On the other side of the bustling Marketplace.
Two Female Cultivators dressed in Daoning Gate robes were idly browsing several rouge and powder stalls.
"Senior Sister, look at this..."
One of the round-faced Female Cultivators was about to pick up a box of eyebrow pigment when her gaze casually swept over the crowd nearby.
The next moment, she froze, her eyes fixed on a spot.
"What is it?"
The tall Senior Sister beside her followed her gaze.
A young man in a blue robe was hurrying through the crowd.
He had sword-shaped brows and bright eyes, and stood tall and straight. Though his expression was grave, he couldn't hide the natural elegance between his brows.
With a Charm stat of twenty-five, he was hard to overlook.
"Isn't that... Gu Chengming?"
The round-faced Female Cultivator cried out softly, her voice carrying a hint of surprise and an inexplicable complexity.
At the sound of his name, the tall Senior Sister's face darkened. The look of admiration she'd had for the handsome man turned sharp.
"Is he the reckless fool who confessed to the Dao Seed Junior Sister and got rejected, only for rumors to spread that he beat Senior Sister You Yuyao right afterward?"
Gu Chengming.
The name had been making the rounds at Daoning Gate lately.
Of course, neither of them believed the rumor that he had "crossed swords with You Yuyao." They even scoffed at it.
What a joke.
Who was Senior Sister You? A genius Dao cultivator at First Realm Level Nine, just half a step away from the Second Realm!
And this Gu Chengming?
A good-for-nothing who'd spent three years at the sect and was still stuck in the Outer Sect, with a cultivation level of no more than First Realm Level Three.
The gulf between their strengths was so vast that even if they weren't talking about swordplay, Senior Sister You could probably snap the sword in his hands just by standing still and letting him strike her.
"Hmph. Who knows where that ridiculous rumor came from?"
Usually, the person who benefited most from a rumor was often the one who'd started it.
In her eyes, Gu Chengming had failed to win someone's affection, so now he was trying to step on Senior Sister You to make a name for himself, draw attention, and salvage what little face he had left.
"Exactly!" The round-faced Female Cultivator joined in indignantly. "Senior Sister You has always looked after us Junior Sisters. How can we let a shameless scoundrel ruin her reputation?"
The two exchanged a glance and reached an understanding at once.
Since they'd run into him here, there was no need to wait for another day.
They had to make this kid answer for himself and teach him that food could be eaten any which way, but words couldn't be spoken carelessly!
Elsewhere.
With Jiang Lu in tow, Gu Chengming was hurrying toward the Marketplace exit under the relentless urging of Hundred Bones Ming.
He placated Hundred Bones Ming in his thoughts while keeping his guard up, his feet moving like the wind.
But just as they were about to turn a street corner and leave the heart of the Marketplace,
two graceful figures suddenly sprang out from the side, one to the left and one to the right, blocking their path like a pair of door gods.
"Stop!"
A sharp cry rang out.
Gu Chengming halted, and Jiang Lu nearly crashed into his back.
The two Female Cultivators before them had icy expressions and their hands on their sword hilts. They fixed Gu Chengming with hostile stares, radiating the air of people demanding an explanation.
At the sight of their robes, Jiang Lu recognized them as Senior Sisters from Daoning Gate. He hurried forward, cupped his hands, and smiled apologetically.
"Senior Sisters, may I ask why you've stopped us? I'm Jiang Lu, and this is Senior Brother Gu. We were just heading back to—"
"This has nothing to do with you. Move aside."
The tall Senior Sister didn't even glance at Jiang Lu. Her eyes stayed fixed on Gu Chengming as she said coldly,
"Gu Chengming, after what you've done, do you think you can just walk away?"
Jiang Lu froze, panicking inside.
Oh no! Had that rumor about Senior Brother Gu gotten him into trouble? Had people from Daoning Gate come after him?
He was about to speak up for Gu Chengming and ease the tension.
But before he could open his mouth,
Gu Chengming, who'd been silent until then, saw the two Female Cultivators bearing down on them, hands on their sword hilts. Instead of showing the slightest hint of panic or guilt,
his eyes suddenly lit up!
What kind of look was that?
Like a wolf that hadn't eaten in three days spotting a fat sheep, or a screenwriter finally meeting the perfect actor.
The genuine, uncontrollable excitement in his eyes made the two Female Cultivators opposite him feel a chill.
The next moment,
Gu Chengming abruptly stepped back, shielding the Storage Bag at his chest with one hand and gripping his sword hilt with the other. He shouted,
"You brazen Robber Cultivators! You're trying to kill me and steal my treasure?!"
