Chapter 158: The Three-Tailed Fox

A group of people traveled through the Silver Moon Forest. Seeing that we belonged to the Green Vegetable family, most players gave us some face, though quite a few still drooled over my equipment. Ultimately, however, due to our large numbers, they had to abandon any rash ideas.

After walking for nearly an hour, Xu Lin pointed ahead into the pitch-black forest and said, "Today we are hunting two monsters. One is the Wolf King in this forest, and the other is a Tiger King boss near the forest."

"Oh my, listening to this makes it sound like we're entering a zoo," Xinyu said with a smile. Xu Lin immediately glared at her and said, "Stay serious..."

Xinyu stuck out her tongue, pulled my hand, and whispered, "Lin Fan, recently Lin Jie has racked her brains trying to get that guild establishment certificate. I was wondering, if we still can't get the certificate after another week, will she suffer from endocrine disorders?"

I quickly covered her mouth. "You idiot, have you got a death wish? If she hears you, we're both done for!"

Xinyu gave me an apologetic look and continued, "Why is Lin Jie so dead set on establishing a guild?"

"Probably to prove something..." I replied thoughtfully.

"Prove what?"

"I don't know. She is very competitive and always hopes to be stronger than others..."

Xinyu asked with slight surprise, "Are you talking about ambition?"

I hesitated for a moment and nodded helplessly, "Probably so."

Night descended upon the quiet forest, and the dew condensed rapidly beyond imagination. Xinyu's dark blue cloak clung tightly to her delicate shoulders, and the rounded, upturned curves of her buttocks were instantly revealed in full detail. Fortunately, we were walking at the very back of the group, so no one else saw this heart-stopping scene.

I reached out and smoothed Xinyu's cloak backward. This tiny gesture brought a look of absolute bliss to Xinyu's face, and she practically pressed her entire body against mine.

Xu Lin suddenly turned back to look at us and smiled, "The boss is right ahead. It's a Level 60 Gold-tier boss with almost no mobs around it. Lin Fan, Xinyu, the two of you go lure it out. Everyone maintain formation with the warriors at the very front."

With that, Xinyu and I separated from the crowd and walked to the front. The forest was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. Xinyu clearly wasn't the bravest person; she gave me a push forward and said, "You go in first, I'll watch your back!"

I looked at her helplessly, only to see her wearing an innocent expression, as if my going in first was a matter of course.

With no other choice, I bit the bullet and stepped into the pitch-black forest. A thick smell of blood washed over me, followed by a chilly gust of wind. I couldn't help shivering and drew the Crimson Sword.

My vision suddenly brightened as the Crimson Sword actually emitted a crimson glow, illuminating the dark forest and making it look even more eerie and terrifying.

"Damn it, why does this feel like a horror movie!" I cursed under my breath. To my surprise, the response was a muffled roar!

A fiery red shadow darted out swiftly from the trees. I failed to react in time, and my body was instantly pinned by it. Man and beast tumbled out of the forest together.

"Good grief, what a special entrance!" Xinyu was still making sarcastic remarks from the side.

Xu Lin gave an excited order, "Attack!"

Several shock arrows struck the creature in my arms almost simultaneously, and it was only then that I finally saw clearly—this was actually a red fox!

[Three-Tailed Demon Fox] (Gold-tier Boss)
Level: 65
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
……

I quickly retreated a few steps, followed by a powerful, heavy Ice Seal Slash. The fox boss was immediately frozen in ice. Only then did I turn back to ask Xu Lin, "Lin Jie, who gave you this intelligence? Could this possibly be the legendary Level 60 Wolf King boss?"

Xu Lin said somewhat awkwardly, "I must have misread. My friend said they were instantly killed by it, so they didn't have a chance to look closely."

I was startled and checked my own HP. After taking such a powerful strike from the boss, I had only lost a little over 300 HP. Could 835 defense really be that powerful?

I could tell that Xu Lin frequently led this group to fight bosses; otherwise, their coordination wouldn't have been so tight. Most of these players were already over Level 40, and several warriors had very good equipment, with about half already wearing Blue-tier gear. Therefore, the fight wasn't strenuous. Aside from me, the other warriors only lost about 1,000 HP when hit by the boss. With Xuehan's healing abilities, handling this situation was more than enough, not to mention there were a few other high-level priests.

Nearly half an hour passed, and the boss's HP was down to just a tiny sliver. Xu Lin smiled and said, "Everyone put in a bit more effort. Once it drops equipment, we'll sell it for money and split it evenly. If the guild establishment certificate drops, we'll immediately found a guild to rival Romantic World and Loyalty World!"

Morale soared, and the poor little fox immediately breathed its last. Equipment and items clattered all over the ground.

Xinyu rushed over immediately, picked up the equipment piece by piece, and finally turned back to tell Xu Lin, "A Level 45 Purple shield, three pieces of Level 40-something Blue gear, and over 500 gold coins. No guild establishment certificate."

