Well, she's a good person, this Elder Yu.
Gu Chengming walked along, turning the smooth jade token over in his hand, thinking exactly that.
The token she'd given him could be exchanged for an elder-tier cultivation method.
Of course, those high-level techniques would be pretty much useless to him even if he had them. He was only at the First Realm, Third Layer — he couldn't even touch the entry threshold for most of them.
But the thing was, he genuinely was running short on cultivation methods right now.
His entire repertoire consisted of the Qingxin Formula and the Huiyuan Sword Art. The Huiyuan Sword Art was coming along nicely, but there was a hard limit to how much favorability he could grind from it each day — it wasn't as if he could practice for all twenty-four hours straight. As for the Qingxin Formula, he still hadn't figured out a clear strategy for it. He could only hope to occasionally trigger a favorability prompt through random daily behavior, which was laughably inefficient.
So having one more cultivation method he could actively work toward was suddenly very important indeed.
Without dawdling, Gu Chengming took the token and headed straight for the sect's scripture library.
The scripture library sat atop the main peak of Wenjian Sect — a tower far more grand and imposing than the Sword Repository. Gu Chengming made his way to the ground floor, where a female disciple was stationed to handle cultivation-method exchanges. She sat behind the counter, carefully sorting through scroll after scroll of jade slips, her expression focused.
Gu Chengming stepped forward and set Yu Wenqiu's token on the counter.
The disciple heard the sound and looked up. The moment her eyes landed on the token — the one engraved with the character for "Qiu" — she visibly froze.
"This is... Elder Yu's token?"
She asked with a hint of hesitation, a trace of uncertainty in her voice.
Gu Chengming nodded and murmured a confirmation.
The female disciple couldn't help but take another look at him — a proper, head-to-toe assessment. Her gaze lingered for a moment on his First Realm, Third Layer cultivation, and her brow creased ever so slightly.
A First Realm Third Layer deadweight.
But... not bad-looking, she had to admit. Clean features, a fresh and unassuming air about him. His cultivation was on the low side, sure, but that face more than made up for it.
A thought bubbled up in her mind, entirely unbidden.
This guy... could he possibly be a kept consort of Elder Yu's?
She'd heard things about that elder — that she was absurdly lazy and arrogant in her day-to-day life, that she coasted on her exceptional talent and regularly flouted sect rules, and that she'd already drawn no small amount of criticism from various elders. And now, apparently, she was doubling down and keeping a personal consort within the sect walls?
What this disciple didn't know was that the rumors quietly circulating among certain disgruntled sect members had given her a wildly distorted impression of an elder she had never once actually met.
Still, the politics between elders were well above her pay grade as a lowly administrative disciple. She was sensible enough not to pry. Without making it obvious, she shifted half a step back from the counter, putting a bit more distance between herself and Gu Chengming, then asked in a strictly professional tone:
"What kind of cultivation method... is Elder Yu looking to exchange for?"
Gu Chengming considered for a moment.
He'd actually already made up his mind on the walk over: he wanted a body-tempering technique.
It was a choice he'd arrived at after careful thought. He'd noticed that whenever a cultivation method's favorability increased, the fixed attribute points awarded tended to reflect the nature of the technique itself — just like the Huiyuan Sword Art, a sword technique, rewarded "Strength" attribute points. So if he took up a body-tempering method, logic suggested that the favorability rewards would most likely come in the form of "Constitution" attribute points. That might just solve his current problem of his Constitution being so low that he was in a constant state of slow HP drain.
On top of that, body-tempering techniques generally had low realm requirements, leaning more on the practitioner's willpower and physical endurance — which made them the most suitable choice for a low-realm disciple like him.
So he stated his request plainly:
"I'd like a body-tempering technique — ideally one with no strict realm requirements, something focused on toughening the sinews and bones and building up physical constitution."
The female disciple nodded and turned to the shelves behind her, her hands moving deftly through row after row of jade slips.
It didn't take long. She returned carrying a deep crimson jade slip.
"The Hundred Bones Resonance might suit you."
She set the slip on the counter and began her explanation.
"This technique was obtained by the sect from an ancient ruin in its early days. It is a pure external body-tempering method — it involves no circulation of spiritual energy whatsoever, and therefore has no realm requirements for the practitioner."
"Practicing this method causes the deep structures of the hundred bones to resonate — sinew and bone vibrating in harmony. At full mastery, form and spirit vibrate as one, drawing the rhythms of heaven and earth into the body itself."
"However..."
"There is one particular characteristic of this technique."
The disciple paused, then explained patiently:
"While practicing it, the method consumes enormous quantities of the practitioner's qi, blood, and vital essence. So anyone who cultivates it must supplement heavily with spiritual medicines and nourishing foods to offset that consumption — otherwise, rather than strengthening the body, the practitioner will suffer from qi-blood depletion, damage to their foundation, and may even risk a reduction in their lifespan."
"All in all, it is a technique that is... extremely resource-intensive. Despite having no realm requirements, it's not a method many disciples in the sect choose to cultivate."
It was clear the disciple had figured out that Gu Chengming was picking this for himself. She'd hesitated for a moment before recommending it.
Resource-intensive as it was, an elder's kept consort surely wouldn't be hurting for resources... right?
Gu Chengming listened to her rundown, and his eyes lit up.
"This one. I'll take it."
The female disciple blinked at his immediate decisiveness.
After all, Gu Chengming's Charm of twenty-five points was no joke.
It was just... well. What a shame.
Such low cultivation, and on top of that, someone else's kept man.
If only I were a high-realm cultivator too...
Those thoughts remained locked firmly behind her expression, which betrayed nothing.
She simply nodded, then swiftly processed the exchange for him and handed over the transcribed copy of the Hundred Bones Resonance.
Throughout the entire exchange, she maintained a polite but carefully distant demeanor — as though terrified that getting too close to Gu Chengming might somehow offend that legendarily unpredictable Elder Yu.
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