The current situation was, at least, something Gu Chengming could make sense of.
That "Rebirth Vengeance System" panel hovering dead center in his vision, flickering with light effects, reeked of cheap, shoddy prankishness no matter how he looked at it.
Gu Chengming didn't even need to probe it; one glance and he saw through it — this so-called vengeance system was absolutely a trick cooked up by the Free and Unfettered Art he'd only recently begun practicing.
Unfortunately, though he could see through the crude disguise at a glance, a certain "Heavenly Emperor" residing in his Sea of Consciousness possessed neither that composure nor that discernment.
[Hundred Bones Resonance stared blankly at the newly popped-up windows for a good long while, then burst into wild joy: Heavenly Emperor Gu, could it be we really are the protagonist?]
— No, Old Hundred, you—
Ignoring the farce these two mischievous techniques had cooked up together in his mind, Gu Chengming refocused his attention on the arena before him.
The main peak's training grounds; the mountain wind snapped and howled.
Seeing Gu Chengming shed the momentary startlement from before, his aura settling deep and steady as an abyss once more, Su Qingmeng knew he was ready.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, please instruct me."
The Daoning Gate's sword intent revealed itself fully in that instant, without the slightest wasted feint — her sword-light like an inverted Milky Way, driving straight for Gu Chengming's face.
Gu Chengming's wrist twitched, and the standard-issue longsword at his waist slid from its sheath.
Come to think of it, ever since he'd grown accustomed to settling demonic cultivators and monsters with his fists in the Northern Territory and the Tianque Secret Realm, it had been quite a while since Gu Chengming last engaged in this kind of pure, by-the-book sword duel.
"Clang—"
The two swords met, a crisp ring of clashing metal echoing across the training grounds.
Gu Chengming rolled his wrist, deflecting the force on Su Qingmeng's blade at a smooth angle.
Though he hadn't experienced this kind of pure swordplay in a long time, an inexplicable ease came over him, everything falling right into place.
Her first strike missing, Su Qingmeng's sword momentum flowed on unbroken.
She drifted nimbly around him, her longsword becoming a sky full of stars, stabbing in from every tricky angle, while Gu Chengming parried with unhurried calm.
In the first few exchanges he only defended without countering, but as the bout deepened, he gradually sensed something strange.
Su Qingmeng's sword moves grew ever clearer in his eyes. He could not only trace the path of her blade but, through those techniques, directly see through the routes of her spiritual power's circulation, the knack of her force delivery, and even the true meaning of the sword-dao contained within each strike.
The moment this information entered his mind, it became like his own instinct.
Her sword moves — with just one glance, he felt he had mastered them completely.
To test his suspicion, when Su Qingmeng next unleashed a signature Daoning Gate technique, Gu Chengming chose not to break it with the Huiyuan Sword Formula. His wrist flicked, and his longsword traced an arc nearly identical to the one she'd just drawn.
Two streams of near-tangible sword qi collided in midair with a roar, cancelling each other out, scattering into a sky of shattered spirit-light.
Su Qingmeng's movements jerked to a halt, astonishment surfacing on her cold, aloof face for the first time.
A secret the Daoning Gate never passed on — how could he wield it so casually?
Gu Chengming understood clearly: this wasn't his own sword-dao talent, but the Free and Unfettered Art working quietly beneath the surface.
"Free and Unfettered" — bound to no fixed technique or school, drawing method from all things, discarding the false to keep the true.
This technique required no tedious practice; a single glance was enough to replicate an opponent's moves along with the sword intent within them — and, drawing on Gu Chengming's own formidable physique, to unleash them with even greater power.
The discovery stirred a flicker of investigative curiosity in him.
As if to test just how far this technique could go, Gu Chengming abandoned his own arsenal of moves entirely for the rest of the match.
He turned himself completely into a mirror: whatever move Su Qingmeng used, he answered with the same.
