Chapter 206 | The Galgame Martial Saint

Speaking of the matter of true names, Gu Chengming’s thoughts couldn't help but drift back a little.

He remembered an old debt from Floating Islet City.

Back then, even after being trapped for ten thousand years, the Red Dust Immortal could still use the two words of his “true name” to tug at karma, attempting to break through the closure of history and bring himself back to life from an old war that should have been long settled.

Previously, Gu Chengming had simply considered that to be a unique, crooked method of the Red Dust Immortal. Now, with the Director’s explanation, he realized that the reason the Red Dust Immortal could devise a near-miraculous method like “rebirth through a true name” was precisely because a true name was incredibly heavy at the level of a True Monarch.

This thing could serve as a basis for others to curse and kill you, but it could also be used as a fulcrum to leverage karma.

After a True Monarch underwent Name Erasure, only their Daoist titles and honorifics remained in the world.

The Master was the Master, the Director was the Director, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was True Monarch Liuyun Suyu, and the Red Dust Immortal was the Red Dust Immortal. None of them were willing to leave their true names out in the open for others to manipulate.

Thinking of this, Gu Chengming suddenly realized there was an absurd character.

—True Monarch Jiahao.

According to what the Director had just said, the first major task after ascending to True Monarch was Name Erasure—erasing one’s name from the three paths of time, history, and karma to prevent ill-intentioned people from using it.

Yet, True Monarch Jiahao did the exact opposite. Not only was his true name known throughout the cultivation world, but even his Daoist title was simply True Monarch Jiahao.

Thinking of it this way, the “gold content” of True Monarch Jiahao immediately rose another level.

Pushing these thoughts aside, Gu Chengming turned his mind back to that Longevity Sect True Monarch. The opponent was hiding very deep, and combined with the uniqueness of his Dao Throne, the Imperial Observatory could only provide general clues.

However, since the opponent had already come to the capital, it meant he had something he desired.

The hardest people to kill in this world were those without desires or needs; the easiest to lure into a trap were those who thought they could control the situation.

It was quite clear that this Longevity Sect Perfected Man likely wanted the Dao Throne fragment within the remains of True Monarch Wangyue to counter True Monarch Liuyun Suyu.

As long as this judgment was correct, Gu Chengming didn't need to search the entire capital for him; he only needed to wait for the rabbit to come to the tree.

Amushing a Sixth Realm True Monarch sounded somewhat insane, but it wasn't as if he hadn't done it before.

So what if he was a Longevity Sect True Monarch? Even the Red Dust Immortal had died at his hands.

Although, strictly speaking, that battle had been a miracle team effort involving True Monarch Liuyun Suyu, the Hundred Bones Resonating, Love Infinite, time-karma, and himself, outsiders only cared about the results. When he reviewed it himself, he could afford to leave himself a little dignity.

Gu Chengming connected several marks on the ley line map into a line.

The fluctuations of Wangyue’s remains followed no fixed pattern, but the locations where the Dao Throne had flickered recently all faintly bypassed the most heavily guarded areas of the Night Guard Division and the Imperial Academy. It was as if someone was secretly inducing them, or as if certain residual arrangements were waking up from their slumber.

The Longevity Sect had hidden moves in the capital. Although the Director hadn't said it explicitly, Gu Chengming had already read between the lines of that phrase: “The Imperial Observatory cannot observe the specific location.”

The capital was the capital of the Great Qian, but it was also a chessboard the Longevity Sect had operated on for countless years.

Buried beneath this city were the remains of True Monarch Wangyue, the Great Qian’s dragon qi, and untold secrets of the old dynasty and Dao Throne fragments. If the Longevity Sect had never placed pieces in such a place, that would truly be a lack of professional standards for a recurring villain organization.

Gu Chengming raised his hand and tapped an abandoned old neighborhood on the map.

The place was called Wuxian Neighborhood. In the early years of the Great Qian, it had been a gathering place for musicians, opera troupes, and juggler cultivators. Later, due to a shift in the ley lines, the popularity of the neighborhood gradually declined. Now, only a few abandoned theaters and a network of underground sewers sealed for many years remained.

The Imperial Observatory’s star charts showed that Dao Throne fluctuations had appeared there recently, possibly originating from a Dao Throne fragment called Jiexian Dream.

