GAL Martial Saint

gal Martial Saint Author: Ni Tian Meng

Volume: Volume One

Chapter 1: Chapter 1 What is a Strategy Cultivation Method?

Wenjian Sect, Huiyuan Gate.

Deep within the disciples' residences, in a serene and elegant courtyard, the scene was entirely different.

Several stalks of green bamboo were planted in the courtyard. As the wind blew, the bamboo leaves rustled, like the gentle clinking of shattered jade.

A man sat before a bronze mirror. His sword-like eyebrows slanted towards his temples, his eyes shone like stars, his nose was high and straight, and his lips were well-defined, presenting an extremely handsome appearance. His black hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, styled into a standard topknot.

This hairstyle was a style only men could wear after their coming-of-age ceremony at the age of twenty, signifying they had reached adulthood.

However, at this moment, this adult man's face was devoid of youthful vigor, replaced by a cloud of gloom.

He raised a hand to his forehead and let out a sigh.

Following his sigh, a panel appeared before the man.

[Name: Gu Chengming]
[Sect: Wenjian Sect · Huiyuan Gate]
[Realm: First Realm Level Three]
[Cultivation Methods: Huiyuan Sword Technique (Beginner), Clear Heart Art (Beginner)]
[Attributes: Strength 8, Agility 7, Constitution 2, Spirit 12, Charm 25]
[Status: Damaged Innate Talent (continuously accumulating negative buffs)
Essence Blood Depletion (current HP cap permanently reduced by 30%, and continuously decaying daily, estimated remaining lifespan: 87 days)]

The man stared at the bright red text in the [Status] column, especially the shocking countdown at the end, feeling a wave of dizziness.

After the initial confusion, Gu Chengming finally accepted this fact.

--He had transmigrated into a game.

The game "Immortal Gate" was a miracle of the virtual world. It possessed almost infinite freedom. Every NPC, even a humble groundskeeper sweeping the roadside, had hundreds of thousands of words of background story and independent behavioral logic.

Players could explore this vast and boundless immortal cultivation world as they pleased, join a Sect and cultivate to become an immortal, or wander the world seeking revenge and camaraderie. They could even form deep bonds with any character in the game, becoming sworn brothers, or even Dao Companions.

There were also elemental reactions and a combat system with great depth.

But Gu Chengming didn't play this game because of the reasons mentioned above...

Rather, he was a GALGAME fanatic.

As a GALGAME enthusiast, how could he resist playing after hearing that all characters were romanceable and each NPC had hundreds of thousands of words of text?

On the day the game was released, Gu Chengming immediately purchased it.

Not only that, but he also utilized his programming skills to create a series of auxiliary MODs overnight: "Affection Visible," "Key Dialogue Option Prompts," and "Unlock Special CG Appreciation Mode."

Fully equipped, he then entered the game with satisfaction.

Then came the classic character creation, choosing a Sect, and after completing the novice storyline, he immediately set his sights on a character whose portrait was particularly appealing to him and began the romance strategy.

And then... there was no then.

While he was up all night strategizing, his vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, he was already lying on this ancient wooden bed, having become Gu Chengming himself.

"Sigh..."

He sighed and looked at the line "[Status: Essence Blood Depletion]" on the panel, feeling a pang of toothache.

How did this fatal status come about?

The reason was simple: when creating his character and allocating attribute points, in order to pursue maximum strategy efficiency, he had transferred almost all the points from "Constitution" to "Charm."

After all, high Charm meant faster affection gain when romancing characters, which was a golden rule in GALGAMEs.

In the game, doing so was no problem at all.

If attribute points dropped to extremely low levels, at most, certain advanced cultivation methods couldn't be practiced.

Gu Chengming had even planned his route at the time, intending to switch to the cultivation methods of the Joyous Union Sect after romancing a specific character later on.

Once the Joyous Union cultivation method started operating, the Constitution attribute would become almost useless, so having it low in the early stages was completely fine.

The logic in the game was simple and crude.

But when the game turned into reality, and the world began to follow its own underlying rules, everything became "rationalized."

The flaw in his attributes, "Constitution too low," was corrected by the world's rules and materialized into the fatal negative status of "Essence Blood Depletion."

His HP cap decreased every day, and there was a countdown to death. Who could endure that?

What was even more critical was that since he hadn't intended to level up seriously from the beginning, he hadn't put much effort into options related to "cultivation talent" when creating his character. This also led to the appearance of the so-called "Damaged Innate Talent" status.

Could he rely on his own cultivation to improve his realm and break through the shackles of this status?

Gu Chengming estimated that before he could even channel spiritual energy into his body a few times, he would probably just keel over and die.

Truly, the path ahead was bleak, shrouded in darkness.

Just as Gu Chengming was sinking into despair, his gaze inadvertently swept across the System panel, and a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

Wait a minute!

Since the game System followed me here after I transmigrated, does that mean the MODs I installed also came with me?