Su Qingmeng performed "Lone Angler on the Cold River," and Gu Chengming returned "Lone Angler on the Cold River," his sword qi more restrained and profound; she shifted to "Whirling Snow Fills the Sky," and Gu Chengming followed with "Whirling Snow Fills the Sky," his sky-blanketing sword shadows a shade denser than hers.
The two figures crisscrossed across the arena, wielding the exact same swordsmanship.
Only, Gu Chengming strolled through it as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard, with room to spare; while Su Qingmeng, the rightful owner of these techniques, grew more alarmed the longer they fought, fine beads of sweat gradually seeping across her forehead.
An overwhelming sense of defeat washed over her.
The sword-dao she had bitterly cultivated for over a decade had become, before him, a transparent joke.
No matter how she changed her moves, no matter how she tried to overwhelm him with subtler sword-principles, he always drove her back using the very same techniques in a more perfect form.
This stifling humiliation — being crushed on the pure level of skill by what she herself had learned — was far more unbearable than simply being overpowered by force.
By now Gu Chengming was utterly immersed in exploring the Free and Unfettered Art, wholly absorbed in dissecting the endless stream of sword moves before him.
Warming to the fight, the world in his eyes narrowed until only the trajectories of sword moves and the flow of spiritual power remained.
At that moment, Su Qingmeng clenched her teeth and decided to stake everything on one throw.
The spiritual power within her erupted without reserve, blinding white light blazing along her sword, her whole being merging with the blade into a startling beam that pierced the void.
Facing this strike, the test-absorbed Gu Chengming didn't overthink it.
Driven by the Free and Unfettered Art, his body automatically produced the optimal response.
He didn't retreat; instead he stepped forward into that startling beam, cutting precisely into the weakest joint of Su Qingmeng's sword momentum.
Gu Chengming had entirely forgotten his original intent to stop at a light touch, forgotten too that his opponent was a Dao-Child who deserved a few shreds of dignity, and his longsword swept out accordingly.
"Bonk."
The spine of Gu Chengming's blade smacked with flawless precision against the joint of Su Qingmeng's wrist. Under the shock of spiritual power, her right arm went numb, the sword intent she'd built up scattering in an instant, her longsword nearly flying from her grip.
"Bonk."
Right after, Gu Chengming rolled his wrist, the pommel dropping down to rap squarely on Su Qingmeng's right shoulder. The force was judged just right — not enough to harm bone, yet brutally enough to wreck her balance and center of gravity.
"Bonk."
Su Qingmeng staggered, and before she could steady herself again, Gu Chengming's scabbard had swept across the back of her knees. Her legs, robbed of balance, could no longer support her, and she toppled backward beyond her control.
"Bonk."
In the instant before Su Qingmeng fully collapsed to the ground, Gu Chengming's longsword had already halted steadily before her brow, the pommel tapping lightly against her smooth forehead with one last crisp, muffled knock.
Bonk, bonk, bonk, bonk — four strikes in a row.
Smooth as flowing water, swift as lightning, leaving her no room to breathe or react.
Gu Chengming sheathed his sword and stood, his breathing as steady as ever.
Su Qingmeng, meanwhile, had been thoroughly knocked senseless by those four raps.
She sat blankly on the bluestone floor, her once neatly coiled black hair slightly disheveled, her longsword fallen at her side. Those ever cold and proud eyes were now filled with bewilderment and helplessness.
She hadn't even seen clearly how she'd lost — only that four soft sounds had reached her ears, and then she was sitting on the arena in this sorry state.
The entire main peak training grounds fell dead silent in that moment.
The Elders watching below traded looks — one hung his mouth open and forgot to close it, another let his teacup tilt without noticing, warm tea trickling through his fingers to the floor, and someone muttered under his breath, "Is Chengming beating a wooden fish over there?"
The Senior Brother beside him shot him a fierce glare, though the corner of his own mouth twitched despite himself.
Gu Chengming came back to himself from that mysterious state of epiphany.
