Absolute Destiny Game
Chapter 353 - 9 The Tiger Leads the Way - Tiger Demon Nest

Chapter 353: Chapter 9 The Tiger Leads the Way - Tiger Demon Nest

Passing through the narrow mountain gap and climbing over the rough steep slope, a valley appeared in front of the three travelers.

Xiao Jie said in a deep voice, "Be careful. Since this is a BOSS map, the monster level will certainly be higher than the surrounding areas. Don’t let your guard down."

"Relax, Feng," said I Want to Be Immortal with full confidence, volunteering to lead the way for the team.

He activated his Demon-suppressing Spirit Light—a faint yellow glow enveloped him, which amidst the sinister and chilly gorge seemed to radiate a light of righteousness.

Watching I Want to Be Immortal clad in iron armor, holding a giant axe and leading the way, Xiao Jie thought that such a big figure did indeed provide a sense of security.

He turned to glance at Xiong Da, who was a bit lackluster in comparison. Xiong Da could have been considered a simplified version of I Want to Be Immortal, but ever since the latter changed his profession, the two were incomparable.

The group, consisting of three humans, one bear, and one zombie, continued along the rugged path through the gorge—roar! Suddenly, a tiger leapt from the hillside and pounced towards I Want to Be Immortal.

"Damn, a mere tiger dares to show up, getting too cocky!" I Want to Be Immortal bellowed, swinging his giant axe at the tiger’s head.

Splitting Stone Slash!

Bang! With one strike, the tiger got staggered, its pounce interrupted mid-air.

-98! A bright red number popped up.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a demon, just an ordinary beast, so it did not trigger the bonus effects of the Demon Suppressing Magic.

Sweeping Strike!

-72!

Another axe swept across, striking the tiger on the head, blood spurting out. If it weren’t for the game, that strike would have nearly split the tiger’s head open.

After taking two hits, the tiger’s health plummeted rapidly. Realizing it was no match, it turned to flee.

Roar! Xiong Da suddenly blocked its path from the side, with a powerful Bear Palm Strike knocking the tiger to the ground, then trying to pin it down with a Bear Hug.

The tiger struggled fiercely to escape, just as it was about to get away.

Soul Chasing Life Stealing Dart!

Thud! -57! (Vital Strike)! The dart ended it.

Xiao Jie nodded in satisfaction at the fallen tiger.

Indeed, the Soul Chasing Life Stealing Dart was quite good for a finishing blow.

It was reliable without exception.

The only trouble was that hidden weapons were limited; once thrown, one less remained, which made Xiao Jie reluctant to use too good ones. He was using very ordinary ones from the store, and even with a Vital Strike’s double damage plus the Strength bonus, it only dealt a bit more than fifty damage.

[Mei Hua Dart (Hidden Weapon/Fine)

Attack Power: 24 Stab.

Weapon Description: A dart made of fine iron, named for its plum blossom-like appearance.]

I Want to Be Immortal skillfully skinned the tiger, as he was now the poorest among the three. The million-dollar fortune his brother left for him had long been spent, and now he could only mine and skin to subsidize his expenses.

After dealing with the chance encounter with the little monster, the trio continued on their way. Every so often, they encountered a few more tigers. While the mountain seemed to have few other animals, tigers appeared from time to time. Xiao Jie wondered what all these tigers fed on.

Although the tigers were quite fierce in combat, whenever one appeared alone, it was practically a giveaway.

Having skinned several tiger hides and obtained several tiger bones and tiger penises, I Want to Be Immortal made quite a bit of money.

Xiao Jie didn’t waste this fine opportunity, continuously using Beast Recognition on these tigers, successfully added a new Beast Atlas to his Beast Knowledge, and now he had unlocked 15 Beast Atlases, only five shy of earning a special Beast Study skill.

Seeing the Tiger Demon’s nest on the map was getting closer, Xiao Jie also became more spirited.

Although Kui Li Mountain Lord had died, that didn’t rule out the possibility of other elites or even a female tiger lurking inside, which could spell trouble.

Unexpectedly, as they walked on, an old man suddenly appeared up ahead, looking around as if searching for something.

