Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 165, Section 163: Rebuilding the Underworld

[Platinum Reward - Yellow Springs Pavilion (Damaged) has been sent to the Soul Gathering Umbrella space. Please check your account.]

This is the first delayed reward that Shin Higashiyama has encountered.

It is still damaged.

He looked out the window, somewhat speechless. Although he could barely see what was happening on the battlefield from his position, and there hadn't even been any fire since the bombing stopped.

However, he could also tell from the perspectives of other players that the Demon Blade had already been dealt with.

He suspected that the so-called damaged Yomi-no-kaku was the castle tower that was almost completely destroyed in the end.

When it was swallowed by the sea of ​​black and red blood, the building was basically reduced to ruins.

Is it really appropriate to use this directly as a platinum reward?

All the trophies in the game "Demon Blade" are unlocked when you achieve the perfect ending with Muramasa Taki.

The bronze reward is a ninja set that includes clothing that increases agility and stealth abilities, as well as various ninja weapons.

The silver reward is a basic skill of the Iga-style ninjutsu called "Five Paths to Self-Awakening Technique".

Both rewards are rather useless, but that's only true for him right now.

If these two rewards were placed in the store or used as player rewards, they would be quite attractive to other players.

Some players simply lack this ability.

The gold reward was the Killing Stone, which arrived without delay. However, since the large stone needed to absorb Yin energy and souls, he put it into the Soul-Gathering Umbrella.

He wouldn't be surprised if a nine-tailed fox suddenly appeared out of this thing.

If things continue like this, the Soul-Gathering Umbrella space will probably turn into a zoo.

"Brother! Brother! It's huge! Suddenly a huge building appeared out of there!"

Ueda Yasushi hurriedly led Higan out and pointed at the Soul-Gathering Umbrella.

"Fizz!"

Higan nodded beside him, and Ueda's hand followed suit, pointing at the umbrella.

"Yes, don't worry, I'll go with you."

To see what special function the Yellow Springs Pavilion had, Shinya Higashiyama floated out of his spirit body and followed them into the Soul-Gathering Umbrella.

Inside the umbrella.

A hazy red mist lingered, and the crimson river was slightly turbulent. On both sides of the river, a continuous expanse of spider lilies grew. At what seemed to be the end of the river, a dilapidated castle tower stood, with a plaque hanging on it.

[Pavilion of the Underworld]

This place is starting to feel more and more like the underworld.
If there were another Yomotsu Hirasaka (entrance) and Sainogahara (judgment), this place would be basically no different from the underworld in Japanese legend.

The Yellow Springs Pavilion appeared dilapidated, yet it blended in strangely with its surroundings, as if it had been created specifically for this place. As they approached, they could faintly hear chanting emanating from within.

The pure Yin energy that had been refined by the blood pool and floated around the space slowly transformed into wisps of spiritual energy as it approached the Yellow Springs Pavilion, and then settled inside the pavilion and was stored there.

Dongshan Shen's mind stirred, and he realized that this spiritual energy could be directly supplied to his body for his own use without any difficulty.

Doesn't this mean that the Yin energy inside the Soul-Gathering Umbrella can be slowly transformed into spiritual energy through this method, serving as his spiritual energy sea, which he can draw upon at any time?

Very good, he has changed his previous disdainful attitude.

The Yellow Springs Pavilion truly lives up to its platinum reward; he was simply too naive.

"Namo Myoho Renge Kyo. This humble monk greets the two benefactors and the great 'Unknowable'."

The chanting stopped, and a monk walked out of the dilapidated gate of the Yellow Springs Pavilion, clasped his hands together, and bowed to Dongshan Shen.

"Nichiren?"

The monk looked somewhat like Nichiren, who emerged from the demon sword, but appeared much younger.

"This humble monk has no Dharma name, nor any memories of past lives, only a single unwavering conviction. I wish to emulate Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, to save sentient beings in hell and alleviate all suffering. My name is of no use to me; you may simply call me Nameless."

The nameless monk spoke sincerely.

Higashiyama Shin didn't dwell on the nameless identity.

Because after arriving here through the reward, everything from his past no longer mattered.

Like the other shore serpent, it can be either the egg of the other shore serpent or not.

In reality, that egg was used by Onmyoji for experiments, which eventually created the monster, Zhu Hai.

This may not necessarily be the Onmyoji's original intention. Perhaps his initial plan was to hatch something like the Higanbana, but he failed in the end.

So, can we say that the little snake on the other side is Zhu Hai?
It just looks silly, but at least it's not ugly.

The Nichiren before us might be a Nichiren from a different timeline, possibly related to the vanished Nichiren, though not closely. More importantly, by piecing together these clues, even with some details still unclear, the outline of what the Onmyoji wanted to accomplish has become clear.

