Chapter 144 | The Galgame Martial Saint

Gu Chengming snapped his eyes open and sat up from his bed.

He calmed his breathing and immediately filtered out the nonsense coming from 《Hundred Bones Resonating》 in his mind.

The flirtatious gesture made by the Hundred Bones Resonating Phantom at the final moment in the room for the 【Hundred Bones Resonating of Love】 had indeed deviated from the normal scope of martial arts sparring, but that wasn't the point at all.

The point was that after taking the hit from "Emperor Bai, help me!", which had gathered countless negative statuses and self-harming buffs, that phantom had truly taken a step back.

In the underlying logic of games, as long as a boss with invincibility frames or a super-armor mechanism experienced hitstun or displacement, it proved that the opponent's defense threshold was not in an absolutely locked state.

The logic behind the "monkey show" was not wrong at all.

Gu Chengming sat cross-legged on the bed and began to calmly review the situation from just now.

The items he had used in the Training Ground, whether it was the "Jiao Reverse-Scale Pill", the "Bone-Corroding Heart-Rotting Pot", or even the low-quality "Eternal Karma Fire Stone", were all just cheap goods he had picked up randomly in the Market City.

The blood qi surge, near-death health-locking, and karma fire damage provided by these cheap items were all basic numerical additions, and there were even pharmacological conflicts between them, which wasted a lot of power.

That series of tedious operations just now was merely an experiment to verify whether "forcibly stacking buffs in front of a boss would be interrupted."

"Since the mechanics allow it, the rest is just a matter of numerical optimization."

Gu Chengming rubbed his chin.

If he replaced those low-quality pills with higher-grade peak-quality ones and then adjusted the multiplier algorithms for each buff—especially once he obtained that "Blood-Burning Breakthrough Pearl" as the core of this build after the Sect Disciple Grand Examination—completely shattering that phantom's defense threshold would be far from a pipe dream.

Thinking of this, the corners of Gu Chengming's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a rare look of determination.

Although this path was troublesome, the direction was clear; the rest was simply a matter of time and resources.

While Gu Chengming was focused on calculating data and creating spreadsheets in his mind, Emperor Bai's attitude was quite subtle.

【《Hundred Bones Resonating》 spoke through gritted teeth: What a humiliation! Although that phantom is my limit, how could she harbor such wretched thoughts?! If I cannot become stronger than her, wouldn't Emperor Gu be... by that fake... No! Absolutely not! I must become stronger immediately to uphold the prestige of this Emperor!】

Hearing this speech full of things to complain about, Gu Chengming didn't even know where to start comforting it for a moment.

He thought about it and decided to simply ignore it, instead focusing on gathering the gains from the 【Laboratory of Love】 earlier.

Gu Chengming circulated the 《Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art》, and his noble qi surged like a rushing river, quickly smoothing out the remaining chaotic spiritual energy.

Gu Chengming's meridians expanded smoothly, and the spiritual power vortex in his dantian let out a cheerful chime, its volume suddenly expanding by a full circle.

True essence flowed, endless and regenerating.

Third Realm, Fifth Level; it was a natural progression.

A warm current flowed from his dantian to his limbs and bones, and bursts of numbness came from his meridians, a signal that his spiritual power was returning to balance after breaking through the bottleneck. The surrounding spiritual energy seemed to be drawn by something, silently gathering toward him before slowly dissipating a moment later.

Gu Chengming slowly opened his eyes, feeling the spiritual power in his body that was several times thicker than before, but his face did not show much joy.

He walked to the window and looked at the spiritual bamboo swaying in the wind outside the courtyard, his gaze deep.

Admittedly, breaking through to the Third Realm, Fifth Level had greatly improved his basic stats. Whether it was the power of the 《Huiyuan Sword Manual》 or the physical strength of 《Hundred Bones Resonating》, both had risen accordingly.

However, Gu Chengming knew very well that for his current self, the marginal returns from simple realm breakthroughs and stacking proficiency in conventional sword arts were becoming lower and lower.

He needed a new multiplier, a completely new cultivation method that was independent of the existing system and could greatly raise his upper limit.

Gu Chengming turned and walked back to the table, taking out a heavy volume bound in unknown beast skin from his storage pouch.

