Kicked forcibly out of the Love Hundred Bones Resonance room, the surrounding stillness stood in sharp contrast to the overwhelming, all-crushing might that had filled the training grounds moments before.
Gu Chengming rubbed his chest, which still ached faintly; the residual force of that punch seemed to linger in his body.
It was a long while before he managed to sort out his thoughts.
There was no doubt that this "Hundred Bones Resonance phantom" behaved worlds apart from the pale phantom he'd encountered before in the Love Huiyuan Sword Formula room.
That pale phantom had been like a machine that knew only how to execute "perfect sword techniques," utterly devoid of emotion. This Hundred Bones Resonance phantom, by contrast, not only looked identical to the personified image of the Hundred Bones Resonance, but even displayed vivid emotional coloring.
She would sigh at how feeble Gu Chengming's attacks were, crook a finger in contemptuous provocation, and after catching a killing move like "Hundred Emperor, aid me" barehanded, she flaunted an unmistakable air of "arrogance" and "disappointment."
Soon enough, though, Gu Chengming shook his head.
Overanalyzing the difference in emotional display between the two would do little of practical use for clearing the level at hand.
Recalling their brief clash, he realized the phantom's choice to abandon all defense and simply let him land his strongest blow, though on the surface it looked like brazen provocation, was better understood — if broken down through the game mechanics of his past life — as a damage-output test.
Because when he'd used "Hundred Emperor, aid me," it had triggered no "point-clashing" condition of the sort that arose in sword-technique duels.
In other words, the Hundred Bones Resonance phantom simply had no "counterattack" or "move-breaking" defensive actions programmed in. She had truly just stood there rigidly and taken all the damage head-on.
If the damage failed to meet the threshold, she would clear the field with a single backhand punch.
But now that he'd worked out the mechanics, his exasperation only deepened, and he grumbled inwardly.
"Old Hundred, your stat sheet is set way too absurdly high…"
By any reasonable measure, "Hundred Emperor, aid me" was the highest single-target burst-damage trump card Gu Chengming could currently muster — yet against that phantom, it seemed to deal no substantial damage whatsoever.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance seemed especially crestfallen: Could it be because I myself am too weak?]
Hearing this, Gu Chengming let out a helpless sigh and offered comfort. "No, quite the opposite. We can't beat her precisely because you're too strong."
Because, according to the theory from the Love Huiyuan Sword Formula room earlier, this Hundred Bones Resonance phantom should likewise represent "the limit the Hundred Bones Resonance could reach in its theoretical state."
So it was precisely because the Hundred Bones Resonance was so strong that they now faced this rather insurmountable situation.
[Hearing this, the Hundred Bones Resonance snapped upright, planted its hands on its hips, its earlier gloom swept clean away as it grew smug: Hahahaha! So that's it! Since that phantom is my limit, naturally it ought to carry such peerless, world-conquering grace!
[Heavenly Emperor Gu! Do not lose heart! Sooner or later we shall trample her underfoot!]
Just who was it that lost heart a moment ago?
Gu Chengming thought wearily.
Well, seeing Old Hundred so carefree and thick-skinned, at least he wouldn't have to trouble himself over how to console it for now.
In the peaceful days after returning to the Wenjian Sect, apart from occasionally going to the training grounds to instruct the younger generation, Gu Chengming spent nearly all his remaining time in the little courtyard on the back hill.
Refusing to accept defeat, he went on to attempt the Love Hundred Bones Resonance room twice more in succession.
Through repeated probing, Gu Chengming teased out a few of the unusual features of this new room.
Unlike the Love Huiyuan Sword Formula, which imposed the strict constraint of adhering to pure sword-dao rules and dueling only with the Huiyuan Sword Formula's techniques —
here in the broad training grounds of the Love Hundred Bones Resonance, the rules were loose in the extreme.
To put it in the phantom's haughty terms: use whatever means you like, so long as you can break my guard.
In this room, Gu Chengming could freely use any cultivation technique, any move, any CG effect he'd already unlocked — he could even bring in the Dharma Swords from outside.
This undoubtedly enriched his tactical options enormously.
On his second attempt, for instance, Gu Chengming selected ten ancient swords of extremely high grade from the Sword-Burial Clan and activated the bond of the "Ten Perfections Sword Formation." He then wound the transformed "Entanglement" sword intent onto the formation, coiling it layer upon layer around the Hundred Bones Resonance phantom, hoping thereby to greatly weaken her physical defense.
