On the eve of the Sect Disciple Grand Examination, Gu Chengming managed to find a rare half-day of leisure.
Su Qingmeng did not come today.
Supposedly, she had been forcibly hauled back to the Daoning Gate by Elder Jingxuan, who claimed that since the grand competition was imminent, she needed to check Su Qingmeng's foundation for any hidden issues.
Gu Chengming guessed that the elders of the Daoning Gate had likely found an excuse to keep their dao seed under house-arrest to prevent her from continuing to run to the Huiyuan Gate. It was just as well, as he could use this gap to pay a visit to the Guizang Gate.
Elder Han Zhe had sent word two days ago that a senior brother from the Guizang Gate had returned to the sect. This senior brother was an old acquaintance of Gu Chengming's and wanted to meet him.
Gu Chengming searched his memories. There was only one person who fit both the criteria of being a disciple of the Guizang Gate and having a connection with him.
—Lu Che.
The senior brother who looked as fierce as a rogue cultivator but practiced the Passionate Sword Art.
Gu Chengming walked slowly along the mountain path leading to the Guizang Gate, reminiscing about his last parting with Lu Che.
At that time, this senior brother had been deeply troubled by a bottleneck in the 《Passionate Sword Art》. Gu Chengming wondered if his galgame techniques had been of any use afterward.
The territory of the Guizang Gate was much more remote than that of the Huiyuan Gate. About fifty people occupied thirty-six peaks, meaning less than two people lived on each peak on average. Walking along the mountain path, no one else was in sight.
As Gu Chengming turned a corner in the mountain, he saw a clearing in front of one of the Guizang Gate's cave dwellings from a distance.
In the center of the clearing, a figure in black robes stood with his hands behind his back. He was brawny, with a resolute face and a natural air of menace between his brows. He looked exactly like a bandit leader straight off a wanted poster. Seven Dharma Swords of various shapes were slowly revolving around Lu Che.
Each sword's scabbard was tied with brightly colored silk ribbons, and the ends of the ribbons were attached to exquisite tassels. If one looked closely at the ribbons and tassels, they would find that they were all painted with various 2D anime girl patterns in vastly different styles.
There was a gentle-type with flowing long hair, a tsundere-type with twin tails, a lively short-haired type, and even one ribbon featured a beast-ear girl. Seven itasha swords revolved around a black-faced god of slaughter, their ribbons and tassels fluttering in the mountain wind. The scene was bizarre to the point of being performance art.
Gu Chengming stood at the mountain bend, his expression shifting from confusion to shock and finally to acceptance. He thought to himself that it felt quite familiar.
Lu Che clearly sensed the visitor. He turned around, and the eyes on his perpetually fierce face lit up the moment he recognized the newcomer. His lips twitched, but since he was truly bad at smiling, the final result looked like something between 'ecstasy after surviving a disaster' and 'a wolf encountering prey in the deep woods.'
"Junior Brother Gu!"
Lu Che strode forward, his voice booming like a bell, and directly grabbed Gu Chengming's wrist.
"Has Senior Brother been well lately?" Gu Chengming made small talk with a smile while inconspicuously rescuing his wrist from the other man's iron grip.
"Very well!"
Lu Che didn't notice at all that his grip strength might have caused discomfort. He paced back and forth in front of Gu Chengming with a face full of excitement.
Since the two hadn't seen each other for a long time, they naturally exchanged pleasantries.
Lu Che had clearly heard about Gu Chengming's recent deeds.
But unlike others, he didn't express amazement or admiration for those illustrious battle achievements. It wasn't that he didn't care, but rather that in Lu Che's mind, Gu Chengming had always been a peerless expert who could casually speak of celestial theories like 'analyzing character settings, event triggers, and high EQ options.' It was only natural for him to do something world-shaking.
After the pleasantries, Gu Chengming's gaze finally couldn't help but drift toward the seven itasha swords revolving around Lu Che's body.
"Senior Brother Lu, these are..."
He weighed his words, trying to make his tone sound curious rather than filled with some unspeakable, subtle emotion.
Lu Che had been waiting for this exact question.
His eyes instantly brightened, his excitement even more intense than when he first saw Gu Chengming. He took a step back and gave Gu Chengming a deep, solemn bow.
"Speaking of this, I must thank Junior Brother Gu!" Lu Che straightened up and slapped his chest, his voice carrying a hint of emotion. "If not for Junior Brother's enlightening advice that day, I, Lu Che, would probably still be stuck at the peak of the Second Realm without any progress!"
