Gu Chengming's heart sank.
How could his mouth be so fast?
Beside him, Jiang Lu stood slack-jawed, jaw nearly hitting the floor. He watched You Yuyao's hand — the one clutching her cup — tremble violently, knuckles white from the force of her grip, and suddenly felt his own body shaking in sympathy.
Senior Brother Gu is way too domineering, isn't he?
She came all this way to deliver wine. Sure, her attitude was a bit off, but that didn't mean you had to call her "Little You" right to her face and demand to know whether she could pour wine properly.
Hundred Bones Resonance, however, was highly approving of this development.
[Hundred Bones Resonance declares: Emperor Gu truly embodies magnanimity! To merely offer a light rebuke to a rude and ignorant insect rather than simply exterminating her on the spot — that is benevolence of the highest order!]
Humiliating someone and calling it magnanimity? Do you Emperors use a completely different set of weights and measures than the rest of us?
He had been about to say something else — maybe explain a little, try to smooth things over — but the words died in his throat before they could escape.
Are you kidding? What if his mouth ran away from him again and he came out with something like, "Can't you hear me talking to you?"
Wouldn't that just make everything a hundred times worse?
Better to shut up and look like a master than to keep digging the hole deeper.
You Yuyao bit down hard on her lower lip. Those eyes of hers — always carrying a trace of haughty pride — were now rimmed red, brimming with unshed tears, the very picture of someone who had suffered a tremendous humiliation.
She drew a long, shuddering breath. Her chest heaved several times, as if she were fighting desperately to suppress some urge to flip the table entirely.
In the end, hands still trembling, she lifted the wine jug and filled the empty bowl in front of Gu Chengming. A few drops splashed over the rim from the shaking.
Then she picked up her own bowl and threw it back in one go.
"Cough — cough, cough —"
The harsh liquor seared her throat and set her coughing. Her fair cheeks flushed crimson in an instant, and tears pricked the corners of her eyes against her will.
She kept biting her lip, clearly fighting not to let herself actually cry. Every bold declaration she'd prepared — "I may have lost this time, but I'll win it back for sure next time" — had been completely wiped from her mind.
She scrubbed roughly at the tears on her face, terrified that if she stayed a moment longer she'd do something truly embarrassing. Then she spun on her heel and bolted out of the courtyard without looking back.
The instant she turned away, the rigid expression she'd been holding together collapsed entirely. Tears spilled down her cheeks like beads off a broken string.
She walked faster and faster, cried harder and harder, leaving the two of them with nothing but a disheveled, retreating silhouette.
Jiang Lu looked back and forth — left at Senior Brother Gu's perfectly indifferent face, right at the rapidly vanishing You Yuyao — and stood there completely at a loss, not knowing whether he should chase after her or stay put.
Only after You Yuyao's figure had disappeared entirely did Jiang Lu let out a helpless sigh, expression pained.
"Senior Brother, you've gone and made a mortal enemy of Daoning Gate."
Gu Chengming picked up the bowl of wine in front of him, swirled it idly, and turned the question back on him.
"Weren't they already mortal enemies before?"
Jiang Lu was briefly speechless.
Well... fair enough.
Ever since the battle at the training grounds, on top of all the rumors flying around beforehand, the two sides had been at each other's throats long before today.
Even if he'd been perfectly polite today, would they really have treated him like some kind of benefactor?
Before he could think that through any further, he heard Gu Chengming continue.
"The Dao is a contest — against heaven, against the earth, against other people. If you're always hedging, always hesitating, letting your Dao-heart seize up from anxiety — what do you have left to stand on?"
Jiang Lu blinked.
Senior Brother's behavior today was genuinely infuriating, but this... why did these words carry such weight? Why did they sound like something a true master would say?
Is this what it means to have the mindset of someone truly strong?
Well, what's done is done. No point dwelling on it.
Jiang Lu sighed, and as his eyes wandered back to Gu Chengming, the aura he sensed made his pupils sharpen.
"Senior Brother — you're at the sixth layer of the first realm?!"
If he remembered right, Senior Brother Gu had only just broken through shortly before the tournament. How many days had it been since then? How could his cultivation have advanced so quickly again?
