Different bonds, different effects, different compositions.
Even though the system before him carried a strangely familiar sense of déjà vu — the kind that made Gu Chengming half-expect a shop menu to pop up any second so he could "draw cards" or "increase population cap" — setting aside those sardonic thoughts, it really had used a remarkably simple framework to lay out a relatively complex system.
Gu Chengming looked over the entries he currently possessed.
[Flowing Cloud Moon-Following (Cloud)][Flowing Cloud Moon-Following (Moon)][Basic Sword Form (Mundane)][Sword Intent: Clinging]
No Hundred Bones Resonance, Qingxin Formula, Myriad Wonders, or Zhouli-related entries.
So this system could only incorporate sword art-related things?
Gu Chengming stopped overthinking it. His gaze sharpened, and he began examining his current "pieces" one by one.
The first two entries that caught his eye were a matched pair — born from the same source, yet worlds apart.
[Flowing Cloud Moon-Following (Cloud): Clouds hold no fixed form; wind follows no fixed course. Your sword path becomes elusive and unpredictable, impossible to read. (Quality: Rare)]
[Bond / Cloud Surge: Each effective sword force attack you land increases the speed of your next identical sword force release. This effect stacks. (Activates when Flowing Cloud Moon-Following (Moon) is held.)]
[Flowing Cloud Moon-Following (Moon): The moon waxes and wanes, its cold light illuminating all nine provinces. Your sword intent carries the chilling power of moonlight, piercing through openings. (Quality: Rare)]
[Bond / Lunar Eclipse: Unleash a special sword force attack that has a chance to bypass the opponent's technique guard and deal direct damage to their body. If Cloud Surge is at ten stacks or above, this chance is doubled. (Activates when Flowing Cloud Moon-Following (Cloud) is held.)]
Gu Chengming's eyelid twitched.
Breaking down [Flowing Cloud Moon-Following], the (Cloud) half boosted attack speed, while the (Moon) half focused on penetration and true damage.
If you paired the two together and triggered the bond... you'd have attack speed through the roof, accelerating with every strike, while weaving in sword force attacks that had a chance to bypass guards entirely.
"The Yunyue Sect's pillar sword art really does have something going for it," Gu Chengming thought to himself with a quiet nod — then immediately shook his head.
These two entries were powerful, but their synergy wasn't exactly perfect.
One specialized in speed, the other in killing. They looked complementary on the surface, but in practice they each did their own thing, lacking any inherent logical loop between them.
Come to think of it... hadn't he posted on the Myriad Wonders Assembly forum saying this sword art had "gone down the wrong path"? Turns out he hadn't been wrong.
Yunyue Sect had been so fixated on slaughter that they'd neglected the seamless, natural interplay between cloud and moon.
Still, within the "Sword Chess" system, that flaw seemed to have been smoothed over by some underlying rule, flattened down into a simple, blunt stat bonus.
He shook his head and turned his gaze to the third entry.
[Basic Sword Form: The Great Dao is supremely simple; the heaviest blade has no edge. (Quality: Common)]
[Bond / Common Blade: (1) The base power of all your sword forms is increased by 10%. (Scales with the number of [Basic Sword Form] type entries on the field.)]
[(2) Proficient: The base power of all your sword forms is increased by 25%.]
[(3) Mastered: The base power of all your sword forms is increased by 50%, and normal attacks may carry an extremely faint sword radiance.]
[...]
[(9) Return to True Simplicity: Each ordinary swing of your sword is treated as a full-power strike.]
Gu Chengming stroked his chin as he read.
This one was refreshingly no-frills.
No flashy gimmicks, just pure stat stacking.
And by the looks of the description, it seemed you only needed to train in more varieties of basic sword arts to keep adding entries of this type, unlocking progressively higher bond tiers?
Gu Chengming turned the idea over in his mind. It was an exceptionally stable upgrade path — basic sword arts were everywhere on the first floor of the Scripture Library, and the barrier to entry was rock-bottom.
But the problem was... cost-efficiency.
Human energy is finite. Even with something like the Huiyuan Sword Art acting as a fully automated passive grind, learning a new basic sword art still took time.
And "base power increase" as a stat might be impressive in the early stages, but later on — faced with high-tier divine arts that casually leveled mountains and seas — raw auto-attack damage probably wouldn't cut it.
This was a classic late-game scaling kit, or alternatively an early-game snowball kit — pick one.
"Quantitative change leads to qualitative change, hm? I'll keep it as a backup plan for now," Gu Chengming noted mentally, tagging the entry in his mind.
Then, at last, his gaze settled on the fourth and final entry — the one he'd been most eager to examine.
[Sword Intent (Clinging): Slice through flowing water and it flows on regardless. Your sword intent is like silk, like thread — ceaseless and unbroken. Once it latches on, it clings like a festering rot deep in the bone. (Quality: Epic)]
[Bond / Clinging: All of your sword forms that carry the Clinging intent will be treated as sword force. Each successful hit or parry against an enemy applies one stack of Clinging, and each stack reduces the enemy's agility. Stacks without limit.]
[Current activation status: Not activated (1/2)]
"Holy sh—!"
The moment the bond's effect registered, Gu Chengming sat bolt upright.
Not activated.
Because right now he only had one [Sword Intent (Clinging)] entry, and still needed one more.
But that didn't stop him from running a thoroughly exhilarating mental simulation...
The [Flowing Cloud Moon-Following (Cloud)] trait happened to boost the release speed of your next identical "sword force" attack whenever you used one — sword force presumably meaning a special attack with higher potency than an ordinary sword form, something like Flowing Light, Sword Shadows?
