Gu Chengming had no idea that, at this very moment, three 'elders' were fretting themselves half to death over his upcoming disciple evaluation.
He was currently sunk deep in a rather delicate predicament.
If he was being honest, as a seasoned galge veteran, this was the first time he'd ever encountered a situation where none of his accumulated wisdom applied.
Every romance target he'd ever dealt with in games had fit into a recognizable archetype — tsundere, yandere, emotionless doll. Once you'd figured out the personality type, the rest was just a methodical grind of affection points.
But this Hundred Bones Resonance... was something else entirely. A genuine oddity.
He could only sigh and blame his past life's game developers for not being creative enough. If they had been, he wouldn't be stuck puzzling over this now.
Still, he'd at least managed to pin down one consistent rule: as long as he showed exceptional talent, or spent hard enough, the affection would tick upward reliably.
Gu Chengming circulated the technique, turning the logic over in his mind.
While Gu Chengming was locked in this battle of wits with his peculiar cultivation method, something else was stirring on another front.
The old man with the wine gourd — the one who had been quietly watching Gu Chengming from the shadows all this time — had finally reached the end of his patience.
Initially, he'd regarded Gu Chengming as nothing more than a rare seedling with promise on the sword path.
When Gu Chengming first took up a body-tempering method, the old man had shaken his head repeatedly.
"Neglecting the essentials," he'd muttered to himself, nursing his gourd.
As an elder of Hunyuan Sect, he knew body-tempering techniques inside and out.
In his professional assessment, Gu Chengming's physique and blood essence were so poorly suited to the body-tempering path that the word 'abysmal' was almost too charitable.
Compared to his breathtaking genius on the sword path, the gulf between the two was practically the distance between heaven and earth.
"Sword path prodigies always have their quirks," the old man consoled himself.
After all, he himself — a Hunyuan Sect elder — had always been obsessed with the sword, and in his early days that had earned him plenty of ridicule too. Geniuses were willful by nature. It didn't affect the bigger picture.
However...
As time wore on, the expression on Hua Daiyi's face gradually shifted — from dismissive contempt, to disbelief, and finally settled on something that could only be described as seeing a ghost.
Wasn't this kid's progress in body-tempering just a little too fast?
He'd been a complete novice just a few days ago. How had he already broken through to genuine proficiency in the blink of an eye?
The fluency with which he moved his blood and qi, the rhythmic resonance ringing through his sinew and bone — it actually gave the old man a momentary illusion:
— Was this kid a body-tempering prodigy too?
What do you mean the sword path prodigy I found is also a body-tempering prodigy?
Seeing that Wenjian Sect seemed to be moving toward Gu Chengming as well, the old man could no longer sit still.
After these days of observation, he had a fairly clear read on Gu Chengming's character: steady temperament, neither arrogant nor rash, the kind who remembered kindness and repaid debts. His talent spoke for itself, and he was advancing in both sword and body cultivation simultaneously without either lagging behind the other.
A seedling like this — if he waited any longer, the kid might make a name for himself out of nowhere. Once those old fossils at Wenjian Sect caught wind of it, they'd circle the wagons around him like protective hens, and making a move would become a great deal harder.
"No. I can't wait any longer."
His original plan — to make his move on the eve of the disciple evaluation — was decisively scrapped.
Better today than some other day. Right now.
Hua Daiyi casually laid down two concealment arrays, sealing the qi inside the courtyard from leaking outward, then flickered and vanished into the canopy of the trees.
...
In the courtyard.
Gu Chengming was practicing his sword forms.
Abruptly, his sword hand paused.
The sensation was strange. Like a smooth animation suddenly dropping a frame. Like a noisy world someone had hit mute on without warning.
The wind stopped. The birdsong vanished. Even the motes of dust drifting through the air seemed to freeze in place.
This was the razor-sharp intuition granted by Lucid Sword-Heart.
Something in his surroundings had changed.
Before Gu Chengming could even react, a figure materialized out of thin air directly in front of him.
It was a scruffy old man — a battered bamboo hat on his head, a patched coarse-cloth robe on his back, and a dark-red wine gourd hanging at his hip.
The old man was gnawing on a chicken leg, grinning at him with squinting eyes.
