This Place Is Called Flower-Fruit Mountain

Su Mu had read through this process in his textbooks countless times.

He could even write out the textbook-standard parameters for every step from memory... how many soul power points it took to expand the space, the proportions for constructing basic terrain, the optimal coordinates for placing the core card...

But now, looking at the chaos within his consciousness, he discovered that theory and practice were two entirely different things.

He closed his eyes and sank his awareness into the depths of his soul.

There, a grayish-white cloud floated quietly, like a giant egg without a shell, or a patch of chaos before heaven and earth had been sundered.

The moment Su Mu's consciousness touched the cloud, information flooded into his mind.

[Dungeon space has not been opened. Spend soul power to open it? Each square kilometer of expansion costs 10 soul power points.]

Yes.

Su Mu did not hesitate.

Hum...

The cloud shook violently, as though something inside it were straining to push outward.

Su Mu felt his soul power being sucked away through an invisible pipe, its number plummeting wildly.

[Soul power -1]

[Soul power -1]

[Soul power -1]

A string of notification sounds rang out in his mind.

As his consciousness watched, the cloud began to swell and spread. The grayish-white chaos was pulled apart, becoming a vast expanse of hazy gray land. The ground was bare rock and dirt, devoid of life or variation, and a sense of utterly silent desolation filled the entire space.

After he had spent a full 10 soul power points, the space settled at one square kilometer in size.

Very small.

Still, it met the minimum size required for a dungeon. As for expanding it...

Su Mu was in no hurry.

Next, he selected a spot toward the northern part of the space and began shaping the terrain.

[Soul power -1]

[Soul power -1]

[Soul power -1]

This time, his soul power was consumed more rapidly.

The drab rocks and dirt began to bulge, pile up, and rise.

After he poured in twenty soul power points, a mountain peak roughly two hundred meters tall rose from the ground.

The peak was bare, made entirely of grayish-brown rock. Like the land around it, not a blade of grass grew on it. Anywhere else, it would have been nothing more than an ordinary barren mountain.

Su Mu opened his eyes and took his core card out of his soul space.

The F-rank stone card floated above his palm. The stone on its face was drab and lusterless.

With a thought, he sent the card shooting into the dungeon space as a streak of light. It landed precisely on the summit of the barren mountain.

With a thud.

A boulder appeared on the summit.

It was not large, only wide enough that two or three people could encircle it with their arms. Dull-colored and rough-surfaced, it stood there at a crooked angle, as though it had grown out of the mountain itself.

Su Mu withdrew his consciousness and glanced at the changes on the card.

Name: Stone (core card)

Rank: F

Level: None

HP: 1000/1000

Defense: 10

Attribute: None

Combat index: 130

Note: A perfectly ordinary stone.

Nothing had changed.

"Just as I thought," Su Mu muttered to himself.

He had expected it.

What did a mountain and a stone alone amount to?

The dungeon rules in this world were extremely strict.

If your design and theme lacked a "thematic connection," then everything was nothing more than a pile of the most basic materials.

To activate the dungeon's amplification, the elements within the space had to resonate with the theme.

In other words, you had to make the dungeon "real."

Su Mu gathered his soul power again and directed his consciousness toward the barren mountain.

He extended a hand and tapped the empty air.

"This place is called Flower-Fruit Mountain."

[Soul power -1]

[Soul power -1]

[Soul power -1]

After 10 soul power points had been infused, a bluish-gray stone stele slowly rose from the earth at the foot of the mountain.

Three large characters were written on the stele: Flower-Fruit Mountain.

There was no brilliant radiance, no rumbling phenomenon. Just three simple characters carved into a stone stele.

But Su Mu knew this was it.

Naming.

Within a dungeon space, names held power.

A name represented an anchor point, anchoring a "concept" to the dungeon's theme. The more accurate the name and the deeper its connection to the theme, the greater the amplification it brought.

Boom...

The instant the stele fully formed, the drab boulder atop the mountain suddenly shook.

A faint, spiritual light burst forth from within the stone, as though something had been roused ever so slightly from its slumber.

Su Mu immediately checked the stone's attributes.

The stone, once dull and lusterless, had changed.

Traces of age seemed to have appeared on its surface, as though it had endured countless years of wind and rain. Its color had become deeper and more subdued.

Several natural patterns had faintly emerged on its surface, as though they contained an indescribable charm.

Name: Stone (spiritual charm) (core card)

Rank: E

Level: None

HP: 3000/3000

Defense: 30

Combat index: 450

Attribute: Spiritual charm

Note: A trace of sentience born from absorbing the spiritual energy of Flower-Fruit Mountain's earth veins. This stone is extraordinary.

A sharp light flashed in Su Mu's eyes.

It had worked, just as he thought.

That was how the rules of this world worked... a dungeon's theme was not just for show.

As long as your design followed the logic of the theme, the dungeon would give you a corresponding amplification.

Card levels, attributes, and effects would all change as the design grew more developed.

And his theme was Journey to the West.

A stone on Flower-Fruit Mountain.

No one knew better than he did what that was.

Su Mu gathered his soul power again and pointed a fingertip at the stone.

"This stone is called Mending Heaven."

[Soul power -1]

[Soul power -1]

[Soul power -1]

Another ten soul power points were infused.

The spiritual light on the stone's surface changed again.

An ancient, boundless aura spread from the stone, as though it had endured the endless years since heaven and earth were sundered.

The image on the card transformed once more... the stone's patterns became more profound and mysterious, with a faint seven-colored light flowing within them.

Name: Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven (core card)

Rank: D

Level: None

HP: 7000/7000

Defense: 70

Combat index: 1200

Attributes: Spiritual stone of heaven and earth / lingering charm of mending heaven

Note: A strange stone on Flower-Fruit Mountain that has existed since heaven and earth were sundered. Rumor has it that Nüwa left it behind after mending heaven. It contains a spiritual embryo and boundless creative power.

D-rank already.

From F to E, then to D, it had taken only two namings and fewer than twenty soul power points.

For anyone else, raising a core card from F to D would have required at least two or three months of gathering materials and countless rounds of trial, error, and adjustment. That was assuming they understood the dungeon's theme; otherwise, they could never do it in a lifetime.

He, however, had taken only a few minutes.

But Su Mu shook his head.

"Only D-rank... that's nowhere near enough."

He looked at the bare, barren mountain and the lonely stone on its summit.

It was nowhere near enough.

Sun Wukong's original form, the Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven, should have been at least an SSS-rank existence in this world's system.

That was the Lingming Stone Monkey who had burst from the stone and shaken heaven and earth, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven who later wreaked Havoc in Heaven, the Victorious Fighting Buddha of the Journey to the West.

A D-rank Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven barely had anything to do with it.

Su Mu knew exactly where the problem lay.

He had only been "naming" things.