And that kind of attack typically had long cooldowns and high costs, so even combined with the matching Flowing Cloud Moon-Following (Moon) bond, it didn't look all that powerful on paper.
But this so-called [Sword Intent (Clinging)] bond...
What did "all of your sword forms carrying the Clinging intent will be treated as sword force" even mean?
What the hell, game designer — did nobody playtest this thing for interactions?
Cloud Surge boosts the release speed of [Sword Intent (Clinging)] attacks, and then those attacks slap a stacking slow debuff on the enemy.
I'm accelerating. The enemy is decelerating. By mid-fight the opponent might as well be playing turn-based.
There'd be nothing to fight anymore.
The more Gu Chengming thought it through, the more viable it looked.
But...
After the initial rush of excitement, Gu Chengming quickly cooled down and spotted an awkward problem.
The [Sword Intent (Clinging)] bond required two entries to activate.
He currently only had the one that came built into the Huiyuan Sword Art.
"Meaning... I need to go find another sword art that carries the Clinging property and train it to the entry level before I can slot in the last piece of this lineup?"
Gu Chengming furrowed his brow, mentally sifting through every sword art he knew.
Wenjian Sect had sword arts by the thousands, but the overwhelming majority ran in the vein of fierce, dominant power — one sword breaking all techniques. Arts oriented toward control, softness, or even outright "grinding the opponent to dust" were not unheard of, but they were decidedly fringe, and notoriously difficult to cultivate.
"Looks like... I'll have to go ask Elder Ren."
Ren Wencai had seen it all, and as the Grand Elder of Huiyuan Gate, he'd surely know a thing or two.
His mind made up, Gu Chengming exhaled slowly and closed out of the "Sword Chess" interface.
His vision returned to normal.
Night had deepened in the small courtyard, moonlight pooling like water across his shoulders.
At the same time, a line of text appeared before him.
[Huiyuan Sword Art stirs from slumber.]
[Still somewhat groggy, it quickly pieces together everything that happened. It sees the "Sword Chess" interface it built with its own hands, and it sees you — that thoughtful, deliberative expression from moments ago, followed by the excited flash of sudden realization.]
[It's a little nervous. It doesn't know if it did well enough, doesn't know if this new ability will actually be useful to you, and doesn't know if you'll think it overstepped.]
[Is it... is it at least somewhat helpful?]
[It waits for your answer with barely concealed anticipation.]
Reading those lines, Gu Chengming — a seasoned visual novel veteran — already had the CG fully rendered in his head.
Considering how the Huiyuan Sword Art was usually so attentive, even a little naggy, and the gap between that usual personality and this current moment of maturity-tinged shyness...
Gu Chengming gave a thumbs up: "You've been an absolute lifesaver, Huiyuan mama."
[!!!]
The dialogue box gave a little shudder — enough to give Gu Chengming the distinct impression that the next option prompt was going to be something deeply consequential.
[Huiyuan Sword Art is a little flustered, and wants to protest that it is most certainly not anyone's "mama."]
[But hearing your unguarded praise, feeling the genuine joy and reliance in your heart, the words reach the tip of its tongue and simply won't come out.]
[M-mama... what nonsense...]
[It just feels dizzy, and even more embarrassed than before.]
The "mama" nickname was a little cheeky, but there was no denying it — for a cultivation method with a personality like the Huiyuan Sword Art's, it packed a surprising punch.
The next morning, as dawn broke, pale gold light washed over the mountains of Wenjian Sect.
Gu Chengming walked the mountain path, his pace unhurried on the surface, but his mind was busy turning over his future cultivation plans.
With the "Sword Chess" system now in hand, the lens through which Gu Chengming appraised cultivation methods had undergone a subtle but fundamental shift.
Anyone else stepping into the Scripture Library and facing shelf upon shelf of technique manuals would naturally evaluate them by hard metrics: raw power, quality tier, ceiling potential.
But for Gu Chengming, the question was no longer which technique was the strongest — it was whether a technique could complete a bond, whether it could serve as an accessory piece. Even methods that others might toss aside as trash, if they happened to carry some rare "entry," could become the cornerstone of an entire system in his hands.
Before long, the rear mountain private courtyard of Huiyuan Gate came into view.
Gu Chengming straightened his robe, and knocked on the familiar courtyard gate.
Pushing it open, he found the Grand Elder half-sprawled in a rattan chair with zero dignity, a handful of spirit fish food in his hand, idly tossing morsels to the few spirit fish drifting in the pond.
Seeing Gu Chengming arrive, Ren Wencai looked mildly surprised.
"Bright and early — what brings you to my door?" he asked, with the easy warmth of someone who'd known you a long time:
"Is this about the Immortal-Concealing Wine-Sword Formula? If you can't get your head around it, that's perfectly fine — the old drunk's approach was always a bit unorthodox."
Gu Chengming clasped his hands in a bow and settled onto a stone stool, his expression earnest:
"This disciple has come today to ask the Elder — are there any basic sword arts within the sect that lean toward prolonged combat or trapping an opponent?"
"Prolonged combat? Trapping?"
Ren Wencai's fish-feeding hand stilled for just a moment. He finally raised an eyelid, with a look of genuine surprise.
"Basic sword arts?"
He repeated the four words, brow furrowing slightly:
"You're already at the eighth layer of the First Realm, and your sword cultivation has advanced to Flowing Light, Sword Shadows as a killing technique — why would you suddenly want to go back and look for basic sword arts? Don't tell me you feel your foundations are unstable?"
"Or are you looking to draw analogies from different fields? Trying to create your own sword forms?"