Nameless old man (Civilian): Level 6. Life Value 120.

"Hey, there’s someone ahead!" I Want to Be Immortal exclaimed in surprise.

"Be careful, there is something off about this guy." Ye Luo appeared to sense something.

Upon seeing the trio, the old man was overjoyed, "Oh dear, you strong heroes have come at the perfect time. My son has broken his leg in the mountain ahead, please help save him. I will certainly reward you generously, even hundreds of taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, I Want to Be Immortal suddenly said, "Hey, Feng, there’s something wrong with the quest this old man is giving, there’s no system prompt for triggering a quest."

Xiao Jie thought, it’s about time you got a bit smarter.

"This old man is probably not just anybody, how could an ordinary person run into these deep mountains? There are so many tigers around here, an ordinary person would have been devoured without a trace long ago."

Although this game doesn’t get every detail perfectly realistic, it generally follows logical believability.

A Level 6 civilian running into Wei Li Mountain, filled with tigers, was obviously not normal.

But Xiao Jie didn’t directly call it out.

"Old man, where is your son?"

"He’s in that cave up ahead." The old man pointed, his face full of smiles, but for some reason, there was an ominous feeling about it.

Xiao Jie looked in the direction the old man pointed to and it was indeed the location of the Tiger Demon’s lair—could this man be a tiger specter?

"Lead the way, old man."

The old man hadn’t led them far when another person appeared ahead.

Nameless Medicine Gatherer (Civilian): Level 8. Life Value 200.

Upon seeing the group, he was overjoyed.

"Ah, it’s so good you came! I’ve just found a giant ginseng in the mountains, it must be a thousand years old. The terrain is treacherous and it’s hard to harvest. Why not follow me, and you’re sure to gain something."

Right, this guy is probably in cahoots with the old man, even the excuses used to lure them are similarly fake.

What’s strange is that their names were displayed in green, the color of friendly units.

Xiao Jie sent a private message to the other two, "Be careful—we should expect a fight up ahead."

"Alright, mate, we were just about to explore further ahead, let’s go together."

The Medicine Gatherer, beyond pleased, hurried forward to lead the way.

After a short distance, as they were nearing the cave entrance, they saw a woman appear, looking frail and weak, lying on the mud beside the cave entrance.

Nameless woman (Civilian): Level 7. Life Value 140.

"Oh dear heroes, it’s so good you’ve come! I accidentally twisted my ankle. Could you carry me to that cave to rest? I will be sure to have a reward for you."

Speaking, her clothing was half-revealed, showing a sliver of fair skin beneath.

Xiao Jie glanced at the pitch-dark cave in front of him, where he could see some dried bloodstains and scattered human bones at the entrance; he thought to himself, can’t these tiger demons polish their script a bit? - What kind of performance is this?

Xiao Jie was too lazy to pretend anymore since they had already found the entrance. It would be bad if these three fools caused chaos during the upcoming battle.

"Let’s go!"

With those words, Xiao Jie suddenly swung his sword.

Ye Luo was still hesitating, after all killing a green-named NPC would result in a loss of reputation and Merit Points, but I Want to Be Immortal didn’t hesitate at all and chopped down with his axe.

The woman was killed by two axe strikes from I Want to Be Immortal, and she turned out to be nothing but a skeleton.

On the other side, Xiao Jie chopped down the old man and the Medicine Gatherer. They too were just skeletons, with their clothes long decayed.

When Xiao Jie hovered his mouse over them again, it showed — ’corpse of a tiger demon’.

"It’s really a tiger demon! Too bad it only gave five Experience Points."

The five Experience Points were from the Medicine Gatherer; the old man didn’t give a single point.

He clicked to loot, huh, not too little was dropped.

A gold ring, a silver bracelet, a jade hairpin, Copper Coins ×1143...

[Gold Ring (Accessory)

Item Description: A ring made of pure gold, it can be exchanged for money.]

[Silver Bracelet (Accessory)

Item Description: A bracelet made of pure silver, it is a valuable asset...]

No attributes, but it could be sold for money.

