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

The world is never short of hardworking people.

Chen An worked very hard, but he knew that in the cultivation world, there were people who worked even harder and were even more obsessed than him.

For example, Ah Long, who wielded a bone artifact, released power beyond the Foundation Establishment realm in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Ah Long's experiences are already comparable to those of protagonists in novels and fiction. If he were given a special ability or a source of resources, it wouldn't be impossible for him to reach the Nascent Soul stage or even higher.

However, Ah Long does not have any special abilities.

No matter how hard he tries, God won't send him an old man to help him achieve the Great Dao.

Is Chen An confident he can kill Ah Long? No, because people are complex, and one's strength at any time cannot be judged from appearances.

A dying demonic cultivator is the most ferocious and ruthless.

Even the most outstanding geniuses can be ambushed by a sword and perish if they are careless.

Take Fatty Zhang for example. He was very strong, but he died from Chen An's sneak attack.

There are so many righteous Golden Core cultivators, why don't they dare to attack places like Thousand Peaks, which are extremely yang?

It's because even Golden Core cultivators are afraid of death.

If an attack were to actually begin on a place like the Extreme Yang Land, no one would know what kind of methods a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Demonic Path could unleash before their death.

Is it really that difficult for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to kill a Golden Core cultivator?

For righteous cultivators or ordinary demonic cultivators, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish.

However, this may not be the case for the demonic cultivators of the Netherworld Cult.

When ordinary humans are nearing death, they may unleash their full potential when they are desperate and have no other choice.

Moreover, a group of madmen who have cultivated demonic arts have already had their potential limitlessly explored. No one knows what will happen if they continue to unleash it.

After Chen An came into this world, he felt that everyone he saw, except himself, had the potential to be a protagonist.

No matter how many hardships you face, as long as you're alive, you're the main character.

Those who die are no longer the main characters.

Given such a large number of people, there will always be those who survive.

Lying down is the protagonist, fighting and adventuring is the protagonist, resisting fate is the protagonist, compromising with fate is the protagonist. They all have their own scripts and play their own roles.

Chen Anzai plays a character who will stop at nothing to survive to the end.

A lightning-attribute flying sword blocked Ah Long's path.

Chen An did not rush up to fight Ah Long; he waited for Ah Long to make a decision.

Break free from the flying sword and continue your escape.

Or should they abandon their escape plan and instead try to kill Chen An?

There was no option to bypass it, because the shortest path across the rift was blocked by the lightning-attribute flying sword right in front of them.

Chen An did not chase after him, giving Ah Long enough time to think.

Staying meant certain death, so Ah Long chose to escape. He chose to overdraw his life force once again, using the Yin Soul Gourd in his hand to break the blockade of the lightning-attribute flying sword.

Just as the lightning-attribute flying sword was about to be broken.

Chen An casually tossed out two more mid-grade fire-attribute flying swords, while simultaneously channeling his fire spiritual power to counter the Yin Soul power released by the Yin Soul Gourd.

Cold sweat poured down Ah Long's forehead, his eyes darted around, and he was extremely uneasy.

Escape or stay!

However, Chen An was so far away that Ah Long still had a chance to escape, while staying behind meant certain death.

So, escape, keep escaping.

As long as there is hope ahead, Ah Long can't help but chase after it, even if the hope is slim, he will still try his best, because he hopes to survive.

However, if Chen An chooses to completely extinguish Ah Long's hopes...

Chen An was facing a top-tier demonic cultivator making a final desperate attempt before his death.

"Ah Long is dead."

The old man from the withered garden sighed.

In fact, the old man from Kuyuan really hoped that Along and Feiyue could live. The three of them had been together all this time, and although they were wary of each other, they had never had any real conflict of interest.

The old man from the withered source glanced unwillingly at the Thousand Spider Poison Sword, which was trapped in a cloth bag on the edge of the cliff.

To be honest, he really wanted that sword.

But more than wanting a sword, he wanted to live.

Having withdrawn the bloodthirsty aura that had been used to fight against Ye Hongyi, the Old Man of the Withered Origin took two steps back and gently cupped his hands, saying, "Fellow Daoists, would you please allow this old man to leave?"

Ye Hongyi's fire elemental power paused for a moment as she turned her gaze to the Thousand Spider Poison Sword beside the Old Man of the Withered Source.

After some consideration, Ye Hongyi handed the decision over to Chen An. After receiving Chen An's response, she said, "Fellow Daoist may leave. My fellow disciple and I will not stop you."

The old man from the withered source chuckled, patted his robes, and slowly turned around, leaving his back to Ye Hongyi, showing no fear of being ambushed.

The reason Chen An chose to let the Old Man of the Withered Source go was because the Old Man of the Withered Source asked Ye Hongyi if he could leave, and after hesitating, Ye Hongyi asked Chen An for the answer.

If Ye Hongyi were to choose to start a war directly, Chen An would agree, since they would have a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator protecting them.

But the fact that Ye Hongyi asked meant that she wasn't confident she could keep the Old Man of the Withered Source.

Or perhaps she sensed a threat from the old man of the withered source.

It's also possible that Ye Hongyi was already exhausted from fighting A Long, and Chen An was needed as the main force in the later battles, so she asked Chen An for advice.

Regardless of which scenario it is, this battle cannot proceed. Ye Hongyi's slight hesitation will become the breakthrough point in this battle.

Chen An felt that the Old Man of the Dry Source might kill Ye Hongyi, so he didn't want to take the risk.

On the thousand peaks across the rift valley.

Seven figures stood in the void, watching the battlefield on the other side of the rift. During the battle, they wondered if they should take the opportunity to rush over, kill Ye Hongyi and Chen An, and seize the Thousand Spider Poison Sword, as well as the treasures on Chen An's body.

But they hesitated.

They discussed it for a long time, and everyone said they wanted to go, but no one actually went.

It wasn't until after Ah Long died that the discussion shifted; people felt that Ah Long's death was unjust and pathetic.

If Ah Long had released all the spirits from the Gourd of Yin Souls before he died, these people would have had a chance to fly over and scavenge them.

While they despised Ah Long for not daring to risk mutual destruction, they also put themselves in Ah Long's shoes, feeling that they would make the same choice.

Boiling a frog in lukewarm water is an interesting game. Demonic cultivators have conducted countless experiments on mortals in order to refine demonic artifacts.

This kind of game is now being used on demonic cultivators, and it's worked successfully.

"What a painful way to die."

"To die in order to live."

"If it were me, I would fight to the death, because only those who are not afraid of death will not die."

The man who said this was a burly man with a contemptuous look in his eyes, as if he looked down on everyone present.

"Go back, everyone."

"I'd like to see if the Golden Core cultivators on the other side dare to come and visit our Thousand Peaks."

"Also, I'm telling you, if anyone comes to provoke us again, none of you are going to leave."

"I don't think you can escape unscathed like Elder Kuyuan."

"The mountain is closed!"