“Little Gu?” True Monarch Liuyun Suyu stood by the window, watching him write and revise the defense deployment documents, her expression puzzled.

Gu Chengming looked up. “What do you think, Senior?”

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu scanned the ley line map, her gaze stopping on Wuxian Neighborhood. She clearly realized what Gu Chengming was asking and answered naturally, “He should come.”

“The Unfettered River is not yet fully unsealed. He cannot defeat me with his original Dao Throne, so he can only supplement his weaknesses with others.”

“‘Jiexian Dream’ isn't a high-level throne, but it is connected to the Dream, Music, and String authorities on Wangyue’s main branch. If he gets it, it will be enough to give him an additional method of leveraging power within the capital. For him, this Dao Throne fragment is very suitable for testing the waters.”

Hearing this, Gu Chengming smiled. “Then that’s perfect. We’ll let him try.”

...

Once the plan was set, Gu Chengming actually managed to find half a day of rare leisure.

Calling it “leisure” wasn't entirely accurate. After all, an ambush on a Sixth Realm True Monarch required complete preparation regardless of the location, but Gu Chengming had already finished all the arrangements he could make. Thus, he took this gap to study the Knight Sword.

Under the influence of the Love: Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art, the Knight Sword seemed to have entered a very special superposition state. It was no longer a weapon in the simple sense, but rather something tied to the sword move “All-Being Discrimination Sword.”

In other words, if the target did not meet the judgment conditions of the “All-Being Discrimination Sword,” the sword would not unsheathe.

This conclusion made Gu Chengming feel quite subtle, as he soon discovered that these conditions also involved subjective judgment.

For example, with Nuo Tao, Gu Chengming had to discriminate against her for being from the East Sea, for being a woman, and for being short. Only then could he faintly budge the Knight Sword a sliver.

Identity, stance, evil deeds, karma, flaws—anything Gu Chengming could use to criticize became the force to draw the sword. The higher the target’s realm and the heavier the karma they bore, the more obvious the feedback when this negation landed.

Gu Chengming touched the hilt, his gaze gradually turning subtle.

A Longevity Sect Perfected Man, a Sixth Realm True Monarch, suspected of possessing the Beihuan Near Heaven.

The fixed villain identity of the Longevity Sect came with its own baseline weight.

Thinking of it this way, the opponent already fit the criteria perfectly.

Gu Chengming needed to confirm if there were more things worth discriminating against on that Longevity Sect Perfected Man.

He suddenly had a premonition that this sword would likely be put to use very soon.

...

The Longevity Sect True Monarch was hiding beneath an abandoned well in the capital.

There was no water at the bottom of the well, and the walls were covered in moss. Three chang down, there was a small hidden grotto folded out by techniques.

There were no lamps in the grotto, only a black-red talisman seed suspended in mid-air, pulsing slowly. He sat cross-legged beneath the talisman seed, his face pale.

He hadn't chosen this well solely for concealment.

The walls of the well were damp, the moss thick, and the ley line moisture seeped out bit by bit from the cracks in the stones. For his current earthly manifestation, it could somewhat soothe his injuries.

He looked down at his palm. That hand looked no different from an ordinary cultivator’s—long fingers, pale skin—only occasionally, black scale patterns would surface on the pads of his fingers before quickly receding as he circulated his magic power.

He frowned; this body was still not stable enough.

The original status of the Beihuan Near Heaven did not fully align with him, and the rejection from the present world was far heavier than he had imagined.

If it weren't for that remnant main branch of the Longevity Sect shielding most of it for him, he would likely have been crushed by the capital’s dragon qi and the rules of Wangyue’s remains by now.

Moisture fell along the well wall and dripped onto his shoulder. He subconsciously raised his hand to catch the droplet. The water bead rolled in his palm for a moment, then moved along his finger cracks like a living thing, finally vanishing into that nearly invisible ring of scale marks on his wrist.

He closed his eyes, a very faint, low breath rolling through his throat.

That sound did not resemble the breathing of a human cultivator, but rather some ancient demon lurking between the deep sea and dark rivers. A moment later, he reopened his eyes.

A vertical slit flashed deep within his pupils.

