Five minutes earlier.
Wool Warrior hadn't fought a single elite enemy.
Yet he arrived near the broken bridge completely unharmed.
"Brothers!"
"What do you think of my move?"
"This thing called Moon Sugar is a must-have for rookies!"
"It hides both scent and sound for a short time. It doesn't make you fully invisible, but it massively reduces detection!"
"Anyone who wants it, hurry up and farm the Straw Hat mobs!"
"..."
At this moment, the effects of Moon Sugar hadn't worn off yet.
When Wool Warrior stayed still, he blended into the environment and became almost transparent. Of course, once he moved, his outline could still be faintly seen. If he got too close to enemies or faced a true expert, the concealment would fail.
Still, for assassinations and stealth missions, this item was like adding wings to a tiger.
Now, there were two paths ahead.
He had to choose one.
Braised Pork Knuckle asked, "Wool, you're not thinking of going to Great Hand Gate, are you?"
"With Moon Sugar, you might actually sneak in!"
"Lots of top players are stuck outside Great Hand Gate right now. If you get in first, it'd be insane!"
"..."
The suggestion was tempting.
If he succeeded, he'd gain massive fame.
But Wool Warrior wasn't stupid. He knew the odds were low. Moon Sugar wasn't true invisibility, and Great Hand Gate — the main entrance — was definitely heavily guarded. The Ashina soldiers couldn't possibly lack countermeasures against ninjas.
Not to mention the Oni Division.
In front of real powerhouses, Moon Sugar would be useless.
Wool Warrior shook his head. "Too many big shots are already challenging Great Hand Gate. I'm not going there. Since I've come this far, I want to explore something new for everyone!"
Pear Blossom Rain said, "You mean the right path? That doesn't lead to Ashina Castle, and no one's ever been there. Nobody knows what dangers are waiting."
Wool Warrior grinned. "Heh. If Red Oni and General Denzen couldn't stop me, how much worse can it get than the Oni Division?"
"That's true!"
"We're curious what the other areas outside Ashina Castle look like too!"
"Let's go!"
"..."
Once Wool Warrior decided to explore the unknown route, he immediately drew the attention of countless Adventurers. His popularity surged, and motivation flooded through him.
Without hesitation, he moved out.
The path leading into the deep valley beneath the bridge wasn't long in Sekiro — players could normally clear it in about five minutes. That was partly because Sekiro's mobility was incredible, allowing players to grapple between cliffs and drop hundreds of meters with ease. It was also because the original game had to compress environments to conserve resources and maintain pacing.
Qi Ji, however, valued realism.
Creatures like Headless and the White Serpent God were legendary existences. It wouldn't make sense if they were only a few hundred meters from Ashina Castle.
So he expanded the terrain, added realistic geography, and greatly optimized the surrounding mountains. The area around Ashina Castle was now at least seven or eight times larger than before.
At this moment, along an ancient cliff path, Wool Warrior continuously used his prosthetic arm to traverse thousand-meter drops. Not only was it thrilling, but the deeper he went, the more breathtaking the scenery became.
Layered mountain ranges rolled endlessly into the distance.
In Qi Ji's eyes, this landscape was mysterious and magnificent — something that would easily qualify as a top-tier tourist attraction in his previous life.
The Adventurer world had never seen scenery like this, and the spectators couldn't help but gasp in awe.
He didn't know how far he had traveled.
Eventually, the ancient path split into two directions.
One descended into the deeper parts of the valley.
The other continued horizontally along the cliff face toward an unknown destination.
At the fork stood a Ghost Buddha, usable for saving progress and teleportation.
"Awesome!"
"There's a Ghost Buddha here!"
"That'll make coming back much easier!"
"Having a Ghost Buddha means this area's part of the Secret Realm. We might even trigger a brand-new side quest!"
"..."
Wool Warrior activated the Ghost Buddha immediately.
Then, without hesitation, he chose the downward path.
Using his prosthetic arm, he descended hundreds of meters in less than ten minutes.
Finally —
He discovered something extraordinary.
An ancient cave entrance lay before him.
Dozens of broken Buddhist shrines stood outside the cave, each statue plastered with faded scriptures and talismans. Most were damaged beyond recognition.
"This is huge!"
"Quick — call Traveler!"
