The Supreme Emperor Art of the Primordial Beginning, Boundless Myriad Qi, Source of the Dao, True Ruler of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Sovereign of the Cosmos! (Continued)

Gu Chengming was left with a head full of question marks.

Of course, in the days that followed, Gu Chengming continued cultivating as usual.

He had originally thought visitors would come knocking one after another. After all, seventh place seemed like an easy target.

But strangely, three whole days went by without a single challenger—or even anyone coming to sound him out.

This left Gu Chengming rather puzzled.

Whatever the reason, it was always nice not to be bothered.

With Hundred Bones Ming gone, Gu Chengming shifted his attention to Flowing Cloud Following Moon.

As for this sword technique, well...

Its temperament was atrocious.

Gu Chengming tried interacting with it, but the technique's response was blunt.

[Don't come near it]

"..."

Still, Gu Chengming wasn't one to give up easily.

If the usual methods weren't working, he'd have to try another approach.

So far, Gu Chengming had only managed to sum up two traits of Flowing Cloud Following Moon.

One was that it absolutely hated Sword Cultivators; the other was that its moods swung wildly.

To sum it up...

A misanthropic landmine woman?

Gu Chengming shuddered.

But he could figure out a few things from its history.

The main reason it hated Sword Cultivators was that it had once been a Musical Cultivation Method, forcibly transformed into a sword technique.

Maybe approaching it through music would break the stalemate?

As he thought this, Gu Chengming suddenly felt dizzy.

Insightful Eyes activated.

All right, all right, here it comes. I've been waiting for this!

A little pleased, Gu Chengming fixed his eyes on the options before him.

[Option One: Join Flowing Cloud Following Moon in cursing Sword Cultivators.]

[Option Two: Self-mutilate and carve a Flower Saber into yourself.]

[Option Three: Cater to its tastes, compose some little tunes, and try to move it.]

What the hell was Option Two?

Did winning over a landmine woman mean carving a Flower Saber into himself?

Oh, right. Given Flowing Cloud Following Moon's temperament, maybe his self-mutilation as a Sword Cultivator really would raise its Favorability.

But the more Gu Chengming thought about it, the less reliable it seemed. Besides, Huiyuan Sword Art definitely wouldn't let him do something like that.

As for the other option... Option One probably wouldn't get him very far.

That left only Option Three.

Gu Chengming stroked his chin.

Though he'd barely touched music in this life, at least in his previous one he'd been a modern person who'd grown up listening to pop music.

If he wanted to move this former Musical Cultivation Method, he'd have to bring out something substantial.

Something too classical might bore it; something too modern might go over its head.

He needed a middle ground: something with an ancient charm, a fresh touch, and a hint of melancholy and scholarly elegance.

A flash of inspiration struck Gu Chengming.

The Orchid Pavilion Prelude.

Once the idea came to him, he got right to it.

As his thoughts flowed, a lilting melody seemed to ring out in his sea of consciousness.

The piece ended.

Flowing Cloud Following Moon finally reacted.

[...]

[What is this supposed to be?]

Gu Chengming's face stiffened.

Damn it, you can insult me all you want, but you can't insult Wang Xizhi!

Of course, he didn't dare say that aloud.

[Flowing Cloud Following Moon said, "The five notes—Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, Yu—are all out of tune, and the transitions are unbearably clumsy."]

[It sneered. "As expected, Sword Cultivators have vulgar taste."]

Sorry, Wang Xizhi. I've let you down.

However, just as Gu Chengming thought this attempt had failed, a notification appeared.

[Flowing Cloud Following Moon Favorability +5]

[Current Favorability: 10/Stranger]

Gu Chengming: "..."

Clear Heart Art, looks like you're the same type of stand-in.

Days flowed by like water, unremarkable and tinged with a touch of tedium.

After The Orchid Pavilion Prelude had suffered a disastrous defeat, Gu Chengming didn't give up.

He figured perhaps the piece had been too gentle and didn't suit Flowing Cloud Following Moon's temperament. Or perhaps his out-of-tune Spiritual Sense rendition had been so awful that he'd butchered a classic.

So, over the next few days, Gu Chengming thought long and hard and decided to try a different approach.

To cater to the sword technique's "misanthropic" mood, he even specially sought out a few tunes that were gloomy and brimming with a sense of brokenness.

But Flowing Cloud Following Moon never paid him any attention. It seemed to genuinely think the songs he'd copied were awful.

All right, this approach probably wasn't going to work.

Just as Gu Chengming was about to head into the courtyard and practice Basic Sword Art a few more times, a hurried knock came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Senior Brother Gu, are you in the courtyard?"