Old ginger is hotter than young ginger. He hadn't guessed everything, but he'd brushed close enough.
What Gu Chengming called "completing a bond" was, in a certain sense, exactly that — building a sword path system that was entirely his own.
"This disciple has had some realizations during recent cultivation," Gu Chengming said, choosing his words carefully, tone sincere:
"I've noticed that my past sword forms, while sharp, favor a one-hit-kill approach. But when facing an opponent of equal standing — or even one stronger than I am — if I can't win quickly, I risk falling into a passive position."
"So I've been thinking: could I introduce an intent of Clinging? Not seeking to kill the enemy, but to entangle them, bind them — to overcome hardness with softness."
Every word was watertight.
Ren Wencai listened without immediately replying. Something complicated flickered across those eyes of his, which only looked cloudy on the surface.
He was thinking of a disciple from years ago — one who had been just as gifted, just as fond of innovation: Yuan Qing.
Back then, Yuan Qing had been exactly the same — always brimming with wild, unbounded ideas, always restless under the yoke of standard, step-by-step cultivation.
And back then, Ren Wencai had always pressed those impulses down, citing "biting off more than you can chew" and "don't reach for the sky before your foundations are set," insisting the boy focus on the sect's inherited legacy.
Ren Wencai scattered the last of the fish food into the pond. The spirit fish surged into a frenzy, churning up a burst of splashing.
After a moment, he let out a quiet sigh. The trace of reminiscence and shadow in his eyes was buried, and his expression returned to its usual gentleness.
"Fine."
Ren Wencai shook his head, a self-deprecating smile curling the corner of his mouth:
"If you want to learn it, then I won't stop you."
He thought for a moment, the vast catalogue of the Scripture Library flickering through his mind at speed.
"A sword art carrying the Clinging sword intent, and a basic one at that..."
Ren Wencai's fingers tapped a light, rhythmic pattern on the armrest of the rattan chair.
"Got it."
His eyes brightened slightly as he looked at Gu Chengming: "There's one sword formula that might be just what you're looking for."
"It's called the Demon-Binding Sword Art."
"Demon-Binding Sword Art?" Gu Chengming's pulse jumped slightly. The name sounded refreshingly plain and unpretentious.
"That's right." Ren Wencai gave a nod and explained:
"This sword art did not originate from any of Wenjian Sect's forebears. It came from a special government office of the Great Qian Dynasty — the Demon-Catching Bureau."
"The Great Qian's territory was vast, and demons and monsters surfaced endlessly. But the Bureau was understaffed, and they couldn't always dispatch powerful cultivators to deal with every threat. More often than not, when facing enormous demons — thick-skinned, ferociously brutal — the rank-and-file demon catchers were at a severe disadvantage."
"To survive, and to stall the demons while waiting for reinforcements, they forged this Demon-Binding Sword Art out of the life-and-death crucible of real combat."
As he said this, Ren Wencai casually snapped off a willow branch and swept it lightly through the air.
It didn't stir the faintest breath of wind, yet it seemed to leave behind a tracery of invisible threads in its wake — supple, drawn-out, and enduring.
"The art has only three forms: Fetter the Feet, Coil the Body, and Lock the Soul. It holds no killing power whatsoever — it can barely pierce the hide of a demon beast. But it takes the concept of Clinging to its absolute limit. The principle is turning the opponent's strength against them — using sword-qi like silk thread to mire the enemy deeper the more they struggle."
Ren Wencai let the sword intent dissipate from the willow branch and looked at Gu Chengming:
"But if what you want is to entangle an enemy and drag out a fight, this is undeniably the best choice."
"And furthermore..."
Ren Wencai paused and added: "Although this art is called Demon-Binding, its core principle is actually a mastery of momentum and force. If you can truly internalize its Clinging formula, it will be of great benefit to your future study of higher sword formation arts."
The more Gu Chengming listened, the brighter his eyes became.
A perfect low-cost accessory piece. Its weaknesses were irrelevant to him, and it was easy to reach the entry level on top of that.
"Many thanks for your guidance, Elder Ren!"
Gu Chengming stood and gave a full, respectful bow: "This disciple will go to the Scripture Library at once to find this art."
Watching Gu Chengming's eager, head-full-of-plans expression, Ren Wencai opened his mouth as if to offer a parting word — something along the lines of "don't let it consume you" or "keep your priorities straight" — but when the words reached his lips, they dissolved into a helpless wave of his hand instead.
"Off with you, off with you."
Ren Wencai leaned back into his rattan chair, eyes drifting to the clouds flowing overhead, murmuring softly:
"To be young again..."
Taking his leave of Ren Wencai, Gu Chengming didn't dawdle. He made straight for the Scripture Library.
Inside the first-floor pavilion, the mingled scent of aged books and faint sandalwood hung in the air. Gu Chengming moved with practiced ease, skirting the sections where the popular techniques were kept and heading directly for the dusty shelves in the back corners.
The Demon-Binding Sword Art was not a sought-after item.
In a Wenjian Sect that glorified "one sword breaking all techniques" and the pursuit of absolute slaughter, a sword art that could only "buy time" and "wait for rescue" held all the appeal of a dead fish — nobody touched it.
After a good deal of rummaging in the corner, Gu Chengming finally pulled the thin little booklet out from between two volumes about cooking demon beast meat.
The cover was yellowed and its corners were curled — clearly no one had touched it in quite some time.
Gu Chengming gently dusted it off and opened to the first page.
The opening carried no grand declarations, only a plain and unassuming row of small characters: "Demons are strong; no human force can match them. When facing a great demon, use your body as bait and your sword as a cage — entangle it, coil around it, bind it. Survive, and you win."