Looking at Su Qingmeng slumped on the ground, plainly no longer capable of thought, a wave of guilt surged up in him.
Bad. Too caught up testing the new technique, he hadn't reined in his hand in time.
If Elder Jingxuan of the Daoning Gate had seen this, she'd surely file another complaint against him with the Sect Master.
Just as he was pondering how to speak up and salvage the situation, the pop-up before him began flickering restlessly again.
[Hundred Bones Resonance gazes at you, full of anticipation and pitiful pleading.]
[It's waiting for you! Waiting for you to recite that ultimate line that will put the perfect finishing touch on this broken-engagement face-slapping script!]
Watching Old Hundred in his Sea of Consciousness strike a pose that all but said "if you don't say this line I'm going to cry right now," Gu Chengming felt his scalp prickle.
The corner of his eye twitched slightly.
If he really recited that line as this ridiculous system and Old Hundred wished, it would definitely be somewhat inappropriate.
Looking at Su Qingmeng, still a little dazed and pitifully delicate, reason told him the most correct thing to do now was step forward, help her up, and offer a few polite phrases like "You let me win" or "Fellow Daoist's swordsmanship is exquisite; I merely got lucky" to preserve the Daoning Gate's face.
But Old Hundred's pitiful, pleading manner really was too hard to refuse.
Gu Chengming heaved a long sigh inwardly and worked to make his tone sound sincere enough:
"Fellow Daoist Su, no need to be discouraged."
Su Qingmeng's unfocused eyes stirred slightly, as if she'd finally recovered a spark of spirit, and she lifted her head to stare blankly at him.
Meeting her gaze, Gu Chengming steeled himself and tossed out that supremely classic line.
"As they say — thirty years east of the river, thirty years west."
He paused, then naturally added the final blow: "Go back and strive for thirty years, and perhaps you too might reach where I am."
And up in the pavilion above the training grounds, reserved for the sect's upper echelons to watch.
Hearing this resounding declaration, Shen Ganqiu's vision went black, and he raised a hand to slap himself hard on the forehead.
This child was gifted, formidable in battle, steady in conduct, never wishy-washy when it came to matters of real principle. So why was it that precisely in moments requiring social grace, requiring just a little consideration for a fellow disciple's feelings, he could display such heaven-defying bluntness?!
On the main peak training grounds, there was only the faint sound of the late-autumn breeze brushing across the bluestone tiles.
Su Qingmeng sat on the cold ground, her sword-robes dusted with a bit of grime, the astonishment in her eyes gradually clearing.
She paid no mind to the Elders around the training grounds; after a brief spell of dazedness, she picked up the sword fallen at her side, rolled her wrist, and neatly slid it back into its sheath.
Then she pushed off the ground with both hands and slowly rose to her feet.
No flustered recriminations, no shame-fueled fury at losing face, not even a trace of the grievance one might expect from a proud daughter of heaven crushed in public — Su Qingmeng simply raised both hands solemnly and bowed deeply.
"Fellow Daoist Gu's swordsmanship borders on the divine. Qingmeng concedes wholeheartedly."
Her voice was still crisp, but it had shed the sharpness of when she'd first stepped onto the arena, turning steady and humble:
"In the past, I believed that shutting myself away in bitter cultivation would let me touch the summit of the sword-dao. Only now do I realize I was a frog at the bottom of a well. I truly underestimated the heroes of this world. For all my decade-odd years of cultivation, in the end I still hadn't cultivated it right. My thanks to Fellow Daoist Gu for not begrudging me instruction today."
This admission of defeat was magnanimous in the extreme, displaying the forthright nobility of a sword cultivator to the fullest.
Standing where he was, watching her sincere manner, the flicker of guilt he'd felt for accidentally striking too hard swelled a few degrees more.
He was about to raise his hands to return the courtesy and offer a few polite words to ease the mood when the pop-up appeared again.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the mission — utterly crushing the target and successfully making her feel despair!]
