Chapter 183 | The Galgame Martial Saint

In a sense, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was undoubtedly the founding ancestor of the Cloud Moon Sect.

If the current Sect Leader of the Cloud Moon Sect were here and encountered this living True Monarch, they would have to kowtow and respectfully address her as Grandmaster.

Curiously, however, despite the earth-shaking commotion in the Cuiping Mountains, that Sect Leader had not shown their face from start to finish.

As for the news of the True Monarch crawling out of the earth and seeing the light of day again, it hadn't caused a massive uproar in the cultivation world; only a few people knew the inside story.

With the Supreme Elder executed, the mess that was the riddled Cloud Moon Sect was casually tossed to the Vice Sect Leader by True Monarch Liuyun Suyu to clean up.

...

In a temporarily vacated side room on the east side of the side hall.

Gu Chengming sat cross-legged on the couch, the light screen quietly spreading out before him.

【Flowing Cloud Following Moon CG • I Will Love You Until the End of Time】

【Forged by the 《Flowing Cloud Following Moon》 forcibly anchoring one's future self—who has shed the body of a technique and achieved a physical form—crossing the river of time to borrow and interweave source power.】【Effect: Upon activation, the future physical form of 《Flowing Cloud Following Moon》 will descend into the world as a translucent phantom. Limited by the current laws of heaven and earth, this phantom is only visible to the host. The phantom floats behind the host, interweaving the ethereal and the real, fingers interlocking with the host's to jointly wield the sword.】

【During this time, the host's sword technique attainment is temporarily raised by one realm. Each strike carries the momentum of flowing clouds and the majesty of the bright moon, with spiritual energy flowing without any stagnation.】

—This Little Liuyun, she really is...

A smile unconsciously appeared at the corners of his mouth, and he was quite satisfied.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was sitting on the opposite side of the small table, holding a plain porcelain dish containing a small pile of green-skinned melon seeds. Her movements were quite gentle; with a light click of her fingernail, the shell would crack open. With another soft nibble, a plump kernel would fall into her palm.

She spread her palm and offered the kernel to Gu Chengming in a somewhat ingratiating manner: "Little friend."

Gu Chengming was stunned for a moment, then swallowed and reached out to take it, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the favor. However, the opportunity was rare, and he decided to take this chance to clear up the many doubts he had from before.

"Senior," he asked while eating the melon seed, "If I may be so bold, how did you endure these twenty thousand years?"

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu spoke somewhat vaguely, "You have likely already guessed that this ability is related to my Dao Throne, Moon in the Clouds."

"The authority of this Dao Throne can mask a piece of unsettled history from the world. If I was within it at that time, I would enter a state of superposition of 'being' and 'not being' along with that history. Someone must fill in that suspended history to truly solidify it before I can return from that superposition."

"Thanks to your help that day, I was able to successfully kill the Red Dust Immortal."

"While you were in that state of superposition, could you still perceive things outside?"

"I could catch glimpses."

The True Monarch sat back, her expression tightening slightly. "It was precisely because of those glimpses that I learned of an important matter."

She paused. "Have you ever heard of the 'Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth'?"

Gu Chengming shook his head. Seeing this, the True Monarch began to explain slowly.

The Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth was a disaster set by the Heavenly Dao for cultivators. Whenever cultivators occupied too many Dao Thrones and the authority of the Heavenly Dao was obstructed, it would bring down this tribulation to deliberately clear them out. Those who bore the brunt were the great cultivators who had already proven their Dao Thrones. However, the innocent would be caught in the crossfire; juniors who had not yet proven their Dao Thrones were also unlikely to be spared. Thus, the tribulation was called the "Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth."

"The battle between the Red Dust Immortal and me back then was one such event during the last Great Tribulation," the True Monarch said calmly. "Thanks to my Dao Throne, I barely managed to endure it."

Gu Chengming calculated silently in his heart. So, the moment the Senior woke up, she was about to face the next one?

He mulled it over and felt that the life of a high-realm cultivator was truly difficult. Just after crawling out of a grave, they had to go back into one.

"If it's such a major event, why is there not a single word about it in the records of these twenty thousand years?"

"Very few people know of it in the first place." The True Monarch sighed and drew an arc in the air with her finger. "Furthermore, the Great Tribulation is not like a landslide or a tsunami that overturns everything in a single night. It is a slow process. Even if cultivators are affected, they merely think their own luck is poor. Few can string together the scattered disasters into a single whole."

Her finger stopped at the low point of the arc. "Not until the number of cultivators is reduced to a certain amount does the Great Tribulation end. After that, the Dao Thrones will loosen one after another, and the cultivation world will welcome a new golden age."

So there was a limit to the number of people? Did cultivators have to worry about ecological balance too?

Gu Chengming felt his middle and high school biology knowledge attacking his brain. Suppressing his urge to complain, he asked, "So, is this why the Sixth Realm and even higher-realm cultivators find it difficult to appear in the cultivation world now?"

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu seemed to see through his speculation and shook her head slightly. "Not entirely. There is a class of cultivators with quite special Dao Thrones who can use their authority to evade the scrutiny of the Heavenly Dao. For example, that person from the Longevity Sect earlier, or—" she paused, "—me."

"Some hide themselves in time, some hide themselves in karma, and some can drape a veil of irrelevant karma over everything they do, using it to carry out their desires."

