Seeking immortality begins with daily intelligence reports.

In a secluded corner where no one could see him, Li Shen recited the incantation for the Soul Extraction Technique, his fingertips shimmering with a faint spiritual light.

Since he primarily cultivated spiritual awareness techniques, Li Shen successfully executed the technique after a few attempts.

With a flick of the fingertip, the soul of the crimson python was detached from its body.

"receive!"

Li Shen gave a low shout in his heart, and the Yin Soul Banner moved without wind. A powerful suction force targeting the soul enveloped it, and the soul shadow of the Crimson Python seemed to be pulled by an invisible force.

Even in death, it still refused to submit obediently.

The phantom suddenly swayed, and Li Shen's heart tightened. He gritted his teeth and increased his spiritual power output. A small vortex slowly formed on the banner surface, and the suction force increased sharply.

After about 15 minutes, the whirlpool disappeared on its own.

Li Shen took possession of the soul of this late-stage Tier 1 demon beast.

However, to completely tame and harness its power, it will require a period of training and nurturing to suppress the python's ferocity.

The thought of having a late-stage, peak-level Tier 1 Soul Slave as a henchman, along with ancient spirit insects and other unknown trump cards, filled him with joy.

It's not an exaggeration to call yourself the number one player in the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Li Shengang was somewhat pleased, but then suddenly remembered that the intelligence report seemed to have mentioned something else.

He released his divine sense, keeping watch while searching for any traces that might be a python's nest.

Another fifteen minutes passed, and Zhao Ying and the others gradually recovered.

Li Shen also circled back at this moment.

She looked at everyone and said:

"This place is fraught with danger. I'll take the Crimson Python away first, and then distribute the contribution points after we leave the Prison Mountain."

Everyone agreed with this.

Zhao Ying took out a three-inch-long cage, and with a flash of inspiration, the corpse of the Crimson Python was sucked into it.

As expected of disciples of a sect, they possess magical artifacts and formations, their methods are endless. Looking at us rogue cultivators, tsk tsk...

Li Shen couldn't help but sigh.

With the mission accomplished, the group returned along the same route. The monsters along the way had been mostly cleared out, so their speed increased considerably, and they arrived at the outer perimeter of Laoshan in less than a day.

It's much livelier here than when they first arrived.

Some independent cultivators have already sensed the business opportunity and set up stalls here to sell talismans and pills.

All three actions were tacitly approved.

The respective contribution registration offices for the three groups are also located nearby.

Li Shen and his group arrived at the registration office belonging to the Jade Sword Sect, led by Fairy Zhao Ying.

"Junior Sister Zhao."

"Senior Brother Song."

Zhao Ying greeted the registered disciples.

Li Shen looked at the other person, who looked to be about the same age as him, but whose cultivation level was not concealed at all, clearly at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Li Shen only looked at it for a short while before he felt a slight pain between his eyebrows.

He then turned to one side, his thoughts racing.

Surname Song?

Could it be a member of the Song family, a foundation-building family in the market?

There are four major families in the market: Zhao, Song, Zhou, and Tang.

With profound cultural heritage and unique strengths, their industries are basically spread throughout the entire Yunheshan Market.

Many disciples in the three sects have their presence among them.

Even those who were eliminated from the three major groups, such as Li Shen and Li Niu, would be offered opportunities.

As Li Shen was pondering this, the surrounding chatter gradually increased.

He was slightly taken aback, and when he turned his head, he saw that Zhao Ying had released the corpse of the Crimson Python.

With a length of nearly six zhang (approximately 33 meters), it was impossible not to attract attention lying there.

"A red-striped python!"

The disciple surnamed Song who registered immediately stated the name of the demon beast.

The disciples of the three sects and the rogue cultivators in the market who were watching initially made their own guesses. However, after hearing the name of the demon beast, those who knew a little about it naturally did not miss the opportunity to show off their knowledge and immediately explained to their fellow cultivators nearby what the Crimson-Striped Python was.

As the news spread, everyone's attention naturally began to turn to Zhao Ying's team.