"Not bad with that sword, kid."
Gu Chengming's heart lurched. He immediately withdrew his sword, stepped back two paces, and studied the newcomer with wary eyes.
To slip in here without a whisper of sound, and to lay a concealment barrier that he hadn't detected at all — this old man was absolutely a top-tier expert.
"Junior Gu Chengming pays his respects, senior." Gu Chengming clasped his hands and bowed low. "I was not expecting your esteemed visit. To what do I owe the honor?"
The old man chuckled, tossed the picked-clean chicken bone aside, wiped the grease from his lips, and struck a pose of lofty, otherworldly nonchalance.
"This old man's name stands unchanged wherever I go — I am Hua Daiyi, the Wine-Sword Immortal!"
Having delivered that, he clasped his hands behind his back, lifted his chin ever so slightly, and waited for Gu Chengming to produce the appropriate reaction — the wide eyes, the dropping jaw, the reverential "So it's YOU, honored senior!"
After all, his reputation in the cultivation world was... complicated, but the title of 'Wine-Sword Immortal' was nothing to sneeze at.
However...
One second passed.
Two seconds passed.
Gu Chengming blinked. His face held nothing but blank incomprehension.
"Ah... forgive this junior, senior. My knowledge is shallow, and I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of hearing your distinguished name before."
"..."
The smile on Hua Daiyi's face went rigid.
In that moment, it was as if a mournful autumn wind swept between them, carrying a flurry of falling leaves.
"You... haven't heard of me?" Hua Daiyi pressed, unwilling to accept it.
Gu Chengming gave an honest shake of his head.
Hua Daiyi felt as though someone had driven a fist squarely into his chest. The blow landed deep.
The youth of today... truly, each generation was worse than the last. They didn't even recognize a figure of his stature anymore.
After a moment, he drew a long breath, waved a hand, and affected an air of breezy indifference.
"Never mind, never mind. A name is nothing but empty reputation — a passing cloud. Not knowing it is fine."
He reached for the wine gourd at his hip and took two long, gurgling swallows, as though trying to drown the indignity.
"Since you haven't heard of this old man's name, well — it's the perfect opportunity to witness what this old man can actually do."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Hua Daiyi casually plucked a falling leaf from the air.
A light flick.
No ripple of spiritual energy. No earth-shaking crash of sound.
Yet in Gu Chengming's field of vision, the entire heaven and earth seemed to tear open in that single instant.
An invisible chasm stretched across the world, cleaving it cleanly in two.
It was a sword intent refined to its absolute purest form — carrying not a trace of human heat or urgency, and yet so domineering it pressed against the lungs like a physical weight.
Gu Chengming went rigid. Every hair on his body stood on end — the instinctive terror of a living creature facing something far beyond it.
Before he could even collect himself, Hua Daiyi flicked his hand again.
The terrifying chasm vanished instantly. Heaven and earth returned to their former appearance, as though everything a moment ago had been nothing but a hallucination.
Only Gu Chengming's Lucid Sword-Heart, still screaming frantic warnings, reminded him that what he had just witnessed was entirely real.
"Well?"
Hua Daiyi gazed at him with a smile, a flicker of satisfied pride in his eyes.
Gu Chengming drew a slow breath, and clasped his hands once more.
"Senior's cultivation stands at a profound height. Your sword intent touches the divine. This junior is deeply, deeply impressed."
Without question, what he had just witnessed was no ordinary swordsmanship.
That effortless, mountain-moving command — to reshape heaven and earth with a casual gesture — was the work of someone at the Third Realm at the very minimum. No — quite possibly Fourth or even Fifth Realm, a grandmaster of true cultivation.
This disheveled, unkempt old man was the real deal.
Seeing that Gu Chengming had finally produced the appropriate look of awe, Hua Daiyi gave a thoroughly satisfied nod.
Now that was the right response.
"Since you now have some sense of this old man's abilities, I won't beat around the bush."
Hua Daiyi cleared his throat and introduced himself properly.
"I am an elder of Hunyuan Sect. You've surely heard of Hunyuan Sect — a sect that stands as an equal to Wenjian Sect, devoted to body-tempering cultivation, achieving sainthood through the flesh, impervious to the ten thousand methods."