He quickly suppressed these abnormalities back into his body, and his expression returned to that of a gentle Daoist.

Most people in the world only knew that Longevity Sect Perfected Men were eerie and hard to kill, but few knew that before he attained the Dao in his early years, he hadn't been of pure human birth. This was also why, after taking charge of the Unfettered River lineage, he was most skilled at shifting forms and avoiding calamities.

It was just that the price he had paid to escape from True Monarch Liuyun Suyu last time was too great.

The Unfettered River lineage was best at escaping and avoiding disasters. Ordinary True Monarchs had little certainty of keeping him, but True Monarch Liuyun Suyu’s Dao Throne was above his, and the path of time naturally cut off many of his opportunities to maneuver.

In that battle, he had almost no power to fight back.

Every time he tried to use karma to switch positions, he would be pressed back to his original spot half a step early. Every time he tried to follow a crack into the old world, that woman would slash him from the future into the present with a single sword.

In the end, his escape hadn't been due to besting his opponent, but purely by using the authority of the Longevity Sect’s remnant main branch to forcibly tear a way out for himself.

But that path was growing narrower and narrower. The Longevity Sect’s main branch was not yet fully unsealed. Although he walked the present world wearing the status of “Beihuan” and seemed to have returned to the True Monarch level, he was actually restricted everywhere. If he faced True Monarch Liuyun Suyu head-on once more, he wasn't sure he could leave alive... not to mention there was also Gu Chengming.

Gu Chengming—this name had been disclosed many times within the Longevity Sect.

When he first saw this sentence, he only felt that those of the Longevity Sect in the present world had been frightened out of their wits by a junior.

But after that battle in the Cuiping Mountains, he understood that the trouble surrounding this youth was far more than his cultivation level suggested.

It was hard to kill this person, and even harder to win him over.

Precisely because of this, he needed a new Dao Throne... as long as he could seize a sufficiently suitable throne from the remains of True Monarch Wangyue, he could fill the gaps in his earthly manifestation within the rules of the capital.

If his luck was even better, he could even use the connection between Wangyue’s main branch and the Longevity Sect’s remnant main branch to suppress True Monarch Liuyun Suyu in turn.

At that time, he could kill that True Monarch who had ruined the Longevity Sect’s great plans ten thousand years ago.

The Longevity Sect had left behind hidden moves in the capital. When the remains of True Monarch Wangyue were first buried into the ley lines, the Longevity Sect had secretly placed a piece from each of the Babbling, Beihuan, and Unfettered branches.

The Great Qian had cleared many over the years, but it was impossible to clear them all. His current confidence in coming to the capital relied precisely on these old pieces.

However, he also knew that the Great Qian had likely set its sights on him.

The Imperial Observatory couldn't observe his specific location, but they were skilled at seeing trends, seeing karmic ripples, and seeing those irrational folds in heaven and earth before an event occurred.

Zhou Qingmu had been in charge of the Night Guard Division for many years; her actions were upright but by no means dull.

As for Gu Chengming... his brow furrowed slightly at the thought of that name.

No matter how much of a genius an ordinary cultivator was, there was always a logic to be found. Sword cultivators were strong in their swords, body cultivators in their bodies, art cultivators in their techniques, and karmic cultivators in their planning. Gu Chengming’s problem was that you never knew what he would pull out of his sleeve the next moment.

The Longevity Sect True Monarch pondered for a long time before finally turning his gaze toward Wuxian Neighborhood. Although he knew it was dangerous, the fluctuations of “Jiexian Dream” were too tempting.

He could naturally see that there was a problem.

But if the Great Qian truly wanted to use this trap to kill him, they would have to send someone who could truly keep him there.

Zhou Qingmu was currently in the dangerous period before Name Erasure and would not easily expose herself to the Longevity Sect. The Master and the Director needed to guard their respective foundations; moving lightly would instead invite greater variables.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu? A chill flickered in his eyes at the thought of that name.

If that woman was truly waiting for him at Wuxian Neighborhood, things would actually be simpler.

What he wanted was to confirm her location.

As long as he could lure her into taking action, the old pieces the Longevity Sect had left in Wangyue’s remains would have a chance to counter-attack along her time-based Dao Throne. Even if it couldn't kill her, it could make her lose the initiative in the upcoming capital situation.

