Morning light filtered through the window lattice, casting regular shadows on the floor.
Outside the door, Yu Wenqiu's voice rang out for the second time, her tone carrying a hint of suspicion.
"Little Gu, why is there no sound? Are you still not awake? I'm coming in!"
Gu Chengming's pupils shrank. He glanced down at the mop of white hair in the blankets beside him, then looked up at the door slowly being pushed open. In that split second, he made the fastest decision of his cultivation career.
He reached out and yanked the quilt upward, covering the white-haired head and the entire person beneath it completely.
Gu Chengming's voice drifted out from the room, his speaking speed slightly faster than usual, but he managed to stay steady. "Elder, please wait a moment. I haven't finished dressing yet."
Yu Wenqiu, who had pushed the door halfway, paused. Little Gu usually had everything packed and ready before dawn. Why was he undressed today? The memory of that trace of Red Dust Technique residue she had sensed yesterday morning surfaced in her mind, and a sense of foreboding surged in her heart.
It couldn't be, could it? That bad woman from the Hehuan Sect wouldn't have—
"Elder?" Gu Chengming's voice came again, this time with his usual composure. "I'll be out shortly. Please wait in the courtyard for a moment."
Yu Wenqiu's hand froze on the doorframe. She opened her mouth to speak but eventually pulled the door shut.
...
She leaned against a pillar outside and took three deep breaths, forcing herself to believe that Little Gu had simply stayed up too late cultivating and woke up late.
A muffled grunt of dissatisfaction came from beneath the quilt. Gu Chengming hurriedly reached out and patted the person through the covers, signaling them to endure a little longer. Fortunately, the footsteps outside finally faded away. Once he confirmed the door was shut, Gu Chengming let out a long sigh of relief.
He looked down. The quilt was bulging and shifting violently, and then a white-haired head poked out from the edge. Her snow-white hair was scattered messily across her face, and a pair of eyes that were almost too bright glared at Gu Chengming through the strands, filled with a mix of confusion, grievance, and dissatisfaction.
"Emperor Gu, why did you try to smother This Emperor just now?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it was full of energy, with a rising intonation that sounded like she was demanding an explanation.
Gu Chengming didn't answer immediately. His attention was completely occupied by the sight before him.
...
The white-haired girl had a heroic air between her brows. Her clothes were wrinkled into a mess from her sleeping posture, and the way she crawled out of the blankets made her look like a cat that had just been dug out of a snowdrift...
It was the genuine Hundred Bones Resonating.
Not a text dialogue box in his Sea of Consciousness, nor a phantom in the Laboratory of Love, but a real, living person currently squatting on his bed and rubbing her eyes.
Meanwhile, dialogue boxes continued to pop up.
【《Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art》: Excellent... No, wait, this matter is quite suspicious.】
【《Huiyuan Sword Manual》 biting its fingers: So jealous, so jealous, so jealous, so jealous, so jealous—】
【《Huiyuan Sword Manual》: I've wanted to hug Chengming for so long, waaaaah!】
【《Flowing Cloud Following Moon Sword Art》: Shut up.】
Gu Chengming helplessly moved his gaze from the dialogue boxes to the person in front of him.
Hundred Bones Resonating had completely crawled out of the blankets. She sat cross-legged on the couch, looking down and examining her hands over and over. She pinched her own cheeks, then suddenly snapped her head up, her eyes shining. "Eh?! It's true! This Emperor seems to have a body!"
...
Before Gu Chengming could speak, Hundred Bones Resonating's reaction was faster and more overwhelming than he expected.
She pounced forward, her arms hooking around Gu Chengming's neck with a force that felt like it would snap him. Considering her true form was a body-tempering technique, this comparison was likely no exaggeration.
Her fluffy white head rubbed against Gu Chengming's cheek without any hesitation, moving with great force, like a large dog finally seeing its master.
"Emperor Gu! I've finally met you!"
Gu Chengming was being strangled and found it hard to breathe, but he didn't push her away.
To be honest, he was touched. Hundred Bones Resonating was one of the techniques that had followed him the longest and was one of his favorites.
Although a Gal Master should have equal love for all targets, the types of love could vary.