[Mission reward: ten vengeance points have been issued.]
[Friendly reminder: Once vengeance points accumulate to a certain stage, the system will grant the Host a brand-new, stage-based, limited-edition reward, aiding the Host in returning to the peak, trampling the gods and demons of all heavens underfoot, and achieving supreme dominion!]
Looking at this line of maximally bombastic bold text, the corner of Gu Chengming's eye twitched wildly beyond his control.
— You've really gotten addicted to putting on a show, haven't you?
Ignoring entirely this prank that kept trying to force a script onto him, Gu Chengming set aside his thoughts and cupped his hands in return to Su Qingmeng: "Fellow Daoist Su is too kind. Fellow Daoist's sword-heart is clear and bright; given time, you will surely climb even higher from the top of the hundred-foot pole."
With the two of them exchanging polite flattery like this, the sparring match — which everyone had expected to be a clash of dragon and tiger, but which had turned into a one-sided crushing — finally came to an end.
Up in the pavilion, Elder Jingxuan of the Daoning Gate sighed, her expression rather complicated.
As the Daoning Gate's leading figure, to see the Dao-Child she'd poured untold effort into raising rapped about without the slightest resistance before every watching eye — that was of course a blow to her face. But Elder Jingxuan was, after all, a senior who had weathered many storms.
In the world of sword cultivators, the accomplished always came first; if your skill fell short of another's, then it fell short. The Daoning Gate had always been proud, but they were by no means sore losers who couldn't take a defeat.
Elder Jingxuan stirred, turning into a long rainbow that landed steadily upon the arena.
First she gave Gu Chengming a slight nod, cool in expression yet not without courtesy, acknowledging this junior's strength; then she turned her head toward where Sect Master Shen Ganqiu sat and declared in a clear voice:
"Senior Brother Sect Master, for the Huiyuan Gate to produce such a peerless prodigy is truly a great fortune for our Wenjian Sect. Let Gu Chengming lead in this grand tournament; from top to bottom, the Daoning Gate raises no further objection."
With that, Elder Jingxuan lingered no longer. A sweep of her sleeve, and she took Su Qingmeng with her, turning into sword-light and flying straight for the perpetually snow-covered peak of the Daoning Gate.
High in the sky, the fierce gale howled.
Elder Jingxuan rode her flying sword, but from the corner of her eye she kept studying her disciple beside her with worry.
This girl had sailed along smoothly since entering the gate, never suffering so bitter a setback. Though she'd carried herself with poise on the arena just now, who could say whether she hadn't simply swallowed all the grievance and humiliation down into her belly by force?
If this pent-up gloom found no outlet, it could easily breed heart-demons and ruin the foundation of her great dao down the road.
"Qingmeng…"
Elder Jingxuan weighed her words, softening her tone, trying to console her: "The cultivation world is vast beyond measure; the occasional outrageous monster descending upon it is only to be expected. Even I couldn't see through Gu Chengming's methods clearly. Losing to his hand is no fault of your fighting. Don't take today's events too much to heart."
Elder Jingxuan waited a moment but heard no response from her disciple.
Her heart clenched, and she quickly turned her head, dreading the sight of her disciple sunk in gloom or silently weeping.
But what met Elder Jingxuan's eyes was a scene that left her utterly dumbfounded.
Far from any post-defeat dejection, Su Qingmeng stood ramrod straight. An abnormal flush colored her cold face, and those eyes — usually still as an ancient well — now blazed with a brightness never seen before.
She was even breathing lightly, both hands gripping her sword hilt so hard her knuckles had gone white.
"Master…" Su Qingmeng lifted her head, her tone rather peculiar, a trace of excitement threaded through her voice. "You've misunderstood. Your disciple doesn't feel wronged at all."