This defied common sense.
Although — come to think of it, Senior Brother Gu's sword arts and cultivation level had already been defying common sense in the Wenjian Sect for some time now.
So was this the result of long accumulation finally bearing fruit? Or something else entirely?
Coming up with no answer, he finally couldn't hold back anymore. "Senior Brother Gu, how is your cultivation advancing so quickly? Is there some secret to it?"
Gu Chengming drained the wine in his cup and set down the bowl.
"The strong grow stronger."
He glanced sidelong at Jiang Lu.
"Little Jiang, you could stand to steady your own Dao-heart a bit. Stop fretting over everything all day."
Jiang Lu: "..."
Senior Brother, the way you talk is genuinely infuriating.
Yet somehow, Jiang Lu couldn't shake the feeling that Gu Chengming wasn't entirely wrong.
Wasn't that exactly what a true expert was supposed to be — someone who faced any situation with perfect composure, just like Senior Brother did?
Could it really be that Senior Brother Gu's cultivation was advancing so fast because of this kind of mindset?
Jiang Lu's thoughts churned on without reaching any conclusion.
The two of them chatted a little longer. As the hour grew late, Jiang Lu decided not to overstay his welcome and rose to take his leave.
With Jiang Lu gone, the small courtyard returned to quiet. The evening breeze rustled past, carrying a few fallen leaves with it.
Gu Chengming held his unfathomable pose for a while longer, right up until the countdown in his head finally reached zero.
["Primordial Imperial Merit" — Phase One concluded.]
The "aura of a supreme powerhouse" that had saturated his body withdrew like a receding tide. Gu Chengming's spine immediately slumped.
He tilted his head back and stared at the sky, utterly done.
"Hundred Bones Emperor."
[Hundred Bones Resonance inquires, puzzled: What is it, Emperor Gu?]
"If someone comes looking to pick a fight in the future, could you take the beating for me?"
[Hundred Bones Resonance laughs heartily: Emperor Gu really ought to steady his Dao-heart. Stop fretting over everything all day.]
Potter, how dare you turn my own spell against me?
[Huiyuan Sword Art is deeply worried.]
[It urges: Don't listen to that nonsense. If that ever actually happens, just run. Don't try to play the hero.]
[Huiyuan Sword Art seems genuinely concerned that Hundred Bones Resonance will lead you astray, and launches into another round of fussing and reminders.]
[Finally, having said everything it needed to say, Huiyuan Sword Art adds: If you ever find yourself in a situation you truly can't escape from — it will face it with you.]
A warm feeling settled in Gu Chengming's chest.
Good old Huiyuan Mom.
…
As the saying goes, it's better to resolve a grudge than to let it fester.
So the following morning, Gu Chengming took the initiative and went to find Jiang Lu.
He didn't hide too much, giving a vague explanation that the cultivation method he was practicing was unusual, and that his temperament could be affected while circulating it.
Jiang Lu didn't understand what kind of technique could so thoroughly transform a person's personality, but he was tactful enough not to press the matter — and he was actually rather touched that Gu Chengming had bothered to explain at all.
With Jiang Lu's misunderstanding cleared up, Jiang Lu cheerfully agreed to accompany Gu Chengming to deal with the other side of the problem.
Compared to the easygoing Jiang Lu, You Yuyao was a considerably thornier issue.
When Gu Chengming appeared outside the Jingshui Pavilion, You Yuyao assumed he had come to humiliate her further and nearly drew her sword on the spot. She was clearly still brooding over that remark about whether wine would pour itself into his bowl.
Fortunately, Gu Chengming was earnest this time, and patiently trotted out the "side effects of my cultivation method" explanation once more. That was enough to get You Yuyao to lower her sword.
Once she understood it hadn't been a deliberate insult but rather a consequence of his technique, a good portion of the fire in You Yuyao's chest died down.
Calmer now, she looked back on her own clumsy attempt at an apology the day before and recognized that she, too, had handled herself rather poorly.
This Daoning Gate disciple — spoiled and headstrong under normal circumstances — showed a rare candor once the knot between them was loosened.