He helplessly grabbed her hands. "Let go for a moment, Emperor Bai. You're about to strangle me."
Hundred Bones Resonating clearly didn't want to let go, but Emperor Gu's words were the highest priority. After struggling for two breaths, she reluctantly released him and sat back properly. However, her eyes remained glued to Gu Chengming, shining with startling intensity.
【《Huiyuan Sword Manual》 sighs: I want to hug Chengming too.】
【《Qingxin Art》 glances at her: You're the only one who's already 'eaten'...】
【Huiyuan Sword Manual hears this and feels guilty: That's different... Wait! How do you know!】
【《Red Dust Phantom Step》 frowns: The priority is to figure out why Fellow Daoist Bai has a physical body.】
Gu Chengming was also about to investigate this. He asked, "Does Emperor Bai know how she appeared here?"
Hundred Bones Resonating tilted her head. "This Emperor only remembers helping Emperor Gu cultivate last night, and then... I fell asleep? When I woke up, I was already here." She looked down at her hands, clenched her fists, and felt the real texture and feedback of her strength. The confusion on her face lasted only a moment before being replaced by a natural pride.
"It must be that the Heavens have finally opened their eyes and given This Emperor the qualification to fight alongside Emperor Gu." She puffed out her chest, her chin slightly raised. "This is only natural!"
Gu Chengming looked at her "everything is under control" expression and remained silent for two breaths. Do you really not know, or do you just not care?
He temporarily set aside the reason for Hundred Bones Resonating's materialization and turned his attention to the system interface.
Behind the spamming dialogue boxes, the anomalies on the status panel could no longer be ignored.
...
First was the status bar for 《Hundred Bones Resonating》. The area that should have displayed technique level, blood and qi bonuses, and various CG skill statuses was now entirely covered by the word 【Locked】.
Gu Chengming's heart sank. He tried to activate the "Emperor Bai, Help Me" CG, but it felt incredibly sluggish.
The basic bonuses for Hundred Bones Resonating—blood and qi intensity and physical toughness—were still there, but that was all.
All CG enhancements and extra multipliers for exclusive skills had dropped to zero.
It was as if the system had switched Hundred Bones Resonating from a "technique" state to a "person" state. Her power had been drawn out of his Sea of Consciousness to form this flesh-and-blood body, but the price was that Gu Chengming had lost high-level access to the technique.
But what surprised Gu Chengming even more was the information on the favorability interface. Hundred Bones Resonating's favorability had somehow reached four hundred.
He remembered clearly that before the grand competition's opening ceremony, her favorability was in the low three hundreds.
The question was: when did those nearly seventy points of favorability increase?
He recalled the last images he could remember.
Guanlan Pavilion, the opening ceremony, the man in the moon-white brocade robe, the shattered artifact, time reversing.
...
Then he woke up this morning with a Hundred Bones Resonating in his blankets. The period in between was a complete blank.
Favorability doesn't grow out of thin air. From three hundred to four hundred, something major must have happened during that interval.
Perhaps he had completed a key task in that deleted memory, or perhaps Hundred Bones Resonating had experienced some kind of upheaval sufficient to make her favorability skyrocket.
Regardless, he couldn't remember it now.
Connecting the time reversal caused by that man in the moon-white robe at the opening ceremony—Gu Chengming took a deep breath and linked all the clues in his mind.
The materialization of Hundred Bones Resonating, the locked technique, the favorability surge, the deleted memories, and the time reversal—there must be a causal relationship between them. And the man in the moon-white robe, his words "We meet again," and the clue Ji Yixi had given him earlier about the Longevity Sect's move being anchored to a "name."
Gu Chengming's gaze grew deep. He needed more information, and there was only one person who could give him answers right now.
But before going out, he had to handle the one in front of him.
"Emperor Bai."
"Present!"
Hundred Bones Resonating straightened her back as if by reflex, hands on her hips, looking ready for orders.
Gu Chengming looked her in the eyes seriously. "I have a very important matter to handle outside right now. You stay in this room. Do not go out, do not make loud noises, and do not contact anyone."
"Can you do that?"
Hundred Bones Resonating's eyes flickered.