Only after laying all this groundwork did Gu Chengming draw a deep breath and unleash his blood-and-qi power without reservation.
"Hundred Emperor, aid me!"
His mightiest punch, wrapped in the strangling force of the sword formation, slammed into the Hundred Bones Resonance phantom's chest.
Yet the result was still despair-inducing.
The instant the formation touched the phantom's protective gang-qi, it shattered inch by inch; the ten ancient swords went tumbling backward with a mournful cry. And Gu Chengming's strongest punch was once again caught, almost carelessly, in the phantom's single hand.
The phantom hadn't so much as shifted her feet a hair.
She patted her palm, the disappointment in her eyes growing thicker, then delivered another backhand — a straight punch that looked slow yet was impossible to dodge.
Predictably, Gu Chengming was blasted flying once more; his vision went black, and he was ejected from the CG interface.
Lying on the bed in the back-hill courtyard, gazing at the plain wooden ceiling, Gu Chengming's eyes looked utterly hollow.
The string of setbacks, far from stoking his anger, instead gave rise to a sense of release.
He recalled a popular manga he'd read in his past life, and found himself resonating intensely with that strongest sorcerer who'd been cut in half at the waist.
Gu Chengming folded his hands over his belly and, expressionless, silently recited that classic line to himself.
"Sorry I couldn't give Lady Hundred Bones Resonance a good time."
The threshold of this damage check was simply beyond anything he could reach at present.
It seemed that until he broke through in cultivation realm or found some new guard-breaking mechanism, there was no point thinking about clearing this Love Hundred Bones Resonance room for now.
Just as Gu Chengming lay in the back-hill courtyard questioning his life choices at the ceiling —
At Yu Wenqiu's residence, two people sat beside the stone table in the courtyard.
One was, of course, Yu Wenqiu, once again clad in the Wenjian Sect Elder's robes. At the moment she had her head buried in her hands, wishing she could shrink under the stone table entirely.
Seated across from her was a delicate-featured female disciple.
This disciple was named Lin Wan — the kind-hearted fellow disciple who used to cover Yu Wenqiu's guard shifts back when Gu Chengming was searching for someone in the Scripture Repository. Besides studying sword manuals, Lin Wan's greatest hobby was collecting all manner of romance storybooks about gifted scholars and beautiful maidens, which was why the two got along reasonably well.
Just now, this female disciple set her teacup down hard on the stone table with a crisp, muffled thud, wearing the look of someone exasperated that iron simply couldn't be forged into steel.
"Elder Yu, what am I even supposed to say about you…"
Lin Wan was quite at a loss. "Just think back over it yourself — what kind of thing was that to say?"
Lin Wan drew a deep breath and raised her pitch, mimicking Yu Wenqiu's tone at the time.
"'Stay by this Elder's side and write storybooks for the rest of your life!' Elder Yu, who on earth is supposed to understand a line like that?!"
Yu Wenqiu covered her flushed cheeks with both hands, a thread-thin whimper escaping between her fingers.
Lin Wan had no intention of letting her off. "That's just too spineless! You, a dignified Fourth Realm great cultivator — out there facing demonic cultivators you never retreated a single step, so how did you go and chicken out like this at the crucial moment?"
At last Yu Wenqiu broke and defended herself. "It was my first time! The first time I've ever confessed my feelings to a man — I was so nervous I didn't even know where to put my hands. And Little Gu was looking at me so sincerely just then; if I'd said it outright and got rejected, how awkward would it be running into each other around the sect day in and day out…"
The more she spoke, the less conviction she had, until it dissolved into a long sigh.
"Failing the first time is perfectly normal, isn't it? Those heroines in the storybooks all have to go through plenty of twists and turns before they finally get their happy ending too."
"Elder, reality isn't a storybook!" Lin Wan mercilessly punctured her fantasy. "Do you still not see the situation clearly? What's Senior Brother Gu's standing now? A peerless prodigy near the top of the Hidden Dragon List! Deputy Commander of the Night-Watch Bureau! Even the sect head places high hopes in him."
"Believe me — the moment he shows his face at this Grand Tournament, the fairy maidens of every major sect will pounce on him like cats catching the scent of fish!"
Lin Wan raised two fingers. "You've got the advantage of proximity — the pavilion nearest the water gets the moonlight first, after all, since the two of you went through hardship together. But Elder, if you keep putting on those elder's airs, spending all day only discussing which pastries to eat and which storybooks to read, then in Senior Brother Gu's eyes you'll forever be nothing but a pet that needs looking after!"