Su Qingmeng's gaze drifted toward the distant sea of clouds, as if still savoring every exchange from the arena:
"Fellow Daoist Gu's sword is simply unbelievable. Every single move and form he unleashed was clearly my Daoning Gate's own secret art, and yet somehow more perfect than my own."
Listening to her disciple's near-obsessed ramblings, Elder Jingxuan felt a faint chill creep down her spine.
She opened her mouth, wanting to urge her disciple to calm down, only to find she couldn't get a word in.
"I used to think the Daoning Gate's swordsmanship was already perfectly complete, but taking those four raps today finally opened my eyes! It turns out that in the seams between the moves there lies such a vast world hidden away!"
Elder Jingxuan drew a deep breath, unsure for a moment whether to be gratified by her disciple's devotion to the dao or to worry that Gu Chengming had knocked some unspeakable affliction into the girl.
In the end she said nothing at all and focused on flying her sword.
Meanwhile, once the Daoning Gate master and disciple had left, Gu Chengming politely declined the other Elders' small talk and, citing excessive exertion and a need to regulate his breath, swiftly slipped back to his own residence.
That night, in the small courtyard on the back hill of the Huiyuan Gate.
The mountain wind brushed through the spirit-bamboo with a rustling whisper. Gu Chengming sat cross-legged on his bed, in no rush to meditate and cultivate, instead fixing all his attention on the system panel before him that only he could see.
On the arena today, he'd been busy dealing with Su Qingmeng and Elder Jingxuan, with no time to bother with this ridiculous technique.
Now, in the deep quiet of night, was the perfect time to properly study just what the Free and Unfettered Art was up to.
A stir of his mind, and he opened that exceedingly crude UI.
Across the top of the interface hung the words "Rebirth Vengeance System" in glaring, golden characters. Below sat an extremely bare-bones status bar.
[Host: Gu Chengming]
[Current Realm: Third Realm, fifth layer]
[Vengeance Points: 10]
No item list, no exchange options — so what exactly are these points for?
[Hundred Bones Resonance cheered: A whole ten vengeance points! Heavenly Emperor Gu, when do we go take on the next mission?]
Gu Chengming didn't even have the energy to snark back. With Old Hundred's extraordinarily gullible temperament, if he were let loose to wander the cultivation world alone, he'd be sold off and still counting spirit stones for the buyer.
So how in the world did it manage to cultivate into a Heavenly Emperor every single time in those illusory realms?
He closed the gaudy panel, shut his eyes again, and sank his consciousness into his dantian, feeling that faint lingering resonance the Free and Unfettered Art had left within his qi sea.
He'd meant to take advantage of the night to comprehend the Free and Unfettered Art more deeply, but that vengeance system flickering on and off in his mind truly killed his enthusiasm.
Besides, today's near "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" experience on the arena gave him a vague sense that this technique consumed more spirit and energy to run than he'd imagined. Deep in that immersed state, he'd even briefly forgotten his own identity, left with nothing but pure exploration of the sword moves themselves.
Were his foe a different opponent, one who better knew how to exploit an opening, this point might become a hidden danger.
Gu Chengming quietly noted the concern and gently closed his eyes.
The next day, early morning.
Gu Chengming had just finished washing up and was about to cultivate in the courtyard when an exceedingly soft, regular knocking came from beyond the door.
Who would come calling at this hour? Jiang Lu was usually at the training grounds instructing new disciples, and the Sect Master certainly wouldn't run out to the back hill this early in the morning.
Puzzled, Gu Chengming walked slowly to the courtyard gate and pulled open the wooden door.
Standing outside was Su Qingmeng, in plain white sword-robes, her black hair coiled high.
Today's Su Qingmeng seemed quite different from the cold, aloof figure on yesterday's arena.
Her eyes were faintly red-rimmed, plain fatigue beneath them — she clearly hadn't rested well the night before. But in stark contrast to that weariness were her eyes, bright as stars, glittering with a certain fervor that made Gu Chengming's skin crawl a little.