《Unfettered Freedom Art》.

This was the life's work of that Sixth Realm senior who had left the cultivation world in a mess with his extremely malicious and outrageous actions.

Since this cultivation method dared to call itself "Unfettered Freedom", it must have a unique mechanism that broke all conventions.

Gu Chengming opened the book, skipped over those frustrating and wicked biographies at the beginning, and locked his gaze on the last few pages of obscure mantras.

It was time to comprehend this little terror cultivation method.

...

Over the next few days, Gu Chengming stayed behind closed doors and began to grind away at this Sixth Realm cultivation method.

However, progress was unexpectedly difficult.

The entire 《Unfettered Freedom Art》 had no clear energy circulation routes or specific move diagrams; it was filled with abstract concepts like "use all things as the law, follow no set pattern" and "seek truth by discarding the false, act against the heavens."

Gu Chengming tried the most orthodox meditation and breath-holding methods of the cultivation world, attempting to comprehend the meaning of "unfettered" within the manual.

He sat still for a full day and night, his mind empty and clear, and the spiritual power in his body circulated steadily.

But the system remained dead silent, with no prompt for "Comprehended a new cultivation method" appearing at all.

He then tried to do the opposite, circulating his true essence while standing on his head and even intentionally reversing his meridians to try and match the concept of "acting against the heavens."

The result was that, aside from making his blood qi surge and nearly suffering a qi deviation, he still gained nothing.

Gu Chengming closed the beast-skin volume, rubbed his throbbing temples, and let out a long sigh.

"Did that senior intentionally write a fake manual to mess with future generations?"

He began to seriously ponder that senior's psychological state.

That was a peerless prankster who would tie explosive talismans to his senior sister's flying sword and set up a marriage booth at the front gate of the Hehuan Sect.

How could the "Dao" of such a person be comprehended through honest meditation?

To enter the threshold of this 《Unfettered Freedom Art》, he probably couldn't use conventional cultivation thinking to solve the puzzle. He had to do something "interesting" that matched that senior's way of thinking and completely jumped out of the boxes of traditional cultivators to resonate with it.

But he, Gu Chengming, had always been a practical and steady person. Asking him to do those wicked things... he really didn't have that kind of talent.

"Forget it, I'll have to try a middle-ground approach."

Gu Chengming rubbed his chin, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind—something Sect Master Shen Qianqiu had complained to him about while holding a teacup in the Main Peak hall not long ago.

"With the grand examination approaching, the younger disciples have actually become a bit slack. I don't know if the pressure is too high or what, but they can't even get their spirits up for morning lessons."

Gu Chengming's eyes lit up.

Urging his fellow disciples to cultivate hard was definitely a great thing for the future of the sect.

As for using some slightly unconventional and somewhat stimulating methods in the process of this urging, it surely counted as "following no set pattern," which happened to fit the intent of the 《Unfettered Freedom Art》.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt this idea was feasible, and a hint of interest gradually appeared in Gu Chengming's eyes.

It wasn't truly behaving badly, and it could actually help the sect, killing two birds with one stone.

If that Sixth Realm senior knew about this in the afterlife, he would probably appreciate this kind of "serious-to-the-core lack of seriousness."

As for the specific operation, Gu Chengming quickly finalized the plan.

With the enhancement of the 《All Wonders Same Source Method》, it was not difficult for his divine consciousness to cover the entire Wenjian Sect's Outer Sect disciple residences. Combined with the Red Dust Technique derived from the 《Red Dust Phantom Step》, he could weave a massive dream network covering all the slack disciples.

The key was what kind of image to arrange in the dream to "teach" them.

Based on Gu Chengming's daily observations, the male disciples of the Wenjian Sect feared nothing in heaven or earth, except for those female sword cultivators from the Daoning Gate who acted with swift and decisive vigor.

Fear has always been the primary productive force.

This provided an excellent entry point.

Once the plan was set, Gu Chengming no longer hesitated.

He spent half a day repeatedly simulating the coverage area of the Red Dust Technique and the stability of the illusion. After ensuring everything was foolproof, he sat with his teacup and quietly waited for nightfall.

In the middle of the night, when the moon was dark and the wind was high.