—Seriously? What does that have to do with me?
As if sensing Gu Chengming's subtle expression, Lu Che explained, "Since Junior Brother taught me that set of theories, I have pondered them night after night and verified them repeatedly. Finally, one day, I suddenly realized a truth."
"The core of the 《Passionate Sword Art》 is not 'passion' at all, but 'multiplicity.'"
Gu Chengming: "..."
Lu Che grew more animated as he spoke. "Previously, I was obsessed with 'entering the dao through passion,' thinking I had to establish a deep bond with a single female cultivator to perfect my sword intent. But Junior Brother, think about it—why is this technique called 'Passionate' rather than 'Devoted'? It's because its essence lies in universal love, in forming wide connections, in—"
With a wave of his hand, the seven itasha swords vibrated in unison, their ribbons flying.
"Establishing emotional links with multiple subjects simultaneously!"
As Gu Chengming looked at the seven Dharma Swords, each tied with a different style of 2D girl pattern, three words slowly surfaced in his mind.
The harem route.
"The theory Junior Brother taught me back then made me understand a crucial point."
"Different subjects have different 'character settings,' and different settings require completely different strategies. The gentle-type should be responded to with protection, the tsundere-type requires a strategic retreat to advance, and the natural-type should be allowed to follow its own course—"
He pointed to each of the seven itasha swords around him, naming a type for each one.
"These seven swords are the vessels I custom-made for seven completely different types of characters based on Junior Brother's theory. Each sword carries a unique emotional sword intent, and when the seven sword intents operate simultaneously—"
Lu Che suddenly clenched his fist, and his aura surged abruptly.
The seven itasha swords hummed in unison, their sword intents interlacing and entangling until they actually formed the outline of an extremely complex sword array in the air.
Gu Chengming's brow twitched.
Setting aside the prefixes that made his blood pressure rise, the resonance effect produced by the simultaneous operation of these seven swords was indeed quite remarkable.
The seven distinct sword intents did not clash; instead, they formed a strange harmony through their collision. It was as if seven rivers with different characters had finally merged into the same sea. The more diverse they were, the more inclusive they became, and the more inclusive they were, the more vast they became.
Although this path was absurd, from the perspective of the technique's mechanics, the logic was actually self-consistent.
—For the 《Passionate Sword Art》, the focus was indeed on 'multiplicity.'
Gu Chengming was silent for a moment before finally speaking.
"Senior Brother Lu, you have indeed found a way through."
He paused, choosing to ignore the 2D girls on the ribbons. "But I have one question. Are the emotional vessels for your seven swords all characters from storybooks?"
Lu Che nodded as if it were obvious. "Naturally. Didn't Junior Brother say so himself back then? Analyze the character settings. The settings of characters in storybooks are the clearest and most complete; they are perfect for cultivation!"
Gu Chengming opened his mouth, then swallowed several sentences back down.
Forget it.
He couldn't remember for the life of him which sentence he had said that led Senior Brother Lu down this unorthodox but somehow effective path of cultivation.
But the result was good. Lu Che's cultivation had indeed broken through, his swordplay had improved, and he had even figured out a unique multi-sword linkage system of his own.
As for the process...
Gu Chengming glanced at the Dharma Sword tied with the beast-ear girl ribbon and decided not to look any further into it.
The Guizang Gate was indeed full of talented individuals.
The two chatted for a while longer. Lu Che enthusiastically shared several storybook characters he had recently 'conquered,' drawing the corresponding Dharma Sword to demonstrate a few moves for each. The emotional colors mixed into the sword intent were extremely vivid—some were as soft as water, some were stubborn and unyielding, and one sword's intent even carried an indescribable yandere aura.
Gu Chengming maintained a polite smile throughout, silently praying for Elder Li Linfeng's blood pressure as he listened.
As they parted, Lu Che suddenly reined in his carefree smile and cupped his hands toward Gu Chengming with rare solemnity.
"Junior Brother, you are representing the Wenjian Sect in this Sect Disciple Grand Examination. I wish you a triumphant victory."
These words were quite proper, showing a bit of the demeanor a sword cultivator of the Guizang Gate should have.
Gu Chengming smiled and returned the gesture. "I thank Senior Brother for his kind words."
...
Time flew by, and the day of the Sect Disciple Grand Examination finally arrived.
Early morning.