The opening summary was terse and to the point, with no mystical theoretical analysis whatsoever — every word was hard-won combat experience.
Gu Chengming skimmed through it, and his satisfaction grew with every page.
This art required no deep reserves of spirit energy, nor any epiphany about the Great Dao of heaven and earth. What it demanded was simply a grasp of timing and fine-grained control over spirit energy.
And those two things, for someone who had the Huiyuan Sword Art as a cheat tool and whose meridians had been refined by the Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method, were trivially easy.
"This is the one."
Gu Chengming took the booklet to the front desk to register it.
The disciple on duty stared in bewildered confusion at this Senior Brother Gu — who these days was something of an inner sect legend — checking out such a completely unremarkable basic sword art. He was full of questions, but didn't dare ask a single one, and respectfully completed the formalities.
By the time Gu Chengming returned to his small courtyard, the sun had already slipped well past noon.
He shut the courtyard gate, activated the isolation formation, then settled at the stone table and solemnly produced the Demon-Binding Sword Art.
The evening light spilled across the yellowed pages, bringing the somewhat rough sword form diagrams into unusually sharp relief.
Gu Chengming cleared his breath and was just about to settle in and read carefully, curious to see what secrets Elder Ren had called the "pinnacle" of basic sword arts actually held.
But the moment his fingers brushed the page—
[Huiyuan Sword Art notices your intention.]
[It looks at the worn, crude, and mildly musty basic sword manual in your hands, then looks at your earnest, studious expression — and a complicated feeling stirs within it.]
[Huiyuan Sword Art suddenly proposes: this sword art can be left to it to comprehend.]
Gu Chengming blinked. He hesitated for a moment, then chose to trust the Huiyuan Sword Art — and in the next instant, its inner thoughts appeared before him.
[Huiyuan Sword Art thinks to itself: high-tier sword arts are one thing — at least they're actually helpful, so it can hold its nose and put up with it.]
[But some no-name basic sword formula coming from who-knows-where, wanting to take up your time? Absolutely not.]
[It will not allow this thing to claim even a quarter of an hour of your focus!]
Well, apparently it harbored some class-based discrimination.
Gu Chengming could barely keep a straight face. He'd assumed the Huiyuan Sword Art wouldn't get jealous — now it turned out the reason it hadn't before was simply that every other technique he'd cultivated recently had been high-tier?
He was inwardly amused, but kept his expression neutral and said, "Then I'll leave it in your hands."
[Huiyuan Sword Art feels your trust and reliance, and that knot in its heart dissolves in an instant.]
[It seems exceptionally eager, even radiating a barely-suppressed flutter of excitement.]
[Thinking to itself: this kind of situation should happen more often — as long as you can't do without it, everything is fine.]
[Huiyuan Sword Art enters comprehension state.]
Hold on — had a rather alarming inner thought just flashed by in the blink of an eye?
Over the next several days, life in the small courtyard returned to its usual calm.
Gu Chengming felt as though he'd been transported back to his past life, playing one of those idle auto-battle games.
This sensation of being completely carried — of doing absolutely nothing and still reaping the benefits — stirred a faintly complicated feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Until dusk on the third day.
[Demon-Binding Sword Art: Entry Level Reached.]
As the notification chimed, the world before Gu Chengming suddenly went dark — and then, slowly, a dynamic scene rendered in ink-wash style began to unfold before his eyes.
The telltale sign of a CG unlock.
In the scene, a misty haze blanketed a wild expanse. A black-haired female sword cultivator, her features indistinct, held a broken sword and stood before a demon beast the size of a mountain. The creature's massive claw came sweeping down with unstoppable force — and rather than retreating, the sword cultivator stepped forward. The broken sword in her hand didn't slash or hack; instead, it glided against the demon's huge claw like a darting fish.
In the corner of the scene, a line of bold, vigorous characters slowly surfaced:
[To defeat the strong with the weak — not through force, but through momentum. Heaven and earth become the cage; sword intent becomes the lock.]
[CG Unlock Progress Initiated: Huiyuan Sword Art / Demon-Binding]
[Current Unlock Progress: 5/100]
[Huiyuan Sword Art / Demon-Binding notices your gaze.]
Gone was the familiar affectionate bickering of former days. Gone too was that quality of wanting to speak but holding back, drenched in shyness.
[It inclines its head slightly, and says quietly: My lord, whether it is slaying demons or cutting down evil... the dirty work, the hard work — please leave it all to me without worry.]
— My lord?
Gu Chengming felt something slightly off, though the shift in the Huiyuan Sword Art's personality didn't surprise him too much.
Following the established pattern... in the process of unlocking the "Demon-Binding" CG, the Huiyuan Sword Art's disposition would indeed be influenced by Demon-Binding.
And right as he was thinking that, another line of text suddenly appeared before him.
[Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method furrows its brow.]
Gu Chengming's heart gave a little lurch. He thought: please don't tell me you've taken one look at the Huiyuan Sword Art's current state and concluded it's not properly following the three obediences and four virtues?
[Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method reflects for a moment, then speaks: War is a great matter of state. Though it is not fitting for a woman to take up arms, yet — for the sake of protecting her lord, for the great righteousness of all under heaven — she can cast aside that gentleness, and transform into a blade that slays demons and drives out evil...]
[This is the highest loyalty! The highest righteousness!]
[To cut down the wicked and restore right order — admirable!]
[The gaze it turns upon the Huiyuan Sword Art carries not a trace of reproach — on the contrary, there is a measure of admiration it has never shown before.]
Gu Chengming: "..."