Xu Lin immediately wore a look of disappointment, gritted her teeth, and said, "Let's keep going and take down the Tiger King too. I refuse to believe it won't drop a guild establishment token!"

Thus, everyone continued toward the next target without a single complaint. As she walked, Xinyu asked Xu Lin, "Lin Jie, are we really going to sell this purple shield and split the money? This is a top-tier god-grade item with over 200 defense. Guozi is already Level 45 and can use it just fine."

Xu Lin glanced back at Guozi, who was frolicking with Joly, hesitated slightly, and said, "Then go trade the shield to her. Hopefully, she'll be able to contribute more to everyone in the future!"

Xinyu happily went off to deliver the equipment, while Xu Lin leaned in and whispered to me, "You looked like you had something to say just now. Was there something on your mind?"

I nodded and admitted frankly, "I feel like it wasn't easy for you to gather this bunch of people, so you really should give them some benefits. Look at them—not a single one has equipment above Blue tier. If you really sold the shield and split the money, it might actually win people's hearts."

Xinyu smiled faintly and said, "You think much like I do. But since Xinyu already brought it up, of course, I couldn't let her down. Besides, Guozi is one of our own people, so giving it to her doesn't matter much. I suppose if you were in my shoes, you would have done the same, right?"

I smiled non-committally. "Let's go. It's almost noon, and my stomach is getting a bit hungry..."

……

It took nearly half an hour for everyone to cross that forest, and everyone was covered in dewdrops and leaves. Xuehan playfully tucked a maple leaf into the crack of my shoulder guard and said with a straight face, "Lin Fan, this shoulder guard looks quite pretty~! It has a rather post-modern decadent vibe."

I nodded in agreement, "It certainly does, but Xuehan, don't you think if we piled a lump of cow dung here, the decadent vibe would be even stronger?"

Xuehan was left speechless. Meanwhile, Xinyu laughed from the side and said, "If you ask me, true post-modern decadent art should involve sticking a few steel arrows into Lin Fan's shoulders and letting them bleed a little. That would be sufficiently artistic, wouldn't it, Xuehan?"

"Seems like it..."

"Oh, then I'll start. Lin Fan, don't move..." Xinyu raised the bow in her hand.

I asked in panic, "Xinyu, what are you doing?"

"Adding some decadent vibes~"

"Stop messing around, the Tiger King boss is almost here!" Xu Lin walked ahead without looking back.

Xinyu immediately quieted down, gentle as a virtuous little wife. "Lin Fan, what do you want to eat for lunch? I'll go make it for you."

The male comrades nearby instantly turned green with envy, practically drooling...

Before long, a valley full of green grass appeared before us. Xu Lin said, "According to reliable intelligence, that Level 60 Tiger King boss is inside this canyon. Unfortunately, there are too many mobs. A 30-player team that came here earlier was completely wiped out. That means we are the second team to arrive here."

Xinyu said eagerly, "It's just a lot of mobs, right? Let my Multi-Shot pave the way!"

Xu Lin smiled, "Alright, you lead the way and clear the path. Lin Fan, protect Xinyu in front so she doesn't die."

I asked in surprise, "Xinyu is wearing full god-tier gear; can the mobs here kill her?"

"Of course they can. Don't underestimate the mobs here. The tigers' attack power is definitely not to be taken lightly. Even a slightly lower-level warrior couldn't defeat a tiger mob of the same level."

I couldn't help clicking my tongue in amazement as I looked at the few tigers appearing in the distance. Could those Level 49 normal monsters really be as terrifying as Xu Lin said?

Xinyu charged in like a vanguard, and a tiger immediately lashed out at her with a claw, instantly draining 1/3 of her HP. Almost everyone was taken aback. We knew Xinyu's defense; if a regular mage were to be touched like that, their life would probably be forfeit.

Sure enough, in Destiny, you couldn't measure everything purely by level—just as the power of a Level 60 Dragon boss far exceeded other bosses of the same level.

I stepped forward with a combo attack, and the tiger was instantly taken down. Its total HP definitely didn't exceed 4,000!

Xu Lin smiled and said, "It's still better to have Lin Fan lure the mobs in front. Xinyu, you cast Multi-Shot behind him, and Xuehan and I will cast fire spells. Let's clear our way through!"

So, I blocked the front while Xinyu fired Multi-Shots from behind me. With her formidable attack power, these tigers—which didn't have a massive amount of HP—couldn't even get close to us.

The group pushed further forward. This time, we completely understood why the map was named Fierce Tiger Slope. The massive valley was actually packed with tigers. Although each individual tiger didn't have a huge amount of HP, as Xu Lin and Xuehan burned down the monsters, we could still see our EXP bars climbing steadily upward.

Having witnessed it firsthand, I finally understood why Xu Lin's level had skyrocketed. Her purple Netherfire was simply too overpowering, and both the duration and damage of each cast were far greater than Xuehan's magic. Basically, the probability of any monster surviving after stepping into the fire was practically nil.