On the main peak square of the Wenjian Sect, dozens of flying boats engraved with the emblems of various sects floated neatly in the dawn light.
Sect Master Shen Qianqiu and the elders stood in sequence in the center of the square, dressed in formal sect attire.
The departing disciples were lined up on both sides according to their respective branches, their expressions a mix of nervousness and anticipation.
Gu Chengming stood at the very front of the line, with the calm Su Qingmeng beside him and several inner sect disciples from different branches.
The location for this Sect Disciple Grand Examination was a very unique place in the southeast of Great Qian—Floating Islet City.
Floating Islet City was no ordinary city.
It was originally an ancient secret realm. Legend had it that it was initially just an ownerless spiritual domain floating above the East Sea. It was rich in spiritual energy but had treacherous terrain, making it a place sought after by rogue cultivators.
Over a thousand years ago, the Great Qian Imperial Family, in alliance with several top sects of the time, invested immense manpower and resources to completely transform this secret realm.
They eradicated ferocious beasts, leveled dangerous shoals, set up arrays, and diverted spiritual veins, forcibly turning a desolate secret realm into a city in the sky that could accommodate tens of thousands of cultivators.
In this massive project, the ones who contributed the most were not the major sects known for their combat power, but a rather low-profile yet extremely special power in the cultivation world.
—The Mohist Sect.
In secular terms, the Mohist Sect was the top engineering contractor of the cultivation world.
From the protective arrays of sect gates to the daily maintenance of spiritual tools in cultivators' dwellings, the Mohist Sect's craftsmanship was the undisputed best in the world whenever 'construction' or 'modification' was involved.
Floating Islet City was one of the Mohist Sect's representative works.
Viewed from above, Floating Islet City was an irregular oval. The entire city floated thousands of feet above the sea of clouds, with the boundless, vast East Sea below. The edge of the city was not an ordinary wall but a semi-transparent light screen constructed by the 'Floating Islet Array,' a unique creation of the Mohist Sect. From a distance, it looked like a giant glass bowl inverted over the clouds.
The layout within the city was extremely meticulous.
The main streets radiated outward from a towering octagonal tower at the center. The tower was named Guanlan Pavilion; it was both the landmark of Floating Islet City and the site of the main arena for the recurring Sect Disciple Grand Examination.
Moving outward from Guanlan Pavilion, many areas were divided by function. There were guest courtyard complexes for disciples of various sects, commercial streets and markets selling spiritual pills and Dharma tools, small training grounds specifically for sparring, and even several spiritual food restaurants famous within Great Qian. After all, the grand competition would last for several months, and cultivators couldn't rely solely on fasting to sustain their appetites.
Although Floating Islet City nominally fell under the jurisdiction of the Great Qian Imperial Family, its daily operation and maintenance were always handled by the Mohist Sect. The relationship between the two was less like superior and subordinate and more like a long-term partnership: the imperial family provided resources and political protection, while the Mohist Sect provided technology and manpower.
Because the Great Qian Imperial Family played such a pivotal role in the construction and operation of Floating Islet City, they would send important members to the scene for every grand competition.
Reasonably speaking, sects transcended dynasties, and the Great Qian court had no direct jurisdiction over the internal affairs of the major sects.
However, if one didn't view Great Qian as a simple secular dynasty but rather as an over-specified power with a complete cultivation system and countless resources, then the role Great Qian played in the Sect Disciple Grand Examination was easy to understand.
The format, rules, and prizes for each grand competition were decided through joint discussions among the sects, but the Great Qian Imperial Family also held significant influence.
While gazing at the silhouette of Floating Islet City from the deck of the flying boat, Gu Chengming heard Shen Qianqiu casually mention that 'someone from the imperial family will also be present this time,' and a subtle premonition suddenly rose in his heart.
Surely I won't run into another old acquaintance, will I?
This thought only flashed for a moment before Gu Chengming stopped dwelling on it.
The flying boat slowly landed at the docking area outside the north gate of Floating Islet City.
Looking around, the docking area was already filled with flying boats, spiritual vessels, and even beast-riding transports from various parties. Diverse sect emblems reflected each other in the morning light, and the air was thick with a complex scent of dozens of different spiritual energy characteristics.
The area was bustling with people and noise.
The people from the Wenjian Sect followed the elders into the city. As they passed through the north gate, Gu Chengming looked up at the three ancient, powerful characters above the lintel.
—Floating Islet City.