"Emperor Gu, rest assured!" She patted her chest, her voice booming. "Although This Emperor yearns to fight across the heavens again, since Emperor Gu has given the order, I shall remain stationary! A mere hibernation is nothing to This Emperor!"
"This small room shall be This Emperor's temporary palace. Any invaders shall be cut down before the door!" After speaking, she even made a solemn cupped-fist salute.
Hearing this passionate guarantee, Gu Chengming felt even more uneasy. "...That's not necessary. Emperor Bai just needs to stay put."
Hundred Bones Resonating nodded vigorously. "This Emperor shall not cause Emperor Gu even half a bit of trouble!"
I feel like there's a high probability she will...
But he couldn't worry about that now. Gu Chengming gave her one last look, and after confirming she wouldn't cause trouble in the short term, he tidied his clothes and pushed the door open.
Yu Wenqiu was no longer in the courtyard.
She had likely gone ahead to meet up with Shen Qianqiu and the others.
Gu Chengming quickly walked through the guest courtyard and intercepted the team preparing to depart at the entrance of the Wenjian Sect station. He cupped his hands to Shen Qianqiu, explaining that he had an urgent matter to confirm and asked the sect to go to the opening ceremony first.
Shen Qianqiu looked suspicious. He glanced at Gu Chengming, saw that his expression was serious but not panicked, and nodded.
"Go and return quickly... If you can't make the first half of the ceremony, enter the secret realm yourself during the second half. We'll wait for you inside."
"I understand."
Gu Chengming saluted again and turned to leave.
Yu Wenqiu stood in the team, watching his hurried back, her brow slightly furrowed.
Something seemed wrong with Little Gu today.
She wanted to chase after him and ask a few questions, but the team had already started moving, so she had to suppress her doubts for now.
...
The early morning Floating Islet City had just awakened. The teams from various major sects were converging toward Guanlan Pavilion. The main street was crowded with people and fluttering banners; crossing it now would be both time-consuming and conspicuous.
He chose a quiet alleyway and walked quickly. As he walked, he pulled out the communication artifact Ji Yixi had given him earlier. The moment he injected spiritual energy, the patterns on the jade pendant lit up with a faint golden light.
Gu Chengming tucked away the jade pendant, turned into the next alley, and accelerated toward the East District of Floating Islet City.
The morning wind brushed the edge of the sea of clouds, stirring up a layer of golden mist.
The quiet residence in the East District was already in sight.
The gate of the residence was unlocked. When Gu Chengming pushed it open, the courtyard was empty, save for an old pagoda tree swaying quietly in the morning breeze. He crossed the central courtyard. The window of the inner room was half-open, and he didn't even knock before stepping over the threshold.
Ji Yixi was sitting behind a low table, with several glowing jade slips spread before her.
She wore a plain white common robe today, much simpler than her previous pale green palace attire. Her hair was casually gathered behind her head, and she looked as if she had just woken from meditation.
In mid-air, the fist-sized black dragon was coiled on the roof beam. Seeing Gu Chengming enter, its tail instinctively curled inward, seemingly having a traumatic reaction to him.
Ji Yixi looked up at Gu Chengming and asked with concern, "Director Gu, for what matter have you come to find me?"
"Something happened."
Gu Chengming didn't waste time with pleasantries. He sat down opposite her, one hand on his knee, and went straight to the point.
"During the grand competition opening ceremony—"
He paused, organized his thoughts, and then described the scene as clearly as possible.
"Halfway through the ceremony, every cultivator present was frozen by some power. A man in a moon-white brocade robe walked onto the stone platform. He took a... from the Mohist elder's hand..."
Gu Chengming's voice suddenly became blurry.
No, it wasn't that his voice was blurry.
He was speaking very clearly, articulating every word. But the words seemed to be shattered the moment they left his lips. By the time they reached the other side, they had turned into a meaningless hum.
Ji Yixi's expression confirmed his suspicion. She tilted her head slightly, as if trying to identify a sound coming from a great distance, and then shook her head after a moment.
"The part of what you just said after 'took a,' I only heard static."
Gu Chengming's brow knitted into a knot. He tried again.
"That person's appearance was—" Buzz.
