Junior Brother Jiang Is Actually Pretty Nice

Empty Gate Wide Open!

This was the classic script for a Body Cultivator bullying a Magic Cultivator.

Once caught at close range, a Magic Cultivator's fragile defenses were like paper before a Body Cultivator.

Gu Chengming might have been a "Pseudo Body Cultivator," but he was formidable with a sword.

He gave Li Miao no chance to adjust her stance.

The sword hilt slammed into her abdomen.

Inch Strength!

"Ugh!"

Li Miao doubled over instantly, the pain wiping her mind blank.

Gu Chengming pressed in, holding the Wooden Sword backward in his right hand. Its hilt came down on the back of her head like a heavy hammer, swift and clean.

Thud.

It hurt just to hear it.

Li Miao's eyes closed, and her body went limp. She collapsed right on top of the still-twitching Su He.

The two lay stacked like acrobats, both neatly unconscious.

The whole thing flowed like clouds and running water, without the slightest hesitation.

From Gu Chengming's roar and charge to both women hitting the ground, no more than three breaths had passed.

Gu Chengming breathed a sigh of relief, but Hundred Bones Cry had the strongest reaction.

Though Hundred Bones Cry had not done the heavy lifting in this fight, if it rounded things up, it had still helped Kill Above Level. It was thoroughly satisfied and wanted nothing more than to let out a long howl.

[Hundred Bones Cry thought: At First Realm Level Four, you instantly defeated two formidable foes at First Realm Mid Stage! Who in this world can stand against us?]

[Of all the heroes under heaven, only Hundred Bones Cry and Gu Chengming matter!]

[Favorability +10]

Gu Chengming listened to the notifications chiming in his mind, the corner of his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly.

He had won by cleverly applying the techniques of the Huiyuan Sword Art, yet Hundred Bones Cry had decided his body was invincible.

Honestly, what the hell did killing above his level have to do with it?

Still, he had to play his part to the end.

Gu Chengming quickly adjusted his expression, returning to the look of someone who had narrowly escaped death.

He ignored the two "corpses" on the ground and swiftly scanned his surroundings.

Then, in a low, urgent, solemn voice, he muttered to himself:

"That was close... I never expected those two to be so difficult. If I hadn't fought with everything I had, I might have died here today."

"And..."

Gu Chengming crouched and pretended to inspect their clothing. His brows drew tight, his voice growing graver:

"To act so brazenly outside the sect Marketplace while wearing Daoning Gate disciple robes... There's something much deeper going on here."

"They must have accomplices lying in ambush nearby."

With that, he sprang up and grabbed the wrist of the still-stunned Jiang Lu.

Jiang Lu shuddered and finally came to his senses. Looking at the two Senior Sisters lying unconscious on the ground, still twitching faintly, he cried out in a voice that had gone shrill:

"Senior Brother Gu... Th-this..."

He pointed at the two women, his finger trembling uncontrollably.

They were Senior Sisters from Daoning Gate!

Just now, right before his eyes, Senior Brother Gu had knocked them both out in two moves?

And what had Senior Brother Gu shouted? Robber Cultivators?

Jiang Lu's thoughts were a pot of boiling porridge.

He was honest, not stupid. No matter how he looked at them, those two Senior Sisters did not resemble Robber Cultivators!

But Gu Chengming gave him no time to think.

"Junior Brother Jiang! Stop looking!"

Gu Chengming wore a righteous expression, his urgency tinged with frustration at Jiang Lu's failure to grasp the danger:

"We can't stay here!"

"These two were only bait. The real killing blow is still to come!"

"Run! If their accomplices surround us, neither of us will get away!"

Gu Chengming's alarmed tone left Jiang Lu at sixes and sevens. He almost asked, "Really?" But then he saw Gu Chengming's utterly serious face and the two Senior Sisters lying there, undeniably unconscious...

For some reason, he believed him a little more.

Had some terrifying organization really infiltrated Wenjian Sect?

"Move!"

Giving him no choice, Gu Chengming dragged Jiang Lu toward the Outer Sect Disciples' residential area at a run.

He left the two unfortunate Female Cultivators of Daoning Gate sprawled in the cold wind outside the Marketplace, waiting for patrolling law enforcement disciples to find them.

P.S. There's one more chapter coming a little later, probably after midnight. I caught a cold and woke up all muddleheaded. Sorry.

Chapter 31: Junior Brother Jiang Is Actually Pretty Nice

The wind howled as the scenery on either side streaked backward.

Only after making sure no one was chasing them did Gu Chengming slow down and steady his breathing.

In that lull, he found time to glance at the System Panel.

[Hundred Bones Cry wanted more! It thought those two blows had not been bloody enough, but at least they were swift and clean.]

[Its only regret was that you had not finished them off on the spot, pulled the weeds out by the roots, and taken their Storage Bags. But given that they had accomplices, it understood.]

Hundred Bones Cry's reaction was just what he had expected.

What surprised Gu Chengming instead was the reaction of the Pure Heart Art.

By rights, all that fighting and killing—especially an ambush that was a little "underhanded"—should have troubled a Cultivation Method devoted to keeping the "heart as still as water, untouched by all things."