Only yesterday she'd had her forehead rapped four times by him on the arena, and here she was at his door this early — was this Daoning Gate Dao-Child broad-minded, or was there some hidden motive?
Before he could even ask, his Sea of Consciousness erupted first.
[Hundred Bones Resonance, braced as if facing a great enemy: Could it be that she feigns weakness on the surface while secretly rallying every expert in the sect, who now lie in ambush outside the courtyard, waiting only for her to smash a cup as the signal before swarming in to reclaim their honor?! Heavenly Emperor Gu, quickly circulate your blood-qi and prepare for battle!]
Old Hundred, this is the Wenjian Sect's own turf — who would dare ambush blade-and-axe men here and smash a cup as a signal?
No, wait — it seems I was the one who told Old Hundred that.
As he snarked to himself, Gu Chengming suddenly recalled how, back in the market, he'd fooled Old Hundred with talk of the sect being very dangerous, of people killing to seize treasures and the like — and a twinge of guilt crept over him.
On the other side, as if sensing that Su Qingmeng's arrival had triggered some key condition, the Free and Unfettered Art disguised as a system began stirring up trouble once more.
[Ding! Rebirth Vengeance System now activated!]
[Story branch triggered! Faced with your vicious fiancée — humiliated yesterday, still seething today, and now come to make trouble for you — what will you, the reborn child of destiny, choose:]
[Mission One: Humiliate her viciously, trample her underfoot and berate her harshly, making her understand the gulf between you like clouds and mud. Reward: twenty vengeance points.]
[Mission Two: Summon your current girlfriend Yu Wenqiu before her very eyes and lovingly engage in Dual Cultivation, utterly shattering her psychological defenses and driving her mad with jealousy and regret. Reward: thirty vengeance points.]
[Mission Three: Display supreme divine might, subdue her completely, and take Su Qingmeng as a handmaid-slave to serve you day and night. Reward: fifty vengeance points.]
— Hold on, what the hell is this fiancée setup?
And also — just how obsessed are you with taking people as slaves?
Gu Chengming drew a deep breath, pulled his gaze from the unreliable panel, and returned it to Su Qingmeng.
"Fellow Daoist Su, calling at this early hour — to what do I owe the honor?"
"Fellow Daoist Gu." Su Qingmeng spoke with a hint of bashfulness. "I've come to spar with you again."
Before he could ask anything, she pressed on, her words quick and urgent:
"Ever since our last spar, I've benefited immensely. After I went back, the moment I closed my eyes, my mind was full of nothing but the trajectories of your sword. I couldn't think, couldn't sleep for the longest time, and sat alone in my meditation chamber all night, until at last I grasped a few truths."
Listening to this, Gu Chengming's sense that something was off grew heavier and heavier.
Before he could speak up to politely decline, Su Qingmeng actually stepped forward, pressing closer.
An odd flush surfaced on her fair face, and she stared at him with burning eyes, a certain anticipation restrained in her tone. "So, I've come specially today, hoping Fellow Daoist might instruct me once more."
"When you make your move in a moment, please don't hold back at all. The harder you strike, the better."
A cold morning breeze swept through the little courtyard, stirring up a few withered yellow bamboo leaves.
The whole courtyard sank into a long, uncanny silence.
Hearing her rather dreadful line, one that invited countless misreadings, Gu Chengming was left a little dazed.
In the dialogue box, both Hundred Bones Resonance and the Free and Unfettered Art fell silent together.
But the latter, being a ridiculous technique, quickly caught on.
Then a cheerful chime rang out through Gu Chengming's mind.
[Ding! Detected that the target has voluntarily lowered her posture and requests rough treatment from the Host!]
[Congratulations, Host! Mission successfully completed — displaying absolute dominance and taking Su Qingmeng as a handmaid-slave!]
[Reward: fifty vengeance points have been issued!]
[Current Vengeance Points: 60]
— That works too?
The two of you are teaming up to play off each other now, is that it?
____
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