Chapter 133 | The Galgame Martial Saint

The dead silence around them lasted for a long time.

The disciples of the Qingyuan Sect froze in place, not even daring to breathe heavily.

Above their field of vision, the wall of damage boost tags over Gu Chengming's head had not yet dissipated, the golden characters appearing extremely oppressive under the dim light of Tianque.

They saw it clearly; their lead elder, a cultivator at the early Fourth Realm, didn't even have a chance to react before being poked into a stone tablet by this young man's finger, his life or death now unknown.

If they moved recklessly now, no one could guarantee that the next finger wouldn't fall on their own heads.

After all, among these Qingyuan Sect disciples, there likely wasn't a single person who liked eating pancakes with scallions.

Gu Chengming withdrew his hand, brushed off his sleeves, and swept his gaze over the trembling group of cultivators, calmly uttering two words:

"Get lost."

These two words sounded like heavenly music to the ears of the Qingyuan Sect disciples.

In the next moment, the group that had been shivering like leaves felt as if they had been granted a grand amnesty, scrambling toward the pile of rubble to pull Zhao Qingshi, whose bones were entirely shattered, out from the stone tablet.

They didn't even dare to leave a single harsh word, carrying their half-dead elder as they cast their fastest daoist arts, turning into streaks of panicked light that vanished past the horizon of the basalt plain in an instant.

Once the aura of the Qingyuan Sect group had completely faded, Gu Chengming finally turned around.

Xu Huayi stood a few paces away, her judge's pen already tucked away, her heart feeling quite complex.

Gu Chengming met Xu Huayi's gaze and couldn't help but find it amusing. "Why is Fellow Daoist Xu looking at me like that?"

Xu Huayi composed her thoughts and teased helplessly, "I was just thinking that if I ever spar with Fellow Daoist Gu in the future, I must prepare pancakes and scallions in advance, lest I take a thirty percent damage boost for nothing."

Gu Chengming smiled and did not say anything more.

The two of them reorganized for a moment before stepping over the messy remains of the array on the ground, officially setting foot on the blue-brick corridor leading to the Zhou Shrine.

...

The moment they crossed an invisible boundary, Gu Chengming keenly captured the sudden change in the laws of heaven and earth.

The chaotic spatial turbulence that had filled the outskirts of Tianque was completely smoothed out here, but following that, Gu Chengming discovered a rather troublesome matter.

He closed his eyes and sensed his sea of consciousness.

The Burial Sword Tomb still floated steadily in the clouds high above, and his divine sense connection with it was clear.

However, when he tried to move the Burial Sword Tomb to position it over the Zhou Shrine, he encountered resistance; it was completely isolated outside the law domain of the Zhou Shrine.

Gu Chengming opened his eyes and informed Xu Huayi of this change.

Xu Huayi did not show surprise after hearing this, but instead revealed an expression of understanding.

After a moment of thought, she gave a clear explanation: "It should be so. The Dao Throne Wonders within Tianque are evolved from the obsessions and law fragments of ancient powerhouses; each wonder is an independent and complete law domain."

She extended two fingers, lightly drawing two non-intersecting circles in the air.

"The Burial Sword Tomb has the rules of the Burial Sword Tomb, and the Zhou Shrine has the rituals of the Zhou Shrine, both of which are high-level Dao Throne Wonders. Although Fellow Daoist Gu has refined the Burial Sword Tomb, your true body has now entered the territory of the Zhou Shrine. The laws of the Zhou Shrine will never allow another equal Dao Throne domain to forcibly invade its territory. If you want to bring the Burial Sword Tomb in, the laws of the Burial Sword Tomb would have to completely crush the laws of the Zhou Shrine, but for now, the two clearly mind their own business."

Gu Chengming sighed with regret after hearing this principle.

When calculated carefully, the Burial Sword Tomb was actually quite useful.

There was no need for a tedious casting time or excessive energy consumption; with a single thought, a mountain would descend, simple, crude, and visually impactful.

But on second thought, Gu Chengming felt relieved.

