[It let out a warning buzz at the battered mass of Flowing Cloud Following Moon Sword Intent.]
This scene only made the newly arrived sword art even angrier.
[Flowing Cloud Following Moon let out a string of cold laughs, finding the whole scene utterly ridiculous.]
[It mocked, "Birds of a feather flock together. The sword art and the Sword Cultivator are both rotten to the core."]
["When I saw this lousy sword art twisting itself out of shape just to become stronger, I thought you were ambitious and had potential. But now it seems you're just a sword art that's content to sink into depravity, destined to be toyed with by a Sword Cultivator and then cast aside."]
["And you're actually protecting him? How utterly laughable."]
Yet those words seemed to have no effect at all.
[Huiyuan Sword Art merely chuckled. It couldn't be bothered to argue, and didn't even deign to offer an explanation.]
That attitude seemed to remind Flowing Cloud Following Moon of what had happened earlier.
[Flowing Cloud Following Moon was at a loss for words.]
[It felt as if a massive rock were lodged in its chest, leaving it unable to breathe freely or swallow—suffocating with frustration.]
[Perhaps realizing that its earlier words had only humiliated itself, it gave a cold snort and fell silent, vanishing from sight so it wouldn't have to look at them.]
Just then, a certain presence that had been in "spectator mode" the entire time finally couldn't resist popping up.
[Clear Heart Art had witnessed the whole farce and found it rather amusing.]
[Clear Heart Art Favorability +1]
[Current Favorability: 65 / Liked]
The sudden notification made Gu Chengming pause. Only then did it dawn on him. Holy crap, Clear Heart Art, when did your Favorability already reach 65?! How did you jump straight to the "Liked" stage in the blink of an eye? That's one hell of a fast increase!
[Clear Heart Art chuckled.]
[It thought that if it hadn't reminded him, Gu Chengming might have gone another ten days or half a month before noticing.]
[Sigh, it had always kept a low profile and never liked fighting for attention, but being ignored like this still made it a little sad.]
Gu Chengming felt awkward and hurriedly checked Clear Heart Art's status changes. He hadn't known what he was missing; now that he saw it, he was stunned. The Favorability increase had only been five or six points, but the change was a qualitative leap.
On his status panel, the previous [Friendly] state had changed to [Liked].
And the benefits that came with the change were tangible.
First, there were attribute points. A full two [Fixed Spirit Attribute Points] had been added directly to his stats.
Spirit was the hardest attribute to improve. Those two points would give him a little more confidence when facing Soul Attacks.
Next came the change to its permanent passive ability.
The passive skill that had previously been called [Clear Mind], which kept his mind sharp at all times, had disappeared.
In its place was a brand-new, seemingly higher-level state—
[Insightful Eyes].
[Effect: Read people's hearts and distinguish truth from falsehood. At critical moments, see through the other party's true intentions and receive corresponding Dialogue Option prompts.]
Before Gu Chengming could process the effect of the new passive, his vision suddenly blurred.
Then three translucent option boxes, just like a game interface, clearly appeared before his eyes.
Was this the effect of "Insightful Eyes"?
Gu Chengming stared at them.
[Option One: You've been by my side all this time, and I've long grown used to your presence, as naturally as breathing. That's why sometimes I end up overlooking you. I'm sorry.]
[Option Two: It's not too late. As long as I can remember you, it'll never be too late. You're my right-hand man. I can lose anyone but you.]
[Option Three: Don't rush me. I'll make it up to you with two more storybooks.]
Holy crap, Dialogue Options?!
P.S.: Seven thousand words in total, the equivalent of three and a half chapters. There's more coming; I'll do my best to update fifteen thousand words today.
Hmm? Heh heh, there are options to choose from now, too.
Gu Chengming looked at the translucent boxes floating before him and suddenly felt like happiness had come too abruptly.
First there was CG Gallery, then beautiful character art, and now even Dialogue Options had shown up.
Could this really be a Galgame?
Whatever the case, seeing these elements put Gu Chengming in a great mood.
As a Gal Expert, nothing was more reassuring than seeing a familiar system interface.
He composed himself and began carefully studying the new passive skill called [Insightful Eyes].
On the surface, there was nothing wrong with any of the three options.
Based on Gu Chengming's years of experience winning over Paper Figures, all three should be "positive options." Whichever one he chose, it probably wouldn't lower Favorability.
But as for the results... those would likely be worlds apart.
The three options were clearly three different ways of responding to Clear Heart Art's slightly jealous remark.
If it were Huiyuan Sword Art, option one or two would surely work best. But Clear Heart Art was different.
Given Clear Heart Art's personality, it probably wouldn't like such sappy words.
Gu Chengming stroked his chin as he analyzed the situation.
Perhaps [Insightful Eyes] didn't directly tell you which choice was correct. Instead, it helped you break down the other party's personality and offered a way to approach them through these concrete options.
Some personality traits were difficult to discern just by looking. With Insightful Eyes, he should be able to get a lot of help when trying to win over Cultivation Methods whose personalities he wasn't familiar with.
Thinking of this, Gu Chengming felt he'd really struck gold this time.
He thought, If only I'd started raising Clear Heart Art's Favorability sooner. My first Target of Affection even had a hidden mechanic.
