Gal Martial Saint

A winding stone path wound through layers of restrictions, leading straight to the mountain peak.

Ren Wencai, with his hands behind his back, led Gu Chengming up the steps.

Although his expression was calm and composed, his peripheral vision was constantly, subtly glancing at the youth behind him.

He had agreed to Gu Chengming's request, partly for the upcoming Disciple Assessment, wanting this unpolished jade to shine brighter before others, but also due to a hidden, personal motive.

He was somewhat curious. How far could a freak who, in just a few days, had managed to imbue the tricky sword technique Flowing Light Sword Shadow with a "Sword Cultivator's Special Attack" flavor, actually get before the Sword Seeking Stone?

"We're here."

Ren Wencai stopped.

With a wave of his sleeve, the clouds and mist before them were as if torn apart by an invisible, giant hand, revealing the suffocating true form behind.

Gu Chengming's breath hitched, his pupils contracting slightly.

It was a giant stone.

Or rather, it was a majestic small mountain.

It was a deep, dark cyan color throughout, over a hundred zhang tall, like a broken giant sword plunged into the earth. The stone body was mottled, crisscrossed with countless marks of varying depths.

Some were like dragons and snakes taking flight, some like trickling streams, some were just a point of cold light. Even from dozens of zhang away, the sword pressure still assailed him, making Gu Chengming's skin ache.

Around the Sword Seeking Stone, several stewards on guard saw the Great Elder of Huiyuan Gate arrive and quickly dispersed their auras, bowing respectfully.

"Greetings, Elder Ren."

Ren Wencai nodded slightly, saying nothing more. He merely stepped aside and pointed at the giant stone:

"This is the Sword Seeking Stone."

He looked at Gu Chengming and explained:

"The Sword Seeking Stone is surrounded by its own domain. The closer you get, the stronger the Innate Sword Qi's pressure on your Divine Soul and Physical Body becomes. It will interrogate your Dao Heart and crush your will."

"For a First Realm disciple, walking thirty steps on those Ninety-Nine Steps is considered to have a firm will; if one can reach seventy steps, they are an outer sect prodigy."

Having said this, Ren Wencai paused, his gaze sweeping over the shocking sword marks on the stone wall:

"As for those sword marks..."

"Only by withstanding the mountain-and-sea-like pressure, facing one's true heart, and at the limit of both Divine Soul and Physical Body, still being able to unleash an unregretted sword strike and receive the Sword Seeking Stone's acknowledgment, can one leave a mark."

"Typically, those who can achieve this are usually Sword Cultivators of the Second Realm or above."

Gu Chengming listened quietly, his gaze locked onto the inconspicuous, yet still present, faint traces in the bottom corner of the stone wall.

"Go."

Ren Wencai took a step back, clearing the path to the steps.

The steps stretched endlessly towards the sky.

Gu Chengming took a deep breath, adjusted his breathing, and then took the first step.

"Hum--"

The moment his foot landed, a low sword hum seemed to sound in his ears.

The air became viscous, like walking in water, but this was nothing to the current Gu Chengming.

He walked steadily, step by step, climbing upwards without haste.

Five steps, ten steps, fifteen steps...

Ren Wencai stood in the distance, nodding slightly.

"Hmm, the first twenty steps should be as easy as walking on flat ground for him. After all, he has First Realm Level Five cultivation. If he can't even do this, then it's too..."

Before the thought was finished, Gu Chengming had already crossed the thirtieth step.

The dividing line representing "steadfast will" was crossed by him as easily as stepping over his own doorstep.

Ren Wencai raised an eyebrow, his movements stopping.

At this moment, Gu Chengming finally felt a trace of pressure.

It wasn't just an increase in gravity, but a stinging sensation originating from the mental level.

It was as if countless tiny sharp swords were constantly cutting at his skin, drilling into his pores, trying to find the weak points in his will.

[Flowing Light Sword Shadow: CG Unlocked Degree +1]

In his mind, that familiar yet strange voice sounded.

[Huiyuan Sword Art chuckled.]

[It asked if you needed its help? As long as you use that move, this level of obstruction will be nothing...]

Gu Chengming's steps faltered slightly.

He knew she wanted to help him. If he activated that advanced sword art and countered the pressure with its sharp sword intent, he could indeed make things much easier.

But he didn't speak, just lifted his leg again.

The fortieth step.

Sweat began to seep from his forehead, sliding down his cheeks.

Gu Chengming's breathing grew heavy, the thumping of his heart echoing in his ears.

The eightieth step.

The pressure increased dramatically!

Every inch of his muscles cried out in agony, his bones emitting "crackling" sounds under the unbearable strain.

Ren Wencai's expression finally changed.

He had initially thought that eighty steps would be Gu Chengming's limit.

