Taoist cultivation begins with being a miner

"Oh~ In that case, why not consider our Zhongyun? Fellow Daoist Lu should know that our Zhongyun is one of the top gangs in Wuyou City, with several Qi Refining Great Perfection experts."

Moreover, Fellow Daoist Lu knows Sister Yue, so no one will dare to bully you when you come to our Zhongyun..." Ma Ying's mouth never stopped the whole way, which reminded Lu Yan of Huang Ying, whom he met when he was selling talismans. These two were the same kind of people.

As for the other male cultivator, Huo Jiao, he remained taciturn and his personality was very similar to Zheng Qu's.

As the group ventured deeper, Lu Yan encountered many other types of demonic beasts, such as the Black-toothed Wolf, the Fire Cloud Rat, and the Crimson-scaled Python.

Because there were too many people in the group, they all turned around and ran away, and Yue Tingxin and the others were not interested in them either.

Lu Yan knew a little about the Silver-bellied Bear, the target of this mission, which was named for its silver belly fur.

It is irritable, has immense strength, and, more importantly, has extremely high defense, making it very difficult to hunt.

They possess the strength of a high-level Tier 1 beast upon reaching adulthood. It is said that only a very small number of Silver-bellied Bears can break through to Tier 2, but this requires a great deal of effort.

Although the silver-bellied bear is very strong, it is not a social animal, which is why Yue Tingxin and the others had their eyes on it.

Around noon (11:00 to 13:00), the group arrived safely at their destination, a small hill on the outskirts of Qiongyi Ridge deep in the forest.

According to the cultivators who hunted demonic beasts, they had once seen a silver-bellied mother bear with two cubs in the vicinity.

After discussing it, Yue Tingxin and the others split into four teams, each with eight cultivators, to search for the whereabouts of the Silver-bellied Bear. They were to send a signal as soon as they found it.

"Everyone, stick close to me and don't let your guard down." Yue Tingxin breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Chen Zhi leave. She had been annoyed by Chen Zhi the whole way.

Even though she had explicitly rejected his advances, Chen Zhi persisted, leaving Yue Tingxin speechless.

"Understood." The group nodded and followed her closely.

After searching for nearly half an hour without success, just as the group was about to rest for a while, a signal came from not far away.

As soon as the silver-bellied bear appeared, the group rushed towards the signal.

When they arrived at the location, they found Qian Yu being chased by a giant bear that was over ten feet tall, and more than half of the rest of his team had been killed or injured, with the remaining people hiding far away.

It's obvious that their combat strength is not on the same level. Even Qian Yu, who is at the seventh level of Qi Refining, is no match for them, let alone those who are at the middle stage of Qi Refining.

Upon arriving at the location, Yue Tingxin did not hesitate and immediately used her bow and arrows to support Qian Yu.

Wu Jian and Chen Zhi quickly arrived at the battlefield and immediately took action to deal with the silver-bellied bear.

The three of them were all using swords, and they surrounded the silver-bellied bear. With Yue Tingxin's ranged attacks, they were able to suppress the silver-bellied bear for a time.

As for Lu Yan and the others, they were not qualified to take action at all. They could only harass the perimeter of the battlefield. Although they could not break through the defenses, it was better than nothing.

Even though Yue Tingxin and the other three used mid-grade magic weapons, they were still able to damage the Silver-bellied Bear.

"Bang!" Wu Jian was caught off guard and hit by the silver-bellied bear. His holy light talisman shattered, and not only was his sword knocked away, but he was also sent flying.

He crashed into two trees before finally stopping, his arm deformed on the spot, and he was spitting out mouthfuls of blood.

It is clear that they have lost the ability to fight again.

The remaining people became more cautious and dared not get too close to the silver-bellied bear.

Yue Tingxin increased her shooting speed, but the silver-bellied bear's hide was too thick, and the arrows could only penetrate an inch into its flesh.

Seeing this, the group also began to use first-tier advanced talismans.

Qian Yu immediately produced two Fire Serpent Talismans, and the fiery serpents quickly coiled around the Silver-bellied Bear, burning its fur.

Yue Tingxin used two Wind Killing Talismans to leave dozens of wounds of varying sizes on the Silver-bellied Bear.

Chen Zhi unleashed his sword technique, sending over a dozen transparent sword energies towards the silver-bellied bear, worsening its injuries.

The surrounding cultivators also began attacking with fireball and ice spike talismans.

Even so, the silver-bellied bear's attacks did not slow down, and it continued to attack people nearby.

Several cultivators at the mid-stage of Qi Refining were caught off guard by the Silver-bellied Bear due to their slow reaction time. With a single slap, their heads and bodies were reduced to minced meat.

Seeing this, Lu Yan was also startled and quickly retreated far away from it. At the same time, he prepared his props, because he was only here to broaden his horizons and could not die here.

Fortunately, the Silver-bellied Bear didn't have many attack methods and only knew how to use violence. As Yue Tingxin and the other three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators intensified their attacks, its movements gradually slowed down.

It took the group three-quarters of an hour, dozens of first-tier high-level talismans, and more than two hundred first-tier mid-level talismans to finally kill the silver-bellied bear.

After the silver-bellied bear died, the group found two smaller silver-bellied bears in the tree hole before returning.

The operation came at a great cost; Wu Jian remains unconscious and was carried back.

As for the cultivators at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, seven died and nine were injured.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that more than half of the casualties were killed or injured.

Among the people Yue Tingxin called for, a female cultivator named Yan Xueyi had died, and she was somewhat saddened at this moment.

This is the tragedy of cultivators who make a living by hunting demonic beasts.

Catching rabbits and hidden animals on the outskirts is not too dangerous, but the danger increases dramatically once you venture deeper into the forest.

In the eyes of cultivators, demonic beasts are spirit stones, while in the eyes of demonic beasts, human cultivators are delicious food.

Because the silver-bellied bear was too large, it had to be disassembled and stored in everyone's storage bags.

On the way back, they encountered other hunting teams from time to time. When they saw the two captured silver-bellied bear cubs, their eyes burned with desire. If their teams hadn't been so large, they probably would have snatched them directly.

I thought I would return to Worry-Free City safely, but I still encountered an accident on the way.

Three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators dressed in fiery red robes blocked their path.

"Oh no, they're from the Blazing Flame Sect!" Ma Ying exclaimed upon seeing this.

"The Blazing Flame Sect—I think I've heard of it before." Lu Yan felt a sense of familiarity upon hearing the name.

"No way, Brother Lu, you don't even know about the Blazing Flame Sect? That's a top-tier sect in the Great Yan Kingdom, whose main techniques are fire-attribute cultivation methods."

"Although the sect leader of the Blazing Flame Sect is only at the late stage of Core Formation, their Supreme Elder is a genuine Nascent Soul cultivator. Even our City Lord of Worry-Free City doesn't dare to offend the Blazing Flame Sect too much," Ma Ying explained to Lu Yan in detail.

"Would a sect as powerful as this even bother with something as small as ours?"

"This little bit? Fellow Daoist Lu, young demon beasts are very rare, and their prices are naturally outrageously high."

These two silver-bellied bear cubs are worth at least two thousand low-grade spirit stones. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would be tempted, let alone Qi Refining cultivators. It seems we're in some trouble today." Ma Ying's tone was quite helpless.

"Three fellow Daoists from the Blazing Flame Sect, what brings you to our side?" Even though he knew the three had ill intentions, Chen Zhi still mustered his courage and stepped forward to ask.