The Adventurers had originally come just to enjoy the scenery, but now they realized they might've stumbled upon something important. Curiosity surged instantly.
Cat Meow said, "That's interesting."
"This is deep beneath the bridge — probably over ten kilometers from Ashina Castle — and the path here has been abandoned for decades," White Deer added. "Unless you move like Sekiro, wall-running and grappling everywhere, there's no way ordinary people could reach this place."
Nancilia commented, "It looks like no one's been here for decades."
Pear Blossom Rain frowned. "Twenty years ago, Ashina was still under Interior Ministry rule. Does that mean these shrines predate modern Ashina?"
"But why worship in such a remote place?"
"I don't think it's worship."
"It looks more like a seal."
"..."
A few minutes later, Traveler arrived.
He immediately grew interested.
"Wool, great work. You've made a major discovery. Go inside and take a look."
"There might be treasure or an important questline."
Wool Warrior felt uneasy.
A cold, ominous aura seeped from the cave, and combined with the shrine seals outside, it gave him an extremely bad feeling.
But he'd already come this far.
How could he turn back now?
He gritted his teeth. "Fine. Let's see what kind of monster is hiding in here — and what secret it's guarding!"
With that, he entered.
The cave wasn't as dark as expected. Gray moss covered the stone walls, emitting faint light. Dense talismans filled the cracks in the rocks.
Wool Warrior peeled a few off.
The cinnabar ink had long faded.
"These talismans look like they're from Senpou Temple…" Traveler said after examining them.
Nancilia asked, "What's Senpou Temple?"
"I just learned about it," Traveler replied. "It's an ancient temple near Ashina Castle. It was once extremely prosperous, but it's been sealed off for many years for unknown reasons. People say there are unspeakable secrets inside."
Another mysterious location…
Ashina truly held countless unexplored areas.
After passing through a narrow tunnel, the space suddenly opened up.
"This is…"
Wool Warrior stood on a low cliff overlooking a dead-silent basin. Wisps of eerie blue ghostfire floated on the water's surface, reflecting thick mist that hung like solid fog.
He sniffed.
The stench of rot and stagnant water.
Mixed with faint incense ash.
Without thinking too much, he climbed down.
Along the way, he noticed ancient bloodstains smeared across the stone walls, along with countless blade marks of varying depths. When his foot landed, it crushed something brittle.
A skeleton.
"This is…"
The flooded basin was filled with remains.
Most of them wore armor — warriors.
"Brothers…"
"I'm getting scared."
"This place isn't right…"
Wool Warrior waded through shallow water.
Unnoticed by him, thick purple-black miasma began to gather nearby. Each breath felt like countless cold, wet tendrils burrowing into his lungs.
"What was that sound?"
A low whimper echoed through the cavern, as if seeping from the ground itself — or pressing in from all directions.
Before he could locate the source, a chill exploded down the back of his neck.
Danger!
Wool Warrior dodged instinctively.
A massive nodachi wrapped in purple ghostfire sliced through the space where he had just stood.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
This enemy had appeared behind him without making a sound. If he'd reacted even a fraction slower, he'd already be dead.
"Who the hell are you? How dare you ambush your grandpa!"
He drew Kusabimaru —
Then froze.
Not just him.
Every Adventurer watching was horrified.
Before him stood a swollen, corpse-like giant. Its pale skin was bloated and cracked, limbs twisted and malformed. Its arms were grotesquely thick, especially the right one gripping a rusted, chipped nodachi.
The blade burned with eerie purple flames.
But the most horrifying part was—
It had no head.
Rotting flesh writhed where its neck should be. Pale vertebrae jutted out, leaking thick black fluid that mixed with the miasma, twisting the air itself.
"Oh my god!"
"What kind of monster is that?!"
"Looks undead — but the pressure is insane!"
"That's definitely not a normal undead!"
"..."
This was easily the most terrifying monster Wool Warrior had ever seen.
Before he could even open the monster guide —
The creature vanished into miasma.
Then reappeared in front of him.
The nodachi came down again.
Wool Warrior blocked instinctively.
Clang!
The moment their blades collided, his vision exploded into nightmares. Horrific images flooded his mind, crushing his consciousness with overwhelming terror.
"Ah!"
"Damn it!"