She delivered the apology she hadn't managed to finish properly, and issued the formal challenge she'd been unable to speak before fleeing in shame and anger.
Gu Chengming accepted with good grace.
The matter was considered settled.
The next two days were, for once, entirely peaceful.
Freed of that weight on his mind, Gu Chengming was able to throw himself fully into the Phase One calibration of Primordial Imperial Merit.
But still waters run deep, and the winds refused to stay calm.
As the dust from the tournament settled, discussion of Gu Chengming only intensified rather than fading. With his cultivation sitting at the sixth layer of the first realm and his entry evaluation placing him seventh overall, he was bound to attract talk.
A rising reputation inevitably draws prying eyes. That brief peace, in the end, could not last.
One morning, the mountain mist had not yet dispersed when someone knocked again on the gate of Gu Chengming's small courtyard.
The visitor was an unfamiliar face — young-looking, wearing outer-sect disciple robes washed to a pale, faded white, with fraying at the cuffs.
"Senior Brother Gu, I am Chen Qing. Forgive me for calling without notice." Chen Qing clasped his hands in greeting.
Chen Qing?
The name rang a faint bell for Gu Chengming.
A moment's thought brought it back: this was the person who, after the tournament, had been the very first to come up with that brilliant scheme of "throwing matches for a split of the rewards" — the original fifth-place finisher.
Jiang Lu had been the one to tell him about it.
"Ah, Junior Brother Chen."
Gu Chengming stepped aside and let him in, privately noting that his little courtyard was getting more and more foot traffic these days.
The two settled at the stone table in the courtyard. Chen Qing wasted no time on pleasantries and got straight to the point.
"Senior Brother Gu, I won't beat around the bush. I've come today to propose a partnership."
"A partnership?" Gu Chengming poured himself a cup of tea without reacting. "I'm listening."
Chen Qing rubbed his hands together and lowered his voice.
"I'd like to ask Senior Brother to accept my challenge and... let me land a move or two."
Gu Chengming raised an eyebrow. "You want me to lose to you?"
"Ah, Senior Brother, that's a bit much. It's just a friendly spar — wins and losses happen."
Chen Qing held up three fingers.
"If Senior Brother agrees, I'll hand over seventy percent of whatever rewards I receive afterward, and keep only thirty for myself."
"Think about it, Senior Brother — under sect rules, even in defeat you retain fifty percent of your benefits. Add my seventy percent on top of that, and you're walking away with twenty percent more than you started with for absolutely nothing. That's pure profit."
Something clicked for Gu Chengming.
The pitch sounded familiar — wasn't this just the same "match-fixing scheme" as before, dressed up with a more attractive cut?
"Junior Brother Chen, you've got quite the calculation running there."
Gu Chengming set down his teacup and looked at him with a slight, unreadable smile.
"But have you forgotten why the Sword-Questioning Stone was suspended just a few days ago? The disciples involved are still up on Contemplation Cliff copying sect rules."
"Times change," Chen Qing said smoothly, clearly having prepared for this.
"That incident only blew up because it got too loud and irritated the Elders. But our situation is different."
He pointed at Gu Chengming, then at himself.
"Senior Brother, your Dao-heart is solid, but you're only at the sixth layer of the first realm."
"From the Elders' perspective, me beating you is perfectly natural. If I narrowly 'lose' after fifty or sixty exchanges, who's going to see through that?"
Logically speaking, Gu Chengming had no real desire to agree.
Come on. They'd just been punished for exactly this. If he turned around and did the same thing, wasn't that just asking for trouble?
"Junior Brother Chen, the sect doesn't forbid private dealings between disciples, but any large transfer of resources gets logged by the Enforcement Hall."
Gu Chengming turned the question back: "If you hand me seventy percent of your resources, how do you balance the books?"
Chen Qing paused, clearly not having anticipated that angle.
"Senior Brother doesn't need to worry about that. I have ways to launder the transaction through the disciple market — it won't trace back to you."
Watching Chen Qing's desperate, eager expression, something stirred in Gu Chengming's mind.
This person really needs money.
