Just as Planned

Although the Huiyuan Sword Art was progressing smoothly, there was a limit to how much Favorability he could rack up by practicing every day. He couldn't exactly practice twenty-four hours a day.

As for the Clear Heart Art, he still hadn't found a clear way to win it over. He could only occasionally trigger a Favorability prompt through his everyday actions, making the process painfully slow.

That was why getting another Cultivation Method he could win over was especially important.

Gu Chengming didn't waste time. He took the token and headed straight for the sect's Scripture Repository.

The Scripture Repository stood atop Wenjian Sect's main peak. It was a grander, more imposing tower.

Gu Chengming arrived at the first floor, where a female disciple was in charge of exchanging Cultivation Methods.

She sat behind the counter, sorting through scroll after scroll of Jade Slips, her expression focused.

Gu Chengming stepped forward and placed the token Yu Wenqiu had given him on the counter.

Hearing the noise, the female disciple looked up. When she saw the token engraved with the character "Qiu," she visibly froze.

"This is... Elder Yu's token?"

She asked hesitantly, her tone uncertain.

Gu Chengming nodded and answered with a brief acknowledgment.

The female disciple couldn't help taking another look at Gu Chengming.

She gave him a once-over, her gaze lingering for a moment on his First Realm Level Three cultivation. Her brows drew together almost imperceptibly.

A good-for-nothing at First Realm Level Three.

But... he was pretty good-looking. He had delicate features and a clean-cut air about him. His cultivation was a little low, but his face could definitely hold its own.

A thought crept uncontrollably into her mind.

Could this man... be that Elder Yu's kept man?

She'd heard that Elder Yu was usually lazy and arrogant, and that, relying on her exceptional talent, she often disregarded the sect's rules. Some of the elders had already criticized her for it.

And now? She'd gone even further and started keeping a man in the sect?

The female disciple didn't know that rumors spread in private by people who resented Yu Wenqiu had already given her a terrible impression of the Elder she'd never even met.

Of course, the squabbles between elders weren't something a lowly steward disciple like her could meddle in. She wisely refrained from asking questions. Instead, she subtly stepped half a pace back, putting a little distance between herself and Gu Chengming, then asked in a businesslike tone:

"What kind of Cultivation Method does Elder Yu... want to exchange for?"

Gu Chengming thought for a moment.

Actually, he'd already made up his mind on the way here. He wanted to exchange for a Body Refining Technique.

He'd chosen a Body Refining Technique after careful consideration.

He'd noticed that when a Cultivation Method's Favorability increased, the fixed attribute points it awarded were often closely connected to the method's own characteristics.

For example, as a sword art, the Huiyuan Sword Art rewarded him with "Strength" points.

Then, following that logic, if he cultivated a Body Refining Technique, it would most likely reward him with "Constitution" points when its Favorability increased.

That might solve his current problem: his Constitution was so low that his health kept draining.

Besides, Body Refining Techniques generally didn't demand much from a cultivator's Realm. They tested the cultivator's will and ability to endure physical hardship instead, making them the most suitable Cultivation Methods for a low-Realm disciple like him.

So he stated what he was looking for:

"I'd like a Body Refining Technique. Ideally, one that doesn't require a high Realm and can temper my bones and strengthen my body."

The female disciple nodded at his request. She turned to the bookshelves behind her and skillfully searched through rows of Jade Slips.

Soon, she returned with a red Jade Slip in hand.

"This Hundred Bones Song might suit you."

She set the Jade Slip on the counter and began explaining.

"The sect acquired this Cultivation Method years ago from an ancient ruin. It's a purely external Body Refining Technique and doesn't involve Spiritual Power circulation at all, so it places no Realm requirements on its cultivators."

"Practicing it makes the bones and sinews deep within the body ring together. Once mastered, it can make body and spirit resonate, drawing the rhythms of Heaven and Earth into oneself."

"However..."

"This Cultivation Method has another characteristic."

The female disciple paused, then patiently explained:

"Practicing it consumes a great deal of the cultivator's Qi and Blood and vital essence. Anyone who practices it must supplement the body's losses with large quantities of spiritual medicine and blood-rich food. Otherwise, not only will it fail to strengthen the body, but the depletion of Qi and Blood could also damage one's foundations—and might even shorten one's lifespan."

"All in all, it's a Cultivation Method that... requires a great deal of resources. It doesn't require a high Realm, but few disciples in the sect choose to practice it."

The female disciple had clearly realized that Gu Chengming was picking a Cultivation Method for himself. She'd hesitated before recommending this one.

Even if it required a great deal of resources, as that Elder Yu's kept man, he probably wouldn't be short on them, right?

After hearing her explanation, Gu Chengming's eyes lit up.

"I'll take this one!"

The female disciple was taken aback by his decisiveness.

After all, Gu Chengming's Charm was as high as twenty-five points, which was quite useful.

It was just... what a shame.

His Realm was so low, and he was already someone else's kept man.

If only I were a High Realm Cultivator too...

The female disciple thought this to herself, but her face betrayed nothing.

She simply nodded, quickly processed Gu Chengming's exchange, and handed him a copy of Hundred Bones Song.

Throughout the process, she kept a polite but distant air, as if afraid that getting involved with Gu Chengming might offend the notoriously mercurial Elder Yu.

Plans proceeding as expected

Holding the copied text of Hundred Bones Song, Gu Chengming returned to his little courtyard.