Xiao Jie was beginning to guess a possibility, could it be that these tiger demons lured people here to feed to the tigers, and incidentally took the victims’ belongings?

Tsk tsk tsk.

Just about to enter the cave —

"Hold on," said Ye Luo, who took a spade out of his bag and started digging a few holes to bury the skeletons in.

"What are you doing?"

"Profession task — Lay the dead to rest, 5 Merit Points for burying a skeleton."

After dealing with the skeletons, the three of them then entered the cave, becoming alert as soon as they stepped inside.

Xiao Jie lit a torch, Ye Luo activated Dark Vision, and even I Want to Be Immortal activated Demon-suppressing Spirit Light, which also had a lighting effect, particularly conspicuous in the dark.

"Xiong Da, you take the lead!" Xiao Jie ordered, and of course, it was Xiong Da’s job to lead the way.

"Rawr—Okay, master," Xiong Da grumbled unhappily and moved to the front.

They hadn’t walked far before they saw numerous skeletons on the ground, animal and human alike, growing more numerous until they covered the floor.

"Man, this Kui Li Mountain Lord hasn’t eaten sparingly at all."

While Xiao Jie was reflecting on this, a roar suddenly came from the darkness ahead, putting everyone on guard.

The roaring sound got closer, but it seemed somewhat childish.

Suddenly, a black shadow rushed out of the dark towards them.

Awoo! Xiong Da slammed his bear paw down, flipping the black shadow onto the ground, and just as he was about to follow up, Xiao Jie hastily called for a halt.

Looking closer, they saw a small, injured tiger cub lying on the ground.

With its beautiful black and yellow stripes, its large fluffy paws, and its stout tiger-like appearance, it was quite adorable.

Although it was small, it showed no fear under Xiong Da’s bear paw, struggling with all its might to fight Xiong Da to the death.

Tiger Demon Cub: Level 5. Life Value 180.

"Aw, what a cute little guy," Ye Luo found it interesting.

Xiao Jie, however, noticed the name above the little tiger’s head.

This must be Kui Li Mountain Lord’s cub.

Tiger Demon Cub... A thought struck Xiao Jie, could this creature be a demon beast?

"Xiong Da, let it go." As he spoke, he stepped forward—feeding the beast, throwing a piece of Secret Dog Food towards the little tiger.

Seeing it, the little tiger immediately pounced on the Dog Food, devouring it hungrily, apparently very famished.

"Everyone back off, I’ll handle it."

Xiao Jie stepped forward and began using ’Calming Beasts’ on the little tiger. At first, the little tiger tried to struggle, but then it seemed to sense something, a familiar aura emanating from the human in front of it, and it stopped struggling. It nuzzled against Xiao Jie’s hand while continuing to wolf down the meatballs.

Xiao Jie used Beast Recognition on the little tiger in front of him.

[Tiger Demon Cub (Demon Beast Cub): Level 5. Life Value 180.

Taming difficulty: Normal.

Skills: Bite LV2, Choking LV2, Demonization (Locked).]

As he had suspected, it was a demon beast, no, not yet a demon beast; it needed to unlock the Demonization skill to truly be considered a real demon beast.

Huh, the taming difficulty was so low?

Considering even Xiong Da’s taming difficulty was hard, a tiger should at the very least be extremely difficult.

(Taming difficulty five levels, Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, Untamable)

Xiao Jie had an idea, glancing at the Demon Soul Entanglement DEBUFF on his head, thinking perhaps it was because of this effect?

That’s right, Demon Soul Entanglement, wouldn’t that mean he had the remnants of the tiger demon’s essence on him, could it be that the cub considered him its own father?

Of course, it might also be due to the cub’s age; after all, a cub is not a mature tiger and would be easier to tame.

Also, he possessed the Beast Knowledge skill and had an Illustrated Book that reduced the taming difficulty by 1.

This was a great opportunity, a demon beast cub, and an easily tamable demon beast cub at that. Where else could one find such a chance?

In the future, after leveling up a few times and unlocking the Demonization skill, it could be considered a Top-Grade Pet.

Besides, didn’t Kui Li Mountain Lord ask him to take care of his cub?

Taking care of it like a baby would surely be the best care.