By rights, as the fifth-ranked entrant in the evaluation, Chen Qing was no slouch — the resources the sect provided should have been more than enough for normal cultivation.
So why take the risk of getting punished again just to pull a borderline stunt like this?
And he was willing to take only thirty percent, giving the bigger cut to Gu Chengming.
Not that Gu Chengming particularly wanted to dig into the other man's reasons. He simply waved a hand and declined cleanly.
"Junior Brother Chen, I appreciate the thought."
"But this is something I can't agree to. I'm sorry."
Chen Qing exhaled, clearly crestfallen.
The reason he was so desperate to obtain resources — desperate enough to take another risk — was that the family heirloom technique he cultivated had reached a critical juncture.
The technique was called the "Withered Wood Meets Spring Sword Art." Its power was considerable, but its cultivation requirements were severe — it demanded vast quantities of spirit stones and medicinal pills to nourish the meridians. The resources he'd had confiscated as punishment had already left him stretched dangerously thin.
If no income came in soon, all those years of arduous training would amount to nothing.
Chen Qing sighed and spoke.
"Since Senior Brother's mind is made up, I won't push any further."
Then his tone shifted, hardening slightly.
"But the truth is, I desperately need those resources. If a 'partnership' is off the table, then I suppose we settle it the proper way."
He lifted his gaze, eyes burning with intent. "Senior Brother Gu — please give me your guidance."
If talking doesn't work, let ability do the speaking.
It was precisely at that moment that a notification appeared in front of Gu Chengming.
[Flowing Cloud, Moon-Following Sword Art thinks: Greedy sword cultivator. Loophole-exploiting sword cultivator. Disgusting sword cultivator.]
Gu Chengming took one look and, even though it was muddled and mostly just insults — and had apparently lumped him in as well — he knew exactly what Flowing Cloud, Moon-Following was driving at.
It clearly wanted him to teach this person a lesson.
So Gu Chengming answered cheerfully.
"Since Junior Brother Chen insists, Senior Brother here will keep you company for a few rounds."
Even without Flowing Cloud, Moon-Following, this fight was probably inevitable — the other man had clearly decided he had Gu Chengming pegged.
Besides, the way things had worked out was better. He could pick up some goodwill with the landmine girl in the process.
Gu Chengming casually grabbed the wooden practice sword he kept by the stone table, fixed Chen Qing with a calm gaze, and said:
"Whenever you're ready."
The two of them didn't bother going to the sealed Sword-Questioning Stone — they set up right there in Gu Chengming's spacious little courtyard.
Chen Qing took a deep breath and drew the sword at his back in a reverse grip.
It was a jade-green bamboo sword, its blade faintly shot through with flowing light, clearly no ordinary weapon.
"Senior Brother, please forgive my offense!"
The words were barely out before Chen Qing's figure flashed forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
His sword danced through three quick flourishes, thrusting simultaneously at Gu Chengming's left shoulder, right flank, and lower body.
The technique was called "Three Talents Return to Origin" — an advanced move from the Wenjian Sect's foundational sword art, a dance of feints and true strikes that was notoriously difficult to defend against.
Chen Qing might have been a bit calculating as a person, but his swordsmanship was absolutely legitimate.
Spiritual power at the eighth layer of the first realm coursed into the blade, whipping up a sharp gust that sent fallen leaves swirling around the courtyard.
Faced with this fierce onslaught, Gu Chengming didn't panic in the slightest.
He didn't even activate the Primordial Imperial Merit.
With nothing but the Huiyuan Sword Art he'd been drilling day after day, he gave his wooden sword a light flick and slipped it into the gap between the three flourishes.
"Clang!"
Wood met blade with a clear, ringing note.
Chen Qing felt a jolt of numbness shoot through his wrist. A strike that had been certain to land was deflected clean away, and his entire momentum stuttered to a halt.
"Sharp eyes!"
A flash of surprise ran through Chen Qing, and he quietly abandoned the sliver of contempt he'd been holding.
So Senior Brother Gu's cultivation might not be high, but his foundation in sword arts was genuinely frightening.
"Again!"
Chen Qing let out a low cry and shifted his approach entirely.