The voice was familiar. It was Jiang Lu.

Gu Chengming sheathed his sword, went over, and opened the gate.

Jiang Lu stood outside, wearing a rather peculiar expression.

"Junior Brother Jiang?" Gu Chengming's heart stirred faintly as he stepped aside. "Come in. Let's talk."

The two sat down at the stone table in the courtyard. Gu Chengming poured two cups of tea and watched Jiang Lu hesitate, unable to speak. He couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

"Junior Brother Jiang, have you come with something important?" Gu Chengming asked tentatively.

Jiang Lu picked up his teacup but didn't drink. He just turned it over in his hands, and after a long pause, finally managed to say:

"Senior Brother Gu, something big has happened."

Gu Chengming's heart gave a thud.

"Good news or bad news?"

Jiang Lu hesitated for a moment, brows knitted as if he were trying to find the right words. At last, he spoke slowly:

"Well... it's bad news for everyone else, but good news for you, Senior Brother Gu."

Gu Chengming: "?"

What kind of cryptic nonsense was that?

"What happened, exactly?"

"Senior Brother, you've been shut away these past few days, so you wouldn't know. In just these three days, every one of the top ten spots in the Disciple Assessment has changed hands—except for yours, which has remained rock-steady!"

"All of them?"

Gu Chengming was a little surprised.

He remembered the other nine as being quite formidable. And if all their spots had changed hands, why had no one come looking for him?

By rights, shouldn't he have been the easiest one to challenge?

Before Gu Chengming could puzzle it out, Jiang Lu started telling him about the bizarre affair that had taken place in the Outer Sect over the past few days.

It turned out that on the second day after the tournament ended, one of the top-ten disciples had deliberately lost a challenge match to a friend, handing over his spot.

According to the rules, even though he'd lost, as a top-ten disciple who'd failed to defend his spot, the sect would still give him half of his usual benefits as consolation.

After his friend took his place, he received the full reward.

The two had privately agreed that the friend would give him eight-tenths of the full reward he'd received.

That way, even though this "loser" had given up his spot, the resources he got amounted to half from the sect's consolation payment plus eight-tenths from his friend—a total of 1.3 times the usual resources.

That was thirty percent more than he would've gotten by fighting tooth and nail to defend his spot.

And though his friend was left with only two-tenths, even that was free money! With his ability, he couldn't have broken into the top ten at all. Getting a share of the spoils was already a huge windfall.

"?" A question mark popped above Gu Chengming's head.

You could do that? Was this some kind of Princess Connect PvP arena?

He suppressed the urge to comment and asked, "What happened after that?"

"Of course it all came to light. The Law Hall Elder had been in seclusion, but then he checked the accounts and saw that the rewards handed out over the past few days exceeded the total from the previous ten years. He nearly passed out on the spot."

"Every disciple involved had to return all their ill-gotten gains. On top of that, they were sent to Repentance Cliff for three months of wall-facing reflection and made to copy the sect rules a thousand times. They say the line of people sent to Repentance Cliff that day stretched all the way down to the foot of the mountain."

"You're the only one in the entire top ten who's clean and aboveboard, Senior Brother Gu!"

"The elders are all praising you. They say your Dao Heart is steadfast, that you aren't swayed by worldly things, and that you're a role model for us all!"

Gu Chengming: "..."

Good thing no one had invited him to join in. Otherwise, he'd have charged a cut.

That was what he thought, but his expression turned solemn as he said:

"As a Sword Cultivator, one should seek what is right through the sword in one's hand. How could one stoop to crooked means? A trifling gain can unsettle the Dao Heart. It's hardly worth the price."

Jiang Lu clasped his hands and said:

"Senior Brother, your noble character is admirable! I'd considered it myself, but after hearing your words, I'm truly ashamed."

Gu Chengming waved a hand, signaling that there was no need for formalities.

The two chatted a while longer before Jiang Lu finally got up to take his leave.

After seeing Jiang Lu off, Gu Chengming thought to himself that the Sword Cultivators of Wenjian Sect weren't very honest.

The night breeze was cool as it swept past the Old Sophora Tree in the courtyard. Its branches and leaves rustled, and a few fallen leaves spun down, soundlessly settling on the ground.

Gu Chengming looked up at the sky. The clouds had thickened, veiling most of the moonlight.

He looked away and was about to turn back inside when he suddenly stopped.

The next moment, a line of text appeared before Gu Chengming.

[Hundred Bones Ming: Primordial Infinite Myriad-Qi Dao-Origin True Sovereign, Sole Supremacy of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, Cosmic Emperor Art! (CG not unlocked)]

[Current Unlock Progress: 0%]