A pet — now that was just insulting!
Yu Wenqiu sat bolt upright, about to retort, but lacking any conviction she could only slump onto the table. "Then what am I supposed to do now? I can't very well go charging into his courtyard right now, grab his hand and shout that I like him, can I?"
"Go now? The timing's wrong."
Lin Wan stroked her chin, swiftly slipping into the role of strategist.
"A confession like this is all about the right time, the right place, and the right circumstances. Earlier at the Star-Plucking Tower in the Capital, you had the place and the circumstances, but what a pity — you failed to seize the moment and lost your nerve. Now that you're back at the sect, you'll have to find a fresh opportunity."
"The nearest grand event at hand is the Grand Tournament."
"The Tournament?" Yu Wenqiu hesitated. "That kind of occasion is crowded with prying eyes, and blades have no mercy — how is that any place for romance?"
"Elder, you're being obtuse!"
Lin Wan sighed in exasperation. "It's precisely because it's the Tournament that it's the perfect timing. Think about it — Senior Brother Gu is certain to astonish everyone on the arena this time, crushing all rivals. When he stands at the very top, basking in the cheers of the multitude, his fighting spirit and momentum will peak — but inwardly there's bound to be a brief moment of emptiness and fatigue."
"On the very night the Tournament fully draws to a close, invite him out alone under the pretext of a victory celebration. No need for any fancy lead-up, and no more of that nonsense about writing storybooks."
"You just look him straight in the eye and tell him: Gu Chengming, I won't be your Elder anymore.'"
Yu Wenqiu was stunned blank by the sheer impact of the line. "Not your Elder anymore — then what?"
"Your dao companion, of course!" Lin Wan was a bit put out by Yu Wenqiu's slowness. "Declare outright your resolve to change your role, and shatter that deep-rooted elder filter in his mind."
"…would that even work?"
"It has to work whether it does or not!"
Seeing the look on Lin Wan's face, Yu Wenqiu knew there was no getting off this pirate ship now. She drew a deep breath, slapped her own cheeks hard with both hands, and her gaze slowly firmed with resolve.
"All right!"
Yu Wenqiu nodded firmly. "It's settled for the night the Grand Tournament ends. This time, this Elder absolutely will not back down again!"
Watching Lin Wan leave the courtyard, Yu Wenqiu sat alone by the stone table, gazing at the tea in her hand, now gone stone-cold, her heart both nervous and expectant.
The Grand Tournament…
When the time came, she had to muster her courage — she couldn't lose her nerve at the last moment like last time.
Yu Wenqiu drew a deep breath and downed the cold tea in one gulp, as if to steel herself.
Wenjian Sect's central peak, the sect head's study.
Sandalwood smoke curled; tea vapor hung thick.
Shen Qianqiu sat upright behind the desk, a cup of top-grade spirit tea in hand, though his gaze kept drifting toward Gu Chengming in the guest seat.
As sect head of the Wenjian Sect, Shen Qianqiu's mood these past days had been buoyant in the extreme.
In the battle at the Tianque Secret Realm, the Wenjian Sect had not only shattered the Eternal Life Sect's scheme but also stolen the whole spotlight across the Great Qian's cultivation world.
And the number-one hero behind it all was, at this very moment, sitting quietly before him, drinking tea.
"Chengming, you've been swamped with affairs in the Capital. Now that you've returned to the sect, by rights I ought to let you rest a few days."
Shen Ganqiu set down his cup, cleared his throat a couple of times, and adopted the businesslike bearing of an elder.
"It's just that the Grand Tournament among the major sects is about to begin. It's a rare grand gathering in the cultivation world."
Gu Chengming set down his teacup and saluted respectfully. "Whatever the sect head wishes to command, please speak freely."
Shen Ganqiu stroked the beard on his chin and, unhurriedly, began to describe the prize of this Tournament.
"Every past Tournament aims to test skills and to distribute the cultivation resources within the Great Qian. To spur on the disciples of each sect, both the Great Qian imperial house and the Daoist Alliance put forth exceedingly rare treasures as the reward for first place. And this time, the top prize is a rare spirit-object called the 'Blood-Burning Realm-Breaking Pearl.'"
At the words "spirit-object," Gu Chengming's expression grew a touch more serious.