Huge question marks appeared on both their faces.
"??"
Robber Cultivators? Killing him and stealing his treasure?
This was Wenjian Sect! They were wearing sect robes! Was he blind?
But he gave them no time to react.
The next moment,
as soon as the words left his mouth, his sword was already drawn!
When someone shouted, "You brazen Robber Cultivators!" with righteous indignation and charged at you with a blade in hand, any normal person's mind would short-circuit for a moment.
Especially when you were on sect grounds, dressed in the robes that marked you as a disciple, and had only come to pick a fight and argue.
Su He's only thought was: absurd.
A moment ago, she'd been thinking about how to get Senior Sister You some justice. The next, the rapidly enlarging hilt of a sword filled her vision.
"Robber Cultivator? Me?"
That thought had only just flashed through Su He's mind. Before it could even reach her limbs and trigger a defensive response, Gu Chengming's attack had already arrived.
This was no fair spar. It was a calculated "ambush."
Su He was at First Realm Level Five, while Li Miao beside her was at First Realm Level Six.
As for raw strength, Gu Chengming was only at First Realm Level Four.
In the cultivation world, the pressure of a higher realm was often absolute.
A gap of two minor levels brought a clear boost to Spiritual Power, reaction speed, and physical strength.
But Gu Chengming knew one thing well: the dead had no cultivation level, and neither did the unconscious.
He was betting on his opponent's split-second hesitation and the explosive power of the body that Hundred Bones Ming had already begun to strengthen.
[Hundred Bones Ming thought: Good! What decisiveness!]
[Surrounded by powerful enemies, he doesn't waste words or hesitate. He strikes first!]
[That's the kind of quality a Golden Finger ought to have! What good are gentleness, deference, courtesy, and humility in a fight to the death? They're all bullshit!]
At the very instant his shout rang out, his right hand was already reaching for his waist. His Wood Sword slid from its sheath.
"Clang—"
Gu Chengming shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
There was no fancy opening move.
Yet in Gu Chengming's hands, this Basic Sword Art displayed a completely different kind of power.
Spiritual Energy surged along his meridians, but instead of spilling outward to form Sword Glow, it gathered entirely within the muscle fibers of his legs and arms.
Close in!
Su He's vision blurred. The man who'd been several yards away a moment earlier was suddenly right in front of her.
The gust of force rushing toward her even tousled her bangs, freezing her expression into a comically startled look.
She instinctively tried to reach for the sword on her back.
Too late.
Gu Chengming's Wood Sword struck the Quchi acupoint on her sword-wielding right arm.
"Smack!"
A sharp crack rang out.
Su He's right arm went numb. The Spiritual Power in half her body instantly collapsed, and the protective Spiritual Energy she'd just summoned was cut off.
Then Gu Chengming's wrist turned. The Wood Sword swept upward, and its flat side, guided by a deft twist, slammed into the side of Su He's neck.
The strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless.
Su He didn't even manage a groan. Her eyes rolled back, and she crumpled limply to the ground, as if every bone had been pulled from her body.
One down.
In less than a breath.
Only when Su He hit the ground with a dull thud did Li Miao finally snap out of her disbelief.
"Senior Sister Su?!"
"Scoundrel! You're dead!"
Li Miao was at First Realm Level Six, after all, and reacted extremely quickly.
She didn't draw her sword. At this close range, drawing it would leave an opening.
Her hands formed a seal at once. Spiritual light flickered at her fingertips as a pale green wind blade rapidly took shape in her palm.
The so-called "protagonist" was bound to have a scene where he killed above his level, so Hundred Bones Ming was now impossibly excited.
[Hundred Bones Ming thought: So what if she's at First Realm Level Six?!]
[Gu Chengming! Take it with your body! Show this ignorant woman what a true Body Cultivator is!]
Gu Chengming's eye twitched.
Take it with his body? He wasn't an idiot.
Facing Li Miao's attack, Gu Chengming didn't retreat. Instead, he shifted his step and moved like willow leaves in the wind, advancing rather than backing away. Pivoting on his front foot, he twisted sideways in an extremely strange spin.
Using the centrifugal force, the Wood Sword in his hand carved a smooth arc through the air.
It wasn't some profound sword technique, just the most basic "deflect" form in the Huiyuan Sword Art.
The Wood Sword landed precisely against Li Miao's wrist as she thrust her hand forward.
Gu Chengming's wrist flicked, sending a deft force through the Wood Sword and instantly diverting the flow of Spiritual Power that followed.
Li Miao felt a powerful force surge through her. Her body tilted uncontrollably to one side, and the wind blade, not yet fully released, shot off into empty space.
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