Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 74 - The Tiger Roars in the Mountain

Since they found the formation’s core, naturally, they had to attack.

However, they were currently losing health and couldn’t replenish it. If the village chief was particularly strong, this battle would be unwinnable.

Everyone hesitated a bit, but Dugu Zhuo immediately took action and said, “He can only maintain either the formation or the attack, but not both. Once he’s distracted, the formation will be broken!”

Hearing this, everyone was no longer afraid and directly charged at the white-bearded village chief. The village chief didn’t dodge at all, and his attack power was weak; he just stood there, letting the players hit him, while one hand remained pressed on a stone.

Ye Zhou saw this clearly, and he approached with his sword, piercing the stone with one strike. With a “boom,” the formation shattered!

The first thing everyone did was to consume healing pills. Yi Meng Xiaoyao, meanwhile, transformed his lower body into a tree trunk, extending roots from his feet to absorb nutrients from the ground for recovery.

Dugu Zhuo didn’t care about his health, instead slashing at the village chief with his sword. His sword, reforged using Dugu Zhuo’s blood, had higher attack power than ordinary weapons. It should have pierced through the old man, but the village chief unexpectedly grabbed the sword with his bare hands, grinning sinisterly as he said, “Earlier, I couldn’t retaliate while maintaining the formation, but did you really think I was helpless?”

The village chief’s white beard suddenly turned black and grew longer, entangling everyone. The players’ health and spiritual energy steadily decreased, while the village chief, who only had 13% of his health left, gradually began to recover.

Everyone struggled but found they couldn’t break free from the beard. Even Dugu Zhuo’s sword couldn’t cut through it, as if they were destined to be absorbed by the old man.

When the others’ health dropped to 50% and Dugu Zhuo’s health fell to 25%, the village chief’s health was fully restored, and he released everyone.

“Hehehe, I sent you up the mountain to catch a tiger, and you ended up in our village instead?” the village chief said with a sinister smile.

From experience, when a villain starts talking more, it usually gives the protagonists time to heal. Everyone quickly started healing and replenishing their health. Dugu Zhuo grabbed a large handful of healing pills, but instead of consuming them, he directly used his true essence to catalyze their absorption, which was faster.

“Why do you want to catch the spirit tiger?” Dugu Zhuo asked, taking the opportunity.

“That tiger is the offspring of a demon clan and a spirit clan. It doesn’t absorb human essence, and its true essence is pure, making its demon core the purest demon spirit core. Its hide can be made into armor, its bones can be used as medicine to heal injuries, its flesh can enhance one’s power, and its demon core can be used in alchemy. With secret methods, it can even transform a demon into a spirit. Its soul can also be refined into a magical artifact, capable of withstanding a tribulation of the Nascent Soul stage. Its entire body is a treasure—how could I let it go?” the village chief explained.

“How cruel, but that tiger does seem quite valuable,” Yi Meng Xiaoyao said, tears of sympathy inexplicably running down his cheek.

While the village chief said all that, Dugu Zhuo focused on the part about transforming demons into spirits. He asked, “Why do you want to transform demons into spirits?”

“The Protector of the Hidden God Temple ordered it; we’re just following orders,” the village chief replied.

The mention of “Hidden God Temple” sent a shock through Dugu Zhuo’s heart. The Hidden God Temple was mentioned by the evil cultivators they encountered when they were drawn into the cultivation world by Ye Jian’s painting. It had never been mentioned in the game’s previous settings or storylines, so it was surprising to hear it now in the newly updated Spirit Tiger’s Fang dungeon.

“What does the Hidden God Temple want to do?” Dugu Zhuo pressed on.

Unfortunately, the village chief had no intention of revealing more. He pulled out a staff and attacked the group, saying, “I’m going to turn you all into corpse puppets and send you to catch that tiger, hahaha!”

Seeing that the boss wouldn’t give any more crucial information, Dugu Zhuo ordered the team to engage in battle. They stuck to their strategy of controlling the enemy, dealing damage, controlling again, and dealing more damage.

The old man’s attacks were almost entirely physical, with no use of insects. Partway through the battle, the village chief used a “Confusion” skill to control one of the players, causing them to attack their teammates indiscriminately. With no prior experience, the team was caught off guard, and one teammate ended up controlled.