"It's a mental attack!"
This thing didn't just damage the body — it destroyed the mind!
He couldn't block again.
Absolutely couldn't.
Even if he survived the strike, his spirit wouldn't withstand the backlash.
"Die!"
Wool Warrior slashed back.
And everyone watching felt their blood run cold.
His blade passed straight through the monster's body.
No damage.
"My attacks… are useless…"
The creature was intangible — immune to physical strikes.
Yet every swing it made inflicted both physical damage and horrifying mental erosion.
Wool Warrior retreated.
The monster stood still — then dissolved into purple mist.
"Holy crap!"
"Behind you!"
Its grotesque form flashed into existence behind him again.
The nodachi rose.
Impossible.
There was no way to win.
This monster was too strange. Too powerful.
Every swing carried soul-crushing fear. Blocking meant spiritual collapse. Even standing near it caused his mind to erode.
After only a few exchanges, Wool Warrior's terror reached a breaking point. His hands shook violently. He could barely hold his sword.
He wanted to flee.
But he couldn't.
The creature could teleport, phase through obstacles, and move faster than him.
From the moment he entered this place, escape was impossible.
Finally —
With a mournful wail —
Another slash struck him.
This time, he couldn't dodge.
His body and spirit both collapsed.
Instant death.
From beginning to end, Wool Warrior hadn't inflicted a single point of damage.
The monster slaughtered him effortlessly.
The gap in power was absolute.
Inside the Secret Realm lobby, Adventurers were stunned into silence.
They'd never imagined that Ashina Country didn't just contain wall-running ninjas and legendary sword saints — but also horrors that defied all logic.
Seconds later, Wool Warrior respawned.
His first action was to open the monster guide.
[Headless] — Tier 3, ★☆☆
Description: A manifestation of countless resentful warriors who died in ancient Ashina. Mortals must rely on divine power to oppose it.
"What?!"
"Headless is Tier 3?!"
"There are Tier 3 monsters in Ashina?!"
"No wonder it was that terrifying…"
"Lord Qi Ji is insane — he hides monsters like this in side areas?!"
"That's ridiculous!"
"Even for Tier 3, this thing's abilities are broken!"
"..."
Undoubtedly, Headless was an undead-type monster.
But even Nancilia, who had vast experience, had never seen one with such overwhelming resentment.
Bihua was equally shaken.
"I've seen Tier 3 monsters before. Any one of them is a trump card even for Tier 4 Underground Cities — something you'd build entire zones around. Yet Lord Qi Ji just casually hides this one in some forgotten valley."
She paused, then added, "And even among Tier 3 monsters, Headless is absurd."
"Immortality."
"Teleportation."
"Damage immunity."
"Mental attacks with every strike."
"Any one of those traits is extremely rare!"
Clearly, Headless had left a massive psychological impact on everyone.
It wasn't just another enemy.
They'd encountered something fundamentally different — something unnatural — with no warning or preparation.
Fear came first.
Then awe.
Traveler muttered, "Ashina is far darker than we imagined."
"The more we explore, the more insignificant we realize we are. Our imagination keeps falling short."
Bihua nodded.
The secrets hidden within Lord Qi Ji's world exceeded all expectations. Every corner might conceal something shocking — or terrifying.
Still…
She was very interested in Headless.
If she could obtain a Headless soul, even if it wasn't suitable as a main Tier 3 Life Soul, it would be invaluable as a support soul.
At that moment, Wool Warrior finally recovered.
Braised Pork Knuckle stepped up and patted his shoulder. "Tough luck, man. Running into something like that…"
Wool Warrior shook his head. "I don't see it that way. This was a huge discovery. Totally worth it."
Then another Adventurer spoke up.
"Hey, didn't you say there was another path at the Ghost Buddha — the one in the opposite direction?"
"I wonder what's over there."
"Wool, you still have one stamina point left. Why not explore that too?"
"..."
Wool Warrior's heart stirred.
There wasn't much exploration time left today.
Meanwhile, big shots like Three Bamboo were about to defeat the Oni Division.
He still had one stamina point.
Why not use it?
He was also curious where that other path led.
Surely it couldn't be another Headless…
No matter what he found —
As the first Adventurer to discover it —
He'd gain massive prestige.
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