Then he chose option three.
"Don't rush me. I'll make it up to you with the DLC for two more storybooks."
He replied in his mind.
With that, he didn't waste any time. Ignoring the ache in his body, he immediately began planning the DLC for the third storybook.
Sure enough, the results were outstanding.
[Clear Heart Art had still been feeling sorry for itself, but the moment it heard that, its mood changed.]
[It thought that although Gu Chengming could be pretty dense sometimes, his perceptiveness in certain areas was truly impressive.]
[Since he'd shown such sincerity, it would magnanimously forgive him for overlooking it. Now hurry up and write. It wanted to read.]
Heh. Women.
No, wait. Cultivation Methods.
With Clear Heart Art taken care of, Gu Chengming was in high spirits. Even the pain in his body seemed to have eased a little.
He leaned against the headboard, planning out the new story in his mind while chatting with Huiyuan Sword Art now and then.
Although Huiyuan Sword Art had reverted to its original name, after the "Flowing Light Sword Shadow" incident, it had clearly become more confident.
It no longer acted so timidly all the time, and occasionally even joked with Gu Chengming. The change made him quite pleased.
The sun slanted westward. In the late afternoon, a rush of footsteps came from outside the little courtyard.
"Senior Brother Gu! Senior Brother Gu, are you there?"
The voice was clear and steady. There was no need to look to know it was Jiang Lu.
Gu Chengming had barely answered when the door was flung open.
Jiang Lu rushed in, all fired up. At the sight of Gu Chengming lying pale-faced in bed with several medicine bottles around him, he was instantly alarmed.
"Senior Brother?! What happened to you?"
Jiang Lu's eyes widened. As if he'd thought of something, he cried out:
"Did that Senior Sister from Daoning Gate really put a sack over your head and beat you up?!"
"..."
Gu Chengming was speechless.
What kind of reputation did Daoning Gate have at Wenjian Sect?
"Don't make wild guesses."
Gu Chengming waved a hand, jarring his wound and prompting a couple of coughs.
"I just had a mishap while cultivating and suffered a backlash."
"A mishap while cultivating?"
Jiang Lu gave him a strange look, sizing him up from head to toe.
What kind of mishap could leave someone looking half-dead like this?
Could Senior Brother Gu be refusing to admit a Female Cultivator beat him up just to save face?
Jiang Lu grumbled to himself, but didn't dare show it on his face in case he hurt his senior brother's pride.
He quickly changed the subject, no longer pressing him about the cause of his injuries.
"Um, Senior Brother, I came here mainly to talk to you about the upcoming Disciple Assessment."
Jiang Lu pulled over a chair and sat down, his expression growing a little more serious.
"I just heard from the Steward's Hall that they've made a rare change to the rules this time. Compared with previous years, when they simply ranked everyone by cultivation level, this time they've added a lot of new tests, with more emphasis on Dao Heart and the practical application of swordsmanship."
As he spoke, he glanced at Gu Chengming and added:
"This is definitely good news for you, Senior Brother! Your cultivation may be a little low, but your swordsmanship is unquestionably exquisite."
Gu Chengming gave a slight nod.
"I think you'll most likely pass the assessment this time, Senior Brother."
Jiang Lu continued, his voice carrying a hint of excitement.
"But if you can, try to perform as well as possible."
"After all, there are rewards for the assessment. Just getting noticed by the elders is already a great opportunity, and the top few contestants will receive resources the sect has prepared in advance. Even if you don't place in the top few, a good performance can still bring you benefits."
Gu Chengming nodded, understanding.
He'd already made up his mind about that.
Regardless of those so-called resources, he couldn't afford to embarrass himself in the assessment when he still owed Elder Ren a favor.
Although Jiang Lu had said the assessment favored Senior Brother Gu and was genuinely happy for him, his brow furrowed again when he saw Gu Chengming's pale face and smelled the medicine on him.
Senior Brother Gu had ended up in this state just before the assessment. Even if he said it was nothing serious, judging by the looks of things, he could barely get out of bed.
Wouldn't this affect his performance in the Disciple Assessment?
That Female Cultivator from Daoning Gate really wouldn't let up even when she had the upper hand. The senior brothers had been right about her.
Gu Chengming had no idea Jiang Lu was imagining all this.
He shifted in his seat a little and asked:
"By the way, Junior Brother Jiang, do you know why they suddenly changed the assessment rules this year?"
The rules at Wenjian Sect had always remained unchanged for centuries. There must have been a reason for this sudden change.
At that, Jiang Lu glanced around, then leaned closer and lowered his voice conspiratorially.
"Ah, I only heard this through the grapevine."
"Apparently, a swordsmanship prodigy has emerged from the neighboring Yunyue Sect. The kind of genius who stays quiet until suddenly making a stunning debut."
"That person spent years diligently cultivating Sword Intent at the first realm, remaining unknown the whole time. Then, in a single flash of insight, their cultivation rocketed upward like a rocket, leaving everyone their age in the dust."
"When the news reached our sect, the elders all grew green-eyed with envy. They kept saying things like, 'This should have been Wenjian Sect's story,' and 'We're the orthodox Sword Cultivators—how did they beat us to it?'"
Before you continue