Gu Chengming sat cross-legged in his small courtyard, his hands forming a complex seal. The red dust aura spread out silently, precisely locking onto thousands of sleeping Outer Sect male disciples.

To leave an indelible impression on them in their dreams, an ordinary Daoning Gate female cultivator image was clearly not shocking enough.

Gu Chengming closed his eyes and began to meticulously sculpt that perfect mentor who would take on the heavy responsibility of "urging" them.

"Go, for the future of the Wenjian Sect."

Gu Chengming offered a silent prayer in his heart and completely activated the red dust illusion.

...

The next day, at daybreak.

The horizon had just turned pale, and the heavy morning mist had not yet dissipated.

Outside the Main Peak hall of the Wenjian Sect, Shen Qianqiu was walking with his hands behind his back, preparing to start his new day of inspection.

However, when he walked to the edge of the Training Ground, the scene before him made him freeze in place.

On the vast Training Ground, thousands of Outer Sect disciples stood in a dense crowd.

Not a single person was slacking, and not a single person was whispering.

Everyone was swinging their Dharma Swords at a near-frenzied speed.

Their eyes were bloodshot, their faces were pale as paper, and the sweat on their foreheads rolled down like waterfalls. The swords in their hands were swung so fast they even left afterimages. Along with every sword swing, one or two shrill, ghost-like roars would occasionally burst from the crowd.

"Don't come over! I'm swinging! I'm still swinging!"

"I'll practice the sword-drawing stance another ten thousand times!"

Shen Qianqiu was greatly shocked by this bustling and somewhat eerie sword-practicing scene.

After a good while, he recalled his previous complaint to Gu Chengming about the disciples becoming slack in their cultivation again.

He thought to himself that this couldn't be Little Gu's doing, could it?

Shen Qianqiu immediately turned around and headed straight for the back mountains of the Huiyuan Gate.

The courtyard gate was not closed, and Gu Chengming was sitting by the stone table drinking morning tea.

"Chengming, those disciples of the Wenjian Sect..."

Shen Qianqiu strode into the courtyard and asked point-blank.

Gu Chengming put down his teacup, stood up to bow respectfully, and replied without changing his expression, "This disciple heard that the Sect Master was worried about the cultivation of our fellow disciples, so I took the liberty of contributing a bit of my humble effort. Perhaps there is indeed a small amount of credit from this disciple."

Shen Qianqiu was puzzled and couldn't help his inner curiosity. "How did you do it? Did you teach them some shortcut to sword dao comprehension?"

"There is no such thing as a shortcut," Gu Chengming smiled and told the truth. "This disciple simply used the Red Dust Technique to construct a unified illusion while they were asleep. In the illusion, I arranged a strict teacher to constantly urge them to practice their swords, that's all."

After hearing this, Shen Qianqiu raised an eyebrow. "Just that simple?"

Gu Chengming nodded calmly. "Just that simple."

In his heart, he silently added: It was just that the teacher's image slightly combined Vice Commander Liu's face, the muscles of a body cultivator, and the identity of a Daoning Gate female cultivator. If a disciple stopped practicing, they would be forcibly embraced.

Upon hearing this, most of the doubts in Shen Qianqiu's heart were instantly dispelled. He patted Gu Chengming's shoulder, his eyes full of relief and emotion.

"Chengming, you are not only exceptionally talented yourself, but you also always have your fellow disciples in your heart, even willing to personally handle such small matters. Having a pillar of talent like you is truly the great fortune of my Wenjian Sect."

Shen Qianqiu urged him to rest well and not to waste too much mental energy on teaching his fellow disciples, then he left the courtyard with his hands behind his back, feeling satisfied.

His back looked incredibly relaxed, as if he could already see the glorious future of the Wenjian Sect dominating the cultivation world.

It wasn't until the sound of Shen Qianqiu's footsteps completely disappeared at the end of the mountain path that Gu Chengming sat back down at the stone table and turned his gaze toward the translucent panel that only he could see.

Accompanied by flickering golden light, a new line of words slowly appeared.

【《Unfettered Freedom Art》 has reached the entry level.】

【Current Favorability: 10/Stranger】

Looking at this prompt, Gu Chengming sighed inwardly. It seemed that the threshold for this Sixth Realm senior's understanding of the word "unfettered" was truly too low.