Gone were the fancy techniques. This time he came in broad and powerful, all overwhelming force.
Sword light cascaded like a waterfall, layer upon layer, as if trying to bury Gu Chengming entirely.
Gu Chengming remained unhurried. His wooden sword darted left and right, seemingly always on the verge of being overwhelmed, yet every time managing to dissolve the attack at the very last hairsbreadth.
Back and forth they went, trading blows. In the blink of an eye, dozens of exchanges had passed.
Chen Qing's unease grew with every strike.
He'd assumed that with two full cultivation layers on Gu Chengming, he could suppress him easily.
But the reality was that Gu Chengming's sword was like a mass of cotton — no matter how hard Chen Qing pushed, every blow landed in empty air, unable to deal any real damage.
And then, as time dragged on, he noticed something was changing in Gu Chengming's swordplay.
What had started as a clean, upright foundational style was gradually taking on a strange and unsettling quality, something creeping along the wooden sword like smoke.
"About right."
Gu Chengming thought to himself: time to bring out the main course.
His consciousness stirred, reaching into the depths of his sea of awareness for that mass of crimson mist that had been restless and waiting.
— Flowing Cloud, Moon-Following Sword Art!
A faint, bloody sheen bloomed across the surface of the plain wooden sword.
The air seemed to freeze for a single instant.
Every hair on Chen Qing's body stood on end. A sense of danger unlike anything he'd ever felt surged up from his gut —
That single sword stroke seemed to transform into a sky full of drifting clouds, blotting out the sunlight, blotting out his sight, and sealing off every last path of escape.
Flowing Light, Sword Shadows!
Chen Qing tried to retreat and found that his body wouldn't respond, as though that terrifying sword intent had locked onto him completely, leaving him unable to move at all.
The killing intent — aimed with surgical precision at sword cultivators — drained the color from Chen Qing's face.
Come on, Senior Brother, I just wanted to pocket a few sect benefits. You're not seriously trying to kill me, are you?!
"Hmm—"
The blade stopped three inches from his throat, perfectly still.
That terrifying, blood-tinged sword intent receded like a tide, as though it had never existed.
Gu Chengming flicked his wrist, traced a lazy flourish, and returned the sword to his back.
He looked down at Chen Qing — collapsed on the ground, face ashen, drenched in cold sweat — his own expression perfectly calm, as if the person who had just come within a breath of killing his fellow disciple was someone else entirely.
"Thank you for the spar, Junior Brother Chen."
Gu Chengming said it lightly.
Chen Qing gasped for air, chest heaving, eyes filled with the dazed terror of someone who had just narrowly escaped death.
That one moment — he'd genuinely thought he was going to die.
"Se— Senior Brother..."
Chen Qing's lips quivered. He tried to stand and found his legs had completely given out.
"Thank you for showing mercy, Senior Brother."
Chen Qing smiled bitterly. He sat on the ground for a long while before he could barely manage to push himself upright.
He retrieved his sword from the ground and bowed deeply to Gu Chengming.
"I've learned my lesson today, Senior Brother."
With that said, he didn't dare linger a moment longer. Even his "farewell" came out trembling, and he stumbled out of the courtyard in a shambling escape, his retreating figure looking thoroughly wretched and forlorn.
At the same time.
[Flowing Cloud, Moon-Following Sword Art Favorability +5]
The notification appeared before him. Gu Chengming thought: that's a lot of points for one fight.
What — is an old-fashioned thrashing worth more than a song?
He thought back to the options that had appeared when he first started winning over Flowing Cloud, Moon-Following. The favorability had gone up now, and yet he still had a nagging bad feeling about it.
Surely the real way to win over the landmine girl isn't by going on rampages together with her, right?
Another stretch of uneventful days passed.
Several days later, Jiang Lu dropped by the small courtyard again.
This time he brought two flasks of "Drunken Immortal Brew" he'd found at the disciple market. The two sat across from each other as usual, sipping away, conversation drifting from gossip about the sect's Elders all the way to recent developments among the outer-sect disciples.