He was not unprepared.

The Longevity Sect True Monarch raised his hand, and a small section of a string appeared in his palm.

It looked like bone yet wasn't bone, like silk yet wasn't silk. Faint music emanated from it, but no melody could be discerned; it only made a sense of absurd joy arise in one’s heart.

This was one of the old items the Longevity Sect had buried in Wangyue’s remains back then.

As soon as “Jiexian Dream” truly peeled away, he could use this as a lead to incorporate the Dao Throne into himself before the Great Qian could react.

As for Gu Chengming... if he was also present, he would test him in passing.

He never felt that a game of chess had to be finished in a single sitting.

...

After nightfall, a rain began to fall in the capital.

The raindrops fell on the broken tiles of Wuxian Neighborhood, dripping from the eaves of the old theaters and tapping on the dust-covered stone steps with a fine, fragmented sound, as if an invisible musician were tuning strings. No one lived in the neighborhood anymore. Several theaters stood crookedly in the depths of the rain, their faded paintings looking mottled in the water streaks. The actor masks on the walls were blurred by the rain, and from a distance, they looked like laughing faces.

Gu Chengming stood on the second floor of an abandoned building, his aura completely concealed by the Red Dust Phantom Step.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was right beside him, using her Dao Throne to hide herself in a crack in time. At this moment, she was in a state of the “previous hour.” Gu Chengming could see her, but it was very difficult to lock onto her with divine sense. She seemed to stand in the present, yet also in a breath that had just passed. When the corner of her sleeve brushed through the rain, the droplets would even pause for a moment before continuing to fall.

Gu Chengming felt a bit of admiration watching this. True Monarch battles were indeed absurd.

While he was still studying how to hide his aura, others were already messing with the timeline.

Just then, the rain grew heavier, and Gu Chengming suddenly saw a ripple in the standing water at the neighborhood entrance.

A gray-robed Daoist appeared in the rain.

He looked ordinary, with a lean figure and a gentle face, like a wandering cultivator who had accidentally entered the abandoned neighborhood to seek shelter from the rain. But where he passed, the raindrops would briefly lose their downward direction, and the smiles on those broken masks on the walls seemed to be gently smoothed out by some force.

Gu Chengming’s heart tightened.

The gray-robed Daoist was in no hurry to approach the depths of the theaters. He first stood at the entrance for a moment, looking around, his gaze scanning the ruined buildings, old channels, abandoned wells, and the stage in turn. Then he smiled and stepped forward.

With every step he took, his figure faded a bit, as if he could vanish from this place at any time. Just as he reached the old stage and was about to raise his hand to touch the fragment of Dao Throne light that was about to emerge, the sound of rain in the entire Wuxian Neighborhood suddenly stopped.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu had made her move.

She raised a finger, and the water at the gray-robed Daoist’s feet suddenly froze. The rain hung in mid-air, and the actor masks on the walls being washed by the rain all turned their faces at the same time, as if they had collectively remembered his existence in this instant.

The gray-robed Daoist seemed to have expected this. His figure blurred as he tried to escape into a karmic crack, but in the next instant, he returned to his original spot.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu stepped down from the second floor of the abandoned building, her moon-white hem brushing through the rain. The suspended raindrops slowly moved aside as she passed.

The gray-robed Daoist stared at her, a hint of gloom finally appearing in his eyes. Immediately following this, a dull sound of music came from beneath the ground of Wuxian Neighborhood.

The abandoned theaters all shook, as if countless long-dead actors were clapping beneath the stage. The Dao Throne aura of Wangyue’s remains was tugged by that thin string and actually began to gather toward his palm. Clearly, this gray-robed Daoist had come prepared.

Gu Chengming’s gaze narrowed, but True Monarch Liuyun Suyu seemed to have anticipated this move as well and lightly stepped on the ground.

The time in Wuxian Neighborhood suddenly folded inward.

The old stage, the abandoned well, the underground sewer, the masks on the wall—everything was connected by a layer of moon-white light, as if someone had clipped this piece of the neighborhood out of the capital’s night and pinned it onto an invisible scroll.