Alright — so you don't actually care about the three obediences and four virtues. You just genuinely like the Huiyuan Sword Art.
Over the following days, the CG unlock progressed the same way it always had — it seemed that simply practicing the sword art was enough to advance it.
But there was no denying it: even though a fixed amount of progress came in every day, it was painfully slow.
After two full days of diligent sword cultivation...
[Current Unlock Progress: 6/100][Current Unlock Progress: 7/100]
One point of unlock progress per day. At this rate, it would take three full months to complete.
When on earth was that going to happen?
And what made it even worse was that with the Huiyuan Sword Art stuck in CG unlock mode, its automatic cultivation had stopped entirely.
Gu Chengming was forced to pick up the slightly tedious work of manual breathing exercises again.
Finally...
"No, I can't keep grinding this out like this," Gu Chengming decided, on the evening of the fifth day.
Part of it was the instinct of a veteran visual novel player kicking in — the urge to fast-track the "Demon-Binding" CG route. But another part of it was that he simply missed having the original Huiyuan Sword Art whispering in his ear day after day.
He stood up and began to pace back and forth around the room, his fingers absently tracing the hilt of his Tinglan Sword at his waist.
"Demon-Binding... Demon-Binding..."
"This sword art's core is targeting demons and evil, and right now the Huiyuan Sword Art is in this whole 'eager to earn merit, ready to slay demons' constable mindset."
The conclusion was easy to draw: Demon-Binding had a deep fixation on "cutting down demons and slaying monsters."
But that made things tricky. This was Wenjian Sect's territory — ordinary demonic cultivators wouldn't dare come anywhere near here, and as for extraordinary demonic cultivators... well, those were beyond Gu Chengming's ability to handle.
"Do I have to go pick up a sect mission and go down the mountain for field training?"
The thought had barely surfaced in Gu Chengming's mind before he immediately shot it down.
He'd just gotten his Inner Sect qualification — the waist token was in hand, but the soul-lamp hadn't been lit yet and the formalities weren't complete. Technically he was still in the awkward limbo of a "provisional inner sect disciple."
Applying to leave the mountain now would not only be a bureaucratic nightmare, it might also draw the attention of people with ulterior motives.
His current cultivation wasn't weak, but it hadn't reached the point where he could ignore every risk with impunity.
As for slaying monsters — that was even harder to arrange. Demon beasts within Wenjian Sect were basically all penned up in enclosures, used either as mounts or sent to the rear mountains as...
All of a sudden, a faint, barely perceptible smell of meat drifted over on the breeze from somewhere in the distance.
Not the smell of ordinary food — this was rich with the vital energy of blood, the distinctive aroma that belonged exclusively to high-tier demon beast meat.
Gu Chengming's nostrils twitched faintly. His gaze followed the direction the scent was drifting from.
That was... the rear mountain.
"The rear mountain..."
Gu Chengming murmured to himself, and then a flash of inspiration struck.
He remembered something Jiang Lu had mentioned offhandedly in conversation once — a particular place.
The place that supplied the "temple of the five viscera" for Wenjian Sect's tens of thousands of disciples. The place that, out of the entire sect, carried the most warmth of daily life — and the heaviest smell of blood.
——The Rear Mountain.
For a great sect, Wenjian Sect's high-ranking cultivators mostly subsisted without eating — but the lower-tier disciples still developing their foundations, along with the vast numbers of outer sect laborers, consumed an astronomical quantity of spirit food every day.
To ensure these disciples received sufficient vital blood energy, the sect transported large quantities of low-tier demon beasts in from outside every day. These demon beasts were processed almost entirely at the rear mountain.
Gu Chengming's eyes grew brighter by the second.
Of course — unlocking the Demon-Binding CG probably only required the act of slaying monsters, the ritual sense of fulfilling one's duty.
Why not just pick up a side job?
The following morning, just as the first pale light was creeping over the horizon, the mist-veiled rear mountain of Wenjian Sect was already alive with noise and bustle.
This place was utterly unlike the serene, refined cultivation grounds at the front of the mountain — where the only sounds were wind in pines and the cry of cranes. The valley where the rear mountain lay was thick with the smoke and noise of industry all day long.
Gu Chengming had changed into a set of rough, work-stained clothes. To avoid drawing attention, he'd wrapped his Tinglan Sword in cloth strips and slung it across his back.
The moment he stepped into the rear mountain's territory, a wave of heat rolled over him.
"Faster, faster! Has that cage of Spirited Fang Pigs from the east arrived yet? They have to be processed before noon!"
"Pluck those Crimson Flame Chickens properly! Last time an elder complained about finding a feather in the meal, and I had half a month's contribution points docked!"
"Hey, you there — stop standing around in a daze! Go help hold down those Groundshaker Bulls!"
Gu Chengming wove through the busy crowd, his gaze sweeping around, before finally locking onto the deepest part of the compound —
— the Slaughter Platform, which was specifically used for butchering large demon beasts.
A round-faced steward disciple, gleaming with perspiration and clutching a ledger, was frantically trying to direct operations there, looking thoroughly harried.
"Excuse me, Senior Brother," Gu Chengming approached and offered a clasped-hand bow.
The steward was in the thick of it and waved a dismissive hand without even looking up:
"Get lost, can't you see we're busy? If you're here for spirit food, go queue up at the front — this is the back kitchen, restricted area."
"I'm not here for spirit food," Gu Chengming said calmly, keeping his voice even. "This junior, Gu Chengming, would like to come work here for a while."
"If you want work, go to the Miscellaneous Duties Hall, don't come making trouble for me here... wait a moment?"
