Truth be told, that so-called doctrine of 'fitness starts in the mind, body cultivation begins with the spirit' wasn't entirely baseless nonsense.
Within the theoretical framework of the cultivation world — and even in the literary works Gu Chengming had consumed in his previous life — there was genuine precedent for the idea.
It was common knowledge that body cultivators were, as a rule, a breed of 'high attack, high defense, low magic resistance' existence.
They could sanctify their flesh, shatter mountains with their bare fists — and yet they were almost universally hopeless against illusions and mental control techniques.
In all those classic pulp tales, the physically strongest, hardest-hitting character in the party was invariably the first one the villain charmed with some soul-bewitching trick, whereupon said character would promptly turn around and beat his own teammates into the dirt.
So yes — a powerful divine sense was genuinely the key to patching that glaring weakness in a body cultivator's kit.
The thing was, Gu Chengming had originally prepared this whole argument to use on the Hundred Bones Resonance.
He'd had the speech fully drafted in his head — an entire theoretical framework built around 'divine sense guiding qi and blood' and 'micro-management determining the ceiling' — a comprehensive bamboozle designed to talk the technique into compliance.
And then the technique had gone and stolen his lines.
Gu Chengming stared at the lines of eager, raring-to-go text flickering across his system panel, and felt a wave of profound absurdity wash over him.
Well. Whatever the process, at least the result was what he'd wanted.
Both parties had reached the same conclusion — so what were they waiting for?
Time to train!
Gu Chengming sat down cross-legged, tipped the exquisite jade vial, and shook out a single 'Lapis Lazuli Mind-Purifying Pill'. The pellet felt faintly cool against his palm, its entire body crystalline and translucent.
Without a moment's hesitation, he tilted his head back and swallowed it.
A thunderclap detonated inside his skull. Then, all at once, the faint heaviness that had been weighing down his thoughts simply — lifted.
He didn't even need to consciously focus. He could clearly 'see' every single meridian in his body, every bone, could even hear the sound of his blood flowing with perfect clarity.
This was the power of a peak Second Realm elixir.
The Lapis Lazuli Mind-Purifying Pill itself carried no flesh-strengthening properties whatsoever — its sole function was to sharpen Gu Chengming's divine sense and enhance his capacity for 'inner vision'.
But for the Hundred Bones Resonance, that was more than enough.
Gu Chengming could feel it clearly: assisted by that high-precision inner vision, the pathways along which resonant qi flowed through his meridians were being optimized to an exquisite degree.
Of course, Gu Chengming knew perfectly well what was actually happening.
That so-called 'miraculous effect'? Ninety-nine percent of it was the Hundred Bones Resonance itself working its fingers to the bone.
The negligible supplementary effect of the Lapis Lazuli Mind-Purifying Pill alone could never have produced improvements of this magnitude.
What was truly driving the result was the technique's desperate need to prove — 'my theory is correct,' 'this pill really works' — and the sheer effort it was putting into that proof.
It was wringing every last drop of its own potential, actively meeting that nonexistent 'body-tempering medicinal energy' halfway.
As cycle after cycle of circulation completed, a faint luminescence began to rise across the surface of Gu Chengming's skin — the sign that his outer membrane was gradually hardening under the tempering of resonant qi.
Deep within his body, his bones trembled continuously, expelling wisps of grey-black impurities.
This purging process was normally agonizing, but under the suppressing effect of the Lapis Lazuli Mind-Purifying Pill, Gu Chengming experienced it only as a muffled, gauze-filtered ache — entirely within bearable limits.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance is overjoyed!]
[It thinks: it worked! It actually worked! Gu Chengming really believes these pills are for body tempering!]
[It truly is a once-in-a-generation genius! To have figured out the correct use of this golden finger so quickly!]
Time ticked by, second by second.
When the medicinal energy had fully dissipated, Gu Chengming slowly wound down his cultivation and exhaled a long breath of stale air.
He clenched his fist, felt the clearly upgraded sense of strength coursing through him, and gave a satisfied nod.