The thin string in the gray-robed Daoist’s hand let out a piercing snap. His expression darkened, and he growled, “You placed a mark here long ago?”

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu raised her eyes. “Only realizing it now? It’s a bit late.”

A dark river appeared behind the gray-robed Daoist.

There were countless forks in that river, each leading to a different outcome of escape. He took a step into it, and his figure immediately transformed into layers of phantoms. Some fled into the past, some bypassed into the future, and some tried to use karmic switching to replace his currently sealed self with an avatar from another line.

But as soon as those phantoms appeared, they were pinned down one by one by the moon-white light.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu raised her hand, and a pale moon appeared in her palm.

“This place is called Wuxian Neighborhood,” she said, her fingertip pressing down lightly. “Tonight, there are no strings, and thus, no way out.”

All the forks at the gray-robed Daoist’s feet snapped at once.

His figure solidified again, forcibly imprinted back in front of the old stage.

This time, he truly couldn't get away.

Wuxian Neighborhood was already connected to the “Jiexian Dream” on Wangyue’s remains. True Monarch Liuyun Suyu had used the four-fold karma of the place name, the old plays, the residual strings, and the rainy night to turn the words “No Strings” into a temporary Dao seal. The opponent was from the Unfettered River and was best at using thousands of paths to escape, so she simply made it so there was no way to go tonight.

The gray-robed Daoist finally put away his relaxed expression and looked up at True Monarch Liuyun Suyu, the dark river behind him churning bit by bit.

“To bait me, you were actually willing to personally enter the old capital’s game. Aren't you afraid that the things the Longevity Sect buried in Wangyue’s remains will counter-attack through your Dao Throne?”

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu’s expression remained unchanged. “When that time comes, a young friend will naturally help me.”

Hearing this, Gu Chengming thought to himself, Senior, you think too highly of me.

At the same time, the gray-robed Daoist’s gaze finally landed on Gu Chengming, his eyes sinking.

Without further words, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu had already raised her hand, and moon-white light closed in on the gray-robed Daoist from all directions. The gray-robed Daoist shook his sleeves, and that thin string straightened again. The Longevity Sect’s old piece beneath the ground was forcibly activated by him, and a black-red aura climbed up along the theater pillars, actually holding back the moon-white light.

The Dao Thrones of the two True Monarchs collided in Wuxian Neighborhood, and everything around them came to a sudden halt.

The rain stopped in mid-air, the theaters held a posture of being about to collapse yet not collapsing, and the water on the ground reflected the figures of the two, yet did not dare to ripple.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu’s time Dao seal locked the place, while the gray-robed Daoist used the Longevity Sect’s old piece and the aura of Wangyue’s remains to forcibly push open an inch of space.

One side wanted to pin him forever in this moment, while the other wanted to tear a gap out of this moment.

A stalemate was formed just like that.

Gu Chengming stood in the shadow of the abandoned building, looking at that nearly frozen rain between the two True Monarchs, suddenly realizing that he had become the only person in this game who could still move freely.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu couldn't let go, and the gray-robed Daoist couldn't retreat.

All the surrounding karma, time, Dao Thrones, and ley line pieces were being held tight by these two existences.

And so, this ambush on a Sixth Realm True Monarch had, after all the twists and turns, finally come back to him, a Fourth Realm cultivator.

Gu Chengming was silent for a moment, looking at that Longevity Sect True Monarch pinned in front of the old stage. He thought to himself, Good grief, a Fourth Realm participating in a True Monarch game was already absurd enough, and now I have to be the breaking point.

But as things stood, he was indeed the only variable left.

And in this stalemate, Gu Chengming suddenly saw that the Longevity Sect True Monarch’s hood had slipped off.

The rain was frozen in mid-air, and the moon-white light and black-red aura in front of the old stage were crushing each other, forcing him to no longer be able to maintain his previous appearance as a gentle Daoist.

The skin beneath the gray robe cracked bit by bit, revealing fine black scales. His brow bone bulged slightly, and his pupils were compressed into a dark-gold vertical slit.

Gu Chengming also saw that although the face still maintained a human shape, the curve of the brow bone, the outline of the jaw, and even the bulging light on the side of the neck all showed the flaws of a struggling disguise.

