Gu Chengming was unaware that, at this very moment, a certain elder skipping work at Cangjian Pavilion was in a state of frenzy due to a cliffhanger.
His days, on the other hand, were going quite smoothly, even methodically.
Although the Qingxin Art now had a clear path for progression.
In contrast, the progression of the Huiyuan Sword Manual seemed to have stalled again.
Ever since he "interrogated" Senior Sister You from Jingshui Pavilion last time, the affection growth for the Huiyuan Sword Manual had stagnated.
Was it that affection became harder to raise the further one went?
Whether practicing sword or not, the affection was stuck, slowly creeping up with time.
Hmm... perhaps it had hit a bottleneck?
Gu Chengming stroked his chin, lost in thought.
Based on his many years of playing galgames, such a situation often meant that the affection had reached a certain stage's cap, and he had to trigger specific "bond events" or complete high-difficulty "breakthrough quests" to overcome this limit and unlock the next stage of the story.
Unfortunately, reality wasn't a game; there was no glittering exclamation mark floating above his head to tell him where to trigger a quest.
"Forget it, rushing won't help," Gu Chengming sighed, comforting himself.
Fortunately, besides this difficult "main heroine," the progress with the other two was quite encouraging.
As for the Qingxin Art, no need to mention it; writing storybooks steadily increased affection, just like practicing sword before, so a path for progression had been found.
As for "Hundred Bones Resonating," which had been quiet, although he hadn't officially started, Gu Chengming could feel that the "paper window" was thin enough to be broken through. The blood qi within his body was accumulating bit by bit, like a flood waiting to burst forth, with only one final choke point remaining.
Once the water flow accumulated to a certain extent, breaking through that choke point would only be a matter of time.
However, thinking about it this way was a bit embarrassing.
Anyone unaware might think he was trying to capture some high-difficulty hidden character, about to enter an H-route.
As he was thinking, a knock came from the courtyard gate.
The person who arrived was Jiang Lu.
After learning that Gu Chengming had "repaid" part of Yu Wenqiu's favor, Jiang Lu, who knows what indescribable scenarios he imagined, had a truly spectacular expression on his face.
He wanted to speak but stopped, then wanted to speak again but stopped, finally letting out a long, meaningful sigh.
"Senior Brother Gu... you've worked hard."
"?"
Gu Chengming was utterly confused.
The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, then Gu Chengming remembered the main topic and asked:
"By the way, Junior Brother Jiang, do you happen to have any body-refining medicinal pastes like 'Cold Bone Paste'? If it's convenient, could you spare me some? Or tell me where I can get it?"
"Cold Bone Paste?"
Jiang Lu was a bit surprised.
This was indeed a relatively common type of first realm body-refining medicinal paste, not a rare item.
However, Wenjian Sect was a sword cultivation sect, and disciples practicing body-refining techniques were few, so the quota for such medicinal pastes in the sect's distributed resources was extremely small.
But the problem was, hadn't Gu Chengming just received a full year's worth of cultivation resources a few days ago?
Logically, even if the quota was small, he had just received them, so he shouldn't be lacking now.
Gu Chengming seemed to notice his confusion and explained:
"To be honest, the body-refining technique I'm currently cultivating... is a bit special and consumes an extreme amount of resources. And..."
He didn't have the nerve to say the rest.
After all, being too untalented to start, and having to rely on pills to force progress, was truly embarrassing to admit.
Jiang Lu didn't think much of it and said:
"Senior Brother Gu, don't worry, just leave this to me. I still have some in stock, I'll bring them to you later. If that's not enough, I'll go ask other senior and junior brothers for help."
"Then I thank Junior Brother Jiang," Gu Chengming cupped his hands in thanks.
Jiang Lu didn't stay long, chatted a bit more, then took the opportunity to leave.
After leaving Gu Chengming's courtyard, Jiang Lu didn't go straight back to his own residence but turned towards Cangjian Pavilion.
He thought that since he had promised Senior Brother Gu, he might as well check if he could exchange for some higher-quality body-refining medicinal pastes at the Skill Pavilion.
After all, ordinary Cold Bone Paste might not be potent enough for Senior Brother Gu now.
However, when he entered Cangjian Pavilion, he saw a scene that further confirmed his suspicions.
He saw Elder Yu, who was usually aloof and proud, and though she loved to slack off, at least maintained appearances, now sprawled ungracefully on the counter, yawning and rubbing her sleepy eyes.
The faint dark circles under her eyes and her sleepy, tired look clearly indicated she had pulled an all-nighter.
"Yawn..."
Yu Wenqiu wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes, exuding an aura of decadent laziness.
Jiang Lu's heart stirred.
Connecting Gu Chengming's earlier statement about "having repaid part of the favor" with Elder Yu's "body hollowed out" appearance...
Could it be...
Did Senior Brother Gu really... last night?
Just then, the disciple token at his waist suddenly buzzed, interrupting his wild thoughts.
Jiang Lu picked up the token and his expression changed slightly.
His master was looking for him.
Helpless, Jiang Lu had no choice but to temporarily put aside the matter of finding medicinal paste for Gu Chengming.
Huiyuan Gate, Merit Elder Hall.