Shen Ganqiu went on. "Once a cultivator swallows this spirit-object, within the span of a few breaths it can surge his blood-qi, spiritual power, and even spiritual sense upward several times over, greatly raising his odds of breaking through a realm. And even if it isn't used to break through, its short-term boost can serve as a fate-altering trump card, no less valuable than an extra life."
At this point, Shen Qianqiu's tone paused.
By rights, as sect head, he ought to strongly recommend his finest disciple to go seize the crown. But facing Gu Chengming, Shen Ganqiu, for the first time ever, felt a few strands of groundless guilt.
Send Gu Chengming to compete in the Grand Tournament?
Shen Ganqiu ran the scene through his mind for a moment.
The heaven-favored prodigies of every sect, geniuses of a kind seen but once in a century, trading blows back and forth on the arena, sword qi crisscrossing everywhere.
And then Gu Chengming would amble up onto the stage, not even drawing his sword, and with a single punch blast some other sect's head disciple — cultivated painstakingly over a dozen-odd years — into powder, body and protective treasure alike.
If this kid really did take the stage, forget the peer disciples — even if the sect Elder leading the opposing team stepped down in person, they likely couldn't withstand more than a few of his physical deliverances.
But then…
Shen Ganqiu raised his cup to hide the smile tugging at his lips. The mere thought of those old monster sect heads of the other renowned schools — grinding their teeth as they watched the geniuses they took such pride in being ground into the dirt by Gu Chengming, seething yet unable to find a single fault to object to, furious but not daring to voice it — filled Shen Qianqiu with a delicious pleasure that radiated from every pore of his body.
Gu Chengming was, quite genuinely, an inner-sect disciple of the Wenjian Sect, and his realm was honestly just mid Third Realm.
Having him fight as a disciple representative fully conformed to every rule of the Tournament.
If your own disciples couldn't win, that was your own inferior skill — could you really blame the Wenjian Sect's disciple for having too hard a fist?
He was just about to do a bit of mental prep-work for Gu Chengming — theories along the lines of "bombing fish isn't your fault, it's the fish's fault" —
when, to his surprise, Gu Chengming's eyes suddenly lit up at the words "a several-fold boost state in a short span of time."
He'd been fretting that his current regular damage alone couldn't pass that monstrous DPS test — but if he could get his hands on this "Blood-Burning Realm-Breaking Pearl," then, borrowing that burst of instantaneous amplification, he might just be able to force his way past the phantom's defense threshold.
"Rest assured, Sect Head!"
Gu Chengming accepted with unflinching resolve, his tone even carrying a note of impatience. "For this Grand Tournament, this disciple will give it his all and bring both the top place and the spirit-object back to the Wenjian Sect!"
Shen Ganqiu was stunned for a moment by Gu Chengming's excessively fervent fighting spirit, then clapped and laughed heartily.
"Good! Good! We sword cultivators ought to have such mountain-swallowing, river-devouring drive! Go and prepare. On the day of the Tournament, I shall personally hold the line for you!"
After leaving the central peak's main hall, Gu Chengming did not head straight back to the back-hill courtyard, but turned instead for the Wenjian Sect's market.
When Gu Chengming — peerless prodigy of the Hidden Dragon List and the sect's man of the hour — graced them in person, the shopkeepers of the market naturally came out to greet him themselves, all smiles, assuming he'd come to pick out some Dharma Sword or sword talisman.
Instead, the long shopping list Gu Chengming rattled off left them dumbstruck.
"Soul-Congealing Incense — the highest quality you have."
"Jiaolong Reverse-Scale Pills — yes, the ones body-cultivators use to overdraw their blood-qi in dire straits. Give me three."
"Bone-Eroding Heart-Rotting Pot — no antidote needed, just the kind whose toxicity acts fastest and can invade the meridians in an instant."
"Golden-Body Sacred-Womb Pills, Dragon-Saliva Precious Broth, and Avici Karmic-Fire Stones — the batch with the heaviest evil curse."
The shopkeeper's hand, holding the brush, was trembling.
He looked over the motley, faintly sinister array of poisons and potent body-cultivator drugs on the list, and thought: could he mean to drag some enemy down with him, shattering jade and stone alike?
The shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat from his brow and cautiously offered a reminder.
"These items have exceedingly domineering and mutually conflicting medicinal properties. Especially that Bone-Eroding Heart-Rotting Pot — it's a deadly poison. Without corresponding protective measures, using it carelessly could harm the very foundation of your Dao. Might I suggest adding a few doses of mild, heart-clearing, detoxifying pills as well?"