What could have been a major problem turned out to be a minor one since the village chief controlled Ye Jian, who was completely non-combatant.

Ye Jian raised his fan and started swinging it around. Though his attack power increased under control, his fan was a level 10 game gift weapon, and he had allocated all his attribute points to agility, charisma, and health, never once investing in strength. Even if he hit someone, what damage could he possibly do?

Ye Jian was controlled by a gu worm, which had destroyed his consciousness, making it impossible to save him. Ye Zhou, resolute, ended his life in an act of mercy. Ye Jian’s health reached zero, but instead of collapsing, his head fell off, revealing a talisman that had taken his place.

The talisman allowed Ye Jian to escape death once, and he quickly got back up, hiding behind Yi Meng Xiaoyao to avoid the fray. Using the massive body of the willow tree as a shield, he dodged two fatal attacks, and together with the others, they finally defeated the village chief.

As the village chief fell, he said, “You’re too late; that tiger is already finished, hahaha!”

“Screw you!” Bai Yi Piao Piao, dressed in white with pale skin, transformed her hand into a claw, with nails growing 15 centimeters long, as sharp as steel knives. She delivered a final blow, taking away the last sliver of the village chief’s health.

After the village chief was defeated, Bai Yi Piao Piao, as usual, took on the task of looting the corpse. She rummaged through the old man’s pockets and smiled, saying, “Found something good.”

It was a talisman jade, which could protect the wearer from any form of control, whether it be possession by ghosts or gu worms—an all-around safeguard.

Everyone agreed that this jade should go to Dugu Zhuo, who gladly accepted it, but he quietly handed it over to Ye Zhou afterward.

Even though the village chief was dead, the Spirit Tiger’s Fang dungeon didn’t indicate that it was cleared, which meant there were more challenges ahead. Who knew what kind of enemies or difficulties they would face next?

Yi Meng Xiaoyao, sitting on the ground and panting heavily, said, “It’s already 5 PM. We’ve been struggling in this dungeon for two hours. This is way too hard! Not to mention the conditions for entering the dungeon; if it weren’t for Dugu Zhuo remembering the village layout and Ye Jian having the illusion lamp, there’s no way we could have found a way out.”

Dugu Zhuo responded, “It’s not that bad.”

He glanced around at the surroundings. With the village chief’s fall, the village returned to its original state, transforming into a decaying place with collapsed houses, looking entirely uninhabitable.

Dugu Zhuo searched through several houses and surprisingly found a map drawn on animal hide—it was the village’s map, with a red dot marking the village chief’s location.

“It turns out if we had searched the village thoroughly from the start, we could have found this map. Looks like this instance isn’t as unfair as we thought,” Ti Tou Lai Jian remarked.

Yi Meng Xiao Yao said, “But it’s our first time in this instance, and we’re unfamiliar with the terrain, so finding the map would’ve taken a long time. If Dugu Zhuo hadn’t discovered it early, by the time we found the old man, our health would’ve been critically low. Even with some health recovery, facing the village chief’s draining abilities would’ve meant total annihilation.”

Bai Yi Piao Piao commented, “That’s how it is during the pioneering phase. When no strategy guides exist for a new instance, dying a few times is normal, isn’t it?”

Ye Jian added, “The initial quest seemed really complicated, but I believe that after players die enough times, they’ll start suspecting something is wrong with the quest and eventually discover the hidden clue in the word ‘oral.’”

Ye Zhou said, “Even though I recognized the words ‘You Lang,’ in hindsight, even if I hadn’t, if we’d asked every NPC in the teahouse, someone would have told us that the quest came from You Lang.”

As for going to Qu Yuan Street to find You Lang, even if we couldn’t find him at first, after a few tries, we would have discovered the tusk necklace.

In short, even without Dugu Zhuo, players could still clear the Yaoling Tiger Fang instance, but considering how tricky each stage is, it would probably take them ten days to half a month.

“What do we do next?” Yi Meng Xiao Yao gave up thinking and directly looked at Dugu Zhuo.

