I cultivate the Purple Mansion Golden Elixir Dao on Earth

"...The so-called 'back room' is a virtual worldview that emerged in the late 10s."

"It originated from a photo on a foreign forum."

"The person who posted that photo said on the forum that they were trapped in the unknown space depicted in the photo and couldn't get out. And the scene in that photo was almost exactly the same as this platform—thus, a wave of re-creations based on this post was started..."

Xu Xiu and Su Xu walked forward on the yellowish-brown carpet, their feet sinking into the dark brown. They had been walking for most of the day, passing through countless geometric walls, yet they still couldn't see the end.

The carpet beneath their feet felt slightly damp, yet it wasn't like simple plush; it was more like some kind of sponge, or vibrant moss.

Xu Xiu felt a chill run down her spine as she explained the concept of the "back room" to Su Xu.

They did not stay where they had just come down the spiral staircase.

Although perhaps we can use those steps to return to the ground and re-enter that eerie white mist.

but……

"I should have been more careful before coming down here."

Xu Xiu sighed.

"I didn't notice when I was walking down the stairs, but when I turned around, both the stairs and the hole at the top had disappeared."

"Alas, the [back room]... It is said that once you enter the [back room], there is no way to ever come out again. You can only keep moving forward or downward, going deeper and deeper into the innermost room."

Su Xu was always walking slightly ahead of her by half a body length, but when he heard this, he didn't show any expression on his face.

He knew the girl didn't say it on purpose, and he didn't think there was any resentment hidden in her words.

But continuing on this topic might make Xu Xiu realize that he sounded like he was complaining, so the boy immediately pressed on:

"Is that 'back room' you mentioned very famous?"

"Of course it's famous!"

Xu Xiu shook her head.

"Su Xu, at least you know about Cthulhu, right?"

"Yes, I've heard of it before... It seems to be some kind of mythological concept that was created in the 20th century, and many works have been created based on it. It has become very popular in China in recent years."

"However, I have no specific knowledge of either the prototype of the concept or the later works."

Su Xu said in a deep voice.

"You...sigh, I've been telling you all the time not to bury yourself in those useless books in the classroom, but to get out in the sun and do some truly meaningful activities online."

"...Let me tell you this: for people in their twenties and thirties, Cthulhu and the Foundation are high-brow concepts—but for us high school students, no, I should say, among us high school students, the 'backroom' is the hottest fashion item right now!"

"Although it's a relatively new concept, emerging only in recent years, its popularity is in no way inferior to its predecessors, especially among high school students, where it has become a hot topic!"

"—Especially Minjiang City!"

"High school students in Minjiang City are known for their love of following trends and fashions, and once they came across the concept of 'backroom,' they were all basically hooked... As far as I know, in our school alone, there are already hundreds of discussion groups about 'backroom' among the current students! That's more than the combined number of members in the school's anime club, literature club, and scriptwriting club!"

"So..."

Hearing Xu Xiu's words, Su Xu's expression did not change at all.

But something seemed to have occurred to him, and his eyes narrowed slightly:

"...Now that you mention it, could it be that the concept of 'backrooms' is so prevalent in our school that led to the formation of this platform?"

"...!"

Xu Xiu realized what was happening, her eyes widened, and she looked at him in disbelief.

"...You mean, because everyone's been discussing and thinking about things like 'back rooms,' a kind of 'back room' has formed under the school?!"

Su Xu nodded.

Xu Xiu's expression changed several times, and he said in a tone of surprise and uncertainty:

"That can't be right, can it? If that's the case... that's too idealistic!"

Perhaps idealism is the essence of this world.

Su Xu ultimately didn't say those words aloud, but simply shook his head, conveying neither agreement nor disagreement.

Just as the two were feeling unsettled and confused because of this conjecture.

A gasp of surprise—

"ah!"

It sounded extremely indistinct, like the shout of a girl of similar age coming from a great distance.

"...It's a human voice, just like ours!"

The two exchanged a glance, both able to see the joy and wariness in each other's eyes.

"That back room you mentioned... is there a humanoid monster in there?"

"These monsters do exist, but they don't inhabit floors like this. As far as I know... there aren't any of these monsters in the foyer of Level 0."

"Then let's go take a look!"