He was clearly a man of integrity, yet he was judged by this cultivation method to be a kindred spirit.

However, what made Gu Chengming most curious was not his undiscovered talent for pranks, but the attitude of this new cultivation method.

From the time he had mastered this manual until now, it hadn't said a single word.

Was it acting like a silent master?

Gu Chengming was a bit puzzled, unsure if this was a characteristic of the cultivation method or if his understanding of a Sixth Realm manual was inadequate.

Furthermore, after mastering this manual, it didn't give any numerical values or mechanisms as Gu Chengming had expected, having no effect other than a slight increase in spiritual power circulation speed.

This gave Gu Chengming the feeling of having been scammed.

The most crucial thing was that it didn't even provide a dialogue box; wasn't that a bit too much?

Did I accidentally buy a domestic galgame?

...

For the time being, he set aside the issues with this strange cultivation method.

Since it refused to speak, he would just let it remain silent; after all, there would always be chances to slowly figure it out in the future.

Right now, there were more pressing matters to focus on, as the Sect Disciple Grand Examination was already close at hand.

And while Gu Chengming was looking toward the grand examination, at the other end of the Wenjian Sect, someone else was also troubled by this matter.

Wenjian Sect, Daoning Gate.

Sea of clouds swirled year-round around these cold peaks, and the perennial snow made the entire Daoning Gate look like a lunar palace.

At this moment, inside a quiet room in the main hall of the Daoning Gate, sandalwood incense rose in curls.

Elder Jingxuan, a highly experienced elder within the gate, was sitting on a prayer mat, holding a letter stamped with Sect Master Shen Qianqiu's private seal.

The handwriting on the letter was vigorous and powerful, but the content had left this female elder, who had weathered many storms, speechless for a long time.

The content of the letter was actually quite simple, detailing the matters of the upcoming grand examination for the major sects.

In previous grand examinations, the leader of the younger generation representing the Wenjian Sect had always been the focus of all parties.

According to the original structure of the Wenjian Sect, this leading position should have undoubtedly fallen to the current dao child of the Daoning Gate, Su Qingmeng. Su Qingmeng possessed supreme talent and Jianxin Tongming; since she entered the sect, she had been the apple of the eye of the entire Daoning Gate, a well-deserved treasure.

However, the world is unpredictable.

Shen Qianqiu had made it very clear in the letter that for this Sect Disciple Grand Examination, the leader of the Wenjian Sect's younger generation would be Gu Chengming from the Huiyuan Gate.

Elder Jingxuan gently placed the letter on the low table in front of her and rubbed her throbbing temples.

Even though the Daoning Gate had always held itself in high regard, and even though Elder Jingxuan rarely praised male disciples, facing this letter now, she had to admit that Shen Qianqiu's arrangement was beyond reproach.

The current Gu Chengming was indeed a peerless genius that no one could match.

In just two short years, this young man, who had once been unknown within the sect, had like a runaway black horse broken into the vision of all high-level cultivators in Daqian with an extremely arrogant and overbearing posture.

He had killed Third Realm evil cultivators in the capital, made a great name for himself at the Northern Border Great Wall, and even turned the tide in the Tianque Secret Realm; there were even rumors that he had brought back an entire Dao Throne spectacle.

In terms of achievements and strength, Gu Chengming had already left his peers far behind.

If he were to take the lead, not a single person in the Wenjian Sect would dare to say a word against it.

While she completely agreed rationally, what Elder Jingxuan found extremely troublesome was an old matter from two years ago.

Two years ago, at that time, Gu Chengming had not yet shown his brilliance. His cultivation was mediocre, and he was not particularly outstanding among the disciples.

On such a seemingly ordinary day, Gu Chengming had actually come to the Daoning Gate to personally ask Su Qingmeng to become his dao companion.

The result was, naturally, without suspense.

The Daoning Gate practiced a sword dao of pure heart and discarded desires, and Su Qingmeng had put all her heart and soul into the sword dao, having no interest whatsoever in such romantic affairs.

She hadn't even shown any extra emotion before very decisively rejecting the other party's request.

