Honestly, this kind of "left foot stepping on right foot" spiral-ascent cultivation method was terrifyingly efficient.
At least, Gu Chengming could clearly feel the improvement to his Constitution — and it was anything but trivial.
In this world, attributes weren't some simple set of "Attack" and "Defense" stats. They formed an extraordinarily complex system where tugging on any single thread would ripple through the whole.
Take "Strength," for instance. It didn't just determine how hard you could punch — it also governed what weapons you could wield, and even set the entry threshold for certain heavy-type cultivation methods.
Or "Agility." That wasn't just about dodge chance. It affected the speed of your strikes, the fluidity of your footwork, and even the success rate of certain spells that demanded precise, delicate control.
But beyond any doubt, "Constitution" was the attribute most directly bound to HP and raw survivability.
The most immediate thing Gu Chengming noticed was simple: he could take a hit now.
Back when he first started training the Hundred Bones Resonance, he'd wake up the next morning with every muscle aching, like he'd been stuffed in a sack and beaten senseless.
Now? He'd bounce out of bed the next day fresh as ever. That was what a boosted Constitution felt like.
And while he was busy pouring himself into the Hundred Bones Resonance, the other romance targets naturally had their own reactions.
[The Huiyuan Sword Art is a little jealous.]
[It watches you spend the bulk of your time every day doting on that newcomer technique, and feels a bit sour about the whole thing.]
[But it's a sensible technique. It understands that your body is too fragile right now — that you need a body-tempering method to reinforce yourself. Only once your physique is solid can you truly wield it to its fullest.]
[So it doesn't blame you.]
As for the other one...
[The Qingxin Formula finds this all rather amusing, but compared to your training progress, what it cares about most is something else entirely.]
[It is urgently demanding the next update! When exactly are you going to write Part Three of that storybook?!]
And so the days passed, one after another, in this bizarre yet strangely harmonious atmosphere.
But good things never last.
Because once the Hundred Bones Resonance's Affection hit 20, it flatly refused to budge another point.
Gu Chengming was getting anxious.
When it came to romance targets he had no prior "experience" with, he was admittedly a little out of his depth.
Little did he know, at that very same moment, there was someone even more anxious than him.
That someone was the Hundred Bones Resonance itself.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance is spinning in frantic circles.]
[Why hasn't it gone up? Why has this kid's cultivation speed stopped climbing?!]
[The Hundred Bones Resonance stares at your completely stagnant cultivation pace, and internally starts to panic.]
Gu Chengming was thoroughly speechless.
Just who the hell is romancing whom here?
Then one day, Gu Chengming broke out that precious bottle of "Spirit-Resonance Bone-Refining Dew" once more to assist with his training.
The medicinal energy entered his body, and golden light flowed through his meridians.
Buoyed by that surging medicinal power, his cultivation speed shot upward in an instant — and that long-missed sensation came rushing back.
And at that exact moment, the system chime finally rang out again.
[Hundred Bones Resonance Affection +2]
[Current Affection: 22]
Gu Chengming nearly lost his composure.
Come on. You're not seriously that skittish, are you?
So you don't actually care whether I have feelings for you — you care whether I'm dropping real money? Only when I chug an elixir and my speed shoots up do you deign to give me more Affection?
What he didn't know, however, was that the Hundred Bones Resonance had once again managed to completely misread the situation.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance watches your cultivation speed suddenly spike, and lets out a long breath of relief. So that's how it is.]
[It turns out the reason your Affection had stalled... was because you found it too slow!]
[Only when you use an external aid like a spirit medicine — only when that exhilarating rush of rapid progress returns — does your "Affection" for it climb back up.]
[It feels a wave of shame.]
[As a premier body-tempering technique, to have sunken so low that it needs elixirs to keep a disciple's heart — this is an utter, unforgivable humiliation!]
[It will prove that even without medicine, it can make you feel incredible!]
And so, in the days that followed, Gu Chengming noticed that the Hundred Bones Resonance had become remarkably... attentive.
Every time he began his training, without any conscious effort on his part, the resonant qi within his body would automatically circulate along the optimal route all on its own.
At certain obscure and difficult passages, an invisible force would even surge forward to help him break through the blockage.
It felt exactly like playing a game with a fully automated bot running in the background — except this one came with smart optimization built in.
Gu Chengming was utterly at a loss for words.
Hey. What are you working so hard for? Could you maybe convert some of that effort into Affection points?
You're doing all the work but the Affection isn't moving — I'm losing my mind over here!
And it was within this stumbling, mutually misunderstanding, yet somehow inexplicably mutually-reinforcing bizarre cultivation process that time quietly slipped by.
One afternoon.
Warm sunlight, a gentle breeze — the kind of day that asked nothing of you.
Gu Chengming had just finished a session of the Hundred Bones Resonance and was about to stand up and reach for his wooden sword.
Suddenly, a faint, crisp crack resonated from somewhere inside him.
The spiritual energy that had been hovering at the First Realm, Third Layer for so long seemed to find its outlet in that instant — surging through his meridians in a rushing torrent, shattering that not-particularly-solid barrier in a single breath.
No earth-shaking phenomenon. No agonizing struggle.
Everything happened naturally. Inevitably. Like water finally reaching the sea.
Gu Chengming blinked, then felt it — the palpably expanded pulse of spiritual energy within him, and the sensation of clarity and ease washing through every inch of his body.
First Realm, Fourth Layer.
A breakthrough.
The bottleneck that had plagued this body for three full years had been crossed, quietly and without ceremony, in the middle of a perfectly ordinary afternoon practice session.
Gu Chengming closed his hand into a fist, feeling the fresh surge of power within.
A small step, perhaps. But for him, it was the beginning of something entirely new.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance watches you break through, and lets out a long, silent roar of triumph.]
[Hundred Bones Resonance Affection +3]
[Current Affection: 25]
[The Hundred Bones Resonance thinks to itself: My fate is mine to command!]
[Gu Chengming — show me your limits!]
Oh for the love of — are we really never letting that meme die?!
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