The hall was simply and solemnly furnished, with shelves on both sides filled with dense scrolls and jade slips.
The air was filled with a faint scent of ink and old paper.
Jiang Lu's master, Liu Enchuan, was currently sitting at his desk, brows furrowed, holding a newly compiled disciple assessment report, sighing repeatedly.
The Merit Elder, as the name suggests, was an elder who managed all core personnel functions within a branch, such as disciple assessments, merits, promotions, and punishments.
This was a position of real power, but also one that caused headaches.
Especially for the current Huiyuan Gate.
Liu Enchuan looked at the dismal data in his hand and felt a headache.
"Alas..."
He put down the report, rubbed his temples, and felt a sense of powerlessness.
The current situation of Huiyuan Gate could be politely described as "talent scarcity."
Let alone competing with the other branches of Wenjian Sect, even avoiding last place had become a luxury.
The reasons for this situation were complex, but ultimately, it came down to a severe lack of geniuses who could uphold the sect's reputation.
Huiyuan Gate already had limited resources, and what was distributed to each disciple was even more stretched.
Mediocre sword arts, mediocre resources, coupled with mediocre, or even somewhat poor, disciple quality... this formed a vicious cycle.
Good talents looked down on Huiyuan Gate and went to other branches; those who remained were either mediocre or leftovers from other branches.
"Everything needs to be rebuilt..."
Liu Enchuan sighed, his gaze falling on the glaring name at the end of the report—Gu Chengming.
At the thought of that name, his brows furrowed even more.
If one were to talk about poor disciple quality in the sect, Gu Chengming was probably the most representative example.
Three years after joining, he was still stuck at the First Realm, Third Level.
If this were in other branches, he would have long been advised to leave or demoted to a handyman.
It was only because Huiyuan Gate was currently short on people that they had kept him.
But with the triennial grand examination approaching, if Gu Chengming didn't make any significant progress and was truly expelled from Wenjian Sect, Huiyuan Gate would become a laughingstock for the other branches for the next few years.
As the Merit Elder, he couldn't afford to lose face either.
It was precisely for this reason that he had specifically instructed Jiang Lu a few days ago to remind Gu Chengming to at least try hard, so he wouldn't lose too badly.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Just then, a gentle knock sounded on the hall door.
Liu Enchuan collected his thoughts and said in a deep voice, "Come in."
The door was pushed open, and Jiang Lu walked in, respectfully bowing, "Disciple Jiang Lu pays respects to Master."
Seeing his proud disciple, Liu Enchuan's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
He was quite satisfied with Jiang Lu.
Steady in temperament, reliable in tasks, and though his talent wasn't top-tier, in the current Huiyuan Gate, he was like "the tallest among the short," still capable of achievement.
With a little more tempering, he would surely become a pillar of the sect in the future.
"Mm, rise."
Liu Enchuan briefly asked about Jiang Lu's recent cultivation progress, and Jiang Lu answered each question clearly and systematically.
After some casual pleasantries, Liu Enchuan changed the subject and got to the main point.
"That matter I asked you to handle... how is the situation with Gu Chengming?"
Hearing this, Jiang Lu understood.
He knew his master had called him, most likely for this matter.
Seeing his master's worried expression, Jiang Lu secretly chuckled, but maintained a relaxed look on his face.
He said with a smile:
"Master worries too much. If it's about this matter, even if you don't intervene, the situation you're worried about won't occur."
"Oh?"
Liu Enchuan raised an eyebrow, looking at him with some surprise.
This sounded... like there was a hidden meaning?
"What do you mean?"
Jiang Lu dropped his smile, his expression becoming serious.
He sat up straight, looked into Liu Enchuan's eyes, and said earnestly:
"Master, your disciple has had quite a bit of contact with Senior Brother Gu recently and has discovered some... surprising things."
Then, he recounted everything that had happened in the past few days, in detail.
From Gu Chengming seeing through the flaws in his sword art with a single glance and casually giving pointers that greatly benefited him; to Gu Chengming, with his First Realm, Third Level cultivation, using pure sword mastery to defeat You Yuyao, a First Realm, Ninth Level female cultivator from Jingshui Pavilion, leaving her utterly unable to retaliate, even making her cry on the spot...
Finally, he took a deep breath and concluded:
"Therefore, Master doesn't need to worry at all about Senior Brother Gu being expelled. In your disciple's opinion, Senior Brother Gu is actually a sword genius, a hidden dragon in the abyss!"
"..."
Liu Enchuan listened to these words and felt it was a fantasy.
How did this plot sound so much like the tropes written in those low-grade street storybooks?
Liu Enchuan stared at Jiang Lu for a long time before finally asking hesitantly:
"Lu'er... have you been practicing sword too much lately? Is your mind unsettled?"
He clearly took Jiang Lu's words as hallucinations after over-cultivating and suffering qi deviation.
Jiang Lu's words stopped; he seemed to know that his empty words would be hard for his master to believe.
After all, if it were him a month ago, he probably wouldn't believe such things either.
He said helplessly, "Your disciple knows this is hard to believe. But... hearing is not as good as seeing."
"If Master doesn't believe it, wouldn't you know if you went and tried it yourself?"
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