There was no mistake, the White Tiger of the West was undeniably furious. It let out an angry roar that made Jin shivered all over. The slope did not injure it as much as Jin had hoped, but it did plenty considering that the tiger would be agitated. When he heard it banging on the doors, he prayed that everything in the next few minutes would go as planned.
The wooden security bar cracked after its first strike and Jin could feel the murderous gaze through the slight opening it created. Right now, it was no longer merely about acquiring some food. The White Tiger was going to kill him to quench its frustration that a tiny existence had not only dared to fight against it but was even able to injure the supreme being, the undisrupted ruler of this serene bamboo forest.
In the meantime, his adrenaline rush was short lived. Unlike when he had cultivation, the injuries Jin incurred from the knockback began to hurt. However, Jin knew he had to bear with the excruciating pain even though he felt that his lower back could give out at any moment if he continued to fight against the white monster.
“Heh, it’s too late for regrets. It’s kill or be killed again.” Jin repeated this phrase in his head like a mantra. It helped to reduce his anxiety and to keep himself sane by reminding himself why he was still enduring in this fight. The Tiger’s gaze disappeared but within a flash, the entire door splintered open. Once again, Jin saw the majestic figure that stood at the gates of the once sacred ground.
The White Tiger roared once more as a challenge, only this time Jin stood unwavering, holding his wakizashi pointing at his enemy with foolish courage and a lotus glass lamp lantern burning quietly on his hand. The white beast found the smell of the temple hall a little unsettling but it cared more about the prey in front of it. As long as he had the opportunity to strike a proper swipe against his cunning prey, he did not mind the wounds inflicted nor this particular disturbing unnatural place of rotten wood, broken stones and rusty metal.
Learning from the mistakes of the past, the tiger did not charge immediately nor decided to pounce. Instead, it began to prowl around the great hall even though Jin remained at the centre of the hall armed with that puny metal poking stick and a small glowing spark. The White Tiger was naturally afraid of the fire yet at the same time fascinated with it. Because whenever there was a twinkle of burning light, it meant that food was around.
But even so, it felt that Jin needed to try harder to scare it with a more substantial source of fire. Not only that, the White Tiger being an intelligent sentient being, it was looking out for those weird surprises this nasty prey had prepared. However, it seemed unable to find any kind of trap.
The only thing it noticed was that the ground was covered with some sort of liquid, but his prey was standing there a little soaked as well so the White Tiger believed there should not be any harm about it. Yet, it did not stop lurking. The White Tiger of the West wanted to instil fear to that weird monkey looking prey and at the same time, trying to adapt itself to the injuries it incurred.
Yes, unfortunately, the weird monkey’s long metal stick was still stuck in his lower right shoulder blade. It was a little painful to move about but the White Tiger did not bother too much for now since it had no means to remove it. Additionally, the injury it received recently from falling into the steps was not drastic enough to hinder its movement. But unlike other creatures who would cower soon after receiving such injuries, the White Tiger relished in the hunt for such a troublesome creature.
Seeing that the White Tiger was taking its time, Jin also understood what it was doing. Psychologically speaking, it was wearing Jin out from the constant vigilance. Jin also noticed that the White’s movements appeared a bit clumsy at first probably due to the injuries it had suffered… until the recent round of prowling where its movements seemed more fluid. But a half intelligent monster was easier to trick than a simple one.
Knowing that right beside his feet was the Priest Staff with a sword blade hidden inside, Jin purposely threw his wakizashi at the White Tiger, aiming to provoke him. But before doing so, he changed into a crouching position so that Jin had a more natural reach towards the Priest Staff. The White Tiger dodged it immediately and went for the counter attack just as Jin suspected. That was when he used the staff to block the tiger’s advance with one hand.
Needlessly to say, the block was futile as the tiger had its mouth chewing at the staff and injuring Jin’s left hand. However, he did not panic and instead Jin took the chance to thrash the lotus glass lamp at the White Tiger’s face. The oil splattered all around its face and the glass pieces forced the tiger to close its eyes. Jin then pulled the sword blade from the side of the staff and used whatever strength he had left to plunge it in the throat area.
As compared to the Katana Jin used previously, the sword from the Priest staff slid into the Tiger’s neck quite smoothly, without any resistance. The White Tiger in retaliation bit at Jin’s hand which he was using to block with the priest staff and tore it off immediately.
“ARGFGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH, FUUU- ” Jin attempted to convert all the pain he was experiencing and focused it as strength to drag the priest sword closer to him, leading to an open wound at the Tiger’s throat. (Too bad, it did not hit the vital arteries)
This attack forced the White Tiger to fall back a little before Jin had the chance to stab it again with the Priest Sword Blade. But it indirectly gave Jin the needed space to move backwards a little too to grab onto a rope which he prepared beforehand. Jin, with his head starting to get heavy, from the loss of his left arm (especially with the substantial amount of blood loss), pulled the rope, resulting one of the temple’s burning torch stands to drop onto the floor.
The burning torch was the ignition tool to set alight the entire main hall since Jin had consciously soaked the pillars, ground and even himself to be on fire. Stupid idea but Jin had to risk everything. For an intelligent being like the White Tiger, Jin could not risk making it think that the whole hall was a trap. (although, he still felt a little weird that the tiger was able to walk normally on a ground filled with oil while Jin had to jump, slide and wiggle with his injuries through the oil soaked ground to reach the centre of the temple hall to use his trap.)
The fire spread wildly in all directions and like a circus show, everything turned into flames almost immediately. The Tiger now staggered by the wound on the throat was trapped in the burning temple halls. It figured this was the last ditch attempt by the monkey and grinned. The stupid monkey would surely die from anger if it knew that as long as it tolerated the fire long enough, it would be only the monkey dying, not him.
Hence, the tiger decided to walk towards the monkey despite the burning hall. As long as the White Tiger had a meal, it would have the opportunity to recover its wounds sufficiently before the fire could finish him off. Jin, on the other hand, was not moving anymore as he felt exceptionally frail. His arm torn off, probably a few broken rib bones and the fire was quickly coming towards them.
“Ah…its really do or die now. C’mon kitty…quick…do your move.” Jin whispered with a very faint breath as he tried to keep himself conscious to the best of his abilities.
The White Tiger moved towards Jin with relief while he observed the monkey not being able to do anything else but to bleed to his demise quietly. Part of him wanted to keep its distance in case the crafty monkey had some last surprise, yet the situation and its own pride as the king of the region did not allow him to watch a prey die like that. Especially when it made him sustained that many injuries.
Because of the wound at its neck, the White Tiger did not have the strength to bite. So it decided to go for the most tender, delicate part of his prey, the abdominal area. Hence, the White Tiger used its paw to move the gong Jin was using as an improvised armour away from his abdominal area. But as it to pull the gong away to feast on the dying prey’s stomach, it realised that Jin’s hand was hiding beneath the cymbal with a short, curved metal stick.
“BANG BANG BANG!” The rounds were mercilessly fired from the revolver Jin had found. “I was hoping to do the fire resistance bit first as recommended by the manual, then follow up with the Origin Ruby Fire bullets. But with the circumstances at hand, let’s just hope that it will be enough or the reverse order is also fine.” The bullets went through the White Tiger’s neck area, the mandible and its torso. With every bullet that exited out of the tiger’s body, a jet stream of fire followed out of the White Tiger’s body.
The White tiger immediately fell onto Jin’s body, which he yelled in pain yet again. But he did not believe this White tiger will die just like that.
Jin moved his hand around to ensure that the revolver’s barrel was aiming at the Tiger’s body before he fired another two more shots. Another two jetstreams of fire flew out of the body once more and Jin could see the eyes of the White Tiger dropped a tear of regret before it slowly turned lifeless.
He did it.
Jin finally killed the White Tiger, but he was stuck under the spiritless corpse of the beast and had no strength to pull himself through. “Ahhh..I guess I will try again next time round.” Jin smiled to himself as he pulled the gun out between the beast corpse and his body. He then took a breather before putting it at his head. The last bullet was for himself since he’d rather die a quick death rather than a slow suffocating one in this fiery pit.
“I hope the flames do you well, White Tiger. You have been a pain in the ass and a blast too.” Jin muttered as he took the courage to pull the trigger on the revolver. “BANG!” A Jetstream of flames appeared from the other side of his skull.
…And he came back awake to the Dungeon Maker’s cultivation room with the sludge not being sucked in by the system but whirling around him. Even while a little surprised, he returned back to the real world from the meditation as he felt an extraordinary amount of chi being circulated around him via the sludge. That was when he looked down to realise that his body was more toned than ever and his chi circuits felt very refreshed.
“Congratulations User, you have advanced to Grade 8 in less than a day. Although total time compression achieved within this cultivation room was approximately three months.” The System stated and was especially delighted with Jin’s new progression.
“White Tiger of the West huh…maybe…just maybe I can make you more than just a figment of my imagination. I look forward to you paying off the arm you took from me.” Jin thought to himself as he lay down on the ground with relief after the constant exasperation.