In Elder Jingxuan's eyes at the time, this was just an ordinary disciple who didn't know the heights of heaven and earth, having a daydream about a toad eating swan meat; if he was rejected, he was rejected, it wasn't worth mentioning.

But who could have imagined that in just two short years, the tables would turn?

The ordinary disciple who had been rejected to his face and seemed to have left in dejection was now a monster ranked at the top of the Hidden Dragon Ranking, while the once high-and-mighty dao child now had to sit below him in the Sect Disciple Grand Examination and follow his orders.

Elder Jingxuan's heart was filled with worry. She was afraid that Su Qingmeng, being young and lacking experience, having been in seclusion for two years, would suddenly encounter such a huge gap upon coming out. What if she couldn't handle it?

If her dao heart was damaged and an obsession was created, then all the effort the Daoning Gate had put in over the years would be in vain.

"Sigh, what a mess."

Elder Jingxuan let out a long sigh and picked up the spiritual tea on the table that had already gone cold, having no heart to taste it at all.

Just then, a very light sound of footsteps came from outside the quiet room.

"Disciple Su Qingmeng requests to see the elder."

A cold voice sounded outside the door.

"Come in."

Elder Jingxuan quickly hid the worry on her face and replaced it with a dignified and kind expression.

The wooden door was gently pushed open.

Su Qingmeng, dressed in a plain white sword uniform, stepped into the quiet room.

She was tall with a peerless face, her long black hair tied up with only a simple, unadorned wooden hairpin. As the energy circulated around her body, there was a faint, sharp sword intent that was contained but not released.

Elder Jingxuan's gaze was sharp as she looked her up and down, and a light of relief immediately appeared in her eyes.

Third Realm, First Level.

Two years of closed-door cultivation had not only allowed Su Qingmeng to successfully break through her realm, but her foundation was also incredibly solid, and that unique sword intent of the Daoning Gate had already begun to take shape.

Judging solely from the progress of her cultivation, Su Qingmeng had definitely not let down the title of dao child.

"Qingmeng, you've come out of seclusion. These two years of hard cultivation have truly not disappointed me."

Elder Jingxuan praised her warmly.

"Thank you for your guidance, Elder. This disciple was just following the steps and gained a little something."

Su Qingmeng bowed slightly, her expression calm, not showing any arrogance because of her breakthrough.

Elder Jingxuan pointed to the prayer mat opposite her, signaling Su Qingmeng to sit down.

Once Su Qingmeng was seated, the atmosphere in the quiet room fell into a brief silence.

Elder Jingxuan picked up the teapot and poured a cup of hot tea for Su Qingmeng. The tea splashing against the cup made a faint sound, seemingly serving as a prelude to the upcoming conversation.

"Qingmeng, your timing for coming out of seclusion is quite good. Before long, it will be the time for the grand examination where all the major sects gather."

Elder Jingxuan chose her words carefully, her tone very gentle, trying to soften the upcoming heavy news.

Su Qingmeng held the teacup with both hands and gently blew away the floating leaves on the surface. "This disciple understands. Bringing glory to the sect is my duty. For this grand examination, I will definitely go all out and not let the reputation of the Daoning Gate fall."

Seeing Su Qingmeng's matter-of-fact appearance, Elder Jingxuan felt even more conflicted.

This girl obviously still thought she was the undisputed leader.

"Having such a heart is naturally very good."

Elder Jingxuan coughed twice. "However, regarding the arrangements for this grand examination, the Sect Master has made a new decision. For the leader of the younger generation, the sect already has someone else in mind."

Su Qingmeng looked up, a flash of appropriate confusion appearing in her cold eyes, but no resentment or disappointment could be seen.

"Someone else?"

Su Qingmeng put down her teacup and asked in a steady tone, "May I ask the elder which gate's senior brother or junior brother has received such favor from the Sect Master?"

Elder Jingxuan took a deep breath, thinking that a quick death was better than a slow one, and simply stated it directly.

"It is Gu Chengming from the Huiyuan Gate."

As soon as those four words came out, Elder Jingxuan almost held her breath. She was ready with a whole set of words to soothe her emotions, but Su Qingmeng's reaction greatly exceeded Elder Jingxuan's expectations.

