Racing all the way back, the white tiger woman rolled on the ground and brazenly dove into the clouds and mist before countless electronic eyes, her entire figure vanishing.
As she plunged into the white mist, the clouds over Huyue Gorge grew even thicker, becoming so dense that one could hardly see their own hand before their face.
Looking down from a satellite, the mist appeared to be surging up from beneath the earth, wrapping Huyue Gorge in wisps that only allowed fleeting glimpses of a thriving, vibrant green.
The instruments sent in by the authorities either mysteriously disappeared or were completely destroyed, becoming no different from ordinary rocks.
Yu Lan had also sent people to try and enter, but the mist was truly bizarre. No matter how familiar the forest rangers were with the environment, they would wander in a daze and unconsciously walk back out, unable to get anywhere near the core area.
Yet, animals could come and go through the white mist as they pleased. Even birds flying in the sky faced no obstacles, which was quite miraculous.
News of a suspected intelligent humanoid non-human creature in the Xixiang region was immediately reported up the chain of command, along with the carcass of that giant catfish.
**
The moment Nan Zhi, transformed into the white tiger woman, stepped into Huyue Gorge, the first things she saw were wild ginseng, Yellow Essence, matsutake mushrooms, wolfberries, and other wild fruits and herbs placed on a banana leaf at the entrance of the bear cave.
These herbs had been washed, though the technique was clearly a bit rough. A piece of wild ginseng as thick as a thumb had a break in it, and as she drew closer, she could smell a faint medicinal fragrance.
On the slope in front of the bear cave, a line of predators—clouded leopards, brown bears, macaques, leopards, and gray wolves—was waiting to "pay tribute" to the cave.
These animals were not demons, nor had they developed true intelligence, but they had been influenced by the spiritual energy Nan Zhi had emitted during her recent seclusion, making them remarkably attuned to human-like behavior.
Seemingly realizing that staying near Huyue Gorge was beneficial to them, these beasts brought prey every day in exchange for being allowed to remain outside the bear cave.
They did nothing else; they just lay there.
Animals are naturally drawn to spiritual energy. Although they could not speak, the primal instincts hidden in their blood reminded them of the benefits of absorbing it.
Consequently, every time Nan Zhi opened her eyes over the past two days, she could see various species of predators—lying, crouching, or reclining in rows on the hillside outside the cave, regardless of the weather.
Sometimes it was a leopard lazily sunbathing and a family of brown bears lying in the grass chewing on orchids; other times it was a python coiled in a tree and a wolf pack with a strict hierarchy.
These animals did not interfere with one another, quietly enjoying their spiritual energy bath in a scene that appeared exceptionally harmonious.
Spiritual energy originates from the nature of heaven and earth, and Nan Zhi did not mind giving back, so she never drove these animals away.
To her surprise, within just a few days, the news seemed to have spread through Qingmeng Mountain, and the variety of animal species gathering outside the slope grew larger and larger.
There were even many rare protected animals with peculiar appearances that Nan Zhi had only ever seen on legal awareness programs.
A group of protected animals did nothing but slump in a lazy slouch on the ground every day, allowing themselves to be petted, hugged, and touched. If members of an animal protection organization saw this, they would likely have a total breakdown on the spot.
“Wu-wa-wa-wa! Wu-ga-ga-ga!”
Several macaques were at the front of the line, peeking toward the bear cave and letting out respectful, low chirps and chatters.
A moment later, there was movement inside the cave.
The golden-furred treasure-seeking mouse darted out like the wind, its nose twitching. It lay on the herbs and sniffed them thoroughly. Once satisfied, it finally nodded to the macaques.
“Zhi-zhi-zhi-zhi! Zhi-zhi-zhi-zhi!”
“Wu-ga-ga-ga! Wu-ga-ga!”
The macaques seemed to have received some kind of approval and immediately skipped away, leaping over the crowd of predators to claim a spot under the tree where the large python usually lay.
The second to "pay tribute" were two clouded leopards, one large and one small. The mother leopard’s fur was messy, looking as if she had been in a fight with some beast. The cub could barely walk steadily, stumbling along beneath its mother.
“Wu...”
The mother leopard lowered her head and stared at the golden mouse for a moment before spitting out a dirt-clump-like object from her mouth and nudging it with her forepaw.