The long string of damage boost tags he had obtained from visualizing the Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art had extremely strict judgment conditions; they only applied to techniques or physical strikes performed by himself to receive those terrifying bonuses.

If he simply controlled the Burial Sword Tomb to smash people, the mountain was ultimately an external object and theoretically could not trigger those specific attribute stacks.

Facing a true expert, the Burial Sword Tomb without those attribute bonuses would indeed seem a bit lackluster.

But even while rationally analyzing the gains and losses in his mind, Gu Chengming couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of regret.

After all, who wouldn't want to rely on swinging a mountain to crush someone to death?

Xu Huayi, walking slightly ahead, noticed the regret on Gu Chengming's face.

She stopped and looked back at him, her tone carrying a hint of amusement.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, stop wearing that regretful expression. Even if you could move the Burial Sword Tomb in, it would be of no use here. Within the Zhou Shrine, 'fighting' basically does not occur."

Gu Chengming wondered if he was being that obvious.

However, the information revealed in Xu Huayi's words caught him by surprise.

He followed up with a question: "Fighting doesn't occur? Tianque has entered the third phase, where opportunities belong to the victors. Cultivators from all sides are fighting like mad in the secret realm, and a core wonder like the Zhou Shrine will surely be a gathering place. How could it be peaceful?"

Xu Huayi turned and continued forward, explaining as she walked, "It's not that everyone doesn't want to fight, but that they cannot. The situation in the Zhou Shrine is very special; it is one of the few wonders in Tianque where the Dao Throne rules directly intervene."

"The Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying True Monarch entered the dao through ritual. The Zhou Shrine is the manifestation of his ritual rules. Once you step through the gates of the Zhou Shrine, you must follow the rules set by the True Monarch. The most core rule is the 'Prohibition of Private Combat.' Anyone who dares to draw weapons or cause spiritual energy riots within the Zhou Shrine will be directly suppressed by the shrine's laws, and may even be immediately stripped of their qualification to explore and expelled from the wonder."

Gu Chengming nodded repeatedly, thinking this rule was consistent with the usual tone of the Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art.

"Can no one break this rule?" Gu Chengming asked casually.

Xu Huayi thought for a moment and said, "Of course it's not absolute. If one's cultivation realm can completely override the remaining laws of this Dao Throne Wonder, they can naturally ignore the rules and strike forcibly, but such a realm would have to be at least a Fifth Realm great cultivator."

At this point, Xu Huayi shook her head and dismissed the idea.

"But logically speaking, Fifth Realm great cultivators are all aiming for the ethereal origin inheritance in the deepest parts of Tianque. They would never waste their energy on specific dharma artifacts or insights in the outskirts. A Fifth Realm powerhouse wouldn't look twice at the small things the Zhou Shrine offers."

Gu Chengming walked behind her, listening to this emphatic judgment, and silently muttered to himself.

Fellow Daoist Xu, please stop raising flags.

After walking several hundred more paces along the blue-brick corridor, they finally arrived at the main gate of the Zhou Shrine.

Beneath the towering gatehouse, two heavy vermilion-lacquered gates were tightly closed.

There were no guards before the gate, only an ancient stone tablet about ten feet high standing alone in the center of the steps, blocking the way.

Gu Chengming and Xu Huayi stepped forward. The surface of the stone tablet was polished extremely smooth, with two lines of large characters carved in ancient seal script that looked like iron strokes and silver hooks.

"Those who wish to enter the shrine must ask with ritual. Those without ritual shall not enter."

The stone tablet sensed spiritual energy, and a layer of ripples like water appeared on its surface.

Immediately after, five small characters gathered from spiritual light appeared beneath the script, from left to right: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Grand Excellence.

It seemed the Zhou Shrine would give a corresponding rating based on the words and actions of the one asking with ritual, and only after reaching a specific standard would the vermilion-lacquered gates open.

Thinking this, a semi-transparent light figure was suddenly projected above the stone tablet.

The light figure was not a real person, but a humanoid outline traced by pure law light.

This humanoid light figure stood on the steps, facing the vermilion-lacquered gates, and began to demonstrate the so-called standards for asking with ritual.

Gu Chengming and Xu Huayi stood behind and watched closely.

At first, both thought it would be a common bow or cupped-fist salute, but after watching for just a moment, Xu Huayi's brow furrowed tightly.

These rituals were far too tedious.

The light figure's demonstration was extremely detailed, to the point of being pedantic. It not only demonstrated the movements but also labeled dense textual explanations in mid-air.

The first step was Solemn Standing. The feet had to be together with the toes perfectly aligned, without the slightest deviation. The arms hung naturally with the palms pressed against the outer thighs, and the curvature of the knuckles had to follow a specific geometric arc.

The second step was the Starting Hand. The hands were slowly raised from the lower abdomen; the speed could not be too fast nor too slow. Beside the light figure, a stick of incense for timing even appeared, requiring the entire process of raising the hands to perfectly match the time it took for the incense to burn one inch.

The third step was Enfolding. The hands overlapped three inches in front of the chest, with the left hand on the outside and the right hand on the inside. A tiny gap had to remain between the palms; they could not be pressed tightly together.

The most absurd was the fourth step, Bowing. If one bent even a fraction too much, it was considered flattery; if a fraction too little, it was considered arrogance. The bowing posture had to be maintained for exactly nine breaths, and the length and depth of each breath had specific regulations.

"This is too strict..."

Complaining aside, they still had to enter.

Xu Huayi took a deep breath and stepped forward, standing in the area designated in front of the stone tablet.

She closed her eyes, rapidly replaying every detail of the light figure's demonstration in her mind.

As a genius of the Imperial Observatory, her learning ability and memory were naturally beyond doubt.

The spiritual light on the stone tablet flashed violently, and the five rating characters began to rotate, eventually settling on the middle character.

"Good."

Immediately after, the heavy vermilion-lacquered gates let out a low rumble, and the left gate leaf slowly opened inward, leaving a gap just wide enough for one person to pass.

Xu Huayi wiped the sweat from her forehead. Looking at the character for "Good" on the stone tablet, she felt both the relief of passing and an indescribable sense of frustration.

She believed her movements had reached the absolute limit, yet she only received a mediocre "Good." How far would one have to go to reach the so-called "Excellent" or "Grand Excellence"?

"Fellow Daoist Gu, it's your turn."

Xu Huayi stepped aside and rubbed her stiff neck, looking at Gu Chengming with a hint of anticipation.

She was secretly prepared to see Gu Chengming make a fool of himself.

After all, this Fellow Daoist Gu's style of action was bold and direct, swinging mountains without blinking; he didn't look like someone who could endure such tedious rules.

Gu Chengming walked to the front of the stone tablet and stood still. Just as he was about to move, a sudden change occurred on the stone tablet.

The original five rating characters—Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, and Grand Excellence—all disappeared.

In their place, four massive, shimmering golden characters were stamped squarely in the center of the stone tablet.

【Please, come in quickly!】

Rumble—

With the appearance of these four characters, the vermilion-lacquered gates that had only opened a crack suddenly swung wide open to both sides.

Inside the gates, along the originally dim corridor, two rows of bright palace lamps lit up one after another, extending all the way to the deepest part of the Zhou Shrine.

Xu Huayi stared blankly at the four characters on the stone tablet that seemed to carry a hint of flattery, then at the wide-open gates and the welcoming palace lamps, and finally shifted her gaze with difficulty to Gu Chengming, who was still standing there without even having bent his waist.

Is there even a VIP exclusive channel?!

...

The current situation was quite aggravating, but this wasn't the first or second time she had seen such things happen to Fellow Daoist Gu; Xu Huayi felt she was almost getting used to it.

Gu Chengming stepped into the Zhou Shrine first, and as soon as he entered, he felt a ripple in the space around him.

The corridor was brightly lit, with bronze multi-branched lamps burning silently, illuminating the smooth stone floor as bright as day.