"No need. Just these."
Others naturally wondered why this world-renowned sword cultivator would buy such odd things utterly unrelated to the sword-dao, but they didn't pry.
After all — geniuses. Having a few quirks of their own was only normal.
But only Gu Chengming himself knew that he'd bought these things purely to clear the Love Hundred Bones Resonance.
In the gaming world of his past life, when facing a boss with an outrageously thick health bar and despair-inducingly high defense but a certain wind-up before its attacks, players would often resort to an extreme playstyle.
This playstyle was jokingly dubbed by the wider player base as — the "monkey show."
The so-called monkey show, as the name suggests, meant performing a series of extremely tedious operations before launching the final attack, as though putting on a clownish act.
Players would repeatedly swap specific gear, gulp down various mutually conflicting potions, and cast self-harming skills with side effects to trigger the "low-health damage boost" passive, then stack countless short-duration buffs on top.
This whole process was extremely tedious and offered a razor-thin margin for error; the slightest slip could leave you dropping dead on the spot from a buff expiring or from self-harming too far.
But so long as this long string of "monkey show" moves linked together flawlessly, with every buff peaking in the same instant, the player could unleash a terrifying blow that exceeded the version's limits.
Gu Chengming's plan now was to reproduce this "monkey show" concept from his past life's games.
Since the Hundred Bones Resonance phantom wouldn't fight back, then she couldn't blame him for stacking buffs.
Deep in the quiet of night, the back-hill courtyard of the Huiyuan Gate.
Back in the courtyard, Gu Chengming carefully sorted and laid out these materials, then began running the entire procedure over and over in his mind.
The timing of every step, the duration of every buff state, the exact order in which each buff was stacked — none of it could afford the slightest error.
He sat with his eyes closed, deep in thought, for a long while, until he was certain the whole procedure was second nature. Only then did he open his eyes, draw a deep breath, and tune his own condition to its peak.
"Open the Love Hundred Bones Resonance."
The scene shifted, and the dark-red, desolate training grounds came into view once more.
The wild wind still blew, and the iron-grey sky felt as though it would smother the breath from one's lungs.
At the very center of the training grounds, that phantom, identical to the personified image of the Hundred Bones Resonance, held the same posture as before.
Seeing Gu Chengming appear again, she didn't so much as lift an eyelid; she merely spread her arms carelessly, laying the opening at her chest fully bare, her whole bearing radiating the arrogance of "come at me all you like — if you can break my guard, I lose."
Without a moment's hesitation, Gu Chengming flicked a wisp of spirit-fire from his fingertip and instantly lit the censer of "Soul-Congealing Incense" set before him. The moment the pale-purple smoke reached his nose, his entire Sea of Consciousness began to churn and sway violently, his vast mental force forcibly gathered together. As that swaying spirit-soul rose and quietly reached the delicate critical point of one-quarter of his total mind-power, Gu Chengming abruptly opened his mouth and swallowed the wholly crimson "Jiaolong Reverse-Scale Pill" down into his belly.
The pill dissolved the instant it hit his throat, and a savage, ferocious potential erupted like a volcano, tearing wildly through his meridians, forcibly overdrawing the utmost blood-qi of his flesh and driving his physical burst power to a perilous peak.
In the very instant his blood-qi surged, Gu Chengming's hands flew through seals, his internal spiritual power linking with the heaven and earth outside.
"Ten Perfections Sword Formation — rise!"
Timing it to the precise instant, he exploited the mechanic whereby, in the early moments of deploying a large sword formation — when the sword intent has just taken shape — a brief, sharp resonance arises that slightly boosts damage, and he unfurled this great killing formation to just barely halfway.
Sword-shadows filled the sky, emerging from the void, not yet fully condensed, and that utmost edge of sharpness had already lent itself to his right fist. Then, without hesitation, he crushed the "Bone-Eroding Heart-Rotting Pot" in his left hand. Dark-green venomous miasma instantly enveloped it, invading his meridians madly through his pores. At the instant the poison took hold, he tipped back his head in one smooth, flowing motion and swallowed the "Golden-Body Sacred-Womb Pill" and "Dragon-Saliva Precious Broth" he'd held ready in his mouth. The pills turned to pure vitality, just barely shielding his heart-vessel and major organs, forcibly keeping him in a fragile "health-locked" state under the poison's corrosion — enjoying the extreme boost that came with the brink of death, yet not dropping dead of the venom on the spot.
