "More than forty people die every time we hunt demons. The demon hunting team has more than 1,600 people in total. Even if they all became elite demon hunters, there wouldn't be enough to kill. Besides, most of them don't even reach the level of elite demon hunters."

"These elites are all dead. What will we do on the battlefield?"

"Will you personally engage in hand-to-hand combat?"

Ye Hongyi scoffed, "There are countless demon hunters in Qingyang Market. As long as we lower our requirements, we can quickly recruit another batch of people."

"1,600 people are not enough, so we need 3,000, or even more."

Lu Nian didn't want to chat with Ye Hongyi. He felt that Ye Hongyi was making fun of him. Although he had never hunted demons, he still had some insights into managing people.

Back on Hundred Refinement Peak, he recruited five Qi Refining cultivators to help him with some daily chores.

With only five people, there was all sorts of intrigue and scheming. Everyone wanted to please Lu Nian, everyone wanted to do an easier job, and some even wanted to steal Lu Nian's things.

Lu Nian understood that managing a group was not simply a matter of assigning people to manage themselves; it also required paying some unseen costs.

Chen An smiled at Ye Hongyi and said, "Fellow Daoist Ye, you have a rather strong desire to kill. If our demon-hunting team does things this way, causing a lot of casualties every day, the news will spread, and no other demon hunters will join us. We might even face investigation from the sect."

"It wouldn't be good if the sect's enforcement team treated me as an evil cultivator."

Ye Hongyi blinked, her gaze sweeping over Lu Nian and Chen An respectively, gaining a certain understanding of Lu Nian's character.

She didn't really want the rogue cultivators to die in exchange for their cultivation resources; she was just saying it casually to see Lu Nian and Chen An's reaction, which was a habit she had when she was a rogue cultivator.

Lu Nian's resentment shows that he will not kill innocent people indiscriminately. Chen An is indifferent to such matters, but given the opportunity in the future, he may really kill many people for the sake of opportunity.

Ye Hongyi chuckled and said softly, "Fellow Daoist Lu, Fellow Daoist Chen, I was just speaking casually. If I really had such thoughts, how could I not know what my fate would be one day?"

"We can take advantage of others, and those who are more capable than us will also take advantage of us."

Lu Nian was taken aback. After hearing Ye Hongyi's words, he did not refute them, nor was he angry anymore. He recalled some past events.

The world of cultivation is cruel, and it is never short of ruthless people.

As Ye Hongyi said, there are too many cultivators who would exploit the deaths of weak cultivators to obtain resources.

They are doing the same thing, just to varying degrees.

If the plan were truly feasible, Chen An, Yu Lanhua, and Ye Hongyi would certainly not have hesitated. The reason they rejected the plan was because it was simply unworkable.

Lu Nian sighed and said, "The cultivation world is fucking cruel."