But when the topic happened to drift to Chen Qing, Jiang Lu mentioned offhandedly:
"Funny thing, actually — Chen Qing's supposedly been in closed-door cultivation these past few days, but someone's spotted him limping around like he got the stuffing beaten out of him."
Gu Chengming took a sip of tea and answered with a smile.
"Oh — that was me."
"Pft—"
Jiang Lu nearly spat his entire mouthful of wine across the table. He stared, blinking rapidly, and repeated the words as if making sure he hadn't misheard.
"Senior Brother, you're saying... you did it?"
He knew Chen Qing's strength. The man was at the peak of the eighth layer of the first realm — a genuine tough opponent in the outer-sect pecking order, someone who could hold his own against an ordinary ninth-layer cultivator.
And Senior Brother Gu...
Jiang Lu snuck a covert glance at Gu Chengming.
Steady aura. Spiritual power drawn inward and contained.
Definitely sixth layer of the first realm. No question.
Jiang Lu's throat worked with difficulty. A sixth-layer thrashing an eighth-layer?
Did that mean Senior Brother Gu's actual combat power was already on par with a ninth-layer cultivator?
Jiang Lu knew that some people in the cultivation world could fight above their realm, but that was generally the exclusive domain of inner-sect prodigies, and even then only by a layer or two.
Someone crossing three full minor levels, beating the other person so badly they didn't dare show their face for days — he'd only ever read about that in exaggerated storybooks.
What rattled him even more was that he'd watched this senior brother break through from the third layer of the first realm to where he stood now, all within a span of just a few months, climbing like a rocket.
A feeling of helplessness washed over him — the helplessness of watching a gap widen.
The thought left Jiang Lu with an indescribable sense of urgency rising in his chest.
He'd thought of himself as decent enough, even somewhat remarkable among the outer-sect disciples. But looking at this Senior Brother — who sat there utterly at ease — he suddenly felt that all his little achievements were laughably feeble in the face of raw, absolute talent.
"Just luck," Gu Chengming said.
He seemed to read Jiang Lu's thoughts, but didn't say more. He simply set his teacup down gently, and the quiet clink it made against the table rang unusually clear in the still courtyard.
Jiang Lu forced a smile, heart in turmoil.
He'd had a whole stomach full of gossip ready — which senior sister had recently changed cultivation partners, which deacon had been pocketing bribes — but now that it was on the tip of his tongue, it all tasted flat and pointless, almost irritating.
They chatted a little more, but the warmth from earlier in the conversation never fully came back.
Jiang Lu sat as if on pins and needles, and before long rose to excuse himself, his retreating figure carrying a trace of haste and gloom.
Out of the courtyard, Jiang Lu drifted aimlessly along the mountain path.
"Have I been slacking off?"
He looked down at his own hands.
"I need to find a way to push my cultivation forward..."
Jiang Lu sighed, about to head back to his quarters.
Then, from somewhere in a dense thicket ahead, came a faint, indistinct murmuring.
"The way of mutual aid is the way of helping one another..."
"One person cultivates, and all benefit..."
Jiang Lu's footsteps halted. His ears perked up.
The voice sounded familiar — he thought he recognized a few outer-sect faces. He instinctively suppressed his aura and crept closer.
Through the gaps in the dense undergrowth, he made out a peculiar scene.
Seven or eight outer-sect disciples sat gathered in a circle, lips moving in quiet unison.
"This is..."
Jiang Lu's pupils contracted slightly.
He'd heard of this.
It had been spreading rapidly among the lower-level disciples of the sect recently. Supposedly it was an extraordinarily mysterious cultivation method — one that required no particular talent and no special spiritual root. Its defining feature was that the more people practiced it together, the stronger the resonance between them, and the faster they all advanced.
It sounded almost too good to be true — like gifts raining down from the sky.
No expensive pills. No exceptional talent. All you needed was numbers, and you could soar.
"Who's there?!"
Just as Jiang Lu was staring in fascination, a sharp bark rang out.
Jiang Lu's heart jumped. He thought immediately: bad. He was about to spin around and bolt, but realized that several figures had already shifted into flanking positions, boxing him in on all sides.