"So it is Daoist Gu."

Elder Jingxuan was stunned. That was it? No other reaction?

"Qingmeng, don't you feel wronged?"

Elder Jingxuan asked tentatively, afraid that this girl was forcibly suppressing all her emotions in her heart, which would actually make it easier for her to suffer from qi deviation.

Su Qingmeng, upon hearing this, instead showed an extremely puzzled look.

"Wronged? Why would the elder say that?"

Su Qingmeng tilted her head slightly and spoke frankly, "The Sect Disciple Grand Examination has always been about the capable taking the lead. Since the Sect Master decided to let Daoist Gu lead, it must be because Daoist Gu has the ability to convince everyone. Why should this disciple feel wronged?"

Elder Jingxuan was left speechless by the question.

However, what Su Qingmeng said next confirmed that she truly knew nothing about the situation outside.

"It's just that this disciple has been in closed-door cultivation for these two years and knows very little about external matters."

Su Qingmeng frowned slightly, her tone carrying a hint of curiosity. "After coming out, I occasionally encountered a few junior sisters. Whenever they were chatting and saw me, they would immediately stop talking, and they were even more secretive about that Daoist Gu's matters."

Su Qingmeng paused for a moment, as if finding her junior sisters' behavior quite laughable. "This disciple previously thought that Daoist Gu had encountered some trouble in his cultivation and the junior sisters were afraid of affecting my cultivation, so they didn't speak of it. Now it seems the junior sisters were afraid I would know that Daoist Gu's cultivation has advanced greatly, thus creating a gap in my heart and destabilizing my dao heart?"

Elder Jingxuan's old face turned red, and she coughed to hide her embarrassment.

It wasn't just the junior sisters who were afraid; wasn't she, as an elder, also scared to death just now?

It seemed the entire Daoning Gate was carefully maintaining this dao child's potentially non-existent fragile self-esteem.

"Cough, they were just concerned and acted out of confusion."

Elder Jingxuan quickly changed the subject. Since Su Qingmeng's mindset was fine, she no longer held back and laid out Gu Chengming's deeds from the past two years like precious treasures.

Killing evil cultivators in the capital, showing his might at the Northern Border Great Wall, turning the tide in the Tianque Secret Realm—each and every one was enough for an ordinary cultivator to look up to for a lifetime, and all these things had actually happened to the same person, and in just two years.

Su Qingmeng listened quietly to the elder's narrative. As Gu Chengming's achievements were revealed one by one, a strange light gradually lit up in her originally calm eyes.

She had always thought her cultivation at the Third Realm, First Level was already outstanding among the younger generation. Now she knew that there was always someone better. And this person was from the same sect.

"The elder is absolutely right. Regarding this matter, this disciple naturally has no objections. Letting the stronger lead the sect forward is a matter of course."

At this point, she smiled and then added, "However, achievements are ultimately stories told by others, and fame is but a passing cloud. For us sword cultivators, if we truly want to understand a person, we naturally have to speak with our swords."

Su Qingmeng stood up, her posture as straight as a pine tree. The long sword she had been carrying on her back let out a crisp chime, as if responding to its master's state of mind.

She cupped her hands and gave Elder Jingxuan a solemn bow.

"If there is time, please ask the elder to convey a message to the Sect Master for me. Before the grand examination, this disciple hopes to have a fair and just match with that Daoist Gu."

Elder Jingxuan looked at her battle-ready disciple, opened her mouth, and in the end, all the thousands of words were stuck in her throat.

She really wanted to tell Su Qingmeng that Gu Chengming often didn't even draw his sword when fighting now!

He relied on pure physical blood qi to blast his enemies into dust punch by punch! If you go and compete with him in swordplay and he gets impatient and gives you a punch, what then?

But seeing Su Qingmeng's heart for the Dao, which contained not a single trace of distraction, she silently sighed in her heart and prayed that Gu Chengming would know to be a bit gentle when the time came.

"Fine. I will convey your meaning to the Sect Master as it is."

...

Small courtyard in the back mountains of the Huiyuan Gate.

Gu Chengming had just finished clearing the fallen leaves in the courtyard when he received a flying sword message from Sect Master Shen Qianqiu.