The other shore, killing, deliverance, new Ksitigarbha
He clearly intends to build a hellish underworld through his schemes!
As for the reasons for doing so
Higashiyama Shin recalled the collapsing scene he had seen not long ago, guided by the spider lily spat out by the spider lily. The scene did indeed resemble hell.

Therefore, it must be that the hell of this world collapsed for some reason, and the Onmyoji, with some unknown ambition, attempted to rebuild the Yellow Springs with the power of mortals.

The five-hundred-year agreement he made with the giant serpent was probably meant to be fulfilled within five hundred years.

The Killing Stone, Nichiren, the demon sword, and the snake egg—these are all part of the scheme he devised to achieve his goal.

However, his abilities could not support his ambitions, and he ultimately failed.

The interruption of this world's lineage might also be related to the collapse of Hell.

With a thoughtful expression, Higashiyama Shin, accompanied by an unnamed person, toured the Yomi-no-Kage (Pavilion of the Dead).

Although it was called a "stroll," there wasn't much to see in most places. Only the ground floor of the building was intact; the other four floors were severely damaged.

"If you wish to rebuild the Yellow Springs Pavilion, you may need some rare materials." Wuming claimed to have amnesia, but he was quite knowledgeable.

He's probably the instruction manual that came with the platinum reward, the Yellow Springs Pavilion.

"If the reconstruction can be completed, what role will it play?"

Dongshan asked a question.

Wuming's expression turned serious and solemn.

"If Your Excellency can rebuild the Yellow Springs Pavilion, it will be an invaluable act of merit. From now on, the souls of the deceased will no longer be forced to remain in the body, rotting along with the corpse or helplessly separating from the body, suffering the burning of yang energy. Instead, they can step into the Yellow Springs and re-enter the cycle of reincarnation."

Higashiyama Shin didn't seem happy at all: "What if good people don't want to come to this world anymore?"

Wuming paused for a moment, then shook his head: "Although this place resembles the Yellow Springs, it is not the Yellow Springs of the past. Everything here is controlled by the 'Unknowable' Lord."

He didn't give a direct answer, but what he meant was that Higashiyama Shin could adjust Yomi according to his own preferences, and didn't need to make it the same as the legendary Yomi.

Dongshan remained noncommittal.

Following the typical game format, the materials needed to rebuild the Yellow Springs Pavilion should be obtainable through rewards in later stages of the game.

Many game designers are like this.

However, sometimes moving too fast is not necessarily a good thing; everything should be judged based on the actual situation.

He left the dilapidated Yellow Springs Pavilion. Wuming stood at the door and watched Dongshan Shenyuan leave. A moment later, he returned to the Yellow Springs Pavilion, where the sound of chanting sutras once again came from inside.

After learning that the building was brought by Shinji Higashiyama, Ueda and Higan were no longer worried and started playing around the Sesshoseki.

They were playing tic-tac-toe, using the Sessho-seki (killing stone) as a chessboard, and drawing and painting on it.

Judging from the marks, this wasn't the first time they'd played this game.

It's fortunate that it was described as the Killing Stone, and that it should contain Tamamo-no-Mae. If it were just any random stone of unknown origin, they would be in big trouble if a monkey jumped out.

"Brother, Bi'an has only been eating two fish a day lately, not much!"

As Higashiyama Shin approached, Ueda suddenly straightened up nervously and began to testify on behalf of Higan.

But he was just passing by and didn't ask anything.

It took Higan a few seconds to react, then his eyes hardened, and he gratefully patted Ueda with his tail, looking like a good buddy.

How could Higashiyama Shinnobu not know how many fish Higashiyama eats every day? It's definitely more than two.

Could Ueda have caught the quirks of this stupid snake? He used to be such a smart kid.

"Beyond the Shore, come out with me for a moment."

The little snake probably thought there was some reward, and happily twisted its body before following Higashiyama Shinjiro out of the Soul-Gathering Umbrella.

Ueda belatedly covered his mouth.

Oh no, he made a stupid mistake in his nervousness! Oh no, will my brother punish Bi'an?

He wanted to go out and see the world, but he didn't dare, so he could only wander around the Killing Stone.

Before long, the snake from the other shore crawled back listlessly, looking completely exhausted.

"Higan! Are you alright?" Ueda asked anxiously as he leaned closer.

The little snake shook its head, pointed to its mouth with its tail, and then made an exaggerated vomiting gesture.

"That's it"

Ueda roughly understood what had happened. It was probably that the spider lily inside Higan had been forced to be spat out by his brother, possibly for some unknown purpose, and then Higan was sent back.

Once the little snake gets too far away from the flower, it becomes listless and dispirited.

This was probably just something my brother needed to research, and it has nothing to do with his self-destruction earlier.
(End of this chapter)