"He held a—" Buzz.
"After he crushed that artifact, the entire world began to—"
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
Three attempts, three failures.
Any specific details involving that man in the moon-white brocade robe—his appearance, methods, motives, or even his words "We meet again"—were intercepted by a power that transcended everything. Not even a single effective syllable could be transmitted.
Gu Chengming stopped talking, but he wasn't too frustrated, only slightly heavy-hearted.
This shielding wasn't acting on him; it was acting directly on the 'information' itself.
This Red Dust Immortal is quite thorough.
Gu Chengming cursed in his heart and quickly shifted his thinking.
"I can't talk about the other party for now; something is blocking it." He looked directly at Ji Yixi. "I'll change the question."
Ji Yixi nodded slightly.
"You told me a clue before." Gu Chengming said in a low voice. "You said the Longevity Sect's move was anchored to a 'name.' Do you remember this?"
Ji Yixi's reaction made his heart sink half an inch. Her voice was light but certain. "I have never told you any clue about a 'name.'"
A chill suddenly ran down Gu Chengming's spine.
In his memory, Ji Yixi had clearly and definitely revealed to him the key information that "the Longevity Sect's move is anchored to a name."
But in the current Ji Yixi's cognition, this had never happened.
Two possibilities.
First, the 'previous timeline' he had experienced was completely overwritten after that person triggered the reversal. Everything Ji Yixi told him in that overwritten timeline ceased to exist along with the timeline itself. In this new present, she indeed had never said those words.
Second, the timeline in his memory was itself false, a hallucination deliberately constructed by that person.
Neither was a comforting answer.
Meanwhile, Ji Yixi, in the brief silence, seemed to have guessed something as well.
"You have already experienced it once, haven't you?"
She spoke, but when that sentence reached Gu Chengming's ears, two words in the middle turned into a burst of harsh static, exactly like the shielding he encountered when trying to describe the man in moon-white.
Gu Chengming frowned. "What did you just say? I didn't catch two words in the middle."
Ji Yixi's expression changed. She didn't hesitate and fully activated the 《Great Record》.
Under the influence of the 《Great Record》, her light-colored pupils became nearly transparent, and information from countless parallel world lines flooded into her consciousness like a torrent.
She was using the power of observing myriad world lines to forcibly clash with the shielding of the laws of heaven and earth.
This was a dangerous way to resist.
The essence of the 《Great Record》 was 'observation,' not 'interference.'
Using the power of observation to forcibly break through an information blockade at the level of laws was a highly dangerous act.
The spiritual energy in the room began to fluctuate violently. The jade slips on the table rattled, and the little dragon in mid-air was so startled by the fluctuation that it slipped from the roof beam, flailing its limbs to stabilize itself, its face full of the helplessness of 'here we go again.'
After about three breaths, a brief crack appeared in the barrier of laws. Ji Yixi seized this window.
"You experienced 'Huichuan,' didn't you?"
This time, every word reached Gu Chengming's ears clearly.
Huichuan. Gu Chengming ran these two words through his mind. He hadn't heard the term, but he could guess its meaning from the literal words.
"Is it related to a Dao Throne?"
Hearing this, Ji Yixi's spiritual energy subsided, and she exited the sensing state of the 《Great Record》. The forced confrontation of those three breaths had clearly taken a significant toll; her fair complexion had grown even paler.
"Cause follows the sea of effects, effects permeate the source of causes. Reversing the flow of light, the waves of calamity hang upside down."
"This is the core ability of the ancient Dao Throne, the 'Inverse Cause Lotus.' It uses karma as the warp and time as the woof to roll back everything that has already happened."
Gu Chengming listened quietly.
"The cost of activating Huichuan is high. Even an existence that controls a Dao Throne would not easily use such a method." She paused and looked into Gu Chengming's eyes.
"Unless in the previous timeline, his plan met with failure—a failure so complete that he had to overturn everything and start over."
When Gu Chengming heard the word "failure," his brow twitched slightly.
In the segment of memory that was deleted, the man in the moon-white robe's posture while crushing the artifact was incredibly composed, showing not a hint of the distress a loser should have.
But thinking about it the other way... precisely because he failed, he had to backtrack.
