Cultivating in an VRMMORPG?

Izroth was walking deeper into the Willowed Forest while remaining alert of his surroundings. This forest reminded him of when he was just a boy and would roam freely and wildly throughout such dangerous places.

A frown appeared upon Izroth's face, for some reason he felt as though he was being watched. Although he did not have his peerless cultivation of the past, his instincts and intuition still remained sharp as ever from many years of experience.

"Could it be those people from before coming to look for trouble?" Izroth thought this to himself but quickly dismissed it. They simply were not his match at the moment and would not dare to venture this far into the Willowed Forest.

"Then who-" a sharp glint flashed in Izroth's eyes as a light green blur shot past him. He managed to barely react in time but still felt a sharp pain invade his right arm. During that short window of time, he instantly counterattacked! Izroth's sword struck out at the figure zooming past him!

The fact that he could still manage to counterattack when being taken by surprise was due to the strong strength of his soul and his countless years of firsthand experience in actual combat!

-40 HP!

260/300 HP Remaining! (Izroth)

Battle Alert: Player Izroth has been poisoned! They will lose 10 health every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.

-80 HP!

420/500 HP Remaining! (???)

When the light green figure stopped moving and appeared a couple of meters away from Izroth, he heard a slight hissing sound. That creature had a sinister look in its eyes as it locked onto Izroth.

"Hssssssst..."

Name: Three-Fanged Snake

Level: 8

HP: 500/500

ATK: 40

DEF: 10

AGI: 70

Skills:

Poisonous Fangs(Passive): There is a chance to poison any targets struck by its fangs. Those poisoned will take 10 damage every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. This skill poison ignores defense.

Venom Spit(Active): Spits out poisonous venom in a fan dealing 100% of attack as damage. Those it hit will be poisoned and take 10 damage every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. This skill poison ignores defense.

It seems that this little thing did not have much attack or defense, but its agility was quite high. Add on its poison to that and it could be a nightmare for players! But Izroth was not worried the slightest bit, he still had that tranquil look on his face as he paid close attention to the movements of the 'Three-Fanged Snake'.

Izroth had to end this fight quickly, he could not allow for it to draw out and continuously become poisoned.

"First Baneful Sword: Destruction" Izroth sword filled with an incredible amount of destructive energy rushed towards the 'Three-Fanged Snake'. It wanted to dodge and evade the strike, but Izroth followed its movements closely as though he had already thought many steps ahead! This 'Three-Fanged Snake' possessed an agility that was higher than his own, so he had to read its movements and react properly if he wanted to keep an advantage over it. Izroth's attack successfully hit right on the back of the 'Three-Fanged Snake'!

-260 HP!

160/500 HP Remaining! (Three-Fanged Snake)

-10 HP!

250/300 HP Remaining! (Izroth)

The snake hissed in a fit of rage as it spat out a fan of venom towards Izroth! That venom seemed incredibly deadly as it dripped from the fangs of the 'Three-Fanged Snake' and melted the earth it touched beneath.

Izroth decided this was the perfect moment to test a skill he received not too long ago. "Shadow Movement".

Izroth's body vanished and disappeared into his own shadow! While in this form his agility increased by 200%! That meant that his previous agility of 60 was now 120! Although he could not attack or perform any other actions, it allowed him to move freely throughout the battlefield.

The 'Three-Fanged Snake' looked confused as to what just happened. It had spat out its poisonous venom and then its target seemed to vanish into thin air as its attack hit nothing!

Izroth swiftly rushed towards the direction of the 'Three-Fanged Snake' at full speed, and it had absolutely no clue to where he was!

-10 HP!

240/300 HP Remaining! (Izroth)

As Izroth took another tick of poison damage, his shadow form was instantly dispersed, but it was too late for the 'Three-Fanged Snake' to do anything about his next attack!

"Sword Force" Izroth's sword was suddenly covered by a milky light blue aura as it slashed out viciously towards the 'Three-Fanged Snake'! It tried to slither away to avoid the incoming attack, but that struggle did not last much longer.

-170 HP!

0/500 HP Remaining! (Three-Fanged Snake)

Ding! Congratulations, you have defeated 'Three-Fanged Snake'!

Ding! You have been awarded 250 Experience!

Loot Drop:

-20 bronze coins

Izroth was a bit surprised when he checked the loot. The loot that it gave was not as good as the level 5 demonic boar from earlier, but then something suddenly crossed his mind.

"I suppose defeating demonic type monsters have more benefits than defeating regular beast" this was the conclusion Izroth came to after the few encounters he had. The boar and wolf were both demonic type monsters, while this snake was just a regular beast.

"I see... So these demonic type monsters are like the demon beast from the seven realms, while the normal beast is just like the ferocious beast" Izroth thought to himself as he found a nearby tree to rest by for a moment.

The poison continued to damage him and he would wait for it to fade and regain some health before he decided to venture further. When the poison finally stopped a few moments later, his HP sat at 210.

Out of pure habit, Izroth decided to close his eyes and begin to meditate. During this time he thought about many things, his previous life, the memories of the person whose body he lived in, his promises, his betrayals... Much had been sacrificed for him to reach the pinnacle of cultivation. Many of those he loved had died and withered away, he had grown tired and weary of such a lonely life...