Dugu Zhuo replied, “Since the village chief mentioned the Spirit Tiger before he died, naturally, we should head to Tiger Roar Mountain. This is the Yaoling Tiger Fang instance, after all—what kind of Tiger Fang instance is it if we don’t see a tiger?”

“Right,” Yi Meng Xiao Yao patted his forehead, “We’ve been so focused on fighting bugs that we forgot this instance is related to tigers.”

“It’s really unfair. Who would have thought the Yaoling Tiger Fang instance would be about catching bugs instead of fighting tigers?” Bai Yi Piao Piao shook his head.

Ye Zhou thought for a moment and cautiously said, “Before we leave, let’s search the village again. What if there’s another token or something? The tiger has already been attacked by several groups of players. What if it doesn’t trust us? Also, what the village chief said before he died is bothering me. I suspect the tiger might have been harmed.”

Everyone agreed it made sense. Since it was their first time in such a tricky instance, it was better to be thorough.

“No need to search one by one, leave it to me!” With the bugs gone, Yi Meng Xiao Yao immediately became arrogant.

He transformed into a massive willow tree, over ten meters tall. His branches extended and began sweeping through the village. At the same time, his roots continuously uprooted and reburied themselves in the soil, moving across the ground. In no time, he had thoroughly dug through the entire village, turning every inch of soil.

Dugu Zhuo watched Yi Meng Xiao Yao and thought of the hardworking farmers he had seen during his red dust training. He mused that if this willow demon could be hired to help the people of Dawn break new ground, it would be wonderful.

Yi Meng Xiao Yao rummaged around and actually found a token under the village chief’s corpse. He handed it to Dugu Zhuo, who glanced at it and said, “It’s used to activate a formation. It seems Tiger Roar Mountain is still sealed by a formation. Without this, we wouldn’t be able to enter.”

Yi Meng Xiao Yao remarked, “Right, when we entered the instance before, we had to bring the quest slip and meet the white-bearded village chief to ascend the mountain. So, he was the one helping us open the formation?”

“That seems to be the case.” Dugu Zhuo turned to Ye Zhou, “Thanks to your attention to detail; otherwise, we would’ve made a wasted trip.”

Ye Zhou blushed slightly under his gaze and said, “It’s not really being detail-oriented, just wanting to be on the safe side.”

“Sigh!” Ye Jian sighed loudly, stepping between Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou, waving his fan. “Aren’t we going to save the tiger?”

Ye Zhou made a face at Ye Jian’s back, and the group continued on their way.

The Corpse Gu Village wasn’t far from Tiger Roar Mountain. Each person displayed their abilities, and after flying for a short while, they arrived at the mountain’s base. As expected, an invisible barrier was there, making entry impossible without the token.

Dugu Zhuo used the token, and a passage opened through the barrier. The group cautiously walked in, this time with Dugu Zhuo leading the way instead of Yi Meng Xiao Yao.

As they reached halfway up the mountain, a shadow flashed through the forest. A black tiger, standing five meters tall, appeared before them, glaring at them with hostility.

“Why has the tiger been dyed?” Ti Tou Lai Jian exclaimed in surprise.

Just as Ti Tou Lai Jian expressed his thoughts, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, realizing that the Ghost Contract had taken effect. He looked at You Lang.

You Lang’s eyes were blood-red, and he suddenly broke free from the willow demon’s control. Standing between the group and the tiger, he asked Ti Tou Lai Jian, “Should I make my first strike against the tiger or you guys?”

Ti Tou Lai Jian said, “I had an agreement with him that the first strike after encountering the final boss would be at my command… Does this mean the final boss is the tiger?”

Yi Meng Xiao Yao said, “It’s possible. The tiger has turned black, so maybe it’s under the control of the Corpse Gu Village. Let You Lang attack the tiger!”

Just as Ti Tou Lai Jian was about to decide, Ye Zhou and Dugu Zhuo simultaneously said, “Wait!”

The tiger let out a low growl, staring at Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou.

Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou said, “Have You Lang attack us.”

**Author’s note:**  

Ye Zhou: Fighting the tiger is out of the question. Tigers are so cute; I just want to pet it.  

Dugu Zhuo: We should still fight the tiger.