"Oh, it's Senior Brother Jiang."
The one in front recognized him and let the tension ease from his face. A hint of warm welcome even appeared in his smile.
"Since Senior Brother Jiang is already here, why not come over and join us?"
The disciple stepped forward, neither aggressive nor forceful, and extended a polite gesture of invitation.
Jiang Lu knew that trying to bolt now would only make things worse. He stepped out openly, clasped his hands in greeting, and said with a relaxed smile:
"Just passing through. What are you all up to, Junior Brothers?"
The disciple grinned and said without a hint of evasion:
"Senior Brother Jiang is a man of wide experience — surely you've heard of the 'Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method'?"
Jiang Lu laughed awkwardly. "I've heard a little, just a little."
"And what does Senior Brother think of it?"
"Well..." Jiang Lu hesitated. "From what I've heard it sounds remarkable, but I'm a cautious person — not great at trying new things."
"Senior Brother, you're selling yourself short."
The disciple — Zhao Si — shook his head and drew a thin booklet from inside his robes. The cover read: "Myriad Mysteries Convergence" in four large characters.
He held the booklet out to Jiang Lu, his tone carrying a sincerity that was hard to refuse.
"Senior Brother Jiang, we're all outer-sect disciples. Resources are scarce. If we just plod along at the standard pace, when will we ever get ahead? When will we ever be like those inner-sect prodigies, riding our swords through the sky, free and unbound?"
Those words immediately made Jiang Lu think of Gu Chengming — and then of his own cultivation, stalled at the seventh layer of the first realm for what felt like forever.
"This method exists precisely for those of us with ordinary talent."
"United in purpose, pooling our strength together — why should the great Dao be beyond our reach?"
Jiang Lu stared at the booklet, a war raging in his heart.
After a long moment.
He took a deep breath, tucked the booklet into his robes, and squeezed out a smile for the disciple.
"Since Junior Brother is so generous with his invitation, I'll... take it home and have a look."
The disciple's face lit up brilliantly, as if he'd just welcomed a new member of the family.
"Then we'll look forward to good news from Senior Brother Jiang."
Back at his quarters, Jiang Lu closed the doors and windows and lit a candle.
He sat at his desk, staring hard at the booklet: "Myriad Mysteries Convergence — True Explication."
"Just a look..."
He murmured to himself and turned to the first page.
The content was not obscure in the slightest — if anything, it was deliberately accessible.
It explained in clear detail how to circulate one's spiritual power along a specific pathway in order to produce resonance with others practicing the same method, achieving an effect where one plus one amounted to more than two.
The more he read, the more unsettled Jiang Lu became.
"Maybe... this really is an opportunity?"
Meanwhile, on the other side of things.
With Gu Chengming's day-by-day persistence, the Phase One "CG unlock progress" for Primordial Imperial Merit had finally crept up to fifty percent.
In the current "Weak Sovereign" state, not only could it be activated every single day, but the duration had extended to an hour and a half.
And that state had revealed a new and unexpected use.
Activating the "Weak Sovereign" state while cultivating the Huiyuan Sword Art and Hundred Bones Resonance produced remarkable results.
It wasn't that it sped up cultivation directly — rather, when the state was active, his confidence surged and everything came naturally, like water flowing downhill.
As the saying goes, faith moves mountains: when you genuinely believe you can do something, the results have a way of surpassing expectations.
Everything was trending in a good direction.
Until the day Jiang Lu came knocking again.
"Senior Brother Gu!"
Gu Chengming opened the courtyard gate. Jiang Lu was standing there beaming, practically radiating energy.
"Junior Brother Jiang — did you dig up a vein of spirit stones or something?" Gu Chengming teased.
"Better than spirit stones!"
Jiang Lu stepped inside, shut the gate behind him, and pulled from his robes a well-worn, dog-eared copy of the "Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method." He held it out to Gu Chengming.
"Senior Brother, take a look at this!"
Gu Chengming took the thin booklet — rough cover, yellowed pages, the kind of thing you'd find in a street stall for two coins.
"What's this?"
"It's called the Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method!"
Jiang Lu dropped his voice, excitement barely contained.