He set the bottles and jars he'd collected from the Sword Repository Pavilion on the stone table, then eagerly opened Hundred Bones Song.

Just as the female disciple had said, the technique's instructions were simple and brutal.

There were no intricate meridian diagrams or profound verbal incantations. The entire text explained how to stimulate, pound, and temper every inch of the body's bones and muscles through various extreme methods.

For example, the first level, "Iron Skin," required the cultivator to take a hard wooden rod and repeatedly strike the skin all over their body in a specific order and with a specific amount of force, until a fine layer of blood beads appeared on the surface. Then they had to soak in a specially made medicinal liquid to repair the damage, repeating the process over and over.

Looking at the almost masochistic training methods described in the technique, Gu Chengming didn't feel the least bit afraid. Instead, he rubbed his hands together excitedly.

First, he rummaged through the pile of pills and found a bottle of Blood Replenishing Pills. He tipped out two and swallowed them, feeling a warm current spread through his belly. Then he took a deep breath and fetched a piece of hardwood as thick as his arm from a corner of the courtyard.

"Then let's get started!"

Following the diagram for the first level of Hundred Bones Song, "Iron Skin," he took off his shirt, revealing a somewhat thin but still well-proportioned upper body.

Then he raised the wooden rod, aimed it at his left arm, and brought it down hard.

"Thud!"

A dull thump.

A burst of intense pain shot through his arm, making Gu Chengming suck in a sharp breath.

But he didn't stop. Gritting his teeth and bearing the pain, he kept swinging the rod.

"Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!"

The heavy blows echoed through the quiet courtyard.

Following the sequence laid out in the technique, he worked from his arms to his chest, then his back, leaving no inch of skin untouched.

Soon, horrific red welts and bruises surfaced across his skin.

By the time he'd beaten his whole body, he looked as if he'd been hauled out of a river. Sweat drenched him, his face had gone pale, and his lips trembled slightly.

He forced himself to the stone table, poured a bottle of brown medicinal liquid into a wooden tub, and climbed inside.

"Hiss—"

The moment the liquid touched his wounds, an indescribable sting shot through him, making him grimace again.

But after the sting came a cool, soothing sensation, as if countless tiny hands were gently massaging his injured muscles and skin.

Gu Chengming soaked in the tub for a full hour.

By the time he climbed out, most of the welts and bruises had faded, replaced by a feeling of ease and comfort unlike anything he'd experienced before.

He could clearly feel that his skin had grown a little tougher.

However, when he opened the panel to check Hundred Bones Song's Favorability, he found it completely blank.

There was no Favorability displayed.

That meant he still hadn't entered the beginner stage.

"Seriously..." Gu Chengming was dumbfounded.

He'd followed every instruction in the technique and completed the first round of training without missing a step. He'd endured the pain and soaked in the medicinal liquid, yet he hadn't even gotten his foot in the door?

He refused to believe it.

Over the next few days, Gu Chengming seemed to get into a grudge match with Hundred Bones Song.

Every day, he repeated the same masochistic training routine. Beat himself, soak in medicine, beat himself again, soak in medicine again...

The Blood Replenishing Pills and Body Refining Potion he'd collected from the Sword Repository Pavilion ran out before his eyes.

And yet, three days passed.

Aside from trapping him in a daily cycle of "pain and pleasure" and making his skin more and more like old oxhide, Hundred Bones Song still hadn't shown any Favorability at all.

He still hadn't entered the beginner stage.

Only then did Gu Chengming belatedly remember something.

Although this Cultivation Method had no Realm requirements, his aptitude... was simply too poor.

This body was weak to begin with, and his aptitude was mediocre.

It was easy to imagine how difficult it would be to force his way into a Body Refining Technique that demanded so much of the body through sheer self-torment.

What a miscalculation.

Gu Chengming slumped to the ground and looked at the fresh bruises covering his body, on the verge of tears.

If he'd known it would be like this, he might as well have chosen an ordinary Cultivation Method that didn't demand so much aptitude.

Now he'd spent a pile of resources and suffered plenty, yet he hadn't even gotten his foot in the door.

While Gu Chengming was racking his brains over how to get started with Hundred Bones Song, he failed to notice that his "change of affection" over the past few days had already upset someone else.

[Huiyuan Sword Art noticed that you haven't touched it for three consecutive days.]

[So this is how it is—you find a new love and forget your old one?]

Gu Chengming couldn't help but freeze at the lines that had suddenly appeared on the panel.

Wasn't this the most common kind of love-triangle drama in a GALGAME?!

He was over here tearing his hair out over his new love's beginner-stage problem, while his old flame was already throwing a fit.

But before he could think of how to soothe this "Resentful Woman," the Clear Heart Art suddenly popped up too.

[Clear Heart Art watched what was happening with great interest. It thought this was quite amusing.]

Gu Chengming: "..."

Now he finally understood what kind of Target of Affection the Clear Heart Art was.

So it was just a troublemaker?

But as a seasoned GALGAME master, how could he be stumped by this tiny bit of love-triangle drama?

Gu Chengming reacted lightning-fast. Almost as soon as the Huiyuan Sword Art's self-pitying lines appeared, he wiped the expression from his face and replaced it with one of deep regret and sadness.

He stood up and walked over to the Wood Sword hanging on the wall. With an expression full of longing and reluctance, he gently stroked its blade.

"Sigh..."

He let out a long sigh, his voice full of helplessness: