I believe it was a 2000's or an early 2010's anime, a pretty standard cultivation anime. It wasn't 3d or cgi or anything; it seemed to be a pretty standard japanese animation style. I can't recall whether it was in japanese or chinese though. I remember MC did a lot of body tempering early on with baths specifically and some special herb, and I remember a fairly early fight against a giant beast, i think it mightve been a large tiger (i could be mistaken about that). His mentor was a female and they lived a bit away from the main sect. I remember MC's friends were really surprised about MC's fleshly body strength

The anime of Spirit Blade Mountain is from 2016... but it sounds similar.

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~4400 manga completed
~1700 ongoing...

That's the one! Thank you master, I'll never forget this kindness. I kowtow 9 times with fervent gratitude.