The calligraphy was vigorous and was said to have come from the hand of the founding patriarch of the Mohist Sect.
He withdrew his gaze, followed the team, and stepped into this city in the sky floating above the clouds.
...
At the same time.
In a very quiet residence in the eastern district of Floating Islet City's inner city.
This was not an ordinary guest courtyard assigned to sect disciples, but one of the few independent residences in the city. Judging by the regulations of the gate and the guards' equipment, the person living here was clearly no ordinary cultivator.
Inside the room, the windows were half-closed, and sunlight filtered through.
On a couch covered with plain silk, a girl sat quietly in meditation. She wore a pale green palace dress, and her hair was simply tied up, held in place by a single jade hairpin of excellent quality.
Ji Yixi, the Second Imperial Princess of Great Qian.
At this moment, a ball of black gas the size of a fist floated before her. The gas moved slowly, gradually condensing into a small dragon-shaped outline.
It was entirely black, about two palms long, with slender claws and whiskers like silk.
It was not physical but rather a spirit condensed from some extremely ancient aura, with a faint profound light lingering around it.
This was the entity Ji Yixi had awakened in the Azure Lotus Secret Realm. According to the fragments of its own incomplete memory, it was a derivative of the Source of the Dragon Seed of Great Qian, a spiritual creature with independent consciousness almost never seen in the world anymore. In those intermittent fragments of ancient memory, it vaguely remembered fighting alongside the ancestors of the Great Qian Imperial Family and slaying extraterrestrial demons in the primordial wilderness.
But it couldn't remember anything from even further back.
As for why it had fallen into a deep sleep or why it had been awakened by a girl in the Azure Lotus Secret Realm, it had no idea.
It only remembered the moment it was awakened; it opened its eyes to see an expressionless face staring at it, and then that mouth moved, saying, "I need your help, Senior."
And then, somehow, it had joined this sinking ship. It wasn't that it hadn't thought about turning its back and leaving, but there was an indescribable pull in the dark that made it feel it should stay.
The other reason was that it knew exactly what Ji Yixi's cultivation of the 《Great Record》 meant.
Within the Great Qian Imperial Family, there was a lineage that practiced the 《Great Record》, a technique that could observe parallel world lines. They were 'hidden pieces' who secretly maintained Great Qian's national destiny and luck. The power and secrets held by this lineage were sometimes not even fully known to the Emperor.
Ji Yixi was the current living successor of this lineage, a girl with so few expressions that one often wondered if her brain was functioning normally.
The small dragon had been with her for some time now, and it believed it had figured out her temperament, except for one thing.
Ji Yixi had mentioned a certain person more than once.
To be precise, someone she called a 'variable.'
It was on an ordinary night that Ji Yixi had rarely taken the initiative to speak. She said she had previously visited that variable, wanting to tentatively seek his help.
"And the result?" the small dragon had asked casually.
"I messed up."
That was one of the few times it had read regret on Ji Yixi's face. Based on its understanding of her, that was almost equivalent to weeping.
The small dragon was puzzled at the time. What kind of variable could make a successor of the 《Great Record》 regret until now?
Upon asking, it found out it was just a junior in the Third Realm.
The small dragon had scoffed on the spot.
In its surviving memories, it had seen too many so-called 'variables.'
The cultivation world collectively called those whose karma lines were blurred and whose fate was untraceable 'fate-less people.' Such people were indeed rare, but they were nowhere near as scarce as the world imagined.
It had personally seen many such people.
Initially, they were all given high hopes and considered key pieces capable of stirring the world. But the final result was often disappointing—the vast majority of them were either crushed by the general trend due to their own lack of strength or simply faded into obscurity without even causing a ripple.
Being fate-less did not mean being invincible, let alone being destined for success. Ultimately, whether one could change fate depended on one's own ability.
"A kid in the Third Realm," the small dragon had said then. "Even if you really have some friendship with him, what role could he play? In the chess game of this world, even a piece in the Fifth Realm wouldn't cause much of a stir when dropped. A Third Realm?"
It waved its claws, signaling Ji Yixi not to waste too much energy on this matter.
"He has already changed many karmic outcomes," Ji Yixi countered.
The problem was that due to the limitations of the 《Great Record》 itself, Ji Yixi could not inform anyone—not even the small dragon—of those specific karmic changes.
So in the small dragon's view, this was just a girl whose judgment had been hijacked by the 《Great Record》, projecting excessive expectations onto an ordinary Third Realm junior.