Gu Chengming walked forward several yards, originally intending to discuss the array layout inside the Zhou Shrine with his companion, but the words caught in his throat.

His side was empty; Xu Huayi had not followed him in.

Gu Chengming raised an eyebrow slightly, quickly figuring out his current situation.

The Dao Throne Wonders in Tianque always had strict rules. Since the Zhou Shrine had set up that rating stone tablet at the entrance, it naturally wouldn't let everyone stay together.

Fellow Daoist Xu had received a "Good" rating and was likely teleported to the outer regions of the Zhou Shrine to crack arrays and find opportunities step by step.

As for him, having crossed the threshold with those four shimmering golden characters, he was clearly judged by the underlying laws of this Dao Throne Wonder as a guest of the highest specification, and was directly sent alone to a hidden, exclusive territory.

This Zhou Shrine certainly knows how to play favorites.

Gu Chengming complained in his heart, then tossed aside his slight worry for Xu Huayi.

With Xu Huayi's skills and the powerful boost tags above her head, as long as she didn't actively provoke a Fifth Realm old monster, she was more than capable of protecting herself in the outer regions of the Zhou Shrine where private combat was prohibited.

Since he was already here, he might as well follow this path to the end and see what good things this Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying True Monarch had hidden in the depths of his ancestral shrine.

Gu Chengming straightened his sleeves and continued deep into the corridor.

...

Meanwhile, on the basalt plain on the other side of the Tianque secret realm, the team from the Daqian Sitian Office and the Night Guard Division was struggling forward under the dim sky.

The gale swept across the ground, and the spiritual energy turbulence occasionally seeping from the cracks in the basalt let out sharp whistles.

Chu Heng walked at the very front of the team, his brow furrowed, the needle of the dragon-seeking compass in his hand spinning wildly like a headless fly.

"No, I can't find them."

Chu Heng stopped, wiped the frost from his face, and turned to look at everyone.

"After the rules for the third phase of Tianque descended, the spatial folding within the secret realm has become several times more intense than before. The auras of Vice Commander Gu and Miss Xu have been completely erased. If we continue this aimless search, it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Lu Mingzhang closed the folding fan he used for elegance and tucked it back into his belt, speaking with rare seriousness: "Vice Envoy Chu is correct. The secret realm is full of dangers, and all factions are restless. If our team exhausts its spiritual energy just to find people, it would be a mistake."

Zhou Qingmu, who had been following in the middle of the team disguised as a Night Guard senior banner, clapped the debris off her hands and chimed in lightheartedly:

"The two lords are right. What kind of person is our Vice Commander Gu? Moreover, Miss Xu's array attainments are extremely high. With the two of them working together, they won't suffer even if they walk sideways in this secret realm. Instead of wandering aimlessly, we should head straight for the largest Dao Throne Wonder nearby."

Hearing this, everyone turned to look at this female senior banner who spoke quite boldly.

In the back of the team, Jiang Yun's nerves twitched violently upon hearing "Shen Jinghong" speak.

Now, as soon as he heard this voice, the fatal tag 【Fifty percent chance of guaranteed decapitation for those who attempt to escape】 would automatically flash in his mind.

"Senior Banner Shen's words coincide with my thoughts."

Chu Heng didn't mind Jiang Yun's abnormality; he tapped the compass twice to stabilize the jumping needle, pointing directly southeast.

"According to my deduction, there is a massive spiritual energy vortex to the southeast, which must be the rumored Zhou Shrine. Daqian had already listed this place as a primary target before entering the secret realm. If Vice Commander Gu wants to find us, he will inevitably move toward the Zhou Shrine. Going there to wait is the best strategy."

With the plan decided, no one had any further objections, and they immediately changed direction, heading straight for the Zhou Shrine.

There was more than one entrance to the Zhou Shrine in Tianque, but they all ultimately led to the same main shrine.

Everyone asked with ritual before the Zhou Shrine, and Zhou Qingmu was naturally no exception.

However, just as she stepped over the threshold, she felt a blur before her eyes, and the auras of her colleagues instantly vanished.

