Both of these giant pythons were extremely massive. With a girth over a meter thick, their bodies radiated a powerful spiritual light, and their eyes flickered with a cold light, continuously spewing frosty air at the humans. "Roar!" One of the cultivators let out a fierce shout, emitting a lion-like roar that caused the attacking giant python to hesitate. Then a golden rope was thrown, binding one of the pythons, and he shouted loudly, "Old Li!" Immediately, a middle-aged man around thirty, tall and wearing a black outfit, his face fierce, and wielding a red long saber, burst forth with rapid steps. His muscles bulged and the red long saber in his hand surged with a reddish glow as he ferociously chopped at the seven-inch vital part of the python. "Clang!" The blow was like thunder, powerful and domineering, shattering the python’s protective spiritual light. Then it struck the azure snake scales, producing a metallic ring, and slightly cracked the scales. "Hiss hiss hiss!" The giant python roared angrily, its body flaring with spiritual light, and suddenly lashed its tail, striking the man in the black outfit. "Boom!" The man in the black outfit, along with his saber, was sent flying backward, crashing into a large tree in the distance and toppling it over. Luckily, at the critical moment, his protective aura surged, warding off most of the damage, and he was not gravely injured. "Now’s the chance, kill!" Seeing this, the three that were entangled with the other giant python also simultaneously wielded their magic artifacts, cast their techniques, and turned their attention towards the python whose protective spiritual light had been broken. "Ao ao ao—" Under the overwhelming onslaught, the giant python threw its head back and screamed pitifully. Such roars made the other giant python nearly go mad. But these five people clearly had experience dealing with demon beasts. In this situation, they did not opt to keep up a frontal assault, but instead kept up the entanglement. After grinding one python to death, they only then started to confront the other python head-on and gradually killed it. "This haul isn’t bad, the materials from these two Azure Blood Pythons can sell for quite a bit of money," said an older man with grey hair, wearing a grey robe. "These two Azure Blood Pythons seem to be a pair, I wonder if they laid eggs." "If they did lay eggs, then we’ve struck it rich," remarked a middle-aged woman in a red robe. "Laying eggs, what are you thinking? We can’t be that lucky," a man in a blue robe said, shaking his head. Following that, the group made their way towards the cave of the two Azure Blood Pythons. These demon beasts live in the mountains, and if they encounter treasures, remains of cultivators, bodies of other demon beasts, or even spiritual medicine and herbs, they would bring them back to their caves. Hence, sometimes after killing a demon beast, exploring its cave can yield unexpected treasures. "There actually are eggs, eight Azure Blood Python eggs!" The woman in the red robe saw something deep in the cave, her eyes lighting up as she exclaimed with surprise. "What, really?" "These eight Azure Blood Python eggs could sell for four to five hundred Spirit Stones!" "We’ve made a fortune with this haul!" Upon hearing this, the others looked at the eggs, their eyes revealing surprise and delight. For them, four to five hundred Spirit Stones split amongst them meant that each would receive roughly a hundred Spirit Stones. A considerable profit indeed. However, the old man in the grey robe fixated on a dark grey, dull-looking core at that moment. Upon seeing the dull-colored core, his slightly murky eyes widened, and his throat felt somewhat dry. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 "Xiao Bo, what are you looking at?" The woman in the red robe noticed the old man in grey robe staring motionlessly and asked aloud. Then she followed his gaze, and suddenly her eyes landed on the dark core. "This is a Monster Core!" The woman in the red robe exclaimed. A Monster Core, similar to the Dao Foundation of Cultivators of the Human Race, is the core that stores mana. However, not all Second Rank Demon Beasts possess a Monster Core. Only some rare or particularly powerful Second Rank Demon Beasts have a Monster Core. Because a Monster Core signifies that the Demon Beast has the potential to advance to Third Rank. If it advances to Third Rank, the Monster Core will also transform into a ’Demon Core,’ comparable to the True Elixir or Golden Core of Nascent Soul Cultivators. Now, inside the lair of the Azure Blood Python, a Monster Core had appeared. Although it looked like a lot of its energy had dissipated, it was still worth a fortune. The addition of eight Azure Blood Python eggs and a Monster Core suddenly made the atmosphere within the cave tense. After all, wealth stirs human hearts. The five of them often cooperated in hunting Demon Beasts but did not have much of a relationship beyond that. The appearance of such a great benefit naturally led to thoughts arising in their minds. "This Monster Core could probably sell for two to three thousand Spirit Stones." "Once sold, each of us could get at least five to six hundred Spirit Stones," the old man in the grey robe said to the others. Upon hearing this, the others showed expressions of delight. This amount of Spirit Stones was no small sum. "Who should hold this Monster Core?" the man in the green robe asked somberly. For something like the Azure Blood Python, they could directly process the carcass as material and divide its value equally among them. The same went for the snake eggs. The extra three snake eggs would be converted into Spirit Stones. But a priceless Monster Core like this couldn’t be dealt with in the same way. As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the cave tensed up again. "What’s going on? I feel so dizzy..." At that moment, the woman in the red robe suddenly clutched her forehead and staggered. "Not good, there’s poison!" The man in the green robe, trembling, also sensed that something was wrong. "Who poisoned us!" The man in black, looking ferocious, shuddered and stumbled as he barked out the question. Turning to the old man in the grey robe, the elegantly-dressed middle-aged man accused coldly, "Old Xiao, you’re the one who poisoned us!" As he spoke, he formed a Spiritual Energy Shield around himself, attempting to block out the poison. "Yao Dao friend, you actually have an anti-poison artifact?"