The topics of conversation included both the Jade Sword Sect and independent cultivators like Li Shen.

Li Shen looked around, unsure of what expression to make. He felt those gazes were like needles pricking him, making him extremely awkward.

He just wants to get this over with as soon as possible; being too conspicuous here isn't a good thing.

"Approaching second rank."

Zhao Ying said calmly.

The four words were like adding fuel to the fire.

In particular, her tone was extremely casual, making it seem as simple as killing a near-second-tier monster.

"As expected of a disciple of the Jade Sword Sect, so powerful."

"The Jade Sword Sect should be the strongest of the three sects of Yunhe Mountain."

"These rogue cultivators in their group look so ordinary, how come they're so powerful?"

"There are two more at the fourth level of Qi Refining, tsk tsk, several of my teammates have already died."

"It probably has little to do with them."

"What great luck! I wish I could benefit from it too."

...

Every word he heard filled Li Shen with a sense of helplessness.

The disciple surnamed Song, who had registered, was getting a little out of control because the scene was too lively.

He quickly gave his companion a wink, and the other immediately understood and put away the corpse of the crimson python.

Then, the disciple surnamed Song coughed twice and said:

"Considering the Red-Striped Python's strength, the basic contribution points that can be allocated are 360."

Zhao Ying nodded slightly, and after a moment's thought, calmly said:

"Shi Yong, Liu Feng, Chen Qiao, 18 points each, Li Shen..."

Upon hearing the name, Li Shen's heart tightened. Just then, Zhao Ying turned around and glanced at him, calmly announcing the result:

One hundred and twenty-six points.

The sound wasn't loud, and with the surrounding noise, the onlookers couldn't hear it clearly.

They whispered among themselves about how much it was.

However, judging from the slightly surprised expressions on the faces of the registered disciples, there must be quite a few.

"One hundred and twenty-six points? Junior Sister Zhao, you didn't miscalculate?"

The disciple surnamed Song, who was registering, subconsciously turned his head to look.

Generally, contribution points are deducted whenever a sect disciple contributes. If half of them are deducted, it's clear that sect disciples contribute more.

This is not hard to understand, after all, it is a late-stage peak first-tier demon beast, and it is the kind that is relatively difficult to deal with.

If the sect disciples don't intervene, then with the strength of these rogue cultivators behind them, they wouldn't be able to kill even one of them.

Even so, a level 4 Qi Refining cultivator received more than half of the remaining contribution points.

Could he be an elite disciple from some Foundation Establishment family?

But there are no families with the surname Li in Keyun Heshan Market.

The disciple surnamed Song couldn't understand it, and just then another team arrived, so he had no choice but to register first.

Soon after, Li Shen and his group left.

As he left, Li Shen glanced back at the demon-hunting team that had come after him.

The two leading disciples looked calm and collected, but the unaffiliated cultivators in the group looked exhausted, and the situation was not optimistic.

The demonic beasts they brought out were only mid-stage first-tier beasts.

It seems that the situation in the demon-hunting world is indeed as Brother Shi said: weak rogue cultivators can only serve as cannon fodder.

However, the forty spirit stones hunting tax this time cannot be ignored. If they do not pay the tax and choose to leave Yunhe Mountain Market, their fate will likely be the same as that of the gray-robed old talisman master.

In the world of cultivation, strength ultimately prevails.

Li Shen thought casually. When the team disbanded, the two fairies from the Jade Sword Sect didn't say when the next time would be. Li Shen didn't care, after all, he hadn't signed up to earn contribution points.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, a sound transmission spell drifted over.

Chen Qiao actually told me her address, but I don't know how to use telepathy.

She wanted to politely refuse in person, but then she saw Liu Feng behind Chen Qiao, holding a knife and looking gloomy.

Li Shen had no choice but to give up.

Anyway, as long as he doesn't contact her, he believes she'll understand eventually.

Thinking of this, Li Shen felt somewhat relieved.

He carefully probed the house with his divine sense, and after confirming that no unknown people had appeared, he locked the door.

It's time to take stock of what we've gained this time.