The point in time he backtracked to was before the failure occurred.
So, what the other party needed to do now was clear—
Avoid the previous failure and achieve the goal through a different method.
The two looked at each other, both understanding the situation. The facts and judgments were there, but they couldn't use words to piece together the full picture for now.
Ji Yixi no longer dwelled on this. She pushed the conversation to the next key point.
"Huichuan is not without flaws."
Her tone slowed slightly, but the seriousness in her gaze did not diminish in the slightest.
"The Dao is constant. Every time reversal and karmic reset will tear new cracks in the original path of destiny. Within those cracks, a brand-new karma that didn't originally exist will be born—a new variable."
"This variable does not belong to any known world line. It is a product spawned by Huichuan itself, a backlash and correction from the Heavenly Dao against an act that defies the heavens."
She raised her hand and lightly tapped the table. "Find this variable, and you can make Huichuan unable to function perfectly again."
After hearing this, Gu Chengming instinctively recalled the scene when he woke up this morning, and his expression became quite colorful.
Well, no need to look for it. He seemed to completely understand why Hundred Bones Resonating had a body in reality.
Ji Yixi noticed his subtle distraction.
"What did you think of?"
Gu Chengming opened his mouth. He couldn't exactly say, "That variable is currently in my bed," could he?
He weighed his words. "...Regarding the variable, I might already have a lead. I need a bit of time to confirm."
The two briefly exchanged a few more pieces of intelligence regarding the secret realm.
Ji Yixi reminded him that since Huichuan had already been activated once, the other party would likely adjust their strategy in this new timeline. The secret realm of the grand competition, as a node where various forces converged, was almost certainly their next move on the chessboard.
Gu Chengming kept these words in mind and stood up to leave.
When he left the residence, he looked back. Ji Yixi had already lowered her head again to read the jade slips on the table. The little dragon on the roof beam lay on her shoulder, using the tip of its tail to turn the pages for her, its posture quite practiced.
Gu Chengming withdrew his gaze and hurried back along the original path.
...
To be honest, although he had expected it, Gu Chengming really hadn't thought that in just an hour, Emperor Bai could cause such a huge commotion.
Looking at the courtyard that could be described as a "ruin," Gu Chengming's mouth hung open.
On the wall near his guest room, a large circular hole about five feet in diameter had appeared. The bricks and stones at the edge of the hole were shattered in a radial pattern, cracks spreading from the center. Judging by the direction of the fracture, this hole had been blasted from the inside out.
The scene inside the courtyard was better than he imagined. The good part was that the main structure of the courtyard was still intact; the stone table wasn't broken, and even the pot of tea he had brewed this morning was still sitting there untouched. The bad part was that a lump of something was lying in the center of the courtyard.
It was a humanoid object in black robes, with almost no intact flesh or skin to be found on its body. Its chest was clearly caved in, and its face was so swollen that its original features were completely unrecognizable. The only thing still identifiable was the black robe, which, though tattered, still showed faint patterns.
Clearly, it was someone from the Longevity Sect.
His gaze moved from the mangled meat on the ground to the white-haired girl standing next to it.
Hundred Bones Resonating was standing barefoot on the bluestone floor. The sleeves of her white training uniform were rolled up to her elbows, revealing a section of sleek and solid forearms. There was some blood on her right fist, which clearly wasn't hers.
Seeing Gu Chengming appear, Hundred Bones Resonating first showed instinctive joy, then a brief sense of guilt, and finally looked at him somewhat innocently.
"Emperor Gu." The girl's voice carried a hint of the caution of someone caught doing something wrong. "I really stayed in the room obediently."
Seeing Gu Chengming not speak, Hundred Bones Resonating felt quite pressured, but she immediately straightened her back and pointed a finger at the ground. "He came to the door himself!"
Her volume returned, and her confidence followed. "This Emperor was sitting in the room and went nowhere. This thief broke through the wall and barged in himself!"
Gu Chengming slapped his forehead.
Well, it really wasn't Emperor Bai's fault.