Su Xu made his decision without hesitation, and Xu Xiu immediately followed suit.

……

Why did the "back room" form in this location? There are three reasons.

Lin Yu's body fell from the sky and slowly sank into the white mist.

He seemed to belong to this place, yet he also seemed to be a being of a higher status than that white mist.

As he slowly descended, not a single wisp of white mist could linger around his body, nor dare it obstruct his view.

The white mist parted before him as if Moses had parted the Sea.

Just like the common people in ancient times, when they encountered the emperor traveling in his carriage, they all knelt down.

Then, Lin Yu's body landed quietly on the ground, and she stretched out her hand, lifting up one finger.

"Firstly, it's because of the spiritual atmosphere of this place called 'Scattered Wood and Blowing Spirit'."

"When spiritual energy was first formed, after heaven and earth completed their own rules for this path, the spiritual energy formed was not entirely uniform or evenly distributed. Instead, it had ups and downs, highs and lows, just like the ebb and flow of the tide, with its own gaps."

"Some of these fluctuations are due to chance, but more often... they are based on the imagery that existed in this world before the emergence of spiritual energy."

Lin Yu walked slowly on the lawn.

No matter how he tried to block his vision, the white mist could not obstruct his eyes.

And the so-called disturbance to hearing is utterly insignificant to him.

Within the white mist, some withered corpses resembling dry branches and bewitching, eerie creatures appeared before him, only to immediately disintegrate and disperse.

Lin Yu didn't even need to glance at him; a completely separate passage naturally formed around him in the white mist.

That passageway looked exactly like... an ancient imperial road!

"The quantity, strength, consistency, and deviation of imagery determine the gathering and dispersal of the most mainstream spiritual energy of [sunken wood] today."

"And this place was originally built on what was once the largest mass grave in Minjiang City a hundred years ago."

"No one would have guessed that the most yin energy in Minjiang City is not those few cemeteries, nor those abandoned factories that have long been abandoned and later used as transit points for many homeless people, mental patients, and criminals, and where news of murders and body disposal often spread."

"...On the contrary, it's this school."

"Therefore, this place has attracted the spiritual energy of the [Sinking Wood] path, becoming the place in Minjiang City with the most concentrated [Sinking Wood] spiritual energy besides [Baiyang Temple]..."

"It has even subtly become a sacred place!"

Various Daoist thoughts accumulated in Lin Yu's heart, allowing him to obtain information about this place without any hindrance.

In his previous life's cultivation world, the term "spiritual land" specifically referred to places where spiritual energy naturally gathered.

Even though it is a small place, it is a place of spiritual energy, but because of the gathering of spiritual energy, it will produce phenomena, weather and manifestations that are completely different from other places.

It even isolates the inside from the outside, forming a natural formation that prevents ordinary people from entering or leaving.

Only cultivators who have at least mastered Qi can walk on flat ground as if on solid ground.

Such a sacred land is the foundation upon which many third- or fourth-rate cultivation sects are established, and it can even form the basis of a small country.

Above the sacred land lies the secret realm.

The secret realm can truly separate the void, becoming a realm beyond the reach of ordinary people. The spiritual energy gathered and the spiritual resources generated within it are a level above ordinary spiritual lands.

Of course, the dangers of the secret realm are not something ordinary cultivators can withstand. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators, and even True Immortals of the Purple Mansion Realm, must be cautious.

As for what lies beyond that, the greatest of the spiritual lands... are naturally formed grotto-heavens!

Although this kind of grotto-heaven is not as perfectly integrated and flawless as the grotto-heaven that a Golden Core True Monarch elevates using his Golden Nature and Fruition.

But for any sect without a True Lord in charge, it is a paradise.

Such grotto-heavens, due to their unique natural advantages... often produce even precious and spiritual treasures that are beneficial to the True Lord!

Or rather, a divine object!

Of course, the first spiritual atmosphere has just begun, so what has formed in this white mist is merely a spiritual land.

But this is also the first naturally formed spiritual land in the world, apart from the Baiyang Temple where Lin Yu first established himself.

Lin Yu had no doubt that as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continued to replenish the area, this region would also rise in value and eventually be elevated to the level of a secret realm... or even a grotto-heaven!