According to the files on demon cultivator transformations he had browsed in the Night Guard Division recently, the true form of this Longevity Sect Perfected Man was likely not human.

Gu Chengming’s heart suddenly stirred.

The ancient long sword at his waist seemed to sense this thought. The blade shook within the scabbard, as if eagerly asking, “What did you think of?”

—The Knight Sword.

Gu Chengming went through this possibility in his mind almost the instant the thought arose.

The punch of the Hundred Bones Resonating of Love was certainly powerful, but True Monarch Liuyun Suyu was currently being restrained to her limit by that hidden vein. If he used that punch too early, it might not necessarily crush the opponent completely, and might instead make this stalemate even messier.

It would be better to try the All-Being Discrimination Sword first.

According to Lady Zhou’s advice that day, this sword indiscriminately viewed all living beings in the world as objects that could be discriminated against, so it had a suppressive force against all living beings.

Of the three people currently on the field, he naturally couldn't discriminate against True Monarch Liuyun Suyu’s moonlit sword intent, so that left this ready-made target opposite him.

Gu Chengming’s mind moved, his fingertips pressing onto the hilt, and he began to silently label the opponent in his heart.

Longevity Sect remnant!

One with an unsound Dao Heart and ill intentions!

Every time the golden light on the blade heard a phrase, it rose an inch, finally slowly moving out of the scabbard by about an inch.

Gu Chengming was originally quite satisfied, but the blade stopped moving after that.

His brow furrowed slightly, his gaze falling once more on that figure trapped in a sorry state, and he discriminated in his heart:

—Demon beast!

Hearing this, the blade moved up another half inch, as if barely accepting the comment, then got stuck again.

Gu Chengming was thoughtful.

That was right. He had already grasped the temperament of the Knight Sword. Although “demon beast” was the most direct term for a transformed demon cultivator, these two words appeared in various official documents of the Great Qian with at least a somewhat neutral descriptive meaning, far from being a weighty discrimination.

For this sword to fully acknowledge this discrimination, the words “demon beast” were clearly not enough.

Gu Chengming’s gaze shifted down, landing on the patch of scales slowly spreading over the Longevity Sect Perfected Man.

Those scales were black, with a dark luster that nearly swallowed the light in the night.

A sudden stroke of inspiration hit Gu Chengming’s heart.

—Black-Scaled Freak!

The blade suddenly trembled, and that sliver of golden light within the scabbard buzzed and moved up by a full two inches.

Gu Chengming was shocked.

No way, this thing actually responds to that?!

Gu Chengming then suddenly realized that he had been taking the wrong path all along. The discrimination recognized by this Knight Sword had nothing to do with the height of moral standing or the purity of one’s stance and identity.

Thoughts whirled in Gu Chengming’s mind.

Following this logic backward, his use of “demon beast” just now had clearly been too proper.

He lightly tapped the hilt with his fingertip, completely erasing the label of “demon beast” from his heart, and carefully selected a new term after reconsidering—

—Filthy Furry!

The golden light that had been stuck at over three inches suddenly shuddered.

—Black-Scaled Freak, Filthy Furry!

In the next instant, the blade of the Knight Sword suddenly let out a long, resonant hum.

The sword light, which had been as ancient and dull as mortal iron, now surged out overwhelmingly, pushing away all the dense darkness around it.

The blade slid out inch by inch, and that sliver of golden light on the blade condensed into a nearly solid golden river, flowing along the edge, lighting up a new pattern with every inch it passed.

The entire long sword was completely transformed at this moment. The low-profile mortal iron disguise was torn away by this vast sword light, revealing the true quality hidden deep within the blade—

One of the ten law swords forged by the Life-Defying Calamity-Slaying True Monarch back then, named Knight.

At the same moment the sword light flared, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu’s pupils suddenly contracted. She subconsciously turned her head to look toward Gu Chengming, her poised composure wavering for a rare moment.

The Longevity Sect Perfected Man’s vertical pupils widened, and the karmic concealment power previously suppressed by the moon-drop secret technique suddenly fell into a mess.

Gu Chengming stood behind the giant stone with his hands behind his back, the Knight Sword at his waist heated by this vast sword light to the point where it was almost about to fly out of his hand.