“Wu-wu-wu.”
Corn looked a bit disgusted by the leopard’s saliva, but still pointed toward a patch of open ground near the bear cave and chirped twice with great authority.
“Zhi-zhi-zhi-zhi! Zhi-zhi-zhi!”
A flash of joy appeared in the mother leopard’s eyes. She picked up the cub by the scruff of its neck, slowly paced to that spot, lay down, placed her child against her chest, and began to lick its fur unhurriedly.
After the clouded leopards came a relatively small weasel with bright yellow fur and round, black bead-like eyes, looking more like a cute pet than a wild animal.
“Zhi-zhi-zhi!”
Seeing Corn, who was half its size, it quickly spat out a palm-sized gold nugget and gestured wildly with its black paws.
“Zhi-zhi! Zhi-zhi-zhi!”
It seemed to be recounting its hardships and efforts.
Corn didn't even lift its head, simply pointing its paw toward the back.
A group of powerful beasts was being bossed around by a large golden mouse.
In ancient times, there was the fox borrowing the tiger's might; today, there was the mouse borrowing the tiger's might.
Nan Zhi really wanted to give Corn a round of applause.
The moment she landed, the fur on the surrounding beasts stood on end. All of them flattened themselves against the ground in a posture of submission. Even the hawks and golden eagles atop the trees instinctively buried their heads in their feathers, silent as cicadas in winter.
Nan Zhi knew the reason for this.
Though the white tiger was dead, the baleful aura on its skin had not dissipated.
She didn't make any extra movements, simply striding into the cave. The layer of milky-white mist at the entrance seemed to have a life of its own, automatically parting to reveal the bare interior of the bear cave.
Only long after the white tiger woman’s figure had disappeared did the predators outside dare to slowly lift their heads and crawl quickly toward the spots where they could absorb spiritual energy.
Among over a thousand beasts, not a single one dared to make a sound.
“Zhi-zhi-zhi!”
What cowards.
Corn shook off the mist clinging to its fur, left behind a look of supreme disdain, and scurried into the bear cave on its tiptoes.
It had completely forgotten which one of them had been scared witless back then.
Nan Zhi finally had time to check her kill rewards.
【Congratulations to the cultivator for killing the level 17 red-named monster “Monster Catfish of the Lake.” You have obtained Upgrade Experience ×200, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Small) ×2, Monster Catfish Spirit ×1, Qi-Augmenting Pill ×5, Rejuvenation Pill ×5.】
“As expected, killing monsters in reality also grants experience and rewards. That was a close one; the kill on that big catfish was almost taken by the authorities.”
The Qi-Augmenting Pills and Rejuvenation Pills were essentially advanced versions of the Qi-Supplementing and Blood Supplementing pills. However, the “Monster Catfish Spirit” and “Spiritual Energy Cluster” were rewards she hadn't seen before.
Nan Zhi took these two items out to examine them closely.
The former was a crimson, pigeon-egg-sized glass bead containing a miniature version of the fat catfish. When shaken, the fat catfish would swim around following the movement.
The latter was a cluster of ethereal light. It had no weight in her hand and looked quite ordinary, with nothing special about it.
【Monster Catfish Spirit: A soul mass formed after the death of the Monster Catfish that lived at the bottom of rivers and consumed human souls. It can be used to refine ‘Evil Soul Pills’ or ‘Soul-Absorbing Fans.’ (This seems usable as a type of food.)】
【Spiritual Energy Cluster (Small): A cluster of concentrated spiritual energy. It can be used for alchemy or artifact crafting. When used during cultivation, it increases the concentration of spiritual energy around the body and improves cultivation efficiency.】
【(Single-use consumable, exclusive drop from red-named monsters in the real world.)】
“The purity of spiritual energy one can absorb during meditation is limited, but if I had a significant number of these spiritual energy clusters to soak in, even a pig’s cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds, wouldn't it?”
Nan Zhi couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.
“Why doesn't the game drop such good stuff?”
“As for this catfish spirit... it ate so much human flesh. Using it to refine pills or artifacts seems a bit...”
Seeing the hint in the parentheses, she suddenly had a thought.
Rate on N.U.