This round of mutually-directed con artistry had been tremendously effective.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance expresses its highest approval of your trust.]
[Affection +2]
[Affection +5]
[...]
[Current Affection: 35 / Friendly]
As the affection score broke through the 'Stranger' threshold and entered the 'Friendly' stage, a warm current materialized from nowhere and suffused itself deep into Gu Chengming's body.
It was a gift from the technique — an elevation of his very life essence.
[Constitution +1]
[Current Constitution: 5]
[Current Remaining Lifespan: 720 days]
Just one point of Constitution, and yet his lifespan had nearly doubled.
Did that mean his Constitution attribute was approaching normal human levels?
The great stone of dread that had been suspended over Gu Chengming's heart finally — at least halfway — settled to the ground.
...
The days that followed fell into a pleasant rhythm.
Eat, sleep, con the Hundred Bones Resonance, pop pills, train.
With the Hundred Bones Resonance's full cooperation, his Constitution climbed steadily. Life was full, if uneventful.
Until one afternoon, the tranquility of the small courtyard was broken once again.
"Senior Brother Gu, it's Jiang Lu — I've come to visit."
Jiang Lu's voice drifted in from outside the courtyard gate, carrying a slight note of awkward diffidence.
Gu Chengming opened the door to find Jiang Lu standing there with two jugs of spirit wine in hand, a somewhat sheepish smile on his face.
"Junior Brother Jiang, please come in."
The two settled at the stone table in the courtyard.
"Actually..." Jiang Lu paused, his expression growing more embarrassed. "The main reason I'm here is that I still haven't turned up anything concrete on the body-tempering resources Senior Brother Gu asked me to keep an eye out for... and I didn't feel right showing up empty-handed."
"Think nothing of it."
Gu Chengming waved a hand and poured Jiang Lu a cup of tea.
"These things depend on opportunity — you can't force them. The fact that you've been keeping an eye out is more than enough for me to be grateful for."
Seeing that Gu Chengming genuinely wasn't bothered, Jiang Lu let out a relieved breath, and the smile on his face relaxed into something more natural.
"Oh, right — Senior Brother Gu." Jiang Lu seemed to suddenly remember something. "Even though I haven't found any specific body-tempering resources, our sect's disciple market just so happens to be open these days. Would Senior Brother be interested in taking a look?"
"You might find something useful there."
The so-called 'disciple market' was, as the name implied, a trading venue spontaneously organized by the sect's disciples among themselves.
Unlike the official channel of the Hidden Sword Pavilion — where quality was guaranteed but prices were steep, variety was rigid, and purchases ran primarily on sect contribution points — the disciple market was more like a sprawling free bazaar.
Spirit stones were the primary currency in circulation, and the goods on offer were wildly varied.
There were unidentified ore chunks disciples had picked up during training excursions, 'failed pills' from botched refining batches that had accidentally produced unusual effects, obscure family-inherited manuals of dubious provenance, and even oddball services like ghost-writing love letters or standing in as a hired monster hunter.
In short, the place was a chaotic mix of the promising and the worthless. You might unearth a dusty treasure, or you might walk away with a pile of junk. It all came down to sharp eyes and good luck.
Hearing this, Gu Chengming's instinct was to decline.
"Many thanks for the kind thought, Junior Brother, but lately I've been..."
He currently had a whole stash of divine sense elixirs courtesy of Grand Elder Ren, and between his 'mutually-directed con' strategy, he wasn't particularly short on body-tempering resources in the short term.
However.
Just as he was about to politely beg off, the Hundred Bones Resonance inside him abruptly stirred to life.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance catches the words 'disciple market' and is instantly electrified!]
[It thinks: a market? That's the sacred birthplace of every pulp novel protagonist's rise to glory!]
[By the standard formula, a chaotic, anything-goes place like that almost always conceals some earth-shattering stroke of fate! Ancient remnant scrolls, dust-covered divine artifacts, lumps of scrap iron that turn out to be shards of an immortal sword...]
