The night was ink-black, the moon hanging low over the willow-tips.
Ren Wencai, dressed in a plain gray robe with his presence suppressed to the absolute minimum, touched down without a sound on a tree just outside Gu Chengming's courtyard.
This was already his fifth visit.
Ever since the day he'd handed over Flowing Light, Sword Shadows, his curiosity had been gnawing at him without relief.
The sword art wasn't the sect's pinnacle secret technique by any means — but what set it apart was its brutal demands on innate talent. Its style was nimble and ever-shifting, and even a disciple who ground away at it for years might never find the door in.
He wanted to know: could this Gu Chengming — the one he'd placed such high hopes on, the one he even suspected might be a natural-born practitioner of the Ancient Path of Bitter Sword — actually handle this technique?
Reality, however, had left him thoroughly puzzled.
On his previous visits, he'd found Gu Chengming either spacing out in a daze over a bundle of medicinal herbs, or slowly running through the most basic forms of the Huiyuan Sword Art in the courtyard.
Not a single sign of practicing Flowing Light, Sword Shadows.
"Can it be he can't make heads or tails of it?"
Ren Wencai's brow furrowed. His mind began to stir with doubt.
That didn't make sense.
Those few sword strokes of Gu Chengming's from before — the timing, the control of force — had been nothing short of flawless. Someone with that kind of intuition couldn't possibly fail to even clear the threshold.
Unless… he simply didn't think this sword art was worth his time?
The more Ren Wencai turned it over in his mind, the more wrong it felt. He was just about to drop down from the tree and go knock some sense into the clueless little brat —
When something shifted in his awareness, and he caught something he'd missed entirely.
When had this kid reached the Fifth Layer of the First Realm?!
Just a few days ago he'd only been at the Fourth Layer.
This discovery only deepened Ren Wencai's conviction — Gu Chengming really was cut from the cloth of the Ancient Path of Bitter Sword.
For people like him, bottlenecks simply didn't exist.
What others called stagnation was, for them, nothing more than tempering the body and steeling the will — preparation for the explosion of growth to come.
Like a supreme blade: before it is ever drawn, it must endure a long season of hiding its edge, of grinding and polishing in silence.
And now, at last, this blade had begun to reveal its keenness.
In that moment, the boulder that had been lodged in Ren Wencai's chest finally dropped away completely.
Fifth Layer, First Realm.
Passing the assessment and keeping his standing as a sect disciple — that was a foregone conclusion.
One could even say that if the only goal were to pass the assessment, Gu Chengming's current level was already a bit more than necessary.
But Ren Wencai didn't see it that way.
He stood on the treetop, eyes burning as they fixed on the figure still seated cross-legged inside the room, his thoughts spinning at full speed.
If this kid was a rough gem, then letting him scrape by with the bare minimum would be an unconscionable waste of raw material.
What did the Ancient Path of Bitter Sword value above all else?
The grind. The word was: grind.
The more a blade is honed, the sharper it becomes. The more a person fights, the stronger they grow.
Right now the boy should be in that prime phase — coiled spring, about to snap. Ready to shock the world with a single cry.
He needed pressure. He needed challenge. He needed to be kept at the edge of his limits at all times — only then could his full potential be drawn out to the maximum.
Only through relentless combat and pressure could that sword intent, just now beginning to take root, be hammered into something purer and sharper.
"Liu Enchuan had the right idea when he went by the alias 'Liu En' to spar with the kid before…"
Ren Wencai stroked the beard on his chin, a glint of shrewd light flickering in his eyes.
What if it were him instead?
As the Grand Elder of Huiyuan Gate, personally entering the ring was out of the question — he couldn't pull a stunt like Liu Enchuan's. But he could easily suppress his cultivation realm and disguise himself as some mysterious expert, or a wandering sword-traveler passing through — and in the dead of night, give this kid a proper lesson.
It would test his combat ability, temper his sword intent, and along the way, correct whatever flaws remained in his swordsmanship.
Three birds, one stone.
The more he thought about it, the more viable it seemed.
The smile at the corner of Ren Wencai's mouth grew wider and wider. The look in his eyes as he gazed at Gu Chengming's courtyard was exactly like an old farmer eyeing a particularly vigorous crop of chives — already calculating the angle of the harvest.
"Heh heh. Kid, since you don't seem keen on practicing Flowing Light, Sword Shadows on your own, this old man will just have to come teach you himself."
Having made up his mind, Ren Wencai didn't move to act immediately.
Gu Chengming had only just broken through — this was a critical window for consolidating his realm, and disturbing him now would do more harm than good.
There was no rush. Plenty of time.
............
Time flows like a white horse flashing past a crack in the wall. In the blink of an eye, several more days had passed.
On the other side of things.
Gu Chengming, naturally, had no idea what Yu Wenqiu and Ren Wencai were scheming. Each day, without fail, he went through his routine of "eating greens" to build up the Hundred Bones Resonance's affection, while also brainstorming story ideas to try and push the Qingxin Formula past the threshold from Friendly to Fond.
Of course, Gu Chengming hadn't forgotten to keep one eye on a certain progress bar in the back of his mind.
The Huiyuan Sword Art's progress in studying Flowing Light, Sword Shadows.
At last, on one sunny afternoon —
Just as Gu Chengming finished a tedious cycle of breath-regulation, that bar gave an unprompted little jump.
[Flowing Light, Sword Shadows — Study Complete]
Holy shit, it actually worked?
He'd been expecting it all along, but when it actually happened, Gu Chengming was still caught off guard.
On the other side, the Hundred Bones Resonance's reaction was identical:
[Holy shit, it actually worked?]
While one man and one cultivation method were still reeling in disbelief, the system panel shifted again.
The data in the Huiyuan Sword Art's entry began to blur, then rearrange itself, before settling into a brand-new form.
[Huiyuan Sword Art: Flowing Light, Sword Shadows (CG: Locked)]
[Current Unlock Rate: 0%]
"?"
Gu Chengming stared at the name, a slow question mark rising above his head.
What did "CG: Locked" mean?
There were CGs now too?
Before he could work that one out, a strange emotion welled up from somewhere deep in his mind — buoyant, bright, fizzing with a kind of playful energy.
[The Huiyuan Sword Art giggled.]
[It seemed extremely pleased with its new look, and was practically bouncing with self-satisfaction.]
[Pretty amazing, right? Go on, say it~ 🎶]
"??"
Another question mark joined the first above Gu Chengming's head.
Something felt… a little off.
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