But it was too lazy to argue. Once this girl set her mind on something, no one could pull her back.
...
At this moment.
In front of Ji Yixi, the small dragon was coiled in mid-air, its tail flicking back and forth, clearly impatient with the ongoing conversation.
"Girl with the Great Record, don't you try to fool this venerable one."
The small dragon's voice was deep and carried a hint of the pressure unique to ancient spiritual creatures. However, because its size was truly too small, after that pressure was cut down again and again, the effect was roughly equivalent to a cat baring its teeth at you.
"What do you mean by 'only he is the variable in this matter'? With so many karma lines interlacing and so many characters entering and exiting the stage, isn't there a single line or a single person who can avoid the ending you mentioned?"
Ji Yixi did not answer immediately.
Her gaze drifted through the window toward the azure sky above Floating Islet City.
The small dragon knew this expression.
Whenever she sank into the perceptive state of the 《Great Record》, her light-colored pupils would become more transparent, as if she could see through all barriers and stare directly at a dimension inaccessible to ordinary people.
A moment later, Ji Yixi withdrew her gaze.
"I have seen it. Hundreds of deductions, thousands of different paths." She paused. "The result is always the same."
The small dragon was silent for a breath.
It still didn't believe it—not that it didn't believe in the deductive power of the 《Great Record》, but it didn't believe a Third Realm cultivator had the ability to bear such karmic weight.
The significance of a variable lay in breaking the established trajectory, and breaking a trajectory required not just special karmic attributes but also the strength to match.
A young man in the Third Realm, no matter how blurred his karma or untraceable his fate, what could he do against the chess games set by those grand masters in the Fifth or Sixth Realm?
On a chessboard, a pawn can cross the river and run wild, but that's assuming there's enough space to maneuver. What if the chessboard itself is about to be overturned?
"You think too highly of him," the small dragon finally said.
"Perhaps..."
This was the first time the small dragon had heard an answer with an uncertain tone from her.
But immediately after, Ji Yixi added another sentence.
"But I have no other choice."
The small dragon opened its mouth but ultimately didn't argue further. It knew this girl's situation too well.
Those who practiced the 《Great Record》 were destined to struggle through countless destructive endings. They could see the arrival of calamity but often couldn't find a way to avoid it because the vast majority of karma lines led to the same destination.
A 'variable' capable of deviating from that destination, even with only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, was a life-saving straw worth going all out for.
The room was silent for a moment.
Ji Yixi suddenly turned her head, her gaze falling on a stack of papers on the desk.
That was the list of participants for the Sect Disciple Grand Examination, summarized and distributed in advance by the Great Qian Imperial Family. She reached out and flipped through a few pages.
The list of disciples from major sects—skipped—Tianji Pavilion, Wanfa Sect, Wenjian Sect, Tianting Sect, Hehuan Sect...
When she reached the Wenjian Sect entry, her finger stopped.
Participant representative, leader.
—Gu Chengming.
Huiyuan Gate disciple, Second Realm, Middle Stage.
The remarks column was densely packed with a long list: third on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, Northern Border Murder Demon, top contributor in the Tianque Secret Realm, refiner of a Dao Throne... These titles added after the name of a Third Realm cultivator looked exceptionally absurd. Ji Yixi stared at the name for a few breaths.
Then she closed the register, looked up, and faced the small dragon floating before her.
"Senior."
"Hmm?" The small dragon had been dozing with its eyes closed; hearing this, it lazily lifted one eyelid.
"Come with me to befriend that Gu Chengming."
The small dragon was a bit puzzled. "Do I have to go too?"
"Yes."
"Didn't you say last time that you used too much force and scared him away?"
"So I won't this time."
"Then how do you plan to befriend him? You can't just hand over two flower boat invitations and start with 'I know the dragon qi in your body hasn't been triggered' again, can you?"
"..."
Ji Yixi was rarely silent for two breaths. The small dragon confirmed that this was the reaction of someone whose sore spot had been hit.
"This time, I will use a normal person's way."
"Are you sure you know what a normal person's way is...?"
After a long while, she said with some uncertainty, "That's why I need you to follow me, Senior."
"What if he doesn't agree to befriend you?"
"Then I will kneel and beg him."
The small dragon opened its mouth, looking at this girl who had just said she would 'use a normal person's way.' After a long pause, it finally squeezed out a sentence:
"Do I have to kneel too?"
"Yes."
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