Unknowingly to him, Izroth began to circulate spiritual essence according to the method of the 'Boundless Emperor Void Perfection' technique he originally cultivated... An immense amount of energy from the atmosphere was drawn towards him as he remained in a completely serene state, unaware of the phenomenon he was causing.

...

A few moments later Izroth opened his eyes and felt an incredible power flowing through his body. He was astounded, this power felt similar to the 'Boundless Emperor Void Perfection' technique! But that should not be possible, this world did not have enough spiritual essence for him to cultivate such a high-level heavenly law!

Ding! A mysterious energy has invaded your body!

Ding! System parameters have limited your further increase in power!

Ding! The skill 'Breaker of Limits' has been activated, system parameters have been bypassed!

Ding! You have gained an unknown skill! The system cannot generate this skill! 'Processing...'

Ding! This skill will take 24 hours to generate and process, would you like to generate this skill?

Izroth was reading the alerts and he shook down to his core. While a small part of it was due to the various system announcements, the main reason was that he could feel with his soul, that his body in the real world cultivation level had increased! That should not be possible given the limited spiritual essence but something happened to make this possible.

"Yes, generate the skill"

Ding! Beginning to generate skill... 'Processing 24 hours Remaining'!

Izroth tried to calm himself and regain his wits and composure before thinking about things logically.

"When I tried to sense the spiritual essence in this realm, it had so little that I could not even cultivate some of the lower level heavenly laws. Yet, my body seems to be absorbing energy from another source, as though it is directly linked to an unknown gateway..."

Before getting too excited, Izroth decided to give it a try one more time, but suddenly the swelling power inside of him vanished as he received an alert from the system!

Ding! The system cannot generate this skill at the moment! 'Processing 23 hours 59 minutes 32 seconds Remaining'

Izroth could only sigh in a bit of disappointment as he saw that message. But with this he came across something amazing, he potentially had a way to cultivate in this realm! Not just something that would make him stronger in game, but also increase the cultivation level of his real body in the outside world as well!

Izroth had traveled to all seven realms and had never come across a phenomenon such as this. But nevertheless, he was exhilarated at this moment! Before he had no other goals in this realm, or rather a universe as they called it, besides completing the various task so that the soul of this body's original owner Jin, could eternally rest in peace. But now, this event changed everything!

He may very well be able to cultivate again, but he would not have any solid proof until this skill the system was generating finished. 1 hour in the real world was 10 hours in this world, so it would take a bit more than 2 hours to finish, though it would feel like 24 hours in the game. During this time he could only let out a small sigh of regret for not being able to have answers immediately.

Izroth could only wait for the results and hope that things were the way he perceived them to be.

For now, he would try to become stronger so that he could accomplish the goals he already set for himself and keep the promises he made.

Izroth stood up to his feet and briefly observed his surroundings. He felt as though a new type of energy was lingering around him but he could not grasp its existence quite yet. It was a very mystical feeling. But he did not dwell on it too long before starting his journey further into the Willowed Forest.

...

A shadowy figure was sitting silently on a tree branch quite a distance away from Izroth, but still had a clear sight of him. One could not tell because of how well hidden he was, but there was a slight look of shock on the face of that shadow.

"What was that oppressive energy I felt...? A skill maybe? But for a skill to contain that kind of power, it would have to be..." the shadow mumbled off to himself.

"I should continue to maintain my distance and observe carefully. If they are the one I'm seeking then they must not know I exist yet before it is time. Grow stronger soon, because what awaits you will require strength beyond your current means"

The shadowy figure seemingly vanished into thin air once more...

...

Izroth was now deep within the Willowed Forest. But strangely enough, he had not run into any monsters in this area.

A frown appeared on Izroth's face as he did not run into any monsters on his way to this location beside that 'Three-Fanged Snake' from earlier. How was he supposed to level up if he could not find any monsters to fight?

Just as he was about to turn back around he noticed something peculiar in the distance. It was a waterfall not too far from him and if one observed close enough they would notice the way the water flowed was weird! It did not flow down like a waterfall but instead flowed upwards as though it was being pulled towards something. Though that was only a brief mirage that appeared, one could not tell if that was its true state or not.

Izroth got a bit curious and walked towards the direction of the waterfall. As he moved closer he noticed that behind the waterfall seemed to be an entrance of sorts. From a distance, one would not be able to notice it very well unless they had a very keen vision. But the closer you moved the more visible the entrance behind the waterfall became.

"A cave behind a waterfall?"

Izroth looked towards the side and saw a very unclear and rocky path leading to behind the waterfall. It was made out of a bunch of uneven rocks stacked next to and on top of one another, so it did not seem like a very stable path. Nevertheless, he still decided to venture into the entrance behind the waterfall.

If there was a strong monster behind it and he could defeat it that would be great! But if he could not, he could always escape using 'Flickering Steps' and 'Shadow Movement' so he was not too worried about the risk.

But what Izroth failed to notice as he had his attention on possible gains, was a small alert that appeared on his screen silently.

'You have entered the Dungeon: Goblin's Paradise'