After all, this was a trial for the Divine Soul. If one's Dao Heart was unstable, they couldn't take a single step, and it was also greatly related to one's Realm.

No matter how firm one's will, they were still only First Realm Level Five.

But this kid...

He looked at that retreating figure. Although it trembled slightly, although his clothes were soaked with sweat, his spine was held perfectly straight.

"Is this kid's willpower truly this tenacious?"

The eighty-fifth step.

Gu Chengming's vision began to blur.

The Sword Seeking Stone before him seemed to come alive, countless chaotic voices exploding in his mind.

"Go back, you're just an ordinary person."

"Your Lifespan is only a few years, why endure such torment..."

"Use that Advanced Sword Art! You'll be fine if you use it! Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

"Isn't it good to be alive?"

Gu Chengming stopped.

He stood on the eighty-fifth step, his whole body trembling. A faint trickle of blood seeped from his seven orifices, staining his Outer Sect Disciple's grey robe in a mottled, bizarre pattern.

Watching this scene, Ren Wencai's heart tightened, and he instinctively raised his hand to call a halt.

Too much is as bad as too little.

This had already far exceeded his expectations. If he forced himself further, he might injure himself.

"Gu Chengming! That's enough! Come down!"

Ren Wencai shouted in a deep voice, his voice laced with Spiritual Power, trying to awaken the youth lost in his obsession.

However, Gu Chengming did not retreat.

He slowly raised his head, his eyes, stained red with blood, stared intently at the Sword Seeking Stone within reach through his blurred vision.

"I want to live."

"But I don't want to turn you into another being just to survive."

[...]

The voice in his mind abruptly stopped.

Gu Chengming laughed.

"I know you're scared. You're afraid you're just a Basic Sword Art, afraid you can't keep up with me, afraid that one day I'll discard you and let you gather dust."

"So, even if you twist yourself into a form you don't even recognize, you want to prove to me that you're useful."

As he spoke, he felt his Gala Soul burning!

"But I don't need that..."

"The reason I've come this far isn't because of some Flowing Light Sword Shadow, but because of you, who accompanied me as I swung my sword a thousand, ten thousand times, day after day!"

"I don't want a perfect tool, I want the Huiyuan Sword Art!"

It was as if something shattered deep within his soul.

That magnificent outer shell called "Flowing Light Sword Shadow" was, at this moment, forcibly stripped away and shattered by Gu Chengming's almost fanatical will.

[Huiyuan Sword Art: Flowing Light Sword Shadow (CG Not Unlocked)]

That line flickered wildly, and finally, the four characters "Flowing Light Sword Shadow" gradually faded, returning to its simple, unadorned name.

Accompanying this was an unprecedented, pure, and extreme intention.

In Ren Wencai's sight, the figure that had been on the verge of collapse actually moved again.

Not shuffling step by step.

But a sudden surge!

He endured the terrifying pressure that could crush a First Realm Cultivator into dust, like a madman, leaping ten Steps at a time, instantly charging to the front of the Sword Seeking Stone!

Blood spurted out like a spring. His skin cracked, his muscles tore, and his entire body instantly turned into a bloody mess.

But the wooden sword in his hand was as steady as a rock.

There were no flashy afterimages, no strange aura. Nor was there any breathtaking speed.

Gu Chengming held the sword with both hands, his eyes no longer seeing anything else, only the giant stone before him that bore the glory of countless prodigies.

He remembered that afternoon when he first entered the sect, remembered the awkwardness of holding the wooden sword for the first time.

Gu Chengming used the last ounce of strength in his body and fiercely thrust out the ordinary wooden sword.

Amidst the crisscrossing, sky-piercing sword intents, beside the marks representing peerless prodigies and the Great Dao.

A small, shallow white dot appeared.

It was the most basic, simplest, and most unremarkable move in the world.

It was also the only sword mark belonging to the Huiyuan Sword Art in the thousands of years this Sword Seeking Stone had existed.

Gu Chengming maintained his sword-striking posture, his consciousness already lost in unconsciousness, his body softly collapsing.

And the moment he fell, the CG scene in his mind, which had never been unlocked, finally seemed to break free from some kind of restriction and slowly lit up.

In the scene, there were no dazzling special effects, nor any graceful fairies.

There was only a small phantasmal image, dressed in coarse linen, sitting on a pile of ruins, holding a wooden sword taller than herself. Although her face was streaked with tears, she looked at the camera and revealed a not-so-perfect, but extremely brilliant, silly smile.

[Huiyuan Sword Art Affinity +10]

[Huiyuan Sword Art Affinity: 100/Life and Death Together]

[Bond Mission Complete.]

[CG Unlocked]

PS: A total of 8,000 words have been updated, equivalent to four chapters.

Chapter 46: On Shelving Statement