The fat steward's writing brush jerked to a halt. Those small eyes, previously squinted nearly shut, flew wide open, and he turned his head with some difficulty, staring hard at Gu Chengming's face for a long moment.
"Gu... Gu Chengming?"
The fat steward's voice shot up eight octaves, drawing the attention of several nearby disciples who had been busily wielding bone-picking knives.
"The Gu Chengming who, on the Sword-Questioning Stage, beat that Yunyue Sect genius until he — ahem — until he was scattered like petals in the wind?"
The fat steward swallowed hard. His attitude executed a full hundred-and-eighty-degree reversal.
He promptly tucked his ledger under his arm, and his oily face split into a beaming, almost reverent smile, flustered in the way of someone who'd just received an unexpected honor:
"Goodness! It really is Junior Brother Gu! Forgive your senior brother's poor eyes — I truly was swamped just now, didn't recognize you! My apologies, my apologies!"
The surrounding disciples all stopped what they were doing as well, eyes wide. In the outer sect these days, the name Gu Chengming rang out like thunder.
Defeating someone above your level, with varied techniques — not only winning face but winning everything of substance behind it. He was practically the paragon that countless bottom-rung disciples looked up to.
"Senior Brother flatters me," Gu Chengming said, if anything growing more modest:
"My foundations are still thin. I've heard that the rear mountain is the finest place to temper one's disposition, so I wished to come here to train."
"Training?"
The fat steward froze. He looked at Gu Chengming's plainly dressed but undeniably distinguished bearing, then looked at the blood-soaked, foul-smelling Slaughter Platform around them, and his brain seemed to stall.
An inner sect disciple, coming here to train? Train in what, exactly — how to slaughter pigs?
"Junior Brother surely isn't joking?" the fat steward ventured carefully.
But Gu Chengming's expression was entirely serious. He improvised fluently:
"I am not. The Dao has three thousand paths, all leading to the same destination — Senior Brother need not sell yourself short."
"I've come today partly to temper my Dao-heart, and partly to practice a sword art I've recently taken up. I need the bodies of demon beasts to verify it against."
Upon hearing this, the fat steward stuck up a thumb, his face a portrait of admiration:
"No wonder Junior Brother has achieved so much — this level of dedication is truly beyond the reach of ordinary folk like us!"
"Since Junior Brother has such a noble purpose, your Senior Brother here is only too delighted!"
The fat steward patted his chest:
"We've got plenty of things here, and what we have most are demon beasts waiting for slaughter! Usually our junior brothers barely have enough cultivation to handle those Second Realm Iron-hide Savage Bulls and Steel-bristle Wild Boars, and it's a real struggle. If Junior Brother Gu is willing to lend a hand, that would be doing us an enormous favor!"
He was already moving to lead Gu Chengming inside.
"However..." the fat steward suddenly stopped, hesitating:
"This matter does involve an inner sect disciple, so by the rules I'll need to go inform Elder Pang. Could Junior Brother wait just a moment?"
"Of course." Gu Chengming nodded.
In the rear courtyard of the spirit kitchen compound, inside an elegant pavilion that looked entirely out of place with its surroundings:
Elder Pang, who oversaw all miscellaneous affairs of the rear mountain, was at that moment greatly enjoying a freshly cooked, fragrant dish of braised bear paw.
He was built sturdy and broad, with a ruddy, glowing complexion. Though he was an Elder, there was precious little of the celestial-immortal bearing about him — he looked far more like a prosperous country squire.
"You're saying... that Gu Chengming?"
Elder Pang set down his chopsticks, licked the oil from the corner of his mouth, and looked at the fat steward standing before him with mild surprise:
"The Gu Chengming that Ren Wencai, that old — ahem — that Brother Ren accepted into the inner sect?"
"Absolutely certain!"
The fat steward wiped the sweat from his forehead:
"He's waiting outside right now. Says he wants to use the act of killing to temper his Dao-heart and test a sword art. I didn't dare make the decision myself, so I came to ask for the Elder's guidance."
Elder Pang rubbed his round belly, turning this over thoughtfully.
He and Ren Wencai were not close, but he knew well enough that the old man had a fiercely protective streak.
Then again — the boy came of his own accord, Elder Pang reasoned, so Ren Wencai would have no grounds to make trouble over it.
What's more, with the sect's grand tournament approaching, demand for spirit food was surging across every peak — especially for high-tier demon beast meat for replenishing vital blood energy, which was a nightmare to process.
The disciples in the compound had been complaining endlessly. If a capable hand like this could help out...
Elder Pang's eyes lit up and he waved a generous hand: "Approved! Why wouldn't it be approved?"
"This young man has great willpower and great conviction — he's volunteering to train at the grassroots level. That's a good thing! How could we possibly obstruct someone's heart set on the Dao?"
"You go — give him the best spot. Send over all the beasts with the thickest hides and hardest bones, the ones no one ever wants to touch!"
"Tell him to kill as many as he wants — the more the better! If he does well, I'll not only give him contribution points, I'll personally treat him to a fine meal!"
"Yes, sir!" The fat steward took his orders and retreated happily.
The Slaughter Platform.
This was an enormous stone platform stretching a full hundred zhang across, covered in formations carved to wash away blood and suppress the demonic energy of demon beasts.
Gu Chengming stood in one corner of the platform. Before him was a massive cage of refined iron.
Inside the cage was an Iron Savage Bull at the peak of the First Realm.
The beast was enormous as a small hill, its body armored in a thick layer of black scales, its eyes a burning crimson, white hot breath snorting from its nostrils. Every time it slammed into the cage bars, it produced a fingernails-on-chalkboard screech of metal on metal.