Yet—

[The Clear Heart Art watched you lie through your teeth with a perfectly straight face, then knock them out with decisive efficiency. It felt a surge of delight.]

[It had never experienced this feeling before and eagerly awaited what you would do next.]

[Clear Heart Art Favorability +5]

"?"

It was one thing for Hundred Bones Cry to be a lunatic Cultivation Method, but why had the Clear Heart Art joined in?

Complaints aside, free Favorability was free Favorability.

Seeing that both Cultivation Methods approved of his performance, Gu Chengming's mood lifted.

Meanwhile, Jiang Lu, who had been bewildered the whole time, finally began to make sense of things.

The cold wind hit him, and his stalled brain started working again.

He stopped and looked at Gu Chengming, who stood beside him looking as calm as if he had just returned from buying vegetables at the market. Jiang Lu's expression grew complicated. He wanted to speak, but held back.

Everything that had happened replayed through his mind like a series of slides.

Robber Cultivators, disguises, murder and robbery...

On closer inspection, the story was riddled with holes.

Those had clearly been Senior Sisters Su He and Li Miao of Daoning Gate. They had probably heard the rumors about Senior Brother Gu and waited at the entrance to pick a fight or demand an explanation.

Instead, before they had exchanged more than a few words, Senior Brother Gu had slapped the label of "Robber Cultivator" on them and knocked them both out.

His methods had admittedly been a little... well, it had been an ambush.

But however he looked at it, Senior Brother Gu had fought two opponents alone and ended the fight in an instant despite having a lower cultivation level than either of them.

Wenjian Sect forbade disciples from killing one another, but private sparring matches and scuffles like this were hardly rare.

As long as no one died or had their cultivation crippled, the Law Enforcement Hall usually turned a blind eye.

The real trouble would be the fallout.

Jiang Lu sighed and said worriedly:

"Senior Brother Gu, I'm afraid you've really offended Daoning Gate this time."

Gu Chengming raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What makes you say that?"

"You may not know this, Senior Brother."

Jiang Lu gave a rueful smile. "Daoning Gate is a branch of our Wenjian Sect, but the Female Cultivators there... ahem, treat one another much like family."

"And they're fiercely protective of their own. Offend one, and you've practically offended a dozen."

Senior Brother Gu had made You Yuyao cry once, and now he had knocked out two more Female Cultivators. Add old grudges to new ones and round it up...

Gu Chengming did not seem particularly concerned. Something else interested him more.

Puzzled, he asked, "Junior Brother Jiang, there's something I don't understand."

"Those two Female Cultivators were both at a higher level than me, and they had plenty of Spiritual Power. But their reaction speed and swordsmanship... Forgive my bluntness, but they were remarkably mediocre."

"Are the Cultivators of Daoning Gate all so... easily defeated?"

Jiang Lu jumped at that and hurriedly said:

"Senior Brother, please don't say that where anyone can hear. Daoning Gate may belong to Wenjian Sect, but their branch's teachings focus on Daoist Arts, not swordsmanship."

"As Art Cultivators, they specialize more in Mystical Arts, Talismans, and Formation Disks. The sword in their hands is chiefly a medium for casting spells—a Magic Sword."

"Naturally, they're no match in close combat for Sword Cultivators like us, who temper our bodies day after day."

"But don't underestimate them, Senior Brother. Daoning Gate ranks second in the sect in its understanding of the Magic Sword—that is, in weaving Mystical Arts into the Sword Dao."

"If they put some distance between you and unleash a Sword Formation of Mystical Arts that blankets the sky and earth, its power is terrifying."

Gu Chengming nodded thoughtfully.

But...

"They cultivate Mystical Arts, and they're still only second in understanding the Magic Sword?" Gu Chengming seized on the oddity. "Then who's first?"

Jiang Lu froze, wondering how his Senior Brother could possibly not know. Still, he answered:

"Guizang Gate, of course."

"Guizang Gate's disciples don't cultivate Mystical Arts or refine Pills. They don't even understand how to get along with people. All they see is the sword."

"They hold their swords while they eat and while they sleep. Some even shut themselves in the Sword Mound for over a decade to practice, never once coming out."

"They pursue the purest Sword Dao and believe in One Sword Breaks All Laws. To them, everything in the world is an illusion except the sword in their hands."

"That's why Guizang Gate's people tend to be solitary and extremely difficult to get along with. If Daoning Gate is the branch ordinary Wenjian Sect disciples least want to offend after one other, Guizang Gate is unquestionably that other branch."

After explaining, Jiang Lu glanced at Gu Chengming beside him.

The way Gu Chengming had drawn his sword without hesitation, struck so ruthlessly and decisively, and displayed a talent for the Sword Dao that left Jiang Lu ashamed of his own...

A strange thought suddenly occurred to Jiang Lu:

Actually... with Senior Brother Gu's personality, he might thrive at Guizang Gate.

As they talked, they slowed their steps. Before they knew it, they had reached the area near the Outer Sect Disciples' residences.

The mood eased. Thinking back to what had happened, Jiang Lu assumed Gu Chengming was still worried about retaliation and offered some reassurance:

"Come to think of it, Senior Brother, you don't need to worry too much."