"Senior Brother, this is something special! No talent requirements, no spiritual root requirements — just practice this technique and you'll resonate spiritually with anyone else who practices it, doubling your cultivation speed!"
"I've only been at it a few days, and the bottleneck I've been stuck on for so long is already showing signs of loosening! And that feeling of having your spiritual power flow together with others — it's genuinely unlike anything else!"
Listening to Jiang Lu's breathless enthusiasm, Gu Chengming's brow furrowed slightly.
He remembered now — wasn't this the pyramid scheme cultivation method Jiang Lu had mentioned before?
True, he'd reasoned earlier that the Wenjian Sect was a proper, reputable establishment with powerful figures keeping watch, and that they surely wouldn't let some crooked art run rampant right under their noses.
But this Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method really did fly in the face of everything he knew.
Cultivation is cultivation of the self. What kind of technique lets everyone join hands and ascend together?
And furthermore...
Gu Chengming studied Jiang Lu carefully, probing his aura — and couldn't feel a single trace of the advancement Jiang Lu was describing.
Too small to detect? Or genuinely nothing at all?
"Junior Brother Jiang, where did you get this technique?"
Gu Chengming flipped through the little booklet and asked casually.
"An outer-sect junior brother gave it to me."
Jiang Lu didn't hide it.
"Quite a few outer-sect disciples are practicing it right now, and the results are obvious. I genuinely thought it was useful, which is why I brought it to share with you right away."
Looking at Jiang Lu's earnest, open face, Gu Chengming inwardly sighed.
"Alright — leave this with me. I'll take a look at it."
Gu Chengming put the booklet away without any change in expression. "If it really does have remarkable effects, I won't miss out on them."
Jiang Lu looked genuinely pleased at that.
"Of course!"
He sent the over-excited Jiang Lu on his way, then carried the Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method back to his study.
He sat at his desk, expression grave.
"Need to figure out what this thing actually is."
Gu Chengming's mind stirred. His original intention had been to look through it and see if there was anything obviously wrong with the technique's description.
Of course, he was only going to look — he had absolutely no intention of trying it on himself.
Only... the instant his eyes swept through the full cycle of its operation.
[Congratulations, Host: "Let's Do Our Best Formula / Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method" — beginner mastery achieved!]
[Target for affection route selected: Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method]
[Current Favorability: 5 / Stranger]
Gu Chengming: "?"
He went completely rigid.
What — I just glanced at it. How am I already a beginner? Is this my talent working against me?!
At the same moment, a string of descriptive text appeared before him.
[A grey and murky fog surged from somewhere unknown, instantly claiming a corner of the sea of awareness.]
[The grey mist was thick as ink, carrying an ancient, vast, and profoundly unsettling aura. Deep within that murk, countless threads fine as hair stretched outward in every direction, as though connected to an infinite void.]
[And at the very center of that grey fog, a dim and indistinct figure, radiating boundless majesty, slowly took shape.]
[It had no discernible features. No definite form. It was as though it had been assembled from countless thoughts and countless desires, a collective entity of pure will.]
— Holy hell, you even have an entrance scene?!
Now Gu Chengming truly couldn't stay seated.
Even the advanced Flowing Cloud, Moon-Following Sword Art hadn't gotten a dramatic entrance. This thing showing up with one meant only one thing.
Please tell me I haven't stumbled into some genuinely evil cultivation art.
[Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method speaks: I am the source of all methods, the gate of myriad mysteries.]
[Heaven and earth are merciless; all things are but straw dogs. Yet I am compassionate — I open a door of convenience, and guide all living beings together onto the great Dao.]
[Those who enter my gate are not separate from one another. We share one deep wellspring, share one life, share the ultimate bliss.]
[This is the way of the Myriad Mysteries Convergence.]
Before Gu Chengming could react.
[Hundred Bones Resonance is startled and uncertain: Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method? What manner of heavenly sovereign is this?]
But that name...
Gu Chengming thought back to the alternate name the system notification had used just now.
"Aren't you called the 'Let's Do Our Best Formula'?"
[Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method is utterly appalled!]
[Are you SERIOUS?! COPE!]
…
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