Gu Fangchen sat on the tree, eyes narrowed, watching as the group of riders approached. The two figures leading them looked faintly familiar.
After thinking for a moment, he recalled their identities.
"True disciples of the Jian Pavilion's Rugged Mountain lineage, Qiu He and Qi Linghua. Both are of the Sixth Rank."
The Jian Pavilion, the foremost sect in the Southwest, was prosperous and vast, divided between two mountain branches: Rugged Mountain and Lofty Mountain.
The Rugged Mountain lineage specialized in the Way of the Sword, sword cultivators through and through.
However, as he had said before, the Sword Dao itself was merely a craft; among sword cultivators, both Martial Dao and Divine Dao practitioners existed.
The Jian Pavilion stood as a sacred land in the hearts of nearly all sword cultivators beneath heaven.
Not only did it produce sword cultivators, it also produced famous swords.
The Lofty Mountain lineage, on the other hand, consisted entirely of swordsmiths. They worked along the shores of Dragon Hollow Lake in Dragon Hollow Prefecture, where three thousand forges burned day and night without pause.
Every five years, the Jian Pavilion produced a superior-grade sword.
Every ten years, a rare-grade.
Every fifty years, an exceptional-grade.
Every two hundred years, a divine-grade.
In the game, these corresponded to purple, gold, orange, and red qualities respectively.
Over the course of a thousand years of inheritance, the Jian Pavilion had forged only five divine-grade swords.
As for the highest level, the "Transcendent Grade", corresponding to the color tier known as "rainbow" among players, there was only one known example in the world.
That sword now lay horizontally across the knees of the previous Sword Saint, Ying Baishou, whose body had achieved corporeal Nirvana.
As for how to obtain that Transcendent-grade sword, the method was simple enough to describe,
One merely needed to withstand the oppressive might of an Eternal Realm body, break the seal over Heaven's Gate Mountain, and then pry the sword from the dead Sword Saint's grasp.
Of course, Gu Fangchen himself had never managed to do it.
In the game, a player's cultivation cap before the ending was the Second Rank Peak.
To challenge a First Rank opponent required exploiting the game's mechanics, weakening the foe through early maneuvers, and then joining forces with allies to win.
But the Ascension Path of Heaven's Gate Mountain was a solo challenge.
Without reaching the First Rank, one could not even set foot upon it.
Only after achieving the ending could a player advance to the First Rank.
But by then, the game ended automatically, there was no going back.
A perfect loop of futility.
Furthermore, ordinary endings never allowed a player to carry over their cultivation to the next playthrough.
Thus, what lay beyond Heaven's Gate remained an unsolved mystery, both within the game's world and among the players outside it.
Only in Gu Fangchen's final ending, "Six Dusts Return to Purity", did the player character return from Samsara, meaning they could retain their cultivation into a new beginning.
Unfortunately, that sole player who might have discovered the truth...
Had been shoved into the game itself by Honglu Corporation's "special gift."
Gu Fangchen rubbed his chin.
"These two... I remember them. A pair of tsundere lovers, each secretly in love with the other, but both convinced the other liked someone else."
"In the game, they had a side quest. The player could either deepen their misunderstanding or resolve it."
If the misunderstanding was deepened, the two would part ways; later, Qiu He would die in battle against the Demonic Sect, and the hairpin he meant to give Qi Linghua would only be found afterward, too late for regrets. She would go on to perish together with the sect.
If the misunderstanding was resolved, the outcome wasn't much better.
Instead of joining the crusade against the Demonic Sect, Qiu He would take Qi Linghua home to marry, but his hometown had already been taken over by the Demonic Sect's "Life" Path.
When players later raided that stronghold, they would find only the two lovers' severed heads amid a pile of flesh and blood.
The developers clearly had a cruel sense of humor.
"Besides that side quest, the two were also part of an important arc in the Jian Pavilion's main storyline."
Gu Fangchen's gaze shifted toward the back of the group,
Sure enough, there he was: a youth in a grey servant's robe, thick eyebrows and bright eyes, his face set in serious calm.
Gu Fangchen's eyes lit up with the joy of recognizing an old friend in a foreign land.
It's you!
My destined teammate!
The Sword Saint Ning Songjun's personal disciple, the Adversity Bodhisattva, Xu Zhenguan!
In "Mirror in the Dust," if Gu Yuandao counted as one strong companion, Xu Zhenguan was worth two and a half.
Xu Zhenguan earned his title "Adversity Bodhisattva" because every time he faced adversity, he would suddenly attain enlightenment and his power would soar, turning the tide of battle.
In times of smooth sailing, players looked to Gu Yuandao; in hardship, they relied on Xu Zhenguan.
And given the brutal difficulty of "Mirror in the Dust," players spent most of their time in hardship.
Thus, Xu Zhenguan became the players' final lifeline, the ultimate clutch factor.
Whenever a situation seemed impossible, you could count on him to reverse it.
But the reason he was worth "two and a half," rather than three, was because his luck stat was maxed out, and he rarely ever fell into true adversity.
At the start, though a player could recruit him as an ally, he seemed useless besides being diligent, virtuous, and hardworking.
A perfectly ordinary Jian Pavilion errand disciple with no background, and cultivation only at the Ninth Rank.
At best, a charm trinket to boost the player's luck.
Unfortunately, his luck only worked for himself.
So most players quickly abandoned him.
Until a few chaotic-evil thrill seekers decided to test his luck by throwing him into a Demonic Sect stronghold.
Three days later, Xu Zhenguan emerged, having broken through to the Seventh Rank, after slaughtering everyone inside.
From then on, he became a staple companion.
In short, Xu Zhenguan possessed a passive protagonist's aura,
Leave him alone, and he stayed ordinary. Throw him into a crisis, and he'd ascend like a rocket.
"Still, I need to put him in adversity carefully," Gu Fangchen thought. "Can't just attack him outright, that'd defeat the whole purpose."
He glanced toward the distant hills, thinking of both the Demonic Sect and Gu Yuye's men who were still searching for him.
A plan was already forming.
The two leading cultivators didn't have high cultivation; they were certainly not here to rendezvous with Ning Caiyong.
At this time and place, there could only be one reason for their presence,
They were here to locate and assist Gu Lianqian.
"Do you think the little princess really carries the 'Lotus Concealed in the Womb'?" Qi Linghua murmured.
Qiu He replied in a low voice, "If the information from the Sky-Eye Division is correct, it's likely true. But true or not, it's none of our concern. Our duty is to ensure the princess's safety."
Qi Linghua gave him a sidelong glance and was just about to respond, when her face suddenly hardened. She drew her sword.
"Who's there?"
Gu Fangchen leapt down from the tree, his expression urgent.
"Are you two disciples of the Jian Pavilion?"
Qiu He hesitated. "And you are...?"
Gu Fangchen clasped his hands and said solemnly, "This humble one's Daoist title is 'Not'. A wandering cultivator."
Qi Linghua and Qiu He's faces twitched. "Not?"
Gu Fangchen nodded gravely.
"You may address me as the 'Not Daoist'."