His heart skipped a beat.

To maximize his GALGAME experience, he had written a core MOD back then. Its function was simple and brutal: every time he successfully romanced a character and their affection reached a new stage, the System would reward him with a large number of free attribute points and special items.

After all, many aloof characters in the game wouldn't even grant him an audience if his cultivation realm wasn't high enough.

Gu Chengming was too lazy to spend time leveling up, so he had used this shortcut, planning to accumulate capital by romancing low-level characters before challenging higher-level targets.

Isn't this my chance?

As if to confirm his thoughts, the blue panel before his eyes suddenly flickered, and a new panel with a completely different style popped out. This panel was pink, with lace trim around the edges, and a line of text written in extremely ornate art font dominated the center.

[Cultivation LOVELOVE System]

"Holy crap!"

Gu Chengming nearly jumped out of his chair:

"It really fucking came over with me?!"

Setting aside Gu Chengming's taste in naming MODs.

The unexpected turn of events before him filled him with immense joy.

His attention immediately focused on the panel, and the text on it began to scroll rapidly, like a running lantern.

Here it comes! According to the game's flow, the next thing it should display is the "List of Romanceable Targets in Current Area."

Gu Chengming's spirits lifted, and he straightened his back.

The appearances and information of dozens of female disciples from the Wenjian Sect flashed through his mind, from the lively and adorable junior sister, to the cold and aloof Senior Sister, and even the charming deacon...

With my more than ten years of rich experience dominating the GALGAME world, and this Charm attribute of 25 points, isn't it a piece of cake to win them over?

As long as I successfully romance one or two, get attribute points, and put them into Constitution, this dead end will be revitalized, right?

He had even started planning which target would be the easiest to start with.

Just as he was envisioning a beautiful future blueprint, the scrolling text on the panel finally slowed and stopped, settling into clarity.

[Current Romanceable Target: Huiyuan Sword Technique]

[Current Romanceable Target: Clear Heart Art]

Gu Chengming's smile froze on his face.

He blinked, thinking he was mistaken.

He reached out and poked the pink panel, but it didn't react. However, the text on it remained incredibly clear.

"?"

A giant question mark rose from the depths of Gu Chengming's heart, almost solidifying into a physical entity that filled the entire room.

Immediately after, a line of small text appeared below the panel.

[Please select your romance target.]

[Hint: When affection reaches a new stage, the System will reward free attribute points and may unlock special effects.]

"???"

Chapter 2: Chapter 2 It's Like This in Galgames!

The targets are cultivation techniques?

Gu Chengming's brain crashed for a full three seconds. He stared blankly at the two lonely options on the panel.

Huiyuan Sword Art, the basic sword art of the Huiyuan Gate. Its moves are grand and open, yet its swordsmanship is cold and detached, making it an extremely difficult technique to counter.

Clear Heart Art, a supplementary mental cultivation method that helps cultivators dispel distracting thoughts and maintain a clear mind.

What is this... a cultivation version of the 'non-human girl' collection?

But cultivation versions of non-human girls should be like fox spirits or sword spirits, right? What the hell are cultivation techniques?

Gu Chengming took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

No matter what, this is the only way out right now.

The death countdown from Essence Blood Depletion won't joke around with me.

Romance them, romance them. Isn't it just about raising affection?

As a veteran master who has dominated the GALGAME world for over ten years and cleared hundreds of titles, what kind of situations haven't I seen?

Aliens, robots, ghosts, monster girls, I've romanced them all.

Now the targets have just become cultivation techniques.

The problem should... not be too big, right?

His finger hovered in the air, hesitating briefly between the options Huiyuan Sword Art and Clear Heart Art.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and made his choice. His fingertip hovered over the former.

[Target Selected: Huiyuan Sword Art]

The panel flickered and switched to a new interface.

[Huiyuan Sword Art]

[Affection: 10/Stranger]

Okay, this is the GALGAME interface I'm most familiar with.

Seeing this classic UI, Gu Chengming felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

But, wait a minute.

Where's the character art? The most important character art? Without a concrete character image, how can I get immersed in the romance!

Who's going to make up for this lack of character art for me?

Putting the character art aside, returning to this familiar interface, Gu Chengming quickly got into the zone.

A new problem arose.

Why is the initial affection so low? Generally, shouldn't the initial affection for a character be between 30 and 50?

A value of 10 is basically the level of an NPC on the street, liable to become negative at any moment just because you bumped into them.

As if hearing his thoughts, below the name [Huiyuan Sword Art] on the panel, a new line of small text slowly appeared, tinged with a resentful gray.

[Huiyuan Sword Art believes you are no different from the other disciples of Huiyuan Gate. You can't even do the simplest things and have never truly stuck with it.]

Huh?

The tone of these words... why does it feel so much like a nagging wife?

Before Gu Chengming could ponder further, new gray text continued to appear.