The content of the letter was concise: the Daoning Gate's dao child, Su Qingmeng, was seeking a match before the grand examination and wanted to have a sparring session with him.

After reading the message, Gu Chengming held the letter with a quite subtle expression.

He was not unfamiliar with the name "Su Qingmeng." After all, before transmigrating, it was precisely by controlling the game character to confess to this dao child that a series of events had been triggered.

Putting aside the slightly awkward plot at the time, Gu Chengming had a very deep impression of this dao child's character art; she was indeed extremely beautiful.

Before he could feel much emotion, a commotion broke out in his Sea of Consciousness.

【《Hundred Bones Resonating》 saw the content of the letter, and the dejection and self-isolation from being ground into the dirt by the phantom earlier instantly vanished. It danced with excitement in the Sea of Consciousness and shouted loudly: Emperor Gu! It's here! It's the classic plot of 'Thirty years in the East, thirty years in the West; do not look down on a poor youth!'】

For the satisfying revenge plots that only existed in storybooks, Lao Bai clearly had no resistance whatsoever, becoming so excited that even its surrounding blood qi began to surge.

Gu Chengming was completely speechless.

Lao Bai, how did you just instantly return to full health the moment you heard about a face-slapping plot?

Before he could finish complaining, another one joined in the fun.

【《Huiyuan Sword Manual》 vigorously swung the great sword in its hand and echoed angrily: Exactly! She actually dared to reject Chengming before; she's simply blind! We must give her a taste of her own medicine on the stage and let her know how powerful Chengming is!】

Gu Chengming let out a sigh in his heart.

Huiyuan Mama, don't just blindly join Lao Bai's excitement.

Even though the dialogue boxes in front of him were very noisy, Gu Chengming still wrote back to Shen Qianqiu, decisively agreeing to this duel.

It was just a sparring session between fellow disciples; there was no harm in having one.

...

A few days later, at the Main Peak Training Ground.

Although this sparring session was not publicly announced, the news still spread like wildfire among the disciples. The Daoning Gate dao child versus Gu Chengming of the Huiyuan Gate—just the collision of these two names was enough to ignite the passion of the entire Wenjian Sect. However, to avoid affecting the performance of both parties, the elders had to personally come out and clear the area.

The autumn wind was bleak, and the surrounding disciples were cleared out by the elders, leaving only the empty bluestone arena.

Gu Chengming arrived as scheduled and finally met this legendary dao child, "Su Qingmeng."

Across a distance of several yards, Gu Chengming looked her over a few times and gave an extremely objective evaluation in his heart.

She was indeed very beautiful.

A plain white sword uniform, a wooden hairpin in her black hair, her face peerlessly beautiful and cold, her sharpness contained but impossible to ignore—the real person was far more vivid than the character art on the screen.

Seeing him walk onto the arena, Su Qingmeng did not immediately draw her sword, but instead nodded slightly and spoke first.

"Daoist Gu, is it?"

Her voice was like a cold spring hitting a rock, crisp and calm.

"Inviting you to a battle today was sudden."

Su Qingmeng looked directly into Gu Chengming's eyes, making her attitude very clear.

"I have only just come out of seclusion and heard that there is such a peerless sword cultivator among my peers. I was simply eager for a match to verify my own sword dao. This battle is only about the level of sword arts and has no intention of targeting you at all; I hope you do not overthink it."

These words were open and honest, perfectly displaying the purity of a seeker of the Dao.

Gu Chengming nodded, feeling that the other party was an extremely meticulous sword cultivator.

He was just about to say a few polite words and mention the fact that he occasionally didn't use a sword much.

At that moment, in the center of his vision, a massive translucent pop-up window appeared without any warning.

The border of this pop-up window even flashed with extremely exaggerated five-colored neon light effects.

【Ding, the Rebirth Revenge System has been activated】

【In my previous life, I was humiliated when I confessed to her, oppressed by my fellow disciples, and despised by my teachers, finally dying in misery and having my Dao path cut short!】

【In this life, I have returned from rebirth and awakened the Rebirth Revenge System. I will definitely make this woman understand: Thirty years in the East, thirty years in the West; do not look down on a poor youth!】