"However..."
He pivoted:
"Although I belong to Hunyuan Sect, I happen to excel at the sword path. Even within Hunyuan Sect, my mastery of the sword ranks in the top three."
His gaze fixed on Gu Chengming, bright and intent, as he extended the invitation:
"Boy, I can see you have extraordinary bones — the makings of a true sword practitioner. What do you say? Would you be willing to enter my tutelage and become my final, last-ever disciple?"
"This..."
Gu Chengming was stunned.
Honestly, the temptation was enormous.
A grandmaster of at minimum the Fourth Realm was personally seeking to take him as a disciple — and from Hunyuan Sect, no less, a sect that stood shoulder to shoulder with Wenjian Sect.
Just by nodding his head, he'd gain not only the guidance of an illustrious master, but access to the vast resources of Hunyuan Sect. Spirit stones, pills, magical artifacts — whatever he wanted, as much as he wanted.
And judging by this old man's manner, his personal fortune had to be staggeringly deep. Even the crumbs that slipped through his fingers would be enough to set someone up for life.
But...
Gu Chengming hesitated.
First of all, leaving a sect and changing allegiances was a major affair in the cultivation world — one that very likely required the erasure of all previously cultivated techniques.
His standing within Wenjian Sect might be nothing to write home about, but it was still a reputable, orthodox sect. And he owed Yu Wenqiu a debt of gratitude he hadn't repaid.
Even more importantly...
There were his 'harem's' opinions to consider.
[The Qingxin Formula's stance is decidedly ambiguous.]
[It enjoys a good spectacle, but clearly has no fondness for those who waver in their loyalties and abandon their principles the moment profit appears.]
[The Huiyuan Sword Art, by contrast, responds with characteristic gentleness. It thinks you may go wherever you wish, so long as you continue to grow. But if it were possible, it would rather you stayed at Wenjian Sect. After all, this place is its home — and the place where the two of you first met.]
In his heart, Gu Chengming had already begun to lean toward a decision.
And yet, at that very moment, a third technique also chose to weigh in.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance is internally screaming with delight!]
[The Hundred Bones Resonance thinks: a body-tempering sect?! Body-tempering resources would be bottomless there, and this Hua Daiyi is a high-level cultivator of genuine seniority.]
[It desperately wants you to accept this opportunity!]
Gu Chengming: "..."
Seeing Gu Chengming still hesitating, Hua Daiyi assumed the stakes weren't high enough, and decided to sweeten the pot.
"If you agree, I'll transmit Hunyuan Sect's finest body-tempering technique to you on the spot."
"It'll be far superior to whatever body-tempering method you're currently practicing. That technique of yours has a certain... charm to it, but when all is said and done, it's a rough-and-tumble path — it'll never sit at the high table."
The moment those words landed, the Hundred Bones Resonance — which had just been feverishly urging Gu Chengming to accept — detonated.
[Those words strike the Hundred Bones Resonance like a bolt of lightning. After a moment of stunned silence, it erupts in furious indignation.]
[Not only does he mock its cultivation as inferior, he dares to covet its place and try to steal what is rightfully its treasure?!]
[This is a humiliation beyond all humiliations, a hatred that cannot be forgiven! This old dog has earned his death!]
[Thirty years hence and thirty years back — do not look down on a technique for being poor! When it reaches full mastery, it swears to slay this wretch!]
[It desperately wants you to refuse this man — and begins furiously cataloguing its own virtues!]
What an absolute character, this Hundred Bones Resonance.
Ignoring the outraged reactions of his eccentric technique, Gu Chengming had in truth already made up his mind long before.
He clasped his hands and declined — graciously but firmly.
"Senior's generosity is an honor beyond what this junior deserves."
"However..."
"As a disciple of Wenjian Sect, however limited my talent may be, I dare not forget where I come from. My sect has treated me with kindness, and my teachers have given me the gift of their instruction."
"Moreover, the techniques I cultivate may not be the finest available, but they suit me better than anything else. As the saying goes, a man cherishes his own broom even when it's old and worn. For now, I have no intention of changing allegiances."
"So... I'm afraid I must disappoint your kind intentions, senior."
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