"Therefore, one reason is that... this place has become a sacred place."

Lin Yu composed herself, but the surrounding mist gradually rippled like water, as if a gigantic monster were vomiting.

Simply because of Lin Yu's command, the mist expelled everything that had been swallowed up.

"Thump thump... thump!"

Those were people who were either panting heavily from running, terrified out of their wits, or whose minds had been corrupted by the evil in the white mist.

These are the students and teachers at this rally.

At a glance, it appears that out of the thousand people attending this rally, eight or nine hundred were expelled by this white mist.

However, about one-tenth of the remaining people were not in the white mist on the playground.

Most of those who reappeared from the white mist were unconscious, with only a few retaining some consciousness.

But they blinked, lay on the ground, and their eyes were filled with nothing but idiocy.

Lin Yu waved his hand.

Ripples seemed to spread across the white mist, and from its depths, faint sobs of reluctance and sorrow could be heard, but they vanished immediately.

Then, all those humans regained their senses.

Their eyes gradually cleared, and they stood up, guided by an invisible force, walking out of the fog.

For the humans who were driven out of the white mist, all that Lin Yu saw was a silhouette that gradually receded into the distance, yet remained standing in the mist.

A few dozen seconds later, only Lin Yu remained in the mist.

Lin Yu ignored the people he had rescued and simply raised his second finger.

"The second reason why this place would become a 'back room'... is because this is a school."

"Why has the concept of 'backroom' become so popular among secondary school students, even though it only emerged in 2019?"

"That's not just because of its visual expressiveness as an image, nor simply because it's trendy enough."

"The biggest reason, however, is the structure of the back room shown in the picture, and the state of that threshold space... It is extremely similar to the classroom, a space where middle school students have to spend most of their time every day."

"The stark white fluorescent lights and dim yellow furnishings were just like the gloom they experienced every day when they buried themselves in their studies in the classroom." "And the cramped feeling of being unable to escape despite the many openings everywhere, despite the vastness of the area, which is said to be 600 million square miles, was no different from the subtle feeling of being both spacious and locked up that they had when they were in school."

"...In the eyes of students, the so-called school is actually just a grid space connected by classrooms. Although entering and leaving the school is just crossing a door, the world inside and outside the door seems to be divided in two."

"...Therefore, every time they step into the classroom, they inexplicably feel a stronger sense of empathy for the 'back room' in that photo. That's why 'back room' culture is so popular among middle school students...especially in this school."

"In this school where the culture of 'backrooms' is widely spread among the student body, the imagery formed by people's thoughts has successfully pushed this spiritual land to this state at the moment of its birth."

"...And the moment this state was fully conceived—was precisely at the oath-taking ceremony!"

"At that moment, everyone gathered on the playground, and the students lined up in neat rows, unable to get out or break free."

"Even though the sky was vast and there were no railings or chains on the surrounding playground, they had to line up in rows. Forced by the pressure of the college entrance exam, trapped by their anxiety and the uncertainty of their future, they couldn't find a way out." "...And then, in that instant, the images in the minds of so many students catalyzed this sacred place, completely revealing the framework of the [Back Room] here!"

Lin Yu had already reached the center of the playground, with white mist still swirling around him.

He looked at the lawn at his feet.

The lawn, which had remained a lawn, slowly began to writhe under Lin Yu's gaze, gently cracking open its surface.

It was that pit.

That deep pit.

Looking inside, a spiral staircase winds its way down.

Lin Yu did not go in; he simply stood there and saw through the entire scene on the platform below the steps.

Then, he casually raised his third finger.

"The first two points alone, which are merely an overlap of spiritual energy and imagery, are not enough to create such a large-scale spectacle."

"Although the [Sinking Wood] Spirit Land connects with the netherworld and has the ability to govern the netherworld, it is merely yin and yin, and will not be so hidden and isolated as to this extent."

"Therefore, the reason why this [back chamber] was able to be fully formed, instead of remaining at the framework stage, but becoming a manifestation... is because it is not only a [sunken wood] sacred place."

"It's still a sacred land, the [Tibetan Wood], in the process of being nurtured!"

"And this is precisely the core reason why this [back chamber] was able to form, and the most important third point—the transformation of Yin and Yang!"