The surrounding disciples had all backed well away, clearly intimidated by the hulking thing.
"Senior Brother Gu, this is..."
The fat steward rubbed his hands together, slightly apologetic:
"This Iron Savage Bull has a thick hide and tremendous strength. Normally it takes three or four junior brothers working together, plus the suppression of a formation, before we can manage it... If Junior Brother finds it too troublesome, we can swap it for something else..."
"It'll do. This one." Gu Chengming stepped forward and gestured for a disciple to open the cage door.
Then, casually reaching out to the nearby weapons rack, he pulled out a bone-picking iron sword — not a particularly sharp one.
He made no move to drive the blade through the bull's heart. Instead, like a master butcher carving an ox, he moved sword stroke by sword stroke across the beast's joints, tendons, and the critical points from which it drew its power. Each stroke was non-lethal, yet each one left the bull with a discomfort that sank deep into its bones.
With the final stroke driving into the bull's throat, something deep in his sea of consciousness gave a sudden lurch — the progress bar that had been stuck and unmoving finally jumped.
[Huiyuan Sword Art / Demon-Binding]
[Current CG Unlock Progress: 8%]
It moved — and it jumped by a full one percent!
Gu Chengming's heart settled. His hunch had been right.
He turned around, glanced at the fat steward standing nearby in a state of stunned petrification, and smiled faintly:
"Senior Brother, this one's done. Where's the next one?"
The fat steward snapped out of his trance, hurriedly scooping up his fallen ledger, voice slightly unsteady:
"There are more! Plenty more! Just a moment, Junior Brother!"
...
In the days that followed, the disciples of the rear mountain witnessed Senior Brother Gu arrive every day before the sun was up, and work through until sunset before leaving.
And his technique was growing more practiced by the day, and stranger by the day.
Whenever Gu Chengming stepped onto the platform, a ring of otherwise idle disciples would inevitably crowd around to watch the show. Some had even privately started a betting pool on how many heads Senior Brother Gu would rack up that day.
"Senior Brother Gu's sword art... why does it look sort of familiar?"
"Isn't it a bit like that Demon-Binding Sword Art from our sect — the one nobody practices?"
Listening to the disciples' murmurs around him, Gu Chengming laughed quietly to himself.
It was the Demon-Binding Sword Art, yes — but it was certainly no longer the original version.
And throughout the demon-slaying process, the CG unlock progress was surging:
[Current Unlock Progress: 15%]
[Current Unlock Progress: 30%]
[Current Unlock Progress: 45%]
In just seven days, the progress was nearing the halfway mark.
What made Elder Pang even more delighted was that thanks to Gu Chengming's high efficiency, the demon beast stockpile that had been piling up for half a month in the rear mountain had been cleared out by more than half!
For this, Elder Pang had personally broken out a spirit wine he'd been cellaring for years, insisting on dragging Gu Chengming to share a couple of cups, praising him up and down as "the light of Huiyuan Gate" and "the savior of the rear mountain."
But the good times couldn't last.
On the day the progress reached 50%, Gu Chengming noticed that a problem had emerged.
[Huiyuan Sword Art / Demon-Binding casts a tired glance at the carcasses on the ground.]
[It is visibly disinterested.]
Gu Chengming watched that barely perceptible rate of increase and felt his heart sink.
Sure enough, the progress had stalled again.
Even as the unlock speed was slowing, the days of assembly-line slaughter had allowed Gu Chengming to pick up on a distinct characteristic of the Demon-Binding Sword Art.
Namely — it judged its prey.
When butchering the kind of domesticated demon beasts at the early First Realm with nothing going for them except a lot of meat, the progress bar basically didn't budge.
But when the occasional demon beast full of vigorous vital energy came through — one that was held down and slain after a proper struggle — the progress bar ticked up a little more.
And according to what the disciples were saying, the rate of increase varied accordingly. A Second Realm demon beast, even if it was nearly dead, yielded more unlock progress than a peak First Realm beast.
Gu Chengming stood before the Slaughter Platform, idly turning the thoroughly nicked bone-picking knife in his hand, gazing thoughtfully at the "Blue-Scale Solitary Horn Python" that had just been brought in, still not quite dead yet.
So did that mean actual cultivation realm didn't matter — what mattered was the realm that Huiyuan Sword Art / Demon-Binding perceived it to be?
Gu Chengming decided to test the theory.
The python before him was only at the peak of the First Realm — aside from a slightly thicker hide, it had nothing to recommend it.
But Gu Chengming didn't go for the clean, efficient throat-strike he'd normally use.
Instead, his expression turned grave. The hand gripping the bone-picking iron sword began to "tremble" faintly.
"Sss..."
Gu Chengming fixed his stare on the still-writhing python, murmuring in a voice only he could hear:
"This pressure... something's not right!"
"This is clearly just an ordinary Blue-Scale Python — so why is there a heart-trembling sensation emanating from beneath those scales?"
"Could this be... one of those legendary aberrant strains carrying one ten-thousandth of the bloodline of the Azure Dragon?"
So saying, he bit down on his back teeth, and his iron sword swept out in a pattern that looked chaotic but was precisely placed — a web of strikes that "tangled" with the python, which was barely putting up any resistance to begin with.
The disciples of the spirit kitchen compound watched in total bewilderment.
"What's gotten into Senior Brother Gu? Is that snake... actually strong?"
"No idea — it looks like a First Realm beast to me. Could it be some kind of mutant strain?"
"Shh! What level is Senior Brother Gu? If he can't see through it, then it's definitely an aberrant breed we can't detect!"