"The Longevity Sect Perfected Man from earlier practiced a method that set himself as 'Death in Time,' thus allowing him to do some extraordinary things under this rule."

"His Dao Throne is called the Reverse-Flow Gu."

She dipped her finger in tea and drew a main branch on the low table, then branched out two side branches from the main branch. "This thing is not unique. Its main branch is called the Unfettered River, and the Reverse-Flow Gu is a side branch on the Unfettered River."

She then pointed to another side branch. "My Moon in the Clouds is also on the Unfettered River."

"And my rank is above his."

At this, Gu Chengming understood.

No wonder that Longevity Sect Perfected Man was suppressed so easily by the True Monarch. His methods of reversing time and misplacing karma were like a disciple using their master's pen to check accounts against the master. The pen was the same, but the master knew the accounts best.

【The Great Record spoke up at the right time: Those who share the same source are completely suppressed by the superior rank.】

【The Great Record: This is the rule between Dao Thrones.】

Gu Chengming nodded, then thought of a key matter. "Then... has the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth already begun?"

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu nodded. "The preparations made by some Sixth Realms have ultimately failed."

"In the coming period, throughout Great Qian and even the entire cultivation world, many Sixth Realms and even Seventh Realms who were previously hidden will gradually appear. If you are to act, you must be more careful."

Gu Chengming thought to himself, 'Isn't this just a map upgrade?'

The main storyline had entered a new chapter, the monster levels were all increased by 20, and the good days in the starting village were over.

However, before the map completely upgraded, there was still time to take care of a few important matters.

For instance, the debt between him and the Longevity Sect had yet to be settled. And then there was that old Jiao-dragon who had luckily escaped; he had yet to pay a visit.

He had to take advantage of the window before his opponents regained their senses to collect the debts one by one.

Gu Chengming's internal abacus was clicking loudly, but he showed none of it on his face as he respectfully cupped his hands to the True Monarch. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior."

The True Monarch hesitated, then changed the subject.

"Little friend." The True Monarch offered another melon seed kernel to his lips, her tone carrying an indescribable, lingering quality. "Beneath the Moon in the Clouds, there is another even more obscure side branch called 'Double Radiance.' The Dao Thrones proven under this branch are all mutually reflective, seeing each other, never leaving or parting."

Gu Chengming gave an "Mm" and took the kernel, not quite catching the hidden meaning.

"The Dao Thrones on this branch are mostly extremely difficult to prove." The True Monarch's tone remained calm. "This is because this path requires a like-minded person to prove it together. It is difficult for one, but easy for two."

"..."

Gu Chengming's chewing slowed down by half a beat. Why did it feel like the wind was blowing in a strange direction?

"Beneath my Moon in the Clouds, I also left a root branch for Double Radiance that has never been solidified." The True Monarch lowered her eyes and picked up another kernel from the porcelain dish. She didn't offer it but simply rolled it between her fingers. "Ten thousand years of time, proving it alone... is a bit lonely after all."

She suddenly smiled.

"That strike of yours that solidified 'Die Together' for me actually has another interpretation."

"The words 'Return Together' need not be entirely interpreted as dying."

"..."

Gu Chengming didn't know whether to swallow or spit out the half-seed in his mouth.

He forced himself to remain calm and said humbly, "What Senior says is truly profound. This junior's learning is shallow, and I fear I cannot grasp the deep meaning within."

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's lips curled slightly. "You are too modest."

"You understood the sword intent of flowing clouds clearly. I suspect you won't be far off when it comes to the words 'Return Together' either." She steadily offered the kernel she had been rolling between her fingers to his lips.

"Have a taste?"

Only now did Gu Chengming realize belatedly that True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was whispering sweet nothings to him.

This actually made him a bit unable to cope...

As a galgame master, how was he supposed to fight without a dialogue box?

Before the words could leave his mouth, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu had already slowly risen. Her moon-white robe leaned slightly over the table, her sleeves carrying the cool scent of moonlight, as two fingers lightly pressed onto his shoulder.

Gu Chengming instinctively wanted to lean back, but his spine hit the hard wood back of the armchair with a thud.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu leaned in, her wide sleeves falling and brushing over Gu Chengming's knees. Then, her other hand reached past his face and slammed firmly onto the back of the chair beside his ear with a "Pa."

The solid, hundred-year-old ebony wood let out an extremely suppressed, dull sound.

But Gu Chengming clearly noticed something was off. The True Monarch's small hand was uncontrollably trembling slightly. She was very close, close enough for him to feel her slightly erratic breath brushing against the tip of his nose.

Gu Chengming looked up slightly and met the True Monarch's eyes, which were trying to hide her panic. A blush like rouge was spreading at a visible rate from her fair ears down her long neck. She even unconsciously bit her lower lip. Her heart was clearly a mess, yet she insisted on maintaining the direct manner of an older generation cultivator for the sake of appearances, imitating a move she didn't even know how to finish.

At the same time, a pale white sword intent quietly emerged behind him, and the future phantom of 《Flowing Cloud Following Moon》 began to manifest bit by bit!

—The Flowing Cloud Following Moon had actually triggered the CG on its own!

The phantom leaned in slightly from behind him, its right hand slowly sliding down his arm, fingers interlocking with his inch by inch.

"I want to join too..."

In front was True Monarch Liuyun Suyu's moonlight-scented Dao companion offensive, and behind was the future phantom of 《Flowing Cloud Following Moon》 pressing close.