Gu Chengming stared at the string of inner monologue displayed on the system interface, completely dumbfounded.
"..."
Was this cultivation method's personality a little too bizarre?
The key was, although its imagined explanation was completely wrong, it seemed to have accidentally guessed half the conclusion right...
After all, Gu Chengming really did get stronger by grinding Favorability.
[Hundred Bones Ming Favorability +5] [Current Favorability: 10/Stranger]
Gu Chengming: "..."
Damn, you're a strength faction guy too!
Rabbit head controls the big head?
Right after that, a cacophony of voices suddenly rang out in his mind.
It was Hundred Bones Ming's impatient attempt to get its thoughts across.
[Hundred Bones Ming tried to attract your attention] [Hundred Bones Ming began touting its strengths] [The path of body refinement has those who are peerlessly fierce, shaking mountains with their strength; and those who are supple and enduring, using skill to deflect tremendous force. Both are inferior paths.] [Yet my way, Hundred Bones Ming, does not cling to the brute strength of outward appearances and flesh, nor is it limited to the flexibility of sinews and meridians.] [Its mysteries lie hidden deep within the hundred bones. Sinews and bones ring in unison, seeking the supreme realm where body and spirit resonate together, drawing the rhythms of heaven and earth into oneself.] [When cultivated to perfection, the body becomes like a great bell, impervious to all techniques with a single vibration, driving out every evil. This is the Way that reaches the heavens!]
It was like a salesperson desperate to hawk a product, frantically listing all its advantages in an attempt to pique Gu Chengming's interest and increase his "Favorability" toward it.
Listening to the rapid-fire sales pitch, Gu Chengming couldn't help but laugh to himself.
But... wasn't this a good chance to win it over?
Since you're being so proactive, I won't hold back.
So he put away the Wooden Sword, sat cross-legged, and assumed the cultivation posture for Hundred Bones Ming.
Thanks to the five points of Favorability Hundred Bones Ming had gained earlier, Gu Chengming was surprised to find that his understanding of this cultivation method really had deepened a little.
The meridians' obscure, hard-to-understand routes of circulation had suddenly become clear.
The flow of Qi and Blood through his body was also much smoother than before. The tearing pain was still there, but it had eased considerably.
The cultivation went remarkably smoothly.
But in Hundred Bones Ming's eyes, the scene looked entirely different.
[Hundred Bones Ming was overjoyed!] [It felt it! That smoothness, that harmony... This kid's cultivation speed was clearly much faster than when he first started!] [Sure enough, as long as his Favorability toward it increased, his cultivation speed would get a huge boost!] [Hundred Bones Ming thought, so this was its Golden Finger?]
And so, amid this ecstatic self-delusion, Hundred Bones Ming's Favorability climbed again.
[Hundred Bones Ming Favorability +3] [Hundred Bones Ming Favorability +2]
As its Favorability rose, Gu Chengming found cultivation even easier.
The Resonant Qi within his body circulated faster, and the efficiency of tempering his bones increased along with it.
That, in turn, further confirmed Hundred Bones Ming's misunderstanding.
[Hundred Bones Ming Favorability +5]
And so they fell into a bizarre, vicious cycle.
The more Gu Chengming cultivated Hundred Bones Ming, the more it believed the improvement came from its increased Favorability, and the higher its Favorability climbed.
The higher Hundred Bones Ming's Favorability became, the more feedback and bonuses it gave Gu Chengming, and the faster his cultivation became.
The faster Gu Chengming cultivated, the more convinced Hundred Bones Ming became that its theory was right, and the more merrily its Favorability soared.
After just an hour of cultivation, Gu Chengming opened his eyes and looked at the System Panel.
[Hundred Bones Ming Favorability: 20/Stranger]
Already... twenty?
Wasn't this way too easy to grind?
[Hundred Bones Ming thought that after all these years, it was finally going to become an unparalleled cultivation method] [So all along, its life as Hundred Bones Ming had been second to none] [Gu Chengming, break through for me!]
At last, Gu Chengming couldn't hold it in anymore. He finally understood where that uncanny sense of familiarity had come from.
Damn, where'd this ■-point novel protagonist come from?
How the hell were you supposed to win over a character like this? Gala Ge Mu never taught me!
PS: This chapter is 4,500 words, a two-in-one update!
I saw lots of people in the comments asking why Gala Ge Mu didn't have any choices...
That's something for later. There are quite a few fun storylines involving choices, and that feature will only be added after Clear Heart Art's Favorability changes again.
I won't spoil any more. This book has a pretty complete plan, so it's not like I'll run out of ideas right away. At least, I can guarantee the plot for the first million words (
Another chapter will be posted around midnight.