[And as a peak-tier cultivation art the likes of which appears only once in a thousand years, it stands to reason that this kind of fortune would naturally gravitate toward it.]
[It is desperately eager for you to agree and go explore the market.]
Gu Chengming shot a glance at the system panel, expression peculiar.
Sure enough.
This extraordinary technique had cooked up yet another extraordinary idea.
But then again...
Since it wanted to go that badly, couldn't he use that?
A true galge master, before fully understanding his target's personality, genuinely struggles to draft a perfect strategy. But by now, he had the Hundred Bones Resonance's temperament mapped out completely.
What did a ■-point protagonist love most, when you got down to it?
Snagging bargains at auctions, inheriting a legacy from some old man in a ring, getting ambushed by bandits and turning the tables to rob them blind.
The moment Gu Chengming saw the Hundred Bones Resonance's thoughts, a plan began taking shape in his mind.
And so the polite refusal that had been right at the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down without a trace.
He set down his teacup, clasped his hands toward Jiang Lu, and let a warm smile settle across his face.
"Since Junior Brother has so graciously extended the invitation, it would be rude of me to decline. Truth be told, I've always been curious about places like that — I've been wanting to see one for myself. I'll have to trouble Junior Brother to lead the way."
Jiang Lu's face lit up. He rose to his feet at once. "Senior Brother is too polite — right this way!"
...
The two left the small courtyard and set off down the mountain path toward the market.
Along the way, Jiang Lu proved to be quite the conversationalist, regaling Gu Chengming with all manner of interesting sect gossip and anecdotes.
As they walked, Jiang Lu seemed to recall something and dropped his voice.
"By the way, Senior Brother Gu — have you heard about a strange business that's been going around lately?"
"What strange business?" Gu Chengming asked casually.
"There's a very peculiar cultivation technique that's apparently been spreading among our outer disciples — and even some inner disciples, from what I've heard."
Jiang Lu lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Word is, this technique is remarkably mysterious. No prerequisites whatsoever — anyone can practice it. And the strangest part: the more people cultivate it, the more powerful it becomes, and the greater the benefits everyone receives."
"Apparently quite a few seniors who've been stuck at bottlenecks for years somehow managed to break through after taking up this technique."
Gu Chengming's brow furrowed slightly at that.
No threshold? Gets stronger with more practitioners?
Why did that sound exactly like... a pyramid scheme?
An instinctive twinge of unease surfaced in his mind.
In the cultivation world, there was never such a thing as a free lunch. Behind every shortcut that looked this appealing, there was almost invariably an enormous trap waiting at the bottom.
Could this be some demonic cultivator's scheme — a harvesting operation designed to siphon off disciples' essence, spirit, and life force?
But then he reconsidered.
If the news had already reached Jiang Lu's ears, it had clearly been circulating openly within the sect for some time.
Wenjian Sect wasn't one of those reclusive sects that kept an iron grip on its disciples, but it was certainly no den of filth either.
The sect's elders were all sharp-eyed veterans. If this were truly some demonic cultivator's sinister scheme, they'd have slapped it down long ago — it never would have survived long enough to spread this far.
The fact that the elders hadn't moved to intervene meant this thing was, at least on the surface, harmless.
"Oh? Is that so?" Gu Chengming offered a convincingly surprised response. "That does sound rather interesting."
As they talked, the two crested a mountain ridge.
From the valley ahead, a wave of noise came rolling toward them on the mountain breeze.
The valley, once quiet and secluded, had been transformed into a vast market. Hundreds of makeshift stalls stretched along both sides of the valley floor in an unbroken line as far as the eye could see.
The stalls displayed a dazzling array of goods: some items radiated a faint spiritual glow, others were rough and unassuming.
Disciples in robes of every color wove through the crowd — the sounds of haggling, hawkers' calls, and even heated arguments over contested items all weaving together into a vivid, worldly tapestry of immortal cultivation in its most human form.
This was Wenjian Sect's disciple market.
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