Finally, after performing for a full quarter of an incense stick's time, Gu Chengming let out a battle cry, drove the sword into the snake's vital point seven inches down its body, and brought the "desperate life-or-death struggle" to an end.
He leaned on his sword, panting hard, wearing the expression of someone who'd barely survived with their life, and wiped the sweat from his brow:
"That was close... a mere trace of bloodline awakening was already this terrifying. If it had been allowed to mature, the consequences would be unthinkable."
Gu Chengming then turned full of expectation toward the dialogue box.
The familiar dialogue box slowly surfaced — but it did not bring the pleasant surprise he'd been hoping for.
[Huiyuan Sword Art / Demon-Binding silently regards the Blue-Scale Solitary Horn Python dead on the ground, then regards you gasping for breath over there.]
[It is somewhat puzzled. In its perception, this was merely an ordinary low-tier demon beast — malnourished at that — and it detected no trace of any so-called ancient pressure.]
[But out of its absolute trust in you, it has nonetheless carefully examined the carcass with lingering doubt.]
[Perhaps... my lord's spirit senses far exceed those of ordinary beings, and you have perceived secrets that this subordinate cannot detect?]
[Though it does not fully understand this "power," if my lord says it is so, then so it shall be.]
Even though it said all that — the CG unlock progress didn't change.
So that approach was a dead end after all?
Gu Chengming shook his head, just about ready to give up on this harebrained scheme, when another line of text appeared before him.
[Hundred Bones Resonance is greatly shaken — has the Heavenly Emperor Gu stumbled across a treasure again?!]
[Had the Heavenly Emperor Gu not seen through it with his Piercing Insight and revealed the heavenly secret, it would have nearly mistaken this peerless divine medicine for common flesh and blood!]
[Heavenly Emperor Gu! Quickly, while no one is looking — pocket this ancient spirit beast's meat!]
"..."
Didn't fool Demon-Binding — but apparently fooled the Hundred-Year Emperor. An unexpected consolation prize.
Since the Hundred-Year Emperor had practically handed him the script, this performance would need to be seen through to its full conclusion.
Gu Chengming schooled his expression, turned around, and gave a clasped-hand bow to the fat steward standing nearby:
"Senior Brother, this... Blue-Scale Solitary Horn Python."
In the spirit kitchen compound, this thing was the kind of headache-inducing "garbage material" that left everyone exasperated. The meat was stringy and dry, with a pervasive earthy stench no amount of cooking could fully purge; the hide was tough as nails. Other than extracting the gallbladder, the rest basically went to feed the spirit beasts.
"This junior is currently at a critical juncture in cultivation and urgently needs blood energy replenishment. This python meat may be coarse, but it does have a decent amount of vital energy remaining in it. I wonder if it might be possible to..."
"Aiyah! Junior Brother Gu, what are you even saying!"
The fat steward could barely contain his delight, slapping his thigh:
"We consider this stuff a nuisance that takes up space — if Junior Brother sees value in it, please, take as much as you want! Take the whole thing if you like! It saves us having to lug it out to the rear mountain to fill a pit!"
"Then I'm much obliged."
Gu Chengming, wearing the earnest expression of someone who'd struck gold, didn't mind getting his hands dirty — he personally hauled those several large chunks of python meat, hide, bones and all, hard as stone, and loaded them into his storage pouch.
Back at his small courtyard, night had deepened.
Gu Chengming locked the doors and windows, took out those several pieces of Blue-Scale Solitary Horn Python meat with their truly wretched appearance, and added nothing fancy — not even proper seasoning spices, just a casual sprinkle of salt.
As the flame rose in the stove, a smell that couldn't quite be called pleasant — and absolutely could not be called "ancient fragrance" — began to fill the room.
The meat was impossibly tough. Even after being stewed with spirit fire for half an incense stick's time, it remained as hard as a rubber tire.
Gu Chengming picked up a piece and attempted a bite.
Good grief, this is murder on the teeth...
However, the Hundred Bones Resonance in his sea of consciousness held a very different opinion.
[Hundred Bones Resonance gasps: Is this the flesh of an ancient dragon-python?!]
Alright, Hundred-Year Emperor — you win.
Gu Chengming forced the meat down, and then Hundred Bones Resonance began to circulate.
[Hundred Bones Resonance dares not slacken for even an instant — in its understanding, this is the essence blood of an ancient dragon-python. If it cannot achieve perfect absorption, would it not be failing the Heavenly Emperor Gu?]
A torrent of heat unlike anything before surged through his meridians, flooding every bone and muscle in his body.
His bones trembled. His muscles sang.
The physical body strength that had already hit a plateau began climbing at an inconceivable rate, driven by this force that had been "conjured through sheer conviction."
It felt just like the time he'd cultivated using the Dragon Blood Grass!
And this whole scene was being watched from the sidelines — in cold, clear silence — by the Huiyuan Sword Art / Demon-Binding.
[Huiyuan Sword Art / Demon-Binding watches with its own eyes as, after you eat that piece of meat, the vital energy within your body surges like a dragon, and your physical strength visibly explodes upward — and it is left dumbstruck.]
[It is somewhat stunned. If that truly was just an ordinary demon beast, how could it produce such a terrifying effect?]
[Could it be... that it was the one who misjudged?]
[That would be... a dereliction of duty! An act of profound disrespect!]
[A fierce wave of shame floods its heart. It looks at Gu Chengming, its gaze filled with awe.]
[CG Unlock Progress: 65%]
Gu Chengming stared at the progress bar that had just shot up fifteen percentage points in a single instant, and the half-eaten piece of python meat in his hand slipped from his fingers with a soft plop onto the table.
...
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