When her vision refocused, she was already standing in a wide corridor paved with mutton-fat white jade.

On the walls on both sides of the corridor hung paintings depicting ancient sages lecturing on the dao, and a faint scent of sandalwood lingered around her nose, exuding a serene and profound zen intent.

Zhou Qingmu tilted her head, not feeling alarmed by this method of spatial shifting.

She knew the cultivation art she practiced had a very deep connection with this Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying True Monarch. It was entirely expected that the laws of the Zhou Shrine would produce a special resonance with her and lead her here alone.

Zhou Qingmu was about to step forward to investigate when extremely faint footsteps came from the corner at the end of the corridor.

Her gaze narrowed slightly, and her thumb naturally hooked onto the guard of the horizontal blade at her waist. Her aura as a Fifth Realm great cultivator was perfectly compressed within the shell of a Third Realm senior banner, ready to strike.

A tall, straight figure in green robes turned the corner.

The person was looking down at an ancient jade slip in his hand. Sensing the movement ahead, he suddenly looked up, and their eyes met.

Inside the wide white jade corridor, the atmosphere froze for a moment.

"Senior Banner Shen?"

Gu Chengming looked at the woman before him wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a standard Night Guard horizontal blade, his tone filled with absolute surprise.

He truly hadn't expected that after wandering around this VIP area isolated by the laws of the Zhou Shrine for half a day without seeing a soul, he would turn a corner and run straight into his incognito superior.

Zhou Qingmu was also quite surprised, but on second thought, it was normal since Gu Chengming also practiced the Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art.

However, surprise was surprise, but the act had to continue.

Before Gu Chengming could fully react, Zhou Qingmu's hand on the hilt of her blade instantly loosened.

The defensive posture she had been secretly maintaining naturally faded, and she instantly switched into a veteran Night Guard member who had roamed the world for years with a bold and unrestrained personality.

"Vice Commander Gu!"

Zhou Qingmu strode forward, her tone full of surprise and familiarity, reaching him in a few steps and extending her hand quite casually.

"I've finally found you!"

Gu Chengming steadied himself, inconspicuously taking half a step back to create a bit of safe distance.

"Senior Banner Shen has worked hard."

However, Zhou Qingmu clearly had no intention of letting him off.

Seeing Gu Chengming standing there in one piece without even a hair out of place, the interest in her eyes grew even more intense.

She leaned in even closer, even directly grabbing half of Gu Chengming's sleeve, asking in confusion:

"But Vice Commander Gu, where exactly have we been teleported to? I saw that stone tablet outside earlier; clearly, one has to follow those rules for a long time to get in. I just found it troublesome and gave a random nod, and then everything went black and I dropped right in front of you."

This performance perfectly portrayed a simple-minded subordinate who admired their superior's strength.

Gu Chengming looked at Zhou Qingmu, who was inches away, thinking that since the leader wanted to experience the joy of traveling incognito and playing the pig to eat the tiger, as a qualified subordinate, he could only cooperate and finish this play with her.

Gu Chengming quickly adjusted his mindset, reaching out to gently brush away Zhou Qingmu's hand from his sleeve.

"Senior Banner Shen, do not be so easily startled."

Gu Chengming thought for a moment and explained, "The secret realm is full of hidden dangers. Fellow Daoist Xu and I also found this place by chance. The laws here are quite strange, isolating me from others. That you were teleported here must also be a stroke of luck."

Zhou Qingmu didn't mind Gu Chengming brushing her hand away; instead, she took the opportunity to step back half a pace and gave an extremely standard military salute:

"Vice Commander Gu's lesson is noted!"

After saying that, she immediately returned to her grinning appearance and leaned in to ask:

"Then, my lord, where should we go next? This subordinate will follow your every command. If you point east, I won't go west; if you tell me to cut someone, I'll draw my blade immediately!"

"Since we are here, we should make the best of it."

Gu Chengming turned around, tucked the ancient jade slip into his sleeve, and cast his gaze toward the half-closed white jade door deep in the corridor.