Finally, he hurled an ink-black "Avici Karmic-Fire Stone" hard into the half-deployed Ten Perfections Sword Formation before him.
Boom!
The karmic flames ignited in an instant, the pitch-black fire spreading madly along the formation's veins. A shrill, ghastly chant of evil curses pierced straight through Gu Chengming's ears. The formation's destructive force, the blood-qi ferocity of the Jiaolong Pill, the death's-door backlash of the bone-eroding poison, and the world-burning might of the Avici karmic fire were, in this moment, all unreasonably kneaded and compressed together onto his right fist.
In the split second before his reason utterly collapsed and his flesh was about to disintegrate, an unprecedented mad light burst from Gu Chengming's eyes.
"Hundred Emperor! Aid me!!!"
The entire dark-red training grounds began to shudder violently under the pressure of that punch, space itself groaning beneath a burden it could not bear.
Throughout Gu Chengming's tedious, farcical, dozens-of-breaths-long "monkey show" of buff-stacking, the Hundred Bones Resonance phantom truly made good on her arrogance.
She just stood there quietly, arms spread, not even blinking an extra time, making not a single move to interrupt or defend.
Before the fist's wind even arrived, the terrifying sonic boom had already blasted the rocks beneath the phantom's feet flying.
BOOM—!!!
Two immense forces finally collided with nothing held back.
This time, there was none of the dead silence of before, like an ox of clay sinking into the sea.
A deafening roar rang to the heavens, and the piercing light briefly stole away all sight.
When the light faded, at the center of the training grounds, Gu Chengming held the pose of his thrown punch, his right fist planted firmly against the phantom's chest.
And that ever-insufferable Hundred Bones Resonance phantom, representing the ultimate in defense and power, for the first time shed the contempt from her eyes.
She looked at the fist planted against her chest, felt the terrifying destructive force boring into her body as though it were solid, and a look of genuine, pleasant surprise crossed her face.
She did not catch it one-handed and carelessly as before; under the powerful impact, the phantom's shoulder swayed slightly, and her toes carved a shallow mark across the dark-red rock.
She took a step back.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance clamored: Hahahaha! You paltry counterfeit — so what if you represent the limit?! Under the perfect combined strike of Heavenly Emperor Gu and me, aren't you still forced to obediently retreat in defeat!]
Yet getting carried away with triumph is so often the beginning of tragedy.
Once she steadied herself, she lowered her head with keen interest to look at the Gu Chengming before her — who, having spent every last trump card, with all those potent drugs and poisons now turning back on him, could barely even manage to stand.
Then she slowly raised a hand and, with a bracer-clad fingertip, flippantly tipped up Gu Chengming's chin.
The Hundred Bones Resonance phantom tilted her head slightly, her gaze passing over Gu Chengming as though looking toward the Hundred Bones Resonance's true self, her eyes seeming to say: See? So long as you possess sufficient strength, you too can do as you please with Heavenly Emperor Gu, just like this.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance felt an unprecedented humiliation: Insolence! Whatever tricks you have, bring them against me — let go of Heavenly Emperor Gu! Don't touch him with your filthy hands!]
The interest in the phantom's eyes grew ever thicker. Gazing at Gu Chengming's face — pale from exhaustion, yet handsome still — she didn't waste even a single extra word, and leaned down slightly, as if about to make some rather intimate gesture.
[The Hundred Bones Resonance's brain crashed — yet at the same time it seemed to be jolted awake.]
Hold on — what exactly are you two playing at?
Gu Chengming felt his whole body was about to fall apart, and now, after losing, he even had to star in a defeat CG — his whole mind was going numb.
But right then, as if his body could finally take no more, the entire dark-red, desolate training grounds — together with that spirited face mere inches away — collapsed with a roar in a dazzling white light, breaking into countless shards of light and shadow, and scattered away completely.
In reality, Gu Chengming's eyes snapped open and he shot upright on the bed, gasping in great heaving breaths, his chest rising and falling violently.
[Seeing that the phantom hadn't succeeded, the Hundred Bones Resonance, its grief and fury finally finding relief, let out a breath.]
[But at the same time, recalling the look in that phantom's eyes within the Love Hundred Bones Resonance, it felt a tangle of mixed emotions.]
[So it turned out — the price of not being strong enough was that Heavenly Emperor Gu would be ▇▇'d…]
[This time it was dodged — but what about next time?]
Hold on — will you listen to the hell you're going on about?
Gu Chengming was utterly speechless.
…
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