Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

Zhao Hao said, "The team does need a laborer, someone to carry loads or something. Well then, since you haven't done anything wrong, we'll take you in for now!"

And so, the group of eight people and one demon was joined by another demon, Aobozu.

"Now that you've joined the team, we should give you a title. Hmm... I'll call you Wujing!" After Zhao Hao finished speaking, he felt a surge of spiritual energy being depleted.

The Qingfang Master, Wujing, immediately bowed and kowtowed three times. Afterward, he exclaimed with delight, "Thank you, Lord Yasuo, for bestowing upon me this name. I am willing to follow you to the ends of the earth!"

It turns out that in Japan, you can't just name things randomly.

This is similar to the saying in Northeast China that weasels resemble humans; it's a kind of verbal denial.

Of course, ordinary people are not qualified to name monsters, monstrous beings, or other supernatural creatures.

If it's an extraordinary being, it would require a huge amount of spiritual energy, probably enough to drain a Black Iron 5-star's resources.

For ordinary people, they would need a special destiny or other unique characteristics. (In a comic book, this would be the protagonist or a major supporting character.)

If the person who gives the name has a noble destiny or strong spiritual power, the person being named will receive great benefits.

Ramen Maru: I named it too early! My position is in jeopardy!

Qingfangzhu Wujing knew that he had met a benefactor, a real savior!

With a name, he was no longer just a blue-spirited yokai, but an independent individual yokai, which greatly increased his potential for future development and diversified his development path.

……

After dealing with the Twilight Zone that night, everyone was exhausted. Both their psionic energy and physical strength were depleted. They didn't set off until after lunch the next day.

The inner world is actually not easy to navigate; it's all dense mountains, towering forests, and bamboo groves, with not even a road.

If it weren't for the two oxen pulling the Biyun cart, it would be impossible for them to travel more than 200 kilometers every day.

With the addition of Wujing, who is familiar with the roads, the time spent taking detours has been greatly reduced.

Wu Jing: Pathfinding skill +1~

Wu Jing pointed to the mountain range ahead and said, "Lord Ya Suo, ahead is Gu Lao Mountain. After passing Gu Lao Mountain, it's another eighty li to the sea."

The mountain range ahead stretches for three or four hundred miles, with one main peak standing out prominently, towering alone.

Zhao Hao frowned slightly: "This mountain must be difficult to traverse."

Wu Jing quickly turned around: "It's not easy to go. The mountain walls are steep, and this car will probably have a hard time getting through."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hao exclaimed, "That won't do! I absolutely love this car. I'm going to Kyoto to show off, not to go on an ascetic journey. Walking all the way to Kyoto without a car? How pathetic would that be? Absolutely no class! I might as well just take the train!"

Wu Jing looked troubled; it was quite remarkable that his face, with its large eyeball, could produce such an expression.

"It's not impossible to get this big cart to cross the mountain, but it's extremely troublesome."

"Tell me what kind of trouble it is."

Wu Jing said, "Besides taking a detour, we can only take one of the mountain valley paths."

Zhao Hao was too lazy to take a detour. This mountain range was three or four hundred kilometers long, and going around it would be five or six hundred kilometers, which would take two or three days of detours.

"Tell me about that valley."

Why does this name sound so awkward? It doesn't seem like a clean place.

It's really not a clean place.

Wu Jing said, "That place is very dangerous and troublesome. Most of us demons would go there. Originally, Lonely Old Mountain didn't have a valley, nor was it in this state. But several hundred years ago, during a great upheaval, an ancient battlefield in the outer world suddenly sank into the inner world and crashed into Lonely Old Mountain, becoming a valley that runs through the mountain range..."

"From then on, the once beautiful mountains became barren and desolate, filled with many evil monsters and cursed spirits. Its name was changed to Lonely Old Mountain."

"As for that valley passage, although it connects east and west, few monsters are willing to walk through it. This is because there are many undead cursed spirits and monsters in the valley, all of which are very ferocious and indiscriminate in their fighting, killing each other on sight..."

Zhao Hao asked, "Are there any bronze monsters?"

Wu Jing quickly shook his head, "How could that be! If there were a bronze-level great demon, wouldn't this area of ​​several hundred kilometers have already become a demon kingdom?"

"What's there to be afraid of if we don't have bronze? Besides, I'm quite curious about this place..."

Zhao Hao has recently been thinking about the Fantasy Game and the Dream World.

His dream world is now vast, capable of housing tens of thousands of people, and can manifest various terrains, giving it a bit of a small divine kingdom feel.

But this is, after all, a dream constructed through psychic energy and mental power, not a physical entity.

Zhao Hao can bring matter from the physical world into his dreams, but dreams cannot be transformed into physical reality. Even the ground beneath his feet is illusory.

All of this floated on the surface of the psionic sea, like rootless duckweed...

Just as a fantasy game needs a server, a dream also needs an anchor point. This anchor point is Zhao Hao himself.

But that's not enough. As the dream progresses, it needs more and more resources and materials. How much can Zhao Hao bring into the dream?

And you can't actually be like an excavator, finding a spot and digging all the soil into the dream.

Not only is it troublesome and inefficient, but it also easily attracts attention. It can easily trigger a backlash from the rules of the surface world.

After much thought, Zhao Hao concluded that the best solution was to connect the small world he had previously obtained with his dream world—a stroke of genius.

From that point on, my dreams began to become more and more real.

So, how do we absorb the eerie realm?

Too dangerous!

Moreover, this thing isn't something that just appears out of thin air. The main problem is that most eerie environments are unsuitable for it, and it might even ruin the dream environment.

Encountering a small world is incredibly lucky; it's extremely difficult to encounter another one.

The next best thing, Secret Realm is pretty good.

However, most secret realms are owned by someone, and if you directly demolish the house, the owner will fight you to the death.

But now, haven't we encountered one that's unclaimed?

Zhao Hao had experienced being transported from the surface world to the inner world before.

There was this guy with a wild idea who, in order to complete the Bronze Trial, actually wanted to dig a hole to pull Liberty City from the surface world into the inner world!

Of course, this plan failed. He was merely using it to complete the trial, which was ultimately thwarted by Zhao Hao, and he was already dead.

If Liberty City really did fall into the Otherworld, it would be similar to the ancient battlefield Wu Jing described. The only difference is that one is an ancient battlefield and the other is a modern city. Both share the commonality of being a "secret realm."

……

The oxcart set off, heading towards Lonely Old Man Mountain.

About two hours later, with Wu Jing driving, the group arrived at the edge of a valley.

This valley is very peculiar, as if it had been split open by a mountain peak. On the outside, there are only three narrow fissures, which become wider as you go deeper inside.

"Amitabha, what a powerful evil aura!" The young monk Zongchun stood at the entrance of the crevice valley, feeling a chill run down his bald scalp, as if someone was constantly pricking him with fine needles.

The spirit-infused Reikiri-maru in Chosokabu's arms trembled slightly, reminding its master that this was not a safe place.

"Just in case~" Chika smiled and took out a few talismans, handing them to Nizen, Chosoka, Miyoshi Shochu, and Tayama Dōjō.

This talisman can dispel miasma and prevent poisoning.

As for the others, they don't need to. The little monk has his own protective measures, and Ramenmaru and Wujing are monsters who are not afraid of miasma.

Zhao Hao doesn't need her to worry about him.

"Let's go," Zhao Hao said.

"Wait, sir, shouldn't we rest for now and enter the valley tomorrow morning? It's already late, and it would be dangerous if we couldn't get through the valley before dark." Wu Jing, the guide, was doing a very good job.

However, Ramen Maru, who was standing to the side, was quite unfriendly to this fellow who was threatening his position: "Tch, get out of here. With Yasuo's strength, why are you worrying about this? Go catch your train!"

Wu Jing didn't argue, agreeing that with her master's strength, there was indeed no need to consider so much.

He glanced at Ramen Maru: You little brat, don't let me catch you alone and beat the shit out of you!

The group continued their journey in the carriage. Although the two-headed bull was somewhat uneasy, it was more worried about the malevolent aura emanating from the demonic white snake than the potential dangers ahead.

After walking for more than ten minutes, the view opened up dramatically. To be honest, it didn't even resemble a valley; it was more like a plain shrouded in a thin mist. This was highly unusual, confirming Zhao Hao's suspicions. This was a secret realm located in the inner world!

Just then, a short, stout figure suddenly appeared on a small hill. "Go back, go back! We can't go any further! Go back now..."

"Who dares to play tricks?" Zhao Hao waved his sleeve, and a gust of wind swept away the large area of ​​fog around him.

On that small hill was actually a rock.

However, the natural shape of this stone looks a bit like... Everyone looked at the ramen ball, which looks a bit like a tanuki!

Everyone: What's wrong? Did your family come here to joke around?

Ramen Maru was also completely bewildered. "Our branch has always lived in the secret realm. We only started to move around in the inner world in the last few years. How could we possibly have any of our people here? Who's joking?"

He glanced at Zhao Hao, mustered his courage, jumped out of the car, walked to the small hill, and carefully examined the large rock.

Not long after, he suddenly froze, then knelt down and started crying!

"Ah~ Tasaburo's ancestor! It's Tasaburo's ancestor!"

Zhao Hao and the others were completely bewildered. What were they doing? Had they come to visit a grave?!

After wailing twice, Ramenmaru finally reacted and quickly ran down, calling out, "My lord, it's Yashima Taisaburo Tanuki from our Tanuki clan! He used to be the Great God of Minoyama..."

As Zhao Hao had mentioned before, many pantheons had already made preparations before the period of spiritual dormancy.

Like the Heavenly Court of the Celestial Empire, almost everyone has left, but some of those with low status and poor connections have been left behind and have to find their own way to get through the long period of spiritual dormancy. The best way is to slumber in the Inner World, hoping for a chance to wake up again.

The situation is very similar on the Japanese side as well. After all, the two sides have very close ties.

Although the Heavenly Court certainly wouldn't favor Takamagahara, being close by means of frequent news...

This Yashima Taisaburo Tanuki was a local mountain god from several hundred years ago!

Legend has it that when the great monk Kūkai was practicing in Shikoku, he traveled throughout the country and established eighty-eight temples. The current pilgrimage ceremony to the peak of Mount Kaisen originated from this legend.

When the monk Kukai got lost on Yashima Island, Taisaburo Tanuki transformed into an old man to guide him. Therefore, Taisaburo Tanuki was later worshipped as the local deity.

Shikoku is the stronghold of Tanuki demons, and besides the Eight Hundred and Eight Tanuki, there are some other Tanuki demons that have left their names.

Unexpectedly, the Great God of the Mountain, Taisaburo Tanuki, is not completely dead!

A remnant of his spirituality remained in the inner world, and he managed to catch his breath during this period of spiritual dormancy. However, he was barely clinging to life, even weaker than a demon like Wu Jing.

This time, seeing that there was a tanuki demon in the group, and that they were about to cross the Genpei War Valley, he used his limited spiritual energy to "manifest" and try to persuade the people who had "stumbled" into this place to retreat quickly.

"So this is the ancient battlefield of the Genpei War? I see!" After learning about the origin of this place from Taisaburo Tanuki, the young monk Zhao Hao stroked his chin and said.