### Honestly, this "step on your left foot with your right foot and spiral up to heaven" style of cultivation was frighteningly efficient.
At the very least, Gu Chengming could clearly feel that his physique had improved by more than a little.
In this world, attributes weren't simple stats like "attack power" or "defense."
They formed an extremely complex system, where one change could affect everything.
Take "Strength," for example. It didn't just determine how much damage you could deal with a punch; it also determined how heavy a weapon you could wield, and even affected the entry requirements for certain powerful cultivation methods.
Take "Agility." It didn't just affect your chance of dodging; it also affected your speed, your body's flexibility, and even the success rate of spells requiring fine control.
But without a doubt, "Constitution" was an attribute tightly bound to "Health" and "Survivability."
The most immediate change Gu Chengming noticed was that he'd become tougher.
Before, whenever he practiced Hundred Bones Ming, he'd wake up the next morning with an aching back, as if someone had thrown a sack over his head and beaten him.
Now?
He was still full of energy the next morning. That was the benefit of improving his Constitution.
And while he was absorbed in Hundred Bones Ming, the other targets of affection naturally reacted too.
[Huiyuan Sword Art felt a little jealous.] [It watched you spend so much time every day doting on that newly arrived cultivation method, and felt sour inside.] [But it was a sensible cultivation method. It knew that your body was too frail right now, and that sooner or later you'd have to practice a Body Refining Technique to strengthen yourself. Only with a stronger body could you wield it better.] [So it didn't blame you.]
As for the other one...
[Clear Heart Art found this rather amusing, but compared to your cultivation progress, it cared more about something else.] [It strongly demanded an update! When were you going to write the third part of your story?]
And so, the days passed in a strange but harmonious atmosphere.
However, the good times didn't last.
After Hundred Bones Ming's Favorability reached 20, it refused to budge no matter what.
Gu Chengming grew a little anxious.
He still felt a bit unsure when it came to winning over targets of affection with no "experience."
Little did he know, someone else was even more anxious at that very moment.
That someone was Hundred Bones Ming itself.
[Hundred Bones Ming was pacing in a panic.] [Why had it stopped rising? Why wasn't this kid's cultivation speed improving?] [Watching your completely unchanged cultivation speed, Hundred Bones Ming was in a total panic.]
Gu Chengming could only stare at it in speechless disbelief.
Who the hell was trying to win over whom here?
It wasn't until one day, when Gu Chengming used that precious bottle of "Spirit Rhinoceros Bone Quenching Dew" to assist his cultivation again, that things changed.
The medicinal power entered his body, and golden light flowed through him.
With the massive boost from the medicinal power, Gu Chengming's cultivation speed soared in an instant. That long-missed feeling returned.
And right then, the system notification finally rang again.
[Hundred Bones Ming Favorability +2] [Current Favorability: 22]
Gu Chengming nearly lost it.
Was it really that much of a rabbit head?
So it didn't care whether I had feelings for it. It cared whether I'd spent money on it?
Only when I took drugs and sped up would you be willing to raise your Favorability?
What Gu Chengming didn't know was that Hundred Bones Ming had misunderstood yet again.
[Watching the sudden spike in your cultivation speed, Hundred Bones Ming let out a sigh of relief and thought, so that was it.] [Your Favorability had stopped increasing because... you thought it was too slow!] [Only when you used an outside aid like spiritual medicine could you experience that extreme leveling-up rush, and your "Favorability" toward it would recover.] [It felt a wave of shame.] [For a top Body Refining Technique to have fallen so low that it needed to rely on drugs to keep its disciple's heart—that was a tremendous humiliation!] [It had to prove that it could make you feel good even without drugs!]
So, in the days that followed, Gu Chengming found that Hundred Bones Ming had become especially "diligent."
Every time he began cultivating, the Resonant Qi in his body would follow the optimal route on its own, without him having to guide it at all.
Even at some of the trickier bottlenecks, an invisible force would help him break through the obstacles.
It felt like playing a game with a fully automatic idle script running—and not just any script, but an intelligently optimized version.
Gu Chengming was at a loss.
Bro, why are you trying so hard? At least raise your Favorability!
You're doing all the work without raising your Favorability, and I can't feel secure about this!
And so, amid this bizarre cultivation process full of stumbles and misunderstandings, where they somehow kept helping each other along...
Time slipped by.
One afternoon.
The sunlight was just right, and the breeze was gentle.
Gu Chengming had just finished another round of practicing Hundred Bones Ming and was about to get up and fetch the Wooden Sword.
Before you continue