It was entirely expected that Longevity Sect spies would sneak into the various sect stations to cause trouble during the opening ceremony. Floating Islet City was a mix of good and bad people, and the core disciples and elders of the major sects had all gone to Guanlan Pavilion. The defensive strength in the stations was at its weakest, making it the best time to act.
It was just that this friend from the Longevity Sect had really bad luck.
Most of the people in the Wenjian Sect, including himself, had indeed left, but a materialized body-tempering technique happened to be sitting in the room.
Gu Chengming crouched down and flipped through the person's robes, finding several jade slips and a token in a hidden pocket of the lining.
The content recorded in the jade slips was encrypted and couldn't be solved in a short time. The token, however, had no tricks; it was an ordinary Longevity Sect communication token, still carrying lingering spiritual energy fluctuations. This person had likely communicated with a contact outside before breaking in.
"How did he get in?" Gu Chengming asked.
Hundred Bones Resonating recalled. "I sat in the room and didn't move as you said. Then I heard a sound from the wall, and a black-clothed man fell into the courtyard."
"He froze for a moment when he saw me, then rushed toward the room. This Emperor naturally couldn't let him touch Emperor Gu's things." She clenched her fist.
"So I hit him once."
Hearing this, Gu Chengming looked again at the lump of mangled meat with twisted limbs, a caved-in chest, and a face beyond recognition.
Well, what a familiar style.
Did the title of Falling Snow Pass Murder Demon actually come from Emperor Bai possessing me?
The white-haired girl was looking at him expectantly, her eyes carrying a trace of imperceptible nervousness.
She was prepared to be scolded. Although she didn't strike first, the result was what it was, and it could be considered causing trouble for Emperor Gu.
However, Gu Chengming only sighed and pressed his hand on her head.
"Good job."
Hundred Bones Resonating's eyes instantly lit up. That nervousness vanished faster than she could punch. She quickly became proud. "Naturally!" She put her hands on her hips, her chin raised, regaining the arrogant air an Emperor should have.
"A mere thief dares to intrude upon This Emperor's palace?!"
Since the Longevity Sect had already acted, it meant they indeed had hidden moves within Floating Islet City.
This clue matched Ji Yixi's previous deduction. Although the information about the "name" seemed not to exist in the current timeline, the threat of the Longevity Sect itself was real.
This fellow beaten into mangled meat by Hundred Bones Resonating might be a breakthrough point.
Gu Chengming looked down at the captured jade slips.
The encrypted content needed a specialist to decode, and there weren't many people in Floating Islet City capable of cracking Longevity Sect ciphers.
He tucked the jade slips into his robe and looked up at the sky.
"Let's go," Gu Chengming said to Hundred Bones Resonating.
Hundred Bones Resonating froze. "Where to?"
"It's time for us to cause a huge scene in the grand competition."
Hearing the words "secret realm" and "cause a huge scene," Hundred Bones Resonating's breath hitched for a moment.
Secret realm! Grand competition!
For her, who could previously only watch from the Sea of Consciousness and had finally obtained a physical body—and considered herself a supreme Emperor—these two terms had an absolute attraction.
The so-called "secret realm" and "grand competition," weren't those stages tailor-made for a peerless monster like her?
Those self-important geniuses of various sects, those arrogant elders, and the ancient inheritances hidden in the dark—all of them were stepping stones on her path back to the peak!
Raging flames seemed to ignite in her golden eyes. A magnificent scroll had already automatically unfolded in her mind: entering the secret realm, finding opportunities, playing the pig to eat the tiger, killing across realms, and finally, under the gaze of thousands, crushing the Dao hearts of those so-called geniuses with a single punch, standing side by side with Emperor Gu atop the nine heavens as ten thousand sects came to pay homage!
This is the script an Emperor should have!
Hundred Bones Resonating's eyes were so bright they almost overflowed with light.
"As you command, Emperor Gu!"
She stepped to Gu Chengming's side, her pace vigorous, her white hair flying in the morning wind.
【Huiyuan Sword Manual laments in its heart: She has a physical body but doesn't think about doing something meaningful. What a waste of a god-given gift.】
Gu Chengming sighed in his heart as well.
It feels like my 'Emperor Bai, Help Me' has turned into 'Endless War God, Come Out.'
Rate on N.U.
